Wondering who’s behind those ‘Save Curby’ signs on Delridge?

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Rob Saka has his first 2027 challenger for the City Council’s District 1 seat.

The challenger even has yard signs.

His name’s not on them, though. They’re imploring Councilmember Saka to “Save Curby.”

(Photo from @kidsforcurby on Instagram)

The art on the signs is from editorial cartoonist Brett Hamil. But the idea of putting them on signs and planting them along Delridge was 17-year-old high-school junior Russell McQuarrie‘s.

(WSB photo)

“Curby” is from a Hamill cartoon published in the South Seattle Emerald back in November, referring to the concrete mid-street hardened median near Delridge/Holly, at the center of a “Delridge Safety Project” for which Saka successfully pushed to add $2 million to the new city budget. Because of a RapidRide stop in the area, it prevents left turns, including into the Refugee and Immigrant Family Center Preschool, at which Saka is a past parent.

And that’s just one of many City Council/city government actions of which McQuarrie disapproves. He lives in South Delridge, explains that his family “has always been politically active,” and says his fury was first ignited by sweeps of encampments near his home. “Homelessness is a failure of the state, and these sweeps are punishing people for the state’s failures.”

But no yard signs about that so far. He has chosen instead to spotlight the battle over “Curby.” Even more than the plan itself, McQuarrie says it’s the timing – $2 million in spending when the city has been dealing with a big budget deficit, as well as big challenges like homelessness. So despite being a self-described “broke high-school student,” he decided to print up about 20 signs, putting half of them out for starters. “Everyone I’ve talked to thinks [the proposed barrier removal] is absurd. … It’s interesting to educate people through art.” A teacher who knew Hamil helped him make contact, McQuarrie says, adding that Hamil gave his permission (and incidentally is now selling “Save Curby” T-shirts online). Some of the signs have disappeared since he put them up in the week before our conversation last Sunday, he says, which is why he initially contacted WSB. (We went looking for them after our conversation and spotted signs near the Delridge Library, near Louisa Boren STEM K-8, and near Delridge/Andover).

What would McQuarrie rather see the $2 million go toward? Social housing, light rail, environmental-justice grants, to name a few. Meantime, he’s already busy with a variety of other activism and advocacy – he says he worked on recently elected citywide Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck‘s campaign, and environmental education with the Duwamish River Community Coalition.

Has he brought his “Curby” concerns directly to Councilmember Saka?

He says he has tried multiple times – including four phone calls that “went to voicemail” – and hasn’t reached him or received a reply yet. He says he tried to talk with Saka while at City Hall recently for Councilmember Rinck’s swearing in, but that he was told to schedule a meeting, and hasn’t been able to do that yet. He has brought it up with Councilmember Rinck, who he says agreed it was “absurd,” while also noting that the budget decisions were made before she joined the council.

Meantime, he plans to print more signs, and is looking toward that 2027 council run, while noting “I could go straight into law school” instead. If you have a question for him, he says he’d be happy to hear from you at kidsforcurby@gmail.com.

As for “Curby” itself? We asked SDOT on Tuesday about the timeline and next steps for planning and constructing the “safety project” expected to involve its removal, since it’s written into this year’s budget. Once we get the answer, we’ll update. (We asked Saka himself about the project in this recent interview.)

71 Replies to "Wondering who's behind those 'Save Curby' signs on Delridge?"

  • Jay January 16, 2025 (3:24 pm)

    Those signs bring me such joy when I see them in the neighborhood, unlike when I see Rob Saka jogging in *the middle of the street* most days.

  • Carson January 16, 2025 (3:42 pm)

    That’s a high school student? I don’t fully agree with him but if he was a pre IPO stock I would be buying. Bravo Russell

  • Alki resident January 16, 2025 (4:02 pm)

    “His fury first ignited by sweeps of encampments”. Well everyone is relieved for those sweeps are very important so neighbors aren’t dealing with rat infestations and fires just to name a couple. We can’t allow camps to pop up and just allow them to stay. This isn’t just a homeless issue, it’s a drug issue as well. I don’t want another mobile meth lab in front of someone’s house, it is terrifying and unacceptable. If the city was going to have housing, they would’ve started building it millions of dollars ago instead of all of these sweeps. 

    • The King January 16, 2025 (4:16 pm)

      According to the most recent HUD report the more Seattle spends the worse the homeless problem becomes. Since 2015 the numbers show a 536% increase. 

      • MacJ January 16, 2025 (5:12 pm)

        Disingenuous mixing of correlation and causation. Since 2015 the price of a home has doubled, there’s your cause.

        • The King January 17, 2025 (1:52 am)

          Housing prices have doubled or tripled across the country, yet somehow Washington alone is increasing the homeless population at the highest rate, we’re number one in that category. The next highest state has a rate 445% lower than Washington. 

    • A millennial January 16, 2025 (6:51 pm)

      Gotta love when Gen Z riles up the Boomers. McQuarrie 2027! 

    • Jort January 16, 2025 (10:46 pm)

      Yeah, speaking of completely off-topic commentary, how about those Mariners this off-season! Outrageous! Wait, is this blog post about the Mariners? Or, no, wait, is it the homeless and their “rats?” Wait… huh? I’m confused. Help me out here. I read about this curb and the Saka decision to remove it, but, maybe it’s Homeless Rats? We gotta go there? To rat world? Huh?  

      • Alki resident January 16, 2025 (11:06 pm)

        Read the story Jort, it’s pretty easy reading. 

    • Lauren January 17, 2025 (8:48 am)

      Speaking as a fellow resident, not everyone is “relieved” about sweeps. Some of us believe they are inhumane. 

      • Derek January 20, 2025 (6:33 am)

        Can we start agreeing that the whole saying “it’s a drug issue” is right wing propaganda yet? Big pharmacy creates those drugs. They don’t come from other drug users out of thin air, they are purchased by dealers. Addiction feedback loop is also a by product of an economy. And these things contribute to homelessness, yes. But stop commenting on effects over causes.

  • walkerws January 16, 2025 (4:03 pm)

    McQuarrie has shown more wisdom and decency as a 17 year old than Saka has shown in his entire life. Bravo.

    • Walterego January 16, 2025 (9:11 pm)

      “Entire life”? You can argue against his position without making an incredibly ignorant judgment on someone in public service. Do better.

      • Walkerws January 16, 2025 (10:22 pm)

        You incorrectly state that Rob Saka is in public service. He is in self service

      • Delridge420 January 17, 2025 (10:59 am)

        It’s odd how all of Saka’s defenders pearl clutch when he’s attacked but have literally no substantive defense for him. Like what he has accomplished? He’s the curb guy now because he’s done nothing else that anyone cares about. 

      • Derek January 17, 2025 (7:05 pm)

        Before that he was a lawyer for the increasingly scandalous and awful Meta. lol

  • k January 16, 2025 (4:14 pm)

    It doesn’t just prevent left turns, it prevents people from illegally passing the buses when they’re stopped, which is a HUGE problem and a major safety hazard.  Way to go, Russell!  

    • Ivan Weiss January 16, 2025 (6:35 pm)

      As far as I can determine, that applies to school buses, but not transit buses, except when the bus has signaled intention to re-enter the traffic lane. If the bus has stopped, it is legal to pass if you’re not crossing the center line. So as I see it, Curby has been performing a valuable function, and should remain to deter behavior that might be stupid, and might be dangerous, but is not necessarily illegal. If you can cite any law that prohibits passing a stopped transit bus in all instances, I will stand corrected.

      • K January 16, 2025 (7:03 pm)

        At that location you have to cross the center line to pass, but people do it anyway, and that’s the main problem that is solved by the safety curb. It’s illegal to pass anyone there, not just buses. Double yellow line.

        • Ivan Weiss January 16, 2025 (9:00 pm)

          I stipulated in my comment “it is legal to pass if you’re not crossing the center line.” If in this case removing the curb would cause a vehicle to cross the center line to pass, then as I said, the curb should stay. Otherwise, as I also said, it is not necessarily illegal to pass a stopped transit bus. 

          • k January 17, 2025 (9:48 am)

            I just want to clear up any confusion someone may have about this specific curb after reading your comment.  In THIS location, passing is illegal, passing illegally was a problem before, and the curb prevents illegal passing at THIS location, where any passing would be illegal because of the double yellow center line.  

          • ?A! January 20, 2025 (12:13 am)

            It is not legal to pass any vehicle in the center lane in Washington according to RCW 46.61.290A vehicle shall not be driven in this center lane for the purpose of overtaking or passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction. No vehicle may travel further than three hundred feet within the lane.” 

  • anonyme January 16, 2025 (4:41 pm)

    I may not agree with the rest of his agenda, but McQuarrie is dead right about Curby.  Terrible judgment and an appalling waste of tax dollars by Saka.  This “project” needs to be stopped.

  • AlsoAppalled January 16, 2025 (4:58 pm)

    Wow. Nice work Russell. What a great way to educate more neighbors about Rob’s absolutely inexcusable waste of our taxpayer money. $2 million could fund so many more worthwhile causes rather than making Rob’s commute faster at the expense of our safety. Regardless, you put multiple signs within a block of Rob’s house, so there’s no doubt he’s getting the message. Not sure he’s got the integrity to change his mind on this, unfortunately. 

    • MaggieC January 17, 2025 (11:03 am)

      Some worthwhile causes that would be better served with taxpayer’s $2M: Feed all of Seattle’s 23,283 K-5 -grade kids breakfast for over a month or Buy $85 worth of art/music supplies or books for each K-5 -grade child, orFund 28 additional teachers for a school year, orProvide every Seattle School District teacher $626. to spend in their classroom

  • Matthew January 16, 2025 (5:12 pm)

    I love these signs. If you want to show you love for Curby, you can buy some swag from the artist at https://bretthamil.threadless.com/

  • Curtis January 16, 2025 (5:13 pm)

    Has this young man not had a package stolen off his porch?  Picked up trash thrown all over his yard?  Had his car window broken out?  Felt unsafe walking alone at night?  Those are the things that should be concerning him.  It is sad to see children spending their formative years on misplaced idealism that actually makes matters worse.  I would reccomend he look into playing a sport, getting a job, doing volunteer work,  and/or focusing more on his school work.

    • WSB January 16, 2025 (7:00 pm)

      He does most if not all of what you mention (don’t know about sports, I didn’t ask), and if you’re not familiar with Running Start, it’s a rather intensive education program – earning college credits even before you complete your HS studies.
      https://centerhs.seattleschools.org/resources/counseling/running-start/

    • Hump January 16, 2025 (7:37 pm)

      How dare this teenager have different concerns than those of a middle aged homeowner! The absolute nerve.

    • bill January 16, 2025 (7:41 pm)

      Curtis, what do any of those things have to do with calling out Saka for unnecessarily spending a lot of money to unwisely and selfishly remove a safety barrier?

    • Jort January 16, 2025 (10:43 pm)

      Maybe this teenager cares about the dramatically increasing deaths on Seattle’s roadways and worries about politicians taking measures that would increase the likelihood of further deaths. Maybe he cares about that more than a porch pirate? Maybe? Or maybe you should go lecture this kid on what he should actually care about? Hmm?

  • MacJ January 16, 2025 (5:15 pm)

    Smart kid, I love seeing those signs. I still can’t believe the council gave Saka the Transportation committee chair, he clearly has no idea what he’s doing.

  • Admiral-2009 January 16, 2025 (5:28 pm)

    k – agreed the ‘c’ needs to remain, removing it at this location on Delridge is a clear safety issue.  Any PE that signs off on this without significant street widening to provide left turn channelization would be in violation of PE ethics!

  • #CURBY2025 January 16, 2025 (6:51 pm)

    Wonderful to see the early involvement in local politics and issues! Save Curby!

  • Justin January 16, 2025 (8:12 pm)

    Really incredible art and slogan. This is perfect. Well done. We need the same no pickle ball in Lincoln Park energy to stop Saka from wasting $2 million of our city’s dollars. In fact, I’ve heard that the Lincoln Park birds would be negatively impacted by by the removal of that beautiful Delridge curb. 

    • Joe Z January 16, 2025 (9:28 pm)

      WSB comment of the year nominee! 

  • Bbron January 16, 2025 (8:24 pm)

    this brings me immense joy. fully support any kid advocating for what they believe in.

  • KS January 16, 2025 (10:00 pm)

    Yeah, Russell! Thanks for taking action to save Curby! Good luck hearing back or scheduling a mtg with Saka. I’ve tried to connect multiple times and so have neighbors and no one has heard back. 

  • Jort January 16, 2025 (10:39 pm)

    I can’t wait for this teenager to get sanctimoniously gaslit right to his face by a politician who will say: “actually, it’s safer to remove the curb! And this has nothing to do with my personal grievances about the curb interfering with my children’s daycare pickup , it just happens — completely coincidentally — to be the most dangerous curb in Seattle and I need to remove it!”

  • Caitlin Carle, English Instructor @ South January 16, 2025 (10:48 pm)

    Couldn’t be more proud.

  • Derek January 17, 2025 (3:53 am)

    The kid is right. And Saka’s got to go. 

  • DavidWS January 17, 2025 (8:00 am)

    West Seattle is loving Rob Saka. It’s been years since we had a council member who has been as engaged with common folk and not just political parties and special interests. Saka is responsive and he is working to make the district better for us all.  As far as leaving voicemails, of course the councilmembers, all of them, have to rely on their voicemail system. They don’t have the time to answer direct calls from the tens of thousands of calls that may come in over the year. Be patient. My experience is that you will get a call back (as long as your voicemail is not abusive).  I’m just a regular guy, no political pull and not a major donor, but Saka has been great in responding to my concerns. I like him.

    • brewcity January 17, 2025 (8:43 am)

      Rob, is that you? 

      • Matthew January 17, 2025 (6:20 pm)

        So good! That gave me a laugh.

    • walkerws January 17, 2025 (9:09 am)

      How is Saka “responsive” when he never answers constituent emails or calls. Maybe Saka is responding to your concerns because he agrees with you, and considers everyone he disagrees with a “reddit troll” because he’s an immature person who can’t handle the tiniest amount of criticism

    • Arbor Heights Resident January 17, 2025 (9:49 am)

      West Seattle is loving Rob Saka? No, just you.

    • Delridge420 January 17, 2025 (11:07 am)

      Great satire post.

    • Kathy January 17, 2025 (4:34 pm)

      I suggest you attend a Transportation Committee meeting at City Hall and then come back and give us an update on your opinion of Rob Saka’s competence.

  • Bets January 17, 2025 (8:43 am)

    I work at Denny Middle School and when I commute along Delridge I see many of our students (and other kids as well) making their way to and from school. I emailed Dan Strauss and Rob Saka saying safety should be the Transportation Committee’s priority, not Saka’s tantrums about his inconveniences. Saka’s response was a link to his website (Strauss’ office replied but with a non-answer.) Saka is an idiot and showing he is not on city council to actually serve his constituents but to boost his ego.Glad others are speaking out. The curb makes that area safer. I bought a cool Brett Hamil designed “Curby, Don’t Turn On Me” t-shirt.

    • Mike January 17, 2025 (6:06 pm)

      So the kids are not using the paved sidewalks along Delridge?  You realize the curb area is 1.5 miles away from Denny Middle School, right?

  • Juan January 17, 2025 (9:46 am)

    I urge the councilman to prioritize the long-overdue construction of the walkway connecting High Point to Delridge. Despite being announced years ago, no progress has been made, and it’s time to allocate the $2 million to this vital project.

  • WSBReader January 17, 2025 (10:36 am)

    Saka is completely unresponsive to his constituents. I’ve been trying to contact him for months and never been acknowledged. I’m sad to hear that’s the way he seems to treat everyone who tries to come with him concerns. That being said, go Russell! Huge fan of your work, keep it up.

  • Melba Tost January 17, 2025 (11:32 am)

    Bravo to our young people creating awareness for this issue, which is a gross abuse of an elected position for personal gain.

  • Sanity1903 January 17, 2025 (11:56 am)

    Happy Friday. This could be our last in the “free world”. Happy Birthday Dr. King.It’s sad in 2025 that Rob Saka is the only man of color on the Seattle City Council. Like President Barack Obama, he is an attorney turned public servant. Well,  it looks like someone is out to take his “Black Job”. I wish we could “curve” racism, criticism and entitlement by 2027. That would be a wonderful curby sign. 

    • Arbor Heights Resident January 17, 2025 (1:49 pm)

      Only man of color, sure, but not the only person of color or even black person. So as evidence for a racial angle to this, that doesn’t hold up. Nobody is upset about his racial background… We’re upset about his behavior in office. It’s absurd that you’re attempting to paint this as “entitlement” from constituents. What does that even mean? He’s a public servant who is accountable to us, the voters. And it’s Saka who feels entitled to use public funds to undo safety improvements to fulfill this bizarre personal quest of his. As for “criticism”, why do you think criticism of public officials should be “curved”? That’s antithetical to democracy, so it’s ironic that you would say that nobody should criticize politicians while also bemoaning the inauguration next week as the end of freedom. Overall, you aren’t doing a good job in your comment of living up to your chosen name of “Sanity”.

  • Jay January 17, 2025 (12:06 pm)

    I love seeing the next generation using humor and trolling to push back on the older generation’s efforts to hurt us. The kids are all right.

  • RIFC Parent January 17, 2025 (6:51 pm)

    I am a parent at RIFC and Rob does not have a child here.  It would be good for the Blog to clarify that as a nonpartisan community blog – this comment section is very misleading.And I cannot wait for this cement barrier to be corrected!  It is a huge safety issue for all families neighbors!!!!!

    • WSB January 17, 2025 (7:04 pm)

      We described his relationship as that he “is a past parent” (see above). I believe that’s accurate; in correspondence about this before he even was a candidate, he included the phrase “my children’s daycare RIFC.”

    • Derek January 17, 2025 (7:06 pm)

      Come on, the blog did not mislead anyone here. Rob did all his own hole-digging.

    • Walkerws January 17, 2025 (7:12 pm)

      I would love to understand how Curby is a safety hazard. No one, be it Rob Saka himself or his sock puppet account on various sites has even attempted to explain it. I’d also like to know how this comment section is misleading? It reflects the conversations I have in the west Seattle community and the opinions I hear pretty accurately: that is, that most of us are disappointed by Rob Saka, frustrated about both his self dealing and his gaslighting of his constituents, and in my and many others cases embarrassed that we voted for someone who in hindsight was so transparently without any merit

      • Sanity1903 January 18, 2025 (8:38 pm)

        The airing of differences is a core value of our democracy. Unfortunately our nation cannot disagree without being disagreeable and allowing disagreements and negativity to taint  blogs by constantly spewing derogatory, opinionated personal attacks. These attacks are destroying the democratic process and      erodes unity.Remember: hate, racism and entitlement comes in many forms that are not protected by our First Amendment rights.

        • Walkerws January 18, 2025 (9:42 pm)

          I’m not sure what you’re tying to say here. Holding an elected official accountable for his brazen self dealing and absolute disregard for his constituents isn’t “hate” of any sort. Any negative words about Rob Saka in this thread are proportional to how much he is letting down West Seattle with his clownishness

          • Sanity1903 January 20, 2025 (10:10 pm)

            You are all being manipulated into negative attack mode. Try changing your mind set and stop being so easily manipulated. 

          • Curby2027 January 21, 2025 (1:59 pm)

            Funny, I was gonna say the same thing about you, looks like you beat me to it. 

    • Bbron January 18, 2025 (7:49 am)

      Please expand on what needs to be “corrected” about the curb (why not just say “remove”?) and what safety issue it’s causing. A lot of people, myself included, don’t understand how this problem could be anything more than a minor inconvenience where you have to turn at either 23rd or Willow instead of directly left in or out of RIFC. It feels intentional that proponents of the curb removal use ambiguous language about there being some general issue to safety rather than any specific impacts; probably because to be accurate would be revealing as to how how inconsequential the curb’s impact really is?

    • Delridge420 January 19, 2025 (8:19 pm)

      Rob has radicalized me in favor of protecting this curb. I will chain myself to this curb before I let it be destroyed. 

    • AlsoAppalled January 21, 2025 (12:57 pm)

      The issue here isn’t that the curb is unsafe. The issue is that the curb is slightly inconvenient to a a small group of parents at RIFC. That inconvenience encourages them to make unsafe decisions. For northbound drivers trying to access RIFC, they are currently trying to make dangerous U-Turn around the divider to cut back to the south. But the obvious, simple solution is to make a protected left at Myrtle, drive north on 23rd until it hits Delridge, then make another right onto Delridge and a right into RIFC. It’s 1 minute and 0.1 miles further! And it’s safer because it’s a light-protected left followed by right turns. That’s it. Problem solved. It doesn’t require a councilmember to waste $2 million of our dollars. 

  • Wayto2GO! January 17, 2025 (7:23 pm)

    Wow! Kudos to Russell for using an old-school form of communication/media to deliver a message far more effectively than any of the online outrage has done. Using humor and wit to expose a flagrant act of corruption and self-interest that has not gotten nearly enough attention citywide.  If CM and Transportation Chair Saka  continues to prioritize and make decisions in this way to a $1.7 billion dollar transportation levy, $2 million is  going to look like nothing. Go Russell! Has anyone said how to get a hold of these signs or help fund them? 

    • Curby2027 January 17, 2025 (9:28 pm)

      McQuarrie’s email is listed near the end, in case you missed it it’s kidsforcurby@gmail.com.

    • #1 Curby enjoyer January 17, 2025 (9:33 pm)

      I reached out to the email in the article and got a prompt response. He takes donation by Venmo and will drop them off at your house. 

      • JustSarah January 18, 2025 (12:23 pm)

        Same! Can’t wait to get some signs out. 

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