Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda had a warning for New Yorkers on Monday while discussing the impact Amazon has had on the area.
"They did not keep their word," she said.
Mosqueda, who was joined by fellow Councilmember Lisa Herbold, was talking about how the company dealt with the former head tax that was approved by the council, before suddenly being repealed a month later.
"In fact, they funded the opposition," she said during a briefing hosted by Local Progress. "And what we saw was not just an attack on policy, but on the very existence on public policy making and the role we have to play."
The $275-per-employee tax would have gone into effect this month for businesses grossing more than $20 million per year in revenue.
The head tax was originally much larger, to the tune of $500 per employee, per year. That was negotiated down, after Amazon questioned its future in the city, pausing construction on an office tower.
However, the amount was still not low enough. There were reports that said Amazon didn't want anything higher than a $250 tax per employee. The company released a statement that said it was "disappointed."
WATCH: A minute history of Amazon
The repeal came days after a head tax opposition group announced it had collected 45,833 signatures to put a referendum to repeal the measure on the November ballot.
At the time, Councilmember Herbold said the head tax was “not a winnable battle” at this time.
“People who say we are bowing to political pressure – nothing could be further from the truth,” Herbold said during the repeal process.
Mosqueda was one of two "no" votes.
Prior to their visit, Mosqueda told The Seattle Times they will share "some lessons learned and some mistakes" in how the city has handled Amazon. The warning comes ahead of the company's expansion to the East Coast.
In November, Amazon announced it would split its second headquarters between Arlington, Virginia and Queens in New York City. The company also released what incentives it would be receiving from each. That includes performance-based direct incentives of $573 million based on creating 25,000 jobs in Arlington; performance-based direct incentives of $1.5 billion based on creating 25,000 jobs in Long Island City.
Though Seattle's economy has benefited from Amazon's growth, others point out it has also left many behind and contributed to the area's homelessness issue. According to the report from the Times, those sponsoring Monday's event oppose the subsidies being offered to Amazon and want to highlight any negative impacts the company may have on the communities it plans to expand to.
An Amazon spokesperson sent KING 5 the following statement Monday:
“Amazon is engaging in a long-term listening and engagement process to better understand the community’s needs. We’re committed to being a great neighbor – and ensuring our new headquarters is a win for all New Yorkers. Amazon makes substantial positive contributions to the economy, the communities where we operate, and to the lives and careers of our employees. We have created more than 250,000 full-time, full benefit jobs across the U.S. that now have a minimum $15 an hour pay and we have invested more than $160 billion in the U.S. economy since 2011.”