My Thanks There is much to be thankful for as I write this on Thanksgiving Day eve.  There are individual people to be thankful for their contribution to making Seattle a better city.  There are groups that I am thankful for as well who, in raising their voices together and with my occasional helping hand, […]

This Week in Budget I’ve been writing each week to bring you news of the City Council’s budget deliberations. This week, the Budget Committee met to consider and vote on a “revised” balancing package based upon the potential amendments Councilmembers proposed on Tuesday, November 7 to my “initial” October 31 proposed balancing package. These balancing […]

This Week in the Budget The Budget Committee met last week to consider potential Council amendments to the “initial” proposed balancing package I released the week before last as Chair of the Council’s Budget Committee. The Budget Committee is scheduled to meet on November 14 and 15, to consider a “revised” balancing package. Per the Budget […]

This Week in the Budget It’s been a busy week in the City budget. On Wednesday, the Council met as the Budget Committee to hold its second public hearing on the 2018 budget. On Tuesday, as Chair of the Council’s Budget Committee, I released an initial proposed balancing package for the City budget from among […]

This Week in the Budget The City Council’s Budget Committee will hold a second public hearing on the 2018 budget on November 1 at City Hall. In addition, there will be hearings on the Seattle Asian Art Museum Renovation, and the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Central Waterfront Piers Rehabilitation Projects, as required by law. […]

This Week in the Budget On Monday and Tuesday this week and Friday last week the Council met as the Budget Committee for the “Issue Identification” phase of the Council’s budget deliberations. Below are links to Council Central staff papers for relevant departments, which include issues identified by Staff, as well as proposals from individual […]

This Week in the Budget The Council began meeting today as the Budget Committee to consider identification of particular budget issues relevant to individual City Departments. Here is the schedule through Tuesday, October 17. Today we discussed Councilmember ideas and budget proposals for each the Office of Planning and Community Development, Seattle Department of Construction […]

Housing Issues Source of Income Discrimination (SOID) Law SOID is important new comprehensive tenants’ rights legislation, enacting one of the Mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) recommendations.  The final bill created a new protected class for people with alternative sources of income, created a new “first in time” requirement to make the housing application […]

Anti-Hate Resolution As chair of the Committee that oversees Civil Rights, I am charged with providing policy direction and oversight, and making recommendations on legislative matters related to civil rights issues.  In response to Donald Trump becoming the President-elect, there has been an increase in hate speech and acts of violence targeted at Muslims, Sikhs, […]

Budget Wrap Up I’ve been writing to you weekly since September with updates on the deliberations on the proposed 2017-2018 budget.  This will be my last budget update of the year because on Monday, the City Council adopted the 2017 City of Seattle budget and 2017-2022 Capital Improvement Plan. As part of the biennial budget […]