This Week in the Budget This week there are no meetings of the Select Budget Committee, as Councilmembers and staff comb through and consider the Proposed 2022 Budget.  The first public hearing is Tuesday, October 12th at 5:30 p.m. Sign up begins at 3:30 p.m. at bit.ly/council-comment.    This is the first of three public hearings. The other […]

Giving My Thanks to You I look forward this time of year to the opportunity to reflect on all that I have for which to be thankful. On this Thanksgiving Day eve, there are individual people to be thankful for their contribution to making Seattle a better city.  If you are working for your community, […]

Delridge Light Rail Alternatives: Initial Assessment Results, Public Comment Open through October 4 Sound Transit has taken a critical next step in implementing Sound Transit 3 in releasing its “initial assessment” of potential additional alternatives to study in the Draft Environmental Impact statement for the West Seattle/Ballard light rail project.   If you recall, in May […]

SOCR 2018 Housing Discrimination Testing The Seattle Office of Civil Rights (SOCR) conducts testing every year to determine the prevalence of racism and bias in our housing and employment sectors. Also called “affirmative testing,” this strategy gives the City an opportunity to do outreach and education for people in violation of the law, intentionally or […]

LGBTQ Inclusive Services in Homelessness Services & Ingersoll Report Last year I sponsored a Statement of Legislative Intent that requested Seattle’s Human Service Department  (HSD) to submit guidelines to make sure that the providers with whom the City contracts are offering services and have policies that are inclusive of LGBTQ recipients of those services.  The […]

Fireworks In Seattle, except for permitted fireworks displays, fireworks are illegal under the  Seattle Fire Code. The Seattle Fire Blog and the SPD Blotter both published posts encouraging residents to leave the fireworks to professionals, and requesting that you call 911 only in the event of an emergency. After hearing a number of constituent complaints in […]

ADU Legislation Update The Sustainability and Transportation committee voted on Tuesday to advance the Accessory Dwelling Unit legislation. There were several amendments that were discussed, including two of mine.  I support the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which can provide more housing options in our city, as well as potentially provide an income source […]

Sound Transit Board Selects Options for EIS On May 23rd the Sound Transit Board selected options to study for light rail to West Seattle and Ballard in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Sound Transit Board has regional membership from King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and approves all projects and spending for Sound Transit. The […]

Accountability on Spending and Oversight of Ship Canal Water Quality Project In my Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development, and Arts committee (CRUEDA) on Tuesday we received another update from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) on the Ship Canal Water Quality (SCWQP) project. As I’ve written about previously, the SCWQP is a joint project with King County […]

Firefighters Propose Health Help Changes for Homeless People This week, in Councilmember González’s committee, the Council received a report and an update from the Seattle Fire Department on the Mobile Integrated Health Response Team pilot program. Under Councilmember Bagshaw’s leadership, the Council passed funding during the last budget to provide services to individuals, primarily homeless […]