This week in the budget This week the Budget Committee met on Wednesday to vote on the balancing package proposed by Chair Bagshaw. The committee also voted on items brought forward by Councilmembers to amend the balancing package, with corresponding reductions to balance the budget. New items I proposed that the Council approved included: Concord […]

Everyone Doing Their Part to Rescue Bernard the Cat We’ve all heard the story before – a cat gets stuck up a tree and the local fire fighters come to the rescue to bring the cat down. In this case it was a utility pole and an adorable orange and white cat named Bernard, or […]

Budget Calendar/Key Deadlines On Monday, September 24th Mayor Jenny Durkan will submit her proposed 2019-2020 City Budget and 2019-2024 Capital Improvement Program. The Council will then begin meeting as the Budget Committee in a two-month process for consideration, amendment, and finally, approval of the City budget. Here’s a brief rundown the of the calendar, process, […]

United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Calls for the Release of Xiyue Wang This week the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Iran’s detention of Xiyue Wang, an United States citizen and University of Washington Alumni imprisoned in Iran since August of 2016, is illegal and arbitrary and that he must […]

Kaiser Permanente Overturns Harmful Transgender Healthcare Access Policy During the 2018 budget deliberations the Seattle LGBTQ Commission sent a letter to the City Council with requests that we support access to healthcare for transgender people including but not limited to: Gender affirmation surgery and treatment  Fertility and assisted reproduction needs  Procedures that insurance may have […]

Transportation Benefit District Changes Allow for Additional Service for Delridge Last week the City Council passed legislation amending the criteria for Seattle Transportation Benefit District (STBD) spending; under state law, these funds can only be used for transportation purposes. One of the key changes is to amend the spending criteria to allow the STBD to […]

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month On Monday April 9th the Seattle City Council and Mayor Durkan signed the Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) Proclamation.  SAAM is an annual campaign to raise awareness about sexual assault and to educate communities on how to work towards a world free from sexual violence.  While many regions have […]

Celebrating International Women’s Day On Monday March 5th the Seattle City Council and Mayor Durkan signed a proclamation declaring Thursday March 8th, 2018 as International Women’s Day.  The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Press for Progress.  This year the Seattle City Council and Mayor Durkan celebrated International Women’s Day with a proclamation touting the many achievements […]

Reminder: March 5 Deadline for ST3 Early Scoping Comments Monday, March 5 is the deadline for submitting comments to Sound Transit as part of the ST3 scoping process for light rail from Downtown to West Seattle. You can submit comments at Sound Transit’s online open house; here’s a link to the “Alternatives” page, where you […]

Crescent-Hamm Building Historic Preservation As Seattle grows, it’s critically important to maintain connections to our past. Seattle’s Historic Preservation program, in effect since 1973, has designated more than 450 sites as landmarks, helping us to preserve our heritage. On Monday, the Full Council will vote to complete the landmark designation process for the Crescent-Hamm Building […]