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 […]

This Week in the Budget On Wednesday Councilmember Bagshaw, chair of the Budget Committee, released her proposed budget balancing package. Next Wednesday, November 14th, the Budget Committee will vote on the proposed balancing package, and any amendments proposed by Councilmembers. Amendments to the balancing package must be balanced. A number of items I proposed, as […]

This Week’s Budget Update This week the Budget Committee met to consider specific budget proposals to amend the proposed budget, on October 30, October 31, and November 1. Next week, Councilmember Bagshaw, as Chair of the Budget Committee, will present a proposed budget balancing package on November 7th. That balancing package will be considered for […]

This Week’s Budget Update Last week the City Council Budget Committee held a public hearing on Tuesday evening, and continued into the phase of budget negotiations referred to as, “Issue Identification,” when Council Central Staff presents highlights of department budgets and issues for potential changes that the Council might want to consider, as well as […]

District 1’s Young’s Restaurant and RainWise I was delighted to learn recently that a beloved District 1 business, Young’s Restaurant, became the first commercial site to complete the RainWise program!  If you’re unfamiliar with the RainWise program, it’s a Seattle Public Utility (SPU) lead effort to install rain gardens or cisterns to better manage rain. […]

Update on Request for 1st Avenue Bus Lane & Access to Downtown after Viaduct Closure SDOT Interim Director Laird sent a reply to my letter asking SDOT about reserving a dedicated lane for buses on 1st Avenue while the Alaskan Way Viaduct is being removed. WSDOT plans to permanently close the viaduct on January 11, […]

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 […]

This Week’s Budget Update On Monday, September 24th the Mayor presented her 2019-2020 Proposed Budget and 2019-2024 Proposed Capital Improvement Program. You can access individual department budgets in the links above; here’s a link to a summary and high-level summary charts, and the budget homepage. Here’s the Mayor’s budget information page. The Mayor identifies her […]

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 […]