New Office Phone Number With the new Council taking office, telephone numbers for City Councilmembers are being changed to align with the district they represent. Councilmember phone numbers all begin with 206-684-880; the final digit will be for their district. Since I represent District 1, the new number will be 206-684-8801. For the two Citywide […]

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 […]

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 […]

Administrative & Funding Plan for City’s Investments in Affordable Housing On Monday, the Full Council approved the Administrative & Funding Plan for how the Office of Housing (OH) awards and distributes funding for affordable housing in the City. Seattle has a large network of nonprofit affordable housing developers and providers who are experts in building housing to […]

Now Live – Vacant Building Monitoring Program The Council passed legislation during budget last year to implement a fee-based enhanced vacant building monitoring program. The enhanced vacant building monitoring program went into effect on June 1.  I will continue to monitor its effectiveness and receive monthly reports from the department. As the program rolls out, […]

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 […]

Community Service Officers The Mayor and Chief of Police announced the relaunch of the Community Service Officer (CSO) program initiated by the City Council in the 2016 budget. Bringing back Community Service Officers will be a valuable addition to policing in Seattle, especially in the Southwest Precinct, where a top community concern is that the […]

MHA Process and Schedule The Council has begun developing and considering amendments to the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) bill which is currently being heard in the Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability.  On January 22, 2018 Council President Bruce Harrell established the 2018 Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA).  The committee was formed to consider […]

  CONTENTS PART 1: ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT Capital Project Oversight SPU/SCL Call Center Improvements Making Sure Growth Pays for Growth – Developer Impact Fees New Green Electric Trucks Save Tax Payer Money PART 2: D1 SPOTLIGHT Schmitz Park Property Acquisition Crescent-Hamm Building Historic Preservation Alki Vehicle Noise Enforcement – Relief for Alki Coming Soon South […]