Equality Act Resolution On March 13 the Seattle City Council unanimously passed the Equality Act Resolution, naming the day Equality Act Day. This Resolution calls upon Congress to reintroduce and enact the 2015 Equality Act, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to existing protected classes in our federal civil rights laws, including protections from discrimination […]

City Council statement after threats to the Jewish community and New Hate Crimes Hotline Earlier this week the Council issued a statement in response to a bomb threat against the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island and the anti-Semitic and racist graffiti found in Ballard. In the statement, we expressed our condemnation of hate […]

Court Victory With pronouncements, unconstitutional Executive Orders, alarming nominations, and immigration raids coming from Trump administration, many of our neighbors, family, and loved ones are rightly feeling vulnerable.  In light of these daily events, today’s news was a huge victory for the values of nondiscrimination, in particular beneficial to members of the LGBTQ community. Today’s […]

Womxn’s March Tomorrow Please join me at the Womxn’s March on Seattle tomorrow, January 21st. All people are invited to join in solidarity with the march taking place in Washington D.C. as well as in 200 events planned in 46 states and 30 countries. Are you wondering about the “x” in the title “Womxn’s March?”  […]

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, […]

Housing Levy Administrative and Finance Plan The Office of Housing is seeking input as we develop the 2016 Seattle Housing Levy Administrative and Financial Plan. Distribution of Housing Levy funds is guided by an Administrative & Financial Plan, reviewed and revised every two years and adopted by City Council. Download the current A&F Plan.  The A&F […]

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 […]

Housing Bond Proposal Last Friday, Councilmembers Bagshaw, González, Johnson, O’Brien, Sawant, and I signed on to a proposal to fund additional affordable housing for Seattle residents. The proposal is a measured approach that adds $29 million in bond financing for housing which, if leveraged with other resources, could support additional affordable housing. The housing production […]

On June 1st our City proclaimed June LGBTQ Pride Month. The Council and Mayor recognized that the fight for equality is not over and we must continue to lead the nation in establishing policies to prevent discrimination. We raised the LGBTQ flag and promised to continue to speak out against injustice and stand with those […]