This Week in the 2022 Budget On Monday the Mayor, as required by state law, sent a Proposed 2022 budget to the City Council, as well as a Proposed 2022-2027 Capital Improvement Program. Both links allow you to download the entire proposal, or to select a specific department. The Council’s review of the proposed budget began this week, with an overview from […]

West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force Updates The West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force met on September 15, and includes two key updates. First of all, the bridge repair remains on schedule for mid-2022. Secondly, the West Seattle Water taxi will maintain daytime operating hours during the winter, instead of going to the regular winter […]

Juneteenth is Today, June 19 Juneteenth is today,  Saturday, June 19.  Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On that date in 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform the last remaining enslaved persons that they were free, over two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and two […]

Gun Violence Awareness Day Proclamation June 4 is the observance of the 7th National Gun Violence Awareness Day.  The Wear Orange campaign begins the weekend of June 4th – 6th, 2021.  The Greater Seattle Moms Demand Action joined the City Council meeting this week to receive a proclamation in recognition. Orange is the color chosen […]

Reflections on the 1 Year Commemoration of the Murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officers May 25th marked the one year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. I made the following comments at the beginning of the Public Safety and Human Services committee the morning of the 25th: The Seattle Times ran a […]

West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force Update  Bridge Repair Remains on Schedule for mid-2022 completion  Last week the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force met for the 19th time since the closure of the West Seattle Bridge.   The most important update is that the repair of the West Seattle Bridge remains on schedule for mid-2022 completion […]

Public Safety and Human Services Committee Updates The Public Safety and Human Services Committee heard a number of updates earlier this week at the April 27 meeting. First of all, I invited the Executive to brief the committee about the progress of work to reimagine community safety, and the work of the Interdepartmental Team to […]

Covid Vaccine News: Additional Vaccine Providers in West Seattle, Vaccines for Veterans; Mass Vaccine Site Opens in West Seattle; More Vaccine On the Way; School Staff, Teachers, and Childcare Workers Now Eligible; and One Year of Covid There were a lot of announcements about Covid vaccination this week.  Here’s a rundown of the most important […]

Public Safety and Human Services Committee During most of 2020, regularly scheduled City Council committee meetings have not taken place. Committee meetings have mostly been cancelled due to COVID 19, the need for the Budget Committee to meet over the summer in order to amend the 2020 budget due to revenue shortfalls, and the regular […]

District 1 Town Hall: Public Safety and West Seattle Bridge, September 30th On September 30, I will co-host a District 1 Town Hall on public safety and the West Seattle Bridge, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. SPD Chief Diaz and SW Precinct Captain Grossman will be attending, along with SDOT Director Zimbabwe. There will also […]