Giving My Thanks to You I look forward this time of year to the opportunity to reflect on all that I have for which to be thankful. On this Thanksgiving Day eve, there are individual people to be thankful for their contribution to making Seattle a better city.  If you are working for your community, […]

This Week in the Budget This week, Seattle City Council Budget Committee Chair Bagshaw proposed a Chair’s Revised 2020 Budget. This revised proposal incorporated additional requests by Councilmembers that were submitted the previous week. The Budget Committee met on Tuesday, November 19th to vote on budget actions proposed by Councilmembers. The baseline for discussion was […]

This Week in the Budget On November 6th, Budget Committee Chair Bagshaw proposed an Initial Budget Proposal, which incorporated some of the Councilmember proposals presented between October 29 and November 1. The three overarching priorities Bagshaw announced are homelessness, housing and hygiene. The proposal includes funding for each, including $3.5 million in additional funding for […]

This Week in Council Budget Deliberations Last week the Council’s Budget Committee considered Council Budget Actions proposed by individual Councilmembers. The next step in the Council’s budget deliberations will be for Budget Committee Chair Sally Bagshaw to propose an initial Council Budget Proposal, adjusted from the Mayor’s proposed budget to include Councilmember priorities, at the […]

2020 Council Budget Schedule On Monday, September 23rd Mayor Durkan submitted her Proposed 2020 City of Seattle Budget and Proposed 2020-2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to the Council. With that, the Council, now meeting as the Budget Committee, begins its work on the 2020 budget.  We will continue through adoption of the budget on November […]

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 […]

Housing Bond and Eviction Reform Legislation Update I’ve been advocating to use the City’s bonding capacity for affordable housing and services since taking office in 2015.  In 2017, I sponsored legislation that authorized the City to issue $29 million in limited tax general obligation (LTGO) funding for building affordable housing—using the City’s line of credit […]

SOCR 2018 Housing Discrimination Testing The Seattle Office of Civil Rights (SOCR) conducts testing every year to determine the prevalence of racism and bias in our housing and employment sectors. Also called “affirmative testing,” this strategy gives the City an opportunity to do outreach and education for people in violation of the law, intentionally or […]

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 […]

ADU Legislation Update The Sustainability and Transportation committee voted on Tuesday to advance the Accessory Dwelling Unit legislation. There were several amendments that were discussed, including two of mine.  I support the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which can provide more housing options in our city, as well as potentially provide an income source […]