West Seattle Bridge SDOT announced last week that the West Seattle Bridge is expected to be opened to traffic on Sunday, September 18th, and work remains on track to reopen on that date. The contractor continues work on the final phase of epoxy crack injection and carbon-fiber wrap installation on the end spans. The west […]

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 […]

LSG Sky Chefs – City and Union Take a Stand Today, I wrote letters to each Alaska Airlines, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines.  Each airline has hubs serviced by a company called LSG Sky Chefs. LSG Sky Chefs provides catering and much of the food on these airlines as well as others, and […]

Why Art Matters: April 12 @ Youngstown On April 12, KUOW, the Office of Arts and Culture and I will be hosting a forum, Why Does Art Matter, at Youngstown Cultural Center, from 6-8 p.m. The 2018 federal budget released by Donald Trump proposes elimination of federal support for the National Endowment for the Arts […]

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 […]

Socially Responsible Banking Legislation I’ve received around 1400 e-mails, and hundreds of phone calls, regarding socially responsible banking legislation before a City Council committee next week. Here’s the reply I’ve been sending out: Thank you for writing to me about Council Bill 118833, strengthening Seattle’s socially responsible banking laws, and encouraging the Mayor and Director […]

MHA – Citywide Proposal and Future Legislative Process The broad public conversation of the Executive’s initial (my emphasis added) proposal to implement the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program approved by the Council in last year’s MHA framework legislation  began in Fall 2016. Last year’s framework legislation laid out how all developers would have to contribute […]

HALA potential rezones in Urban Villages, District 1 On Wednesday, November 9th, from 6pm-9pm, the Department of Neighborhoods, the Office of Community Planning and Development and Councilmember Johnson’s office will host the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village Community Design Workshop at Chief Sealth High School Library, 2600 SW Thistle St. Seattle, WA 98126. This workshop […]

Comprehensive Plan 2035 Community Involvement On Monday the Council approved the 2035 Comprehensive Plan update. In committee, the Council approved amendments I sponsored relating to Seattle Public Utilities, Arts, Economic Development and Growth, and then this week in Full Council amendments I sponsored to the Community Involvement element were also approved. I worked with neighborhood […]

Comp Plan 2035 The 2035 Comprehensive Plan is the 20-year framework for most of Seattle’s big-picture decisions on how to grow while preserving and improving our neighborhoods. The Plan guides City decisions on where to build new jobs and houses, how to improve our transportation system, and where to make capital investments such as utilities, […]