Sept. 23, hundreds packed Seattle City Council chambers and an overflow room for their first chance to offer public testimony on Mayor Jenny Durkan’s proposed 2019-20 budget, and potential council amendments to it. Some 140 people and groups signed up to offer testimony in what turned out to be a frequently emotional four-hour marathon that hopefully left council members — at least those who weren’t looking at their phones all evening — a lot to think about. To her credit, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw chaired the hearing with a notably fairer and more restrained hand than council President Bruce Harrell employs in contentious council meetings.
Four months after the abrupt repeal of the Employee Hours Tax, subsequent developments are underscoring just how hard it will be for local governments to find money to seriously address our region’s affordable housing and homelessness crises.
by Geov Parrish
It’s been four months since Seattle City Council, in apparent violation of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act, abruptly decided behind closed doors to repeal the compromise Employee Hours Tax (EHT) it had unanimously passed only a month before. Since then, a lot has happened on the homelessness front locally — almost none of it positive, from the standpoints of saving lives or getting people off Seattle’s streets.
In an Op-Ed for the Seattle Times August 29, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes wrote that he would no longer be “turning a blind eye” to protesters who invoke their First Amendment rights by using non-violent protest tactics that block city traffic, in reaction to recent protests earlier this year held by activists from multiple movements.
(This article originally appeared on Patch.com and has been republished with permission)
On deadline day for President Donald Trump’s administration to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, a group of more than 100 protesters demonstrated outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Seattle Thursday morning.
(This article originally appeared on Patch.com and has been republished with permission.)
SEATTLE, WA — Carmen Best was selected as the new Seattle police chief, according to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office. Durkan will make the selection official at a press conference scheduled for [today] Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.
Mayor Jenny Durkan’s announcement that she wants the city to come up with a plan for “congestion pricing,” to toll surface streets in downtown and South Lake Union, is only the latest in a growing tradition of city policies that are meant to sound and feel good, but that are deeply delusional and throw Seattle’s working poor under the bus – in this case, literally. Continue reading Congestive Failure→
Fifteen candidates hopeful to fill the empty seat on the Seattle City Council sat in the front of the room at Tuesday’s public forum. The purpose of the event was to allow community members to hear from candidates about their plans for the council’s vacant position 8 seat if they are selected for the job. Continue reading 15 Candidates Vie for Seattle City Council Position at Community Forum→
As Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess announced his changes to the budget created by former mayor and accused sexual abuser Ed Murray, the new mayor gave an explicit nod to Black Lives Matter, focused on sexual assault survivors, and expressed gratitude for the Seattle Fire Department. Continue reading Seattle’s Budget with Burgess: BLM and Mandated Retirement Money→
The Gender, Equity, Safe Communities and New Americans Committee considered legislation today that would increase police accountability to the public. This recent push was set in motion after Mayor Ed Murray sent a draft of the reform legislationfor review by the city council. The measure is intended to create the strongest civilian oversight regime in the city’s history. Continue reading City Council Considers Police Accountability Legislation→
Amplifying the Authentic Narratives of South Seattle
