by Ashley Archibald
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
More than 2,000 units of housing in King County alone could stop being affordable by the end of the decade because of the expiration of federal tax credits that locked in affordability for 30 years.
Continue reading Affordable Housing Units in Jeopardy as Funding Source Expiration Date Loomscurated by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Ashley Archibald
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant announced Thursday, Jan. 19, that she will not run for reelection in District 3 and will instead launch a workers’ rights campaign called Workers Strike Back.
Continue reading Sawant Will Not Run for Reelectionby Ashley Archibald
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
When an unmasked Gov. Jay Inslee announced the end of the coronavirus state of emergency after more than two years, he did so with matter-of-fact language. Language for a boardroom.
Continue reading On Oct. 31, Get Ready to Welcome … the New Normal!by Ashley Archibald
(This article was originally published on Real Change News and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
On a clear day looking out from the park at the southern end of South Lake Union with its low, arching water feature and the gleaming former naval warehouse that is now the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), you’ll see the impressions of the Cascades, made hazy by their deceptive distance.
Continue reading Modeling a New Housing Method, With Thoughtful Designby Ashley Archibald
(This article originally appeared on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Rebecca Saldaña and her kids had a choice.
It was Wednesday. One of the children had a dance class in Burien. The other had a taekwondo class in the Mt. Baker neighborhood. That’s a lot of back and forth.
Without a car, it was pretty difficult to get to both. Fortunately, the kids took pity on Saldaña. Rather than take the bus from the South End to Burien and back to Mt. Baker, her daughter chose to forgo a dance class.
“We are simplifying our day,” Saldaña said.
Not so simple for an elected official, of course. Saldaña still needed to make it home for a community meeting.
Saldaña, along with more than 100 other elected officials and transportation professionals, participated in a “Week Without Driving,” an event created by the Disability Mobility Initiative (DMI) — a project of Disability Rights Washington — to show the difficulties that non-drivers face in a state and country planned around cars.
Continue reading ‘Week Without Driving’ Challenges Leaders to Reimagine Transit and Accessibilityby Nathalie Graham, Agueda Pacheco Flores, Ashley Archibald, Chetanya Robinson, Marcus Green
Editors’ Note: We will continue to update this article with election updates in the coming days.
Seattle voters appeared to be embracing moderate candidates in key races for mayor, city attorney and City Council, according to early returns Tuesday night.
Updated results as of 11/04/2021
Update 11/05/2021, 1:00 p.m.:
Lorena González conceded the mayor’s race, making Bruce Harrell Seattle’s next mayor.
She tweeted her concession Thursday after election results showed Harrell leading González 62% to 38% with just under 33% of ballots counted.
“With today’s ballot drop, it’s clear that Bruce Harrell will be the next Mayor of Seattle,” she said on @MLorenaGonzalez “Earlier, I called him to congratulate him on a hard-fought race and wished him much luck in his efforts to make progress on the challenges Seattle faces.”
Update 11/04/2021, 4:00 p.m.:
With just under 33% of ballots counted, Bruce Harrell leads Lorena González 62% to 38%.
Bruce Harrell was leading Lorena González 65% to 35% in a race to elect Seattle’s next mayor and potentially set the course on homelessness, policing, affordable housing, and other critical issues facing the city.
Seattle voters found themselves in a similar position Tuesday night to election nights past: Should the electorate choose a moderate Democrat or a progressive to steer the city?
Continue reading Seattle and King County General Election Resultsby Ashley Archibald
(This article originally appeared on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Voters in Seattle and King County are gearing up for the end of the electoral season, a lengthy — and expensive! — period in which candidates try to convince the public that they are the right person to lead government for the next four years.
Candidates have serious competition for voters’ attention and zeal for the democratic process. That’s particularly true in the region’s odd-year election cycle, which means the public rolled from the drama of the 2020 national campaign straight into local elections, which are arguably as consequential but don’t tend to command the same degree of participation.
But elections have consequences, and local organizations have been working overtime to not just encourage people to register to vote and fill out their ballots but be informed when they do it. That’s even more challenging this year than usual because of the pandemic, which limited groups’ abilities to engage in traditional “get-out-the-vote” activities.
However, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Continue reading Getting Out the Vote: Local Organizations Rallying Historically Marginalized Groupsby Ashley Archibald
Content Warning: This article contains brief mention of suicide.
On July 25, a series of laws banning police departments from using chokeholds, neck restraints, and no-knock warrants, and restricting the use of tear gas and military equipment went into effect in Washington State.
The laws were part of a wave of legislation reacting to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin and the months of subsequent nationwide protest that followed.
Locally, Seattle City Council talked about, but ultimately did not follow through on, significant monetary cuts to the police budget.
Continue reading One Month On, Washington Police Reforms Get Mixed Reviews at Local Forumby Ashley Archibald
Health officials stressed the importance of vaccination as well as practicing social distancing and wearing masks, even in places where people are not required to do so, to protect students as they return to schools amid a spike in coronavirus cases caused by the delta variant across Washington State.
In a Sept. 2 press conference, health officials said that despite the surge in cases and concerns about hospital bed availability, it is important for the wellness of young people that they return to school. Officials emphasized masking, social distancing, vaccination for eligible students aged 12 and above, and observing COVID protocols in families’ daily lives.
Continue reading DOH Officials Emphasize COVID Protocols to Protect Returning Students Amid Delta Surge
