Imagine you learn that a trusted relation has drained your grandfather’s bank account, leaving him without resources and his home mortgage about to be foreclosed. Or that a drug-addicted sister has moved back in with Mom and Dad and has insisted –repeatedly — that your parents withdraw money from their ATM.  She has invited her drug addicted […]

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide) advanced the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights through her Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, legislation that requires domestic workers receive a minimum wage, rest and meal breaks and privacy protections. “Domestic workers are the backbone of our economy. They look after our children, assist our aging seniors, […]

Riding a bike is proven to keep communities healthy, and to reduce climate pollution, and approximately 60% of Seattleites want to bike more than they do now.  But today we heard loud and clear that the lack of safe, connected routes is cited as the number one reason why they don’t. In recent years there […]

Councilmember Mike O’Brien (District 6, Northwest Seattle), Chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee, introduced Resolution #31826, which memorializes the Seattle Center City Bike Network and establishes an 18-month implementation schedule for creating a connected, protected bicycle lane network in downtown Seattle by 2020. The resolution was introduced to the Committee during a special hearing on Wednesday, […]

Mere weeks after they repealed the Amazon Tax that would have funded affordable housing, the Seattle City Council voted on July 9th to approve a plan to increase electricity rates on working families by about 30% over the next 6 years. Unfortunately, I was the only NO vote. Below are my comments explaining why I […]

Seattle Small Business Survey In continuing its efforts to support Seattle small businesses the Office of Economic Development has designed a survey to ask small business owners across the city what the City can do to better support the success of Seattle small businesses.  This information will help OED to prioritize their programs and services, […]

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Pos. 8 – Citywide) and Chair of the Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Seattle City Council passage of Resolution 31819 adopting the 2019-2024 Seattle City Light Strategic Plan. “Today’s 8-1 vote adopted the Seattle City Light Strategic Plan and the rate path […]

Transportation Benefit District Changes Allow for Additional Service for Delridge Last week the City Council passed legislation amending the criteria for Seattle Transportation Benefit District (STBD) spending; under state law, these funds can only be used for transportation purposes. One of the key changes is to amend the spending criteria to allow the STBD to […]

Less than seven years ago, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, or LEAD, was little more than a local experiment aimed at breaking the cycle of arrest and incarceration. Initially launched with private foundation funds, the $950,000-a-year, four-year pilot program offered carefully chosen participants individualized alternatives to arrest. Today, LEAD is one of the City’s […]

King County Hotel-Motel Tax Legislation The King County Executive last week announced a proposal “to bond against future hotel-motel tax revenues to generate an additional $100 million that could be made available to build housing units for people earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of Area Median Income, with a likely focus on 30-60 […]