#TeresaTuesday
It has been one week since I was sworn in as your city councilmember, and we hit the ground running. I was proud to cast my first vote from the dais – approving payment of the city’s bills, but this was not the vote that caught the most attention.
KeyArena
Council President Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Debora Juarez, the co-chairs of the Select Committee on Civic Arenas, did phenomenal work bringing the final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU – a pre-contract with Oak View Group) to full council. Personally, I want to thank Councilmember Juarez and Central Staff for the time they took to walk my team through the MOU, and make sure we were up to speed in advance of this vote.
By approving this MOU, we are moving forward to ensure we have a world-class arena for our Seattle Storm, while working to bring the NHL and NBA to Seattle. With strong protections for workers, we also know it will bring good-paying jobs renovating and maintaining a revamped Key. Add in the community contributions – $10 million from Oak View Group to YouthCare, investments in transportation infrastructure, and requirements to support existing tenants such as Pottery Northwest – this is a win-win for our city, and I was excited to support the final bill.
Rally to Protect Tenant Rights
Earlier today, I was excited to join with housing activists and leaders in support of stronger protections for tenants in Seattle and beyond. As the only renter on council, this issue is deeply personal, and I look forward to continuing to organize and work with tenants to ensure that we are providing the needed support and protections for renters across Seattle. One of the best ways to reduce housing discrimination and the cost of housing is to create additional low and middle income housing across our city. I’ll be fighting for tenants’ rights and for more housing for working families, artists, activists and retirees all across Seattle. We can be leaders, and I look forward to being part of this conversation.