Councilmember Tim Burgess

Seattle City Council to host conversations on community priorities for the City budget
Let your voice be heard at one of three Mondays in May

SEATTLE – Join the Seattle City Council for one of three conversations in May about the City budget and community priorities. Participants will engage City Councilmembers and neighbors in conversation centered on five thought-provoking questions about the future of our city.

Let your voice be heard at one of the following dates and locations:

North Seattle
Monday, May 7, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
North Seattle Community College, 9600 College Way North, College Center, New location: Cafeteria

Central Seattle
Monday, May 14, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway, Broadway Edison Building, Room BE1110

South Seattle
Monday, May 21, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall, 7054 32nd Ave South

Three Mondays in May feature the World Café format and are a chance to meet and engage your elected officials and neighbors in conversation, a place to learn about the basics of the City budget and choices faced by City policymakers and an opportunity to participate in the civic life of your home community.

These conversations are not a formal public hearing and do not require extensive knowledge of City politics, policy or history. The Council will hold public hearings on the 2013 City budget and Capital Improvement Program in the fall where members of the community will be invited to advocate for specific programs and services.

A flier that can be distributed with more information is available here. Discover other ways to let your voice be heard at City Hall at www.seattle.gov/council/budget.

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Tonight at 6 o’clock several Councilmembers will be at North Seattle Community College for the first of Three Mondays in May. I hope to see you tonight or the next two Mondays.

Three Mondays in May is part of the Council’s effort to listen to the people of Seattle about your priorities for City government. How should we be spending your tax dollars? Where should our primary focus be? If we must reduce spending, where should the cuts be focused? Your opinions are valuable to us, so come out tonight and share them with us.

North Seattle
Monday, May 7, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
North Seattle Community College
9600 College Way North
College Center, Cafeteria (note room change)

Central Seattle
Monday, May 14, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Central Community College
1701 Broadway
Broadway Edison Building, Room BE1110

South Seattle
Monday, May 21, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall
7054 32^nd Ave South

A flier that can be distributed with more information is available here. 

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Yesterday was quite the day.

The weather forecast called for rain throughout the day, yet the sun popped out and I was confident I could make it to and from City Hall on my scooter without getting drenched.

Then, on a day to celebrate the effective and necessary role of labor unions, along with a separate march celebrating the importance of immigrants and the need for immigration reform, chaotic violence and property destruction occurred downtown.

Self-described anarchists mingled with peaceful May Day demonstrators at Westlake Park, covered their faces with masks or bandanas and engaged in destructive acts of vandalism and violence.  It stopped almost as quickly as it started; the anarchists pulled off their black clothing and melted away into the larger crowd once again, though not before some were arrested. (The Seattle Times has extensive coverage of all this in today’s newspaper.)

About an hour after this senseless violence, I received a totally unrelated email from a friend who provided a link to an article in the Northwest Asian Weekly about Aoxiang Liao, a woman who immigrated to the United States from China in 2008. Liao recently graduated from a special English language training class provided by OneAmerica.

I couldn’t help but contrast what Aoxiang Liao has accomplished—moving to a new country, learning English, getting a job, getting engaged with her community—with the anarchists who committed senseless violence yesterday afternoon in our downtown.  Liao represents a hopeful, productive future; the anarchists represent destructive despair. Liao represents the other immigrants and refugees who have come to our country and those who wish to come here, people who make our larger society stronger. The anarchists shift attention to themselves, a twisted narcissism that plays on the aspirations—and legitimate protests—of others for their own self-aggrandizement.  Liao uses her skills and obvious capabilities to build her life in her new country and contribute to the common welfare. The anarchists destroy what exists and refuse to engage with our broader society.

For me, I’ll stand with Aoxiang Liao and what she represents.

As I rode home last evening, I passed Westlake Park. There were a few protesters milling about; it was peaceful. I saw boarded up store fronts and I wondered what the day’s events would cost, both in dollars and lost productivity. And then the downpour began and I got drenched; the city was being cleansed.

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Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien

Queue up your questions for the Seattle City Council
Councilmembers Burgess, Licata and O'Brien to appear on
May's City Inside/Out: Council Edition

SEATTLE – Take a moment to ask your questions of City Councilmembers. What should be the top priority for Seattle Public Schools new superintendent? What's the City doing to prepare for the upcoming plastic bag ban? How can residents get involved in this year's budget process? Whatever your questions, submit them now.

The May 8 episode of Seattle Channel's City Inside/Out: Council Edition will feature Councilmembers Tim Burgess, Nick Licata and Mike O'Brien answering your questions with host Brian Callanan.

Submit your questions for the Councilmembers by noon, Friday, May 4.

• Email: contact@seattlechannel.org
• Online: http://www.seattlechannel.org/CouncilEdition/
• Twitter: @SeattleChannel
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SeattleChannel

Don't miss this opportunity to put your issues before the City's lawmakers. Send in your questions now and tune in to Seattle Channel, Cable 21, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday,
May 8 to hear the Councilmembers respond.

Follow SEATTLE CHANNEL on Facebook and Twitter!

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Local authors Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer have a second book out and it will inspire you with its roadmap to creating true community.  Read this book to discover a new way to view our economic and political system and to get past the labelilng and name calling of public discourse.  It's a great read.

Eric and Nick were guests on the Charlie Rose show this past week. Watch the video at http://www.charlierose.com/view/content/12324.

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Join the Seattle City Council for one of three conversations in May about the City budget and community priorities. You will engage City Councilmembers and your neighbors in conversation centered on five thought-provoking questions about the future of our City. A flier that can be distributed with more information is available here.

Let your voice be heard at one of the following dates and locations:

North Seattle
Monday, May 7, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
North Seattle Community College
9600 College Way North
College Center, Room 1161

Central Seattle
Monday, May 14, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Central Community College
1701 Broadway
Broadway Edison Building, Room BE1110

South Seattle
Monday, May 21, 2012, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
New Holly Gathering Hall
7054 32^nd Ave South

Three Mondays in May feature the World Café format and are a chance to meet and engage your elected officials and neighbors in conversation, a place to learn about the basics of the City budget and choices faced by City policymakers and an opportunity to participate in the civic life of your home community.

These conversations are not a formal public hearing and do not require extensive knowledge of City politics, policy or history. The Council will hold public hearings on the 2013 City budget and Capital Improvement Program in the fall where members of the community will be invited to advocate for specific programs and services.

Discover other ways to let your voice be heard at City Hall at www.seattle.gov/council/budget.

[Full Post]

Seattle's bond ratings affirmed
S&P revises Seattle's outlook to 'stable'

SEATTLE - All three credit rating agencies - Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's - have affirmed the city of Seattle's existing Aaa/Aa1 bond ratings. In addition, Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook for Seattle's rating to "stable" from "negative."

Steps Seattle has taken to address financial and economic challenges factored into the affirmed ratings. According to S&P, "The 'AAA' rating reflects our view of the city's:

• economic role as the center of a very deep and dynamic regional economy;
• strong income indicators and a resilient employment market that has kept the city's unemployment rate below the national average;
• strong financial management policies and practices, including robust forecasting and monitoring capabilities; and
• low-to-moderate debt burden, with rapid amortization and excellent management of the city's longer-term capital improvement plan."

In addition, S&P revised Seattle's outlook to "stable" based on steps the city took last year to fund its pension system.

"Our strong credit rating reduces the cost of borrowing for essential infrastructure improvements and saves taxpayers money," said Mayor Mike McGinn. "Last year, with the Council's help, we built up our Rainy Day Fund, a tangible demonstration of our commitment to a financially prudent city budget. I look forward to working with the Council as we work to close our budget shortfall and provide long-term financial stability for the City."

"The excellent ratings validate our actions over the past several years to maintain a solid financial foundation," said Councilmember Tim Burgess, chair of the Council's Government Performance and Finance Committee. "Despite the sluggish economy and significant budget cuts, the Council and Mayor, along with the Retirement Board of Administration and city employees, worked together to keep our fiscal house in order. The excellent bond ratings strongly affirm the course we have followed."

The city has taken a number of steps to improve its financial position. The Mayor, working with the Council, developed a budget plan for 2011 and 2012 that closed significant General Fund budget gaps. In both cases this was done without raising general taxes. In addition, the city adopted policies to increase its Rainy Day Fund. The city also adopted a plan to address challenges to the city pension system. City officials are now studying additional changes to the pension system to ensure long-term sustainability.

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Office of the Mayor

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The Next Fifty celebration at the Seattle Center kicked off last Saturday with great fanfare. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair and lately there has been a lot of interesting chatter about the history and future of our city. (Check out this letter from the 1962 City Council to the “2,012” City Council.)

The celebrations will continue the next six months and many arts organizations that make their home at the Seattle Center are taking part. On Saturday, May 5, the Seattle Opera is hosting a free HD simulcast in Key Arena for the opening night McCaw Hall performance of Madama Butterfly, the final show of its season. Up to 8,000 tickets are available for what is expected to be the largest live opera audience in Seattle history. Don’t think opera is for you? Read these opera myths debunked on the Seattle Opera Web site.

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News today that the three major credit rating agencies—Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch—have reaffirmed Seattle’s high bond ratings confirms that our focused and strong fiscal management approach is the correct strategy.

The excellent ratings validate our actions over the past several years to maintain a solid financial foundation. Despite the sluggish economy and significant budget cuts, the Council and Mayor, along with the Retirement Board of Administration and City employees, worked together to keep our fiscal house in order. The excellent bond ratings strongly affirm the course we have followed.

The City, including City Light and Public Utilities, use debt financing for capital improvement programs and spend approximately $370 million per year to service this debt. High bond ratings translate into lower interest payments that save millions of dollars in debt service payments. 

In the last year and a half, the City took several steps to tighten up City financial policies to address concerns raised by the rating agencies:

• The Council adopted a new policy requiring the City to directly deposit $2 million in the Rainy Day Fund and further established that half of any year-end unanticipated General Subfund balances would be transferred to the Rainy Day Fund (Ordinance 123743). Over the next few years, the Council expects to build the Fund to approximately $40 million.
• City employees agreed to increase their contributions to the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS) to 10.03% of salary and the City’s contribution was increased to 11.01%, changes designed to begin to address investment losses from underperforming financial markets (Ordinance 123482 and Resolution 31334).
• The interest rate paid on City employees’ retirement contributions was lowered to 4.47% from 5.75% based on a recommendation from the SCERS Board of Administration (Resolution 31333).

These steps were the right course of action and the bond rating agencies have confirmed that.

The Government Performance and Finance Committee received a presentation on factors affecting bond ratings on March 29, 2012. The materials and video from that meeting are available online.

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Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O’Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen

Special Committee to discuss Seawall

SEATTLE – The Seattle City Council’s Special Committee on the Central Waterfront, Seawall and Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program will meet after Full Council on Monday, April 23. 

The Committee will discuss public safety and protection of the Central Waterfront, the downtown business district, transportation and public infrastructure, a possible bond measure to replace the Elliot Bay Seawall and the Seawall design, schedule, cost estimates and next steps.

WHEN:
Monday, April 23, 2012, following Full Council
(approximately 2:30 p.m.)

WHERE:
Council Chambers, Seattle City Hall
600 Fourth Ave, Second floor, Seattle 98104

View the committee agenda here.

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

[Go to Council Newsroom] [Full Post]