United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Calls for the Release of Xiyue Wang This week the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Iran’s detention of Xiyue Wang, an United States citizen and University of Washington Alumni imprisoned in Iran since August of 2016, is illegal and arbitrary and that he must […]

Commit to protecting exceptional trees, maintaining Seattle’s reputation as a ‘truly Emerald City’ Seattle, WA – Members of the Council’s Planning, Land Use and Zoning (PLUZ) Committee issued the following statement specific to the City’s forthcoming tree ordinance earlier today: “The benefits of tree canopies are numerous: a cleaner, more resilient environment, and a more […]

West Seattle Sound Transit Light Rail Open House 9 a.m. Saturday September 8 Sound Transit will hold a West Seattle neighborhood forum and open house on Saturday, September 8, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym at 4100 SW Genesee Street. This meeting is held as part of Sound […]

Domestic Worker Anti-Discrimination, Retaliation, and Harassment Legislation On Tuesday August 14th in my Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts (CRUEDA) Committee we heard a briefing on a necessary legislative fix to Chapter 14.04, the Fair Employment Practices section of the Seattle Municipal Code.  This change would protect domestic workers who are independent contractors from […]

Kaiser Permanent Overturns Harmful Transgender Healthcare Access Policy During the 2018 budget deliberations the Seattle LGBTQ Commission sent a letter to the City Council with requests that we support access to healthcare for transgender people including but not limited to: Gender affirmation surgery and treatment  Fertility and assisted reproduction needs  Procedures that insurance may have […]

Amending the Open Housing Ordinance for Tenants with Disabilities On Monday July 30, 2018 the Seattle City Council passed CB 119309 amending the Open Housing Ordinance in Chapter 14.08 of the Seattle Municipal Code to increase the types of entities with an obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to tenants with disabilities. This issue was brought […]

City Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park), and Chair of the Council’s Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee, issued the following statement today following the unanimous passage of Council Bill (CB) 119316, a bill to broaden the responsibility for providing reasonable accommodations to tenants with disabilities: “Thank you to […]

Seattle University Public Safety Survey and Micro-Community Policing Plans Seattle University recently released their 2017 Seattle Public Safety Survey. The report includes analysis of community perceptions of public safety citywide, by police precinct, and by Micro-Community Policing Plan (MCPP) area. There are 14 micro-communities for the Southwest Precinct: Alaska Junction, Alki, Commercial Duwamish, Commercial Harbor […]

Prepaid Postage for Returned Ballots As you may have heard, last May the King County Council approved the King County Elections request for prepaid postage for every voter in the County so that they could return their ballot through the mail without a stamp. King County Elections conducted two prepaid postage pilots last year.  By […]

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, […]