FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/17/2013 Councilmember Richard Conlin Seattle City Hall to host Pike Place Farmers Market Express Weekly market will run Tuesday June 18 through October 29 Seattle - Grab your reusable shopping bags and spend your lunc... [Full Post]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/17/2013

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

City Council Adopts Bold Climate Action Plan
Plan provides pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050

Seattle - Seattle City Council voted unanimously to adopt Seattle's Climate Action Plan (Resolution 31447) today. The Climate Action Plan is composed of recommended actions to be taken to meet Seattle's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The Seattle Climate Action Plan is the result of a three year collaborative effort between the City and community to produce a blueprint for a prosperous and climate-friendly city. "With this bold plan to reduce our carbon emissions now in place, we must now get to work on implementing the actions called for in the plan," said City Councilmember Mike O'Brien. "In the Energy & Environment Committee, we will begin exploring how to make energy use more visible to consumers and developing the tools we need to improve Seattle's home and building energy performance."

The Climate Action Plan includes specific short- and long-term actions the City needs to meet its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. For example, the transportation sector accounts for 40% of Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions, but the biggest challenge Seattle faces to reducing emissions in this sector is funding. The plan calls for new funding sources like extending the Bridging the Gap levy and securing local authority for a motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) to help improve bus service and reliability, invest in improvements that make it easier and safer to walk or bike and take steps to build out the region's light rail system. The plan also calls for supporting the adoption of low carbon vehicles and fuels.

In the building energy section, the Plan calls for accelerating Seattle's already strong conservation work by enhancing the tracking of utility use, providing better energy performance information to building owners and users, and generally help to improve the public's understanding and manage their energy consumption. Additionally, the Plan calls for getting the right mix of policies and incentives to spur retrofitting in Seattle's housing stock and commercial buildings.

"Making Seattle carbon neutral is an audacious goal that takes time, hard work, creativity and the commitment of the City, business community and Seattle residents," said City Councilmember Richard Conlin. "We have laid out the path to meet this preeminent moral challenge of our time and we will lead the way to secure the future for generations to come."

"We must ready the city's infrastructure for climate change meanwhile leading in reducing carbon emissions," said City Councilmember Jean Godden. "Recycling and composting, as well as preparing for more intense rainstorm episodes with green stormwater infrastructure, are the first steps my committee will take."

"This policy document sets very ambitious environmental goals to stride towards, 62% and 91% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 and 2050 in the vehicle and building energy sectors. At each step, our strategies to reach these targets must go through the lens of the Race and Social Justice Initiative. In order to get residents and businesses to support climate action and include it as a part of their lives, we must be inclusive in our education and outreach with all communities," said City Councilmember Bruce Harrell.

"While I'm pleased that Council adopted the Plan today, we know the real work is just beginning," said Jill Simmons, Director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment.

The Plan focuses on three sectors where the City of Seattle can have the greatest influence in reducing carbon emissions: transportation and land use, building energy and solid waste. The Plan also includes a section outlining how the City should prepare for the impacts of climate disruption we expect to occur, as well a section on actions individuals can take to reduce emissions through purchasing decisions.
The Climate Action Plan can be viewed online at: http://www.seattle.gov/environment/climate_plan.htm

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/17/2013

Councilmember Richard Conlin

Council encourages creation of prescription drug disposal program

SEATTLE - Seattle City Council today adopted a resolution today encouraging the Seattle/King County Board of Health to establish a secure return program for unwanted and expired medicines from households.  The resolution asks that the return program be financed by pharmaceutical manufacturers to cover the cost of collection, transportation and disposal of unwanted medications.

A similar program in British Columbia has been operating for ten years and provides the public locations (often in retail pharmacies or law enforcement offices) to deposit unwanted prescription medication for free secure disposal.  In King County, voluntary medicine take-back programs currently exist, but at insufficient levels to protect public safety.

"It's important we establish a convenient, safe, secure, and environmentally sound medicine return program," said Councilmember Richard Conlin, Vice-Chair of the King County Board of Health.  "Over half of the 37,000 calls to the Washington Poison Center in 2009 were for young children poisoned by medicines found at home.  There's a smarter way."

Improperly disposed prescription medications can have negative environmental consequences when they enter the waste stream or sewer lines because wastewater treatment facilities cannot effectively remove or degrade all pharmaceutical compounds. A range of medications show up in the tissues of fish and other aquatic wildlife, which are part of the larger food chain.

The King County Board of Health is currently deliberating whether to create a disposal program.  More information about the King County Board of Health's proposed secure medicine return program is available here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/17/2013 Councilmember Tim Burgess Councilmember Tom Rasmussen Councilmembers re-align mid-year transportation spending Increased funding for immediate safety and mobility needs Seattle - City Council Budget Committee Ch... [Full Post]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/13/2013

Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata

Councilmembers to host discussion of fast food workers' issues
in wake of May 30 strikes
Brownbag event will feature workers and policy experts on conditions facing workers
and what industry trends could mean for Seattle

Seattle - The May 30th "Strike Poverty" day of action, which included hundreds of fast food workers and impacted dozens of restaurants across Seattle, raised questions and concerns about the job security and working conditions facing low-wage fast food workers in Seattle. City Councilmembers O'Brien and Licata will host a "brownbag" discussion to continue exploring the issues raised by striking fast food workers. Councilmembers will discuss the growth of poverty-wage jobs and hear from fast food workers and policy experts about a range of workplace issues, including illegally withholding wages or the denial of benefits owed to an employee, or "wage theft", health and safety concerns, and threats of retaliation by managers for union organizing. 

"It often falls on local governments to help the working poor meet their basic needs.  As an elected official, I have a responsibility to hear more about the issues these workers raised on May 30th. From subsidized housing to energy assistance to health care, these workers' struggles impact all of us," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien.

"This will be an opportunity for me and my colleagues and to hear more from the workers who took a huge risk in walking off the job to speak out for better pay and working conditions in the fast food industry," Councilmember Nick Licata said.

The brownbag will be held on Thursday, July 11 from 12:00-1:30 in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall (map). Council will invite workers to share their experiences and insights on working in the industry and the challenges they face. A local representative from the National Employment Law Project will discuss findings from a report on wage theft and other labor law violations many low-income workers regularly experience.

The public is welcome to join the conversation and there will be an opportunity for comments, questions and feedback on the presentations or by email in advance:  council@seattle.gov

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/10/2013

Councilmember Richard Conlin

Council expands access to healthy food for food stamp enrollees

Seattle - Seattle City Council adopted a budget amendment to add funding to the Fresh Bucks program today, which doubles the value of food stamp benefits when used to purchase fresh food at Seattle farmers markets. The Fresh Bucks program began as a pilot project in 2012, serving only 7 farmers markets in Seattle. With the additional funding from the City, along with funding from JP Morgan Chase and the Seattle Foundation, Fresh Bucks will expand to all of Seattle's farmers markets.

"Many low-income people would like to purchase healthy food options, but costs can be prohibitive.  Fresh Bucks puts fresh fruit and vegetables on the dinner table, while supporting local farmers," said Councilmember Richard Conlin, sponsor of the budget amendment.

According to Fresh Bucks, the 2012 pilot helped nearly 1,500 low-income shoppers, including 900 who had never shopped at farmers markets before.  The leveraging of food stamp value, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), resulted in 81% of survey respondents that Fresh Bucks made a difference in their families' diets.

Councilmember Richard Conlin sponsored the budget amendment to add $50,000 to the Fresh Bucks program.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/10/2013 Councilmember Bruce A. Harrell Seattle City Council Passes Job Assistance Bill Legislation to increase public safety and improve access to jobs Seattle - Seattle City Council unanimously passed the Job Assistance ... [Full Post]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/5/2013

Councilmember Bruce A. Harrell

Public Safety Committee Passes Job Assistance Bill

Seattle - Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, announced a vote of 5-0 (1-abstention) on the Job Assistance bill during today’s Committee meeting.

Council Bill 117796 is critical legislation to increase public safety and reduce criminal recidivism by providing job assistance to formerly incarcerated individuals. The committee has worked collaboratively with businesses, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and social justice organizations to achieve this groundbreaking legislation.

"We have listened to the concerns of the small business employer, large businesses and the approximately 100,000 people in our city with records to create legislation that strengthens public safety and improves the employment process," said Harrell. "The purpose of this legislation is to make Seattle a safer place; a place where we can expect a certain quality of life and feel safe at all times. That is why we made sure that it will not jeopardize any of the safeguards we currently have in place that protect us from violent criminals, dishonesty or unsafe employees," Harrell added.

The bill is scheduled for a Full Council vote on Monday, June 10, 2013.

"What is important to understand is how this legislation will reduce criminal recidivism and why it is critical for all of us to improve the re-entry experience for those who have committed crimes and are rehabilitated. Not only are they the beneficiaries, but so are we." Harrell concluded: "It is essential for the City to improve the re-entry experience for those who have committed crimes; data shows that despair and unemployment increases the likelihood of relapse into crime. The cycle needs to be broken."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/4/2013 Councilmember Bruce A. Harrell Councilmember Bruce Harrell Introduces New Beacon Hill Broadband Pilot Project Seattle - The Council's Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee will host a working disc... [Full Post]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/3/2013 Councilmember Nick Licata Council creates advisory group to advise on emerging green building technologies SEATTLE - Seattle City Council created a Green Building Technical Advisory Group (TAG) today to advise the C... [Full Post]