Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of the Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, in coordination with Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle City Light, passed two green energy ordinances out of her committee today. The first establishes a new program for large-scale solar energy producers, producers that are City Light customers who […]

We’re taking our fight against gentrification and displacement directly to the corporate developers who would destroy our communities for the sake of their profits. On Monday, my Office was proud to lead a diverse delegation of 40 working people and community activists – patrons of Saba Ethiopian Cuisine, union members, immigrants, people of faith, small […]

Tenant Protections for Survivors of DV and Roommates This week we had a first discussion in Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee on legislation I’ve sponsored to protect survivors of domestic violence from being held liable for damages incurred by an abuser, and to protect roommates and family members from categorical housing denials […]

Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Human Services, Equitable Development and Renters Rights, shared her open letter written in response to the arrest of a 13-year-old middle school student and climate justice activist last Friday during a demonstration outside Seattle City Hall, and directed to Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best […]

Last Friday, Seattle police shamefully arrested a 13-year-old middle school student and climate justice activist during a peaceful demonstration outside Seattle City Hall. Today, I wrote to Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, urging them to explain the police action, apologize, and commit to not press charges. My letter is […]

Councilmember M. Lorena González (Pos. 9 // Citywide), chair of the Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans & Education Committee, sent to the Seattle Ethics & Elections Commission (“Commission”) proposed legislation that will create greater transparency in our electoral process by prohibiting foreign influence in City elections, placing a limit on contributions to political action […]

Councilmember Mike O’Brien (District 6, Northwest Seattle) and his Council colleagues unanimously passed in an 8-0 vote Resolution 31895 relating to a Green New Deal for Seattle.  The resolution calls for the passage of a federal Green New Deal, and affirms Seattle’s commitments to “…ensuring that our City can effectively respond to the climate crisis, […]

The Seattle City Council may become the twelfth city across the nation to call for an end to the Cuba embargo. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of the Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, together with the U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration organizer and local labor/civil rights leader, Cindy Domingo, will […]

Impact Fees This week the Sustainability and Transportation Committee had a briefing on impact fees. Impact fees are charges to developers to address the needs for capacity improvements to transportation, parks, schools, and fire facilities. I last wrote about impact fees here and provided some history about the Council’s efforts to develop an impact fee […]

On August 8th hundreds of Jewish community members and supporters, marched and powerfully demonstrated against the atrocities being committed by ICE and the Trump administration against immigrant communities daily before our eyes.  I applaud activists and organizers in the Jewish community here in Seattle, standing with other communities facing all out assaults on their lives […]