Month: December 2015

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December 8, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember O'Brien, News Releases

Councilmember O’Brien to Develop Regulations to Encourage More Backyard Cottages, Meeting Tomorrow

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/8/2015

Councilmember O'Brien to Develop Regulations to Encourage More Backyard Cottages, Meeting Tomorrow

Seattle - Councilmember Mike O'Brien will host a special lunchtime meeting tomorrow, as he explores ways to make it easier for more homeowners to build backyard cottages and mother-in-law units. Councilmembers will review a report, "Removing Barriers to Backyard Cottages," and hear testimony from homeowners who have faced challenges when constructing the new units.

The meeting is a first step toward developing new policies to encourage more backyard cottages, which could produce thousands of new housing units.  In January, two public meetings will be held to solicit feedback on potential legislative changes.

Backyard cottages, also called detached accessory dwelling units, are separate living spaces on the same property as an existing single-family house. Council adopted legislation in 2009 allowing construction of backyard cottages on eligible lots in single-family zones throughout the City.  Fewer than 200 have been constructed to date.

WHAT:  
Backyard Cottage Discussion at the Council's Planning, Land Use & Sustainability Committee

WHEN:
Wednesday, December 9
12 p.m.

WHERE:
Seattle City Hall
Council Chambers, Second Floor
600 4th Ave., Seattle 98104

WHO:
Backyard Cottage owners
Nick Welch, Seattle Department of Planning and Development
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Council President Tim Burgess
Councilmember Nick Licata

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Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live on Seattle Channel 21, HD Channels 321 Comcast, 721 Wave 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.

[View in Council Newsroom]

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December 7, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Harrell, News Releases

Council Forms Prisoner and Community Corrections Re-entry Work Group

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/7/2015

Council Forms Prisoner and Community Corrections Re-entry Work Group

SEATTLE - Councilunanimously approved Resolution 31637 today, which calls on City departments to convene a prisoner and community corrections re-entry work group to coordinate and strengthen the City's efforts to assist re-entry. Councilmember Bruce Harrell sponsored the resolution to help formerly-incarcerated people gain access to jobs once they've paid their debt to society. The work group will identify opportunities for more effective coordination with other criminal justice agencies and develop a set of additional recommendations the City can implement to facilitate prisoner re-entry and remove unnecessary barriers to employment and housing.

The Resolution also re-affirms the City's support for the Certificate for Restoration of Opportunity Program (CROP). CROP will help individuals with criminal histories gain access to jobs that require a vocational license. Currently, a person with a criminal record cannot attain jobs in more than 90 career paths that require vocational licenses, including barbers, commercial fishers, or dental hygienists. CROP would allow an individual to file for a civil motion certifying that the required time had passed, without any new arrests or convictions, and had met all the terms of their sentence. Councilmember Harrell intends to pursue creation of a Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity if the State Legislature does not pass one in the upcoming legislative session.

In 2015 approximately 2.2 million people are incarcerated nationally - a 500% increase in the last 30 years. Locally, 16,675 adults were incarcerated in Washington State prisons and almost 12,618 people per day are placed in local jails with 2,800 being jailed in King County. In 2014 about 20 percent of the almost 8,000 individuals released from Washington State Department of Corrections were released in King County. People of color are disproportionately represented among those released from jail in King County; a 2003 reentry study demonstrated that while African-Americans were only six percent of King County's population, 41 percent of people released from DOC were African-Americans, and while Latinos were only six percent of King County's population, 18 percent of people released from DOC were Latinos.

"We must set a new course to address the failed policies from mass incarceration," said Councilmember Bruce Harrell, primary sponsor of the legislation. "The two biggest barriers for individuals re-entering society are jobs and housing. Collectively, we have failed on these two fronts and as a result, the cycle of re-incarceration often repeats itself. The failure to help these individuals has rippled through our society, impacting families, our schools, public safety, and our community. Council will work with our regional partners and lead on this effort in 2016."

Council added $136,000 in the 2016 budget to support work on Zero Detention and the Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity Program.

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Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live onSeattle Channel 21,HD Channels 321 Comcast, 721 Wave and on theCity Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on theCity Council website. Follow the Council onTwitterand onFacebook.

[View in Council Newsroom]

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December 1, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

Rasmussen Announces Funds to Pursue Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial Project

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/1/2015

Rasmussen Announces Funds to Pursue Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial Project
Announcement made at World AIDS Day breakfast this morning

SEATTLE - Councilmember Tom Rasmussen today announced the City Council has dedicated $75,000 to initiate a planning process to create a Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial. Those funds would be directly matched by a community organization, which would take a leadership role in planning and proposing an appropriate memorial.

Nearly 4,000 Seattleites died in the first two decades of the AIDS epidemic, and a history of both the crisis and the community's response has not been comprehensively collected, recorded or presented.  Councilmember Rasmussen sponsored the memorial proposal after listening to advocates involved in the early days of the epidemic who felt that the history and the stories of the lives that were lost be chronicled.

"The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) is deeply honored to participate in planning for a Seattle memorial to preserve the stories of those who lost their lives during the AIDS crisis, and to share the important lessons that we learned," said Leonard Garfield, Executive Director of MOHAI. "We will work to engage the entire community to help envision the memorial, to share the stories that it will honor, and to help raise funds to meet the city's generous initial contribution."

"We need to create a memorial worthy of those who died and of those worked creatively, tirelessly and fearlessly to help those diagnosed with the HIV virus," said Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, the proposal's sponsor. "The AIDS crisis personally touched my life, and the memories of those lost deserve to live on."

The planning process, which includes a requirement that the $75,000 in City funds be matched, will be put to bid in early 2016.  MOHAI, or whichever qualified organization receives the funds, will be expected to:

  • Convene and staff an advisory committee of diverse community members familiar with or involved in the response to the AIDS crises;
  • Conduct a series of public focus groups to gather input about the character of a legacy/memorial project;
  • Engage artists, design and engineering professionals and historians and curators to develop concepts;
  • Prepare collateral materials to share options of a legacy/memorial project;
  • Produce a final report that outlines scale, location, timeline, financial information, and other components of the project; and
  • Complete preliminary research and present legacy/memorial options to the advisory committee which would reach consensus on a recommended legacy/memorial project and course of action.

 

"Seattle stepped up during the most devastating epidemic of our time, to show the rest of the country how the community can care for each other," said Michele Hasson. "Seattle's response to this crisis deserves to be memorialized, and I'm thankful that we're moving toward a lasting memorial."

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Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live on Seattle Channel 21, HD Channels 321 Comcast, 721 Wave 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.

[View in Council Newsroom]