Today Council President Sara Nelson (Position 9) announced that she will stand up a special committee on federal policy changes. In a statement she provided the following details:

It’s my responsibility as an elected official and as Seattle City Council President to make sure every one of my constituents feels safe, particularly our most vulnerable communities who are being targeted by the onslaught of executive orders on a daily basis.

We’re all seeing the chaos and uncertainty in Washington, D.C. but we’re focused on stability here.  Our constituents deserve to know that we are not only paying attention, but have a viable plan to protect our people, community resources, and basic government services.

As Council President, I welcome ideas like the select committee, which will provide us structure as we endeavor to protect the broader Seattle community. I want to thank Councilmember Rinck for bringing this forward and I’m looking forward to partnering with her on the critical issues ahead. We are One Seattle and that’s how this Council operates.  

Background

Since the federal government transition began last week, state and local governments have voiced concern over a flurry of executive orders and abrupt policy changes. These issues have created unprecedented legal and funding questions in a number of jurisdictions and high anxiety and fear among many of our constituents.

Next steps

A formal memo creating a “Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes,” which includes all nine members of the Council, has been distributed to the Legislative Department. The select committee’s first meeting date is expected in early March.

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