Author: Benjamin Peterson (Benjamin Peterson)

The People’s Assembly on February 27, 2016, was an exciting, inspiring event that reinvigorated the fight to end homelessness here in Seattle. More than 400 people packed into City Hall to hear our panel discussion on how we can end homelessness, and engage in organizing workshops on an impressive variety of issues, and to point the […]

This year, let International Women’s Day be a renewed call to people around the world to join the struggle against women’s oppression. Every day, millions of women face down sexual violence, domestic violence, disproportional household  obligations, and severe economic inequality  – including, here in the US, an extreme pay gap, tip penalties, and egregiously low minimum wages. Yesterday, […]

On February 27, 2016, residents of Camp Dearborn, a homeless encampment in Seattle, spoke to the People’s Assembly about the struggles of being homeless, how the city has failed their community in the past, and what we need to demand to win the fight against homelessness here in Seattle. Thank you, everybody. It’s great to […]

This month, I will be sharing highlights from the People’s Assembly that we hosted on February 27, 2016. Here are my introductory remarks. Thank you Adam, for your inspiring opening of the Assembly. I also wanted to thank Adam and all of our staff members—Rebekah, Ben, and Ted—for doing most of the organizing for this event, and, indeed, all […]

This month, I will be sharing highlights from the People’s Assembly that we hosted on February 27, 2016. Adam Ziemkowski, one of my Legislative Aides, opened the People’s Assembly with the following speech. Welcome to the first People’s Assembly in the city of Seattle! It is so fantastic to see so many people here. My name is […]

El día 22 de Febrero del 2016, en el Consejo de la Ciudad de Seattle, por unanimidad se aprobó la Resolución mia que hace un llamado a las autoridades del Estado de Guerrero y al Gobierno Federal Mexicano para que dé fin a la detención ilegal y prolongada de la residente del área metropolitana de Seattle, […]

On February 22, 2016, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed my resolution calling on authorities in the State of Guerrero and in the Mexican Federal Government to end the illegal detention of longtime greater Seattle resident Nestora Salgado, and calling on the U.S. State Department to prioritize Nestora’s release in its diplomatic discussions with Mexico. The full text […]

On February 16, 2016, I invited small business owners, residents, and community leaders from the Central District to discuss the impact of the construction project on the 23rd Avenue corridor. The situation on 23rd Ave is a microcosm of how our city responds to gentrification. Infrastructure developments are necessary. So is making and keeping Seattle affordable for […]

On February 16, 2016, Council discussed the $2.3 million that activists won during the last budget cycle for shelter space and homelessness in general. In the discussion, I once again asked my colleagues to support spending $10 million from the Emergency Subfund to fund the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness’ plan for 1,000 addition shelter beds. […]