FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/6/2014
Full Council Vote on Taxi, For-Hire Legislation Postponed
Seattle - Councilmember Sally J. Clark, Chair of the Committee on Taxi, For-Hire and Limousine Regulations announced today that the Full Council vote, ori...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/4/2014
Councilmember Kshama Sawant
Councilmember Jean Godden
Sawant, Godden Recognize Women's History Month
Fight for Economic Opportunities, Reduce the Gender Gap
SEATTLE -- Councilmember Kshama Sawant and Councilmember Jean Godden issued the following statement regarding Women's History Month observed in March and the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8. The Councilmembers salute all the women who struggle and have struggled for women's rights around the globe, and the fight to reduce the gender gap to provide economic opportunities for women:
"Every gain for women's rights was won through struggle. Our fight for a $15/hour minimum wage in Seattle is fundamentally a fight for women's rights," said Sawant. "Two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women and one in five are mothers. Women are nearly two thirds of tipped workers and we must fight for a living wage for all workers, not based on the generosity of others."
Sawant cited the findings of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United: "Lowering the minimum wage for tipped workers is essentially creating legalized gender inequity in the restaurant industry and allowing a tip penalty would exacerbate the gender wage gap. Working women and people of color need $15/hour without tip penalties and we need it now."
The Restaurant Opportunities Center United also points out that female servers are paid 68 percent of the wage received by males, whereas African American women workers are making only 60 percent of what their male counterparts earn."A higher minimum wage is a powerful tool towards reducing income disparity between women and men," says Councilmember Godden (chair of the Council Committee overseeing Gender Equity. "Our city wants to be the best at bridging this gap; right now we have one of the worst gender wage gaps in the country."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/25/2014
Councilmember Sally J. Clark
Town Hall on Minimum Wage & Income Inequality announced
Seattle - City Councilmembers will host a Town Hall on Wednesday, March 5 to hear input from the public relating to raising the minimum wage in Seattle. The meeting will be jointly-sponsored with the Mayor's Income Inequality Advisory Committee. This will be the first official public forum for Seattleites to share their thoughts on the concept of raising the city's minimum wage.
Each member of the public will have up to 2 minutes to address Councilmembers, committee members and the town hall audience. Public comment sign-up sheets will be available in the building's lobby at 5:00 p.m.
The City Council's Select Committee on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality will have the second of nine scheduled meetings to discuss the issue on Friday, March 21 at 9:30 a.m. in City Council Chambers. For future meeting dates, visit the Council's Minimum Wage webpage (meetings are subject to change). A video recording of the hearing will be available on the webpage after 4 p.m. on Friday, March 7.
WHAT:
Public Hearing on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality
WHEN:
6 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 5
WHERE:
Town Hall Seattle
Great Hall (enter on 8th Avenue)
1119 Eighth Avenue
Seattle 98101
WHO:
Seattle City Councilmembers
Mayor's Income Inequality Advisory Committee
Public
Translation and Interpretation services available upon request. Please contact Josh Fogt at (206) 233-3811.
Korean: "요청하시면 번역이나 통역을 제공해드립니다."'
Vietnamese: "Dịch và thông dich sẵn sàng nếu có sự yêu cầu"
Spanish: "Servicios de traducción e interpretación disponibles bajo petición"
Somali: "Adeega Turjubaanka waxaa lagu heli karaa codsasho"
Tagalog: "Matutulungan ka naming maintindihan kung hihingi ka ng tulong"
Mandarin: "我們可以提供翻譯服務"
Cantonese: "我们可以提供翻译服务"
Parking on-site is limited. Attendees are encouraged to walk, bike or take public transit.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/28/2014
Councilmember Kshama Sawant
Councilmember Sawant, community activists urge Harborview to end harassment of immigrant custodians
SEATTLE - Councilmember Kshama Sawant delivered a letter to the Harborview Medical Center administration in solidarity with Harborview custodians, requesting the institution rectify charges of racial harassment and intimidation of custodial staff. Her office met with 40 custodians employed at Harborview where they face hostile working conditions, receive less pay, and face threats of termination for lack of English language proficiency.
"The hostile working conditions for Harborview custodians is outrageous," said Sawant. "Discrimination, be it on the basis of race, language, or gender, is unacceptable and hurts ALL workers." Further she pledged: "If UW Medicine custodians at Harborview have to resort to public actions to win justice, I pledge to march at their side."
In her letter, Sawant requested that the custodians at Harborview receive back pay and that the Haborview administration take steps to ensure a harassment-free atmosphere for custodial staff.
The Coalition of Refugee and Immigrant Communities issued a statement asking for support "to resolve this unfair targeting of immigrants and refugees at Harborview."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/28/2014
Ceremony to unveil "Rev. Dr. S. McKinney Ave." honorary street sign
Seattle - Join Seattle City Councilmembers Bruce Harrell and Tom Rasmussen as they honor Reverend Dr. Samuel B. McKinney in a ceremony following Sunday service at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Dr. McKinney, the keynote speaker for the service, will unveil recently-installed street signs to honorarily name a portion of 19th Avenue as "Rev. Dr. S. McKinney Ave." Councilmembers, Executive Constantine, Mayor Murray, and community members will also deliver remarks.
WHAT:
Ceremony to unveil "Rev. Dr. S. McKinney Ave." honorary street sign
WHEN:
Sunday, March 2, 2014, 1:00 p.m. after Mt. Zion Baptist Church services
WHERE:
Corner of 19th Avenue and E. Madison St.
Outside Mt. Zion Baptist Church
WHO:
Reverend Dr. Samuel B. McKinney
King County Executive Dow Constantine
Mayor Ed Murray
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
King County Councilmember Larry Gossett
Seattle Human Rights Commission
Seattle/King County NAACP
United Black Christian Clergy of Washington
Black Heritage Society of Washington State
The Washington Foundation
Community Members
Public
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/25/2014
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Harrell to host Police Disciplinary Review Process discussion at committee
Seattle - City Councilmember Bruce Harrell will convene a Special Public Safety, Civil Rights, and Technology committee meeting this Wednesday to discuss the Police Chief's disciplinary review process and the Office of Professional Accountability's investigative review of police misconduct.
The purpose of the committee meeting is to hold an open and transparent discussion regarding the following issues:
"As we implement the Department of Justice's Settlement Agreement and search for a new permanent Police Chief, we must send a clear signal that police misconduct will not be tolerated," said Councilmember Harrell, chair of the Council's Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee. "There must be a transparent system with appropriate checks and balances."
Councilmember Harrell has invited the following representatives:
WHAT:
Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee
WHEN:
2:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 26
WHERE:
Council Chambers, 2nd floor
Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 98104
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/21/2014
Mayor Ed Murray
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Murray, O'Brien call for scrutiny on oil train transport plan
City leaders calls for disclosure, risk assessment and updated response plans to ensure public safety and environmental protection
SEATTLE - Mayor Ed Murray and City Councilmember Mike O'Brien urge the adoption of a new resolution calling for increased scrutiny and new regulations for a proposal to increase oil exports by rail through Seattle. The resolution calls for local, state and federal agencies to work together and urges disclosure, risk assessments and emergency response plans in preparation for increased risks associated with oil train transport through Seattle.
The resolution will be discussed and possibly come to a committee vote in the Planning Land Use and Sustainability Committee today, Friday, February 21 at 2pm in Council Chambers.
"The safety of our city and state are what is ultimately important here," said Murray "It's important to know what's travelling through our area to maintain that safety. This resolution will help us make informed choices about oil train transportation to protect our residents."
"Obviously the public safety concerns are critical, but we must also prepare for the environmental impacts of potential oil spills," said O'Brien, Chair of the Planning, Land Use and Sustainability Committee. "I continue to have grave concerns over what this drastic expansion in fossil fuel exports would mean for climate change."
Resolution 31504 includes five key components:
"Recent oil train derailments highlight the risky business of moving oil through our cities. Yet local governments, first responders, and the public lack basic information on the amount, the type, and ways in which oil is moving through their towns," said Rebecca Ponzio of Washington Environmental Council. "This is an unacceptable risk when communities like Seattle have oil trains going underneath downtown."
"Our research suggests that oil is far and away the fastest growing type of freight hauled by rail, and that the volume of oil we are talking about potentially shipping through the Northwest would be nearly as much as the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline," said Eric de Place of the Sightline Institute.
The cities of Spokane and Bellingham, as well as Whatcom Counties have passed similar resolutions. If adopted in committee today, the recommendation will go on to Full Council for adoption as early as March 3.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/18/2014
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Harrell to host community meeting regarding the Community Police Commission and the Office for Civil Rights
Seattle - City Councilmember Bruce Harrell will host a spec...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/12/2014
Affordable Housing Forum to address increasing rents, highlight innovative solutions
Seattle - City Council will host a Workforce Housing Forum to discuss Seattle's affordable housing needs and the best methods t...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/10/2014
Council President Tim Burgess
Council takes step toward annexation of "Sliver by the River," "Duwamish Triangle"
Resolution expresses intent to petition for a vote of the residents
SEATTLE - City Council approved a resolution this afternoon, with the Mayor concurring, to allow the residents in unincorporated area along the Duwamish Waterway to vote to join the City of Seattle. The City's proposal will now go before the Boundary Review Board for King County, which must consider whether to advance it to the approximately 103 registered voters in this area, commonly referred to as the South Park Sliver by the River and the Duwamish Industrial Triangle.
"When you look at the map and the cultural boundaries of the South Park neighborhood, it just makes sense to give these residents a chance to be a part of the City of Seattle and to receive City services," said Council President Tim Burgess. "A 'yes' vote would solve a longstanding anomaly in our City limits."
"I believe it makes sense for this area to join the City," said Mayor Ed Murray. "I also believe it makes sense to give these residents the chance to decide the issue."
The State Growth Management Act and County planning policies both encourage the transition of unincorporated urbanized areas to cities. According to an analysis by the City Budget Office, revenues from the area are expected to be sufficient to fund the area's annual service needs. The City will continue discussions with King County officials and local service providers regarding the future of the adjacent unincorporated North Highline neighborhood.
"South Park is a cohesive neighborhood that has long had an artificial barrier between its incorporated and unincorporated parts," said Dagmar Cronn, President of the South Park Neighborhood Association. "We are so grateful to the City Councilmembers and the Mayor for setting this annexation process in motion. Soon, all of us will receive the same fast police, fire and medical help when it is needed."
The last annexation by the City of Seattle occurred in 1986, when City limits expanded to include a nearby area known as Central Heights along Myers Way South.