Category: Councilmember Bagshaw

In 2011 my friend Rep. Cindy Ryu drafted a bill to give cities authority to reduce city street speeds. The bill was based on research coming out of the UK and our own local friends in Portland among others, confirming why a “20 is Plenty” plan reduces injuries and accidents for all modes of traffic and brings […]

On September 8 in my Human Services and Public Health committee we explored the conditions of being homeless in Seattle.  National experts offered their research and recommendations here: Barb Poppe, Focus Strategies, and the Mayor’s Pathways Home reports. You can watch the Seattle Channel video of the meeting attended by a majority of my Council colleagues here. We know that […]

In 1979 when I had my second child, I worked at a local university. I gave birth to my son early Wednesday morning, and had to be back to the office the following Saturday morning to finish a legal brief. Yes, I had some unpaid time thereafter to stay home with him, but those six weeks passed […]

Today at our Public Health Board meeting I learned a fact that may help me build my first bridge with the NRA: State wide in 2014, 1119 people took their own lives.  Nearly half —  551 — of these people shot themselves. Sadly, King County has one of the highest firearm suicide statistics in the […]

I must have said this a thousand times: Seattle needs more public restrooms. We have them in some of our parks.  Why not Downtown? Yes, I am well aware that we have “tried this before”.  We should try it again and look south to San Francisco for a successful model. The City of San Francisco […]

This day, June 20, 2016 we are recognizing  worldwide Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) Awareness day.  Why, you might ask? Muscular Dystrophy causes the progressive deterioration of the muscles in the arms, back, legs and face, often robbing its victims of their health and independence. Most people who are affected by FSHD are unable to lift their arms […]

After our visit to the San Francisco Navigation Center, our Seattle coalition — including King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles, representatives from the Human Services Department, the Neighborhood Safety Alliance, the If Project, and Columbia Legal Services — walked to the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Integrated Buprenorphine Intervention Service Center (IBIS Center) The opioid […]

“You make me feel like a human again,” a woman confided to a Union Gospel Mission’s Search & Rescue Team (Team) member after receiving a new blanket, some fresh bottled water and something to eat. Speaking fondly and respectfully of the people that he’d met in Greenbelt, UGM Team member Brian proudly showed off a […]

Last month King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles and I went to San Francisco with a number of local friends to learn more about how San Francisco is assisting people who are living on the streets and struggling with drug addiction. National best practices can be emulated here in Seattle.  Combining a “housing first” approach with […]