FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/23/2013
Mayor Mike McGinn
Council President Sally Clark
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata
Council Passes Resolution Supporting Construction Careers
SEATTLE - Council passed Resolution 31485 today, e...
Improving energy efficiency in your household is a sound investment – saving money and energy, and making your home healthier. But for those that can’t afford the initial investment, weatherization services are often beyond reach. But what if they were free? As it turns out, the City has a very successful and long-running weatherization program […]
City Council is nearing adoption on a resolution intended to help make sure that when we spend city dollars on public construction projects, we look to hire locally first. And not just hiring locally, but to hire those folks from our community who are out of work or face other barriers to getting work – […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7/22/2013
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Council targets neighborhood flooding using green technologies
SEATTLE - City Council set a target to prevent flooding around Seattle's drains and pipes by capturing stormwater and reducing rain runoff by implementing emerging green technologies. This "Green Stormwater Infrastructure" (GSI) includes raingardens, vegetated roofs, rainwater harvesting and use of permeable pavement in Seattle neighborhoods.
The City will strive to manage 700 million gallons of stormwater annually with GSI methods by 2025, approximately 1,000 gallons per Seattle resident. Seattle's sewer and stormwater system can back up during heavy rainfall, and GSI is intended to mimic natural processes by absorbing stormwater flow.
"These green technologies improve water quality, control stormwater, prevent flooding and protect creeks," said Councilmember Jean Godden. "Neighborhood beautification and increased greenery is just one of many bonuses that come with it."
GSI can provide community benefits such as an increased tree canopy, improved pedestrian safety, new small business opportunities, improvements to streetscapes or bikeways that provide appreciable economic and aesthetic value and climate mitigation and adaptation value.
"Seattle has been a national leader in the development and delivery of high-performing GSI projects and programs for more than a decade," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien. "GSI is a critical aspect of a sustainable drainage system."
The Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) will coordinate an interdepartmental effort to develop and deliver a "2025 GSI Implementation Strategy" by June 30, 2014.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7/10/2013
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmembers to host discussion of fast food workers' issues
in wake of May 30 strikes
Brownbag event will feature workers and policy experts on condit...
After working for three years to reduce the distribution of unwanted yellow pages phone books in Seattle, guess what was left on my porch yesterday? A re-usable bag with two phone books in it. Whoops! In April, the City signed a Statement of Shared Principles with the yellow pages industry, signaling their good-faith effort to […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/24/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Council Votes on Bill to Restore
Publicly Financed Elections in Seattle
Proposal to be sent to voters in November
Seattle - City Council voted on legislation today to restore public financing for local elections. Seattle was the first municipality in the country to introduce public financing, also called "voter-owned elections," in 1979, but has not had an operating program since 1992. The proposal will now be sent to Seattle voters on the November ballot.
Public financing is a system in which qualifying campaigns are funded in part with public dollars in order to increase the number of candidates running for office and increase the role of small donors in the electoral process. The Council's public financing proposal would only apply to City Council races and would be instituted in the 2015 elections.
"I'm looking forward to the robust debate about the role of money in politics in the months ahead," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien.
To opt into the program, candidates must first qualify by collecting contributions of $10 or more from at least 600 Seattle residents. Once qualified, donations up to $50 would be matched six-to-one on the first $35,000 raised. Candidates who fully utilize the matching system would receive $210,000 in public funds throughout the entire campaign, split between the primary and general elections. Voters would be asked to approve a 6-year, $9 million property tax levy to finance the program, which would cost an estimated $2 million per year, or about $5.76 for a home valued at $350,000. Candidates would have the option to run for office without participating in the public financing program.
In December 2012, Councilmembers Sally J. Clark, Nick Licata, Mike O'Brien and Tom Rasmussen sent a letter to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) asking the body to recommend a public financing model that meets three goals: (1) increases electoral competitiveness, (2) reduces financial barriers to entry for candidates and (3) increases the role and emphasis of small donors in the electoral process. In March, the SEEC delivered its recommendations to Council for consideration, over which the City Council's Public Campaign Finance Committee has been deliberating since April.
Seattle had partial public financing of campaigns in 1979 and 1981, and from 1987-1991. In 1992, state Initiative 134 passed, prohibiting public financing. In 2008 the State legislature adopted legislation allowing local jurisdictions to establish programs to publicly finance campaigns, if approved by a public vote, and the funding is derived from local sources only.
Later this afternoon, Seattle City Council is going to vote on an ordinance that would ask voters if they want to restore a public financing model to Seattle City Council elections. Democracy is at its best when candidates can focus on the important issues facing our city, instead of who can raise the most money. […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/17/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
City Council Adopts Bold Climate Action Plan
Plan provides pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050
Seattle - Seattle City Council voted unanimously to adopt Seattle's Climate Action Plan (Resolution 31447) today. The Climate Action Plan is composed of recommended actions to be taken to meet Seattle's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
The Seattle Climate Action Plan is the result of a three year collaborative effort between the City and community to produce a blueprint for a prosperous and climate-friendly city. "With this bold plan to reduce our carbon emissions now in place, we must now get to work on implementing the actions called for in the plan," said City Councilmember Mike O'Brien. "In the Energy & Environment Committee, we will begin exploring how to make energy use more visible to consumers and developing the tools we need to improve Seattle's home and building energy performance."
The Climate Action Plan includes specific short- and long-term actions the City needs to meet its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. For example, the transportation sector accounts for 40% of Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions, but the biggest challenge Seattle faces to reducing emissions in this sector is funding. The plan calls for new funding sources like extending the Bridging the Gap levy and securing local authority for a motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) to help improve bus service and reliability, invest in improvements that make it easier and safer to walk or bike and take steps to build out the region's light rail system. The plan also calls for supporting the adoption of low carbon vehicles and fuels.
In the building energy section, the Plan calls for accelerating Seattle's already strong conservation work by enhancing the tracking of utility use, providing better energy performance information to building owners and users, and generally help to improve the public's understanding and manage their energy consumption. Additionally, the Plan calls for getting the right mix of policies and incentives to spur retrofitting in Seattle's housing stock and commercial buildings.
"Making Seattle carbon neutral is an audacious goal that takes time, hard work, creativity and the commitment of the City, business community and Seattle residents," said City Councilmember Richard Conlin. "We have laid out the path to meet this preeminent moral challenge of our time and we will lead the way to secure the future for generations to come."
"We must ready the city's infrastructure for climate change meanwhile leading in reducing carbon emissions," said City Councilmember Jean Godden. "Recycling and composting, as well as preparing for more intense rainstorm episodes with green stormwater infrastructure, are the first steps my committee will take."
"This policy document sets very ambitious environmental goals to stride towards, 62% and 91% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 and 2050 in the vehicle and building energy sectors. At each step, our strategies to reach these targets must go through the lens of the Race and Social Justice Initiative. In order to get residents and businesses to support climate action and include it as a part of their lives, we must be inclusive in our education and outreach with all communities," said City Councilmember Bruce Harrell.
"While I'm pleased that Council adopted the Plan today, we know the real work is just beginning," said Jill Simmons, Director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment.
The Plan focuses on three sectors where the City of Seattle can have the greatest influence in reducing carbon emissions: transportation and land use, building energy and solid waste. The Plan also includes a section outlining how the City should prepare for the impacts of climate disruption we expect to occur, as well a section on actions individuals can take to reduce emissions through purchasing decisions.
The Climate Action Plan can be viewed online at: http://www.seattle.gov/environment/climate_plan.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/13/2013
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmembers to host discussion of fast food workers' issues
in wake of May 30 strikes
Brownbag event will feature workers and policy experts on conditions facing workers
and what industry trends could mean for Seattle
Seattle - The May 30th "Strike Poverty" day of action, which included hundreds of fast food workers and impacted dozens of restaurants across Seattle, raised questions and concerns about the job security and working conditions facing low-wage fast food workers in Seattle. City Councilmembers O'Brien and Licata will host a "brownbag" discussion to continue exploring the issues raised by striking fast food workers. Councilmembers will discuss the growth of poverty-wage jobs and hear from fast food workers and policy experts about a range of workplace issues, including illegally withholding wages or the denial of benefits owed to an employee, or "wage theft", health and safety concerns, and threats of retaliation by managers for union organizing.
"It often falls on local governments to help the working poor meet their basic needs. As an elected official, I have a responsibility to hear more about the issues these workers raised on May 30th. From subsidized housing to energy assistance to health care, these workers' struggles impact all of us," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien.
"This will be an opportunity for me and my colleagues and to hear more from the workers who took a huge risk in walking off the job to speak out for better pay and working conditions in the fast food industry," Councilmember Nick Licata said.
The brownbag will be held on Thursday, July 11 from 12:00-1:30 in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall (map). Council will invite workers to share their experiences and insights on working in the industry and the challenges they face. A local representative from the National Employment Law Project will discuss findings from a report on wage theft and other labor law violations many low-income workers regularly experience.
The public is welcome to join the conversation and there will be an opportunity for comments, questions and feedback on the presentations or by email in advance: council@seattle.gov