I’ve been inspired by yesterday’s poverty strike of fast-food workers who walked off their jobs to protest for better pay and working conditions. In order to help prevent potential retaliation from their employers, I joined community members in walking workers back to their jobs last night and this morning. I had a chance to talk […]
Category: Councilmember O’Brien
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Councilmembers to host discussion on Targeted Hiring for city-funded capital projects
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/21/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmembers to host discussion on Targeted Hiring for city-funded capital projects
SEATTLE - Join Councilmembers and a p...
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City Council improves access to low-income electricity rate assistance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/20/2013
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
City Council improves access to
low-income electricity rate assistance
Tenants in qualified low-income housing can now be automatically enrolled in
City Light's Utility Discount Program
SEATTLE - Seattle City Council adopted electricity rate assistance legislation today to simplify access for low-income City Light customers. Seattle City Light will partner with low-income housing providers to get tenants into the program more quickly and with less hassle.
"The single best way for any City Light customers to manage their bills is to conserve energy. But we know that some customers are still struggling to make ends meet, and this legislation makes rate assistance more accessible for people who really need it," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien, sponsor of the legislation. "Many customers in low-income housing are eligible for utility rate assistance by the fact that they qualify for the type of housing they are in. This fix simplifies the process for the customer and the utility and will help get more people enrolled."
Seattle City Light's Utility Discount Program reduces electricity rates by approximately 60% for eligible low-income customers. The legislation approved by Council allows the utility to use information from certain affordable housing providers to enroll eligible customers, rather than requiring those tenants to proactively apply for the discount. Simplifying the application process is expected to help enroll customers who were previously unaware of this benefit.
"With the City Council's action today, City Light will streamline the application process for customers who are most in need, allowing them to apply for the rate discount program at the same time as they apply for affordable housing," City Light General Manager Jorge Carrasco said. "This is just one part of the major effort underway as part of our Strategic Plan to assist customers who are having difficulty with their bills. In addition to increasing enrollment in the rate discount program, we are also helping them better manage their energy use through home energy visits and other conservation measures."
Non-profit affordable housing groups must meet federal and / or state guidelines for low-income operations, each agency must enter into a signed agreement with Seattle City Light, and the program will undergo periodic audits.
City Light customers interested in applying for the Utility Discount Program can also do so here: www.seattle.gov/humanservices/benefits/udp.htm
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Recapping the SLU rezone that Council adopted
Yesterday, the Seattle City Council voted on a final package for the rezone. Below is a summary of what we voted to do in light of what we heard from constituents and stakeholders over the past few months. This legislation represents a great step for Seattle. The land use changes will add capacity in the […]
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Seattle City Council passes South Lake Union rezone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/6/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Mike O'...
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City Council Town Hall Meeting on Climate Action Tomorrow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/6/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Tim Burgess
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Councilmember Nick Li...
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City Councilmembers to vote on gun safety public health funding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/30/2013
City Councilmembers to vote on gun safety public health funding
Seattle - The City Council's Government Performance and Finance Committee will consider tomorrow morning an amendment to budget legislation to fund ...
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Councilmember O’Brien’s statement on opting out of yellow pages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/25/2013
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember O'Brien's statement on opting out of yellow pages
Consumers should opt-out at www.yellowpagesoptout.com by May 6th
to meet upcoming delivery deadline
Seattle -- The City of Seattle and yellow pages publishers recently reached an agreement to provide residents and businesses easy control of the delivery of yellow pages directories to their homes through www.yellowpagesoptout.com. Seattle Councilmember Mike O'Brien issued the following statement in response:
I encourage Seattleites who are still receiving yellow pages directories to go to www.yellowpagesoptout.com. May 6 is the deadline for opting out of Dex yellow pages directories, if they have not done so already. There they can set their preferences so they only receive the directories they want, or they can opt out of all directories at once.
I thank the industry for agreeing to honor all existing opt outs and for taking significant steps to develop this nationwide opt-out system, which has participation from all major publishers, a new user-friendly interface and a complaint system where concerned residents can get quick, reliable feedback.
"Residents who already opted out of yellow pages directories will not need to opt out again, maintaining the savings of over 1,000 tons of paper that we accomplished through our previous system."
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Opt out of yellow pages by May 6!
The City of Seattle and yellow pages publishers recently reached an agreement to provide residents and businesses easy control of the delivery of yellow pages directories to their homes through www.YellowPagesOptOut.com. I encourage any Seattelites who are still receiving yellow pages directories to go to www.YellowPagesOptOut.com. May 6 is the deadline for opting out of […]
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City Council Strengthens Affordable Housing Program in South Lake Union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/22/2013
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 Strengthens Affordable Housing Program
in South Lake Union
Consensus built around the need for more affordable workforce housing in the neighborhood
Seattle -- The Seattle City Council South Lake Union Committee voted unanimously on an amendment to produce more workforce affordable housing in the South Lake Union (SLU) neighborhood by strengthening the incentive zoning program. The agreement is a compromise between two existing amendments offered by Councilmembers, which were introduced in last week's SLU Committee meeting. Consensus was built around the need to strengthen the incentive zoning program without discouraging development.
"Today's decision is an important, modest step toward securing more affordable workforce housing in South Lake Union, so that people at all income levels who work in the neighborhood have a chance to live there," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien. "This is a community of opportunity where the city is investing over $500 million in public infrastructure, and I think it only fair that the benefits of this redevelopment are shared more broadly."
The legislation to strengthen incentive zoning includes a 43% increase in the residential pay-in-lieu price (from $15.15 to $21.68), effectively immediately, and a 33% increase in the commercial price that will be phased in over eighteen months (to $29.71). These prices are paid on a percent of square-foot basis in exchange for additional height and building capacity. Collectively, these provisions will produce an estimated 733 units of workforce housing in and near the neighborhood. The original legislation would have created an estimated 406 units.
"After collaborating with local businesses and affordable housing advocates, we crafted a sensible solution that goes far beyond the Mayor's status quo proposal and brings affordable workforce housing to the City's hottest real estate market," said Councilmember Tim Burgess. "Now many more nurses, school teachers, construction workers and other working families can call this booming neighborhood home."
"The Council's adjustments in this legislation and the overall commitment to seeing workforce-priced units actually built in these developments will help more working people find homes in South Lake Union near jobs and transit," said Council President Sally J. Clark. "That's good for employees and good for employers."
"The new Affordable Housing Amendment reflects a collaborative and inclusive decision-making process with developers and affordable housing advocates. The Council applied the Race and Social Justice Initiative lens to ensure we were having an honest debate on equity. Council honored its promise of delivering on-site affordable workforce units in this neighborhood," said Councilmember Bruce Harrell.
"These amendments strengthen one of our tools to generate more workforce housing in South Lake Union," said Councilmember Richard Conlin, chair of the Special Committee on South Lake Union. "I look forward to working with stakeholders and housing experts to both refine our incentive zoning program and also increase the supply of affordable housing city-wide."
"It all goes back to why so many people come to Seattle -- they come because we are a city of inclusive neighborhoods, not just a copy of someplace else. A strengthened incentive zoning program reaffirms our commitment to inclusive and affordable neighborhoods," said Councilmember Jean Godden.
"These amendments, while not a bold leap, are reasonable steps in the right direction. This is only a modest beginning for making housing in Seattle more affordable for average folks," said Councilmember Nick Licata. "We cannot continue to see workers forced to move ever further from the city and drive long distances to work here. The solution is clearly to require developers to provide substantially more affordable housing."
The Council last updated the incentive zoning program in 2008, establishing the goal of producing 5% of affordable workforce residential units in the neighborhood of the development. The Council will also consider similar fee adjustments to the downtown incentive housing program to take effect in 2014.
"Even with this step, we need to go further by engaging in the process laid out in Resolution 31444 to review and update of Seattle's incentive zoning and other affordable housing programs, so we can begin to bridge the gap between our affordable housing needs and the amount we are currently producing," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien.
City Council plans to vote on the full South Lake Union rezone proposal at the May 6 Full Council meeting at 2:00pm in Council Chambers.