With the first quarter of 2013 now in our rear-view, here is a report on some of the things I have been working on. City Light and Energy Efficiency: Our efforts to help the poorest Seattleites with their energy bills—through bill reduction, energy efficiency work in their homes, or both—have really ramped up. We have […]
Category: Councilmember O’Brien
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Seven remaining Councilmembers announce candidacy for Mayor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/1/2013
Councilmember Richard Conlin
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Jean Godden
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Seven remaining Councilmembers announce candidacy for Mayor
Will run as collective
Seattle -- The seven Councilmembers who are not already in the race for Mayor today announced that they will pioneer a new model for Seattle governance by running for Mayor as a collective. The seven will appear on the ballot as a single name, "O'Bagcloddenconrasita," reflecting their collegial approach to the position.
"Experience teaches us that seven heads are better than one," said the group speaking in unison. "Seven of nine is an excellent model for decision-making," they commented, making the obligatory geeky Star Trek allusion.
"This way the people of Seattle will know that there will always be a Mayor on the job," O'Bagcloddenconrasita added. "By taking shifts, we can cover the Mayor's office 24-7. And the Mayor can lobby in Olympia, cut a ribbon in West Seattle, and hold a town meeting in Ballard, all at the same time."
Commenting on the legality of the proposed candidacy, City Attorney Pete Holmes was sanguine about the outcome of any possible court challenge. "Nothing in the City Charter prevents innovative approaches to governance," Holmes added. "Furthermore, this will make it much easier to get a Mayoral signature on City documents."
The group noted that the departure of seven Councilmembers simultaneously would make it difficult to do business and fill the seven vacancies on the Council, since there would not be a quorum remaining. However, the group agreed that this could easily be resolved by the use of serial resignations spaced one week apart between the election and taking office on January 1. That way, each week eight Councilmembers could conduct business and appoint someone to the vacant seat. By the end of December, seven new Councilmembers would be seated and join Mayor O'Bagcloddenconrasita in governing the City.
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Exploring Targeted Local Hire
This weekend, Got Green and the Construction Jobs Equity Coalition are hosting a Community Jobs Forum to discuss the idea of a Targeted Local Hire campaign. The idea behind local hire is to ensure that local residents access the work created by our local tax dollars. Targeted Local Hire would goes one step further by […]
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Finding the right price in South Lake Union
For the past several weeks, the Council has been considering affordable housing provisions in South Lake Union (and I’ve written up my thinking on the topic here and here). As we approach our final decisions on the rezone, how we address affordable housing is one of the biggest choices we have left to make. In [...]
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Affordable housing is good for the environment
Urban density is important, especially for meeting our environmental goals as a city. The exercise of developing our Climate Action Plan over the past year has been one of ascertaining not if Seattle should develop into a denser city, but how. This includes shortening distances between where people live, work and play. When we do [...]
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Public Financing – a tradition of democracy in Seattle
Yesterday, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) convened to discuss a proposal for Public Financing of local elections in Seattle. During public testimony, John King from Washington Public Campaigns reminded the Commission that though exciting and complex, public financing of local elections is not a new idea. In fact, the public financing option has [...]
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An opportunity for more workforce housing in South Lake Union
Seattle needs more workforce housing. Specifically, I am referring to housing that people earning 60%-80% of the area median income (AMI) can reasonably afford to live in. Based on the City’s Office of Housing chart on AMI and affordability, that’s housing that a family of four earning between $52,000 and $64,000 per year can reasonably [...]
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Council shouldn’t wait to strengthen affordable housing requirements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/4/2013
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O’Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Council shouldn't wait to strengthen affordable housing requirements
Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata, Mike ...
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Recap and next steps on the Climate Action Plan
This week, the Seattle City Council and the Office of Sustainability & Environment completed the final of three public forums to discuss the Climate Action Plan. At our first forum, Making Energy Use Visible, we heard from guest panelists Brian Geller (2030 District and Green Ribbon Commission member), Aaron Fairchild (Green Canopy Homes) and Michael [...]
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Seattle City Council explores public campaign financing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/14/2013
Council President Sally J. Clark
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Council explores public campaign financing
National experts to share academ...