Contact: Dana Robinson Slote, Council Communications, 206-615-0061 SEATTLE – Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle), Chair of the Council’s Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee, issued an open letter to CEO Jeff Bezos following this morning’s meeting of Whole Foods’ shareholders and subsequent vote to approve deal with Amazon.com asking that he convene a […]

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park) shared the following remarks as delivered today during deliberation by the Full Council of the Fair Chance Housing ordinance, which passed 8-0.  The legislation, co-sponsored by Council President Bruce Harrell, prohibits landlords from screening applicants based on past arrests or criminal convictions: “I first want […]

The Council committee responsible for civil rights legislation recommended approval of the Fair Chance Housing ordinance by a 6-0 vote today.  The legislation, sponsored by Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park) and Council President Bruce Harrell (District 2, South Seattle), prohibits landlords from screening applicants based on past arrests or criminal […]

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle), Chair of the Council’s Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee, issued the following statement in response to a letter she received from the Mayor’s Director of Operations to tell her that a bonus will not be given to City Light CEO Larry Weis: “On July 6th […]

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle and South Park) celebrated news today that a full complement of attorneys has been hired to implement a new City-sponsored legal aid pilot program created to prevent people from losing their housing when they are in the midst of a legal defense for an unrelated offense.  The creation […]

SEATTLE – Council President Bruce Harrell and Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Lisa Herbold and Debora Juarez issued the following statement in response to allegations of abuse in the Seattle Times against Mayor Ed Murray: “Allegations of abuse must be taken seriously at all times. Despite serious allegations that Mayor Ed Murray committed acts of misconduct, there […]

SEATTLE – Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park) expressed her appreciation to the Office of Housing today that some of the funds from the Council-approved $29 million in bonds for affordable housing will be available this Fall via the Office of Housing’s (OH) annual competitive funding process. The bond funding will […]

Council unanimously approved legislation today creating a city income tax on high-income households to move Seattle toward a fairer, more progressive tax system. The legislation (Council Bill 119002) is intended to reduce regressive taxes such as property taxes, and finance priorities like addressing the homelessness crisis and offsetting federal budget cuts.  The legislation will place […]

Council unanimously approved an “ Observer Bill of Rights” yesterday, establishing, by law, that the public has the right to observe and record police activity. The adopted legislation codifies existing Seattle Police Department Policy, which was partially developed in response to 2008 recommendations from the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) Auditor after it wasfound people […]

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle & South Park), chair of the Council’s Arts Committee, issued the following statement in response to the President’s announced proposal to eliminate federal support for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB): “When President Trump chooses massive expansion of the military industrial […]