Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Human Services, Equitable Development and Renters Rights, issued this statement today in response to the study titled “Who Is Buying Seattle? The Perils of the Luxury Real Estate Boom,” from The Institute for Policy Studies’ Inequality.org Project.  The study looks at the luxury real estate boom in […]

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, made the following announcement after the birth of her first child earlier today:  “I’m thrilled to share the good news: Camila Elena Valdes-Mosqueda was born on October 9 and is happy and healthy. Camila and I are doing well […]

Councilmember Abel Pacheco (District 4, Northeast Seattle) and Councilmember Mike O’Brien (District 6, Northwest Seattle), along with their Council colleagues, voted 8-0 to pass SEPA reform through Council Bill 119600, updating the City’s environmental review process to better align with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  Councilmembers Pacheco and O’Brien cited many examples in which […]

­­­­­­­­ This Week in Council Budget Deliberations This week the City Council Budget Committee met on October 2 to discuss: The Citywide Homelessness Response The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, with a community panel (which included King County Prosecutor Satterberg) and a City department panel The Mayor’s proposed tax on Transportation Network Company (TNC) […]

It’s been amazing working with the Chateau Apartment tenants and their community allies in the fight to stop their displacement from Seattle’s Central District. Working together, we’ve won some important, path-breaking victories against their developer-landlord. And, we continue to organize and fight for full justice for every Chateau tenant. In their own words: We are […]

2020 Council Budget Schedule On Monday, September 23rd Mayor Durkan submitted her Proposed 2020 City of Seattle Budget and Proposed 2020-2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to the Council. With that, the Council, now meeting as the Budget Committee, begins its work on the 2020 budget.  We will continue through adoption of the budget on November […]

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle – South Park) and her Council colleagues voted in favor of five pieces of legislation intended to strengthen tenant laws, including new protections for domestic violence survivors. The domestic violence liability bill, roommate bill, and bill requiring tenant resources on notices were particularly called out in Resolution 31861 […]

Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, announced the introduction of her Resolution 31910 “Infants at Work”, which will be voted on during the next regularly occurring meeting of the Full Council on Monday, September 30th.  “Working parents everywhere know first-hand the challenges of balancing the […]

I was honored to speak at a rally Sept. 25 of UW residents and fellow physicians who, as members of the UW Housestaff Association, are organizing for a good union contract. They are fighting for the same thing that workers are fighting for across our city – the right to be paid enough so they […]

I congratulate the owners of Saba Ethiopian Cuisine for filing civil rights charges against the corporate developer that evicted them in July. In standing up for their rights, Saba owners are standing up for the rights of all small businesses that are resisting gentrification and displacement. My press release from Sept. 25: Sawant to City: […]