City Departments have taken the first steps towards the reform of our business permit process, in response to a Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) included in the 2011 budget. The initial step will be to test a new way of processing restaurant licensing, and it will be underway early next year. The SLI that my [...]
Press Releases
The latest press releases from Seattle City Councilmembers.
Moody’s removes Seattle from its negative watch list
News Release
Mayor Mike McGinn announced today Moody's Investor Service has removed its "negative outlook" on its Aaa/Aa1 rating of the Cit...
Looking to make a difference, network, learn? Serve on a city board or commission
Today in the Committee on the Built Environment we confirmed appointments of 16 citizens to various city boards, commissions, and councils. Thanks to people stepping forward to serve, we have new appointees to the Seattle Design Commission, Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority, the Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board, the Historic Seattle Preservation [...]
Seattle City Council-driven project proves to be a big winner at 2011 Seattle Management Association Awards
News Release
On December 8, the Community Centers Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) Work Group, a project team commissioned earlier this year, will be awarded the Planning and Project Management Award from the Seattle Management Association. This award recognizes an individual, project or program manager who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in establishing courses of actions for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently and successfully.
Seattle City Council to consider legislation to cap towing rates
News Release
The Seattle City Council will pursue regulating towing companies in response to the egregious towing fines that have recently come to light.
Seattle City Council moves to complete police accountability review board
News Release
The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee voted this morning to appoint Joe Hawe to the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board, the seven-member civilian body that reviews the City’s policies related to police accountability. Hawe, a former Chief of Police, Sheriff and United States Marshall, fills the position vacated by Martha Norberg designated for an individual with law enforcement experience.
Final decision near in Roosevelt rezones
As we get closer to what will likely be final committee-level action Dec. 14 (there’ll be no Roosevelt action at the December 8 Committee on the Built Environment), the Roosevelt rezone work is shaping up to set a template for thoughtful zoning and development standards review in other transit-connected urban villages in Seattle. I say [...]
Asthma and Indoor Air Quality – Successful Programs
The Master Home Environmentalist program of the American Lung Association and the Healthy Homes Program of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health have complementary approaches to addressing the rising problem of childhood asthma and other consequences of indoor air pollution. The good news is that both approaches are demonstrating significant successes! The Master Home [...]
Seattle Receives First “Happiness Report Card”
Thomas Jefferson described ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ as what citizens should expect government to promote and enhance. But can we really find a way to judge ourselves based on those criteria? Usually we evaluate government – and social progress – using statistics that measure performance, most often economic performance, rather than whether [...]
Seattle City Council congratulates Boeing and Machinists on reaching agreement on 737 MAX plans
News Release
The Seattle City Council issued the following statement on the announcement of a tentative agreement between The Boeing Company and the Machinists to produce the 737 MAX in the northwest:
Seattle City Councilmember Rasmussen to announce new collaboration to guide street canvassers
News Release
Culminating after more than eight months of community building and engaging local businesses, Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and Joshua Ryan, Executive Director of the Pike & Pine Street Business Association, will announce a new agreement with canvassing organizations in Downtown Seattle.
“Placemaking:” Sidewalk cafes and mobile vending
In the last few weeks I’ve written about how, when I re-upped as the committee chair for COBE in 2010, I made it a goal to focus on land use as service, as a means to an end. I talked about the ways I wanted land use to serve the greater good of our city, [...]