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June 13, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, News Releases

Councilmembers to host discussion of fast food workers’ issues in wake of May 30 strikes

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City of Seattle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/13/2013

Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Councilmember Nick Licata

Councilmembers to host discussion of fast food workers' issues
in wake of May 30 strikes
Brownbag event will feature workers and policy experts on conditions facing workers
and what industry trends could mean for Seattle

Seattle - The May 30th "Strike Poverty" day of action, which included hundreds of fast food workers and impacted dozens of restaurants across Seattle, raised questions and concerns about the job security and working conditions facing low-wage fast food workers in Seattle. City Councilmembers O'Brien and Licata will host a "brownbag" discussion to continue exploring the issues raised by striking fast food workers. Councilmembers will discuss the growth of poverty-wage jobs and hear from fast food workers and policy experts about a range of workplace issues, including illegally withholding wages or the denial of benefits owed to an employee, or "wage theft", health and safety concerns, and threats of retaliation by managers for union organizing. 

"It often falls on local governments to help the working poor meet their basic needs.  As an elected official, I have a responsibility to hear more about the issues these workers raised on May 30th. From subsidized housing to energy assistance to health care, these workers' struggles impact all of us," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien.

"This will be an opportunity for me and my colleagues and to hear more from the workers who took a huge risk in walking off the job to speak out for better pay and working conditions in the fast food industry," Councilmember Nick Licata said.

The brownbag will be held on Thursday, July 11 from 12:00-1:30 in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall (map). Council will invite workers to share their experiences and insights on working in the industry and the challenges they face. A local representative from the National Employment Law Project will discuss findings from a report on wage theft and other labor law violations many low-income workers regularly experience.

The public is welcome to join the conversation and there will be an opportunity for comments, questions and feedback on the presentations or by email in advance:  council@seattle.gov

[View in Council Newsroom]

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May 20, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember O'Brien, News Releases

City Council improves access to low-income electricity rate assistance

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City of Seattle
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

[View in Council Newsroom]

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May 6, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw, Councilmember Burgess, Councilmember Godden, Councilmember Harrell, Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

Seattle City Council passes South Lake Union rezone

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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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May 6, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw, Councilmember Burgess, Councilmember Godden, Councilmember Harrell, Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

City Council Town Hall Meeting on Climate Action Tomorrow

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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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April 30, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw, Councilmember Burgess, Councilmember Godden, Councilmember Harrell, Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

City Councilmembers to vote on gun safety public health funding

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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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April 25, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember O'Brien, News Releases

Councilmember O’Brien’s statement on opting out of yellow pages

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City of Seattle
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."

[View in Council Newsroom]

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April 22, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw, Councilmember Burgess, Councilmember Godden, Councilmember Harrell, Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

City Council Strengthens Affordable Housing Program in South Lake Union

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City of Seattle
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.

[View in Council Newsroom]

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April 22, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember O'Brien, News Releases

City Council Introduces Climate Action Plan on Earth Day

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City of Seattle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/22/2013

Councilmember Mike O'Brien
Council President Sally Clark
Councilmember Richard Conlin

City Council Introduces Climate Action Plan on Earth Day
Plan provides pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050

Seattle -- Seattle City Council introduced Seattle's Climate Action Plan today, outlining the City's path to meeting its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The Plan focuses on three sectors where the City of Seattle can have the greatest influence in reducing carbon emissions: transportation and land use, building energy and solid waste. The Plan also includes a section on how the City should prepare for the impacts of climate disruption we currently experience, as well a section on actions individuals can take to reduce emissions through purchasing decisions.

"Taking climate action is not about austerity. It is about creating great places to live, work and play today and for future generations," said Councilmember Mike O'Brien, Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee. "This Climate Action Plan provides a vision for a city that is vibrant, economically prosperous and socially just." 

"The strong actions in this plan are evidence of the high value that the Seattle community places on sustainability," said Jill Simmons, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment. "Throughout the planning process, we heard from individuals and organizations who encouraged us to be bold and think long-term."

Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment has been developing the Climate Action Plan since 2011, engaging grassroots sustainability groups, environmental leaders and business and community members from across the city. The City also formed Technical Advisory Groups in each sector addressed in the Plan and convened a Green Ribbon Commission to recommend specific climate actions.

"With its natural beauty, strong economy and commitment to equity, Seattle is an amazing place to live. The Climate Action Plan lays out clear path to ensuring Seattle remains a great place to live and raise a family, while also doing its part to combat climate change," said Doris Koo, Co-Chair of the Seattle Green Ribbon Commission. 
"Even before the first Earth Day in 1970, Seattleites have taken pride in our city's commitment to protecting the environment through innovative thinking, hard work and zeal," said Seattle City Council President Sally J. Clark. "I'm proud we can introduce our Climate Action Plan on Earth Day, 2013, as yet another milestone in our city's dedication to making a difference for the planet."

The Climate Action Plan includes specific short- and long-term actions the City needs to meet its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. For example, the transportation sector accounts for 40% of Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions, but the biggest challenge Seattle faces to reducing emissions in this sector is funding. The plan calls for new funding sources like extending the Bridging the Gap levy and securing local authority for a motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) to help improve bus service and reliability, invest in improvements that make it easier and safer to walk or bike and take steps to build out the region's light rail system. The plan also calls for supporting the adoption of low carbon vehicles and fuels.

In the building energy section, the Plan calls for accelerating Seattle's work to make energy use more visible to consumers by switching to smart meters, providing better energy performance information to building owners and users and generally helping people better understand and manage their energy consumption. Additionally, the Plan calls for getting the right mix of policies and incentives to spur retrofitting in Seattle's housing stock and commercial buildings.

"We have already seen the impact of a changing climate. We must act now to slow down the rate of climate change, and to respond to the issues as our climate is affected," said Councilmember Richard Conlin. "Together we can rise to this great moral challenge, take practical steps in the right direction, inspire others to emulate our example and build a positive future for Seattle."

"Seattle residents and businesses are leaders in the fight against climate change," said Mayor Mike McGinn. "I appreciate the hard work done by our citizen committee to craft recommendations for our updated plan and look forward to the Council's process for adopting the strongest possible Climate Action Plan. I thank Councilmembers O'Brien and Conlin for their leadership in this effort."

The Climate Action Plan will be discussed in two Energy and Environment Committee meetings--Tuesday, April 23 and Tuesday, May 14--and will also be the topic of a public town hall on Tuesday, May 7 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at University Heights Center.

The Climate Action Plan can be viewed online at: http://www.seattle.gov/environment/climate_plan.htm

[View in Council Newsroom]

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April 22, 2013January 6, 2023Councilmember Bagshaw, Councilmember Burgess, Councilmember Godden, Councilmember Harrell, Councilmember Licata, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

City Council to host Town Hall Meeting on Climate Action

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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
Cou...