Yesterday was the last Full Council meeting of 2015 and it was jam packed: 52 agenda items, 3 ½ hours of deliberations. We started with a resolution expressing our support for Seattle’s Muslim community in the wake of increasing anti-Muslim...
Tag: Public Safety
Final Decisions on 2016 Budget
The Full Council voted to adopt the City’s 2016 budget today, incorporating changes Councilmembers have made from the Mayor’s proposal over the last two months. The Mayor’s proposed budget provided us with a good start, including funding for a hospital-based...
More Sidewalks for Less Money
Today Mayor Murray and I announced new strategies to construct more sidewalks for less money. For decades, neighborhood advocates have pushed the City to provide sidewalks to the areas that have none, but the biggest hurdle has been cost. Traditional...
Budget Season Begins
It’s City budget time again. Last week the Mayor presented his budget proposal to the Council and this week the Council heard more details from the various department heads. Starting October 19, we will begin to identify issues and possible...
Seattle for Washington in Action
Several years ago, former Council President Richard Conlin created the Seattle for Washington program. Councilmembers met with elected officials from around the state to build relationships and to discuss mutual interests and areas of concern. The message was simple: Seattle...
Council Approves Gun Safety Measures
The Full Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve the gun violence tax and mandatory reporting of lost and stolen firearms. Every day, the general public pays the enormous cost of gun violence. Gun violence is a public health crisis in...
Gun Safety Measures Pass Committee
The Council’s Education and Governance Committee voted this morning to approve two gun safety measures: a gun violence tax on the sellers of firearms and ammunition and a requirement to report lost and stolen firearms to the police. The gun...
The Hard Work of Innovative Policing
Two weeks ago I spoke on a panel at a White House forum on innovations in policing about Seattle’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. The LEAD program allows the police and prosecutors to redirect nonviolent, low level adult offenders...
A Common Sense Public Health Approach to Gun Violence
The following op-ed article was published yesterday in the Slog. Every year taxpayers in Seattle pay for millions of dollars of emergency medical care for people who have been shot. It’s time for the gun industry to chip in to...
Tomorrow is Denim Day
Tomorrow the City Council will wear jeans for #denimday, part of Sexual Violence Awareness month. Join us! Councilmember Godden's office provided the following background on Denim Day: For the past 16 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day...