We often hear that Seattle is considered that bad guy in Olympia. The phrase “Seattle-centric” is mentioned. “Big, bad Seattle.” Sometimes, too, “Seattle” is shorthand for all of our state’s urban areas, including Bellingham, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, and more. Sometimes it is shorthand for “progressive” or “liberal.” In 2010, in response, our former Council President [...]

At Council we’re talking about how to improve our elections and how campaigns are financed. Everyone can agree that we want interested people to be involved and yes,  run for office if that’s their calling. But we go about this reform is a complicated puzzle with many pieces. Financing local elections is just one of those pieces. In November [...]

While it’s been wonderful to be in New York and focused on being a grandmother, I find I’m already itching to get home and back to the office. Now that budget is almost wrapped up, we can get back to Committee work. In fact, PaN has a special meeting on Tuesday, November 20th. We have [...]

At the upcoming special November 20, 11 a.m. Parks and Neighborhoods Committee meeting, we will discuss proposed legislation – a council bill and a resolution – that address the Sand Point Overlay. While the legislation is specific to Subarea C (see map), Building 9 will be discussed because it falls within this area. Building 9’s [...]

As you may know, with the changing of the leaves comes the City Council review of the Mayor’s proposed budget, and we are well into it now.  We have heard the Department Presentations, and we are currently in the stage of “Issue Identification.” (Download a PDF of the budget review schedule.) In Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), at [...]

Let me state the obvious — Council’s 8-week review of the city’s proposed budget is a busy time. The city’s budget is about $4B. The General Subfund is roughly $950M. City Council is presented the proposed budget in late September, in this case September 24th to be exact, and we spend the next seven or [...]

Returning to the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Conference at Suncadia this past week was bittersweet for me. It was here, at this time last year, that we lost a dear friend, Senator Scott White. I was so proud that the Chamber established The Senator Scott White Regional Leadership Award, this year awarded to Rep. [...]

Early last spring I first heard murmurs about legislation regarding campaign finance reform. I’ll admit, initially, I didn’t know what to make of it. Campaign finance reform means different things to different people and I wasn’t sure what problem we were trying to solve. After speaking to my colleague, Mike O’Brien, I learned what he wanted [...]

Today, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Director Peter Hahn gave his department’s presentation (PDF) to the City Council Budget Committee. (Download the SDOT section or the entire proposed budget from the Mayor for 2013-2014 from this page – see the left navigation pane). SDOT described two categories of investment: Addressing the maintenance backlog (street repair, bridge maintenance and [...]

I am pleased that after months of discussion, we are seriously considering a new arena for our SuperSonics and potentially an NHL team. I have moved from “Really? Spend public money on yet another sports arena?” to a qualified, “Yes.”  The proposed plan can work for the people and entities that concern me deeply: the City [...]