Tag Archives: city hall

Harrell’s State of the City 2025 address: ‘Seattle on the Rise’

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(Image: City of Seattle)

Tuesday, Bruce Harrell made the Seattle’s Mayor’s annual “State of the City” address, his first edition of the yearly tradition as he see reelection to the office.

“Day by day, we have worked together to get our city back on the right track – restoring parks, reducing the crime rate, and getting Downtown bustling again,” the mayor said. “I think there’s a different mood in this city – a renewed spark, belief, and optimism that we are on the right trajectory.”

In the speech, Harrell highlighted progress he said showed the city’s efforts to address crime fears and hire more police are working. He also highlighted issues beyond public safety he hopes to pursue through 2025 including clearing the way for faster construction of new light rail routes to Ballard and West Seattle and barring cars from Pike Place Market.

Harrell’s push for housing will be the trickiest political path to maneuver. Continue reading →

Seattle Department of Transportation $1.55B levy plan includes Broadway safety improvements, E Union ‘Revival,’ and transit safety

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The Seattle City Council’s transportation committee Tuesday will hear a report on the city’s plan for delivering projects under the $1.55 billion levy approved by voters in November.

CHS reported here on the record-sized levy and its focus on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has released its plan for how it will spend $177 million of the levy funds in 2025. The plan comes as Mayor Bruce Harrell seeks a new leader for the department after the departure of Greg Spotts earlier this month.

A roster of Capitol Hill and Central District-area projects are included in the 2025 plan but don’t mistake it for a list of projects that will be completed this year.

“The Levy Delivery Plan shares projects starting planning, design, construction, or maintenance in 2025,” SDOT says about the process. “Because some projects take 3+ years from inception through construction, work in 2025 lays the foundation for next 8 years.”

There are lots of items in the plan to look forward to.

Some $16 million in safety spending will include “HIGH-COLLISION SAFETY PROJECTS” at Broadway and Pike, Broadway and Union, and Harvard and Pike among dozens of other locations across the city, according to the plan. Continue reading →

Cases representing Madison Valley, Mount Baker, Hawthorne Hills, and ’73 remaining Southern resident killer whales’ join Friends of Madison Park appeal against city growth plan

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Five more appeals have been filed calling for more environmental review around Seattle’s proposed growth plan update and neighborhood rezoning across the city.

The new cases join the appeal reported on by CHS earlier this week from the Friends of Madison Park arguing for a supplemental environmental impact study ““a reasonable range of alternatives” to mitigating what it says will be detrimental impacts to living in the neighborhood on the shores of Lake Washington.

The roster of six appeals filed with the Hearing Examiner now includes a stretch to Madison Valley joining the residents in Madison Park, plus appellants in Mount Baker and Hawthorne Hills, a neighborhood wedged between the Bryant and Windermere neighborhoods in Northeast Seattle. One appeal has been filed on behalf of the “73 remaining Southern resident killer whales.” Continue reading →

City of Seattle faces wage theft lawsuit over problems with new payroll system

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The City of Seattle is facing a wage theft lawsuit over errors from a new system that handles payroll for its more than 13,000 workers.

The new suit alleges the city’s implementation of the Workday payroll system has caused “problems related to underpayments, incorrect paycheck deductions, missing leave accruals, and excessive overpayment deductions,” Geekwire reports. Continue reading →

Seattle setting new rules for how police use crowd control weapons like pepper spray, blast balls, and tear gas

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(Image: Matt Mitgang with permission to CHS)

The Seattle City Council is set to approve new rules for how the Seattle Police Department can use crowd control weapons.

CHS reported here on the legislation needed to replace SPD’s crowd control policy as part of changes required to fully end federal oversight of the department. The department’s “interim” policies on the use of things like blast balls and pepper spray have been in place since a federal judge blocked the city’s attempts to ban the weapons in the wake of the 2020 protests.

The new rules set to be approved by the council Tuesday will leave the discretion on deploying crowd control weapons like pepper spray and blast balls to SPD incident commanders while requiring outside agencies like the Washington State Patrol to follow SPD’s command in crowd control situations. The use of more serious weapons like tear gas would require an official state of emergency to be declared by the mayor. Continue reading →

AMR is running — Rinck launches re-election campaign just months after winning the seat

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(Image: Alexis for Seattle)

Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck just won an election and was sworn-in two months ago for her citywide seat. Her campaign is beginning again.

“As a policy leader and now as a member of the City Council, I’ve been a tireless champion for affordability, access, and opportunity for all,” Rinck said in the announcement of her campaign launch this week. ”Seattle neighbors deserve a future with housing affordability regardless of income, communities that are safe for all, fully-funded essential programs, and our rights protected against national attacks. I’m proud of what we have accomplished towards that future in a short time and look forward to building on it in the coming term.”

In November, Rinck handily defeated the council’s appointee Tanya Woo for the one year remaining for the citywide seat, campaigning as a queer, Central District Latina dedicated to fully funding city services. But her December swearing-in was bittersweet as fellow progressive Tammy Morales announced she was stepping down from the council. Continue reading →

12+ things CHS heard at the Seattle comprehensive plan update public hearing

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With reporting by Domenic Strazzabosco

There have been petitions and letters, and Wednesday night, there were over five hours of public comments from more than 200 speakers. There is still more to say.

Wednesday’s marathon public hearing on Seattle’s update to its 20-year comprehensive growth plan was dominated by neighbors and neighborhoods pushing back on the proposal’s framework to bring more opportunities to develop townhomes and apartments in more parts of the city under new state law hoped to help end the ongoing housing and affordability crisis here.

Thursday, District 3 councilmember and chair of the city council’s special comprehensive plan committee Joy Hollingsworth acknowledged the disproportionate number of older homeowners who took to the microphone or called-in Wednesday night.

“People who did not get a chance to speak that were signed-up for Feb. 5th, will get the option of going FIRST at our next Public Hearing,” Hollingsworth promised Thursday. “We’re committed to hearing from you, especially our young people,” the representative for Capitol Hill and the Central District ”

Wednesday’s hearing was held in a split in-person and online fashion with people beginning to line up to speak in council chambers and register for the call-in portion hours before their time to testify.

More public forums on the plan update are, indeed, scheduled in the coming months. One hearing is scheduled in April and another in May. Those line up with Hollingsworth’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 approach to forging a compromise on the plan.

They also align with the push from Mayor Bruce Harrell and his Office of Planning & Community Development to have the first phase of comp plan update legislation addressing state law HB 1110 zoning on the table in March. A second phase of legislation centered on specifics of defining the city’s “Centers and Corridors zoning” for the plan would then be picked up in May.

So, what did Hollingsworth and city planners hear Wednesday night?

For many speakers, trees were the central topic of the evening, discussed more than even dense or affordable housing. Dozens of signs could be seen with slogans like “We Can Grow With Our Trees” and “Rewrite the Comp Plan for Climate Resilience.” Continue reading →

Seattle holds comprehensive plan update public hearing as City Council nears ‘Phase 1’ decision

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Seattle’s “snow day” doesn’t appear like it will stop a marathon public hearing Wednesday night on Seattle’s update to its comprehensive growth plan.

Wednesday marks Seattle City Council’s first public hearing on a process of outreach and feedback that stretches back two years. It comes as CHS reported here on the tricky balance the council comp plan committee chair District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth must strike between meeting growth requirements under new state law and being responsive to her district constituents including strong opposition that has formed in neighborhoods like Madrona. “LR3 zoning would forever alter and potentially erase the historic character and charm of the existing, tiny business district and neighborhood, where many homes are over 100 years old and lovingly maintained,” a new petition against the rezoning plan there concludes.

Wednesday’s hearing will be a long one with the first segment dedicated to in-person testimony before a session mixing remote and in-person comment starting at 7:30 PM. As is typical of council sessions, the Seattle Channel will carry the proceedings live.

Hollingsworth’s office provided the following outline of the process to register be part of the night’s public comment: Continue reading →

To take on barrage of Trump executive orders, Seattle City Council forming ‘Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes’

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A sign from the People’s March Seattle demonstration in January

Seattle City Council president Sara Nelson has responded to the call of the council’s junior member for a new committee dedicated to responding to “changes in the federal government which threaten funding to the City of Seattle.”

Council President Sara Nelson announced headed into the weekend she is form a new Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes.

Citywide rep Alexis Mercedes Rinck called for the new committee Friday morning.

“Throughout the past week, we have seen a flurry of executive orders coming from the new presidential administration challenging the rights and livelihoods of many of our residents, and the health of our institutions,” the statement from Rinck’s office read. “Many organizations, programs, and people within Seattle rely on federal funding to carry out their work and live healthy lives. What is clear is that major changes are underway on the federal front, and local leaders must be tuned in.” Continue reading →

Former D3 Councilmember Sawant says India denying visa is ‘political retaliation’

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Kshama Sawant says she is being blocked from visiting her ailing mother in India over her efforts on the Seattle City Council and for workers worldwide.

The former District 3 representative is calling for support as she says the Indian government is blocking her application for a visa as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “blatant acts of political retaliation” against critics.

“Their latest target appears to be Kshama Sawant, who has applied three times for a visa to travel to India. No official reason has been provided for the multiple rejections,” a petition shared by the former socialist Seattle council member reads. Continue reading →