Tag Archives: city hall

New Seattle Police Chief Barnes arrives with support for cops in schools and a focus on ‘recruitment and retention’

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An image provided by the Seattle Police Department showing new police chief Shon Barnes in a suit and tie

(Image: SPD)

New Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes chose the look of a civilian executive as he was introduced to the city with media interviews and press releases this week.

Barnes has promised to hit the ground running. “I want to have my command staff fully set within the first 100 days,” Barnes said during a TV interview, according to the SPD’s announcement of the start of his command. “We will be making sure we’re establishing a culture of excellence and procedural justice within the department. People need to know their voices matter.”

With the arrival of Barnes, Mayor Bruce Harrell has placed an outsider at the top of the Seattle Police Department. His selection marks the first time the city has turned to someone from outside the department for years. Chief Kathleen O’Toole who stepped down in 2017 after leading SPD for four years after coming to the city from Boston, assisted in the selection of Barnes, the city says.

The former Madison, Wisconsin chief now leads a force with just over 1,000 sworn officers that just barely reversed a long trend of hiring struggles. The department reports it made 84 successful hires in 2024 — one more officer than it lost. Continue reading →

As Seattle debates 20-year growth plan, mayor issues order hoped to strengthen $45M in anti-displacement spending

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As his administration bolsters its political will to update Seattle’s growth plan and address the region’s housing affordability crisis, Mayor Bruce Harrell issued an executive order Wednesday hoped to strengthen the city’s anti-displacement strategies.

The order includes five components hoped to address Harrell’s focus on helping existing homeowners in challenged communities hold onto their family properties while also bolstering Tenant Relocation Assistance, Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance, and Emergency Rental Assistance programs, and doing more to track housing statistics at displacement’s core: Continue reading →

City Council chooses Solomon to fill open International District and South Seattle seat

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(Image: Seattle City Council)

Mark Solomon has ten months to change Seattle. Monday, the Seattle City Council voted to appoint the longtime Seattle Police Department community crime prevention coordinator to finish the term of Tammy Morales representing the International District and South Seattle’s District 2 at City Hall.

Solomon has pledged to focus on the job at hand and says he will not run in the November election to re-fill the seat.

Solomon has said his priorities will be representing D2 neighborhoods in the city’s comprehensive plan update and address street disorder in Little Saigon. Continue reading →

You could be the $70K a year Capitol Hill ‘Neighborhood Safety Coordinator’

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The GSBA chamber of commerce is hiring for a key role established in the city’s latest round of budgeting to be part of an increased effort around public safety in Capitol Hill’s core.

The chamber, “Washington State’s LGBTQ+ and allied chamber of commerce,” has posted its call for applicants for a new full-time Neighborhood Safety Coordinator for Capitol Hill.

“The Neighborhood Safety Coordinator (NSC) will work with the Capitol Hill business community and be responsible for building relationships, outreach, coordination with key city departments and communication to the community regarding safety issues,” the organization says. Continue reading →

Seattle outlines $22M in Equitable Development Initiative funding including boost for Central District’s Africatown Plaza

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Africatown Plaza (Image: David Baker Architects)

A program hoped to help slow and reverse displacement in Seattle has announced its latest roster of funding including $1 million to help open the Africatown Plaza affordable development in the Central District.

According to the announcement, Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative is funding more than $22 million across 42 projects as part of the city’s effort to support property ownership in neighborhoods at high risk of displacement.

“Our city is steadfast in its commitment to delivering real results for communities disproportionately impacted by displacement,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in the announcement. “With our largest investment in Equitable Development Initiative projects to date, we are taking meaningful steps to expand opportunities in our most marginalized communities and build a future where every Seattle resident can thrive. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council selects six finalists for open District 2 seat

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Six finalists for the open District 2 seat representing South Seattle on the Seattle City Council will take part in a public forum Tuesday night.

CHS reported here on the 20 candidates who stepped up for consideration by the council. The council is replacing Tammy Morales after the veteran District 2 rep unexpectedly announced her resignation over accusations of toxic work culture and politics under Council President Sara Nelson.

Tuesday’s forum is being hosted by the Seattle City Club and will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Columbia City Theater and streamed live on the Seattle Channel.

Friday, the council settled on six finalists to be considered for the appointment. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council to choose finalists for D2 seat from among South Seattle second chances, city employees, and community leaders

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Solomon made an unsuccessful run for the seat six years ago

The Seattle City Council will spend Friday afternoon picking finalists to fill the open District 2 seat from a field of 20 candidates.

For many on the list, their most obvious qualification is living in South Seattle. Others are seeking to take the next step in careers that have been filled with public service and city employment.

The Friday 2 PM session will include current council members nominating potential finalists from the field and making a case for including them in the final decision which will come next week after a public forum featuring the selected candidates.

Applicants include Chukundi Salisbury who talked with CHS in 2023 about the Black Legacy Homeowners group organizing to protect and grow their presence in the Central District and across the Seattle-Tacoma region, former Capitol Hill Community Council leader Hong Chhuor, Randy Engstrom, former director of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture, and Seattle Police Department community crime prevention coordinator Mark Solomon who was a finalist in last year’s appointment process to fill a citywide seat on the council. The Seattle Times endorsed Solomon in his unsuccessful 2019 run for the D2 seat. Continue reading →

DESC Capitol Hill ‘supportive housing’ project part of $108M in city affordable development funding

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(Image: DESC)

Money from $108 million in Seattle Housing Levy funds will go to support affordable housing across the city and new developments across Capitol Hill and the Central District including a new “supportive housing” facility from the Downtown Emergency Service Center planned for Belmont Ave.

Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the funding this week, marking the first full allocation of funds from Seattle’s newly approved 2023 Housing Levy.

“This funding, awarded through the 2024 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), will support the construction of 655 new affordable homes, an important step in increasing Seattle’s housing stock to meet growing demand and ensure long-term affordability,” the announcement reads. Continue reading →

Hollingsworth abstains as new SPD crowd control rules move forward

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(Image: Noah Lubin with permission to CHS)

District 3’s Joy Hollingsworth, representing the Central District and Capitol Hill where memories of the 2020 multi-week conflict between protesters and police are still fresh in the minds of residents and area businesses, sat out on several votes Tuesday as the Seattle City Council public safety committee she is part of finalized legislation creating new rules for Seattle Police Department crowd control.

Hollingsworth abstentions came as the committee rejected amendments that would have toughened restrictions and made it easier for people injured by police to sue. The second-year city legislator also decided to abstain on the committee vote approving chair Bob Kettle’s bill that now goes onto the full council for final approval. Continue reading →

Blast balls and ‘private right of action’ — City Council committee to debate new rules for Seattle Police Department crowd control

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The Seattle City Council’s public safety committee is set to vote Tuesday morning on legislation dictating how police in Seattle can use crowd control weapons including specifics on who can authorize use of the weapons — and, exactly, how a “blast ball” grenade can be thrown. The new rules would replace restrictions put in place after the Seattle Police Department’s flawed response to the 2020 protests after years of the department calling its own shots when it comes to crowd control. Continue reading →