This morning, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that she is nominating Interim Chief Carmen Best to be Seattle’s next Chief of Police, subject to confirmation by the City Council.
Continue reading Carmen Best nominated to Chief of Police; Council sets confirmation schedule
Lots of stuff to read in the news today.
Not a lot of controversy today.
Kind of a quiet start to the week… perhaps everyone is too busy nursing their sunburns this morning.
The Council members have about a month before their late-August recess, and shortly after they come back from that they put everything else aside to work on the 2019-2020 budget until mid-November. Expect a lot to be packed into the next month — and this week doesn’t disappoint.
A smattering of news to wrap up the week.
For each of the past three years, a Seattle University research team has conducted a survey of Seattle residents to assess their views on public safety issues in their communities and on the police. Called the Seattle Public Safety survey, it is commissioned by the Seattle Police Department as part of their Micro-Community Policing Plan (MCPP) to help it understand how best to engage with each neighborhood in Seattle. The most recent survey was fielded last October and November, and the results were published last month. Yesterday, representatives from the Seattle University team and from SPD briefed the City Council on the report. The briefing was high-level, but there’s an ocean of data on individual neighborhoods included, so here’s a deeper dive into what’s notable and meaningful in this year’s report.
Continue reading Understanding the 2017 Seattle Public Safety Survey
There was a forum for Chief of Police candidates last night, and someone tried to retell a Monty Python joke at a commission meeting. Welcome to Thursday.
There’s lots to talk about today.
Two weeks ago, I reported that King County Metro had pulled the plug on an RFP for a transit-oriented development (TOD) project in Northgate, infuriating Council member Juarez.
Today the Seattle Times reports that in a letter to Juarez, her colleague Council member Mosqueda, and Mayor Durkan, the county has committed to issuing a new RFP by July 31st. It also says that the County land to be used for affordable housing must be provided to the nonprofit developer at no cost, and that the amount of required affordable housing units will be increased from what was in the original RFP.
UPDATED: This afternoon Juarez released a statement on King County’s decision:
“With two hospitals, a college and major a shopping center, Northgate is widely recognized as being important to the City as a whole. Today’s decision by the King County Executive further underscores that North Seattle can – and should – be a shining example for other neighborhoods and institutions who are watching to see how Northgate transit-oriented development will unfold and enhance the region,” said Debora Juarez, District 5 – North Seattle. “Furthermore NGTOD will serve as a model for development which can be replicated elsewhere around Seattle to include transit-oriented childcare and other aspects of city living that are vital to our region, including District 5.”