This afternoon, the Seattle Police Department informed the Washington Supreme Court that it is withdrawing its subpoena for local media companies’ photographic and video footage from early summer related to its attempt to track down the man who stole a firearm out of a police car.
Continue readingSchedule for 2021 budget development released
Last week, Budget chair Teresa Mosqueda released the annual “budget memo,” outlining the process and schedule that the Council will follow for developing next year’s city budget.
Continue readingNotes from today’s Council meetings, plus some schedule updates
Lots of schedule changes and updates, plus a few bills got their final blessing this afternoon.
Continue readingCouncil will vote on budget veto override Tuesday afternoon
The City Council has scheduled a special meeting for 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon to vote on whether to override Mayor Durkan’s veto of its rebalanced 2020 budget package — or if that fails, a compromise bill that would preserve some of the Council’s top priorities.
Continue readingMonday news roundup
Good morning, and welcome to bizarro world. The United States Department of Justice, which continues to litigate a consent decree against the Ctiy of Seattle for overpolicing, is accusing the City of Seattle of being an “anarchist jurisdiction” for placing restrictions on its police force. And in response to the city’s refusal to accept federal support for SPD over the summer, the DOJ is… threatening to withdraw federal support for SPD? But hey, at least the DOJ is finally doing its part to “defund SPD.” Here’s the news.
Continue readingAudit on SDOT’s bridge maintenance finds program vastly underfunded, lack of strategic plan
Two weeks ago the City Auditor released a report on vehicle bridge maintenance in Seattle. The report, which was commissioned by Council member Alex Pedersen following the closure of the West Seattle Bridge earlier this year, highlights a point SCC insight reported earlier this year: that SDOT’s bridge maintenance budget is only a fraction of the recommended amount. However, the Auditor cautions that before the Mayor and City Council try to increase the budget, SDOT needs to get its house in order to make sure that the money is well-spent and the work is done well.
Continue readingThis week in Council Chambers
This week the City Council faces the deadline to respond to Mayor Durkan’s veto of its rebalanced 2020 budget; so far, there’s no word on how it intends to vote. In the meantime, the Council is busy wrapping up other work this week before it heads into the 2021 budget season.
Continue readingNew lawsuit challenges Seattle eviction bans, rent-installment-plan mandate
On Friday, the Rental Housing Association and a number of landlords filed suit in King County Superior Court to challenge the City of Seattle’s two eviction-ban ordinances and its ordinance requiring that tenants be offered an installment plan and up to a year to repay back-rent.
Continue readingCity closes Pier 57 due to “condition of imminent danger” from remainder of Pier 58
After a new inspection report indicated that the remaining south terrace of Pier 58 could spontaneously collapse, the city has closed the adjacent Pier 57.
Continue readingOPA releases first set of findings from investigations into SPD officers’ misconduct at protests
This morning, the Office of Police Accountability released its first set of “closed case” summaries for five cases lodged against SPD officers related to misconduct during this past summer’s protests — including two incidents from May 30 that went viral on social media. Also: here is my in-depth Q&A with OPA Director Andrew Myerberg, where we touch on the issues raised by these cases, the status of OPA investigations into police misconduct at the protests, and many other topics related to police accountabilty.
Continue reading