Several items of note came up in the Council’s meetings today.
MLK Unity Day Celebration: The Council, Mayor Durkan, and other officials will participate in the city’s fourth annual Martin Luther King Unity Day Celebration on Thursday, January 11, 7:00pm, at the Seattle First Baptist Church. The featured speaker is Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X.
Council members Lisa Herbold and Lorena Gonzalez announced that the first meeting of the Progressive Revenue Task Force will be held this Thursday. Herbold and Gonzalez are working on a draft work plan to present to the task force.
Council member Teresa Mosqueda announced that the first meeting of her Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee will be this Thursday at 9:30am. She said that the first two meetings would be level-setting, and at the first meeting there will be presentations on two topics: public health and housing.
Council member Debora Juarez announced that the first meeting of her Civic Development, Public Assets, and Native Communities Committee will be next Friday, January 12. It will include a public hearing on the land use rule changes for the Seattle Asian Art Museum project.
Council member Sally Bagshaw, the new Council finance and budget chair, said that her first committee meeting would be next Wednesday, January 10. She is working on a committee work plan that can be presented at that meeting. She also noted that she has asked the city budget office to provide the Council with not only a quarterly revenue update as they have done in the past, but also a quarterly expenditure update.
Council member Mike O’Brien announced that Sound Transit is forming an “elected leadership group” to get input on the West Seattle and Ballard link light rail extensions. All the Council members whose districts are touched by the proposed lines, along with one of the two city-wide Council members, will be members of the group. Since so many Council members are participating, its meetings need to be treated under the law as open Council meetings that must be announced in advance and open to the public. The first meeting of the group is this Thursday at 2:00pm, in the boardroom at Sound Transit headquarters (in Union Station).