Notes from this morning’s Council Briefing

Here’s what the Council members talked about this morning (this afternoon’s full Council meeting was pretty much perfunctory).

Next Monday morning there will be a meeting of the Council’s Select Committee on Civic Arenas, to catch up on some paperwork as the Key Arena renovation moves forward. That includes:

  • approving a sign overlay district for Seattle Center, which Council President Harrell said is part of na effort to improve wayfinding;
  • approving an amendment to the Seattle Storm arena use agreement. Harrell said that OVG and the Storm have made good progress on a new lease for the renovated arena;
  • a bill transferring jurisdiction of city property adjacent to Seattle Center from SDOT to the Seattle Center to facilitate building out a new public skate park there.

Council member Gonzalez announced the agenda for her committee meeting Wednesday morning. It will include:

  • a presentation from the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs on the roadblocks that the Trump Administration has been putting in place for people who are qualified to become citizens to actually do so;
  • an update from multiple city agencies on the “empahsis patrols” program;
  • a visit from ten journalists and editors from Belarus.

Gonzalez also put in a plug for earthquake preparedness, given the backdrop of the two large earthquakes in southern California last week. The city’s Office of Emergency Management publishes a treasure trove of useful information on getting prepared — and makes sure that the city is ready to respond and keep essential services running.


In case you’re keeping a tally, the Council spent another hour in executive session discussing pending and potential litigation matters this morning. That’s on top of the hour it spent last Monday, and the two hours the week before.