It’s going to be another crazy-busy week on the second floor of City Hall, as the Council rushes to wrap up legislation before it starts work on the 2020 budget in October.
Look for an update tomorrow afternoon; I’m hearing about several other important topics that the Council intends to take up this week that have not yet been confirmed.
Monday morning’s Council Briefing will include two executive sessions on pending litigation.
Monday afternoon’s full City Council meeting is scheduled to include final votes on:
- the Mercer Megablock deal;
- the four hotel workers’ bills;
- thirteen appointments to commissions and advisory boards;
- an ordinance updating the way the city purchases goods and services during an emergency;
- an ordinance creating a Green New Deal Oversight Board;
- an ordinance approving a healthy-food marketing plan paid for by the Sweetened Beverage Tax;
- a resolution committing the city to (finally) develop a strategy to protect the city’s tree canopy;
- a resolution supporting students and city employees participating in the Global Climate Strike on September 20th;
- a resolution committing the city not to purchase goods and services from corporations that participate in oil field exploration and development in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
This week’s Introduction and Referral Calendar includes the following new pieces of legislation:
- an agreement to let the Monorail accept ORCA cards as payment (finally!);
- an ordinance establishing citation authority for the Seattle Fire Department;
- the repeal of Initiative 124;
- the appointment of Emily Alvarado as Director of the Office of Housing;
- a modification to the Street and Sidewalk Code to vary citation penalties based on zoning and permit type;
- an update to the city’s traffic code to align it with recent changes in state law;
- a resolution requesting SDOT to develop a sidewalk-maintenance policy, create a public-education program on snow and ice removal, and develop a plan to enforce snow and ice removal requirements;
- a resolution requesting SDOT to develop a traffic-signals policy that doesn’t prioritize cars over pedestrians, bicycles and transit.
Tuesday morning, the Governance, Equity and Technology Committee meets. On its agenda:
- an update to the city’s criminal code regarding offenses involving animals, increasing penalties;
- a ordinance increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco and marijuana products from 18 to 21 to align it with recent changes in state law;
- an ordinance approving SDOT’s use of traffic cameras and license plate readers under the city’s surveillance-technology ordinance.
Tuesday afternoon, the Sustainability and Transportation Committee meets. It will take up:
Wednesday morning, the Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee meets. Wednesday afternoon, the Finance and Neighborhoods Committee and the Civic Development, Public Assets, and Native Communities Committee meet. Agendas for these meetings have not yet been published.
Wednesday evening at 6pm, there will be a public hearing on police accountability, a required first step for the city to begin contract negotiations with SPMA (the union representing SPD lieutenants and captains) .
Thursday morning, the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers’ Rights Committee meets in what Council member Mosqueda has called an “everything housing” session. The agenda has not yet been published, but it’s expected to take up:
- the repeal of I-124;
- renewal of the Multi-Family Tax Exemption;
- the confirmation of Emily Alvadaro as Director of the Office of Housing.
Thursday afternoon, the Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans, and Education Committee meets. The agenda has not yet been published for this meeting, but it may discuss the report on SPD hiring and retention that was released last week.
Friday morning, the Select Committee on Homelessness and Housing Affordability will meet. It is expected to continue discussion of the proposal for a new regional governance structure for the homelessness response.
Friday afternoon, the Sustainability and Transportation Committee meets again. The agenda for this meeting has not yet been released.
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