The Council members are spending the week plotting their budget strategies, but a few other things got done too. Here’s what’s up.
Council member Mosqueda reminded everyone that tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 5:30pm there is a public hearing on the 2021 budget. Signups for public comment begin at 3:30pm. Council member Sawant also noted that she will once again be holding a “People’s budget” town hall on Tuesday, October 20.
Council member Herbold recapped the legal proceedings last week in the ongoing saga of the Council’s ordinance banning crowd-control weapons. The city and DOJ jointly decided to take it out of the court’s hands for the moment and go back to the process for updating SPD policies that is spelled out in the 2012 Consent Decree. Herbold said that the Council will take the issue up after the conclusion of the 2021 budget process.
Council member Juarez announced that Seattle park playgrounds will be reopening tomorrow, with new rules posted onsite. Parking lots at parks that had been closed are scheduled to reopen on October 19.
The playground rules include:
- all children over the age of two must wear a mask;
- no food or drink on the play equipment;
- maintain social distancing.
People are encouraged to keep their time on the park playground to 30 minutes or less to avoid crowding and give everyone a chance to play.
This afternoon, the Council gave final approval to:
- a one-year delay to a assessment updates for the SODO BIA;
- an extension for temprorary modifications to the design review process, which allows for virtual meetings as well as for some reviews to be done administratively instead of by the Design Review Board;
- a resolution setting the time and place for the latest batch of 62 appeals to waterfront BIA assessments. Those appeals will be heard by the Public Assets and Native Communities Committee on December 1 and January 5.
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