This afternoon’s City Council meeting was a non-event, since there were no bills to vote on, but there was some interesting information shared at this morning’s Council Briefing.
There was a fair amount of discussion (or at least meta-discussion) related to the 2021 budget process, now in its “issue identification” phase. Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda said that she and her colleagues had submitted 158 “Form A” documents, used in this phase to identify budget issues for discussion in advance of proposing specific changes. That is a slight increase from last year’s budget process.
Council member Alex Pedersen, who chairs the Council’s transportation committee, said that he would be looking for ways to address SDOT’s backlog of bridge maintenance work.
Council member Strauss said that he had submitted fourteen Form A documents, though he didn’t provide further details.
Council member Morales spelled out the principles she would be using to make budget decisions:
- Repairing harm done to Black and brown communities;
- Democratizing access to resources and power;
- Planning for the “seventh generation”: addressing issues of air and water quality, and access to infrastructure that allows for better health.
Mosqueda also noted that she would be releasing a video this afternoon that highlights budget activities from the past week.
Budget meetings pick up again Thursday afternoon with “issue identification” sessions.
Next Monday, twenty one appointments to city boards and commissions will be considered by the City Council. Those appointments came through the Get Engaged program, a collaboration with the YMCA that aims to get young adults directly involved in city government.
Council member Juarez announced that the Metropolitan Parks District board (which is comprised of the nine Council members) will meet next Monday to approve its 2021 budget. The board will also consider whether to delay its multi-year planning process until after the COVID crisis.
Juarez also announced that official King County ballot drop boxes will be open 24/7 starting this Thursday, through 8pm on election day. Here’s the full list of drop box locations; several are stationed at parks and community centers.
Council President Gonzalez and Council member Lewis will be attending the monthly meeting of the King County Regional Homeless Authority’s governance committee on Thursday morning. According to Gonzalez, there will be no official business at the meeting, but instead the committee will be dedicated to race and social equity training for the board members.
Council member Herbold announced that on Wednesday she will be attending the meeting of the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force, as the city approaches its self-imposed deadline to decide whether to repair or replace the bridge. You can view prior task force meetings on SDOT’s YouTube channel.
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