Special Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow

I noted on Monday that the City Council stumbled in attempting to approve a typically routine grant-acceptance ordinance, and ended up in a parliamentary rathole — all because of a $90,000 line-item in which ICE reimburses SPD for costs related to joint narcotics enforcement activities at the Port of Seattle. The Council has scheduled a special meeting for noon tomorrow (Wednesday) to resolve this mess. The Council will take up an amended version of the bill that strikes the ICE reimbursement but leaves the rest of the line-items intact. Passing it will require five “yes” votes, but with the ICE …

Continue reading

DOJ threatens Seattle over sanctuary city policy

Back in January, the Department of Justice sent letters to several cities and counties, including King County, expressing concern over sanctuary city policies, demanding further documentation of existing policies, and threatening consequences if its demands are not met.  Yesterday the DOJ sent the same letter to the City of Seattle, with the same demands and threats.

Continue reading

Durkan, Holmes, Gonzalez stand up to “bully” Trump over Sanctuary City policies

This morning, Mayor Durkan, City Attorney Holmes, King County Council President Joe McDermott, and City Council member Lorena Gonzalez held a joint press conference to double-down on their support for the city’s “welcoming city” policies, to release a letter sent to the DOJ on the topic, and to announce funding for programs to support Seattle’s immigrant community and DACA recipients.

Continue reading