This morning the City Council advanced out of committee a bill releasing the funding for Mayor Durkan’s $30 million Equitable Communities Initiative.
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Mayor moves forward with Equitable Communities Initiative spending plan, asks Council to lift proviso on funds
Following up from last month’s announcement by Mayor Durkan’s Equitable Communities Initiative task force of its recommendations for how to invest $30 million in the city’s BIPOC communities, this morning the Mayor’s Office sent to the City Council a more detailed proposal for how the funds would be spent.
Continue readingEquitable Communities Initiative Task Force unveils recommendations for $30 million in funding for BIPOC communities
Mayor Durkan’s Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force today announced its recommendations for how to invest $30 million into the city’s BIPOC communities.
Continue readingBlack Brilliance Research final report delivered; attention turns to rolling out Participatory Budgeting
Last Friday the final report of the Black Brilliance Research Project was delivered to the Seattle City Council. As with the preliminary report delivered a few weeks ago (from which there are only a few substantive changes), it contains some interesting insights and has several shortcomings. It does, however, fill out more details in the project organizers’ recommendations for launching the next phase: a $30 million “participatory budgeting” program for the city.
Continue readingMobile vaccination team moves on to next phase
This morning the city’s new Mobile Vaccination Team, which is staffed by Seattle Fire Department paramedics and EMTs, announced that it has finished up its work on vaccinating residents and workers in adult family homes, and as of yesterday has moved on to its next set of people to vaccinate: home healthcare workers, and older residents of permanent support housing and affordable housing buildings in the city.
Continue readingPhiladelphia safe consumption site struck down by Court of Appeals
In late 2019, the movement to establish “safe consumption” sites in the United States — including in Seattle — got a rare win when a U.S. District Court judge in Philadelphia ruled that Safehouse, that city’s attempt at opening a safe consumption site, did not violate federal law. Today the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling in a 2-1 decision, bringing it into alignment with other federal circuit courts.
Continue readingCity of Seattle ramps up direct vaccine delivery
Building on its successful free COVID-19 testing program, today Mayor Durkan and Seattle fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins announced that the state has officially approved SFD’s EMS team to be a COVID-19 vaccine distributor, and with that certification the team will launch two “mobile vaccination teams.”
Continue readingWelcome to the next phase of COVID. The rules just changed, so pay attention.
While we were all (rightly) focused on Geroge Floyd, police violence, and structural racism, something important quietly happened on the COVID front in Washington: we moved out of Phase 1, the shutdown. In our new reality some of the rules are the same, but many of them have changed. For the most part, the government seems ready to do its part; but the rest of us aren’t yet. It’s time to get our act together.
Continue readingCity partnering with UW for free COVID-19 drive-up testing
Late this afternoon, Mayor Jenny Durkan and UW President Ana Mari Cauce signed a partnership agreement to provide free COVID-19 testing at two drive-through locations in Seattle.
Continue readingGovernor lifts restrictions on Council deliberations
Last Friday, Governor Inslee extended and revised his emergency proclamation that suspended provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act and the Public Records Act, lifting the restrictions on the Council and other public agencies from taking certain actions.
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