The new SODO Arena proposal continues to generate news coverage this morning.
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City Council continues to struggle with homeless encampment rules
Monday morning in their weekly briefing, the Council members vented their frustrations at trying to move forward the pending ordinance rewriting the city’s policy and protocols for unsanctioned homeless encampments. At the same time, they also gave hints as to where they are finding common ground.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Mayor’s police reform legislation
Last Friday the Mayor released his proposal for police reform legislation, submitting it to the judge overseeing the consent decree. Running to 53 pages, it offers a new structure for civilian oversight of SPD as well as a number of other measures to increase transparency and accountability.
Continue readingTake the Department of Neighborhoods survey
In a follow-up step to the Mayor’s announcement that he is discontinuing ties to the Neighborhood District Councils, the Department of Neighborhoods has posted a quick survey to gather statistics on how residents want to receive information from city government. You can take the survey here. One can assume that this isn’t the only outreach the Department of Neighborhoods will do as it figures out how to replace the DC’s. The questions it asks in the survey are a start, but the issues run much deeper. More than anything else, this survey will serve to provide supporting evidence that ethnicity …
Continue readingTaking some time off
I’m taking some family time over the next two weeks. Expect occasional posts if interesting things happen, but no morning news roundups. See you on the other side.
Continue readingPolice accountability legislative process turned on its head
In a stunning ruling today that raises all sorts of separation-of-powers issues, U.S. District Judge James Robart inserted himself into the middle of the process of drafting and adopting legislation establishing a system of accountability for the Seattle Police Department.
Continue readingSR 520: The “Rest of the West” Begins
We have a new 520 Floating Bridge, and a year from now we’ll have have half of a new approach on the west side. But there’s much more to come, and the Council got a briefing on the plans yesterday morning.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Comprehensive Plan and the MHA Program
The Council has been working its way through reviews of the various sections of the 2035 Comprehensive Plan, and the accompanying Mandatory Housing Affordability program. From the public comments during Council hearings and from discussions on social media, it’s clear that there is a lot of confusion about what the plans say. And it should be no surprise; the Comprehensive Plan is huge, and the city staff made many well-intentioned changes in the way it’s organized that are more confusing if you’re familiar with the old plan. They have published a “crosswalk” document to guide people trying to compare and …
Continue readingNews roundup: Guns, Ducks, AirBnB, and the Jungle
Lots of stuff in the news today. Plus the #SEAHomeless conversation, which I will recap tomorrow in full.
Continue readingUnderstanding the 2035 Comprehensive Plan – Transportation
Last Tuesday the Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee heard a presentation on the 2035 Comprehensive Plan’s Transportation section, in one of a series of presentations to various Council committees on the different sections that make up the Plan.
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