Mayor Durkan decides on repairing West Seattle Bridge instead of immediate replacement

This morning Mayor Durkan announced that the city will move forward with repairing the cracked main span of the West Seattle Bridge, with the expectation that it will reopen by mid-2022, restore the bridge to its original expected lifetime, and push out building a replacement for up to 40 years. However, she also said that SDOT will start studying an eventual replacement strategy now, and it will approach Sound Transit about jointly building a third span to West Seattle that could incorporate light rail, bicycles and pedestrians.

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Petition to recall Mayor Durkan certified for signature collection

Last Friday a King County Superior Court judge certified, in part, a petition from a group attempting to recall Mayor Jenny Durkan because of her actions (and inaction) during the recent protests. The recall election process is similar in many ways to voter initiative and referendum processes, but it also has its own unique aspects. Let’s review the whole process, where the current effort stands, and what happens from here. (update: a couple of technical corrections made below based upon feedback from the city)

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Council briefed on COVID-19, modifies Mayoral emergency declaration

This afternoon, the City Council received a long briefing from King County Public Health and several city department heads on the status of the COVID-19 response in Seattle. It then went into an extended executive session with its attorneys, followed by a public session in which it modified the Mayor’s declaration of emergency and issued a resolution with requests and expectations for the Mayor in how she exercised her emergency powers.

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Durkan delivers State of the City address

This morning Mayor Jenny Durkan took the stage at the Rainier Arts Center and delivered her annual “State of the City” address. It was a classic Durkan speech: optimistic, with an emphasis on getting results — and on results delivered. “Today the state of our city is strong and resilient,” Durkan said. “Yes, we have challenges, but we have the values, the determination and the talent to meet them.”

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