Seattle Forward

SR 520 Bridge Replacement Construction Approved

The SR 520 bridge replacement project took a major step forward this morning when the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Governing Board voted to change the project status from "Conditional Approval for Design Build" to "Conditional Approval." 

The state plans to award a design-build contract for the bridge replacement, including the east and west end bridge landings, later this summer. The PSRC is a regional transportation, growth management and economic development agency made up of elected leaders from King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Pierce counties.  The Governing Board meets monthly and votes on matters recommended by PSRC policy boards; today's approval was based on the recommendation of the Transportation Policy Board.  You can watch the discussion leading up to this morning's vote here.  This topic begins at the 39:36 point in the meeting. (How the vote played out and more detail after the jump . . .)

Discover Innovative Policing and Crime Reduction Strategies

The Seattle City Council invites you to a discussion of the science of policing with a special focus on the concentration of crime in “hot spots” and the innovative approaches police and others can take to reduce it. Research shows that over a 14-year period fully 50% of reported crime in Seattle was committed on just 4.5% of our street segments or blocks. What do these facts mean for policing? What is the role of the community to reduce crime? What prevention strategies are most effective?  How can city governments and community partners collaborate to make neighborhoods safer by reducing crime? (Get the specific details after the jump . . .)

Wage Theft Bill Adopted 9-0

The Council passed an amendment to the City's theft law today to explicitely make wage theft a gross misdemeanor crime.  The final Council vote was 9-0. Here's a radio set-up piece that defines the problem.  My previous posts are here.  Online coverage of today's vote is here and here.

 

Pioneer Square Density: Everyone's Right

Pioneer Square, Seattle's beloved historic neighborhood, yet again needs some tender loving care. And it's about to get it in the form of sweeping changes to land use codes that will allow for taller buildings, more green streetscapes, and upper floor setbacks. This afternoon, the City Council will vote on a massive set of legislative adjustments to zoning and land use rules designed to create higher residential density in South Downtown neighborhoods, from Pioneer Square to Chinatown, Little Saigon and Japantown. 

It is Pioneer Square that has dominated the discussion in recent weeks. Everyone has an opinion about what to do to protect and revitalize this historic district where Seattle got its start in the late 1800s.  

More density? Everyone agrees Pioneer Square needs more. Taller buildings? Everyone agrees higher buildings are just fine, to a point. More residents? Everyone agrees more is better, hopefully in the form of more market-rate housing. Street-level retail stores? More."Eyes on the street?" More. Clean and safe streets and sidewalks? Total agreement. So what's the problem?

On Public Education, Transportation, Collaboration, Marijuana and Tim Harris

CR Douglass covered a host of subjects in this edition of City Inside/Out.  I was on with my colleagues Councilmembers Sally Clark and Bruce Harrell.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Bellevue Gets It Wrong, Seattle Got It Right

Imagine my surprise this morning when I grabbed The Seattle Times off the front porch, opened it up, then read a story about the ethics dispute at the Bellevue City Council only to discover my name pulled into the fray.  Here's part of the story . . .

Unless the City Council approves the contract, [Bellevue Councilmember Kevin Wallace's attorney Mike] McKay said in his letter, the investigation would be "an impermissible interference of the executive branch with the legislative branch."

"How do you think the Seattle City Council would react if Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn commenced an investigation of Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess without the approval of its Council?" McKay wrote. "It would certainly be viewed as an inappropriate incursion on the legislative branch of Seattle's city government."

Well, that wouldn't happen in Seattle.  Period.  Why?  Because in the early 1970s the Seattle City Council established an independent, objective and well-resourced Ethics and Elections Commission and gave it all the necessary powers to conduct ethics investigations of all city employees, including our elected officials. 

Responding to Neighborhood Crime and Disorder Challenges

We've spent considerable time over the past two years making sure the City has the appropriate tools in place to deal with consistent neighborhood crime and disorder problems. Last Wednesday, I went to southeast Seattle and met with a group of citizens hopping mad about a series of raves at a single venue in their neighborhood. The commander of the south precinct, Captain Mike Nolan, is seated to my left in the photo above. City Attorney Pete Holmes is to my right.

One tool the Council gave our police officers in late 2009 is the Chronic Nuisance Property Ordinance, a powerful law that makes property owners responsible for what happens on their property. The new law has been used effectively to shut down an Aurora motel where crime had flourished for decades and it has prompted other property owners to work with police to resolve continuing problems.

Last week, the Chief of Police declared a property on South Othello Street to be a chronic nuisance. The property owner has pledged to discontinue booking raves at his building.  Here's a PDF version of the police declaration letter and the supporting details: Download 2011 04 05 Citadel Chronic Nuisance Declaration

CityStream Segment on Prostituted Children

The Seattle Channel began broadcasting this CityStream segment last week.  It's offers a quick overview of the problem of child prostitution and what the City government is doing in response.  You can read earlier posts on this subject here.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Dave Niehaus Memorial Street

We ceremonially renamed a Safeco Field street for Mariners' broadcaster Dave Niehaus yesterday.  Watch the vote, including an audio remembrance.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

Health, Crime and Growth in Southeast Seattle

Two events Saturday afternoon in southeast Seattle—one in the far south, the other up north at Franklin High School—highlighted the challenges and opportunities this culturally rich, growing and important area of our city faces.

We kicked off the afternoon with the grand opening of Neighborcare's sparkling, high quality medical and dental clinic in Rainier Beach.  Neighborcare is the city's largest provider of health services to our low-income and uninsured residents.  They also operate several of our school-based health clinics.

The new Rainier Beach clinic is the first of Neighborcare's facilities to combine dental and medical care at the same location. 

We moved to Franklin High School for a Great Cities event focused on the relationship between health, transportation, growth, and public safety. (Much more after the jump.)