Seattle Forward

Public Financing of Campaigns: LA, SF, PDX

Tomorrow the Council will hear from officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland about the experience of those cities with public financing of local elections. There will be a brown bag session at lunch in Council Chambers, then a larger public forum at Seattle University in the evening. See more details here if you would like to attend the forum.

If you are interested in a sneak peak at the presentations, take a look:
a. Los Angeles Matching Fund Program Presentation
b. San Francisco Public Financing Program Presentation
c. Portland Campaign Finance System Presentation

Turning Waste into Energy

Seattle City Light, the folks who send you your electricity bill, offers numerous incentives for residents and businesses to become more energy efficient. Did you know City Light will give you a $50 rebate if you buy an energy-efficient refrigerator? In Councilmember Mike O’Brien’s Energy and Environment Committee today, we voted to move forward a unique project that replicates this conservation model on a much larger scale.

Nucor Steel sits on the southwest corner of Harbor Island and is City Light’s largest electricity customer. In 2009, the company proposed investing $3.5 million into a cost-effective system that would turn the waste heat generated at its plant back into electricity, recovering enough to power 2% of its electricity needs. (If this doesn’t sound like a lot, I’ll point out that 2% of Nucor’s electricity usage is equivalent to that of roughly 590 residential households!) Similar to household appliance rebates, City Light would provide an energy efficiency incentive payment in return, in this case spread out over the first three years to mitigate risk.

Poll: Washington Ready for Olympia to Act on Gun Safety

The following article went out earlier today in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

Washington CeaseFire unveiled a poll of statewide voter attitudes toward gun safety laws this afternoon. The results are remarkable and show that Washington voters across the political spectrum want Olympia to pass common sense gun safety laws today.

Conducted the first week of January by Alison Peters Consulting, a firm that serves both Republican and Democratic clients, the poll of 600 registered voters revealed wide and strong support for a variety of gun safety measures, including:

• a state law to require that everyone who buys a gun at a gun show undergo a background check (87% in support);
• a state law to increase mandatory penalties for youth firearm possession, starting with house detention at the first offense (68% in support);
• a state law to ban semi-automatic assault weapons (66% in support);
• a state law to limit ammunition clips on guns to 10 bullets (66% in support);
• and a state law requiring the signature of local police on every concealed weapons permit application (66% in support).

Oh, Yeah! Here Come the Sonics

Chris Hansen's announcement this morning is fantastic news and a huge win for Seattle and our entire region. Throughout our Council work to improve the proposal, Chris Hansen negotiated fairly and has kept his word. He is doing exactly what he told us he would do—working to return NBA basketball to Seattle. There is more work ahead, but this is a giant leap toward bringing the Sonics back home to Seattle.

I was privileged to lead the Council's review of the Mayor's initial arena proposal and insisted on significant changes in the agreement to improve public benefits, including:

• Stronger legal and financial protections for the city and county governments.
• Reduction in the inherent risks of this type of public-private partnership.
• Creation of a transportation fund with $40 million in initial funding for SODO freight and pedestrian mobility improvements.

After the Council committee negotiated a revised memorandum of agreement with Hansen, the full City Council approved it by a 7-2 vote on October 12, 2012 (Ordinance 124019).

Read my previous posts on the SODO arena and Sonics here.

Our Fiscal Responsibility and Moral Obligation

We have a fiscal responsibility and a moral obligation to invest in effective programs both for the taxpayers and for the vulnerable who rely on our vital services. The proactive measurement and evaluation of results is what Seattle residents expect and deserve.

To further our efforts to budget wisely and effectively, my committee today unanimously approved legislation (Resolution 31425) calling for the design and funding of evaluations of any new programs in the Mayor’s 2014 budget proposal.

Marching for Gun Safety

My wife Joleen and I proudly joined over 1,000 marchers for stronger gun safety laws at the StandUp / Cease Fire rally on Sunday. People of all ages joined together for the mile-long march from Westlake Park to Seattle Center.

Here is what I told the crowd:

All of you here today are a part of a movement  – a movement in Seattle that will spread across our State of Washington and across our Nation.

We are marching today to honor the children and teachers gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary.

We are marching today to honor the victims of all tragedies of gun violence.

We are marching today because the gun violence crisis is a public health crisis.

We are marching today because we believe that education about gun safety can change hearts and minds.

We are marching today because we believe that Olympia has the power to take action.

Let us keep repeating this message together until our leaders in Olympia do the right thing and finally pass meaningful gun safety laws.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day and the City Council and Mayor issued a proclamation expressing Seattle’s continued determination to fight this form of modern-day slavery.

We often think of human trafficking as a problem on the other side of the world. I certainly encountered this persistent injustice when I worked overseas as a poverty relief worker years ago. But we must acknowledge the painful reality that human trafficking occurs here, too.

Act Now to Reduce Gun Violence

The Washington Legislature convenes next Monday in Olympia and they have a perfect opportunity to act swiftly and decisively to reduce gun violence in our state by enacting improved gun safety laws. Whether they will or not remains to be seen.

Shortly after the Newtown, Connecticut massacre, I spelled out the immediate steps that I believe should be taken by the Legislature. Here’s a quick summary—

• A ban on all assault weapons as existed nationwide until 2004.
• A ban on large capacity ammunition magazines that fuel semi-automatic weapons.
• Universal background checks, which must include closing the gun show loophole.
• Trigger locks and safe storage requirements.
• Micro-stamping technology in all firearms sold, purchased or delivered in the state to improve the capabilities of police in tracing fired bullets.