Last week Gallup released the results of a recent poll on Americans’ views on reforming police departments. According to the poll, the vast majority of Americans believe that there need to be reforms, though there is a split between those who prefer major reforms versus more measured ones. More Black …
Continue readingMonth: May 2022
Low Income Housing Institute report to City Council
This week the Low Income Housing Institute, which operates nearly all of the city’s “Tiny House” villages along with other permanent supportive housing and affordable housing projects, is presenting a status report to the Seattle City Council. Here are the slides they submitted in advance. The slides provide status updates …
Continue readingSeattle City Auditor Status Report on Implementation of Recommendations
The Seattle City Auditor issues a report approximately annually (it’s been fourteen months since the last status report) on the status of city departments’ implementation of its recommendations from audit reports that it has issued over the past few years. This year, the report is shorter, with a link to …
Continue readingSeattle Comprehensive Plan “engagement hub”
The City of Seattle has published an “engagement hub” for residents to learn about and provide input into the upcoming major update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which Mayor Harrell has dubbed the “One Seattle Plan.” The web site includes: A survey for residents to provide input. Act fast; the …
Continue readingSeattle City Attorney Criminal Division Quarterly Report
The criminal division of the Seattle City Attorney’s Office has published its first quarterly report on the activities in the first three months of 2022. It contains an unprecedented amount of detail, in charts and graphs, on the case referrals from SPD and the ones that were declined, further broken …
Continue readingSeattle office space demand for April 2022
VTS has posted its monthly update on office space demand for April. Nationwide, demand for office space was relatively unchanged. Here it rebounded somewhat after a substantial drop in March, though it still remains at 58% of 2018 levels. According to VTS, the April upswing in Seattle was “driven in …
Continue readingAll the candidates on the August primary ballot in King County
King County Elections has posted a list of all of the candidates and ballot measures who have filed for the August primary election. They have also provided some filing statistics for last week, better known as “Filing Week.” And for the record, here is the list of all the candidates …
Continue readingNew proposed contract with SPD supervisors’ union
The City of Seattle has negotiated a new contract with SPMA, the union representing SPD lieutenants and captains (as opposed to SPOG, the union representing frontline officers and sergeants). Most of the changes relate to wages and benefits, not the issues that are sources of ongoing friction between SPOG and …
Continue readingSeattle water supply status
As of May 16, Seattle Public Utilities reports that things are in good shape for this summer: snowpack in the Cedar/Tolt watershed are well above normal for mid-May, and the city’s reservoirs are above the long-term average for this time of year. We can thank all that precipitation over the …
Continue readingAppeals court ruling on railroad tracks in the Burke-Gilman Trail “missing link”
This morning the state Court of Appeals ruled that the City of Seattle does not have the right to require the Ballard Terminal Railroad Company (BTRC) to relocate railroad tracks that cross where the city intends to build out the “missing link” of the Burke-Gilman Trail. The court ruled that …
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