Yesterday a U.S. District Court judge issued a summary judgment finding for the United States in a three-year-old dispute with King County. In 2019 King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order prohibiting FBOs at Boeing Field from contracting with the United States to support ICE deportation flights flying …
Continue readingMonth: March 2023
SPD and DOJ propose new consent decree
This morning the City of Seattle and the U.S. Department of Justice submitted to the court a proposed new Agreement on Sustained Compliance to replace the 2012 Consent Decree on biased policing by SPD. The agreement would essentially acknowledge that SPD is in compliance with most of the original consent …
Continue readingSDOT bridge audit response progress report
Last week SDOT reported out on the progress it has made addressing ten recommendations made in a 2020 City Auditor report on Seattle’s bridges. According to SDOT, it has implemented one of the ten recommendations, and the other nine are pending with a complete response by the end of 2023.
Continue readingNinth Circuit ruling on Seattle “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance
Yesterday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals published its ruling on an appeal of a lower court ruling that upheld Seattle’s “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance. The ordinance prohibits landlords from looking at a prospective tenant’s criminal record and from taking adverse action against a prospective tenant (such as denying tenancy) …
Continue readingDSA/ Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Survey
The Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce recently fielded a survey of 500 likely voters in Seattle on their views on public safety issues. Their report (a set of slides) is here, and the cross-tabs are here.
Continue readingCourt annuls seven Waterfront LID assessments
Last week a King County Superior Court judge annulled the City of Seattle’s Waterfront LID assessments on seven properties, after those property owners appealed the assessments. The judge found that the city’s process of calculating assessments was fundamentally flawed, and arbitrary and capricious; that the Hearing Examiner misapplied the presumption …
Continue readingCity of Seattle ARPA funds spending update
This week the Seattle City Council is hearing an update on how the city has spent the hundreds of millions of dollars of federal COVID relief funding granted to it through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Continue readingQ4/2022 Update on Seattle homelessness response
This week the City of Seattle Human Services Department presented to the City Council on its ongoing response to homelessness through the city’s Unified Care Team.
Continue readingCity Attorney Criminal Division Report Q4/2022
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office criminal prosecution division has published its quarterly report for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Continue readingJudge dismisses defamation suit against Sawant
Today U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled in favor of Councilmember Sawant in dismissing a defamation lawsuit filed against her by two SPD officers who claimed that she called them murderers. From the ruling: Sawant asks that the claims not advance to trial because Miller and Spaulding have failed …
Continue reading