Real estate technology firm VTS has released its monthly office space demand report with data for the month of March. Nationally, demand for office space rose by 20%. All of the major cities it tracks saw an increase, with one exception. That exception: Seattle. Here office space demand dropped 31%, …
Continue readingHow Seattle Spent its ARPA Federal Funds
Last week the City Budget Office provided an update on the “Seattle Rescue Plan,” how the city is spending the nearly $300 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that it has received. I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make …
Continue readingCity of Seattle Economic Forecast and Revenue Update
Last week the city’s new Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts presented its April update to its forecast of the city’s economic situation, and of its revenue forecast for city government for 2022. The city’s employment recovery is finally catching up with national levels, though the leisure and hospitality sectors …
Continue readingHearing Examiner Rules Changes
The Seattle Office of the Hearing Examiner is undertaking a major rewrite of its rules and procedures. From the Hearing Examiner’s office: The Seattle Office of Hearing Examiner (“Office”) is undertaking a significant re-write of the Hearing Examiner Rules of Practice and Procedure (“HERs”) that govern hearings conducted by our …
Continue readingAmerican Lung Association “State of the Air”
The American Lung Association has published its annual “State of the Air” report on ozone and PM 2.5 pollution in U.S. cities. Seattle ranks okay but not great on ozone levels, poor on the number of individual days where PM 2.5 levels are high, and a “pass” on annual PM …
Continue readingChamber of Commerce “Index” survey
Earlier this month the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce published the second edition of its “Index” survey of registered voters in Seattle, covering a wide range of local issues including homelessness, public safety, the economy, and of course local politics. I wrote a column for the South Seattle Emerald detailing …
Continue readingA better dashboard for the King County homeless response
Jeff Keenan, with the support of the Third Door Coalition, has been working for the past few years on designing a better “dashboard” for quantifying the response to the homelessness crisis in King County. There is certainly no lack of local government “homelessness dashboards” here in the Seattle area, but …
Continue readingAnnual financial disclosures for Seattle elected officials
Every year the City of Seattle’s elected officials (the Mayor, the City Attorney, and the nine City Councilmembers) are required to submit a form disclosing their financial activity for the previous year: income (including the sources of income), savings, investments, property, and debts (including a list of creditors). The forms …
Continue readingWashington Supreme Court tosses City of Edmonds firearm storage ordinance
This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that an ordinance passed by the City of Edmonds requiring secure storage of firearms and assigning liability for unauthorized access to unsecured firearms was pre-empted by state law.
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