Seattle: "Meet the Top 20 Donors to Last Year's City Council Races (Surprise: They Have Lobbying Agendas Before the Council)"

Dominic Holden (SLOG):

A report issued today by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission examines the cash flow behind the city council election of 2011, swept by incumbents who out-raised their closest challengers by at least double and by as much as 250-1. The commission found an uptick in the average size of contributions, despite the recession, and that the 20 top donors all united behind the five winning incumbents. In fact, 12 of the top 20 donors gave exclusively to incumbent reelections with the maximum $700 allowed by law.

You can check out the whole report RIGHT HERE to draw your own conclusions. These are the trends that stood out for me: MORE...

"City Council proposes sweeping police reforms"

Joel Connelly (seattlepi.com):

Seattle City Council members are proposing far-reaching reforms to improve the training, the hiring, on-line supervision and accountability of Seattle Police Department officers.

The initiatives range from "mandatory and timely" drug and alcohol tests for officers involved in deadly force incidents to preferential recruiting and hiring of officers with a post-secondary education.

The 11 recommendations were unveiled in a late Friday letter (PDF) signed by Councilmembers Tim Burgess, Sally Bagshaw and Sally Clark, all members of the Council's Public Safety and Education Committee. Burgess is chair of the committee.

The specific reforms were revealed soon after Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn proclaimed Sunday "John T. Williams Day" after a native woodcarver slain by a Seattle Police officer in August.

A Council source said privately that the city's legislators were taking the initiative, and proposing initiatives, because they have doubts about McGinn's background in and "ear" for police and public safety issues. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Private message to Hizzonner: "Can you hear us now?" This is a little more to the point than declaring tomorrow, 'John T. Williams Day.'

Seattle: "Outside City Hall - A manifesto for neighborhood change"

John V. Fox and Carolee Colter (Pacific Publishing Newspapers-op ed):

Looking ahead to the 2011 Seattle City Council election, it’s not too early to start thinking about how to make City Hall more responsive to our neighborhoods and the cause of social justice.

The five seats now occupied by councilmembers Tom Rasmussen, Jean Godden, Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell and Sally Clark will be contested.

Early next year, housing and neighborhood activists expect to convene an ad hoc group to discuss whether to run our own candidates in any of these races or find other ways to make all our electeds more sympathetic to our needs.

Right now, it appears likely that most, if not all, incumbents will seek reelection. And given the power of incumbency, we know how difficult it would be to beat any of them.

Only Godden, who routinely sides with development interests, seems to be in any way vulnerable.
(SNIP)
The big lie is the assumption that Seattle isn’t doing its share to absorb density and growth, to prevent sprawl and curb global warming. In nearly every neighborhood, including most of the areas around train stops, we’ve exceeded our growth targets.

There’s something wrong with advocating for open-space preservation outside the city but, once across the city line, aiding and abetting the pouring of concrete and wiping out of trees, stamping out every last vestige of nature for urban dwellers outside of parks.

Good stewardship of our environment begins right here in our own neighborhoods: protecting our trees, preserving space in all our neighborhoods for essential urban gardening, saving urban streams — and, not coincidentally, preserving our existing stock of low-income and affordable housing.

It’s right in our neighborhoods where we can make the most impact on climate change, not somewhere else. MORE...

(Seattle) "Council complains McGinn 'distmantling' Neighborhoods Dept."

Chris Grygiel (seattlepi.com):

"The neighborhoods are where Seattle is," City Councilmember Jean Godden said during a budget hearing. "It was at a neighborhood council where I met the current mayor, the Greenwood one....it seems like there must be a better way of organizing this cut - indeed if it's going to be as high as 20 percent. There must be some way to shape it."

City Council President Richard Conlin said "it feels almost like there's a dismantling of the department of neighborhoods."
(SNIP)
The Council is completing its review of McGinn's budget. It will pass a final spending plan next month. City officials are nervously eyeing the Nov. 2 election to see the results of several initiatives that could affect the budget. Measures that would privatize liquor sales and eliminate recently-passed soda taxes could increase next year's deficit by millions. MORE...

Howie P.S.: The West Seattle Blog covers what the cuts would mean to one Seattle neighborhood:

One day after facing the City Council Budget Committee to explain the cuts proposed for her section of city government, Department of Neighborhoods director Stella Chao faced what arguably could be considered a tougher, and even more personally involved, group: The West Seattle neighborhood-group/organization reps who comprise the Southwest District Council.

“We took a big hit,” Chao acknowledged – including a 22 percent cut in the Neighborhood Matching Fund program, which has helped pay for community-generated projects such as parks and traffic projects.

But the part of that “big hit” which concerned the SWDC members even more was the proposed closure of the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction and the elimination of the Neighborhood District Coordinator job headquartered there – a job held by Stan Lock, who sat just two seats away, and has declined comment on the proposed job cut since it was announced.

As Chao listened to member after member declare that even if the center itself had to be lost, Lock’s role is too vital to cut, for the health of the neighborhood and the issues it’s dealing with, she reiterated: While it’s important for her to hear, the people who most need to have the case made to them, are the City Council members who will be here in West Seattle for a public hearing next week. MORE...

(Seattle) "Council Meeting on Tunnel Resolution" (live video)

They're running behind schedule (GASP!) but the Seattle City Council will be discussing a resolution on the Alaska Way Viaduct, as soon as they conclude their "regular" council meeting. Live video here from the Seattle Channel. H/t to SLOG.