The Affordable Care Act is here, and it is time to start the sign up process! We’re ready to help you find a health plan that meets your needs and fits your budget. Residents of Seattle can get help enrolling at a free event: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2-5 p.m. Garfield Community Center 2323 E. Cherry […]

On Monday, August 5, the Council unanimously adopted a far-reaching development agreement with Sound Transit that ensures that the properties around the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station will be redeveloped with new housing and commercial space. The properties, currently owned by Sound Transit, will be released to developers, who will be required to ensure that […]

On Monday, July 8, the Council unanimously adopted an ordinance giving the Seattle Police Department authority to cite amplified sound produced by watercraft under our noise ordinance. The ordinance was prompted by a history of complaints by neighbors at Andrews Bay, the small bay between the Seward Park peninsula and the shore of Lake Washington, […]

In September 2012, the Council adopted an ordinance (Council Bill 117572)creating interim standards preventing new small single family lots from being created using old property lines that the City does not currently believe should be used to define buildable lots. The legislation also limited the size of houses that can be built on lots that […]

Recessions are tough times to run a business, but they can also unleash entrepreneurial energy and creativity.  The worst thing that government can do – all of the time, but especially in hard economic times – is shut down new ideas because ‘we don’t do things that way’.  Yet, that threat is currently hanging over […]

2011 was the last of my four years as Council President.  In 2012, I will Chair the Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability (PLUS) Committee, while Councilmember Sally Clark will become President for 2012-2013.  As President, my goals have been: To build a strong and assertive Council that works to create a more just and sustainable […]

On Monday, December 19, the Council unanimously approved an ordinance that bans plastic bags at retail checkout stands and requires retail establishments to collect a pass-through charge from customers requesting paper carryout bags.  The legislation is modeled after ordinances successfully adopted by the Cities of Edmonds and Bellingham, and was sponsored and championed by Councilmember […]

Thomas Jefferson described ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ as what citizens should expect government to promote and enhance.  But can we really find a way to judge ourselves based on those criteria?  Usually we evaluate government – and social progress – using statistics that measure performance, most often economic performance, rather than whether […]

The Council has held a series of briefings and discussions reviewing the disastrous earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, and Japan over the last few months (an exercise for the reader:  what section of the Pacific Rim has not yet had a major earthquake in recent years?  Hint:  you live there.). Our goal has been to […]

Last week I traveled to Korea as a guest of the Korean government, which has invited Peace Corps volunteers back to Korea to thank and honor them.  My wife, Sue Ann Allen, was a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV), teaching English at a girl’s middle school on Cheju-do, an island about the size of Oahu 35 […]