The City Hall Scoop

• Committee work plan – City Council will soon be passing the official work plans for all our committees. These work plans will form the outline of what we will accomplish in our committees over the coming year. I chair the Parks, Seattle Center, Libraries and Waterfront Committee, and we have a lot of good things lined up in our plan, including:
  • Creating a Community Center Strategic Plan
  • Modifying our Off-Leash Dog Area City Plan
  • Oversight of Libraries and Seattle Center specific projects (including Key Arena)
  • Waterfront design, compliance, and inter-governmental agreements (not including the tunnel or seawall projects)
• This month the City’s Office of Planning and Community Development announced Lake City will be the launching ground for their new integrated approach to city planning. Mayor Murray and I were joined by community members who have long been fighting for coordinated planning and investments, as well as several directors of city departments. The announcement comes with a commitment from city departments to do the hard work of coordinating their efforts, as well as announcements for new projects and programming to help improve the Lake City core. Anticipated investments include: 20 new blocks of sidewalks, a new affordable housing development for families making minimum wage, a new Lake City preschool center, a new park at 33^rd Ave and 125^th, public safety improvements, Thornton Creek restoration, and more!

KIRO 7 Coverage

• 2016 Housing Levy – The Housing Levy discussion is just starting to take off. Last renewed by voters in 2009, the Housing Levy was last passed in 2009 and has been the cornerstone of Seattle’s strategy to provide more affordable housing. The 2009 Housing Levy is coming to a close at the end of 2016 and Mayor Murray is proposing to renew the levy to help address our homelessness crisis Soon, the Council will be voting on whether to place the Mayor’s proposal on the ballot for consideration by the voters.. We will be having a series of community meetings and council discussion about the proposal. My staff attended a meeting in Lake City on Saturday February 20^th to hear from neighbors what they are thinking about the renewal of the levy. My colleagues and I will be having a series of meetings to discuss the levy; the first meeting will be at 10:30am on March 14^th following the council briefing. Additionally, we will hold a Public Hearing on April 4^th starting at 5:30pm at City Hall. You can also send us an email with your thoughts on the housing levy and complete this survey from the Office of Housing: 2016 Seattle Housing Levy Proposal Feedback Survey

The District 5 Scoop

• District Tour – We went on our first District Tour this month, and I’m very proud to say we had a terrific time engaging with community members and receiving constructive feedback on what our district needs from City Hall. We met with representatives from Northhaven –a very-well run senior living community, North Helpline –one of our premier service providers providing food and emergency services to thousands of people, and Mary’s Place –one of the newest service providers in District 5 which provides shelter and support for families experiencing homelessness. We learned about the great work people are doing and the lasting impacts they are making to improve our communities. We also had a reception at the Shanty Tavern where neighbors joined together for good conversation and community building. Thank you to all who came out! Keep in mind this is just the first tour in a series. If you have ideas for future tour stops please feel free to send them to our District Director Sabrina Bolieu at Sabrina.Bolieu@seattle.gov

More Photos

• Office Grand Opening – The big day has come and you are invited! We are having the Grand Opening for our District 5 office at North Seattle College on Friday, March 4^th from 4pm-7pm. Our regular office hours will be Fridays from 10 am -3 pm, at North Seattle College Room #1451. We hope you will stop by for our Grand Opening, o when we open for visitors starting March 11^th. We will have opportunities for constituents to sign up for meetings during those office hours. Please RSVP to let us know you are coming!

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Posted: February 29th, 2016 under Councilmember Juarez