Sometimes we wonder if we write the right headlines, but @EchohawkForSea confirmed priority number one is getting to functional zero on homelessness. #HouseTheHomeless
Upgrading transit and making it free is another top priority, @ccechohawk said. 🚍🚎
Most everyone is appearing by Zoom. Some members didn’t mute their microphones and Rep. DeFazio gravelled them to shut off their mics or get the boot. 😳
Rep. DeFazio says they’re gonna do it all in an infrastructure bill: wastewater/sewer systems, airports, roads, public transit, and anything else in his committee’s purview.
Edmund Witter, managing attorney of the Housing Justice Project of @kingcountybar sharply criticized means testing of right to counsel for tenants in comments to @SeattleCouncil.
Witter said a means test would place a huge burden on tenants undergoing an extremely stressful event to prove their poverty when they only get one shot at court to block eviction proceeding against them. @cmkshama is advancing the right to counsel bill. capitolhillseattle.com/2021/03/the-mo…
.@D5Juarez has backed a means test for the right to counsel bill. CM Alex Pedersen voted against the right to counsel bill in committee, so would likely support limiting it or watering it down. #TenantsRights#EvictionMoratorium
The Seattle City Council is getting an update on tree protection ordinance development. It's a perennial issue in the land use committee with never quite getting actual action.
A draft urban forestry management plan has been developed. A final plan will be transmitted to the city council this spring, but there are several steps remaining.
In terms of tree protection regulation, the city's planning department has made some progress. A draft ordinance updating tree protection regulations is due out in the latter half of the year.
Washington is so far off the mark, legislators have much work to do to even mirror Virginia’s contributions to public transportation, which are many times greater for a similar population. #waleg
👀 “The infrastructure proposal would focus heavily on money for roads, bridges and rails, and would include hundreds of billions in spending for climate-related measures, as well as climate-related research and development.” cnn.com/2021/03/22/pol…
"The domestic economy piece of the plan would include key Biden campaign priorities such as universal pre-K, significant spending on child care, care-giving and proposals designed to try and address portions of the workforce hit hardest by the pandemic economy."
"While the planning remains fluid, officials are tentatively eyeing Biden's likely April joint address to Congress as a moment where the key thematic elements of the package are made clear."