Small businesses face overwhelming obstacles just surviving in the modern economy. Big businesses capture not only the lion’s share of profit, they also utilize their capital to exert a disproportionate influence on politics – influence which is used to further corporate interests at the expense of workers and small businesses alike. It is the disproportionate economic power wielded by […]
On October 27, 2015, restaurant and nightlife venue owner Dave Meinert joined K. Wyking Garrett of AfricatownSeattle.com, Paula Lucas of Le Frock, Mike Rodriguez from Restaurant Opportunities Center United, Nate Omdal from Fair Trade Music Seattle, former small business owner Sonia Ponath, and me to introduce a series of initiatives supporting small business, including commercial rent control. We […]
Tonight, October 22, 2015, students, teachers, staff, parents, and community activists will be rallying at Rainier Beach High School to demand free bus passes for ALL public school students that need or would like to use Metro to get to school. Currently, students who live two miles or less away from their schools are ineligible for the free […]
On September 22, 2015, Councilmember O’Brien and I opposed the passage of a large package ordinance that would expand the City of Seattle’s relationship with the Port of Seattle. For several years, the Teamsters have been trying to organize the Port truck drivers. The Port of Seattle has been denying basic human rights to the drivers, like bathroom access, […]
On October 19, 2015, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution in solidarity with the work of Planned Parenthood. This follows last year’s resolution calling on the federal government to repeal all bans on public coverage for abortion, like the Hyde Amendment. More about that resolution can be read here. With lies, violence, and intimidation, […]
On October 14, 2015, Councilmembers Licata joined me, Attorney Knoll Lowney, Osman Osman and Sahro Farah from the 6511 Rainier Tenant Association, Hana Alici of the Tenants Union of Washington State, and Sharon Lee of the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) to introduce proposed legislation to ban rent hikes in buildings that are not up to code. […]
On October 12th, 2015, Seattle came together to celebrate our second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day. When I first took office in early 2014, indigenous activists had been trying to secure sponsorship for the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution – without success. My office responded to the community immediately. Together with Matt Remle, the author of last year’s historic resolution, […]
On October 12th, 2015, Seattle came together to celebrate our second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This year, we came back to honor the community, and fight for the unanimously passage of a groundbreaking resolution to condemn the horrific United States Indian Boarding School Policy, which was in effect from 1869 to the 1960s. For more, see my speech from the ceremony below. […]
Come out and celebrate Seattle’s second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day! For more on the day’s events, go here, and please read my statement on the resolution we will be presenting below. Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2015 – Recognizing the Painful History of the Indian Boarding School Policy Last year, it was my good fortune to have worked with indigenous […]
This week has marked a series of victories in the movement for high quality affordable housing for all, and against slumlords! In response to notorious slumlord Carl Haglund’s attempt at doubling the rent on the tenants of the Charles Street Apartments, a building wracked with infestations and 225 housing code violations, tenants reached out to my City Council […]