Yesterday was a big day for transit. In the morning, I joined South King County councilmembers, mayors, and state leaders announcing that Sound Transit’s Federal Way light rail extension will open on December 6 this year, ahead of its previously scheduled 2026 opening, adding 3 stations and 7.8 miles to the 1 Line. By being nimble, we’re extending light rail further into South King County earlier than planned. Riders will be able to seamlessly travel the full length of King County, from Shoreline to Seattle to Federal Way.
I’m proud that we’re taking every opportunity to deliver on our promises to voters as quickly as possible. With the Eastlink Starter Line and now accelerated delivery of Federal Way, we are being creative and focused on our commitment to build out the full light rail system that will transform the way riders get around our region.
Yesterday afternoon, at the Sound Transit Board meeting, we passed the Enterprise Initiative, a framework to guide the hard work needed to drive the Board toward making decisions and, ultimately, achieving results in the face of a significant capital and operations funding gap if Sound Transit doesn’t course correct over the next 20 years. There will be hard choices to make and in the spirit of considering all options, I asked agency staff to develop scenarios for not building an additional tunnel in downtown Seattle—from CID Station to Westlake—so we could save money and better tackle the agency's financial challenges. We need to ask these questions, surface all the pros and cons and have the debate.
Whatever challenges we face, Sound Transit’s focus and commitment remains the same: finding bold and effective solutions and delivering the mass transit system our region has fought to achieve. That means completing the light rail spine, West Seattle, Ballard—all of it. I look forward to working with our local and regional partners to make it happen.
Tomorrow, Saturday, August 30, join Pride Across the Bridge for the fourth annual Pride in Redmond at the Redmond Downtown Park (16101 Redmond Way, Redmond) from 12:00-5:00 PM. Celebrate the Eastside LGBTQIA+ community with live performances, food, vendors, and community organizations. They will also have sensory friendly/relax and enjoy booths, with soft rugs, cozy chairs, and drag story times. Join us for this joyous celebration!
On Monday, my office and most King County offices will be closed to observe Labor Day, our country’s annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. Our region has a unique and important labor history.
In March 1900, Alice Lord led the organization of the Waitresses Union Local 240, one of the first women’s unions to be chartered by the American Federation of Labor. The Waitresses Union was on the cutting edge of workers rights, fighting to improve the conditions of working women, secure voting rights for women, and win a minimum wage law. Alice once walked from Seattle to Olympia to champion their causes and in 1911, the “Waitresses’ Bill” made Washington one of the first states to implement an eight-hour workday for women.
In 1918, Black musicians in Seattle, with leaders like Powell Barnett and Gerald Wells, founded their own union, the American Federation of Musicians Local 458 (later Local 493), due to the racism and segregation of the first Seattle musicians’ union, AFM Local 76. A pillar of the Black community and Seattle’s dynamic jazz scene, they represented stars like Ray Charles and Quincy Jones as well as musicians that worked along Jackson Street between 5th Avenue and 12th Avenue, the legendary “Jackson Street Scene.”
During the height of coal mining in East King County in the early and mid 1900s, miners and their families hosted an annual Coal Miners’ Picnic, a celebration of the rare vacation union miners got during the summer, with United Mine Workers of America and coal companies joining to host events where workers had ice cream, picnics, shoe-kicking contests, and an occasional fist fight to “end a grievance that hadn't been settled underground.”
|
