2025 - Year in Review
2025 marked my second year in office here at the King County Council and it's been a year of strong policy wins and much needed defense of our local values. I’m using this space to share our end of 2025 Year Report, expand on some of the legislative accomplishments listed in it and share some other updates. As always, I am ever focused on improving our health, creating stable housing and supporting the workforce in King County. These wins listed below are a result of the collaboration between District 8 constituents and stakeholders just like you. Here is a preview of our 2025 End of Year Report - hot off the press and soon being delivered to a mailbox near you! Thank you for reading our final #TeresaTuesday Newsletter of the year, please share on social media, and click on the images to see the full newsletter on our District 8 website as well!
Click Here for the full 2025 End of Year Mailer!
I've got an incredible team helping me serve District 8 who have helped achieve these legislative accomplishments. As we get into the full list of what we've been able to do this year, I'm dedicating some space for you all to hear directly from just some of the people behind the scenes to talk about some of their favorite policies we made happen in 2025! Thanks to the Kamilah Brown, Chief Operating Officer, and Marilyn Miquel, Veteran Fellow, who also made the 2025 successes and service possible this year!
Erin House - Chief of Staff
I’m really proud of the momentum our team has built this year. Our work getting to know each corner of diverse District 8, the strong relationships we’ve built, and our team’s longstanding commitment to health, housing, workforce, and community safety have really come to bear in CM Mosqueda’s list of 2025 accomplishments. Team Teresa has generated one bill a month in the first part of the year, that’s 6 pieces (!) of standalone legislation from our office in the first part of the year! This is in addition to the many significant amendments shaping policies like the Climate Action Plan, Parks Levy, County budget, and more. We’ve also been able to work behind the scenes to move forward big wins for District 8, like Vashon Saturday and Friday evening Water Taxi sailings and supporting small businesses in White Center.
One policy win I especially love is CM Mosqueda’s amendments supporting housing in the school impact fees legislation. When we received the school impact fees legislation, there was no analysis on how to ensure desperately needed housing—especially for families—would be supported in this policy. We got to work and crafted a package of amendments designed to support both housing and schools. When it comes to creating the housing our communities need, the policy details matter. These amendments show how we dive into the policy weeds to ensure legislation reflects community needs and demonstrate our persistence to get it right. We were able work with our partners in labor, housing, and the school boards to really highlight how housing affordability and availability are directly linked to school enrollment and sustainability. This is the kind of win-win we love, and I’m glad we worked hard to shape this policy.
Chris Lampkin - Deputy Chief of Staff
It's been a year of really working hard for hard working people. I know we are supposed to pick one policy we’ve supported CM Mosqueda on but in my mind there has really been a suite of pro worker policies including, Community Workforce Agreements on major tenant-improvement projects on county owned land, Responsible Contracting county requirements for services by the county, and ensuring consumers at our local restaurants know when a food establishment isn’t following labor standards by posting a placard that notifies the public of additional inspections due to their labor violations. These policies are a result of what it looks when someone from the labor movement is in a position of power.
Melanie Kray - Public Policy Manager
I am proud of the Welcoming County motion we passed. Although this isn’t quite a policy, it lays the foundation for forthcoming policy we are working on around surveillance technology, as well as budget considerations I am proud we were able to deliver on with meaningful investments. I am most proud of the deep stakeholdering we did to make sure we were maximizing the impact of the motion for the immigrant community.
Protecting Workers' Rights in 2025
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Responsible Contracting for Services - As a County we’ve had a practice of using public dollars for public good when it comes to purchasing goods. This year we expanded that same practice to services to ensure we are lifting up high road businesses who invest in their community and treat their workers right. In the process of working on this legislation we also heard the difficult of contracting with the County from women and minority owned businesses. This legislation works to address these concerns and level the playing field. The Procurement department put together a frequently asked questions document about the policy which can be found here.
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Community Workforce Agreements for large scale Tenant Improvements on County owned Properties - When the County undertakes large construction projects, CWAs are used to ensure public dollars are put to public good. Now, when major construction projects – above $5 million – are undertaken by tenants on County-owned leased land, they will be covered by CWAs, helping to boost apprenticeship utilization, and providing a pathway into good, union, family-wage jobs for people from communities in the region. CWAs are a proven way to expand participation in the trades, helping to address labor shortages in construction, and ensuring local communities have access to these good jobs through local hire. Full text of the legislation can be found here.
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Welcoming County Motion for Immigrant Residents -The Welcoming County Motion tees up legislation to ensure that no county actor, contractor, funds, facilities, property, equipment, databases, or third-party can data-share or assist with ICE enforcement or other surveillance programs that target residents based on race, religion, immigration, citizenship status, or national or ethnic origin. It also asks the Executive to: clearly designate areas in all county facilities that are not open to the public, or areas open only for a limited specific purpose, create and regularly update a centralized county webpage with links to county and vetted external resources related to immigration issues and, increase resources to the Office of Equity, Racial & Social Justice to enhance outreach to and engagement with immigrant and refugee communities.
Protecting the Public's Health in 2025
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Increased Food Inspections for Labor Violations - Where there is smoke, there is often fire: When workers’ labor rights are being violated, it is highly likely other health and safety laws are also not being followed, putting food preparation in question and our public’s health at risk. When dealing with food preparation, we shouldn’t let that compromise public health and risk additional food borne illnesses. This new Board of Health Rule & Regulation (R&R) would allow Public Health Seattle-King County to coordinate with WA State Labor and Industries (LNI), Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) and the WA Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to notify Public Health if there is a food establishment that has failed to remedy a proven labor standard violation. Public Health Inspectors will be asked to conduct a normal food-safety inspection and will post a placard next to the food rating sign indicating the food establishment is undergoing increased health inspection due to a labor violation according to LNI, AGO or OLS.
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Healthcare of Immigrants Resolution - The Resolution reaffirms the Board’s commitment to health equity and access for all to health care in King County, calls for a state partnership to expand and protect access to coverage, and encourages local governments to share “know-your-rights” information with immigrant and refugee communities to protect their health and well-being. The Resolution encourages King County to further available subsidies, mitigate funding and care gaps, and help mitigate catastrophic and widespread coverage losses for those excluded from federal programs.
Building Towards Housing and Transportation for All in 2025
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Banning AI Price Fixing - Across the country, more and more corporate landlords are using AI platforms to facilitate collusion on rent prices. These tools allow landlords to coordinate indirectly to push rents higher than the market would naturally bear—essentially creating a virtual backroom where landlords skirt antitrust laws to set rent prices. This undermines healthy competition and leaves renters with fewer affordable options. Working families could be facing higher prices if we let this technology run unchecked in the county. I'm proud that we are joining jurisdictions like Seattle and others across the country to prohibit these platforms in unincorporated areas of the county.
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Lowered Impact Fees to Support More Affordable Multi-Family Housing Units to Help Support School Enrollment - Capping these fees on new construction of multi-family and missing middle housing will help to remove barriers and costs of creating these desperately needed housing types, helping to fight back against displacement and increasing revenue into our schools through higher enrollment.
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Secured Vashon Water Taxi for Friday Evening and Saturday Sailings - I will continue to advocate for this expansion to be permanent and will work with the state legislature to secure additional funding. I added a proviso to keep the water taxi sailing in the future! As a ferry-dependent island community, Vashon Island specifically relies on this over-water transportation for health needs, climate resilience, and local economic stability to help weather the Washington Ferry System faces ongoing challenges.
Protecting Our Environment in 2025
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Making the King County Parks Levy Work for District 8 - My office led the efforts to expand access to parks and recreation in District 8 and beyond through amendments to support our health, happiness, sense of belonging, and connection to our communities:
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Trail connections for walking and biking
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Time for unscheduled play at playfields
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Climate resilience community grants
- Hand washing facilities and open bathrooms where kiddos play
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Life-saving swim lessons and improvements at Evergreen Pool
- Planting trees in White Center
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Creating a Georgetown Community Center
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Building a pocket park in downtown White Center
- A water play feature and other improvements at Steve Cox Park
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Strategic Climate Action Plan - Advancing a Strategic Climate Action Plan that invests in District 8! My office sponsored amendments that lay the groundwork for good union jobs in the green economy and tee up investments in climate resilience, and more to ensure a healthier future for our King County communities:
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Support for solar—including rooftop and community solar policies—with green bonding and strong labor standards!
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Water Taxi and ferry electrification and reduced per-passenger emissions
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Home weatherization and affordable energy efficiency retrofits
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Water efficiency measures—such as irrigation or appliances—in green building education and incentive programs
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Wildfire and Utility Partnership to help modernize our grid and reduce wildfire risk
I'm so thrilled that we have been able to allocate District 8 Office Grants directly to community organizations doing incredible work around the region. Here is a map of the councilmanic grants that we directed in 2025, in addition to the funding we secured in the 2025 Budget. Thank you to all who applied and continue to do incredible work across District 8! More funding is available each year, and will be shared in a 2026 TeresaTuesday Newsletter!
Health & Wellbeing
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West Side Baby $25,000
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Evergreen Pool $82,500
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Delridge Neighborhood Development Association $4,888
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Vashon Youth and Family Services $14,000
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Upower, helping kids get outside $10,000
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White Center Pride $8,000
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SeaMar Community Health Center, White Center $7,600
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SeaTown FC Foundation $7,500
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Women Hold the Key $2,000
Food Security
Housing & Homelessness
Workforce & Environmental Protections
We’ve featured the District 8 Budget wins in our previous #TeresaTuesday Newsletter. Thanks again to Budget Leadership Team members Councilmembers Jorge Barón, Sarah Perry, De’Sean Quinn and Budget Chair Rod Dembowski. My colleagues worked long and hard on a sustainable budget filled with tough choices to bring to us at full council. Some of the critical grants that my office was able to make through direct Office Grants in the budget process that go directly into District 8 include:
Get Active Stay Active
Parks Levy Resilience Grant
Housing & Homelessness
Food Security
- LELO $10,000
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West Seattle Food Bank $10,000
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White Center Food Bank $10,000
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Vashon Island Food Bank $10,000
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Casa Orilla Food Bank (Cultivate Sout Park) $10,000
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Puget Sound Labor Agency (Helping working families) - $10,000
- Alimentando al Pueblo $10,000
- Pike Market Food Bank $10,000
- Highline United Methodist Church $10,000
- Lake Burien Presbyterian Church $10,000
- Transform Burien $4,625
Food Access Capital Grant
Community Serving Organizations Grant
Local Solutions Grant
Health, Housing, and Human Services - Continuum of Care Briefing
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New restrictions on federal Continuum of Care funding imposed by the federal administration stand to drastically reduce our funding for permanent housing for thousands of households and upend our regional homelessness response system. Washington state currently receives $120 million in Continuum of Care (CoC) funds. King County and Seattle receive around $67 million of this, of which 92% are designated for permanent housing in King County. These actions by the federal administration threaten to drastically compound the housing challenges our region is facing, putting thousands of people in King County at risk of losing the housing they currently have.
As I mentioned above, I sponsored an amendment to the biennial budget directing the executive to send an appropriations ordinance early next year to create a contingency fund for CoC cuts, in partnership with the City of Seattle and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in creating contingency funding. I’m grateful to Seattle City Councilmember CM Rinck for securing $21 million in the City of Seattle’s recently passed biennial budget, and to Rep. Nicole Macri, Sen. Emily Alvarado, and Rep. April Berg for their leadership at the state level. I look forward to working with Executive Zahilay and Budget Chair Dembowski early next year on an appropriations bill at the County to protect the homelessness response system our community has worked hard to build over many years and ensure that folks do not lose their homes.
Today I convened a panel discussion on CoC cuts and what they mean for our region at today’s Health, Housing, and Human Services committee. We heard a point-in-time report out from the King County Regional Homelessness, the King County Department of Community and Human Services, and permanent housing providers DESC, and Catholic Community Services.
Thank you to Representative Nicole Macri, Jeff Simms and Kelsey Beckmeyer from KCRHA, Kelly Rider and Sunarree Marshall from Dept. of Community and Human Services, and Dan Wise for sharing insights from the regional, local jurisdiction, and provider perspective on what these restrictions mean and anticipated local impacts.
I’m also grateful Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who is co-leading a coalition of states with a lawsuit filed Tuesday, arguing HUD is unlawfully rewriting the rules for its Continuum of Care grant program by sharply limiting the share of funding that can go toward permanent housing and project renewals.
Finally, just today, the County joined a lawsuit with several other jurisdictions, seeking an injunction preventing the imposition of these new standards. Thank you to Executive Zahilay for your leadership—I’m proud to stand with you against these cruel and unlawful attacks. You can read more about the County’s lawsuit here.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay
I want to extend a warm welcome to our new King County Executive Girmay Zahilay who took office last week on November 25th severing as my colleague on the council. I also want to thank my colleague Councilmember Claudia Balducci for running a positive campaign. I’d also like to appreciate Executive Shannon Braddock for stepping into the role earlier this year with a clear plan and dedicated leadership for the county during her time in office.
Councilmember Steffanie Fain - District 5
 I also want to extend a warm welcome to our newest colleague, Councilmember Steffanie Fain representing District 5 on the council who was also sworn in last week. I had the privilege of working with Councilmember Fain as she served as the president of the board of trustees for Harborview and look forward to continuing that productive relationship to care for the health of our community.
Evergreen Pool - Bingo Night!
 What’s more fun than playing bingo with incredible community members in support of an invaluable community asset like the Evergreen Pool? Nothing! My family and I had a blast at the Evergreen Pool Bingo Night in November, and we also had the chance to snap a photo in celebration of our District 8 $82,500 District 8 Get Active Stay Active grant for capital improvements and swim lessons, in addition to the $2 million we secured in the Parks Levy for the pool. That’s what I call a bingo!
West Seattle Light Rail Forum
 https://westseattleblog.com/2025/11/one-less-station-two-less-stops-sound-transits-possible-light-rail-cost-cutting-options-floated-at-full-house-west-seattle-forum/
Thank you to everyone who joined last week to learn more about the future of light rail in West Seattle.
We had a packed house at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, where we heard from Sound Transit CEO Constantine and Brad Owen, Executive Director of Capital Delivery, and Jason Hampton, Manager of Project Development about their efforts to cut down on the cost of delivering light rail to West Seattle. We know rising costs are a reality for all infrastructure projects, and this challenge is not unique to public transit. From WSDOT projects to public utilities and private development, everyone is facing the challenge of rising costs. However, for this generational investment in light rail expansion, these rising costs pose particular challenges—and also some opportunities to think about how design can be modified to better serve our communities.
We also heard from many West Seattleites about their questions and priorities and Sound Transit was able to answer some of those question in the room, and we have shared the entire list of questions we received with Sound Transit. Thank you to West Seattle Blog for capturing the recording of the event above, so folks who were not able to come out can follow the discussion.
This will not be the last opportunity to gather and hear directly from Sound Transit as this project continues to move forward. I hope to convene another forum in the first quarter of next year—stay tuned for details.
Thank you to our cohosts CM Saka, 34th District Dems, West Seattle Chamber, Transportation Choices Coalition, Executive Braddock, and Sound Transit CEO Constantine, and thank you to the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association for hosting us here at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center!
Check out the coverage of the event:
West Seattle Blog
Westside Seattle
King5
Q13
The Urbanist
White Center Holiday Lighting
Photo Credit: Whitecenternow.com
The heart of White Center is glowing bright this holiday season. Thanks to a collaboration between King County’s Department of Local Services and the White Center Business Alliance, 16th Ave SW is now shining bright with 2,000 white lights stretched along rooflines from SW 100th Street to SW Roxbury Street.
To celebrate the new lights, the community is invited to a festive celebration on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 3:50 p.m., at the corner of 16th Avenue SW and SW 98th Street. Expect community spirit and holiday cheer!
The new lights are just the beginning. This is part of a broader initiative to beautify and brighten White Center starting in 2026:
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Expanded lighting for safer, more welcoming streets– a capital project launching in 2026. Community members chose this project through the King County Participatory Budgeting project.
- Community clean-up event.
- Graffiti removal in partnership with Uplift NW.
The holiday lights were installed by Renova Exteriors.
Come see the lights, celebrate with neighbors, and be part of the transformation of White Center — where community pride shines brightest.
As we work to finish out the year with the budget now wrapped up we will be out of the office starting December 10th with limited coverage of email through January 5th. For press inquiries please reach out to Erin House (Erin.House@kingcounty.gov) and for scheduling requests please send an email to Kamilah Brown (Kamilah.Brown@kingcounty.gov). As staff work through our coverage calendar please allow several days for a response over council recess. Here are links to resources on:
Housing
Food Security
Healthcare
Gallery 110 Holiday Art Sale
Gallery 110, an artists' collective in Pioneer Square, is hosting a special preview of its annual Holiday Art Sale, featuring a beautiful offering of art donated by its member artists to raise money for the gallery's nonprofit programs.
Supporting Small Business in White Center
 We normally hold this space to highlight local artists, but this month we want to share a little about a small business in our district. Farm Boy Burgers located at the Future Primitive Brewing location in White Center, recently had an electrical fire in their space. Everyone is ok, but they could use a little love as they work to recover. Stop by and grab a burger, or even get a koozie or hat for a great stocking stuffer. Proprietors Jay and Shaina are part of the small business community that makes White Center such a great place.
 Thank you for signing up for the #TeresaTuesday Newsletter. We will send you regular updates every other week. If you’d like to reach out or have an issue we can help with, please reach out anytime.
Thank you for allowing us to represent you on the King County Council!
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