Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact Information
Sage Wilson
Phone: 206-889-0277
Email: sage.wilson@seattle.gov
100 days into new era at city hall
Taking on challenges, doing big things, and celebrating our incredible city
On January 2nd, an overflow crowd packed City Hall to celebrate Mayor Katie B. Wilson’s inauguration and mark a new era of city government. In the 100 days since taking office, the mayor and her team have gotten to work and quickly started making progress on some of the city’s biggest challenges.
“We’re just getting started,” said Mayor Wilson. “There’s a lot of work ahead, and there will be lots to celebrate too.”
The Mayor promised a coalition-building approach to the office, and she’s delivered. The members of her transition team carried out a uniquely robust body of work that included reaching out to hundreds of community members about their priorities for her term in office. And thousands of people have reconnected with their city government through events, forums, and digital media because the mayor is rooting her work in shared values, articulating a powerful vision for change, and bringing people together to make those changes real.
First 100 days on expanding shelter
In her first weeks in office, Mayor Wilson announced an executive order to dramatically accelerate the process to build new shelter and housing. She assembled an Interdepartmental Team which rapidly reviewed a number of potential sites for new shelter and emergency housing and managed to cut development timelines in half. She also advanced a package of legislation which would further accelerate the process of opening new shelter with wraparound services, allow existing successful shelters to serve more people, and identified underused city funds to make it happen.
Earlier this week, the mayor gathered hundreds of community members at City Hall to provide an update on progress toward the goal of opening 1,000 new units of shelter and emergency housing with wraparound services this year. She announced that an initial go-first shelter will be moving forward on West Armory in Interbay, and that two sites already under development (Glassyard Commons and Brighton Village) are being accelerated through the permitting process. These are just the very first sites, with many more ahead as we finally treat this citywide issue with the citywide focus it deserves.
First 100 days on affordability
Almost 9,000 people completed the Mayoral Renters Survey to share their experiences trying to find an affordable place to live in the city and speak to their biggest challenges as renters. This survey will inform the development of policy this year to address some of the pressures facing Seattle renters.
In order to help address our shortage of housing that people can afford, the mayor also signed legislation that will speed up development by eliminating unnecessary and time-consuming SEPA review, and announced a plan to build “taller, denser, and faster” by accelerating, combining, and expanding the next two phases of the city’s comprehensive plan.
The mayor also announced that the expanded Seattle Preschool Program is now open for all 3- and 4-year olds to apply, and that she’s enrolling her daughter in the program.
First 100 days on public safety
The mayor announced specific steps to respond to any potential surge in federal immigration enforcement activity, and announced a decision to pause the expansion of the city’s Real-Time Crime Center until an audit of data governance and privacy protections can be completed.
Her team is focused on building out new neighborhood based framework to address hotspots, and developing a multipronged approach building on national best practices to reduce gun violence.
First 100 days on transportation
Mayor Wilson is committed to delivering on a vision of a world-class transportation system that works for everyone — whether or not they own a car. And she’s moving quickly to make that a reality for more people across the city. Just weeks into office, she issued an executive order directing the Seattle Department of Transportation to develop a plan to open a new bus lane on Denny Way to speed up the Metro #8, one of the city’s most-used and slowest-traveling bus routes.
A new Sound Transit Board Member, the Mayor got to celebrate the opening of the Crosslake Connection linking Seattle light rail riders to the Eastside. She is working to advance the promised extension to West Seattle with shovels in the ground this year, and to go on to deliver the Ballard line voters were promised. She also helped mark the newly open Yesler bike lane, which safely connects waterfront riders right up to City Hall.
First 100 days of civic pride
Since the mayor took office, Seattle has leveled up into one of the best sports cities in the country. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl, the Rainier Beach High School boys basketball team won the state championship, we’re getting ready to host the FIFA World Cup, and we took a huge step to welcoming back our Sonics.
The mayor also introduced a new library levy, helped open a ton of new buildings and projects, address the public through dozens of media appearances, met another Katie Wilson who already worked at the City, visited the top of the Space Needle, got a haircut, took a port crane for a test drive, enjoyed a snow day, and even welcomed a 7-foot tall urbanist sasquatch to the waterfront.
And there’s about 265 more days ahead this year alone.
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