Making change

It’s way too expensive to raise a family in Seattle: the rent is too high, groceries are more expensive than ever, and everyone knows the cost of child care is getting further and further out of reach. So I was delighted last week to announce our plan to invest the money raised by last year’s Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy to make Seattle a better and more affordable place for families.

I’m thrilled to share that we’re bringing universal free school meals to every student in every Seattle public school this fall. That’s two nutritious meals every day, for every kid, which means they can spend their day ready to learn – and parents can save some time and money too. We’re also expanding the Seattle Preschool Program so more providers offer care all day and all year round, including over the summer. And we’re providing free mental health care to all teens and young adults in the city too. When we pool our resources and invest our money wisely, we have the power to take on big challenges, do big things, and make Seattle a better place for everyone.

Thank you to KEXP for inviting me to stop by the station last month to talk with John Richards, meet Cheryl Waters, and share in the community they’ve cultivated in their amazing and welcoming space.

One of my favorite days as mayor so far was when I got to announce our plan to roll out the red carpet for buses on Denny Way. By adding a bus lane to key portions of the route, we’re finally going to make Route 8 work to reliably get people where they want to go. I’m really happy with the plan the Seattle Department of Transportation developed to move people more quickly through this complicated corridor. I've heard a ton of positive feedback on this decision, and I also couldn’t help but have a little bit of fun with some of the sillier news coverage that I saw.

May 9 is Spend Like It Matters Saturday! I invite the whole city to join me in investing in the small businesses that shape our community.

Public engagement can be a pretty beautiful thing. I know there was a lot of skepticism out there when I called on the city to come together to support my work to rapidly accelerate the development of shelter and emergency housing with wrap-around services, and to welcome the shelters we need to open all across the city to bring people inside. But after so many people spoke up at City Council hearings on my legislative package, hundreds joined a community briefing where I shared our progress, and my legislation continued to move forward, I could feel that skepticism start to turn into hope.

I could feel the same thing happening earlier this week when I took part in a “Build the Damn Trains” town hall on the state of Sound Transit’s expansion plans organized by the Transportation Choices Coalition. The agency is facing real fiscal constraints, and it's easy to imagine how that could turn into the kind of frustration that makes people want to opt out of politics and trust government less. Instead, people are turning out to community forums, pushing elected officials like me, and working together creatively to find a way forward that delivers the world-class transportation Seattle deserves. That’s exactly the kind of spirit we need to do big things.

There’s nothing like a Seattle summer, and I’m so excited that bicycle weekends are coming to Lake Washington Boulevard starting Memorial Day Weekend and every weekend all summer through Labor Day. Grab your helmets, wheels, or running shoes and I just might see you there!

It’s also the spirit we’ll need to take on what’s coming next. I’ve heard from so many of you about data centers, so I wanted to let you know that my team is working in partnership with City Council on legislation creating a one-year moratorium on new or expanded large-load data centers. We've also made rapid progress working with departments to identify some key initial steps for action to begin addressing some of these issues.

I also recently released an AI vision to share my thinking on how we can use the City’s public policymaking power to get at the fundamental questions surrounding the adoption of this new technology: who makes the decisions, how is the technology used, and how are the impacts distributed.

Whether we’re talking about shelter, transit, technology, or anything else, the same thing is true: the answers get better when we actually put people at the center of our decisions. Thank you for being part of that.

Your mayor,
Katie B. Wilson