CITY COUNCIL: How its committees will change; Herbold to chair Public Safety

When the Seattle City Council starts its year next Monday, they’ll take care of some internal business, from swearing-in ceremonies to new committee assignments. That means some changes in committee names, too. The new lineup – barring any last-minute changes before a vote on Monday – is here (along with a description of each committee’s responsibilities).

District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) Councilmember Lisa Herbold, about to start her second 4-year term, has a big change – she’ll chair the Public Safety and Human Services Committee. She’ll be vice chair of the Finance and Housing Committee, chaired by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. Herbold will also be a member of the Transportation and Utilities Committee, chaired by new Councilmember Alex Pedersen, and of the Public Assets and Native Communities Committee, chaired by re-elected Councilmember Debora Juarez, as well as serving as an alternate member of the Community Economic Development Committee, chaired by new Councilmember Tammy Morales. (The other three committees are Governance and Education, chaired by Councilmember Lorena González; Land Use and Neighborhoods, chaired by new Councilmember Dan Strauss; and Sustainability and Renters’ Rights, chaired by re-elected Councilmember Kshama Sawant.) Also of note: That’s one fewer committee than the current lineup. This will all get finalized – plus, the council will choose its new president – 2 pm Monday at City Hall downtown.

Mk January 2, 2020 (5:56 pm)

I think we’re going to be in the same situation or worse with her as the chair of public safety. .. Like a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I still cannot get over what happened this past election. It’s like everyone was fed up with the homeless situation but decided to vote the same. Not even Amazon money could get rid of Sawant. Unbelievable. If I didn’t live here I would say we deserve what we vote for. We’re the butt of a lot of jokes around the country.

Jort January 3, 2020 (9:09 am)

Just an FYI, not “everyone” was “fed up with the homeless situation,” just the echo chamber of internet commentariat that think they’re more important and more representative of Seattle than they actually are. I’m not too concerned about being the “butt of jokes” on Fox News; should I be? This topic was endlessly debated for months in the media and online. It turned out that Seattle overwhelmingly and decisively voted against the “homeless hysteria” nonsense. Another FYI: Seattle is not dying.
Doug January 3, 2020 (9:51 am)

Totally agree. Herbold chairing public safety is the ultimate insult.
- zark00 January 3, 2020 (10:59 am)
  
  I did not vote for Herbold, but facts are facts, and her record on public safety is solid. If her being named chair of public safety is insulting to you, you simply lack actual knowledge about what she’s done for public safety.I guess if you think voting to add 114 officers to the force is anti-public safety, you might be insulted. Or maybe it’s the co-sponsorship, with the SPD, of the Community Service Officer program? That’s insulting? Or was it the creation of the South Park Public Safety Task Force that you found so insulting?Or maybe it was when she requested additional officers, use of the mobile precinct, for Alki and followed up by pushing through the budget action for more police on Alki – that’s pretty insulting – to literally survey 1100 people who live in Alki, then use the results of that survey to push more budget for police action around Alki to address the specific things Alki people said were problems. Insulting!Or was it the 17% raise for SPD officers, her push to hire the 200 officers SPD requested (they’re at 112 now), or the $62M Seattle now spends on Policing that we didn’t before she took office in 2016? Were those the things that insulted you?Or was it really nothing based on actual facts or voting record and you just don’t like her? It was probably the homeless RV thing. That’s part of why I didn’t vote for her, but I won’t come on here and lie about her voting record on public safety and call it an insult.
zark00 January 3, 2020 (10:23 am)

Surprise surprise – right wingers complete lack of a plan to address homelessness beyond “throw them in jail, they’re all on drugs” didn’t work out for ya.Seattle is not even remotely close to the “butt of a lot of jokes around the country” – that’s some seriously made up right wing clap trap. I looked, the closest I could find was some severe right-hate for Seattle on Reddit, and many, many, many factually incorrect articles on Fox “news” about the homeless crisis in Seattle – Fox is FIXATED on it yet can’t seem to actually report factually correct information. Maybe in your insulated right-wing bubble Seattle is a laughing stock. For the real world, and people with the ability to apply critical thinking skills, it’s not even close. Seattle is the fastest growing city of the past decade – far from the butt of anyone’s jokes.Take this as an opportunity to come to terms with what your friends and neighbors truly value; they just told you, learn from it. Maybe you’re on the wrong side of history here. Or maybe you’ll just double down and try to hate harder and skew further right to compensate. I’m betting the latter.
- Alex S. January 3, 2020 (5:19 pm)
  
  So, anybody who thinks The Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness (and the people behind it) was a failure is a “right-winger?” That’s some deep thinking and thoughtful analysis, Zark. It’s cute to throw around labels like that, but most of the people I know who criticize the city for attracting more homeless, and enabling more drug use are not right-wingers. We are fed-up liberals and common-sense moderates who focus more on outcomes rather than people sitting around determining who can act more “compassionate” than the next guy.
AMD January 3, 2020 (12:12 pm)

The “homeless situation” is a nation-wide problem. One city council member in one city is not responsible for the major increase in homelessness across the country, and one council member in one city’s committee assignment is not going to fix a nation-wide issue.
- Alex S. January 3, 2020 (5:21 pm)
  
  But we do have clueless (but well-meaning) leaders and activists who promote policies and programs that attract the nation’s homeless here. Without accountability or client outcome tracking, that trend will likely continue.
  - AMD January 4, 2020 (8:15 pm)
    
    Repeating that tired and repeatedly-debunked myth once more isn’t going to make it true, no matter how much you dislike current city leadership.
Musubi January 7, 2020 (10:52 am)

@MK “It’s like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”My friend, I’m begging you–get some perspective. Get off the internet. You live in one of the most prosperous cities in the country, one that has been trying to gracefully deal with the influx of lots of people due to that prosperity. You really must stop catastrophizing.

Diane January 2, 2020 (8:33 pm)

thanks, I was wondering today about how to get info on new committees; alas, I can’t find a link on website to sign up for agendas; the link still has old committees; hope it’s updated soon

Diane January 2, 2020 (8:38 pm)

grateful CM Herbold will be chair of Human Services; that dept needs MAJOR oversight

John January 2, 2020 (10:07 pm)

I feel safer already.

The Finn January 3, 2020 (10:19 am)

The end is near…..

Background... January 3, 2020 (3:34 pm)

Does Lisa Herbold have a background in law enforcement? Criminal Justice? Is she an attorney? I’m certain she’s eminently qualified to oversee major municipal law enforcement and disaster prevention services.

zark00 January 3, 2020 (4:11 pm)

Whoa, Herbold is taking over for Graff and running the Office of Emergency Management AND she’s the new head of OLEO? – wow – did you make that up or do you actually think that’s what the chair of public safety and human services does? Trump doesn’t have any political, military or service experience? Yet you still back that toolbox, so what’s yer problem with Herbold? Maybe gender?
Ivan Weiss January 3, 2020 (4:51 pm)

@ “background”:
–
Lisa has been dealing with law enforcement and criminal justice issues at the Seattle municipal government level for the past 21 years — 17 years as Nick Licata’s policy aide, and the past four as City Council member. That’s probably as long or longer than the rest of the City Council put together.
–
Kolding, Solomon, and Pugel, all with backgrounds in law enforcement, were all on the ballot in the 2019 primary and general elections. None of them were elected. Try again some other time.

patrick January 3, 2020 (9:43 pm)

Gross

Chris K January 4, 2020 (8:47 am)

LOL at the Lisa haters. I’m convinced they are a very small, but vocal, minority.

Diane January 4, 2020 (12:09 pm)

so after more digging through City Council docs, looks like our D-1 CM Lisa Herbold will be President Pro Tem to start off 2020, in January, while (to be voted in as City Council President on Monday) CM Lorena Gonzalez is out on maternity leave~http://seattle.legistar.com/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Master&GID=393&ID=4295122&GUID=DAC5E80D-926C-4F9E-A466-7F00EB9E44FB&Extra=WithText&Title=Legislation%20Details%20(With%20Text)

WSB January 4, 2020 (12:20 pm)

Yes, there are many more details in the agenda such as the next two years’ rotation for fill-in presidencies month-by-month. What I wrote above is really just the topline, but it should be of interest to even the non-wonky.

Also interesting for the truly wonky is Kevin Schofield’s breakdown on who has the most potential influence/power based on which of the major committees they’ll be on:
https://sccinsight.com/2020/01/02/new-council-committees-announced/

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