As announced last month, District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka is chairing the Transportation Committee – so you might not be surprised to hear he’s just hired a former top-level SDOT manager to join his staff. You might even recognize her: Heather Marx was the most visible SDOT manager during the 2020-2022 West Seattle Bridge closure, as the head of the bridge-stabilization-and-repair program. So visible, that her name appears in WSB archives 105 times – although the first few mentions are from her pre-bridge role as Downtown Mobility Director during the Highway 99 viaduct-to-tunnel project. Most recently, Marx has been working at the Seattle Police Department. And now she’s Policy Adviser for Councilmember Saka, who announced this in his latest newsletter, sent this afternoon. From the announcement:

Heather brings 25 years of city policy experience to the role, with a particular focus on transportation. Before joining our team, Heather served as Strategic Initiatives Director at the Seattle Police Department, and as the Program Director for Seattle Department of Transportation’s West Seattle Bridge Safety Program. While at SDOT, she led the Department’s efforts to successfully reopen the West Seattle Bridge. She brings a wealth of policy expertise in the critically important issue areas of public safety and transportation. Heather is a long-time resident of District 1 where she raised two children in Seattle Public Schools and lives in the Fauntleroy neighborhood with her husband.

Marx joins Councilmember Saka’s two previously announced staffers, Chief of Staff Elaine Ikoma Ko and District Relations Director/Scheduler Leyla Gheisar. You can see Saka’s full newsletter here.

(WSB photos, video)

Our area’s U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a West Seattle resident when not in D.C., held a town hall meeting Wednesday night in her home neighborhood. She and her constituents brought up a wide range of issues, from the Israel/Hamas war to college costs to health care to UAPs (aka UFOs).

Rep. Jayapal said the community meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy was one of more than 100 town halls she’s had since taking office seven years ago. “We may not agree … but whatever it is, I want to talk about it.” We recorded the town hall in two parts – first, her half-hour introductory remarks:

For those who don’t have time to watch, here are our notes:

She said “funding for community-based projects” is part of the job – and that she has helped secure $50 million, with $17 million to come “as soon as we pass the government funding (legislation).” She mentioned food-bank funding and emergency housing as some of what that money goes toward. Other funding on which she’s worked included something showcased at a port event earlier in the day, %18 million toward truck electrification.

If you are associated with a nonprofit, she said, her office can help you look for federal grant money. And for individuals, they can help you navigate federal agencies. “Our job is to try to help you navigate what is sometimes just crazy bureaucracy,” or inaccessibility. They won’t necessarily be able to solve every problem for you but they can at least help you get an answer. This includes Social Security, Medicare, and immigration issues, she added. She hailed her staff’s tenacity in pursuing solutions for constituents. Specifically, she said, she’s hearing from constituents who have felt strong-armed into Medicare Advantage plans – or are having a tough time getting back onto traditional Medicare. She says she’s been pushing to get the federal government to crack down on Medicare Advantage-related fraud – she thinks those offerings shouldn’t even have Medicare in their name.

On other matters, she said this has been the least productive Congress ever – barely 20 bills passed by both houses and signed into law in 2023. Funding to keep the government running is usually finalized by year’s end, but isn’t yet – “this is the craziness we’re dealing with, we still have not funded the government.”

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One day after City Councilmembers chose Tanya Woo to fill the citywide Position 8 vacancy until November, we heard from the lone West Seattleite among the other seven finalists. Steve Strand, who is commander of the West Seattle VFW Post as well as a Seattle Police captain, told WSB, “I would like to send out a big thank you to the outpouring of support I received from the West Seattle community. I will continue to work hard to make Seattle safe as a captain on the Seattle police department. It was just gratifying to hear the lives I’ve touched throughout West Seattle.” When each councilmember nominated a finalist from among the 72 “qualified applicants” on January 12th, Strand was nominated by Council President Sara Nelson, but on Tuesday, she was one of the five councilmembers who voted to appoint Woo (as was D-1 Councilmember Rob Saka). The appointment only lasts until someone is elected this fall, so will Strand file to run for the job? His reply: “I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see what kind of feedback I get.”

(Seattle Channel image)

4:17 PM: Tanya Woo has joined the Seattle City Council as holder of citywide Position 8, at least until the November election. She was sworn in immediately after her appointment to the council on a 5-3 vote. Woo was the choice of Council President Sara Nelson and Councilmembers Bob Kettle, Cathy Moore, Maritza Rivera, and Rob Saka; Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth voted for Linh Thai, Councilmember Tammy Morales for Mari Sugiyama, and Councilmember Dan Strauss for Vivian Song. Woo will serve until the November election, in which whomever the voters choose – whether Woo or someone else – will serve the final year of what was Teresa Mosqueda‘s term before she was elected to the King County Council.

4:49 PM: As noted in the official announcement of the voting results, Woo “will chair the Sustainability, City Light, Arts, and Culture committee. She will also serve as the Vice Chair of the Libraries, Education, and Neighborhoods Committee and as a member of the Housing and Human Services, Land Use, and Transportation Committees.” Council President Nelson had said committees – where much council business gets done before reaching the full council for votes – would not start meeting until after the new councilmember was appointed.

Meantime, it should be noted that before this afternoon’s vote, councilmembers got one last chance to speak, offering general praise for all eight finalists. D-1 Councilmember Saka called it a “very, very tough decision.” He said the process is admittedly “imperfect” but the voters will have an “immediate” chance in November to have a say on who holds the job from that point on. He said he’d received “hundreds of emails” and also said “we need to move beyond over-politicizing the process” despite these “hyper-politicized times.” He added that “no one’s beating down my door for endorsements … I’m just a dad from Delridge” but said decisions like this are what he and his colleagues were elected to make.

By this time tomorrow, we’ll know who the City Council has chosen to fill out its ranks until the November election. Tomorrow afternoon, they’ll appoint someone to take over citywide Position 8 until then; today, in a 3 1/2-hour special meeting, they listened to more than 60 people voice their choices (and other comments) before each councilmember got 10 minutes to ask questions. (The Seattle Channel‘s full meeting video is above.)

During the public-comment period, we counted 18 speaking in support of Tanya Woo, 12 for Vivian Song, 9 for Neha Nariya (including her parents), 6 each for Mari Sugiyama and Steve Strand (the lone West Seattle-residing finalist), 3 for Mark Solomon, and one for Linh Thai. (Unless it was the one speaker we missed, no one spoke in support of Juan Cotto.) The other commenters didn’t mention a candidate – at least not before their one minute of speaking time ran out.

When the councilmembers got their turns, a few asked multiple questions in lightning-round format. District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka of West Seattle just asked one question, about the finalists’ public-safety priorities. Thai promised to “engage the public and the 911 center” on issues. Sugiyama said she would focus on “accountability.” Strand said it’s all about staffing, and said that appointing a police captain to the council would send a message conducive to SPD’s hiring and retention efforts. Solomon, an SPD crime-prevention coordinator, agreed that more officers are needed and also said it’s important to get people to report all crimes. Neriya said restoring trust and “community policing” are vital. Cotto also focused on building trust. Song said she would be “data-driven” – looking at where crimes are happening and which (repeat offenders) are committing. Woo said improving public safety isn’t just an SPD job, but that every city department has a role to play.

The City Council’s decision is due during its 2 pm meeting Tuesday; here’s the agenda. If you have any last-minute message to send, council@seattle.gov is the address to reach them all.

(WSB photo, Rep. Jayapal at West Seattle town hall in 2018)

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal‘s first town-hall meeting of 2024 will be in her home neighborhood – West Seattle. It’s planned for 5:30 pm Wednesday (January 24th) and her office is asking for RSVPs as they finalize the location; if you’re interested in attending, here’s the form to use to RSVP. Rep. Jayapal represents the 7th District, which stretches far to the north and south – see the map here.

If you want to tell the City Council who you think they should appoint to the 10-month vacancy for citywide Position 8, time is running out. Tomorrow (Monday, January 22) the eight finalists make their final pitches to the councilmembers, who are expected to make their decision Tuesday. You can comment either during tomorrow’s meeting at 9:30 am – in person at City Hall or remotely (the agenda explains how) – or by email (council@seattle.gov or individually). The finalists answered questions in a public forum last Thursday night, and tomorrow morning they’ll answer councilmembers’ questions. As with all City Council meetings, this one will be streamed live at SeattleChannel.org.

If you didn’t get to watch tonight’s public forum with the eight finalists for the 10-month appointment to Seattle City Council citywide Position 8, the Seattle Channel video is already available, and you can watch it above. They were chosen from 72 “qualified applicants” who applied for the job; last Friday, each current councilmember nominated one finalist. The contenders include one West Seattleite, Steve Strand, a Seattle Police captain who was nominated by Council President Sara Nelson; District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka nominated Mark Solomon, a Seattle Police crime-prevention coordinator. The other six finalists are Juan J. Cotto, Neha Nariya, Vivian Song, Mari Sugiyama, Linh Thai, and Tanya Woo. While you don’t get to vote on the appointment – the councilmembers will do that next Tuesday – you do get to tell them who you think they should choose; they’ll take public comment at a special council meeting at 9:30 am Monday (the agenda explains how to participate) and here’s how else to contact them, about this or anything else. You will get to vote on who holds the job next year – the chosen appointee is not obligated to run, but there will be an election this fall, for the last year of what was Teresa Mosqueda‘s term before she moved to the King County Council, and then another election next year for a full 4-year term.

Though most government offices are closed tomorrow for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the State Legislature will be in session. This year is the “short session,” so legislators have two months to get everything done. Our area is part of the 34th Legislative District (here’s a map), represented by State Sen. Joe Nguyễn and State Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Emily Alvarado, all West Seattle residents, though the district stretches beyond, including White Center and Vashon and Maury Islands.

The delegation has notable clout this year, as Sen. Nguyễn is now vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the budget, while Rep. Fitzgibbon is House Majority Leader; Alvarado is vice chair of the Housing and Local Government committees. You can keep track of what they’re doing in Olympia via the Legislature website, though it’s a somewhat daunting task – Sen. Nguyễn, for example, is sponsor or co-sponsor of 354 bills, including 21 for which he is the primary sponsor; for Rep. Fitzgibbon, those numbers are 171 and 18; for Rep. Alvarado, 123 and 15. You can use the lookups on this page to research bills in a variety of ways. Combing through the lists of bills, you’ll find a wide variety of topics; for example, Rep. Alvarado’s bills include renters’ rights (HB2114), pedestrians’ rights (HB1428), and gift-card reforms (HB2094). Most of the measures listing Rep. Fitzgibbon as the main sponsor are procedural because of his role. Sen. Nguyễn’s bills include establishing an AI task force (SB5838), reducing the drunk-driving threshold to .05 blood-alcohol level (SB5002), and lifting the state ban on local governments making gun laws (SB5446). To send a legislator a message, whether to support/oppose a specific bill or about something else, you can use the links on this page.

4:50 PM: One day after a list of 72 qualified applicants was made public, the City Council has just sent word of the finalists for the City Council vacancy created by Teresa Mosqueda‘s move to the County Council.

Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson (Position 9 – Citywide) announced today that the Council identified eight finalists to fill the vacancy left by now-former City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8 – Citywide). The finalists for Position 8 are:

· Juan J. Cotto
· Neha Nariya
· Mark Solomon
· Vivian Song
· Steven K. Strand [West Seattle resident]
· Mari Sugiyama
· Linh Thai
· Tanya Woo

A list of the 72 eligible applicants and completed application materials were made available to the public via the Council Vacancy webpage on Thursday, January 11. Councilmembers selected the eight finalists from the list of 72 qualified applicants provided by the City Clerk.

During today’s special meeting, the Council also selected Seattle CityClub to host a community forum with the finalists, giving the community a chance to hear from the candidates before the final selection is made.

NEXT STEPS:

· A Community Forum hosted by Seattle CityClub will be scheduled.

· A Special Council Meeting for Councilmembers to consider the finalists has been scheduled for Monday, January 22, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. Finalists who participated in the Community Forum will have the chance to address the Council during this meeting.

· The anticipated vote by City Council on the appointment will occur on Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.

More information on the vacancy-filling process is here.

8:41 PM: The news release above did not mention which councilmember nominated which finalist; we watched the meeting recording to verify that. District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka nominated Mark Solomon, SPD crime-prevention coordinator for the South and (temporarily) Southwest Precincts, at the end of a 7-minute speech (starting 1:18:28 into the video) in which he said his “personal evaluation criteria” included “someone who has an ability to collaborate across differences … find common ground and get stuff done … someone who doesn’t view me as the enemy … doesn’t view any of my colleagues as the enemy either.” His military experience, Saka said, was a time when he was fighting against enemies, and this work should not involve that kind of “mindset.” His other criteria, he continued, included a “strong record of service” and a “growth mindset” as well as the ability to handle criticism and to “think critically who’s in the room, who has a seat … and who doesn’t.” Multiple councilmembers said they would have nominated Tanya Woo – who lost a close race with Councilmember Tammy Morales – if she hadn’t been nominated in the early going by new Councilmember Bob Kettle.

Teresa Mosqueda‘s move from the Seattle City Council to the King County Council is complete with today’s swearing-in ceremony at the county council’s first meeting of the year. Administering the oath of office in the council chambers downtown was Councilmember Mosqueda’s husband, Manuel Valdes; they and their 4-year-old daughter live in North Delridge. Mosqueda was one of two newly elected councilmembers sworn in today, along with Jorge Barón; they are making history as the first Latina/o members elected to the County Council. Mosqueda, who succeeds Joe McDermott in representing District 8 (including White Center, West Seattle, Vashon and Maury Islands, and Burien), will chair two committees – the Health and Human Services Committee and the Regional Transit Committee, and will be vice chair of the Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee. You can track County Council meeting dates and agendas, including committee meetings, here.

That video is from new District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka‘s first newsletter, and it includes some news – his council-committee assignments beyond what’s already been announced (new Council President Sara Nelson said Tuesday that Saka will chair the Transportation Committee). He promised to carry on the weekly-newsletter tradition started by predecessor Lisa Herbold, and sent his first one on Friday. (If you didn’t receive it, read it here.) In the newsletter video, Saka says he’ll be vice chair of Public Safety (which will be chaired by new District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle) and a member of two other committees, Housing and Human Services and Sustainability, City Light, and Arts & Culture.

In addition to council committees, councilmembers serve on various regional entities, and a document filed in the city system shows that Saka will be appointed to serve on the King County Regional Transit Committee, the Puget Sound Regional Council‘s Economic Development Board, Executive Board, and Transportation Policy Board, plus the SeaShore Transportation Forum, Watershed Forums for WRIA 8 and 9, and the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee.

NEXT MEETINGS: This week the new council has its first briefing meeting, at which members talk about what they’re doing in the week ahead, at 2 pm Monday (including a staff presentation on what the council has the power to do and an update on the process of filling the council vacancy). Then on Tuesday at 2 pm, it’s their second official weekly meeting (here’s the agenda). Both will be streamed by Seattle Channel.

(WSB photo: District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, with daughter Maeve administering oath of office)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Hopes and expectations were running high as the new edition of the Seattle City Council gathered for its first meeting, before a full house that gave councilmembers a standing ovation, cheering loudly as they entered the chambers.

(WSB photo)

First task in the 2 1/2-hour meeting: They chose a new president – the only nominee, elected unanimously, was citywide Councilmember Sara Nelson, who is midway through her first term.

(WSB photo)

Then came the ceremonial swearing-in ceremonies for, and speeches by, the seven newly elected/reelected district councilmembers, in district numerical order, so District 1’s Rob Saka was first, with the oath given by his 9-year-old daughter Maeve, a Fairmount Park Elementary student, who concluded, “Congratulations, Daddy!” In his subsequent speech, he thanked his wife Alicia and their three kids for being “with him every step of the way,” as well as his father. He shared the personal story many heard during the campaign – with an emphasis on “resilience and unity.” He said those are the factors that led him to enlist in the U.S. Air Force, and why he became a lawyer. He acknowledge “immense” challenges facing the council, including public safety and housing, as well as the nuts and bolts “basics” of government (potholes, etc.). He says he wants to be the “king of potholes” if that’s what it takes – “the little things in life matter.” He also declared this is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity … to reshape the culture here at City Hall.” He made some of the same points in our brief interview with him before the meeting:

If you don’t have time to listen to the interview, a key question we asked Councilmember Saka was how he plans to stay in touch with constituents; he said he’ll continue the “robust” weekly newsletters that his predecessor Lisa Herbold began, and he also plans to keep his promise to open a district office. He also has hired his first two staffers – chief of staff Elaine Ikoma Ko and district relations/scheduler Leyla Gheisar. (Find the office contact info here.)

Committee chairs were announced during the meeting; Saka will chair the Transportation Committee. That was not a major topic during Saka’s campaigning, but for public safety, which was, the committee chair role is going to new District 7 Councilmember Robert Kettle.

There will be some major transportation-related issues this year, though, as senior Councilmember Tammy Morales noted while speaking as president pro tem during the opening moments of the meeting. She observed that the “challenging year ahead” for the council will include “enormous tasks” such as the next transportation-levy proposal as well as a new comprehensive plan, new Seattle Police Officers Guild contract, and a potential $250 million budget deficit.

Nelson, in her first speech as council president, vowed to “work to do the most good for the greatest number of people.” She also said the council needs to “double down on our oversight role.” She described her “grand vision as council president” as “simple good governance.” She also expressed a preference for the in-person format that filled the chambers.

(City-provided photo)

As Saka noted in his interview with us, the first big task for the council is to choose its ninth member – the citywide Position 8 had been held by Teresa Mosqueda (a North Delridge resident), but she is now resigning to take her new job as King County Councilmember, for which she’ll be sworn in soon. They have just under three weeks to do that; the appointed councilmember will serve until someone is elected this fall to finish what will then be the remaining year of Mosqueda’s term. Here’s the webpage with information on the process.

With public comment and some routine business added to all that, the new council’s first meeting concluded at about 4:30 pm, with new president Nelson declaring, “We got this, everybody!”

ADDED: Here’s the Seattle Channel meeting video – if you watch from that page, it includes links to jump ahead to specific times, such as Councilmember Saka’s swearing-in and speech.

With five of nine Seattle City Councilmembers brand new to the job – and a sixth soon – tomorrow’s the day we will start seeing what they do. The council’s 2 pm Tuesday meeting is their first of the year and will be devoted to:

*Electing a new president (previous council president Debora Juarez did not run for re-election)

*Ceremonial swearing-in – Along with the five new members, two were re-elected in November, so there will be seven oaths of office: Rob Saka (District 1), Tammy J. Morales (District 2), Joy Hollingsworth (District 3), Maritza Rivera (District 4), Cathy Moore (District 5), Dan Strauss (District 6), and Robert Kettle (District 7).

*Speeches

*Public comment

*Starting the process of appointing a councilmember – Right after the meeting, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (a West Seattleite who holds citywide Position 8) will resign to take her new role as a County Councilmember. So the new council has to appoint someone to fill the position until this fall’s election. This webpage explains the basics of the process, and will have more information once the council makes more process decisions tomorrow.

Here’s the agenda; you can watch this all live Tuesday afternoon via Seattle Channel.

(WSB photo: District 1 Councilmember-elect Rob Saka with Mayor Bruce Harrell)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two and a half weeks after election results were finalized, the five newly elected Seattle City Councilmembers-to-be – including District 1’s Rob Saka – answered media questions this morning after a mayoral welcome.

We were there for the event on the mayor’s floor atop City Hall. Mayor Bruce Harrell started his welcome speech by explaining staffers have been meeting with the “new cast of characters” for the past week. (In addition to Saka, the “new cast” is District 3’s Joy Hollingsworth, succeeding Kshama Sawant; District 4’s Maritza Rivera, succeeding Alex Pedersen; District 5’s Cathy Moore, succeeding Debora Juarez; , and District 7’s Bob Kettle, the only one to take office by defeating an incumbent, Andrew Lewis. There will be a sixth new councilmember next month, when the council appoints someone to fill the citywide seat Teresa Mosqueda is leaving to join the King County Council.) Here are the mayor’s opening remarks:

Harrell suggested the new councilmembers can’t be put in a “binary box” of political ideology, but instead are “committed to get stuff done.” He also noted their range of “lived experience” with a list of attributes major and minor, from “two veterans” (Saka and Kettle) to “two dog owners.” He also insisted that he and the departing councilmembers “did some marvelous work together,” ticking off more stats, such as the council passing all 344 bills he sent them and that he only vetoed one council bill. “I want to dispel the notion that things were so bad we got nothing done … we got a lot done.”
So what do the newly elected councilmembers-elecct want to do? Each got a turn at the microphone before the floor was opened to questions. Here’s what Councilmember-elect Saka said:

He promised he would “be a servant to the residents of District 1” and assessed the changes as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to usher in a new culture at City Hall,” promising he and his new colleagues could “disagree without being disagreeable.” When Q&A time came, we noted that he had campaigned on “public safety, public safety, public safety” and asked what he planned to do first to try to improve it:

(It should be noted here that the mayor said a bit later in response to a reporter question that crime rates are going down.) In short, Saka didn’t mention a specific propodal but said he’d “work collaboratively with the mayor” and that more officers had to be hired – the hiring incentives don’t seem to be working – plus the alternative CARE Team must “grow and scale.”

Harrell had more to say about public safety in answering questions about his goals for the year ahead, mentioning “new ideas” – referring to the budgeted gunshot-locator technology as one of those, along with “CCTV cameras” (we’re checking on which cameras he was referring to). He also declared that “crime rates are going down.”

To see what the other councilmembers-elect said, the entire event was streamed by Seattle Channel; we’ll link their recording when it’s available. Councilmember-elect Hollingsworth had a notable observation – “We didn’t just want the job title, we want to do the job.” That will formally start when they’re sworn in January 2nd.

Just got belated word of this:

Tonight, 6-8 PM, 34th LD Republicans Committee host Semi Bird, GOP candidate for Governor. Inviting all King County to a special Christmas dinner and inspiring conversation.

Where? The Grove West Seattle Inn, 3512 SW Alaska St

Please RSVP: birdforgovernor.com/34th-ld-republican-committee-christmas-dinner-potluck-rsvp

Three weeks after voting ended on Election Day, King County has certified the final results. Here’s how the three key incumbentless local races ended up:

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 (46% turnout)
Rob Saka – 18,382 – 54.15%
Maren Costa – 15,431 – 45.46%

KING COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 8 (41% turnout)
Teresa Mosqueda – 33,921 – 55.01%
Sofia Aragon – 27,553 – 44.68%

SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 6 (45% turnout)
Gina Topp – 173,596 – 88.58%
Maryanne Wood – 21,796 – 11.12%

(Here’s the full countywide results report for all races and measures.) Generally the newly elected leaders won’t take office until the start of the year. For example, City Council spokesperson Joseph Peha tells us their public ceremonies will be either January 2 or 9, but they will take the oath of office in late December in low-key private ceremonies as the result of a city rule requiring that “to create overlap in case of an emergency like an earthquake, etc., (so) there can be continuity of government.”