I continue to believe that the existing North Precinct police station must be replaced to meet the needs of North Seattle residents and the operational needs of North Precinct officers. However, after reviewing hundreds of pages and hearing from a wide variety of community members, it is clear that we must take a step back […]

Councilmember Lorena González issued the following statement regarding today’s upcoming decision to introduce legislation to revise the City’s encampment clear out policy: “In two months, the City of Seattle will be recognizing the one-year anniversary of the declaration of a State of Emergency on Homelessness.  Sadly, in the almost twelve months since that declaration, we […]

Over the past several months, the Gender Equity, Safe Communities & New Americans committee (GESCNA) has had multiple public hearings regarding the design, operations and cost of a new police precinct that would serve all of North Seattle (Council Districts 4, 5 and 6).  The current Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct serves approximately forty percent […]

En Español In English We are a nation of immigrants. Our greatest national monument, the Statue of Liberty, is etched with the words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” Today, those words are weighing heavily on my mind and heart. This morning the U.S. Supreme Court issued a […]

Thank you for taking time to write in about Pronto Bike Share.  Over the past several weeks, I have received hundreds of calls and e-mails both expressing support for and opposition against saving the existing bike share system. I will be frank: I struggled with this decision.  That struggle was wedged between my belief that […]

The growing crisis of homelessness in our region is larger than the reach of a single solution, implementation of a single strategy, or responsibility of a single elected official or human-services provider. It’s a shared crisis rooted in interrelated problems of poverty, addiction and mental illness. It is larger than a single city, region or […]

One Night Count 2016 I never expected this job to be easy, I don’t think anyone does. This week has proven especially challenging as an elected official, as an advocate for the underrepresented and, frankly, as a fellow resident. Last night, I joined 1,000 volunteers in the Seattle-King County One Night Count organized by the […]

Yesterday communities across the country, including here in Seattle, came together to celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Every year, in the days leading up to “MLK Day”, we hear speeches on the radio, TV and in our schools and churches about how far we’ve come in the struggle for equity. […]

Today, the Seattle City Council faced a difficult vote. We voted to grant the Block 21 Alley Vacation to Amazon, Inc., with an amendment regarding free speech protections on the property, co-sponsored by Councilmembers Burgess, Herbold and myself. Normally, an alley vacation is not a particularly controversial decision; it’s a part of the lifecycle of […]