Politics and Government

With the Seattle City Council set to consider amendments to required zoning changes this week, the city's planning commission highlighted the danger of adding on additional requirements including affordable housing mandates and changing thresholds for infrastructure upgrades.

The way cities conduct public outreach and local elections stacks the deck against homebuilding, tenants, and people of color, research shows. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Evidence that led to the ouster of former SPD Chief Adrian Diaz is now coming into question, and Jamie Tompkins, the department's former Chief-of-Staff is pushing to negotiate a $3 million settlement from the city.

Last Wednesday, Rep. Shaun Scott and a group of educators sought a meeting with Ferguson to voice concerns about social service cuts, but were rebuffed by an out-of-office governor more focused on appeasing the rich. Perhaps the state would be better off if the governor vacated the office permanently, Collin Reid opines.

More than one-third of WSDOT's two-year budget is set to go toward highway widenings and extensions, in the face of a significant maintenance backlog impacting Washington's state and local roads.

The Washington State Legislature approved a 7% to 10% cap on rent hikes Sunday, after the proposal faced a rollercoaster of obstacles over the course of the 105-day session.

Rent increases would be capped between 7% and 10% under the compromise measure approved by a conference committee Thursday night. It still needs to advance back through both chambers by Sunday night to reach the Governor's desk.

King County Council members are sounding the alarm after Governor Bob Ferguson’s opposition to lifting the property tax cap threw their future budget into chaos. Ferguson’s opposition to new revenue options is also jeopardizing the state budget and could force deep service cuts and potentially a special session to hammer out details.