Seattle’s plan for growth, CARE team expansion, and more stories you might have missed this week.
Monday, September 15
What That Day-Long Comp Plan Hearing Was About
The city council spent the week blasting through amendments to Phase 1 of the long-delayed comprehensive plan, the framework for growth across the city. I took a look at the ones that came up most often during a day-long public comment period on Friday, including amendments about trees, social housing, parking, and density.
Seattle Nice: Does Police Surveillance Make Us Safer?
On this week’s podcast, we discussed the new police cameras that are going up in so-called “high-crime areas” around Seattle. Are police cameras effective at preventing and solving violent crimes—the stated purpose of the legislation—or are they another expensive tool to make it look like SPD is taking care of people’s safety in marginalized communities?
Tuesday, September 16
Police Department Acknowledges Using AI, But Says It Isn’t “Substantive” Enough to Label
Under the city’s AI policy, every city department is supposed to get specific permission for new AI tools like ChatGPT and, if they use AI “substantively” in their writing, clearly label the content as AI-generated along with the name of the tool. After resident filed a complaint against the department over several blog posts and internal communications that seemed AI-generated, SPD acknowledged to PubliCola that they have used AI, but denied using it for anything more than grammar checks and similar non-substantive edits.
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Wednesday, September 17
In a last-minute amendment to the comprehensive plan her committee has been discussing for months, Council Joy Hollingsworth proposed reducing density in her district by preserving the existing, low-density zoning on an area between Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the Central District. Although Hollingsworth would end up pulling the proposal for now, the amendment was one of several big last-minute proposals that the public had no chance to see or weigh in on.
Thursday, September 18
Tiny House Village in Southeast Seattle Remains Stalled as Winter Approaches
Plans to open a new tiny house village in Southeast Seattle have stalled over an apparent lease dispute, according to the organization, Nickelsville, that has been trying to work with the Harrell administration to open a shelter at the site since 2023.
Friday, September 19
Harrell Proposes New Sales Tax to Expand CARE Team, Fund Treatment, and Backfill Budget
Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed a new 0.1-cent sales tax and rolled out a plan to spend it. About half the money would backfill spending on existing programs, like LEAD and CARE, that currently get funding from other sources. The rest would expand non-police public safety programs, including expansion of the CARE Team from 24 to 48 members—a win that indicates CARE may get more concessions from the police union in its next contract, currently in negotiations.