The full list of 430 levy-funded projects across Seattle was mostly assembled before Mayor Katie Wilson took office. But it contains significant opportunities for the new administration to shape transportation investments over the years ahead.
Mayor Katie Wilson is promoting inspections director Sam Steele to interim director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, she announced Tuesday. Steele has pledged to streamline processes to make it easier to build housing and emergency shelter.
As the First Hill Streetcar celebrates a decade carrying riders, questions mount about the future of the Seattle Streetcar network as a whole. With a plan to finally connect the two existing lines being declared dead, the status quo is likely not sustainable.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and Rico Quirindongo, the city’s planning director, seem to be on the same page about revamping the city’s growth plans to allow for additional housing density. The City appears set to largely stay the course on scheduled rezone work in 2026, but queue up additional growth
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson rolled out two executive orders on Thursday morning, seeking to get major initiatives rolling: expanding emergency housing for homeless residents and bus lanes to speed up the Route 8 bus. Wilson has set a deadline of April 17 for a Denny Way bus lane implementation plan.
The Urbanist recently sat down with Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to get the latest on initiatives she has cooking now that her team is in office. We touched on emergency housing, bus lanes, World Cup preparations, Sound Transit, culture change at the police department, and more.
Ryan Packer, Amy Sundberg, and Doug Trumm kick off the new year by breaking down Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s inauguration and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson’s budget proposal, which included deep cuts to public education, while also queuing up a millionaires income tax for 2029.
In remarks after being sworn in as Seattle’s 58th mayor, Katie Wilson painted a vision of improving the daily lives of residents that was explicitly urbanist: focused around livability and ensuring that no one gets pushed out of the city.
Ryan Packer, Amy Sundberg, and Doug Trumm discuss the Federal Way Link light rail opening in early December, Katie Wilson’s transition team and early hires, and the Seattle City Council’s vote to approve a controversial labor contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
Waterfront revamp veteran Angela Brady is taking over as Seattle’s transportation department head, replacing Adiam Emery, who previously served as one of Bruce Harrell’s deputy mayors. The Wilson Administration will conduct a broader search for a longer-term SDOT Director in 2026.
In a 6-3 vote, Seattle City Council approved a police guild contract that falls short on officer accountability and continues to hinder civilian crisis responders. A parting gift from outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell, the contract could hamstring the incoming administration of Katie Wilson.
John Burbank looks back to a series of progressive victories that paved the way for the most significant mayoral victory in Seattle over the past 100 years, with Katie Wilson about to take office.
Seattle Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson believes she’ll be judged primarily by how she can improve outcomes on homelessness and public safety. In an interview with The Urbanist, Wilson laid out what she aims to do to set a new course, striving for a more holistic and effective response.
Seattle Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson announced her transition leadership team earlier this week, which features a mix of advocates and insiders. Wilson has reiterated a bold progressive agenda, but a pragmatic approach to achieve it.
Katie Wilson may have won the mayoral election, but her challenges are just beginning. Outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell is leaving a budget mess behind him.
On Thursday, Mayor Bruce Harrell conceded the election to progressive challenger Katie Wilson, surrounded by supporters in the lobby of Seattle City Hall. His speech vacillated between a conciliatory tone that extended an olive branch to his successor and a few defiant moments when he seemed to pick
Katie Wilson will be Seattle’s next Mayor. The progressive challenger expanded her lead over current Mayor Bruce Harrell to nearly 2,000 votes in Wednesday’s count, and The Urbanist and other local outlets have called the race for Wilson.
In Tuesday’s drop, Urbanist-endorsed progressive challenger Katie Wilson expanded her narrow lead over Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. She now leads by 1,346 votes or 0.49%. With very few ballots remaining, Wilson is on the cusp of avoiding a machine recount.
Progressive challenger Katie Wilson now leads incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell by a razor-thin 91-vote margin after another batch of votes were counted Monday. Wilson appears well-positioned to pull off a dramatic comeback from a deficit of more than 11,000 votes in early results.
Urbanist-endorsed progressive challenger Katie Wilson gained significantly on incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell in Friday’s count, pulling within two points, with a 4,300-vote gap to close. With around 50,000 votes remaining to be counted, her campaign says she’s on course to pass him and win.
Challenger Katie Wilson trailed Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell by seven points on election night, but progressives have closed such margins in the past. A comeback in late returns could be in the cards, based on Wilson’s performance in the August primary.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has increasingly staked his reelection bid on going negative on challenger Katie Wilson. But the desperate attacks have blowback potential. Here’s why.
An opioid treatment nurse shares why they support Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor and trust her to address interlinked crises around housing, homelessness, and opiate addiction.
Seattle has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve public safety outcomes by civilianizing more tasks and focusing police on major crime. That’s what mayoral candidate Katie Wilson’s public safety platform proposes, which Bryan Kirschner argues would be anti-bad guy, pro-good cop, and taxpayer-
“It’s never been more important to have a movement mayor,” Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson told supporters Sunday. Multiple speakers portrayed Wilson as a bottom-up, people-powered coalition-builder, who stands in sharp contrast to incumbent Bruce Harrell, who they see as a top-down establish
Progressive challenger Katie Wilson continues to have the edge in the highly competitive Seattle mayoral race, despite a large fundraising advantage for corporate-backed incumbent Bruce Harrell. Two polls released this week indicate that Wilson still holds a lead, after winning the primary election
While the Seattle Police Officers Guild scored a big raise and new benefits, the new labor contract negotiated by Mayor Bruce Harrell will continue to hamper the City’s new civilian crisis response department and its police accountability agencies.
In a campaign event last week, Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson harkened back to her younger street-musician days when she used to busk at Pike Place Market. Wilson told a gathering of Market workers and community members that she understood their struggles; she has lived them, and Seattle’s m
While Bruce Harrell is touting a drop in the number of pedestrian deaths in Seattle last year, that number has shot up again in 2025. And despite his promotion of safety spending in a newly approved transportation levy, his legacy on the issue of traffic safety likely won’t be known for years.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office appears to have deleted or is withholding a contract used to make a crucial legal decision regarding the Mayor’s newly-minted Chief of Staff, Andrew Myerberg. Harrell’s office appears to be violating the terms of the settlement agreement reached with the Seattle Times in
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and progressive challenger Katie Wilson have debated many times over the course of the general election, and one of the most recent was at Seattle University and co-sponsored by KOMO. Seeking to make up ground after finishing a distant second in the primary, Harrell continued to
A major intersection redesign near Seward Park was ready to go to construction with a Mayor’s Office review the only impediment, records show. The exchanges reveal what was happening behind the scenes as the public was kept in the dark about the future of upgrades on the high-profile corridor.
Mayor Bruce Harrell has pledged to complete labor negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild before the end of the year. But facing a tough reelection fight, he might not be around to sign the deal, which challenger Katie Wilson may want to renegotiate anyway.
The race for Seattle Mayor is heating up, with progressive challenger Katie Wilson securing new labor support and incumbent Bruce Harrell ramping up fundraising and attacks on his opponent. Harrell also called in an endorsement from a national Democratic Party leader via Pete Buttigieg.
In Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget proposal unveiled Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department was the big winner, seeing a $34.5 million increase. The mayor would use a new 0.1% “public safety” sales tax increase and a business tax overhaul to close a $122 million deficit and fund new investments.
Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the City’s new AI Plan, which looks to harness the current artificial intelligence boom in the tech sector by integrating AI into the City’s operations, public services, and civic engagement. But critics worry about the ethical implications of AI use in publi
Seeking to fend off progressive challenger Katie Wilson, Mayor Bruce Harrell took a combative tone in the first debate of the general election season, recently aired by Seattle Channel’s City Inside Out. Harrell frequently attacked and spoke over his opponent, hoping to land a punch that could shake
Facing a tough election battle, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been ramping up his pace of press events and social media posts. A former McGinn staffer shares how ethics officials warned McGinn’s office against such activity, which could constitute a misuse of public resources for campaign purposes
On Wednesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell rolled out a proposal for an $80 million “anti-gentrification and reparations fund,” and trumpeted $350 million in housing investments he aims to make in 2026. He also ramped up attacks on challenger Katie Wilson and other political opponents, saying “how dare anyon
A press event in Ballard Tuesday was intended to bolster support for getting Seattle’s next two light rail lines across the finish line. But rhetoric won’t change the dynamics on the Sound Transit board, which feature suburban leaders just as dug in to prioritize the spine from Tacoma to Everett.
Friday’s ballot count was very friendly to Seattle progressives, with mayoral challenger Katie Wilson exceeding the 50% mark with the boost. The election dynamics favor a progressive wave. Here’s why.
Five major bike safety projects are all opening within a few months of each other, filling in critical gaps in Seattle’s network. But most of the credit for ensuring that Hot Bike Summer happened in the first place goes to previous city leaders.
Urbanist-endorsed progressive challenger Katie Wilson is off to a fast start in her bid to unseat Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, leading by nearly 1,300 votes on primary election night. Urbanist-endorsed Seattle City Council candidates Dionne Foster, Alexis Mercedes, and Eddie Lin have also taken comm
Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing to expand his three-month-old surveillance pilot program by installing more police cameras and funneling data from hundreds of traffic management cameras into the Seattle Police Department’s real-time crime center. The move has draw criticism from civil liberties gro
Northwest Progressive Institute has released a new poll showing razor close races for Seattle Mayor and City Attorney. Incumbents Bruce Harrell and Ann Davison are both well below the 50% mark, pointing to vulnerability. Meanwhile, progressive mayoral challenger Katie Wilson is rolling out big endor
On Wednesday, Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck unveiled a proposal overhauling the city’s Business and Occupation tax that she hopes to put before voters this November – if she can win over her colleagues. Dubbed the Seattle Shield Initiative, it would broaden the exemption for small busi
On Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced a proposal for a $2 million bridge loan to the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Harrell campaigned against the successful grassroots social housing funding measure in the recent February election, but is pledging support going forward.
At a mobility and housing forum Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell faced off with six challengers on a crowded primary election ballot. Here are the key takeaways.
Last week, former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz filed a lawsuit against the City and Mayor Bruce Harrell, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation, and wage theft. Beyond the monetary cost, the suit could be yet another political headwind for a mayor facing a tough reelection fight.
The idea of building affordable housing at Magnolia’s former Army base has been in the works for two decades. With a key comment deadline passing this month, it’s finally set to advance, but several major hurdles loom over the coming months.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s $1.3 billion education levy is set to go to the ballot in November, but it could be weighed down by a controversial proposal to put police officers back in Seattle schools. Meanwhile, Harrell’s draft school safety plan has stalled out, which is drawing criticism from school boa
Important questions remain despite a newly unearthed report, including how police first obtained sensitive medical information, why the City’s inspector general continued to be directly involved, despite recusal due to conflict of interest, and why the Mayor’s Office opted to hire and accept the fin
The Urbanist will be co-hosting a Seattle candidate forum on June 4th in Beacon Hill along with allied housing and transportation organizations. It will be a fantastic chance to hear from candidates for Seattle Mayor and City Council. RSVP today!
A new Northwest Progressive Institute poll of Seattle voters that found challenger Katie Wilson had a slight lead over incumbent Bruce Harrell in the mayoral race, with 36% of respondents voting for challenger Katie Wilson if the general election for mayor were being held today, while 33% preferring
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has shrunk the dimensions of eight neighborhood centers and six urban center expansions he proposed last year. The move chops dozens of blocks off the growth centers, limiting opportunities for apartments and affordable homebuilding and drawing criticism from housing advo
This fall voters will decide whether to give Bruce Harrell another term as Seattle Mayor. In the third article in a series, Ron Davis argues that Harrell’s current term has been a failure on the issue of homelessness.
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.
Homeless encampment sweeps have tripled under Mayor Harrell, but shelter capacity has shrunk, and the number of people who are unsheltered remains stubbornly high.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell pushed back against an auditor report calling for more coordination around gun violence prevention and criticizing SPD’s haphazard approach to investigations. Deputy Mayor Tiffani Washington said she felt disrespected by the audit process being reinitiated by Council Pres
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has failed on housing, Ron Davis writes. Whether kickstarting a homegrown social housing push, encouraging a wide diversity of market-rate housing, or scaling up traditional nonprofit low-income housing to meet the need, Harrell’s halfhearted efforts have fallen flat.
A recent Change Research poll found progressive Alexis Rinck is the only Seattle municipal official with a positive approval rating. In contrast, Mayor Bruce Harrell, Council President Sara Nelson, City Attorney Ann Davison were all under water. Precinct results for the recent social housing funding
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections Director Nathan Torgelson announced his resignation in an email to staff today. Torgelson and Mayor Bruce Harrell said the decision was mutual and pledged a smooth transition. Much work is on the department’s plate in coming months.
Over his career, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has repeatedly covered for abusers, exhibiting a dismissiveness toward women and a pattern of punching down against vulnerable people rather than standing up to the powerful, Ron Davis writes.
Transit Riders Union leader Katie Wilson jumped in the race to be the next mayor of Seattle today. Our interview with Wilson covers what’s motivating her to run and how she would deliver results where Mayor Bruce Harrell has failed.
Last month, actor and union representative Ry Armstrong jumped in the Seattle mayor’s race, arguing Bruce Harrell is dropping the ball on a plethora of issues. In their interview with The Urbanist, Armstrong explained what they’d do differently.
Ron Davis dives into Mayor Bruce Harrell’s record on public safety and ultimately deems his approach a failure. On his third police chief, Harrell has not delivered on campaign promises and the Seattle Police Department is still reeling and lacking accountability.
On Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell praised conservative billionaires as “smart innovators,” but pledged to push back on federal overreach and advance cybersecurity, telling business leaders: “I will fight for you.”
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell teased a few urbanist-minded initiatives as he delivered his annual state of the city speech on Tuesday, putting support behind a push to pedestrianize Pike Place and launched a new “Northern Lights” vision to remake Aurora Avenue. Exactly when either change would occur r
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has tapped Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes for top cop. Demoted former police chief Adrian Diaz, meanwhile, was sent packing for lying to investigators over his romantic relationship with his chief of staff.
The Seattle City Council is preparing to pass new crowd control legislation in January that would largely defer to police over use of “less lethal” weapons. These weapons are still very dangerous and should be tightly regulated, critics contend.
The Sara Nelson-led Seattle City Council passed their first city budget in an 8-1 vote. It greenlit the mayor’s plan to slash investments in affordable housing and social services and trim 48 staff positions in order to boost police spending by 16% and close a large deficit without raising new taxes
Progressive challenger Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s election win could mean a 5-4 majority for a capital gains tax — or even a supermajority, if Rob “this is the right tax at the wrong time” Saka can be convinced that the time is right. Other progressive taxes are also on the table.
Despite public outcry and limited outreach, Seattle City Council’s public safety committee greenlit Mayor Harrell’s pilot program installing 24/7 surveillance cameras in three neighborhoods and purchasing real-time crime center software and staff. The legislation moves to a full council vote on Octo
London’s Pavilion Road, fully pedestrianized in 2021, represents a strong contrast with Seattle’s plans to reduce pollution by transforming streets, still stuck in the planning stage despite nearly seven years of work.
A year into announcing its ambitious Downtown Activation Plan, the Harrell Administration is touting successes. But so far those are primarily spot improvements, with many big initiatives in limbo or on hold.
Mayor Bruce Harrell and Governor Jay Inslee were on Thursday’s program at Bloomberg Green Festival hosted at the Seattle Center. Both touted local leadership on environmental issues, even as that work remains tenuous.
Mayor Bruce Harrell has dropped acoustic gunshot locator technology from his proposal to beef up surveillance of Seattle residents. The expansion of automated license plate readers, cameras, and real-time crime center software has continued to draw criticism from groups focused on privacy and racial
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz is out as the allegations against him pile up. Mayor Bruce Harrell announced Sue Rahr would be his interim replacement. Diaz faces numerous investigations for an alleged pattern of gender and racial discrimination in his office and sexual harassment.
City leaders are weighing laxer hiring standards rather than improving SPD’s culture and accountability systems. But SPD’s bad reputation could be the bigger drag on hiring – not to mention safety outcomes.
Mayor Harrell and the city council are contemplating budget cuts and raiding JumpStart payroll tax revenue to address a $230 million budget deficit. But nonprofit leaders are warning of the impact of reducing affordable housing funding.
In his state of the city speech Tuesday, Harrell eschewed new taxes and promised yet-to-be identified budget cuts. He pledged a long-delayed draft of the Seattle Comprehensive Plan and an incentive package for office-to-housing conversions will be released in March.
Durable solutions to police accountability, public safety, drug treatment, and homelessness all remain elusive and vaguely defined. On Tuesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell released his 2024 City budget proposal and delivered a speech laying out his decisions. The 33-minute speech made clear his priorities — boosting public safety, addressing homelessness, activating downtown,
Mayor promotes Burgess to deputy mayor following Monisha Harrell’s departure. Mayor Bruce Harrell is parting ways with Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell, the Seattle Times reported on June 21. As one of the Harrell administration’s more progressive voices on public safety, her departure could signal a shift in
The mayor has coined splashy acronyms from DAP to CARE, but the programs themselves are lagging behind. Mayor Bruce Harrell titled his state of the city speech as “the city of the future we’re building today,” but 14 months into his term, few of the Mayor’s plans have
The Mayor asked for budget cuts from other city departments to close an anticipated $150 million funding gap next year. Mayor Bruce Harrell delivered his first state of the city speech yesterday at Seattle City Hall and struck similar notes as he did on the campaign trail. He stressed clearing
Styling himself a progressive rather than a moderate, Mayor Bruce Harrell promised to enact a bold agenda and pledged to listen and work with self-proclaimed progressives in an inaugural address Tuesday morning. “In our administration we are not going play small ball,” Harrell said. “This is not the time for
Today is Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s final day in office and attention is turning to her legacy as she passes the baton to her ally and friend Bruce Harrell. Annual polls gauging the share of voters who think the city is on the wrong track registered new highs in
The biggest challenge is implementation, Durkan said, which has been very true for her administration. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26 as the 26th iteration of this annual event, is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Governor Jay Inslee made the
With one day left before polls close on the 2021 election, campaigns are in a mad dash to the finish line. Voters have some of the starkest candidate choices in recent memory, and activists on both sides have emphasized how much is at stake. “Don’t wanna sound hyperbolic but
The Seattle Mayoral race is shaping up to be a tight one. Just two points separated Bruce Harrell and Lorena González in the primary, and a few polls dropped in the past week, most of which indicated a close race. The outlier was a Crosscut/Elway poll that showed Bruce
This election, Seattle can do much to advance progressive causes and elevate visionary leaders. The flip side of the coin is a possible retreat to the comfortable conservatism of decades past. Blaming the poor for being poor, catering to the rich so they can consolidate even more wealth and power,
Whistleblowers in the scandal around Mayor Jenny Durkan’s missing texts and mishandling of public records requests have filed suit against the City of Seattle for retaliation, the Seattle Times reported late last night. “The seven-page complaint — filed in King County Superior Court by Stacy Irwin and Kimberly Ferreiro — contends
Yesterday, the Seattle Community Police Commission (CPC) announced that Bruce Harrell had declined their invitation to a mayoral candidate forum on police accountability and public safety, leading them to cancel the event. Both leading candidates are promising to increase police accountability and reduce incidents of racial bias and excessive force,
Primary results have been a Rorschach test for pundits, with moderates divining a moderate resurgence and lefties seeing progressives well-positioned. Late returns have strongly favored progressives. The Seattle City Attorney’s race showed the centrist incumbent to be in a weak position and could be a bellwether of the city’
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The Urbanist has been highlighting the blunders of the Durkan administration from the campaign to year one to her recent fall from grace over violating public records law while botching the City’s response to police brutality protests. Recent polling suggests Seattle
In partnership with the Mt. Baker Hub Alliance, Mt. Baker Mutual Aid, Disability Rights WA, and Mercy Housing, The Urbanist is sponsoring a mayoral forum on Tuesday, July 20th, from 6 to 7:30pm at the amphitheater of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park. The event will also be broadcast
Seattle Subway and co-sponsor Seattle Transit Blog, both members of the MASS Coalition alongside The Urbanist, held a mayoral forum focused on the topic of mass transit in the Seattle area. It was the rare 2021 political discussion in which the word Covid never made an appearance, although references to
Casey Sixkiller is vying to replace outgoing Mayor Jenny Durkan, his former boss. Sixkiller has a long career in politics and lobbying that included stints in the offices of former U.S. Representative Joe McDermott, Senator Patty Murray, and King County Executive Dow Constantine. His consulting firm’s lobbying clients
Seattle Mayoral candidate Colleen Echohawk joined The Urbanist for the March monthly meetup. During the meeting, she discussed wide-ranging priorities that she would pursue if she becomes the city’s next mayor.
Former Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell is vying to replace outgoing Mayor Jenny Durkan. Harrell’s campaign bio notes he grew up in the redlined Central District the son of a Black father and Japanese mother. From star linebacker at Garfield High School and the University of Washington to