Seattle City Council notes: Shared Streets, World Cup funding, new Neighborhoods director, and Seattle Social Housing changes

• Shared Streets: The full council voted Tuesday to approve legislation recently reported on by CHS including change to the city’s municipal code that line up with “first-in-the-nation” shared streets law passed in Washington last year. The new law will allow “shared streets” designed, engineered, and constructed to emphasize pedestrian and bicyclist safety — including 10 MPH speed limits and the ability for those walking and rolling to safely cross a street anywhere they want.
• World Cup $: The full council also voted to approve acceptance of millions in grants as it prepares to host six men’s World Cup games this summer. CHS reported here on how Seattle is spending $32 million in World Cup funding including $2.1 million in Department of Homeland Security funding for the Seattle Police Department’s anti-drone training.
• Department of Neighborhoods director: Wednesday, the council’s Libraries, Education, Neighborhoods Committee will take up the Appointment of Quynh Pham, formerly of Friends of Little Saigon, as Director of the Department of Neighborhoods. CHS reported on the selection of Pham as part of a roster of leadership changes planned by Mayor Katie Wilson. The department has an annual budget of around $20 million and 67 staff at City Hall.
• Seattle Social Housing Developer: Wednesday will also bring a session of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee chaired by Dionne Foster and discussion of a proposed resolution that would allow a roster of changes to the charter for the newly created Seattle Social Housing Developer. The proposed changes have been recommended by the Social Housing board and would allow the public developer to form a company to purchase and develop properties as well as make other operational changes like allowing rental rates to be based on “more than just the cost of building operations, in order to allow for cross-subsidization of buildings or the use of building revenue to support bond payments,” according to a presentation (PDF) on the proposal. The changes would also open up SSHD properties to be used as collateral for debt and allow SSHD to execute regulatory agreements under programs like the Mandatory Housing Affordability. CHS reported this winter on stronger than expected funding for the new SSHD giving the developer a strong start in its mission to create and acquire affordable housing. Officials said the voter-approved 5% tax on employers that pay any employee more than $1 million in compensation climbed above $115 million. The city began collecting the first Prop 1A payments from employers for the 2025 tax year in January. The tax had been expected to raise more than $50 million annually.

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