Friends and Neighbors, Due to the COVID pandemic, revenues to our City’s treasury have dropped substantially, creating massive budget deficits (an estimated $325 million this year and $325 million next year). Last week your City Council took action to re-balance our 2020 budget and made initial changes to our police budget. While calling for more collaboration […]

Newsletter: Special Edition on Taxes As the Councilmember representing our District 4, I typically enjoy organizing topics into groups of 4 to explore. But this group of 4 is more daunting. As we are painfully aware, our city is facing 4 epic challenges: COVID: The pandemic continues to take lives even though we moved into […]

Monthly Newsletter: Protests and Public Safety, Budget Deficits, COVID Updates, Bridges, and More Photo by Xena Goldman [Note: please also see other posts, including: https://pedersen.seattle.gov/injustice-anywhere-is-a-threat-to-justice-everywhere/ ] Friends and Neighbors, While this month’s newsletter discusses the COVID-19 public health crisis, the resulting economic downturn, our sudden $300 million budget deficit, and the need to fix the West […]

City Hall and Coronavirus Updates Friends and Neighbors, The month of May has brought a glimmer of hope. Governor Inslee announced a multi-phase plan for reopening Washington state. While King County has been in Phase 1 since May 5, the Governor this week approved 10 other counties to move to Phase 2. Thanks to our […]

City Hall and Coronavirus Updates Friends and Neighbors, It’s been a busy two weeks since our last update. In addition to plenty of activity at City Hall and in District 4, Governor Inslee announced today he is extending Washington’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order to May 31st and outlined a four-phase plan for reopening the economy.  For more information, […]

City Hall and Coronavirus Updates Friends and Neighbors, It’s working. I’m so grateful for the sacrifices we have made collectively for each other and for Seattle. With both pain and purpose, we have canceled schools, sent workers home, closed businesses—because it saves lives. New evidence confirms it’s working and our progress is gaining national appreciation. As our […]

Friends and Neighbors, Hello again from our (virtual) District 4 office! As we enter into our office’s 4th week of working from home, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to all the essential workers in our district who don’t have the ability to work from home during this difficult time. Thank you for risking […]

Updates on Coronavirus Friends and Neighbors, With our Governor’s order this week to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy,” our response to the coronavirus pandemic enters a new hunkering-down phase.  These are trying times, but we are going to get through this together. I hear from many people who are worried about how this public health and economic emergency […]

Friends and Neighbors, As our community intensifies its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I want you to know that we are going to get through this together. Many people are worried about the impact this outbreak will have on their ability to work, eat, play, go to school, earn a living, and many other aspects […]

Friends and Neighbors, As Seattle continues to endure the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to provide a list of resources so you can more easily follow the regional response. This newsletter includes updates from the Governor, King County public health officials, and the Mayor as well as some relief regarding […]