About this website
Outside City Hall is a column by John Fox and Carolee Colter of the Seattle Displacement Coalition that has been appearing in Pacific Publishing newspapers and elsewhere since 2004. This web site was recently established to further inform the public of these important issues.
Categories
- Addiction
- Affordable Housing
- Anarchism
- Budget
- City Hall
- Cliff Cawthon articles
- Density
- Displacement
- Election 2017
- Gentrification
- George Howland articles
- Healing
- Homelessness
- Housing Preservation
- Humor
- LGBTQ
- Media
- Melissa Hellmann
- Neighborhoods
- Personal Essays
- police accountability
- Politics
- Protest
- racial justice
- Rebekah Demirel articles
- Resistance
- Transportation
- Trees, parks, and open space
- Uncategorized
- University District
- Upzoning
OUTSIDE CITY HALL Newsletter
Sign up for our email newsletter, with links to the latest writing by John Fox, Carolee Colter, George Howland Jr., and updates on activities of the Seattle Displacement Coalition.
To subscribe, and if you have questions, please send an email to jvf4119@zipcon.net, or call 206-632-0668.
Category Archives: Budget
Durkan joins past Seattle mayors willing to spend millions in overruns on near empty streetcars
At $286 million and $150 million above original cost estimates, the Center City Streetcar project receives Durkan’s blessing; will our City Council buy this piece of underwater beachfront? Last week, Mayor Durkan announced her support of what now is the … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, Politics, Transportation
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City cuts funding for urban rest stops, shelter, and transitional housing: advocates say the move means more homelessness
Millions in funding for homeless programs are being moved from shelter and tested services to ‘rapid rehousing’. Advocates say only calls to electeds can stop a ‘colossal mistake’ Immediately following the budget process, outgoing ‘placeholder’ Mayor Tim Burgess held a … Continue reading
Posted in Affordable Housing, Budget, City Hall, Homelessness, Politics
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Public Bank for Seattle; pipe dream or can it work here?
Neil Powers looks into some of the pros and cons of creating one here in Seattle (Special note: Outside City Hall was going to post this story later accompanying it with another post examining the legal and constitutional issues some … Continue reading
Posted in Affordable Housing, Budget, City Hall, Election 2017, Politics, Uncategorized
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Mayoral hopeful Hasegawa on neighborhood councils, density and a municipal bank
State Senator Bob Hasegawa, D-11th District, is running for Seattle mayor and critiques HALA, wants to empower neighborhoods and levy impact fees on new development By Neil Powers Since 2005, Bob Hasegawa, 64, has been a member of the Washington … Continue reading
Posted in Affordable Housing, Budget, City Hall, Density, Election 2017, Neighborhoods, Politics, Upzoning
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Seattle’s top lobbyist is also mayor’s political consultant
Sandeep Kaushik works for Murray’s re-election and lobbies for Comcast and other corporations Seattle’s biggest lobbyist, Sandeep Kaushik, is also a political consultant to Mayor Ed Murray’s re-election campaign. In 2016, Kaushik earned $186,000 lobbying the Seattle City Council on … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, City Hall, George Howland articles, Politics
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Thankful for Seattle City Hall
Mayor Murray resists Trump; Sawant leads protest; city council defies Murray Over the last two weeks, I’ve been proud of Seattle City Hall. First, Mayor Ed Murray and city councilmembers declared they would fight the Trump administration. Next, Councilmember Kshama … Continue reading
Posted in Affordable Housing, Budget, City Hall, George Howland articles, Homelessness, Housing Preservation, Politics
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Mayor’s Budget Lowlights: business as usual – still favoring Downtown, South Lake Union (SLU), and streetcars
Another bailout of the SLU Streetcar: city planners question whether plan runs afoul of the city’s race & social justice initiative Yet, Mayor moves forward with a $151 million plan for a new “Center City” streetcar serving downtown. Like northend police … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, City Hall, Neighborhoods, Politics
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July 6th City Council committee approves sale of Pacific Place Parking Garage: full Council votes Monday
Update on July 6th committee discussion and vote: Full Council votes Monday 2pm on the sale of the Pacific Place Parking Garage. While the Council’s Housing and Finance Committee approved sale of the Garage for $87 million (with a … Continue reading
Error on developer tax breaks means millions in lost revenues
(This story by Carolee Colter and John V. Fox originally published July 1 2013). For years, we’ve criticized our City Council and mayor for approving millions of dollars in property tax breaks to a handful of large residential developers through … Continue reading
Posted in Affordable Housing, Budget, City Hall, Uncategorized
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Socializing the costs, not the benefits
by Carolee Colter and John V. Fox, Seattle Displacement Coalition – November 15, 2015 Yes, there is socialism in Seattle. But not the kind where the incomes of those at the bottom are lifted and the costs as well as the benefits … Continue reading
Outside City Hall 