In his State of the City address before the Seattle City Council today, Mayor Ed Murray expanded the City’s commitment to support education, job opportunities and success for all of Seattle’s youth. He also pledged to hire an additional 100 police officers above the 100 net new officers he has already budgeted, and offered new initiatives to support small businesses, foster the arts, and activate urban parks.
“Today the State of the City reflects the 21st Century dreams of the 1962 World’s Fair: a vibrant city driven by technology and science, creating jobs and innovation in everything from transportation to health care,” said Murray in a packed City Council Chambers. “The State of the City also reflects our worst fears from the Great Depression, as issues of homelessness and inequity continue despite decades of effort on the part of this City to resolve them.”
In addition the mayor also announced a new exciting move that can help both arts and commercial affordability in Seattle. SDOT and the offices of Economic Development and Arts & Culture have worked together on a plan to make the upper floors of King Street Station available as new public space for Seattle’s arts and culture community, and affordable space for our small businesses.
Not only does this create more opportunities for our local artists, it gives thousands of commuters, neighbors and visitors access to Seattle’s arts scene and local businesses in a completely new way. Please stay tuned as the Office of Arts & Culture announces a plan to engage the public in the cultural opportunities of King Street Station.
The mayor’s complete State of the City remarks as prepared are available at seattle.gov/mayor.
