Rolling with it
The city of Seattle and the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) provided unlimited transit passes good through 2026 to SHA’s more than 10,000 residents.
The passes are funded through the Seattle Transit Measure, a 0.15 percent sales tax that voters passed in 2020. It’s an expansion of a pilot program that started during former mayor Jenny Durkan’s administration. The pilot program served nearly 2,000 SHA residents.
“As we work to create connected neighborhoods that are easy to get around, partnering SDOT and SHA represents a One Seattle approach, aligning our shared values and working together to improve outcomes for our residents,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
Transit for people under 18 years of age is also free because of Move Ahead Washington, a package funded by the state of Washington.
Kohl-Welles bows out
Sitting King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles announced she would not be running for reelection in 2023.
Kohl-Welles has represented District 4 — which includes Belltown, South Lake Union and Queen Anne, among other neighborhoods — since 2016. Prior to that, she served in the Washington state Senate and House of Representatives.
In a statement, Kohl-Welles said that she wasn’t planning on a quiet, retired life.
“Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that this was my calling in life, and it has been the greatest privilege to serve the many resilient, thoughtful, and engaged communities in District 4 and the 36th Legislative District,” Kohl-Welles wrote. “I cannot thank my constituents enough for their faith in me.”
Community support
Seattle-based organizations are launching a tool to support people impacted by sexual assault.
The Seattle Indian Health Board, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, University of Washington departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and the Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center will create the Seattle Sexual Assault Resource Connector Tool in order to connect victims with resources in their communities.
The five organizations will bring together law enforcement, medical providers, schools and other community organizations to push the tool to possible survivors through materials such as business cards that connect to the English-language SeattleSAHelp.org and Spanish-language website SeattleAyuda.org.
People who visit those websites will go through a set of questions about the victim’s background, preferences and needs. The tool is confidential and doesn’t collect information on the people who use it.
“Every survivor is unique, and every path to healing will be different,” said Abigail Echo-Hawk, executive vice president of the Seattle Indian Health Board, in a statement. “We are all too familiar with the effects of trauma left unaddressed and unacknowledged.”
Read more of the Feb. 1-7, 2023 issue.