Government and politics of Seattle, Washington

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The Government and politics of Seattle, Washington is a charter city, with a Mayor-Council form of government, unlike many of its neighbors that use the Council-Manager form. Seattle's mayor and nine city council members are elected annually, at large, rather than by geographic subdivisions. The only other elected offices are the City Attorney and Municipal Court Judges. All offices are non-partisan. Seattle is a predominantly liberal city and tends to elect left-leaning politicians to office.

[edit] Government

The city government provides more utilities than many cities; either running the whole operation, such as the water and electricity services, or handling the billing and administration, but contracting out the rest of the operations, such as trash and recycling collections. See the Utilities section for more details.

[edit] Politics

Seattle's politics lean famously to the left compared to the U.S. as a whole. In this regard, it sits with a small set of similar U.S. cities (such as Madison, Wisconsin, Berkeley, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts) where the dominant politics tend to range from center-left to social democratic. Seattle politics are generally dominated by the liberal wing (in the U.S. sense of the word "liberal") of the Democratic Party; in some local elections, Greens (and even, on at least one occasion, a member of the Freedom Socialist Party) have fared better than Republicans. There do exist pockets of conservatism, especially in the north and in exclusive neighborhoods such as Broadmoor, and scattered Libertarians, but for the most part Seattle is a safely Democratic city, as exemplified by congressman Jim McDermott, who represents the Seventh Congressional District of Washington, made up of most of Seattle and also including semi-rural Vashon Island. McDermott has been reelected to his seat in every election since 1988, when he replaced fellow liberal Democrat Mike Lowry, who had held the seat since 1979.

[edit] Crime and criminal justice

As with most U.S. cities, the county judicial system handles felony crimes — the Seattle Municipal Court deals with parking tickets, traffic infractions, and misdemeanors. Seattle does not have its own jail, contracting out inmates it convicts to either the King County Jail (which is located downtown), the Yakima County Jail, or (for short-term holdings) the Renton City Jail.^[1] After reaching its highest murder rate in 1994 with 69 homicides, Seattle's murder rate declined to a 40-year low with 24 homicides in 2004.^[2] By 2006, Seattle's murder rate had increased, with thirty murders that year.^[3] Auto theft is another matter: Seattle has until recently ranked in the top ten "hot spots" for auto theft; the Seattle Police Department has responded by nearly doubling the number of auto theft detail detectives, and started a "bait car" program in 2004.^[4]

Seattle has suffered two mass-murders in recent history: the 1983 Wah Mee massacre (13 people killed in the Wah Mee gambling club)^[5]and the March 25, 2006 Capitol Hill massacre when 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff killed six at a rave afterparty.^[6] Later in 2006, an attempted spree killing by Naveed Afzal Haq left one dead at the Jewish Federation building.^[7]

Mayor Greg Nickels is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[8] a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

[edit] Official nickname, flower, slogan, and song

In 1981, Seattle held a contest to come up with a new official nickname to replace "the Queen City." "Queen City" had been devised by real estate promoters and used since 1869,^[9] but was also the nickname of: Cincinnati;^[10] Denver;^[11] Regina, Saskatchewan;^[12] Buffalo;^[13] Bangor, Maine;^[14] Helena, Montana;^[15] Burlington, Vermont,^[16] Charlotte, North Carolina,^[17] and several other cities.The winner of this contest, selected in 1982, was "the Emerald City". Submitted by Californian Sarah Sterling-Franklin, it referred to the lush surroundings of Seattle that were the result of frequent rain.^[18] Seattle has also been known in the past as "the Jet City"—though this nickname, related to Boeing, was entirely unofficial.^[18]

Seattle's official flower has been the dahlia since 1913. Its official song has been "Seattle the Peerless City" since 1909. In 1942, its official slogan was "The City of Flowers"; 48 years later, in 1990, it was "The City of Goodwill", for the Goodwill Games held that year in Seattle.^[19] On October 20, 2006, the Space Needle was adorned with the new slogan "Metronatural." The slogan is a result of a 16-month, $200,000 effort by the Seattle Convention and Visitor's Bureau.^[20] The official bird of Seattle is the Great Blue Heron, named by the City Council in 2003.^[21]

[edit] Seattle mayors of note

Main article: List of mayors of Seattle

• Bertha Knight Landes, mayor from 1926 to 1928. She was the first woman mayor of a major American city.^[22]
• Bailey Gatzert was mayor from 1875 to 1876. He was the first Jewish mayor of Seattle, and narrowly missed being the first Jewish mayor of a major American city (Moses Bloom became mayor of Iowa City, Iowa in 1873). He has been the only Jewish mayor of Seattle to date.^[23]
• Arthur B. Langlie, 1938–1941, three term Governor of Washington (1941–45, 1949–57), the only Seattle mayor to become governor.^[24]
• Robert Moran mayor from 1888 to 1909, was instrumental in the rebuilding after the 1889 fire that destroyed much of Downtown. A successful shipbuilder, most famous for the Battleship Nebraska built in Seattle between 1902 and 1907, Moran eventually donated what became Moran State Park, over 5000 acres (20 km²), including Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island.^[25]

[edit] Sister cities

Main article: List of Seattle sister cities

Seattle is internationally partnered with a number of sister cities to promote global cooperation, cultural exchange and economic collaboration.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Seattle City Council Members Arranged Chronologically by Term, on the city's official website.