1. How do I find out about City Council meetings?
- Check the Council Meeting Calendar.
- Sign up for Agendas or call (206) 684-8888 to receive agendas by e-mail or via U.S. Postal mail.
- Watch meetings live over the internet via streaming video on the Council Live! page or by tuning into cable TV channels 21.
- Listen to meetings live from Council Chambers at (206) 684-8566.
All meetings are held in Council Chambers unless otherwise noted. The public is encouraged to attend Council
meetings, hear the debate, and offer public comment on issues. Written testimony is always welcome. The Council
Chamber and offices, all located on the 2nd floor, are physically accessible from the 1st floor by an elevator.
Briefing Meeting - At Briefing meetings, information is presented to Councilmembers by departments or other
agencies, and Councilmembers discuss issues before them in an informal setting.
Full Council Meeting - At Full Council meetings, the Council formally acts on matters referred from its
committees.
Council Committees - The Council has nine standing committees that meet regularly every other week.
For a list of committees and their meeting schedules, visit the
Committees & Agendas page.
Committees of the Whole (COW) - COWs consider transitory issues of high importance. Some issues that have been
considered in COWs are the Monorail, the Budget, Northgate redevelopment and ballot measures. COWs are called by
the Council President as issues arise.
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2. When is a public hearing required on a matter?
Adoption of the City Budget - one of the most important products of the work of City Council - always requires
public hearings to be scheduled on two or more days. Beyond that, the requirements for formal hearings are
scattered in local, state, and federal law across a wide variety of issues. Council members often hold hearings
on proposed legislation even when it is not required. In those cases notice is distributed widely to media and
others in the community. Notice of public hearings and all Council meetings are posted on the Council
Calendar.
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3. Where can I get tapes of City Council meetings?
For a video tape of Council meeting, go to
Seattle Channel's Viewing Room for complete directions on viewing, copying and ordering. You can also call
Seattle Channel at
(206) 684-8824 (to bypass the schedule information, press # and leave a message).
For an audio tape of a Council meeting, contact the City Clerk's Office at
(206) 684-8344.
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4. How can I find out about legislation?
Visit the City Clerk's Legislative Database.
You can search the database by entering any of the following information about the ordinance, council bill,
resolution, or clerk file you are looking for:
- Title Words
- Number
- Index Words
If you find you need assistance, you may call the City Clerk's office at (206) 684-8344.
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5. What do Councilmembers do?
The City Council is a policy making body that also approves and adopts the City's budget. The Council
provides for public safety and health, authorizes capital (building) improvements, levies taxes, oversees the
finances and assets of the City, and promotes policy for the good of Seattle's citizens.
Most legislation is proposed by City departments in order to conduct departmental business. Some legislation
comes from the Council members, who are responding to needs expressed by citizens. Council members work with
their office staff and with the Legislative Department's Central Staff to research issues, generally developing
alternatives before deciding on legislation. In addition, Council member's offices help citizens who are having
difficulty getting a response to a problem from a City department.
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6. Which Councilmember represents me?
Councilmembers are non-partisan and are elected at large to serve four-year, overlapping terms through citywide
elections held in odd-numbered years. So each one of your Council members represents you. Since each Council
member chairs at least one committee, and participates as vice chair or member of several other committees,
citizens go to the Council member(s) whose committee(s) considers the type(s) of issue about which the citizen
is currently concerned. A list of Council Committees and their membership is available on this site on the
Committees & Agendas page.
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7. Who is the Council President?
Richard Conlin has been elected by his Council colleagues to serve as Council President for 2008-2009. In this
capacity, Conlin is the official head of the Legislative Department. The Council President coordinates the work
of the Council, including establishment of committees and appointment of committee chairs and members. The Council
President also presides over meetings of the Full Council. When the Mayor is absent from the City or incapacitated,
the Council President assumes the duties and responsibilities of the Mayor.
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8. Whom do I call with a complaint?
For Legislative Department Issues:
Citizens concerned with policy, legislation under consideration, or budget should directly
contact the chair and/or members of the Council committee under which that issue falls.
Mailing address:
Seattle City Council
P.O. Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025
Telephone: (206) 684-8888
Fax: (206) 684-8587
TTY: (206) 233-0025
Richard Conlin, Council President: (206) 684-8805
Judith Pippin, City Clerk: (206) 684-8344
Denise Williams, Administrative Director: (206) 684-8152
For Other Department Issues:
Citizens concerned with the work of other City departments should call the
Customer Service Bureau
at (206) 684-CITY [2489]. You can also complete an on-line
Service Request Form
to request information, file a complaint, or file a compliment.
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9. Where is City Hall?
Seattle City Hall
600 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA
- 2nd floor - City Council offices
- 3rd floor - City Clerk's office
- 4th floor - City Attorney's office
- 7th floor - Mayor's office
City Hall may be entered from both 4th and 5th Avenues between Cherry and James.
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10. How does a Council Bill become Law?
The Mayor or a city department proposes legislation and transmits the proposal to the City Finance Department
for review. This proposed legislation becomes a Council Bill. Finance reviews the Bill and if it is approved,
sends it to the City Attorney's office. The City Attorney reviews the proposal, and drafts appropriate ordinance
language. The bill is then forwarded to City Council. Council members can also initiate legislation.
The Council President distributes the bills to the Council member who chairs the committee to which the
legislation would most likely be referred. The Council member reviews the proposal and if s/he agrees to
sponsor the item, forwards it to the City Clerk.
The City Clerk collects the bills at noon on Wednesday. The City Clerk's Office reviews each one for
conformance to form, sponsorship and content; assigns numbers; makes preliminary committee assignments;
and prepares the weekly Referral Calendar.
At its regularly scheduled 2 p.m. Monday meeting, the Council reviews the recommendations for committee
referral and either adopts or amends the Calendar. The bills are then delivered to the appropriate committee.
Council committees review the legislation, may hold public hearings, direct staff to conduct research, hold the
item for further consideration or amend it. After review and discussion, the committee makes a recommendation to
the Council as to the action it should take on the bill. Even if the recommendation is Do Not Pass, the bill goes
to the Council.
At the Council's next regular Monday afternoon meeting, each committee that met the prior week reports to the
Council its recommendations. At that time, the Council may adopt the committee report, debate, discuss, amend,
re-refer, hold, pass or not pass the bills.
A roll call vote is taken on final action of bills. The Council President then signs the legislation and
returns it to the City Clerk. The City Clerk reviews the legislation once more, then sends it to the Mayor.
The Mayor may sign the legislation, allow it to go into law without his/her signature or may veto it.
Regardless of the action the Mayor takes, s/he sends the legislation back to the City Clerk within 10 calendar days.
The City Clerk assigns ordinance numbers, orders publication and files the new ordinances.
The City Clerk's Office can be reached at (206) 684-8344.
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