| Seattle City Council | |
| Logo Pic: | Map of the seven districts effective January 2016 |
| House Type: | City Council |
| Houses: | Unicameral |
| Leader1 Type: | President of the Council |
| Leader1: | Sara Nelson (D) |
| Members: | 9 |
| Structure1: | Seattle City Council makeup, 2024.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 200px |
| Political Groups1: | Democratic (9) |
| Last Election1: | November 7, 2023 |
| Meeting Place: | Seattle City Hall 600 Fourth Avenue, Second floor Seattle, Washington 98104 |
| Website: | http://www.seattle.gov/council/ |
| Jurisdiction: | City of Seattle |
| Constitution: | Charter |
The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-large positions; all elections are non-partisan. It has the sole responsibility of approving the city's budget, and develops laws and policies intended to promote the health and safety of Seattle's residents. The Council passes all legislation related to the city's police, firefighting, parks, libraries, and electricity, water supply, solid waste, and drainage utilities.(The mayor of Seattle is not considered part of council.)
Last election: November 2023[1]
| District | Member | Party preference | First elected | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | ||||
| 2 | 2019 | ||||
| 3 | 2023 | ||||
| 4 | 2023 | ||||
| 5 | 2023 | ||||
| 6 | 2019 | ||||
| 7 | 2023 | ||||
| 8 (at-large) | 2024 | ||||
| 9 (at-large) | 2021 |
Election of city council members occur on odd-numbered years, with at-large seats staggered from district seats. City council members' terms begin January 1 although public ceremonies are held on the following Monday.[2] The council positions are officially non-partisan and the ballot gives no party designations.[3] Party identification is based on candidates' voluntary self-identification. Like other elections in Washington, all candidates run together in the primary with the top two progressing to the general election.
Candidates may participate in Seattle's unique democracy voucher program, which provides residents with vouchers to give candidates for public campaign funding.
Beginning in 2015, the geographic outline of the 7 districts and 2 citywide positions are as follows. Some neighborhoods overlap more than one district, indicated with an asterisk*.[4] Redistricting occurs every 10 years following the decennial U.S. census, beginning in 2022.[5]
| District | Neighborhoods | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Seattle, Delridge, South Park, Harbor Island, Industrial District* | |
| 2 | Beacon Hill*, Central District*, Downtown*, Rainier Valley*, Georgetown, Columbia City, Seward Park, Industrial District* | |
| 3 | Beacon Hill*, Capitol Hill*, Cascade*, Central District*, First Hill*, Montlake, Rainier Valley* | |
| 4 | Bryant, Cascade*, Fremont, Laurelhurst, Maple Leaf*, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Sand Point, University District, View Ridge, Wallingford*, Wedgwood* | |
| 5 | Bitter Lake, Broadview, Greenwood*, Haller Lake, Lake City, Maple Leaf*, North Beach/Blue Ridge*, Northgate, Roosevelt*, View Ridge, Wedgwood* | |
| 6 | Ballard, Crown Hill, Fremont*, Green Lake*, Greenwood*, North Beach/Blue Ridge*, Phinney Ridge, Wallingford* | |
| 7 | Belltown, Capitol Hill*, Cascade*, Downtown*, First Hill*, Interbay, Magnolia, South Lake Union, Queen Anne | |
| 8 | At-large position, citywide | |
| 9 | At-large position, citywide |
Seattle was first incorporated as a town by an act of the Territorial Legislature on January 14, 1865. The town charter established a five-member board of trustees to govern Seattle, which appointed citizens to other positions.[6] The act was repealed January 18, 1867, after most of the town's leading citizens petitioned for its dissolution. Seattle was again incorporated, this time as a City, on December 2, 1869. The new unicameral legislature, known as the Common Council, was elected at-large to one year terms.[7] At-large election was replaced in 1884 by a system of 14 wards and four members elected at-large, all elected to two-year terms.[8]
The Home Rule Charter, adopted in 1890, reorganized the city council into a bicameral legislature, with a nine-member Board of Aldermen and a sixteen-member House of Delegates.[9]
In 2013, Seattle voters approved Charter Amendment 19 calling for the nine citywide Seattle City Council positions to be divided into seven district-elected seats and two citywide, at-large seats.[10] The elections for the two at-large seats are held as separate contests, thus results are not proportional.
Each seat is filled in two-step process - a primary election is held in August, with the two most popular candidates going on to a general election in November.[11]
The partial transition to districts started with 2013's elections for Positions 2, 4, 6, and 8 being truncated, two-year terms.
The first primary based on the new combined district/at-large system was held August 4, 2015. The first city council election based on the new system was held on November 3, 2015.[12]
2015's election cycle featured all nine seats, except the seven district positions were elected to full, four-year terms and the two at-large positions would be for truncated, two-year terms.[13] [11]
The seven district seats were up for election again in 2023; the two at-large seats will be up for election again in 2025. Only two of the seven districts retained their incumbent member in the 2023 election.[14]
In 2006, Seattle City Council salaries exceeded $100,000 for the first time. This made Seattle's city council among the highest paid in the United States, behind only Los Angeles and Philadelphia.[16]
In 2010, Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Richard Conlin, Nick Licata and Mike O'Brien earn $117,533.52 annually. Councilmembers who were re-elected in 2011, Tim Burgess, Sally J. Clark, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, and Tom Rasmussen, will earn an annual salary of $119,976.48, effective January 1, 2012. Their salary will remain at this level through December 31, 2015.
In January 2017, salaries of councilmembers are authorized to be $59.08 per hour (councilmembers are paid monthly salaries, however the published compensation plan are presented as hourly rates). This is equivalent to an annualized pay of $123,359.04[17]
, salaries of councilmembers are authorized to be $62.11 per hour, an increase of 5% from 2017. This is equivalent to an annualized pay of $129,685.68.[18]
As of 2021, salaries of district councilmembers are authorized to be $65.32 per hour.[19] Annually, councilmembers make as much as $140,000.[20]
The Seattle City Council picks among its peers a Council President to serve a two-year term, beginning January 1 of the year following an election. The Council President serves as the official head of the City's legislative department. In addition, they are tasked with:
| 1991 | Sue Donaldson | Jane Noland | Margaret Pageler | Tom Weeks | Sherry Harris | Cheryl Chow | Martha Choe | ||
| 1993 | Jan Drago | ||||||||
| 1995 | John E. Manning | Tina Podlodowski | |||||||
| 1996 | Charlie Chong | ||||||||
| 1997 | Richard Conlin | Peter Steinbrueck | Nick Licata | Richard McIver | |||||
| 1999 | Judy Nicastro | Heidi Wills | Jim Compton | ||||||
| 2001 | |||||||||
| 2003 | Jean Godden | Tom Rasmussen | David Della | ||||||
| 2005 | |||||||||
| 2007 | Bruce Harrell | Tim Burgess | Sally J. Clark | ||||||
| 2009 | Sally Bagshaw | Mike O'Brien | |||||||
| 2011 | |||||||||
| 2013 | Kshama Sawant | ||||||||
| - | Distr 1 | Distr 2 | Distr 3 | Distr 4 | Distr 5 | Distr 6 | Distr 7 | Pos 8 | Pos 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Lisa Herbold | Bruce Harrell | Kshama Sawant | Rob Johnson | Debora Juarez | Mike O'Brien | Sally Bagshaw | Tim Burgess | Lorena Gonzalez |
| Kirsten Harris-Talley | |||||||||
| 2017 | Abel Pacheco Jr. | Teresa Mosqueda | |||||||
| 2019 | Tammy Morales | Alex Pedersen | Dan Strauss | Andrew Lewis | |||||
| 2021 | Sara Nelson | ||||||||
| 2023 | Rob Saka | Joy Hollingsworth | Maritza Rivera | Cathy Moore | Bob Kettle | ||||
| 2024 | Tanya Woo |