Jesse Franz

BREAKING NEWS: The Seattle City Council just passed legislation that will (eventually) ban landlords from charging pet rent. Congratulations to everyone, especially my dog Lou, seen here asking me to cover him again for the 72nd month in a row.

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY 10/6: the first Seattle city council budget public hearing will be in both the afternoon and evening. This is your chance to give public comment on the budget and what you would like to see (or wouldn't like to see). There's a 2nd public hearing on the budget in November.

So proud to help make this happen! If you haven’t, hop aboard and let King County Metro and Seattle know how important this is. This pilot summer bus service is set to end on August 30,

Ya know what? Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

GOOD NEWS! Really smart legislation for a really persistent issue that has enraged, annoyed, and subjected people to predatory practices. Great job by Councilmember Dionne Foster and her team. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

HELL YEAH! A lot of silent fist pumping and enthusiastic whispering has broke out in Seattle’s libraries tonight. Huge win for our city.

All of us waiting on election results rn.

The information provided by Sound Transit today shows we can deliver light rail to Market Street by 2042 through cost savings and additional financial capacity. I’m ready to do everything in my capacity as a Board member and regional leader to make this happen. www.soundtransit.org/blog/platfor...

Ballard Light Rail is not dead. Today’s announcement shows us the way to get Ballard Link back on track. We must use these tools and get this project delivered by 2042.

We just passed major affordability legislation‼️ 30k+ new working families will soon be eligible for a big break on their utilities. That could mean more than $1k per year back in their pockets for food, rent, or anything else. I’m beyond proud to have worked on this legislation for the past year.

I’m just a boy, sitting on the first-ever Golden Gardens Direct, asking the internet to hop aboard and come to the beach.

Bus service to Golden Gardens starts today! I proposed and funded this pilot program last fall, and we’re bringing it to you this summer. Now, everyone will have better access to the beach — no hiking, scrambling, or parking required. More info: kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metr...

Bus service is coming to Golden Gardens! This beach belongs to everyone, and everyone deserves access to it. I'm damn proud to have helped create this new service. Thanks to the team who helped make it a reality. See you on the Golden Gardens Direct this Saturday. kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metr...

I authored this letter to fight for Seattle residents and their tax dollars. In addition to millions that would be directed away from our community, I'm concerned with the precedent this "cap" would set for Seattle. I'm grateful to my colleagues for signing on and hopeful for the path forward.

We just announced new legislation! 31,000 low-income households would be eligible for steep discounts on their utility bills. That could mean more than $1,000 per year in savings. Utility costs are housing costs and this is a fair and fast way to make rent more affordable for those who need it most.

The best time to build rail to Ballard was 50 years ago when voters rejected Forward Thrust. The second best time to build light rail to Ballard is right now. Voters approved it, Seattle's planned its future growth around it, we've passed legislation to get it done faster. Build the damn trains.

Let's goooo! Build all the rail, all of ST3. The Save Ballard Rail folks have been very consistent on that point: we're here to build the whole system, save all the lines and stations. We are all in this together.

Living in Ballard shouldn’t mean you have to be pen pals with your friends in Capitol Hill. Come help save Ballard light rail.

Recognizing this is good and cool, while also staring down a 50 minute bus ride home to Ballard while working in this very building.

Launching my campaign for bagel mayor with a strong affordability platform.

I wore this as my Halloween costume 12 years ago. 1) Wild how some things never change 2) I’ve always been like this.

One thing about the Mariners, it was always going to be game 7.

Ichiro is warming up in the bullpen.

The Council approved my amendment to the supplemental budget which will add $300K in legal defense for our immigrant neighbors! This funding comes out of underspend from a jail contract. Transferring these funds to this urgent need facing community is a major win!

The Seattle City Council just passed an amendment to the supplemental budget, offered by CM Rinck, adding $300k to legal defense for unaccompanied children facing detention and deportation, taken from underspend from the City's much criticized SCORE jail contract.

The Seattle Shield Initiative has passed unanimously and will be on the Seattle ballot in November.

Tomorrow afternoon Councilmember Hollingsworth and I will be restoring “Hot Rat Summer” in Cal Anderson Park. This mosaic was wrongfully painted over and we are going to fix it.

“seemed very nice” - The Seattle Times Editorial Board www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...

I'm sitting in an unusually crowded meeting of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, which commissioner Kristin Hawes just said had an "unprecedented" amount of public comment—all of it against changes to the ethics code that would remove recusal reqiurements for councilmembers with conflicts

DOJ says the Civil Rights Division is investigating a new “anti-Catholic law” in Washington state that requires priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect:

This was an excellent program that worked well and made people's lives easier. Government at its best. Of course Trump wants it gone.

Happy e-bike rebate launch day to all who celebrate. The lottery portal is now open! ebikeswsdot.aptim.com

tesla car vehicles will have more legal protections than trans people

National Parks, humanitarian aid, and civil rights are actually cool as hell. Thank you, federal workers. Hold the line.

Very proud to announce the Department of Health will now process all requests to change gender designation on birth certificates within three business days. Previously, there was as much as a 10 month wait.

My landlord distributing fire blankets after being hounded by rental inspectors for a year and framing it as a Valentine’s Day present is WILD behavior.

I don't always agree with the @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social editorial board, but agree very strongly on this. Maritime industrial lands and union livelihood should not be sacrificed for CM Nelson's far-fetched campaign year schemes. #Seattle #waleg www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...

This is a huge deal for grocery workers and shoppers who fought tirelessly to make sure this disastrous mega-merger never happens. @ufcw3000.bsky.social

Congratulations and welcome to @alexis4seattle.bsky.social at City Hall! (Featuring @tammymorales.bsky.social and @jessefranz.bsky.social 😊)

Ran into one of the new bosses today at Seattle City Hall. Seems pretty cool. @alexis4seattle.bsky.social

66,990 CUSTOMERS?! Hope this power outage map is wrong. I’m watching it like Kornacki.

The outage map going out can’t be a good omen for this windstorm.

Exactly this. As with Obama's presidency, Biden didn't deliver big enough, though he delivered more than Obama did.

Seeing more and more familiar faces in #Seattle news and politics on this site! So we've updated our starter pack to include the new arrivals: @kromandavid.bsky.social @hannahkrieg.bsky.social @naomiishisaka.bsky.social! go.bsky.app/Tdxzvfr

Seattle folks attending tonight's public hearing: - Hearing starts at 5 PM - Participate in person or virtually - Watch live via Seattle Channel - Childcare available until 7 PM on the second floor - Searchable table of all budget amendments at the link below council.seattle.gov/2024/11/12/s...