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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 channel 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 web site 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 approves the City's budget, develops laws and policies that promote the health and safety of Seattle's residents and oversees the City's police, fire, parks, libraries, and electric, water, solid waste, and drainage utilities.
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. Council member's offices also 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 2010-2011. 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
Legislative Department Directory
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?
City Hall may be entered from both Fourth and Fifth 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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