Mayor Durkan Blog

Office of the Mayor Mayor Jenny A. Durkan

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan

City of Seattle

High School Students Begin to Receive Free ORCA Cards Under Mayor Jenny Durkan’s “ORCA Opportunity” Program

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Seattle Now Largest American City That Offers Free Transit Passes to Public High School Students  Garfield High School students became the first students to receive free ORCA passes under Mayor Jenny Durkan’s “ORCA Opportunity” program to provide free, safe, and reliable transportation for all of Seattle’s public high school students. With this major milestone, Seattle is […]

UPDATED: Safety Improvements on Rainier Avenue South

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Thank you to the community for joining Mayor Jenny Durkan to talk about safety measures you want to see on Rainier Avenue South. Traffic engineers from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) visited the Rainier Ave S and S Henderson St intersection last week and are already planning several near-term safety enhancements and evaluating a […]

Meeting Growing Demand for Bus Service

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In King County, we have seen an 8 percent increase in bus riders over the past nine years and gained about 700,000 rides between 2016 and 2017 alone. Recent changes to the Seattle Transportation Benefit District – proposed by Mayor Durkan and approved by the Seattle City Council – are not only putting free ORCA cards […]

An Update on the Center City Connector

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As an independent review of the Center City Connector (C3) continues to move forward, the City wanted to provide you an update on where we are in the review process. 2017 was a critical year for the final design, permitting and vehicle contracting for the C3 project. The Seattle City Council voted to proceed with […]

The Right Person for the Job

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  I was delighted to learn that Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has nominated Carmen Best to lead the Seattle Police Department. Thanks, Mayor Durkan! Carmen is definitely the right person for the job. During my three-and-half years as Seattle’s police chief, I was fortunate to have Carmen by my side. I promoted her to Deputy Chief soon […]

Seattle’s Next Chief of Police

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A city’s approach to public safety and criminal justice is one of the most visible expressions of our values. Seattle is the fastest growing city in America. We have become a big city with big city challenges and opportunities. Every day we ask our police to meet these challenges in a complex and changing environment. […]

Last 21 Days: Urgent Action on Education, Homelessness, Free ORCA, Climate, and Reducing Gun Violence

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In Recent Weeks, City Council Passes Five Major Initiatives Authored by Mayor Durkan It’s been a busy few weeks. Following yesterday’s passage of Mayor Durkan’s bill to reduce gun violence in Seattle by requiring gun owners to responsibly store their weapons, five of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s major initiatives have passed City Council since June […]

The 2018 Pride Awards

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Decades ago, I would have never imagined that hundreds of thousands would be gathered here in Seattle to celebrate Pride. I came to this year’s Mayoral Pride Awards – where I had the honor of recognizing true LGBTQ leaders in our community – on the heels of a truly heartbreaking experience on the U.S.-Mexico border […]

What I Saw in Tornillo, Texas

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This past week, I joined more than 20 mayors in Tornillo, Texas, at the site of a federal detention facility for immigrants, many of whom have traveled to our country fleeing violence and seeking asylum. Hundreds of children, soon to be thousands, are now living in this small town at this makeshift site in the […]