41-399: 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 responsibility of approving the city's budget, and passes all legislation related to
82-418: A quorum . Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of a few of the members of the chamber(s). The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties ; the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs. Legislatures vary widely in
123-606: 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: District 1 Rob Saka District 6 Dan Strauss District 2 Tammy Morales District 7 Robert Kettle District 3 Joy Hollingsworth At-large 8 Alexis Rinck District 4 Maritza Rivera At-large 9 Sara Nelson District 5 Cathy Moore Legislative body A legislature
164-687: A Naval Intelligence Officer and rising to the rank of Commander. After retiring from the Navy, Kettle and his family moved to the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle , where he became a stay-at-home dad to support his wife's work as a civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. Prior to running for Seattle City Council , Kettle was active in the Queen Anne community as
205-641: A legislature: One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues of major importance to society. This activity can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, such as the Parliament of the United Kingdom , the floor of the legislature frequently sees lively debate. In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress , deliberation takes place in closed committees. While legislatures have nominally
246-695: A member of the Queen Anne Community Council board, and chair of its public safety board, as well as a member of the West Precinct Advisory Council, the Queen Anne Block Watch Network, and the World Affairs Council Seattle. Kettle ran for city council in 2023 against incumbent Andrew J. Lewis . There were four other challengers in the race, which included Piroshky Piroshky owner Olga Sagan. In
287-526: A single unit is unicameral , one divided into two chambers is bicameral , and one divided into three chambers is tricameral . In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house , while the other is considered the lower house . The two types are not rigidly different, but members of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer terms than members of
328-435: Is indirectly elected within the context of a one-party state . Legislature size is a trade off between efficiency and representation; the smaller the legislature, the more efficiently it can operate, but the larger the legislature, the better it can represent the political diversity of its constituents. Comparative analysis of national legislatures has found that size of a country's lower house tends to be proportional to
369-545: Is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country , nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government . Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational (such as the European Parliament ). Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at
410-506: 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. The partial transition to districts started with 2013 elections for Positions 2, 4, 6, and 8 being truncated, two-year terms. The 2015 election cycle featured all nine seats, except the seven district positions were elected to full, four-year terms, and
451-654: The Americas have more independence in drafting and amending bills. The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to the European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for consideration, as well as access to relevant background information. There are several ways in which
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#1732844318465492-683: The European Union . The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments – as in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States – or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913. Tricameral legislatures are rare;
533-489: The Federal Parliament of Somalia ) tied for least powerful. Some political systems follows the principle of legislative supremacy , which holds that the legislature is the supreme branch of government and cannot be bound by other institutions, such as the judicial branch or a written constitution . Such a system renders the legislature more powerful. In parliamentary and semi-presidential systems of government ,
574-643: The Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of White-minority rule in South Africa . Tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. The only legislature with a number of chambers bigger than four was the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia ; initially established as a Pentacameral body in 1963, it
615-682: The Seattle Police Department . Kettle supported hiring more police officers, cracking down on public drug use, and alternative responses to police. Lewis would state that his support for defunding the police was "a mistake" and that he backed Mayor Bruce Harrell plan to recruit more officers. Kettle received backing from business and real estate lobbyists, including the National Association of Realtors, as well as some Republicans, like city attorney Ann Davison and former Sacramento Kings basketball player Spencer Hawes . In
656-582: The cube root of its population ; that is, the size of the lower house tends to increase along with population, but much more slowly. Robert Kettle Robert Kettle is an American veteran and politician elected to represent District 7 of the Seattle City Council . Kettle was born in New York to a working class family. After graduating college, he joined the United States Navy , becoming
697-401: The executive is responsible to the legislature, which may remove it with a vote of no confidence . On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive. Nevertheless, many presidential systems provide for the impeachment of
738-409: The 2023 election. 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 . As of 2021, salaries of district councilmembers are authorized to be $ 65.32 per hour. Annually, councilmembers make as much as $ 140,000. The Seattle City Council picks among its peers
779-407: The August primary, Lewis and Kettle advanced to the general election, with 43% and 31% of the vote respectively. Kettle was labeled a "centrist" and a "moderate" with the focus of his campaign being public safety and addressing rising crime in the city. He blamed Lewis and the council for the "permissive environment" that had been created through their policies, including support for a 50% cut to
820-682: The amount of political power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries , militaries , and executives . In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary powers index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures. The German Bundestag , the Italian Parliament , and the Mongolian State Great Khural tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by
861-537: The ballot gives no party designations. 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,
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#1732844318465902-442: The city council into a bicameral legislature, with a nine-member Board of Aldermen and a sixteen-member House of Delegates. 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. The elections for the two at-large seats are held as separate contests, thus results are not proportional. Each seat
943-504: 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.) 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. The council positions are officially non-partisan and
984-808: The country. Among the earliest recognised formal legislatures was the Athenian Ecclesia . In the Middle Ages , European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures. These were often named the Estates . The oldest surviving legislature is the Icelandic Althing , founded in 930 CE. Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight. There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in
1025-403: The duration of their entire term, or for just those related to their legislative duties. A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of multiple separate assemblies , called by various names including legislative chambers , debate chambers , and houses , which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A legislature which operates as
1066-421: The executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper house . The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country. Common names include: By names: By languages: Though the specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for
1107-406: The executive for criminal or unconstitutional behaviour. Legislatures will sometimes delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies . Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators , who vote on proposed laws. A legislature usually contains a fixed number of legislators; because legislatures usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for
1148-511: The general election, Kettle won with 50.78% to Lewis' 48.91%. Kettle was first elected to a council with a majority of moderates, a switch to the previous progressive city council. He was appointed chair of the public safety committee, and released his "6 pillars" to address public safety in the city which included, hiring more police, additional legal tools, and collaboration between different government entities. Kettle supported various bills to increase police officer hiring, including changing
1189-561: 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*. Redistricting occurs every 10 years following the decennial U.S. census , beginning in 2022. 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. The act
1230-475: The legislation, and people were removed from the meeting after causing a disturbance after the public comment period abruptly ended. Both the SODA and SOAP bills passed out of committee, with amendments adding additional SODA zones. At the full council, the public comment was extended to accommodate the more than 100 people who signed up to give testimony and the bills were both passed on a 8-1 vote. Kettle lives in
1271-446: The legislators, this is often described as the number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100 members. By extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a "seat", as, for example, in the phrases " safe seat " and " marginal seat ". After election, the members may be protected by parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege , either for all actions
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1312-436: The legislature can hold the executive branch (the administration or government) accountable. This can be done through hearings, questioning , interpellations , votes of confidence , the formation of committees. Parliaments are usually ensured with upholding the rule of law, verifying that public funds are used accountably and efficiently as well as make government processes transparent and actions so that they can be debated by
1353-406: The lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems , the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others, particularly federal presidential systems , the upper house has equal or even greater power. In federations , the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of
1394-603: The police test to have a larger candidate pool. In conjunction with councilmember Cathy Moore Stay out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP) legislation, Kettle sponsored a bill to create Stay out of Drug Areas (SODA) zones. The bill originally created two areas, one in Downtown Seattle and the other in Little Saigon, that would exclude people with previous drug related charges from those areas with enhanced trespassing orders. In committee meetings, citizens were vocally opposed to
1435-488: The public and its representatives. Agora notes that parliamentary systems or political parties in which political leaders can influence or decide which members receive top jobs can lead to passivity amongst members of the party and less challenging of leadership. Agora notes that this phenomenon is acute if the election of a member is dependant on the support of political leadership. In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure
1476-411: The sole power to create laws, the substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-style legislatures the executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, kept in check by the party whip, while committee-based legislatures in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of
1517-400: The stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve by: Each chamber of the legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a certain number of legislators present to carry out these activities; this is called
1558-442: The subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend the budget involved. The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected , although indirect election and appointment by
1599-408: The two at-large positions would be for truncated, two-year terms. The first primary based on the new combined district/at-large system was held on August 4, 2015, with the general elections held on November 3, 2015. 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
1640-523: 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. 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. The Home Rule Charter, adopted in 1890, reorganized
1681-508: Was turned into a hexacameral body in 1967. Legislatures vary widely in their size. Among national legislatures , China's National People's Congress is the largest with 2,980 members, while Vatican City 's Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7. Neither legislature is democratically elected: The Pontifical Commission members are appointed by the Pope and the National People's Congress