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Almost one year ago, our region experienced the snowiest winter on record in Seattle in almost 50 years. And this week, for the second year in a row, our region experienced prolonged freezing temperatures and unpredictable weather that put some of our most vulnerable residents at risk.
Thankfully, Seattle didn’t get nearly as much snow as last year. Nevertheless, our city and our communities came together to ensure that everyone could stay warm and get around Seattle safely.
At the City, we were prepared. We urged residents to stay informed, to check on their neighbors and be prepared for anything. We worked with Rooted in Rights to help get the word out about businesses’ and residents’ responsibility to clear sidewalks and curb ramps. We encouraged people to stay off the roads, to be patient, and above all to stay safe and warm.
 We had our first responders from the Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Police Department, and crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle City Light, and Seattle Public Utilities working 24/7 since Sunday afternoon to ensure that our roads were clear, to open emergency winter weather shelters, and to respond quickly to outages. I am so proud of them for all they did to keep Seattle safe and minimize service disruptions.
We also opened emergency cold-weather shelters at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, Seattle Municipal Tower, City Hall, the King County Administration Building, and Bitter Lake Community Center. The City created space for more than 500 people to come inside where it was warm, and where community could come together to provide company, warm clothes, safety, and hot meals.
Thanks to the dedicated civil servants at the City of Seattle, no City services experienced extended disruption over the past week. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all City of Seattle employees that we were able to keep our parks, community centers, libraries, and other community spaces open for everyone to use.
And of course, thanks to everyone who pitched in to make sure that your neighborhoods were safe for our most vulnerable neighbors by clearing sidewalks and curb ramps of ice and snow.
As always, please continue to write me at [email protected], reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we’re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog.
Sincerely,
 
Thanks to Mayor Durkan’s win-win wager with the Mayor of Green Bay, Mayor’s Office staff will be decked out in green and yellow as they honor Dr. Martin Luther King Day this Monday. This year, the Seattle Mayor’s Office will join City Year at Concord International Elementary School for a day of service.
 The City of Green Bay Government shared photos of their staff volunteering at a local food pantry, proving that our communities are the real winners of last weekend’s wager!
Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird helped the WNBA reach a tentative collective bargaining agreement that, if approved, would be an historic deal with the potential to change the landscape of women’s professional sports. The eight-year deal would not only significantly raise the annual base pay of the league’s players, but it would also creates key benefits for women including paid maternity leave and benefits for players with children.
 Mayor Durkan is creating an opportunity for young leaders to continue building their own capacity as advocates, shape new ideas for policies and programs to stem the climate crisis and offer feedback on existing City policies and programs. Applications to be part of the Mayor’s Youth Climate Council are now open. Youth who are passionate about working on climate change and climate justice are strongly encouraged to apply for the Mayor’s Youth Climate Council. Deadline to apply is Thursday, January 30, at 4 p.m.
More information about the requirements and expectations are detailed in the application form.
 Tết in Seattle: Saturday, Jan 18 – Sunday, Jan 19
Tết in Seattle is a volunteer community organization that produces a two day festival close to the Lunar New Year. Since 1996, Tết in Seattle has celebrated the culture of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans in the Pacific Northwest through art, food, music, and traditions.
Snow Day SLU @ Denny Park: Saturday, Jan 18 - Sunday, Jan 19; 4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
2020 Seattle MLK Day March and Celebration: Monday, Jan 20; 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
King Day @ Northwest African American Museum: Monday, Jan 20; 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
 This weekend, we encourage you to read this interview in KUOW with Andy Gault, a freelance sign-language interpreter who helped City officials deliver the news about inclement weather at one of this week’s winter weather safety briefings – despite encountering challenges of his own:
Andy Gault had a rough commute this week.
The freelance interpreter got a call that a sign-language interpreter was needed for Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s press conference Tuesday morning. The mayor's office needed to brief the public on the city's response to an expected blast of cold, snowy weather.
But Gault ran — literally — into layers of Seattle's transportation disruptions. Such disruptions included the icy weather and transit construction projects.
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