Metropolitan Improvement District Renewal Passes out of Committee; Moves to Full Council

Renewal of the Metropolitan Improvement District took a big step forward this month, with the Seattle City Council’s Economic Development Committee sending reauthorization legislation to a full Council vote on May 2.

If you wrote to the Council, attended or spoke at either committee hearing, thank you. Councilmembers saw tremendous turnout from small businesses, downtown residents, property owners, arts and nonprofit leaders and other downtown stakeholders in support of renewal. Thanks to you, public officials heard firsthand about the MID’s critical role in downtown’s health and safety.

The comment below captured MID’s critical role and the goodwill ambassadors have built in the heart of Seattle:

Long before people began to venture back to our neighborhoods, the MID was there. When I saw them again for the first time since everything shut down…their bright yellow jackets were nothing short of a true light in some pretty dark days. They were the sign that we, downtown and Pioneer Square, were not forgotten or left for good. They returned to work as hard and as helpful as ever, and this is so important and necessary. Even more so, showing up, and being there every day, is a most significant and impactful message to these neighborhoods and it also carries far beyond them to say yes, we are still here, we do care, and we will bring this city back even better than before.

We also want to give a special thank you to five ambassadors who represented our work and shared their stories: O’Neal Veney, Sam Dick, Cherie Truncer, Kimberly Blake and Ezekiel Robertson. Each provided remarkable, impactful testimony to the committee.

Assuming passage by the City Council, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is expected to sign legislation extending MID services for another decade on May 9. Stay tuned for more information as the renewal process moves forward.

If you missed the meetings, you can view them here.

You can also sign up for communications and learn about MID’s work on our website.

Managed by the Downtown Seattle Association through a city of Seattle ordinance, the MID funds a broad range of services downtown that supplement those provided by the city. MID services include sidewalk and alleyway cleaning, public safety, on-street hospitality, activation of downtown parks and public spaces and more. The MID’s work is designed to keep downtown’s participating neighborhoods inviting, clean and safe for all.