Seattle is an increasingly multicultural and multilingual city. More than 150 languages or dialects are spoken by students and their families in Seattle Public Schools. This incredible linguistic diversity presents a logistical challenge for the City government to communicate with all of its residents about everything from notifications on upcoming… [ Keep reading ]
Winning a government contract can be a game-changer for local small businesses. But confusing and inefficient processes can keep new firms, as well as small and BIPOC-owned firms, from being successful as City contractors. These inefficiencies also take up valuable staff time and resources. This is why Seattle participated in… [ Keep reading ]
Many of the City of Seattle’s parks, playgrounds, pools, comfort stations and community centers were built before Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Ever since, local governments around the country have been chipping away at a backlog of renovations to add ramps, widen doorways and install elevators… [ Keep reading ]
Cast and crew of Tagalog sa King Street, 2019. Left to right: Ai Lalo, Leah Mitts, Lorna Velasco, Arlo Magpoc, Nina de Torres Ignacio, Pia Rivera, Andrea Castillo, and Manny Golez. Photo courtesy Velasco Arts. If you squint at the bottom of a playbill or art exhibit description at a… [ Keep reading ]
The City of Seattle executes hundreds of purchases annually in response to requests from the dozens of departments that make up municipal government. Translating a departmental ask into a contract or purchase order is the job of Purchasing Manager Krista Díaz, who oversees a team of 12 Contract Administrators in… [ Keep reading ]
If you scrolled on your smartphone while riding a bus through West Seattle’s Delridge neighborhood in 2019, chances are a digital ad popped up to ask for feedback about the impending RapidRide H Line. What’s more, if your phone is set to Chinese, Spanish or Vietnamese rather than English, the… [ Keep reading ]
In nearly every profession, there is a chicken and egg problem: experience helps applicants get a job, but without the first job, how does one acquire experience? Public art is no different in that regard. Public art, and the art world overall, are predominately White in terms of administration, policy,… [ Keep reading ]
Seattle is the recipient of a $1 million Bloomberg Procurement Transformation Grant, a partnership between the Department of Finance and Administrative Services and the Mayor’s Innovation and Performance Team, with technical assistance from the Harvard Government Performance Lab. As part of our goal of elevating procurement as a strategic function… [ Keep reading ]
Navigating bureaucratic processes can sometimes feel daunting, especially in the often complex world of contracting. But departments across the City of Seattle are working to make it easier for people to do business with the City. Take Seattle City Light, for instance. The utility’s Procurement Unit has shifted its method… [ Keep reading ]
The City of Seattle spends a significant portion of its overall budget—about $900 million annually—on purchasing goods and services. While Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) account for nearly 38 percent of the city’s residential population, BIPOC-owned businesses earn only 14 percent of the City’s purchasing and contracting spend. This is why Seattle… [ Keep reading ]
