New Committee Assignments - Seattle City Council
6 changed committees, 3 remain the same from last cycle
On January 6, 2026, Seattle City Council held its first full meeting of the year. In addition to the swearing in of Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne foster, Joy Hollingsworth (District 3) was chosen as this cycle’s Council President.
As happens whenever there is a new council, the standing committees of Seattle City Council have been reconfigured. Three of them remain the same;
Libraries, Education and Neighborhoods Committee (Chair: Maritza Rivera)
Finance, Native communities and Tribal Government Committee (Chair: Dan Strauss)
Public Safety Committee (Chair: Robert Kettle)
The remaining six standing committees have had modifications or complete reconfigurations of their scope of work. Last cycle, Council President Nelson chaired the Governance, Accountability and Economic Development Committee, while this cycle, Council President Hollingsworth chairs the Governance and Utilities Committee. These changes impact the confirming committees for Seattle’s Boards and Commissions as well as which committees Seattle’s Offices and Departments report at.
Information to produce these tables is gathered from the City of Seattle’s legislative lookup tool, Legistar, which can be found here. Information about the upcoming council committees has been published by the City of Seattle’s City council Blog, which can be found here.
The changes in council committees reflect the broader priorities of the City Council as a body, creating a structure for work done by the executive in Seattle to interface with legislation and oversight. Each new council brings a different approach to the work, and for the next couple of years, this configuration will be how City Council primarily hears issues, gathers reports and interacts with departments. The Lanyard Board will continue to monitor and sketch how these structural changes impact the rest of the City’s work and composition.
The next full edition of The Lanyard Board will include a full breakdown of changes in which departments fall under the scope of these new council committees, as well as a deeper look at the Councilmember composition shift of each committee.