The Legislative Department is comprised of the City Council, Office of the City Clerk, and Central Staff (policy analysts and budget support). The City Council is responsible for setting City-wide policy through the adoption of ordinances and resolutions, overseeing the Executive's implementation of policies and programs, and passing the City budget. The first City Charter, in 1869, established a seven-member Common Council. In 1890, the new City Charter created a bicameral legislative branch with a nine-member Board of Aldermen and 16-member House of Delegates. The 1896 Charter returned to a single body of 13 members elected from 11 wards and two at-large. As the number of wards increased, the number of Council members grew to 18 in 1907. A City Charter Amendment in 1910 reduced the number to nine, all elected at large, and made elections non-partisan. In 1946 Councilmember terms were increased from two years to four years. The Office of the City Clerk and the Office of the City Auditor became part of the Legislative Department in 1993. In 1999 the Office of the City Auditor became an independent department.
The catalog contains detailed information on over 13,500 documents
assembled by the staff of the Seattle City Council WTO accountability Review
Committee concerning the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in
Seattle in November and December, 1999. Over sixty percent of the documents
have been digitized from microfiche and are available online through the
Records are open to the public.
Series is
A Comptroller or Clerk File (CF) can consist of correspondence, reports, petitions, contracts, agreements, etc. from elected officials, City departments, other government agencies, or the general public, which have been placed "on file" with the Office of the City Clerk (OCC). They are primarily permanent records, but also include routine material which was periodically purged. Certain archival records identified in the CF have been removed, arranged into records series, and incorporated into the collection of the Seattle Municipal Archives, a program of the OCC.
On microfiche.
[Item and date], WTO Accountability Review Committee Document Catalog, Record Series 1802-K1 Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.