Nick Licata Subject Files

Series

Identifier: 4650-02

Scope and Contents note

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Correspondence, memoranda, staff reports, and notes regarding issues of note during Licata's 18-year tenure on City Council. Primary issue areas include civil rights, parks and recreation, transportation, cultural events and resources, and social welfare concerns. Transportation-related topics in the records include the monorail, the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement, Sound Transit light rail planning, pedestrian safety, and streetcars. Other records in the series cover planning for the downtown library, the civic center campus, South Lake Union development, and sports stadiums. Major parks issues include Sand Point/Magnuson Park, the arboretum, Woodland Park Zoo, Discovery Park, Seattle Aquarium, and off-leash dog areas. The city’s police reform efforts are addressed in detail within the records, as are marijuana legalization, affordable housing, homelessness, paid sick leave, and minimum wage legislation. Other topics covered include nightlife regulation, Pike Place Market, labor issues, the teen dance ordinance, City Light, and the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting and protests in Seattle.

Dates

Creation: 1979-2015
Creation: Majority of material found within 1998-2015

Creator

Licata, Nick (Person)

Conditions Governing Access note

Records are open to the public.

Conditions Governing Use

Records are available for use onsite in the SMA reading room, including electronic records through the electronic records search.

Biographical Note

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Nick Licata was elected to five terms on City Council, serving from 1998 to 2015. During his time in office, he chaired committees covering areas including parks, public safety, human services, and arts and culture. He served as Council President from 2006 to 2007. In his college years at Bowling Green State University, Licata was student body president and president of Students for a Democratic Society before earning a degree in political science in 1969. He then moved to Seattle to attend graduate school at the University of Washington, where he received a master’s degree in sociology in 1973. Licata was a longtime activist in the community, helping to found the Coalition Against Redlining; Citizens for More Important Things, which campaigned against excessive public funding for sports stadiums, and Give Peace a Dance, a nuclear disarmament group. He was a founder of The Civic Foundation and the Friends of Westlake Park, and he was a member of the first board of directors for the Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program. He worked as an insurance broker for 17 years prior to his election to City Council. In 2003, Licata published the children’s book Princess Bianca and the Vandals, and in 2016 after leaving Council, he wrote Becoming a Citizen Activist. In 2012 The Nation named him the Progressive Municipal Official of the Year. He was the founding chair of the national municipal policy network Local Progress.

Partial Extent

81.6 Cubic Feet (204 boxes)

Partial Extent

23,554 digital files (6.31 GB)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Related Materials

Additional materials from Councilmember Licata’s tenure found in City social media accounts and City websites are searchable online through ArchiveSocial and Archive-IT.

Location of Records

SMA

Processing Information

CloneSpy was used to filter and log duplicate files. Duplicate files and non-record material were deleted. CUSpider SSN Scanning and DtSearch were used to screen for personal and sensitive information. DROID was used to identify file formats, extract metadata, and facilitate processing decisions. Files were then logged and transferred using Robocopy to preservation storage.