Belman is out as SDCI director and returning to Sound Transit.

Sam Steele will be the new interim head of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), Mayor Katie Wilson revealed in an email Monday to department employees. The 26-year veteran of City of Seattle government most recently served as SDCI’s director of inspections. Steele will start as interim director on February 11.

“I’m looking forward to working with Sam and the whole SDCI team as we deliver on an affordable and vibrant Seattle that works for everyone,” Wilson said in the email.

Steele worked his way up after Seattle Parks and Recreation hired him as a carpenter in 2000, Wilson noted, pointing to his long history with the City of Seattle that included several roles at SDCI and its predecessor, DPD, as well as at Seattle Center.

Sam Steele will begin a stint as interim director of SDCI on Feb. 11, 2026. (Courtesy of Sam Steele)

“I’m honored to step into the role of interim director of SDCI,” Steele said in a statement. “This department is home to some of the most innovative and dedicated employees in the city, and it’s a privilege to support the work they do every day, from permitting safe emergency shelter to upholding minimum housing standards, streamlining permitting and construction for future light rail and assisting small businesses as they activate streets across our community. I look forward to partnering with Mayor Wilson and colleagues across the city to strengthen communication, reduce barriers, and continue improving customer satisfaction and access to our services.”

In an email to staff, Steele emphasized the department’s long history solving problems and innovating.

“This is a unique moment — one that gives us the chance to transform how we interact with customers and strengthen the relationships across divisions and the city,” Steele wrote. “Our department has a proud history of solving problems. We are one of the oldest in the city, beginning as Wharves and Bridges — hard to imagine now! Even 40 years ago, before computers were fully integrated, we managed the evolving codes and regulations that often created bottlenecks and confusion.”

Sounds like Belman is heading back to Sound Transit to become a Deputy CEO to Dow Constantine.
She’d been with ST a long time and had previously filled in as acting CEO after Peter Rogoff’s departure.

[image or embed]

— Ryan Packer (@typewriteralley.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 4:43 PM

SDCI Interim Director Brooke Belman announced her departure last week, but will remain on until February 10. Belman is returning to Sound Transit, where she will again serve as a Deputy CEO, this time under CEO Dow Constantine. She served as acting Sound Transit CEO in the gap between the firing of Peter Rogoff and the hiring of Julie Timm. She served as Deputy CEO before leaving to take the SDCI post.

After a fall 2025 appointment, Brooke Belman briefly led SDCI before returning to Sound Transit. (Sound Transit)

Before Belman, SDCI had long been helmed by Nathan Torgelson, a 35-year veteran at the City of Seattle. Last March, former Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the two had mutually agreed to part ways — although Torgelson remained on though the summer.

The reasons for the leadership change were not entirely clear, but some within Harrell’s cabinet did appear to grow frustrated with perceived resistance within the department to efforts to streamline design review and the broader permitting process. Seattle has longer permit review times than many peers locally, including Tacoma: An ECONorthwest analysis found Seattle’s permit times exceeded 18 months on average for projects undergoing full design review from 2010 to 2020.

State legislation ended up forcing the department’s hand in some areas, as the SDCI effort to reform itself became bogged down in a contentious stakeholder process and ended up proposing minor tweaks rather than a wholehearted overhaul. Starting in June 2025, HB 1293 required that all design standards are “clear and objective” and sets a maximum of one public meeting per project. Previously, Seattle had often required three or more meetings, particularly in wealthy neighborhood with organized resistance to new housing.

Even then, the City had to rely on an interim ordinance to meet the state deadline, with permanent legislation still pending.

Katie Wilson’s first appearance as certified Mayor-Elect was at a groundbreaking for an affordable housing project build by New Hope Community Development Institute and LIHI. (Doug Trumm)

Each year, SDCI reviews and approves more than 55,000 land use and construction permits and conducts approximately 240,000 on-site and 10,000 virtual inspections, according to the Harrell administration. However, permit applications are trending downward sharply, which will be a challenge for Steele to tackle as the department’s new leader.

Averting a housing slowdown appears to be a priority for Wilson, but the task may not be easy. For his part, Steele has pledged to shift paradigms and indicated a willingness to jettison old practices that are no longer serving the city well.

“Today, I challenge each of you to break stride with past practices and help write the next chapter of the building department,” Steele wrote to employees. “Let’s leave a legacy of how we turned the corner and solved our own problems.”

Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrian streets, bus lanes, and a mass-timber building spree to end our housing crisis. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood and loves to explore the city by foot and by bike.

In March 2024, defensive tackle Leonard Williams re-signed with the Seattle Seahawks. While getting the move done was a big priority for the team, from the outside it didn’t necessarily look like the decision would be a no-brainer for Williams.

Two in-house options to be the next Seattle Seahawks OC

Following a midseason trade from the New York Giants, Williams had just 10 games under his belt with Seattle. And at the same time, the Seahawks were going through a massive transition, having just moved on from the legendary Pete Carroll and hiring Mike Macdonald to take his place in the former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator’s first head coaching role.

Williams felt strongly enough about sticking with the Seahawks through the change, though, that he even flew back from a trip to Japan where he had planned to propose to his future wife in order to re-sign with the team.

Williams, who joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk for a conversation ahead of the Seahawks playing in the Super Bowl, shared that he made his decision to return to the Seahawks even though he didn’t personally know Macdonald beforehand.

“I knew of Mike. I’d never met him before, but he just had the No. 1 defense in the NFL so I clearly heard of him, watched his film, seen what type of coach he was,” Williams said. “And then also just seeing the direction of the NFL, going younger sometimes with head coaches that kind of have like new principles, new methods and things like that seems like the right way to go.”

The idea of playing for a defensive head coach appealed to Williams, and he quickly took a shine to Macdonald.

“I signed with them and met Mike. I was just really looking forward to where we were going to go,” Williams said. “… Having a defensive guy just made me like him even more. I love having a defensive head coach. They pay more attention to our side of the ball.”

What’s really impressed Williams, though, is Macdonald’s openness and desire to improve in his role.

“What I love so much about Mike is just his growth. His willingness to grow, his ability and want to just always chase ways to become better as a coach and for the organization,” Williams said. “Why I say that is because he was obviously a first-time head coach. You’ve seen that he didn’t have the experience a little bit at times his first year just in terms of speaking to the team and things of that nature. And then to start OTAs this year, he was up in front of the team, talking to the whole team and pretty much let us know that that’s an area he wanted to improve on.

“I think as a head coach, to show that type of vulnerability to the team kind of allows the rest of us to feel like we can all grow in areas and all be vulnerable with each other. And him setting that foundation as a head coach and just him growing, he’s an incredible leader.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams in the audio or video player in this post. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays live on Seattle Sports.

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SEATTLE – The Seattle Police Department released its 2025 crime stats Monday afternoon during its annual year in review. 

The announcement comes on the heels of the traumatic shooting in Rainier Beach that left two Seattle Public School students dead Friday afternoon. 

What they’re saying:

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes paused briefly to acknowledge the pain felt by the community. He said that the city still has a lot of work to do to improve safety, though he’s encouraged that violent crime numbers had dropped in 2025. 

“Two Rainier Beach High School students were tragically shot and killed near a bus stop, just steps away from what has always been off limits, a public school,” said SPD Chief Barnes.

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes speaks on the fatal shooting of two Rainier Beach High School students.

The chief took a moment Monday to remember the teens who were shot and killed near Rainier High School. Friends and loved ones gathered near the site for several emotional vigils this past weekend.

“Less than 48 hours later, another young man was killed after a party. Three others were hospitalized after being shot. Their losses underscore the truth that we cannot ignore,” said Barnes. 

Despite the devastation caused by the latest round of gun violence, Barnes says the analysis of 2025 crime numbers is providing some hope for a less violent future.

“Today I stand here encouraged,” Barnes said.

By the numbers:

The chief released the department’s year in review Monday, saying there was a 36% reduction in homicides in 2025, with 21 fewer lives lost, the lowest number since the pandemic. 

2025 Homicides – SPD Year in Review

• 36% reduction in homicides
• 21 fewer lives lost than in the year before
• Lowest number of homicides since before the pandemic

He also said SPD reported that of those cases, many were solved. He said in 2025, they had a homicide clearance rate of 86% compared to just 57% in 2024.  

The numbers also included a 36% reduction in people struck by gunfire, and an 8% drop in aggravated assaults, a 24% reduction in reports of stolen vehicles and a large increase in firearms recovered. 

Crime Stats

• Reduction in people struck by gunfire by 36%
• Reduction in aggravated assault by 8%
• Reduction in stolen vehicles by 24%
• 1,500 firearms recovered (an increase of 74%)

“In 2025, we saw an 18% reduction in the overall reduction in crime in our city,” Barnes said.

Barnes said a focus on retention and recruitment also paid off in 2025, with more than 160 officers hired along with a reduced number of separations. 

2025 Retention & Recruitment

• Hired 167 officers in 2025
• More officers hired than at any other time
• SPD reduced number of officer separations

“This is not a victory lap, this is the first lap in a long marathon to work toward public safety,” Barnes said. 

He says they also used neighborhood policing officers to curtail crime in targeted areas and focused on analyzing who was committing the most crimes when it came to gun violence, including juvenile offenders.  

“We were only looking at four or more incidents where this person was caught with a gun within 18 months, and that list is about 60 people, and we have to figure out, how do we connect with them and get them on the right path?”

Barnes said the city will also install more cameras in the area of Capitol Hill near Garfield High School and in Pioneer Square, bringing the total number to around 62 located throughout the community.

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