- Nick Licata (politician)
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For the Los Angeles mobster, see Nick Licata (mobster).
Nick Licata 
Seattle City Council In office
1998 – presentPersonal details Born United States Political party Democratic Party
formerly affiliated with the Green PartyResidence Seattle, WA Occupation Seattle City Councilmember (Position 6) Website http://www.seattle.gov/council/licata/ Nick Licata is a past president of the Seattle City Council and is currently serving his fourth term on the Council. He has chaired numerous committees, including Parks, Public Safety, Human Services, Housing, Arts and Culture. His aides Newell Aldrich,[1] Lisa Herbold, and Frank Video have worked for him since he took office in 1998. Licata is also a published author of a children's book.
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Education
In 1969 Licata received his bachelor's degree in political science from Bowling Green State University where he was President of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and then elected Student Body President. In 1973 he received his master's degree in sociology from the University of Washington.
On the City Council
Upon his election to the City Council, he instituted poetry readings, titled Words Worth, in his committee meetings believing that the personal insight of poetry has the power to enlighten the routine of government. Close to 200 poets have read, all of their poems are posted at http://www.seattle.gov/council/licata/poetword.htm
Licata initiated Seattle’s Poet Populist position in 1999 which engaged the public in voting each year for a local poet to lead public events, read in public schools and libraries.
Since 1996 he has written Urban Politics, Seattle’s longest running electronic newsletter analyzing local political issues. Over 300 have been written and all are posted at http://www.seattle.gov/council/licata/up00dex.htm
In 2007, Licata supported a public vote for any public subsidy for a new events center/arena in King County that would keep the professional basketball team, the Seattle SuperSonics, in the area.
Licata was one of the two City Council members who supported rebuilding the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2008, and later supported a tunnel alternative.
As an Activist and Writer
Prior to being elected to public office, he founded and published the People’s Yellow Pages (1973 and 1976), which listed community and political groups, and social and public services in Seattle. He applied the profits in starting The Seattle Sun community newspaper which served Seattle’s inner city neighborhoods and was published for 8 years 1974 to 1982.
Licata helped found the Coalition Against Redlining in Seattle. Redlining was the practice of banks not reinvesting the funds they received from low income neighborhoods in those communities. He testified before Congress helping to pass the Community Re-Invest Act regulating such banking practices.
Licata co-founded Give Peace a Dance in 1983 which for 6 years held a 24 dance marathon to raise funds to purchase TV ads promoting nuclear disarmament.
Licata was Co-Chair of Citizens for More Important Things, a group opposed to excessive public funding for professional sports stadiums. It wrote King County Initiative 16, collecting over 73,000 signatures to get it validated and placed on the ballot. It won at the ballot box but was voided by the State Legislature a week later. He later testified before Congress at the request of Congressman Dennis Kucinich on the financial drain that public funding of professional sport teams placed on municipal governments.
Licata is the author of Princess Bianca and the Vandals (2005), a children’s fantasy/adventure book dealing with environmental issues. He also wrote Every Politician Should Live in a Commune (2009) for Communities Magazine, based on his 25 years of living in PRAG House which is part of the Evergreen Land Trust.
References
External links
Categories:- Living people
- Seattle City Council members
- Bowling Green State University alumni
- Washington (state) politician stubs
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