SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council returned to work last week for what its president calls a "mad dash" to the end of the year, with key policy discussions, elections, and the city's $200 million budget deficit still hanging in the balance.

Sara Nelson, one of two members seeking reelection, said the group will be busy finishing work on a series of legislative items.

"We are putting ourselves in a position to receive the budget that the mayor will transmit on September 23," she said. "We have to put ourselves in a position to make smart, responsible budget decisions over the course of several weeks, about two months, and so we'll be very, very busy [with our] heads down on all of that detail, but everything that we can do to prepare ourselves for those decisions now is very important."

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