SEATTLE, Wash. — Seattleites spent hours testifying to Seattle City Council Tuesday, as councilors weigh how to best fill a $175 million budget deficit.
Councilmembers have a place to start, as Mayor Katie Wilson proposed cutting 128 positions, of which 15 are open, in the city and cutting Seattle Fire’s overtime budget by $7 million, which firefighters have pushed back against.
Wilson also proposes adding $68 million to Seattle Police’s budget to add 66 officers. This would bring SPD’s total budget to $556 Million.
Mayor Wilson also proposes an additional $37 million for a total $183 million in her homeless response plan that aims to add 1,000 shelter beds by next year.
Tuesday’s hearing is one of the best chances for citizens to weigh in -- it’s the earliest one in the process, so people can try to influence where City Councilmembers stand.
Dwight Wiskerchen testified in support of the measure. Wiskerchen was homeless for years and is now a supervisor for the city’s Downtown Ambassador team.
“Appropriate housing makes it more likely people will stay on the path to stability,” Wiskerchen testified. “We’ve seen the difference individualized care can make.”
Wilson’s shelter expansion garnered the most support from those testifying Tuesday, especially as she calls for greater support at the shelter sites that will be created.
“Seattle needs more shelter that is prepared to welcome people as they are, not as we wish they would be,” Dan Wise, co-director of Everyone Deserves a Home, said. “I urge you to keep supporting high-support shelter going forward.”
Several people held signs and testified against expanding Seattle’s police budget, arguing that money could be better spent in other areas in the city, like housing.
An open letter to the city has called on some of that proposed money to support arts programs.
Christine Mackay, the director of the West Seattle Junction Association, testified she supported the shelter expansion and the police force increase.
“We need the resources to stabilize people and move them to housing. We need both shelter and housing, and we need them to work together,” Mackay said. “On SPD, I support the cost savings identified in police recruitment, and I super encourage investments in SPD staffing. We need to increase our police force and ensure their training is the best.”
Pushback was given towards the plan to cut city positions, especially data analysts and people working in the city’s permitting department.
“I’m here to urge you to find ways other than layoffs to close the budget gap,” Karen Estevenin, the executive director of the city worker’s labor union PROTEC17, said.
Ryan Talon, a nurse, testified he wants the city to fill the 14 vacant positions on the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team -- the co-responder team of mental health professionals.
“Responding with a mental health crisis team costs a fraction of what it costs to send an armed officer and the evidence is clear,” Talon said. “Civilian responders can help people in crisis without injuries to anyone involved. Investing in CARE is investing in safety.”
City council will head back into budget hearings next week before Budget Committee Chair Dan Strauss releases a “balancing budget” on Nov. 4. A public hearing is set for the day after. City Council will vote on the finalized budget Nov. 20.
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