Greetings, Seattle Metro Chamber members,
In the months leading up to last week’s election, we heard overwhelmingly from the community that they want to see action on two issues: public safety and homelessness. In his column today, Jon Talton notes, “Voters sent a strong message. A poll by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber found that 68% of respondents felt the city was on the wrong track.”
And there is an opportunity right now for action on these two issues and more: on Wednesday, the Seattle City Council released its 2022 budget balancing proposal, making changes to the Seattle Mayor’s budget proposal from September.
It was great to see certain investments in both Mayor and Council proposals, such as significant investments for affordable housing, as well as the city’s intent to empower the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to urgently address our city’s number one issue, homelessness. We also welcome the Council’s addition of $100 million in bonds to fund critical transportation infrastructure projects, especially bridges.
But we were surprised – and concerned – about some of the other elements of the Council proposal, including more cuts to the Seattle Police Department and a decision not to fund some of the elements requested by the Regional Homelessness Authority to start taking action on its Downtown Plan.
While there has been a lot of back and forth about Seattle Police Department funding decisions, here is what we know: The city is struggling to meet response times, and losing officers. Alternatives like Triage One and Health One, while promising, are not yet scaled up. This means our public safety system isn’t where it needs to be to maintain a healthy community. We strongly disagree with a decision to further reduce resources for the police department under these circumstances, and are equally strongly urging the Council to restore those funds.
I like to frame it up this way: If the city were to undertake a new composting and recycling initiative, the city would not cut funding and eliminate trash services. It would continue picking up garbage while building the new recycling and composting program. Eliminating funding from the Seattle Police Department without investment in other strategies leaves us with no police and no alternatives.
As for homelessness, it’s a good thing that Seattle has increased investment in shelter, permanent supportive housing, and mental and behavioral health services. But, homelessness remains a crisis in our city. In our research project, The Index, we learned 65% of registered voters cited homelessness as the biggest issue facing Seattle – dwarfing all other responses.
As part of its work to develop a coordinated strategy, the experts at the Regional Homelessness Authority recently proposed an action plan to meaningfully expand service for people experiencing homelessness in downtown Seattle, where more than 800 people are sleeping outdoors. The Council’s current budget proposal does not fully fund this plan, even as the Index found that 87% of registered voters agree that downtown Seattle cannot fully recover until public safety and homelessness are addressed.
Budgeting is not about doing everything you were doing before and adding new things each year. It’s about defining priorities and focusing resources on the most important things to serve the community and get the outcomes we want to see. And the community has been clear for months that making progress on public safety and homelessness must be top priorities for our city’s leaders.
We can do better, and your team at the Chamber will continue to advocate tirelessly for meaningful investments to get results on our two most critical issues impacting quality of life in our city.
With determination,
Rachel
Rachel Smith
President and CEO
Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce