UPDATE:
Council President González’s 2021 Budget Priorities
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Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda has unveiled her initial balancing package for the 2021 budget and I am thrilled that a vast majority of my community priorities were included!
The City of Seattle, like many other cities, is facing a significant revenue shortfall due to the economic crises caused by COVID-19. In that context, Team Lorena focused on targeted investments and strategies to achieve an equitable and recovery for our most vulnerable residents. Here is a list of my citywide priorities included in Chair Mosqueda’s initial balancing package:
Addressing Housing Security
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Addressing housing security through increased funding for the Home for Good program. This is a program that I championed through last year’s budget that builds on the City’s Student Stability program by prioritizing rental assistance for housing insecure families with school-aged children. Keeping people housed is crucial and an efficient use of limited resources will keep these vulnerable families out of homelessness. Families staying housed also means we have a strategy to ensure kids have a place to learn online in their virtual classrooms.
Strengthening Climate Security
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Strengthening climate resiliency through restoration of funding and staffing for the City’s Energy Benchmarking and funding for the Capitol Hill Eco-District to study (and expand!) multi-modal neighborhoods to enhance public life. Buildings account for one third of Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions, the City’s Energy Benchmarking program is an important pillar, along with strengthening multi-modal neighborhoods like the Capitol Hill Eco-District, to achieve our Climate Action Plan’s vision of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Investing in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Communities
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Investing in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities - the City of Seattle’s commitment to the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund to provide deportation defense for immigrants is fully restored. This is a crucial investment as the Trump Administration’s “paper wall” and immigration policies continue to leave many immigrants at risk of deportation. Additionally, my proposals for culturally responsive, identity-affirming programs to celebrate Black girls, Black queer youth, and Black trans youth and reductions to the Seattle Police Department’s budget to fund community-led participatory budgeting to inform the City’s equitable investments into BIPOC communities have been included in this budget.
Meeting the Call for Racial Justice
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Meeting the Call for Racial Justice - The Council has supported my proposal to capture $6.1 million in salary savings from the Seattle Police Department’s personnel budget to re-appropriate those funds to alternative community safety programs, and eliminate 93 vacant and unfunded sworn personnel positions. Along with this action, I have sponsored a proviso to increase transparency and accountability of SPD personnel savings. These actions are part of ongoing work to transform public safety and divest from a militarized, gun and badge approach as the “one-size-fits-all” response to public safety issues. Instead, we are building a public safety model centered on harm reduction and inclusion for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color residents, workers, and visitors of Seattle.
You can watch a 2-minute animated summary of the initial draft budget here:
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Ways to Follow Along & Provide Input
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Every Select Budget Committee meeting airs on Seattle Channel and can also be viewed online. You can always submit written input to me directly via email or to the whole Council at council@seattle.gov. For more information about the Seattle City Council’s Budget process, visit our Budget Process issue page.
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COVID19 Rates Rising Again in Washington State
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As of mid-October, COVID19 infection rates are spiking at alarming rates across Washington State. In King County alone, there have been 400 new cases daily while hospitalization has increased by 30% in the last week. Public health officials warn we are in danger of surging infection rates and overwhelming our hospital capacity - and difficult measures that may be needed to protect public health that we saw earlier this year - if we all do not take immediate action to get these rates under control.
With the holidays approaching, public health officials are asking all of us to do our part to keep our loved ones safe and strongly consider “skipping” social gatherings to minimize (super) spreader events. It’s a difficult choice, but a sacrifice many of us will be considering or making to protect our families. I am already sad about missing out on my mom’s cooking for Thanksgiving, but it is the right decision for me and my family given the pandemic realities we are facing.
Washington State’s Department of Health Doctor Kathy Lofy and many other top health officials have urged us to stop socializing for the next several weeks and to take these warnings seriously. It is imperative we continue to wear a mask, keep physically distanced, and limit our time, travel, and trips outside of our home. Public health officials have shared that a return to stay-at-home and temporary closure of our local economy orders are not off the table, but they have hope the public will follow safety protocols that will slow infection rates and avoid orders that will keep our small businesses open.
Many of us are experiencing pandemic fatigue, but as our experts warn “this virus will not take a break” and we must stay vigilant to keep each other safe. We have a lot to be proud of in how we stepped up, as a City and as a state, in responding to the COVID19 pandemic. We successfully bent the curve in the spring through following the science and public health measures to socially distance, wear a mask, wash our hands, and limit our time in congregate settings.
I want to thank all of the healthcare professionals and essential workers who are helping us stay healthy and receive the care we need. Let’s do our part so they can do theirs. We can do it again, we got this, Seattle!
Stay healthy, stay informed
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Small Business Stabilization Fund - Apply Now
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The Office of Economic Development has opened up the application for the Small Business Stabilization Grant funded by Council’s COVID19 Relief package. Small businesses and non-profits focused on economic development who have been impacted by COVID19 can apply for $10,000 grants.
You can learn more about eligibility and the application process here.
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Council President M. Lorena González
Seattle City Council, Position 9 (Citywide)
Chair – Governance & Education
Vice-Chair – Public Safety & Human Services
Email: Lorena.Gonzalez@seattle.gov
Phone: (206) 684-8809
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