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Our City has faced urgent challenges including a pandemic, a civil rights reckoning, skyrocketing unemployment, closure of small businesses, a $326 million shortfall to our budget, and immense needs in our community. While our challenges are truly unprecedented, Seattle has led the way in pioneering and supporting so many new programs to address the needs of our residents and small businesses. Since the beginning of March, my administration – working with the City Council – has shifted quickly and has provided $233 million to address COVID-19 and deliver direct aid to city residents and businesses.
On July 31, I vetoed City Council’s legislation that would have spent 90% of our emergency funds, understanding COVID-19 will be a multi-year crisis facing our residents and businesses and has already had a significant impact on our budget. Over the past week, City Council leadership and I reached agreement to provide an additional $45 million in COVID-19 relief to our communities across 2020 and 2021 while also ensuring the City retains approximately $50 million to address budget shortfalls of 2020 and 2021 and emergencies.
This joint effort will help us invest more in proven programs we have established in communities that have been most directly harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including people experiencing homelessness, renters, immigrants and refugees, and small business owners. While I had significant concerns about the original proposal, this agreement on the emergency spending plan shows that we can reach agreements that address our shared priorities. Across Seattle, we know that more unites us than divides us. We also know that the problems that we face are complex.
As I have said, the people of Seattle expect us to work together to get things done and to deliver on the kind of transformative change our communities are rightly asking for as it relates to the Seattle Police Department and community safety. Chief Best, Deputy Chief Diaz, and I outlined a vision to reimagine policing and address issues raised by the Black community, Indigenous community, and communities of color, while continuing to ensure adequate resources to provide public safety throughout our city. As part of the 2020 budget, we proposed a 10% reduction and as part of the 2021 budget, we initially identified approximately 20% in reductions.
Today, I vetoed a series of bills related to the 2020 budget. It’s no secret that there has been significant disagreement in recent weeks between Chief Best, myself and the Council on the 2020 rebalanced budget – specifically as it relates to the Seattle Police Department’s budget and the Human Services Department budget – specifically regarding the Navigation Team and how the city addresses hazardous encampments.
All summer we have been looking to collaborate with Council to find a path forward on these tough issues. The bills Council passed on the budget did not have the level of collaboration I think we need, and more importantly, that the city expects of us.
I vetoed these bills, sending them back to Council to address the following issues:
- Cuts of 100 officers, including layoffs of 70 sworn officers in 2020 despite legal and labor limitations of “out of order” layoffs;
- The effective elimination of the Navigation Team, including outreach workers in the Human Services Department, without any alternative approach to address hazardous encampments;
- Cuts to the salaries of the Chief of Police and her leadership team;
- Cuts and changes to SPD that could implicate the City’s obligations under the federal consent decree;
- Borrowing $13 million dollars from other City funds for new spending this year when the City faces an unprecedented budget deficit of $326 million; and
- Taking an additional $3 million dollars from the Rainy Day fund to increase Council’s budget by 17 percent.
As Council reconsiders the next actions related to these bills, I believe we can continue conversations on how we can partner to make needed changes in a consistent, thoughtful, and deliberate manner. I truly believe we can reach consensus.
As always, please continue to write me at [email protected], reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we’re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog.
Sincerely,
 
 While visiting the Rainier Beach High School free citywide testing site to join King County and Seattle Parks and Recreation to hand out free masks, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced the expansion of City of Seattle testing at the Chief Sealth High School Athletic Complex, in the Westwood neighborhood of West Seattle. With the addition of this new walk-up testing facility, the City expects to administer approximately 4,000 tests daily and more than 75,000 tests monthly across all four sites.
While the City continues to urge anyone with symptoms to get tested, the West Seattle Bridge closure has presented a significant challenge for residents on the peninsula. The Chief Sealth location is key to advancing testing equity for the community and City.
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Mayor Durkan announced today that she will transmit legislation to City Council later this month to propose a new minimum compensation standard for Uber and Lyft drivers to ensure all drivers are paid at least the Seattle minimum wage plus reasonable expenses. Preliminary analysis suggests the new wage standard would improve pay for 84 percent of drivers.
A study by James Parrott of The New School and Michael Reich of the University of California, Berkeley found that drivers in Seattle are making $9.73 an hour after expenses, well below the Seattle minimum wage. Using the study, Seattle will mandate that TNCs pay drivers at least $0.56 per minute plus compensation for reasonable expenses and will ensure drivers are paid for all of their time, including the time spent circling and waiting for a ride.
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King County Executive Dow Constantine announced over $41 million in funding for eviction prevention and rental assistance that will help up to 10,000 households experiencing COVID-related economic challenges remain safe and stable in their homes.
Individuals and families throughout King County economically impacted by COVID-19 due to illness, lost wages and unemployment may apply for assistance through the King County Eviction Prevention and Rent Assistance Program announced by King County Executive Dow Constantine. The new program dedicates $41.4 million for emergency housing aid and is expected to assist 7,700 to 10,000 households across the region.
 This weekend, we encourage you to read this story from KUOW that highlights the Trump administration’s assault on the USPS in advance of an election where mail-in voting is likely to play an unprecedented role. Recently, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson brought forward a lawsuit blocking these changes, but reporting from KUOW shows how these policies have already impacted our local postal services:
“What’s going on right now is nothing less than a full-on assault by this administration on the U.S. Postal Service, an institution that millions of Americans rely on every single day,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.
Ferguson, with 13 other states signing on, sued the Trump administration to block the Postal Service initiatives on Tuesday.
During their press conference, Ferguson and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro were surprised by the breaking news that the Postal Service would be suspending its controversial initiatives.
The Postal Service also announced it would put additional vehicles and other resources on standby on Oct. 1 to handle any unforeseen demand with the election.
Ferguson said moves implemented by the post office had already done damage by slowing the delivery of everything from Social Security checks to prescriptions.
“There’s zero chance we take our foot off the gas,” Ferguson said. “We want that in writing and confirmed before we delay or stop what we’re doing.”
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