Today City Council will vote on whether to override Mayor Durkan’s veto of the SPD budget cuts, and Councilmember Lewis is still on the fence. He needs to hear from us, loud and clear: stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, and vote to override the Mayor’s veto!
Protest outside Councilmember Andrew Lewis’ residence!
TODAY: Tues. Sept. 22nd, 12 - 4 PM
Meet @ COUNTERBALANCE PARK in Queen Anne (700 Queen Anne Ave N)
(We’ll walk to his house together)
We know it’s short notice. But we need maximum pressure on Councilmember Lewis to defend Black lives. We’ll stay through the public comment period during the city council meeting which begins at 3 pm, and sign up to give public comment from outside Andrew Lewis’ residence! Share widely on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
After months of protests, the Seattle City Council voted in August, for the first time in decades, to cut the SPD budget instead of increasing it. In addition to this approximately 3% budget cut, the original legislation also allocated $17 million towards community-led safety initiatives. These include $10 million to scale up community-based solutions that do not rely on policing, $4 million for gun violence interruption, and $3 million for a Black community-led research process into policing alternatives. (Details at King County Equity Now)
Democratic Mayor Durkan vetoed these proposals, clearly standing with the police and big business interests. The City Council must stand firm against her, and maintain the modest cuts they made with their original vote.
We need seven votes to override the veto, and Andrew Lewis is on the fence. Join us in asking: “Which side are you on, Councilmember?”
If you can't make it out, take two minutes and email your Councilmember here.
