Also in this issue: Seattle Storm wins first playoff match, remembering 9/11, and the winners of the equitable development initiative

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This week, I announced a series of proposals to advance public safety and dedicate new resources to community-based services and programs.

Seattles Chief of Police Carmen Best and I are deeply committed to ensuring all our communities are safe. In conversations with the Chief and her officers, it became clear that we need to do more to support our officers and build the best community police department in America. Thats why this week, I proposed investing $1.6 million to strengthen recruitment [ [link removed] ], speed up hiring, and improve officer retention at the Seattle Police Department. As Seattle grows, we have to make sure we are recruiting, hiring and retaining the most experienced officers who can provide public safety and are committed to lasting reform. I also believe we can expand our Community Service Officer program and continue supporting community-based emphasis patrols in 2020, which are an evidence-based strategy to fight crime in neighborhoods across the City.

Mayor Durkan and Chief Best shake hands during SPD recruitment and retention press conference

Continued growth means we also must ensure ourability to deliver emergency and non-emergency serviceskeeps pace. One area where we have a great need is to better serve some of our most vulnerable neighbors with health care, behavioral health or substance use disorder issues. The City is launching Health One, a team of specially trained SFD firefighters and civilian specialists that help people with non-emergency 9-1-1 requests for issues like substance use, non-emergency medical issues, and a need to access services. In addition, I am proposing new investments including four additional mental health professionals for SPD, a new dedicated nurse line for homelessness service providers to call for non-emergency medical needs; and dedicated nurses at our largest shelters. Having these additional resources means we can address medical and behavioral health needs with the right response.

Mayor Durkan poses with Councilwoman Bagshaw, Chief Best, Chief Scoggins, HSD Director Jason Johnson and others in front of a Health One vehicle

The complex intersection of behavioral health, substance use disorders, and the criminal justice system, deserved a more focused approach across jurisdictions in our region. While no single jurisdiction oversees all the tools, programs, or resources needed to address these challenges, it was clear residents and employers expected us to work together and make meaningful progress. Thats why yesterday, I stood with City Attorney Pete Holmes, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg to announce four new pilot programs that focus on people cycling through the criminal legal system in Seattle and King County. You can learn more about these pilot programs, which focus on our hardest to serve communities, here. [ [link removed] ] In addition, the City will continue to support investments focused on alternatives to arrest and incarceration [ [link removed] ] at every step of the system, from interactions with law enforcement, to diversion programs before a court filing, to reentry assistance after involvement in the criminal legal system.

With these investments, were committing to address public safety holistically, because we know that true public safety means that everyone, regardless of their background or history, can have access to lasting opportunity.

As always, please continue to write me [email protected], reach out viaTwitter [ [link removed] ]andFacebook [ [link removed] ], and stay up-to-date on the work were doing for the people of Seattle onmyblog. [ [link removed] ]

Sincerely,

Mayor Jenny Durkan

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Seattle Storm Begins Defense of WNBA Championship at First 2019 Playoff Game

Mayor Durkan joined thousands of womens basketball fans including U.S. Womens National Soccer team co-captain and local Seattle soccer star Megan Rapinoe to watch the Seattle Storm defend its third WNBA championship title against the Minnesota Lynx this week.

Screenshot of tweet showing Mayor Durkan and Megan Rapinoe at the Seattle Storm game

The Storm won their matchup 84-74 to advance to the second round. The Storms next game will be against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Staples Center in LA.

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Mayor Durkan Announces $5 million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative
Mayor Durkan joins representatives from numerous community groups at the EDI announcement

This week, Mayor Durkan announced $5 million in awards through theEquitable Development Initiative [ [link removed] ](EDI), part of the Citys effort to support Seattles existing residents and businesses in high displacement risk neighborhoods. Mayor Durkan announced the awards in Pioneer Square at the Chief Seattle Club, a human service agency that provides for the basic needs of their members, many of whom are experiencing homelessness. Chief Seattle Club is a recipient of this years funding.

The EDI fund, administered by theOffice of Planning and Community Development [ [link removed] ](OPCD), was created to respond to the needs of marginalized populations, reduce disparities, and support access to opportunity in healthy, vibrant communities. The initiative is championed by community organizations concerned about displacement pressures and historical lack of investment that has occurred in communities of color in Seattle.

Read more to see which community-based organizations have been selected for funding in 2019.

Read more [ [link removed] ]

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Seattle Gathers to Remember September 11 Attacks

Mayor Durkan, along with the Seattle Fire and Police Departments joined community members at the Seattle Center September 11 Memorial Garden to recognize those we lost in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and recognize the contributions of the first responder community. Mayor Durkan, Police Chief Carmen Best and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins each delivered short remarks honoring the sacrifices of first responders, both in New York and Seattle, who risked their own lives to save the lives of others after the twin towers fell.

Screenshot of Mayor Durkan's twitter account with photos from the 9/11 memorial and text thanking Seattle's first respondersSpacer
Seattle City Council Adopts Resolution to Address Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

This week, the Seattle City Council, led by Councilmember Deborah Juarez (D5), adopted a resolution that acknowledges the crisis of violence against indigenous women and girls and vows to address it through a series of community-led systemic reforms that promote stronger government-to-government relations with tribes.

Mayor Durkan also announced this week that as part of her 2020 proposed budget, she would be including funds to hire a full-time Native American community liaison at the Seattle Police Department. [ [link removed] ] This liaison would prove culturally responsive services to Indigenous communities navigating the criminal legal system and will help address this resolution to deliver on investments that address the MMIWG crisis.

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Happening in Seattle This Weekend

*Saturday, September 14: **Chinatown-International District Night Market* [ facebook.com/events/seattles-chinatown-international-district/c-id-night-market-2019/2329084680501273/ ]
Seattle's original Night Market under the Chinatown Gate in historic Chinatown-International District.

C-ID Night Market is coming back on Saturday, September 14, 2019 from 4PM Midnight in Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

Enjoy a fun night filled with food, beer garden, local crafts & goods, art, and live entertainment. You wouldnt want to miss this one!

*Saturday, September 14: **Georgetown Beer Festival* [ [link removed] ] The inaugural Georgetown Beer Festival celebrates the abundance of craft brewers in Seattles south end. As the ancestral home of Rainier Beer once the 6th largest brewery in the country Georgetown is our regions original brewing district. The diverse offerings available at this event continue that tradition.

*Sunday, September 15: **Sea Mar Fiestas Patrias* [ [link removed] ] Sea Mar Fiestas Patrias commemorates the independence of Latin American countries, many of which celebrate their national independence day in the month of September. It is a festival to celebrate our history while taking pride in the new generations of Latinos that now call the United States home.

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Weekend Read: SCCA Blog: In the waiting room at SCCA, Seattles mayor has a connective moment with humanity
Screenshot of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Blog Header

For this weeks weekend read, we encourage you to read this story on the Seattle Cancer Care Alliances blog about Mayor Durkans participation at the Northwest Melanoma Symposium [ [link removed] ] earlier this month.

"When Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan was newly diagnosed with melanoma in January, her surgical oncologist acknowledged the delicate and difficult nature of having cancer and being the public face of the Emerald City."

"You can enter Seattle Cancer Care Alliance through the side door, ""Dr. David Byrd," [ [link removed] ]" director of surgery at SCCA, told Durkan. Next thing I know, she is in the waiting room waiting for her turn."

"That decision to sit among patients, many of whom were likely her constituents, was pivotal for Durkan, who observed every age, every race, every configuration of person sitting in that waiting room. We were all the same. For me, it was an enormously connective moment with humanity."

Read the full story [ [link removed] ]





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