One year ago, I committed $100 million to directly support Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities, and immediately went to work to include these investments in the 2021 budget.
Community leaders have finalized their plans to invest $30 million to improve disparate outcomes for Seattle’s BIPOC communities. These investments will begin to correct disparities caused by government-sanctioned and racist policies, which negatively-effect the Black and Indigenous communities at disproportionate rates.
Over the last eight months, the Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force (ECITF) came together to develop proposals. These impactful leaders have fought for justice within their communities, volunteered their time, and expertise to make recommendations that are the first step towards righting past wrongs.
The best ideas come from the community, and their work underscores that fact. By working together, they’ve shown what’s possible when the government steps out of the way so that community can step forward with real solutions. I look forward to seeing these investments serving the urgent needs of communities that have for far too long been grossly under-funded.
The Task Force developed 9 recommendations with 18 strategies to strengthen communities of color so that they can thrive. The recommendations fall under the following four pillars:
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$7.5 Million – Building Opportunity through Small Business Support
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$7.5 Million – Developing Diverse and Culturally Competent Educators and Education Opportunities
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$8.8 Million – Accessing Affordable Housing, Land Acquisition and Generational Wealth
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$6.2 Million – Improving Positive Health Outcomes
The Task Force will present their spend plan to the Seattle City Council Finance and Housing Committee this upcoming week, and request that the legislation is passed quickly to allow funds to be distributed in community. If it is done quickly, funding will be in the community by the end of this year.
I know that is will take years of investment to address generations of disinvestment. We face many challenges in recovery ahead, but as we continue to build back better equity must be at the center. Hope is on the horizon for communities across the City.
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and downtown leaders discussed new actions and investments made as part of Welcome Back Weeks. The Mayor was joined by Seattle Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce President David Leong, Alliance for Pioneer Square Executive Director Lisa Howard, and Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) President and CEO Jon Scholes.
Welcome Back Weeks are part of the City’s downtown recovery effort, with the goal of bringing workers, small businesses, and visitors back downtown. They began Monday, July 12, and feature promotions across downtown neighborhoods with large-scale events taking place in the Chinatown-International District, Pioneer Square, and Westlake. The first event will take place Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18, at Hing Hay Park, and you can find more information here.
Mayor Durkan signs the legislation to develop affordable housing in South Park
Legislation advances City efforts to achieve community-led equitable development and environmental justice goals
This Week, Mayor Durkan signed into law her legislation authorizing the Office of Housing to acquire two parcels in South Park for affordable housing development was passed unanimously by City Council today. Council Bill 120114 requires the housing developed on these parcels to be affordable to households making at or below 60 percent of area median income (AMI) which is equivalent to $69,400 for a family of four and $48,600 for an individual. Mayor Durkan plans to sign the legislation this week.
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City to Support Nearly 500 Downtown Small Businesses Through Welcome Back Weeks Efforts, Approximately 80% are Women or Minority Owned
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced new efforts to support small businesses across the downtown core as part of Welcome Back Weeks occurring from July 12 – 26. The City and downtown partners launched Welcome Back Weeks to bring workers, small businesses, and visitors back downtown. Large-scale events will take place in the Chinatown-International District, Pioneer Square, and Westlake, but many small business promotions span neighborhoods across downtown and will continue beyond the July Welcome Back Weeks. Through its partnerships with the Alliance for Pioneer Square, Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA), and the Intentionalist, the City is supporting nearly 500 downtown small businesses during Welcome Back Weeks, approximately 80 percent of which are Women or Minority Owned Businesses (WMBE).
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Mayor Durkan addressing her cabinet and several community members during lunch
Two days before the first case of COVID-19 in our region, Mayor Durkan hosted her cabinet for a lunch in the CID. Our lives have changed immensely since February 2020, and many CID business are still suffering in the aftermath on the COVID-19 pandemic. As we can gather again, Mayor Durkan hosted lunch at Jade Garden Restaurant with her cabinet and community members. The CID, as always, is a safe, healthy, and welcoming neighborhood. Please join our Welcome Back Weeks, and support small businesses and restaurants across the City.
West Seattle High-Rise Bridge. Photo Credit: SDOT
We have reached our internal milestone for intermediate design of the final phase of West Seattle High-Rise Bridge (high bridge) repairs. This is the latest of multiple critical milestones we have reached on-time in our effort to reopen the bridge in mid-2022. This reflects our aggressive schedule to restore travel to the bridge.
The high bridge was closed to protect public safety in March 2020 after city engineers discovered rapidly growing cracks in multiple locations. We immediately set to work on emergency stabilization work, including installing 10 miles of steel cable inside the bridge, repairing a deformed bearing in the Pier 18 support structure, and wrapping the structure in carbon fiber in multiple locations. These emergency measures successfully halted the cracks from growing larger and kept the bridge standing, but additional work is needed to further strengthen the bridge to support the weight and stress of daily traffic.
Kimberly Bartram, 36, left, and Sara Bennett, 50, both of Seattle, share a laugh at a barbecue celebration for vaccination clinic volunteers and workers at Judkins Park in Seattle on Saturday. They helped administer 102,000 shots in three months at Lumen Field Event Center. (Sylvia Jarrus / The Seattle Times)
They were thrilled to have administered an astounding 102,000 shots in just three months, helping to drive the city’s vaccination rate to 70%. But they also were sad to part ways after bonding over work that saved lives, said Annalisa Giust, 57, who recorded data and distributed vaccination cards at the city-sponsored clinic, working alongside a nurse.
During a happy-hour meetup that last day, the White Center resident said, some of the crew realized, “We need to get together again.” So they did.
On Saturday, several dozen of the clinic workers met at Judkins Park in Seattle to catch up, joke around and barbecue. Some had trouble recognizing some friends without their masks on, they mentioned, laughing.
Kenneth-Kaniu Mwaura was on the grill, flipping burgers for his vaccination-site buddies with Bob Marley songs playing in the background.
The 45-year-old from Tacoma worked on patient check-ins and data entry at the clinic, putting his Swahili to use as a translator.
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