This past week, City Council began consideration of my proposal. One of the core priorities of that budget is investing in addressing one of the great moral challenges of our time:
Over the last year, as we’ve added more accountability, we’ve also started doing more than ever to help our neighbors who are living unsheltered.
We are serving more households, moving more households to permanent housing, and preventing more people from becoming homeless in the first place.
And while we have a long way to go, we are doing better in addressing the reality that people of color are disproportionately impacted and lag behind on services.
The bottom line is: Our investments to address this crisis are having an impact.
We’ve made that progress by investing more in housing, and by increasing our 24/7 shelters with more services and case management by 88%. By centering it on what people actually need, we are moving more people out of homelessness than basic shelters ever have.
The Navigation Team is our City’s frontline response to the crisis of people experiencing homelessness. Since they were formed in 2017, they’ve moved people to safer place while also removing the most unsafe encampments that harm the people living in them and our communities.
The Navigation Team literally saves lives. This February, when we had more snow than we’ve seen in half a century, the Navigation Team worked 24/7 to connect with hundreds of people and transport nearly individuals to shelters and warming stations across the city.
And in the first six months of 2019, nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness who entered shelter through City-supported outreach did so based on a referral from the Navigation Team.
The bottom line is simple: Cutting investments in the Navigation Team will take our City’s response to the homelessness crisis backwards.
I don’t want to see that happen.
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,
 
This week, Mayor Durkan, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins joined young people and community members in South Park to discuss plans for keeping their neighborhood safe and welcoming, expanding the South Park community center, and the status of community-based emphasis patrols in the area. The Mayor also met up with the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps to discuss opportunities and learn more about three new murals created in and around the Duwamish Waterway Park.
 You can read more about the Mayor’s visit in the West Seattle Blog.
Standing alongside City of Seattle employees, Mayor Durkan kicked off the celebration of the City of Seattle’s 150th year and helped launch Seattle at 150: Stories of the city through 150 Objects from the Seattle Municipal Archives. Seattle at 150 is a commemorative book that features objects from the Seattle Municipal Archives spanning the last 150 years.
While the City was officially incorporated 150 years ago on December 2, 1869, we must remember that Indigenous people have lived on these lands since time immemorial. Today and every day, we remember that we are honored to reside in Coast Salish territories.
The 150 objects in the book illustrate how Seattle has changed over the years, from our massive population growth and economic boom, to the waves of new residents who make our City more inclusive and just, to the impact of community organizers and civic leaders who constantly push for positive and lasting change. Seattle at 150: Stories of the city through 150 Objects from the Seattle Municipal Archives will be available on November 1, 2019 via local independent book sellers and online.
Last Friday, several judges throughout the country blocked the federal government’s attempts to effectively impose an income test on immigrants and their families applying for green cards, forcing them to choose between reuniting with their loved ones and accessing crucial government services like health care, housing assistance, and other lifeline services.
Mayor Durkan called this injunction, “A victory in our fight against the president’s anti-immigrant and anti-family agenda. The Statue of Liberty proclaims: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ We can’t let this administration go back on that promise.”
In December 2018, the City of Seattle submitted a public comment in opposition to the draft rule. In addition, the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) worked with community to generate over 1,100 public comments in response to the public charge rule.
 MoPOP Minecraft Exhibition Opening Weekend Celebration: October 19 – 20
This immersive exhibition brings the virtual landscape of Minecraft to life through full-scale creatures, scenic backdrops, a day-night lighting cycle, dynamic audio effects, and a gallery score designed for players and non-players of all ages.
Created in partnership with Mojang, the exhibition celebrates the game’s 10th anniversary by exploring how Minecraft has developed into a platform for unlimited creative expression, community-crafting, and inspiration to build a better world outside of the game.
REFRACT, a Festival of Glass at Pratt Fine Arts Center: October 17 – 20
Enjoy amazing artist demonstrations in a dozen different studios, live music by internationally known Tlingit glass artist Preston Singletary's all indigenous band Khu.éex’, DJ, food trucks, cash bars, and a live bronze pour!
Turkish Festival at Seattle Center: October 19 – October 20
2019 MLS Cup Playoffs: Seattle Sounders FC vs. FC Dallas: October 19, 12:30 p.m.
Seattle Seahawks vs. Baltimore Ravens @ Centurylink Field: October 20, 1:25 p.m.
 For this weekend’s recommended read, we encourage you to read KING5’s recent article about the potential ramifications of defunding Seattle’s Navigation Team:
The legislation comes after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proposed raising funding for homelessness services to over $100 million and praised the work of the Navigation Team. The homeless response team was credited by city employees with saving lives during last February’s snowstorms.
“Without the navigation teams, we're going to bring less people inside, less people have housing, and we’ll be unable to clear encampments and obstructions,” said Durkan, in an interview with KING 5. “If you eliminate the nav team, I think you really eliminate our city’s ability to deal with the homelessness issue… We can’t have a city that just has encampments everywhere and not have a strategy to have shelter and housing.”
There have been arguments that the money would be better-served building shelters or tiny homes. In this case, there will likely be a vocal outcry that the city would be neglecting public safety concerns surrounding certain encampments.
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