• Nov. 15, 2022
• • advocacy
  • solidaritybudget
  • budget

Thank you to those of you that have been engaged in Budget Advocacy already this year! We’re now in the home stretch. 

The City of Seattle is failing to reach its safety, equity, and climate goals. A budget is a moral document, and we are working with the Seattle Solidarity Budget Coalition to ask the City Council to amend the Mayor’s proposed budget to better reflect our shared values.

Click here to email the City Council to support the Solidarity Budget transportation asks.

Act Now:

Here's three easy ways to ask the City Council to pass a #BudgetToLive and #BudgetToThrive, including safety for people walking, rolling, biking, and taking transit:

• Speak during the public comment period at the Budget Committee Meeting Tuesday, Nov 15, 5:00 pm. Comment virtually (sign up 2 hrs prior) or in person at Council chambers at Seattle City Hall. Click here for more information, and find Solidarity Budget talking points here.
• Click here to send an email to council members.
• Word of mouth is the best form of advocacy - share this Action Alert with at least 3 friends

SAVE THE DATE: There will be additional opportunities to make public comments on Monday, November 21 at 9:30 am

Budget Asks:

The Solidarity Budget priorities include for four critical transportation priorities to make the budget better reflect our city’s values:

1. Keep the traffic enforcement division in SDOT, don’t move it back to SPD: Thanks to your advocacy, the council budget keeps Parking Enforcement Officers in SDOT while the city determines where the division should ultimately reside – but this will almost certainly be challenged. Civilian workers belong in a civilian-led department, and Parking Enforcement Officers should be partners in curb space management – to get people parking in places that allow everyone access to sidewalks, bike lanes, curb ramps, and more. The division should stay within SDOT to allow greater collaboration to make our streets safer using more strategies than just ticketing. 
2. Fund protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements in District 2. Since the Mayor released his proposed budget at the end of September, 7 people have been hit and killed while walking, rolling, or biking in Seattle, and over ½ of these deaths came in D2. These deaths are a policy choice the city has made over the years by refusing to invest in safe street infrastructure in the South End. Council should shift funding from car infrastructure and from neighborhoods that have historically seen high investment in street safety projects to fund protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements in D2.
3. Automated speed camera enforcement expansion needs to be equitable. Automated speed cameras are effective at getting drivers to slow down in school zones, and better than armed officer enforcement. In fact, 95% of drivers that receive a ticket never get a 2nd ticket at that location. However, there are surveillance concerns and high ticket costs are disproportionately harsh for lower income residents. In the long term, please investigate tiered ticketing based on income. In the short term, this program must issue warnings instead of tickets for first violations and create alternatives for people who can’t pay.
4. Reverse cuts that make our City less accessible for disabled people. The balancing package cuts $4M for sidewalk maintenance and $1.5M for ADA compliance in parks. Uneven and crumbling sidewalks pose extreme mobility challenges to people with disabilities and create tripping hazards – especially for elders – and many of our parks are extremely inaccessible. Even at the current rate of funding, it will take centuries for Seattle to repair the 150,000+ repair issues that the city knows about. Council should not cut funding to these vital and already extremely under-funded programs.

Click here to see talking points for other Solidarity Budget priorities, including support for positive changes like investing in the Green New Deal, eliminating Shot Spotter, cutting 80 ghost cop positions, and restoring JumpStart funding to community-identified priorities. We're also still pushing to #StoptheSweeps and to fund housing, food security, school counsellors, and more.

Click here to email the City Council to support the Solidarity Budget transportation asks.

Background:

This week, the Budget Committee Chair presented a draft Council budget that responds to council member and community priorities. Thanks to your advocacy, this new draft budget improves on the Mayor’s proposed budget in many ways, but there’s still a lot of work to do to bring us closer to the Solidarity Budget Coalition’s vision. 

Over the last month and a half, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, has been advocating for a city budget that aligns with our shared values of safety, equity, and climate. We remain committed to organizing as a cross-movement coalition and working together for a city budget that allows us all to live and to thrive.

On November 21, council members will vote on final amendments to the budget. Council needs to hear from you NOW!

Thank you for your continued advocacy!