Select Budget Committee Public Hearing Session II 10-06-2026

Good evening.

The October 6, 2026 Select Budget Committee meeting will come back to order.

It is 5.01 PM.

I'm Dan Strauss, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Saka.

Here.

Councilmember Foster.

Here.

President Hollingsworth.

Present.

Councilmember Juarez.

Here.

Councilmember Kettle.

Councilmember Lin.

Here.

Member Rink?

Here.

Chair Strauss?

Present.

Seven present.

Thank you.

We've already read the items into the record as this meeting technically started this afternoon at 1 p.m.

for virtual public commenters.

I will go over the rules once more, which is speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds remain of your time.

Speakers' microphones will be muted if you do not end your comments within the allotted time.

We do request that if you are in agreement with someone, you use jazz hands rather than clapping simply so that we can keep the process moving and that everyone can hear.

s we call people's names.

If you are in a group we are offering four minutes 30 seconds which for groups of three or larger which is the same amount of time as three people get.

I know that there was some small confusion with the first set of groups so we'll handle that as it goes but for the remainder of the groups everyone in the group comes up and hands in your number.

I'm going to do my best with pronunciation.

I'm not perfect and I'm oftentimes wrong.

And so I just want to apologize if I do get your name wrong.

Feel free to correct me when you come up to the dais.

My apologies.

We do have a former council member in attendance.

I have asked her if she would like to go first.

She said that she would like to stay in the order in which she registered.

So thank you and good to see you.

With that, if there are no further objections, we're going to move right into this public hearing.

I'm going to do my best to both be taking my tallies and calling the names.

and we're gonna be here as long as it takes to go through everyone's public comment.

The parking garage across the street does close at 10 p.m.

and so we'll just, if we get to that late, we'll be making some accommodations for that.

With that, any other questions, colleagues?

Fantastic.

We got Council Member Bob Kettle, Council Member Juarez on the line.

Wonderful.

With that, I'm going to read the first bunch of names and we're just going to start rolling.

Tyler Vasquez, Lars Erickson, Denise Calley, Oda Helo, Leonard Mitchell, Julia Bubout, Dan Wise, JV, Eddie Mahone, and Karen Estevan.

And if folks just want to line up right here, and we'll just tick.

Tyler, always great to see you.

I want to speak close to the mic.

Oh, yeah, and you're supposed to speak most of them close to the mic.

Yep.

If you hear me say Mick Jagger, that means just get a little closer.

We'll start your time as soon as you start talking.

With that, over to you, Tyler.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, Chair and Councilmembers.

I'm Tyler Vasquez with Cascade Bicycle Club.

We advocate for the most vulnerable people on the Seattle streets, those walking, rolling, biking, and accessing transit.

The Safer Streets Initiative also calls them vulnerable travelers.

Our transportation network is citywide and so is the need for safety.

We know that what works as of 2025, the federal list of proven safety countermeasures include bicycle lanes, walkways, leading pedestrian intervals, and safe speed limits.

Every one of them costs money to build.

This summer, the mayor and also the Transportation Committee put forward policy that makes those traveling in our transportation system safer, and we must protect the most vulnerable users.

A budget is where those policies become real.

The Mayor has proposed a budget that preserves this funding in a hard fiscal year.

Now it's Council's turn to make sure we preserve that funding.

We're watching closely and we hope that this budget recognizes the policies that are in the Transportation Committee and also the Executive Order.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tyler.

Up next is Lars Erickson, followed by Denise Kelly.

Good afternoon, Chair Strauss and Councilmembers.

My name is Lars Erickson.

I'm here on behalf of the Seattle Metro Chamber and our 2,600 members.

We urge you to protect the core framework of Mayor Wilson's proposed budget.

It demonstrates that Seattle can make significant investments in public safety, affordable housing, and homelessness services while maintaining fiscal discipline and avoiding new business taxes.

At a time of economic uncertainty, that balance is worth preserving.

As you consider amendments, please preserve the pathway to 1,250 police officers and maintain investments in emergency response and neighborhood safety.

Just as importantly, resist efforts to add new business taxes or undo the fiscal discipline that makes these investments possible.

Seattle's future depends on being both safe and economically competitive.

We encourage you to keep those priorities front and center as you finalize the budget.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lars.

Up next is Denise followed by Oda.

Denise, welcome.

Good evening, honorable council members.

My name is Denise Perez Lawley.

I live and work in District 1. Thank you for the work you are doing this budget cycle.

I'm here to ask for your support for shelter expansion and supportive housing that is proposed in the mayor's budget.

It remains one of the thinnest parts of our shelter continuum, even though many people living unsheltered in Seattle have complex needs that require this level of care.

Every person has a unique path forward, stability and recovery, but that path becomes nearly impossible without the right support around them.

High support shelter requires investment, high quality, low caseload support services with 24-7 staffing, and access to safety and de-escalation resources.

I know firsthand what is possible when we get this right.

As the former director of co-lead at PDA, I witnessed people move from the streets into safety, stability, and temporary lodging because they received individualized care and consistent support.

Numerous participants were able to build trust with consistent staff members, develop daily routines, and take the next steps to permanent housing and stability.

Thank you.

Thank you, Denise.

Up next is Oda followed by Leonard and then Julia.

Oda, welcome.

Hello.

Hello.

Hi.

My name is Oda.

You might want to use the taller one.

What is that?

Oh, this one?

Yeah.

Hi.

My name is Oda Gillo and I live at Tarina James on Aurora and I lived there since July.

I'm here to voice my support for a high support shelter.

It has helped me where I couldn't help myself.

It helped me get my license, my passport, and so many other things that I couldn't do, and I'm grateful for that.

It helped me fix my legal issues, and now I'm able to start looking for work.

I'm so excited to start my new journey, and it's in the large part due to this program.

Please maintain funding for High Support Shelter, and thank you.

Thank you, Oda.

Up next is Leonard, followed by Julia and then Dan Wise.

Leonard, welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council.

My name is Leonard, and I am here tonight representing the Co-League Program.

I am currently a resident of the Tarina James Shelter, where I have been a participant in the program for the past year.

I am I am here to urge the city and the state to continue full funding for high support shelters.

High support shelters are not just a place to sleep, they also provide the critical wraparound services like mental health care, case management, and stability that people truly need to rebuild their lives.

Without this specific model of care and the dedicated staff behind it, finding a pathway to long-term stability would be nearly impossible for many of us.

Please protect this vital lifeline and maintain funding for high support shelters.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Leonard.

Up next is Julia, followed by Dan Weiss and then JV.

Good morning, Julia.

Good evening.

OK.

It's time.

It's time to put our gas, excuse me, our foot on the gas for a high supportive shelter for our neighbors in need.

My name is Julia Beabout.

I am a Third Pike Pine resident.

You may recall that I and many others were here this summer to support the administration's high support shelter plan expansion.

We were thrilled with your support of that, but we said we'd be back, back to hold you accountable to fund that plan during the budget season.

We're back.

and it's time.

As my neighbors and I proactively work to reduce the impact of chronic crimes of desperation, neglect, and addiction at the corner of Third and Pike and our neighbors and neighbors in need, the number one obstacle we face is not lack of police.

It is lack of shelter and, in particular, lack of supportive services.

Mind you, I am not a defund the police person.

I believe in a strong police force and giving them the robust technology and tools they need to do their job well.

But if there was ever a time to prioritize funding for housing and supportive services, this is it.

We are standing on the precipice of a drastic federal cut that will put many of our existing folks back on the street, let alone

Thank you, Julia.

Up next is Dan Wise, followed by Jay and then Eddie Mahone.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Dan Wise, and I'm with a small new nonprofit called Everyone Deserves Housing.

I'm here today in strong support of expanding shelter in Seattle, particularly designed to serve folks with complex service needs.

At EDH, we operate high support shelter that is a triage point to housing.

Our model provides 24-hour on-site support with behavioral health services, meals, case managers from early in the morning to late in the evening.

We have a high tolerance for shenanigans and a lot of compassion.

Many of the people we serve have experienced profound trauma and previously been disconnected from services.

And we strive to understand the reasons behind a person's actions.

So for example, if a person is angry and they knock over a table, we're more concerned about the well-being of the person rather than doling out consequences for the broken table.

Seattle needs more shelter that's prepared to welcome people as they are, not as they wish they would be.

And I urge you to keep supporting High Support Shelter going forward.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Dan.

Up next is Jay, then Eddie, and then Karen.

Hi everyone, my name is Jay and I work for Everyone's Deserves Housing.

I am here to support high support shelters.

There's many ways to exit homelessness and for those with complex needs, high support shelters are designed to support them by providing outdoor space, smoking areas, intensive case management, access to recovery services, all of these.

Yesterday, I had a client who I have served for probably three months.

He came to me and he said, thank you so much for what you have done.

I was down before, and today I am on my feet again.

I want to say thank you for your support.

And I want to bring your pizza sometimes, and I share that with my colleagues.

Looking forward, if we can serve hundreds or thousands of them to get into housing and their careers, I think it would be meaningful.

So I'm here to support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jay.

Up next is Eddie, followed by Karen, and then I'm gonna read the next.

We've got Jamie Fackler, Jesse Wasson, Leslie Bernstein, Dwight W. Margaret Shield, Emily Meyer, Larisha Brown, Ron Abram Flo Booman, Alex Witt.

Eddie, welcome.

Thank you so much, Council Member.

My name's Eddie Matlock Mahon and I'm also with Everyone Deserves Housing and with Bayside Enhanced Shelter.

I want to speak to you about the people I meet every day who are living unsheltered.

These are our neighbors.

Many have survived years of trauma, illness, addiction, and instability.

What they need is not just a bed for the night.

They need a meaningful support and a clear path forward.

At Bayside, we have seen people make incredible progress in the short time that we have been open when they have access to intensive support, consistent relationships, and housing-focused services.

I've also seen what happens when those resources aren't available.

Seattle needs more high support shelters and more housing options.

Without them, people remain stuck in crisis and in shelters become overwhelmed.

With them, people can stabilize, recover, and move into permanent housing.

I urge you to invest in both.

These are not just budget decisions, but they are decisions about whether our neighbors have a chance to succeed, live, and thrive.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Eddie.

Up next is Karen, followed by Jamie and then Jessie.

Karen, welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening, budget chair Strauss and council members.

My name is Karen Estavenen.

I'm the executive director of PROTEC 17, a labor union representing over 3,000 workers here at the city of Seattle.

I'm here to urge you to find ways other than layoffs to close the budget gap.

I want to tell you about two people who show up for this city every day.

Alex is a data technician at the Seattle Police Department.

His job is to help people find what they've lost, a stolen car, a missing coworker, a child who didn't make it home from school.

Two of the positions that make that work possible are on the chopping block.

The auto records staff who reunite people with their stolen vehicles hassle-free at an already stressful moment and the records unit staff who make sure residents can access their own case files on what might be the worst day of their lives.

Lisa is a person, one of our members, who works at the Department of Neighborhoods, and she's been there for more than 16 years.

As the Food Equity Fund project manager, she connects grassroots groups like a small nonprofit in Rainier running low on funds to feed homebound seniors with the resources they need to keep going.

This pattern continues across five departments.

Please, this is too much to pay, and we're here to find other ways.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Jamie Fackler, followed by Jesse Wasson, Leslie Bernstein.

Yeah, thank you, Chair Strauss and council members.

I really do not envy you in this role.

There's a lot of tough decisions to be made in really difficult times facing the city.

I work at SDCI as a building inspector.

I'm a Protech 17 member and a shop steward there.

We have seven of the job cuts, seven of the layoffs.

You know, we've also got a lot of positions that are being let go that are unfilled.

But seven of those positions are at SDCI.

We have two folks that work in land use that host the in-person public meetings.

So primarily design review, but also for land use decisions.

so data centers in downtown Seattle.

Those folks are going to host those meetings and they're going to be the only representatives from the meetings or from the city that are at those meetings.

So we're losing those folks unfortunately in these cuts.

We also have strategic advisor positions that are going to be lost and those are in slated for layoffs or in emergency management.

and in our reinforced masonry program.

Those folks are going to be impacted.

So very specialized roles and so really want to encourage you to find other ways to balance this budget and really what SDCI needs is more permits coming in the door and that's something that's in your ability to do related to MHA fees.

You know what Councilmember Foster is proposing and even looking at MHA further and how can we really spur development which is desperately what this department needs.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jamie.

Up next is Jessie Wasson, followed by Leslie and then Dwight Wickershin.

Hello, Chair Strauss and members of the committee.

My name is Jessie Wasson.

I'm the deputy director for Inspire Washington, our state's cultural advocacy organization, supporting science, heritage, and arts organizations, as well as the broad creative economy, including individual artists and venues.

I'm here today to advocate for arts and culture funding.

Seattle's cultural sector is an essential part of our city's economy.

We create jobs, attract visitors, support small businesses, provide meaningful programs to all ages, and help make Seattle a vibrant place where people want to live, work, and visit.

But we provide that value while operating in one of the country's most expensive cities, with rising costs hitting us at every turn.

The Office of Arts and Culture has not received increase in grant funding in decades, and it is time.

We are grateful to Council Member Ring for creating the Shield Seattle Initiative and to Council President Hollingsworth for including arts and culture as an allowable use.

Inspire Washington sees this as an obvious place to fund the arts and culture, but of course we are happy to utilize funds wherever you see fit.

The county has stepped up in a big way to support this sector and now we're asking the city to do their part and invest in the valuable work we do and protect the jobs of cultural workers who make it possible.

Please include arts and culture in this budget.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jesse.

Up next is Leslie followed by Dwight and then Margaret.

Welcome, Leslie.

Good afternoon.

Good.

Yep.

That's why.

Yeah, we're going to hold on real quick.

We're going to restart your time.

Just and Jodi, can we restart her time?

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Leslie Rae Bernstein.

I am a Seattle native and currently a trustee serving on the Arts Fund Board.

I live in District 5. Art is an essential component of an engaged and connected city and therefore deserves public support.

Shield Seattle means protecting the cultural infrastructure that makes Seattle a city where people belong, participate, and imagine a future together.

Please include arts and culture in Shield Seattle funding.

Art has the power to connect, heal, and inspire.

At its best, art is the heart of engagement, the heart of healing, and the heart of connection and belonging.

Theater, music, storytelling, dance, visual art, and history are expressions of our shared humanity.

Beyond words, art is the universal language.

Thank you.

Thank you, Leslie.

Up next is Dwight, followed by Margaret, and then Emily.

Welcome.

Good to see you, Dwight.

Good afternoon, City Council.

My name is Dwight Wiskerson, a supervisor for the Metropolitan Improvement District.

I speak to you today regarding the growing homelessness crisis in Seattle.

I myself was homeless for 20 years, and as a mid-supervisor, I see more and more people struggling each day in the increasing number of tents in downtown Seattle.

Earlier this year, the Pioneer Square Streets to Housing Initiative produced results, getting more than 60 people connected to the right kind of shelter or housing.

Appropriate housing makes it more likely people will stay on the path to stability.

We've seen the differences that individualized care can make.

Now we need the tools to make it reality all around the city.

We've had recent success in Seattle.

We need to invest in shelters that meet the needs of our neighbors who have the highest needs and ensure that they are set up for success.

And we need to fully fund strategies to support the neighborhoods where we expand shelter capacity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dwight.

Up next is Margaret, followed by Emily.

We had a group.

Oh, this was a group.

Okay, so what I'm gonna, did you all sign up under one name?

So then what I'm gonna ask you to do, we're gonna give you three minutes to do the other two folks.

But you gotta say your name into the record and I'm gonna write it down.

Hi, my name's James Martinez, formerly a downtown ambassador.

Now I'm a supervisor for the Metropolitan Improvement District.

From both professional and personal experience, I'm speaking to you today about the growing homelessness crisis in our city.

I was homeless for about five years, and as a mid supervisor, I see a growing number of tents downtown.

I also want to talk about the Streets to Housing initiative produced a lot of results.

We placed 87% were placed into the appropriate shelters.

and I just want to again say that we should please fully fund the strategies to support our neighborhood where we can expand shelters.

Thank you.

I'm Ben Ivanov.

I'm a downtown ambassador with the American Improvement District.

I speak to you today about the growing homelessness crisis gripping all seedy.

I was homeless for five years, and as an ambassador, I see people struggling every day.

The virility of high support shelter is critical to solving the homelessness crisis in our community.

My life is an example of that.

I was even employee of the month.

I was homeless for five years too.

We need staffing to ensure lower caseloads around the clock, management issues impacting homelessness, don't have regular office hours, please invest to shelters that help those with the highest needs get housing so they can become successful both professionally and personally.

Like I have, please fully fund strategy to support the neighborhoods where we can expand shelter capacity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ben.

And Ben, what's your last name?

Ivanov.

Ivanov.

Thank you.

Margaret, always good to see you.

Welcome.

Good to see you.

Good afternoon.

I'm Margaret Child from Lake City, speaking for funding more shelter with services, supportive housing, and food security.

Your investments in street outreach, shelter, and supportive housing are working, but we need more.

I'm on the Community Council of the Olympic Hills Tiny House Village, and in just this past six months, 24 chronically unhoused people from Lake City with high needs, including substance abuse, moved into tiny homes.

There are fewer tents on our streets.

The PDA co-lead staff provide patient and persistent case management, connections to services, and ensure the village is a good neighbor.

In just a few months, eight of the total 45 residents have stabilized enough to move to permanent housing.

Now eight more people can come into that effective shelter.

So now's the time to accelerate, to create more pathways from streets to shelter to housing.

Please fully fund the shelter accelerator.

Please also support a wage equity increase for the human services workforce who do this critical work.

and then you can choose to do more faster.

Redirect the $30 million a year spent on pointless cruel sweeps to tiny homes, sanctions tent cities, vehicle safe lots, severe weather shelter, and services.

And then lastly, there is just no health without food.

And in Lake City, that extra funding for Fresh Bucks and food banks has really helped us.

We're a grocery desert.

Please support that ongoing funding.

Thank you for working so hard on this and for the opportunity to comment.

Thank you, Margaret.

Up next is Emily followed by Larisha and then Ron.

Hi, my name's Emily Meyer and I'm here to speak in support of High Support Shelter also.

I work for the organization Everyone Deserves Housing and I believe that we have too many of our neighbors on the streets of Seattle whose needs are not being met by the current shelter system or who have been asked to leave our current shelters.

I support the mayor's budget to expand high support shelters where people can have behavioral health visits on site in the shelter where they are, have access to health care in the shelter where they are, and have their needs met in a way that our current system doesn't allow.

I urge you to support the shelter accelerator project that will develop capacity for more of this high support shelter to meet the unmet needs of the neighbors in our community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Emily.

Up next is Larisha, followed by Ron, then Flo, and then Alex.

Larisha, welcome.

Hello, thank you.

I'm Larisha.

I work for Everyone Deserves Housing.

In my experience, high support shelters and housing are desperately needed service in our communities.

High support shelters and housing provide an appropriate level of support that positively impacts the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens, our homeless populations.

The high support shelters and housing provide a significant service to our entire community by providing the appropriate services to unhoused adults, as well as allowing the public areas to be used as intended, which supports all of our communities.

We get to see our clients come in at their worst and we get to help them

with wraparound services, mental health, substance use disorder, just basic needs that are not being met while they're on the streets.

And then we get to house them.

And it's a rotation.

The door opens up, we get to get more people off the streets, get more people into housing, and support them with their needs in between that time.

So we're not just housing them, we're helping them to be stable.

Might need to get a little closer.

That's all.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Larisha.

Up next is Ron, Flo, then Alex.

I'm gonna read the next 10 names.

We've got a lot of great signs in the audience today.

The rule here is that you cannot block the person behind you.

So if you cannot see, tap your neighbor on the shoulder.

And thank you.

After Alex will be Morgan Groban, Jason A, Lynn Drake, William Kelly, Marta Johnson, Alan B, Alan F, Sola Plumaker, Marta Kidane, Mar, first name starts with an M, last name starts with a C.

Ron, great to see you.

Welcome.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Ron Abram, and I work at Bayside Enhanced Shelter.

Every day, I meet people living outside who want stability, safety, and housing, but need more support than a traditional shelter can provide.

Many are managing serious health conditions, substance use disorders, trauma, and other complex challenges.

At Bayside, we see what happens when people are given the right level of support.

They have access to intensive case management, recovery resources, and staff who build trust over time.

This creates real opportunities for people to move toward permanent housing and stability.

The reality is that there are not enough high support shelter beds in Seattle.

Too many people who benefit from these programs are left with nowhere appropriate to go.

At the same time, Shelters need stronger pathways into housing so people can successfully move on and make more room for others who need the help.

I urge you to prioritize funding high support shelters and permanent housing in the upcoming budget.

These investments save lives, improve community outcomes, and create a more effective homelessness response system for everyone.

Thank you.

I appreciate your time and leadership.

Thank you, Ron.

Up next is Flo, followed by Alex.

Flo, welcome.

So I will do, Jody, I got it.

So we're going to just do a quick pause.

Please don't yell from the audience.

I will do a better job of interrupting people to say you need to get, we call it Mick Jagger close to the microphone.

So if you hear me just start saying Mick Jagger, that means just get close.

There's no ways to change the microphone level.

We do need to ensure decorum, so please.

We'll start with you again.

Flo, great to see you.

Good evening.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Flo Beaumont, and I am here for shelter expansion.

I'm a community volunteer with Everyone Deserves Housing, and these are the folks who stood up the first of the desperately needed additional enhanced shelters.

This is for people who have been suffering for a very long time without homes, without even shelter, just trying to survive.

We need more high support shelter for adults with high needs.

The damages along the road to long-term homelessness do not heal overnight, and they do not heal without expert intervention.

But with the right skilled support, people can and do recover.

At Bayside Shelter, where the paint is barely dry, they've already gotten several people into appropriate permanent housing, which is amazing.

It's just been a couple of months.

so they know what to do.

Other providers know what to do.

Let's do more of it.

Let's do it again and again and again until people have homes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Flo.

Up next is Alex and then Morgan and Jason.

Welcome.

Good to see you.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Alex Rios-Witt and I am the kitchen manager at the Chief Seattle Club, a member of the Meals Partnership Coalition.

I'm here today to support permanent funding for meal programs.

I want to thank Mayor Katie Wilson for including $1 million in permanent funding for meal programs in the 2027 budget.

I urge the Council to sustain this investment in the final budget.

I also want to thank Council President Joy Hollandsworth and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rink for their leadership on food access funding.

The Chief Seattle Club is located in Pioneer Square and is one of the few meal programs in Seattle that serve the urban Native community.

We are open seven days a week, serving hot breakfast and lunch.

Last year, we served over 71,000 meals to our community.

If this funding is taken away or reduced, it will have an impact on our ability to purchase and serve culturally relevant food to our relatives.

We use the funds to purchase bison, elk, and other wild game, as well as wild rice and seafood from local tribes.

We also purchase fresh produce from local farmers as well.

These meals are important in bringing our relatives together and keeping them healthy and sustained physically and spiritually, as well as supporting the community.

My name is Alex Rios-Witt with the Chief Seattle Club, and I urge you to sustain the funding for hot meal programs included in the mayor's proposed budget.

Thank you.

Very well said, Alex.

We're gonna move on to Morgan, Jason, and Lynn.

Welcome.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Morgan Groban.

I'm a Greenwood resident and I work in the U District as the kitchen manager for Teen Feed, a member of the Meals Partnership Coalition.

At Teen Feed, we prepare 100 meals a night and serve dinner to unhoused and food insecure youth every single night of the year.

This time last year, I stood here asking for money for meal programs because we were in a crisis and the city responded, allocating a million dollars in one-time emergency funding.

But if that was a crisis, I don't know what we're in now because our numbers have doubled since then.

The economic conditions, the cuts to snap, the price of groceries, it's really tough out there.

The mayor's proposed budget makes that million dollars for meal programs permanent, and I'm here to ask you to keep it that way.

This money has been seriously impactful for our ability to feed kids.

So thank you.

Thank you to the mayor for including it in a budget.

Thank you to Council President Joy Hollingsworth and Council Member Alexis Mercedes Rink for your continued support for food access across the city.

and thank you in advance everyone on this committee for leaving the mayor's proposed budget unchanged for meal program investment.

And I will leave you with a word of warning.

We must as a city continue to prioritize and adequately fund food access.

Even if you don't believe that food is a human right, well, when people start to go hungry, that becomes a public safety problem.

Thank you, Morgan.

Up next is Jason, Lynn, and then William Kelly.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Jason Austin, program director with the Meals Partnership Coalition.

I am here today to support permanent funding for meal programs.

I want to thank the mayor for including $1 million in permanent funding for meal programs in the 2027 budget.

I urge the council to sustain this investment in the final budget.

And I also want to call out council president Hollingsworth and council member Rink for their leadership in championing food access funding.

The 58 members of the Meals Partnership Coalition, or MPC, are the frontline of defense against hunger in Seattle.

This funding supports an ecosystem of mostly volunteer-run community programs, each one meeting a unique need not served by other organizations.

To highlight an example of this, most food access programs operate Monday through Friday, leaving a critical gap in weekend service.

This gap is filled by our member programs, such as the First United Methodist Church, which is the only Sunday free breakfast provider open to all in Belltown.

This gap is also filled by Lake City Lifeline, an all-volunteer mutual aid organization serving food and community every Saturday and Sunday in North Seattle.

Both of these organizations rely on this funding to maintain current levels of service.

Every single neighborhood in Seattle contains at least one MPC program working hard to meet the unique nutritional needs of our neighbors.

Again, I urge you to sustain this crucial investment in the final version of the budget.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Jason.

Up next is William, followed by William and then Marta Johnson.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Lynn Drake.

Thank you so much for all your service to our great City of Seattle.

I'm from the Okai Beach neighborhood.

I want to talk about two different things, one here to support shelter expansion.

I'm very much looking forward to Glassyard Commons opening up in West Seattle, I think next month.

And I also follow the excellent work of Professor Greg Colburn from UW on homelessness.

And according to his studies, we're doing exactly the right thing by expanding shelter.

Look him up.

He's doing some great work on that.

We also, he does mention we need a lot more three and four bedroom homes.

Families are really having a hard time renting when the only available homes are one and two bedrooms.

and I'm also looking forward to a neighborhood center in Alki.

On another topic regarding the police budget, I want to say I'm strongly in favor expanding of our care crisis responders under Amy Barden and expanding outreach to Seattle youth through the community passageways programs, expanded programs in community centers, after school programs, and job programs.

And that's it.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Lynn.

Up next is William, Marta, and then Alan.

And if I can't see the person behind the sign, that means you're blocking somebody's view.

So thank you.

Take it away.

Hello, I am here with Inspire Washington to support the funding of public arts and culture.

And I have a poem for you.

A single string breaks a bunch make a rope.

Let us bring people together to toll that heavy work.

Let us pack rooms, fill and create spaces, build a home for our creatives, social and economic growth for everyone involved in.

Like wrangling cats and dogs, can't do it without the spirit of Bayanihan as Filipino for the spirit of community, providing a home for unity and productivity.

Sharp as a tack, marked up like our filled calendars, I just pray for you all to get the rest you deserve.

The Buddha said, ambition like love does not want obstacle nor delay.

How you see each day inspires me.

Let us continue the fun of public arts.

The room gets dark when there is no artistic beauty to bring light to our city.

Fun public arts.

William, you're gonna be the next doozy to hot.

Martha, welcome.

Okay, that feels difficult to follow.

Good afternoon.

Thanks for all your work.

My name's Martha.

I'm here speaking on behalf of about 75 Seattleites, a part of 4 Seattle.

First wanna say, I know this is a difficult season, so thank you, thank you, thank you.

As we enter this 2027 budget process, we're asking the city to make a meaningful investment in shelter and permanent housing.

The reality is that the majority of people living unsheltered in Seattle have complex needs, yet high support shelter makes up only about 10% of the current shelter system.

We know it works in the June Streets to Housing effort in Pioneer Square that Forest Seattle supported.

87% of people who had been chronically unsheltered were connected to shelter or housing that met their needs.

That shows us that progress is possible when we have the right resources and the right strategy.

So as you work through the budget, we urge you to invest in more high support shelter, more permanent housing, and clear pathways from shelter into housing.

We have the tools, we have organizations ready to do the hard work, and we just need to now scale up the capacity to meet the challenge.

Thank you all.

Thank you, Marta.

Up next is Allen, followed by Allen, followed by Sola.

Allen?

Two Allens.

Two Allens.

Hello, council members.

My name is Alan Bryant.

I'm a 26-year-old classical composer and pianist and vice president of the Seattle Composers Alliance.

I come to you today to speak on my experience and the importance of funding the arts.

At 14 years old, I was disabled by a neurodegenerative disorder, one that robbed me of a traditional experience in education.

I suffered great pains and privations and came to fall inward and isolate deeply.

At 18, I learned to write and produce music as an escape from my isolation.

I was writing constantly, seeing it as my only way out, using it as a form of therapy.

By 23, I had built up a cadre of friends and professional connections around me, Through support from the Seattle Composers Alliance, I applied for a grant from the city to perform.

It was granted to me.

And in the summer of 2024, I put on a performance dedicated to the cycle of healing, taking the experiences of others and soundtracking them live.

What at one point was my own therapy became my uplifting and became others' healing.

I couldn't have done that without the direct, granted support of the Office of Arts and Culture.

It is imperative to our culture, our community, and social fabric that SHIELD Seattle dedicates 10% of its funding for arts and culture.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Thank you, Alan.

With that, Alan, welcome.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Alan Francis, and I'm a renter in District 4, and I'm here in support of the Mayor's shelter expansion.

Having personally benefited from Cher's self-managed shelter model, I know firsthand how vital peer-led, low barrier refuge can be when people are experiencing homelessness, dignity, autonomy, and community.

Matter.

Share's model gives people a safe place to stabilize, support one another, and begin rebuilding lives.

Tonight I urge you to invest in solutions that keep people housed and help them survive when they lose housing.

Please add $500,000 for tenant services so renters can access the support they need to avoid displacement.

Adopt the $11 rental registration fee without exemptions so the program is adequately funded and effective.

Do not ban RV living because for many people it remains the last form of shelter when no other options are available.

And please preserve Mayor Wilson's proposed $37 million for shelter expansions so Seattle can fund all types of shelter and meet people where they are.

Every shelter bed, every safe place matters.

Without shelter, people die.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alan.

Up next is Sola, followed by Marta and then Marnek.

Good evening, Council.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about shelter expansion.

My name is Sola Plumacher, and I work with Plymouth Housing, a supportive housing nonprofit here in Seattle.

Shelter plays a critical role in saving lives.

We need all forms of shelter to meet the needs of this moment, where unsheltered homelessness has continued to increase in our city.

I urge Council to maintain the mayor's proposed shelter expansion plan and fund supportive services, which are critical to helping people navigate the homeless services system.

But, shelter's not enough.

We are facing an impending crisis in our state.

Permanent supportive housing pipeline, new construction of permanent supportive housing is stagnant, and therefore options for people who move into shelter will have very limited options to move out into supportive housing that they may need.

Without new housing options, shelters will fill and exits will be limited.

Please fund both shelter and housing.

Thank you, Sola.

Up next is Marta, followed by Marnek, and then Amarinta.

Council Member Shama Sawant, Justin Barr, Neil Patel, Joe Sugiri.

Marta, great to see you.

Thank you Council Members for making the time to hear from community members today.

My name is Marta Kirana and I'm the Community Engagement Manager at the Low Income Housing Institute.

Firstly, I would like to thank council members and Mayor Wilson for the good work you have done to support shelter expansion in the city.

Today, I would like to lift up those who are unhoused living in RVs.

Lehigh is in the process of opening what will be the city's only RV safe parking lot in the city of Seattle and our second as a shelter provider.

We're honored to support this particular population, but as the Council will be making decisions regarding RV legislation soon, we ask that you increase RV safe lots in Seattle alongside these efforts.

There is currently not enough shelter or RV parking spaces allocated which would leave unhoused RV residents with nowhere to be referred.

In our efforts to be a part of the solution, Lehigh has identified a potential second location where an RV parking safe lot would be possible, but we need the support of the City Council to make this shelter option a reality.

Additionally, we would like to advocate for an increase in high support shelter and social services.

As wraparound service providers, we hope to see this proven best practice expand across the city to support our unhoused community members flourish into the next chapter of their lives.

We appreciate your hard work going into this budget season and hope you continue to rely on community input to make these important decisions and further expand shelter and housing options in Seattle.

Thank you.

Hi, good evening council members, and thank you for all the work that you do.

My name is Marnie Chua.

I have a terrible handwriting.

I'm the executive director at Clarion West Writers' Workshop.

We have traditionally not had a location in town, but now we are working with Common Area Maintenance in District 7. This is a part of a collaborative project that will do what many arts collaboratives do and offer a combination of housing and arts projects and shared resources.

All of us, I think, here today with the arts sector and with all of the housing groups are facing huge, real financial strains, I think, worse than we saw in the last six years.

Many of this is due to cuts in federal funding, but also uncertainty in the grants world from county, state, and federal and local independent.

For over 45 years, Clarion West has been bringing writers to Seattle, and we've been part of Seattle's thriving literary scene.

These programs, as well as the rest of the arts sector, act as their own economic engine, creating jobs, creating signing opportunities for the local bookstores, paying instructors, driving tourism, and contributing to Seattle's economic vitality.

Our focus at Clarion West is on speculative fiction, something that Pacific Northwest is known for, for many great science fiction and fantasy writers have called Seattle their home.

Our work engages readers both locally and internationally, and we host events for over 1,500 writers and readers annually.

We respectfully ask for you to include the funding for arts and culture.

Thank you.

Up next we have Amarantha Torres, former Councilmember Shama Sawant, Justin Bari.

Amarantha, great to see you.

Hi there, good to see you.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Amaranthia Torres, and I'm the co-executive director of the Coalition in Any Gender-Based Violence, Cornell 57, Epstein, King County Assessor Wilson, Rape Academy.

It is unbelievable and truly unacceptable the burden that we ask victims and survivors to carry in the absence of accountability.

Our 30-plus member programs support victims and survivors every day so they aren't alone.

They go to court.

They partner with police.

They go to the hospital.

They bear witness.

They hold space.

We believe this work is vital, and we believe this work should be funded at a level commensurate with the scale of the problem.

Everyone knows a survivor, even if you don't think you do.

You know a survivor of gender-based violence.

But there are no new investments for victims and survivors in this budget.

Let's change that together.

Let's invest upstream to prevent this horrific abuse from happening in the first place.

Let's invest in the robust services survivors deserve when they disclose abuse in such courageous and heartbreaking ways.

Please include this life-saving work in the budget.

We also support protecting funding for food banks, meal programs, rental assistance, and queer and trans organizations that are supporting survivors as well.

We also urge the Council to support wage equity for human service workers and increasing high support shelter.

As the budget work, the hard work of budget continues, we really look forward to working with you, and thanks for the time.

Thank you, Ann-Marintha.

Up next is former council members Shama Sawant, Justin Bari, and then Neil Patel.

Can we speak as a group?

And how many of you?

The three of us.

For three?

Yes, you may.

That works out well.

We will set your time for four minutes, 30 seconds.

Thank you.

And take it away.

I'm Shama Sawant.

I was the lone independent revolutionary socialist on the Democratic Party-dominated Seattle City Council for a decade from 2014 through 2023. Democratic Party Mayor Katie Wilson ran as a self-described socialist.

Now she has delivered a budget proposal that cuts the funding for public sector jobs and essential services by tens of millions of dollars and gives a shocking $68 million more for Seattle police.

This proposed police funding increase is far higher than the 9% yearly average police budget increase by the pro-velty, pro-police, former mayor, Democrat Bruce Harrell.

Ironically, Katie Wilson was supposed to be the progressive alternative to Bruce Harrell.

Wilson has claimed that businesses are quote-unquote fragile at a time when Seattle was just ranked as one of the world's richest cities with the fifth highest level of GDP per person in the world.

The idea of Democratic Party politicians calling themselves progressive or even socialist and being completely unwilling to fight against the billionaires and the multimillionaires is a total dead end for working class people.

We need leadership with a class struggle-based fighting strategy, which is what I did with my Seattle City Council office.

Rather than build a career for myself, I used my office relentlessly to build mass movements of working people.

Through my office, we launched the 15 Now Movement, and we won the nation's highest minimum wage for Seattle.

Because we won inflation increases, the wage has been going up, and in January next year, it's going to be $22.14 an hour.

We launched the Tax Amazon Movement.

We defeated billionaires like Jeff Bezos and the Democratic Party City Council members to win the historic Amazon tax.

Billionaires and multi-millionaires have accumulated untold wealth by exploiting workers and the planet.

Just a few hours ago, the New York Times reported that the stock market reached a record high today.

Vital human services should not be forced to compete for the most minimal funding.

We need to tax the rich, starting with a major expansion of the Amazon tax.

In 2023, I co-founded Worker Strike Back, a nationwide organization that is continuing the class struggle-based fighting strategy.

Worker Strike Back has already won some crucial victories since its launch.

In 2024, the Seattle City Council, all of them Democrats, led by Joy Hollingsworth, brought a bill to undermine our minimum wage victory by trying to make wage tiers permanent.

It would have held some minimum wage workers permanently at a lower minimum wage and affected mainly communities of color.

But workers strike back organized, mobilized working people, and we defeated this shameful attempt by the Democratic Party to attack the poorest workers.

Then last year, the City Council Democrats tried to take the first step towards repealing the unprecedented renters' rights we won through my office, like the $10 cap on late rent fees.

Workers strike back and renters organized and defeated that attempt.

Also, not only that, we forced Kathy Moore, the council member who brought that shameful bill forward, to resign in disgrace.

This fighting strategy is what's needed for working people to fight against the crises we face.

The insane cost of living, the lack of housing, the terrible healthcare situation, ICE terror, and last but not least, the genocide in Gaza, the brutal occupation of Palestinian lands, the genocide in Sudan, and forever imperialist war, all of which benefits and profits the billionaire and multimillionaire class internationally.

I urge working people to join Workers Strike Back and join our international virtual rally on Sunday, November 15th at 12 noon, where we will be rallying to discuss the strategy of how to end the genocide and occupation, how to win an end to all military aid to Israel, which is very much linked to all the massive budget cuts that we are facing, not only in Seattle, but statewide and nationally.

That is at 12 noon on Sunday, November 15. Let's fight against the billionaire class.

Tax the rich.

Raise the Amazon tax.

Solidarity.

Thank you.

And before you- Sir- Before you go, Justin, third person that dropped your number, what was your name?

Matthew.

Matthew, what's your last name?

Beloyed.

Beloyed.

What number did you have?

You didn't- 60-something.

Matthew, Malloy, got you.

Thank you.

You're totally fine.

I just got to keep the record straight.

With that, Justin, then Neil, then Joe.

Justin, welcome.

I'm Justin, a renter in Queen Anne and a member of Workers Strike Back.

Mayor Wilson's budget proposal raises the police budget by $68 million, cuts affordable housing by $65 million, and cuts other vital services.

It adds zero new taxes on the rich.

This is an open betrayal of the Black Lives Matter movement.

It's an open betrayal of working people and doubly so coming from a self-identified socialist.

It represents a shameless continuation of the housing crisis.

What we need in the budget is slash the funding for police, raise the Amazon tax to fund a massive expansion of affordable housing, shelters, the arts, social services, all the stuff that people have been talking about here today.

The Democrats on this council have shown themselves to be totally unwilling to fight for working people in oppressed communities.

They've sided with big business over and over.

We need to build a fighting movement to go to war against this budget proposal and the Democrats putting it forward.

Shama Sawant, who just spoke, did this many times during her decade as a socialist on the city council.

She led the movement that won the Amazon tax in the first place.

Let's build a fighting movement to raise the Amazon tax and stop these cuts.

Thank you, Justin.

Up next is Neil.

Calvin, I'm going to ask you to make sure people stop clapping so we can keep moving.

Over to you, Neil, and then Joe.

Thank you, council members.

I'm Neil Patel, tenure resident, SPS parent, member of Workers Strike Back, representing small business in Georgetown.

I come with four facts and some questions.

Fact one, since 2021, non-pension Seattle police budgets grew an average of $20.5 million annually.

That's factoring in budget cuts in 2021. That's $104 million since 2022. Fact two, in the same period of time, we had 5,483 violent crimes per year.

This number has not changed to any degree of statistical significance in four years.

Fact three, on 2020 numbers, the office of the SPD CEO alone gets $35 million in taxpayer money.

That figure is 70% of the public school's budget shortfall for this budget.

Fact four, I am still waiting.

for South Precinct to lift a finger to address an August shooting in Georgetown's Central Business District.

Every city agency I've dealt with, from OED to SDCI, has been super helpful to me, and they're all facing cuts.

That leaves me with some questions.

Question one, do we really feel like more cops is working?

Because the data doesn't seem to support that.

Question two, what does SPD need $68 million more for that they can't already afford?

An aircraft carrier?

Question three, why are we shaking down OED, SDCI, firefighters, housing, teachers, and schools to give $68 million to an agency that has yet to demonstrate a return on investment?

And my final question is to all of us in this room, when are we going to have enough?

Thank you.

Thank you, Neil.

Up next is Joe, and then Rachel Snell, and then Aidan Bernhardt, Jack Kelly, and then Inspire Washington.

My name is Joe Seguru.

I'm a music teacher and member of Worker Strike Back, and I oppose the mayor's pro-police, anti-worker budget.

As a teacher and former SPS employee, I can tell you right now what we need is more social services funded, and we need to fund them by increasing the Amazon tax.

This budget proposes cutting 65 million dollars from affordable housing and other cuts to social services, while increasing the SPD budget by 68 million.

Washington is home to 12 billionaires and over 130 centimillionaires centered in the Seattle area.

Seattle's economy is dominated by some of the wealthiest tech corporations in the world, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Meanwhile, the cost for all living people is becoming absolutely worse.

The mayor recently stated, quote, right now we don't have good options to raise more progressive revenue that don't come with great risks, end quote.

But this is just untrue.

Cowering to corporations' threats will not help us.

When Boeing was given a tax handout in 2013, they still moved 13,000 jobs out of the state.

We need to build a movement to tax the rich here and to tax them across the whole country.

The mayor is exposing her fundamental differences as a democratic socialist with the approach of revolutionary socialist Shama Sawant who spoke today.

Shama went to war against big businesses in Seattle and won the Amazon tax.

That's what we need to do.

Working people need to use that fighting approach.

We need a new party for the working people, and we need to tax the rich so that we can fully fund public education, public housing, and all public services.

Thank you, Joe.

Calvin, a little help from your friends.

Rachel Snell and Aidan.

Rachel, welcome.

Hi.

Good evening, Council Chair Strauss and members of the Seattle City Council.

My name is Rachel Snell, and I urge you to fund $440,000 for community-led voter education for ranked choice voting, especially for people in my community, renters, LGBTQIA residents, and communities of color.

These communities have too often been left out of decisions that affect our homes, safety, livelihoods, and future.

Ranked Choice Voting can give us more meaningful choices to support candidates who truly reflect our values without fear of wasting a vote.

But a better voting system only works when every voter understands and feels confident using it.

Please invest in trusted community partners, multilingual and accessible materials, outreach where people already gather.

Make Ranked Choice Voting empowering and accessible to all of us.

And please support expandative shelters as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rachel.

Up next is Aiden, followed by Jack.

We're a group of three.

Okay, so if you are a group, you have to tell me at the start, not at the end.

So we're gonna...

Moving forward, please tell me at the start, not the end.

So we're gonna put three...

Jody, if you could help me out here.

If we could put just three minutes on the clock, since they already used a minute and 30, and then you have to tell me your names.

I'm Alex Schocking, I'm a CTE teacher in Ballard.

Hang tight, my friend.

What number were you?

37.

Rachel Snell, yeah, she was the first one.

Okay, so your name one more time?

Alex Schocking.

Alex, spell the last name.

S-C-H-O-K-K-I-N-G.

Great, and then who else is with you?

Caroline Gilbert.

Caroline.

And I assume you did not get a number?

Great.

No, not a problem.

And then last one?

Lucas Phipps, also part of that group.

Lucas Phipps.

Wonderful.

So you have three minutes remaining.

Take it away.

Welcome.

Good to have you here.

Great.

I'm Alex Skocking.

I'm a Fremont resident and a teacher at Ballard High School teaching engineering.

As we've been hearing here today, we have so many big problems as a city, and they all need democratic solutions.

Like, there is no obvious answer here.

There's only trade-offs to make.

And I think ranked choice voting is a really important part of that process going forward for us to be able to make these decisions collectively.

That's coming next year for primaries in Seattle, but success is not necessarily guaranteed.

A quarter of my students are going to be voting for the first time next year, and we really need to put our best foot forward here.

So I'm asking the City Council to support both with your energy, time, and budget a successful launch to ranked choice voting here.

Maybe we should have a grant to see who understands the system or not.

Where are there holes that we should plug so that people understand and can vote successfully so that we can really lead the way for Washington as a state that really could benefit from ranked choice voting at all levels, and after that, even nationally.

So we're really looking to hit the ground running here.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Hi, thank you for the time today.

My name is Caroline Gilbert and I live in District 36. I'm here today to ask you to invest $440,000 in ranked choice voting voter education for the 2027 primary elections.

When I first moved to Seattle, I learned how powerful accessible voter education can be.

I had never voted by mail before, but the King County voter pamphlet helped me understand how VBM works and made it easy for me to make a voting plan.

That's not the reality for everyone though.

If we want ranked choice voting implementation to be equitable, we have to reach our neighbors in ways that are culturally competent, accessible, and most importantly, grounded in their community relationships.

This funding would give organizations that are already embedded in our communities with lower propensity voters the resources they need to reach and support voters they serve.

With ranked choice voting, we can build a better system that encourages active participation in our political process, but only if voters understand the new ballot and trust that their vote will be counted the way they intend.

We only have one shot to do this right, and fully funding our CV education ensures no voter is left behind.

Thank you.

Lucas Phipps, also asking to include funding for ranked choice voting education for the 2027 primary elections.

Speaking on behalf of the Washington Bus, which is based in Seattle City Council District 3, the Washington Bus is the largest youth-based building organization in Washington dedicated to the civic and power of young voters.

And when it comes to our youth base, we know young people have the will, but often not the way.

This year in Seattle, we saw voter turnout at just 4.5% of voters aged 17 to 24, and 17% of voters aged 25 to 34. If young people are in the future, we must protect their present by funding the education they need to be civically involved, active, and listened to.

In a world that has seen disinformation run rampant, thank you.

Thank you.

And now we have Aiden, is that right?

And Jody, if you could promote Councilmember Rivera, who's been here for a little bit.

Aidan, welcome.

Hello, and good evening.

My name is Aidan, and I'm a voter in District 5. I'm here to comment on the mayor's proposed budget.

Spending discipline, is that what we've decided to rebrand austerity into?

I look at this proposed budget, and I get very confused, because I didn't order my toast with any English breakfast tea this morning.

I'm more of a coffee guy myself.

Take a look at what the austerity has left the tea drinkers.

We're at the start of a global bonds crisis.

I understand the urgent need to close the budget gap.

That's a really easy existing mechanism to do that, though.

It's very simple.

Close the gap by increasing revenue.

Increase the jumpstart payroll taxes again.

What a ludicrous claim to say that the downtown tech firms are too fragile to pay just a little bit more for the massively profitable tech workers they employ.

Those tech workers love the city and wouldn't mind chipping in more if they knew it would make a difference.

Are we actually taking the Downtown Association and other big business interests right-hearing arguments seriously?

The economic slowdown we are experiencing is a national phenomenon.

It is outside the city's control.

Bellevue is growing faster because it is literally more room to grow.

Same goes for the empty office building problem that is directly downstream of COVID.

Don't let anyone tell you that increasing the police budget is going to fix our national crisis of tech monopolies not paying their fair share to society.

Thank you.

Thank you, Aidan.

Up next is Jack, and then we're going to take the Inspire Washington group, so that might take a minute just to get us all organized.

Welcome, Jack.

Thank you.

Good to be here.

Evening, counsel.

My name is Jack Kelly.

I'm a member and organizer with the Transit Writers Union, and I'm here tonight regarding two notes on the tenant services line in the proposed budget.

Item one, I urge this counsel to please add at least $500,000 to the tenant services budget.

We believe this is the bare minimum to keep tenant services, services that are vital to our renters, vital to maintaining and creating stable communities and ultimately a stable city by keeping people housed.

So please, we ask for additional funding of $500,000 to ensure that these services continue.

Next, urging the Council to please fully adopt the $11 in increased rental registration fees paid by landlords biannually to pay for enforcement of renter protections and to do so without exceptions.

Our renters and their protections need teeth.

They need to be enforced, and we are urging the Council to please adopt the full $11 increase in Rio fees.

And lastly, in solidarity, please support the shelter expansion program.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jack.

So with Inspire Washington, I see my great friends here, you were number 40?

40.

Yes.

Right.

And you all just signed up as one.

Yeah.

So I'm gonna do this Karen.

Karen Lund, Marlette Buchanan, Manny Kowaling.

Marlette, Buchanan, and Manny.

Great.

You'll have four minutes and 30 seconds.

Welcome.

Great to see you.

Hello, my name is Karen Lund.

I'm the producing artistic director of Taproot Theatre Company, located in Greenwood, which is District 6. Council members, when you fund the arts, you're not only funding what happens on stage, you're investing in the economic life of our neighborhoods.

A Taproot performance means dinner at a local restaurant, coffee down the block, shopping nearby, and friends gathering in Greenwood.

The activity supports small businesses, creates jobs, and makes our city's business district places where people want to be.

We saw that impact clearly during our HVAC emergency.

When performances were at risk, businesses and neighbors stepped forward with financial support, vital testimony, and encouragement, not simply to save a theater, but to protect a vital part of Greenwood's identity and economy.

Arts funding is not a luxury, and it's not merely entertainment.

It is economic development, community infrastructure, and quality of life.

When you invest in the arts, you invest in resilient neighborhoods and a stronger Seattle.

Please make sustained arts funding a clear priority.

Good evening, council members.

I'm Marlette Buchanan.

I am the executive director of Coyote Central, located in the historic Central District of District 3. Each year, we serve more than 1,000 young people through hands-on art and artisan-based classes and workshops led by professional artists.

At Coyote, young people discover their talents, build confidence, and find belonging.

Alongside caring adults, they develop creative skills that can shape their futures and livelihoods.

I urge you to dedicate 10% of SHIELD Seattle funding to arts and culture.

This investment sustains youth programs, supports the livelihoods of teaching artists and other dedicated workers, and keeps creative opportunities accessible across our city.

Please protect the places where Seattle's young people learn that their creative voices and their futures matter.

Thank you.

Hard to follow up those amazing changemakers.

Good afternoon, honorable chair and council members.

I am Manny Kowalian, executive director for Inspire Washington.

From Seattle to Cedro Woolley to Spokane, we are the state's cultural advocacy organization.

Inspired by the long list of social and economic benefits, we open doors to science, heritage, and the arts.

I speak with a representative voice.

Hundreds of businesses and individuals pay dues to fuel our creative and cultural ambitions, and nearly 900 nonprofits and artists benefit from our advocacy for King County's Doors Open program.

The vast majority are small businesses.

But here in Seattle, there is no place more expensive or where the stakes are higher for creating and operating cultural programs.

I think all of you are fairly clear on our request as outlined by our Deputy Director Jesse Wasson.

So I want to focus on what inspires me as the Executive Director for this campaign.

Did you know that 94% of all cultural budgets are here within the city of Seattle?

So even though the King County money is great, the stakes and the costs are higher here.

We have all the jobs.

We want to keep the jobs.

I have also been in this job for eight years.

And as I hope you guys know, I'm pretty easy to talk to and very likable, so I hear a lot of stories.

And if I could Vulcan mind-meld with you so you could understand all the coffees, all the lunches.

I live in lots of cones of silence.

I need you to know that in every neighborhood, our cultural organizations are struggling.

It is hard.

Every year, they are barely getting by.

Many of them may not make it.

I also know this as a person that's run organizations.

I was the managing director at Langston Hughes.

I was the associate artistic director at the Northwest Asian American Theater.

How do we get by?

We make sacrifices.

We hold our own paychecks.

We pay for things out of our own pockets.

We work really hard.

When I was replaced with my last job, they hired five people to replace me.

This is not sustainable.

Citi, protect the arts and cultural sector.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for all the artistic creations you create for our community.

Up next we have, we're gonna go, we are now 41 out of 110. We've got Miro SK who is next and then we'll take a minute to work through the details of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Miro, are you with us today?

Here we are, Miro.

Either mic, usually the taller one's a little easier to use.

Thank you.

My name is Mira OSK.

I am here as a fellow impacted resident and family member in solidarity with families of Herbert Hightower Jr., Kenan Pearson, and more, who have lost loved ones to police brutality.

My brother Trinhatch was murdered by CBP on September 20th, 2025. And both before and after, I have been a target of state violence that has included infiltration of my life, surveillance, stalking, harassment, retaliation, and threats.

This has at times resulted in loss of housing, resources, mental and physical health, and community support and more.

I know viscerally how those with state power will stop at nothing to dismantle the stability of those who witness their abuses and to see families, especially black families, asking for so little while you add $68 million for cops under the guise of public safety is gutting.

I have no doubt far more than their ask will go towards counterinsurgency against every family member who seeks justice for their loved ones and anyone in solidarity with them.

as the mayor does exactly what I presume she always intended to betray every organizer and voter who brought her to power.

The least you can do is cynically bolster your image as a sanctuary city and at minimum double the budget families have asked for on their terms or reveal yourselves in the city as exactly what every original target of the state on this land has always known you to be colonial eugenicist enforcers, defund the police, divest from apartheid, genocidal Israel, fund impacted families and survivors of state violence.

Thank you, Miro.

Up next, we've got the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Do you have three cards?

So you're going to show me what number that is so I can mark you off my list.

We got 40. So that's the 42. Did anyone else from your group sign up?

We were told to sign up as a group.

Okay, cool.

So that's what we're going to do.

Jody, do we need to get their names?

Great.

We're going to go with that.

You've got four minutes, 30 seconds.

Sounds like we've gotten through past the miscommunications at the beginning of this.

Over to you, my friends.

Great to see you all.

My name is Brother Steve Jerby.

I worship in District 7, and I live and vote in District 4. Sacred stories are often about the difference between abundance and scarcity, an abundance that says there is enough in creation, there is enough goodness, and the resistance against people who impose scarcity upon communities.

The Church Council of Greater Seattle is a community of abundance.

In Christian tradition, we have a story about a gathering of a huge crowd.

And with only a few loaves and fishes, everyone was fed.

And not only that, there were leftovers to go.

Today, we want to talk about abundance.

Good evening, my name is Rachel Cattola and I'm an organizer with the Church Council.

As people of faith and conscience, we're asking you to pass a budget that reflects the values of abundance in a community care.

The first place we want to start is with progressive revenue.

Seattle is one of the wealthiest cities on the globe with huge disparities between the highest and lowest income earners.

It's unjust to balance the budget on the workers when what we need are new sources of revenue.

We are also pro-public safety.

That's why we're asking you to protect funding for shelters, affordable housing, food security, and supports for our migrant and queer neighbors.

These investments build safety that lasts in ways that reactionary responses never will.

Believing that policing and surveillance are only paths to safety is scarcity thinking.

Our communities deserve leaders who fight so that everyone has enough, everyone lives with dignity and real safety, and everyone eats.

Help us build that abundant future.

My name is Chloe Guillo.

I am a resident of District 3 and I worship in District 6. As a follower of Christ, I believe in the model of the early church that redistributed all that they owned so that everything was shared, where those with abundance gave to those in need.

That's why I believe it's so important that this council embrace an abundance mindset and pursue progressive revenue.

I think we have a lot to learn from that model and the model of those who are the most vulnerable among us.

Our church in Ballard does a free meal for our unhoused community every week.

And just last week, I watched as a woman who had just lost her housing walked in, and a room full of folks, most of them unhoused themselves, rallied together to gather whatever food, resources, and supplies they could because they wanted to give what little extra they had to provide this woman with a way to make it through the night.

That's community care and that's community safety.

If even those who have so little can give what they have to make their community safer, why don't we ask those who have over and abundant what they need to redistribute their wealth back into the community?

Why don't we tax million and billion dollar companies that have the ability to make our city safe for all?

I'm Reverend Lee Curl Dove, pastor of Seattle First Baptist Church in District 3. I also live in District 3. In this story that we're talking about in our Christian scripture, the story of loaves and fishes, when Jesus says these people are hungry, the disciples say, there's nothing we can do to feed them.

They couldn't imagine that there might be something, that there might be plenty of loaves and fishes out there.

Council members, there's plenty out there.

You're just not choosing to utilize it.

We can feed our neighbors.

We can protect our neighbors and invest in real forms of public safety, like housing, food programs, the fire department.

So please, this budget season, please use your imaginations.

Maybe even be a bit daring.

Please, people need it.

Choose abundance over scarcity.

Thanks for your time, and we'll see y'all soon.

Thank you, Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Up next, we have Hamel Sy, Tyler Messman, Seven Spios, Carter Nelson, Annie Kage, Rebecca O'Neil, Kim Giordano, and Jonathan Gonzalez.

Hamel, great to see you.

Welcome.

Good to see you too, city council members.

I appreciate you.

I appreciate everything you're doing.

My name is Sai Hamel.

I'm from Shea Hill, and I live in city four.

So I'm here to just read this for you to understand it.

So without shelter, People will die.

Please support the mayor's budget addition of $37 million for new shelter next year.

It's desperately needed.

And we all, we need all kinds of shelters, including more democratically operated and communal self-managed shelters like Shehuel.

Please also support the request of Stay House, Stay Healthy Coalition to add $500,000 in funding, including for tenant services next year.

Without it, more people will become homeless.

Please, finally, do not ban van RV dwellers from our city for forcing a new permitting system.

This would hurt more people in losing their homes, their vehicles.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Hamel.

And next up, we have Tyler followed by Seven and then Carter.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Tyler Messman, and I'm the development director of Scarecrow Video in the University District, located in District 4. Scarecrow has been an iconic Seattle institution since 1988 and proudly non-profit since 2014. We are the world's largest publicly accessible physical media library, representing deep and diverse wells of cinematic culture from 138 countries and in 129 different languages.

In an era when access to human stories is increasingly shaped by algorithms and consolidation, people are yearning for real-world community-based alternatives.

and that's why our audience has grown 20% year over year since 2023. But as the cost of everything has increased and funding has become less certain, our resources have struggled to keep pace with the community need.

But we are part of a cultural fabric that is essential to sustaining vibrant, healthy communities and creative economic growth.

So please include meaningful funding increases for arts and culture in this budget through Shield Seattle.

as investing in cultural organizations is what drives sustainable local growth and makes our communities strong, resilient, and unique.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Tyler.

Seven, then Carter, then Annie, then Rebecca.

Welcome.

Good evening.

Good evening Chair Strauss and council members.

My name is Seven Sky, president of the Seattle Composers Alliance from District 1. I serve on the Seattle Music Commission and the South Park Community Center Advisory Council, but tonight I speak on behalf of SCA.

I'm asking you to reserve 10% of Seattle Shield for arts and culture.

Last month, artificial intelligence finished decompiling a Nintendo game a team worked on for six years, and researchers rebuilt an old Apple operating system from machine code in three days.

Today, it's games and old software.

Tomorrow, it's the apps Seattle runs on.

Your own budget book says tech-heavy sectors have lost 45,000 regional jobs since 2022, and 10 companies, mostly in tech, pay 70% of Jumpstart.

That is a lot of eggs in one basket.

AI cannot imitate a live show, a music lesson, or the experiences from community members you've heard about today.

As software continues to become more vulnerable to AI reconstruction, risking further local economic uncertainty, Seattle has the opportunity to be a leader in investing in the community's arts and cultural experiences.

Again, please reserve 10% of Seattle's shield for arts and culture to protect experiences and not products that AI can copy.

Thank you.

Thank you, seven.

And Carter's up next.

Jodi, is it possible to open these blinds now that the sun has set?

Fantastic.

Thank you.

And when you're ready, Carter, take it away.

All right.

Good evening, Chair Strauss and members of Council.

Carter Nelson on behalf of CREDA, Washington State, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, representing the workforce supporting the commercial real estate industry from builders and contractors to owners and developers.

We want to first thank Mayor Wilson for putting forward a transparent budget that avoids new taxes and reflects a commitment to fiscal responsibility.

In tougher economic times, that signals a pragmatic approach and the stability that we need to attract investment and job growth.

As Council reviews the budget, we encourage you to preserve that approach by maintaining a sustainable fiscal strategy that does not create larger budget challenges in future years.

Just as importantly, we hope the Council supports Mayor Wilson's responsible approach that maintains reserves and addresses the structural budget deficit, even in the out years of 2029 and 2030. Businesses, residents, and investors all benefit from predictability and confidence in the city's fiscal management.

A strong economy, responsible budgeting, and effective city services are not competing priorities.

They go hand in hand.

We encourage the Council to adopt a budget that protects those principles and offer our support to amendments that would advance budget sustainability or make further progress on public safety.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Carter.

Up next is Annie Kage, Rebecca O'Neill, and then Kim Giardiano.

Hello Chair Strauss, members of the council.

My name is Annie and I'm here with Inspire Washington to speak to arts and culture funding through Shield Seattle and the admissions tax.

I work for Seattle Theater Group in District 7 where I fundraise for historic theater preservation and access to arts education and live performance for communities traditionally excluded from the arts.

I'm also a dancer, a parent of a young artist, a D5 Lake City resident, and a local child of the 80s who remembers when Seattle was a national example for the city's support of arts and culture.

I believe that you can help us and help Seattle to once again be a creative sector leader.

Others spoke to the economic benefits of a strong cultural sector, but I also ask you to consider how creative experiences impact our humanity and our health, especially when in-person connection is perhaps more important than ever.

There's a reason the state is participating in an upcoming pilot program supporting prescriptions for people to go experience art.

With federal cuts, I know you face tough budget decisions.

Some of you may view arts and culture as an add-on rather than an essential public good.

but I invite you to be an ally for humanity.

Please maintain 10% funding for arts and culture through SHIELD Seattle and reject the mayor's proposal to reallocate $2 million in admissions tax revenue away from arts and culture.

Thank you.

Thank you, Annie.

Up next is Rebecca, Kim, and then Jonathan.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Rebecca O'Neill.

I am an actor, a director, and the artistic director of the Shattered Glass Project.

We are a theater company amplifying the voices of women, non-binary, and transgender theater makers.

We are proud tenants of the MLK Fame Center in District 3, where I also live.

When we talk about funding arts and culture, we're really talking about people.

In the case of my company, we're talking about incubating the careers of new theater makers, bringing new unique plays to our community, curated and created by people whose voices are vastly underrepresented in the theater.

However, our programming is specifically excluded from federal NEA funding because of our focus on gender and gender identity.

I am here to ask the Council to provide arts and culture funding and support from the Shield Seattle funding pot to lift up the programs and valuable opportunities provided by arts organizations that serve LGBTQ plus artists, women artists, and other vulnerable artists and audience members, as my company does.

Please invest in the valuable work that we do by including arts and culture funding in this budget.

I would like to last notice that I'm feeling a little upstaged by my friends from the Church Council of Greater Seattle who brought props.

Thank you.

There's always the next public hearing that will happen later in this budget process.

With that, Kim, you're up next, and then Jonathan Gonzalez.

I'm going to read the next round of names.

We've got Shiva Shafari.

Hannah Jones, Dewey Tran, Riley Dolan, Gert Masterson, Jeff Miller, Liam Rani, Sam W, Gwendolyn Hart, and then Friday, Axe.

With that, Kim, great to see you.

Good evening.

My name is Kim Giordano.

I am an opera singer and the community engagement director for Northwest Opera in Schools, et cetera, or NOISE, and I'm here to support funding for arts and culture through Shield Seattle.

NOISE is an opera company based in District 6, serving an average of 10,000 Seattle children and seniors each year.

We touch every city council district through our on-site performance tours and arts education.

We also hire up to 20 arts workers per year.

We are a small not-profit, but we do loud work.

Thank you for including arts and culture as a qualified use of Shield Seattle funds and agreeing with over 70% of the voters.

So please now follow through.

Build a budget that includes support for our great city's arts and culture.

Orgs like NOISE reach so many under-resourced community members while also providing arts jobs, exactly what Shield Seattle was in part passed to support.

Losing millions in arts funding while still recovering from the pandemic does the opposite for our arts economy.

The arts allow us to be who we are while discovering who we can be.

Seattle is arts forward in so many ways.

Let's also be forward in how we fund it.

Please make some noise and some budget room for arts and culture in the great city of Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

You're not Jonathan.

Zach McCarty, not Jonathan.

Is Jonathan here?

No, Jonathan's not here.

You have his card?

Correct.

Okay, so you have card...

Can you show me card 50?

There we go.

What's your name one more time?

Zach McCarty.

Zach, great to see you.

Take it away, Zach.

Hi, counsel.

I'm Zach McCarty, first time public commenter here.

I'm here to express my concern over excessive reliance on automated traffic enforcement cameras in the SDOT budget.

These cameras are designed for revenue to lessen significantly over time.

We can create safe streets for all without putting significant amount of funding into a revenue source that's not expected to generate steady revenue over time.

We need money for protected bike liens and safe routes to school for children in our city, not more traffic enforcement cameras.

Please prioritize safe streets over funding for more cops.

I attended a ghost bike put up for Christian Sailor on 12th and yesterday in June.

One bicycle fatality is one too many.

Please consider having revenue generated in the budget that allows everyone to get home safely, not just people on 2,000 pound metal devices.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Zach.

Up next is Shiva Shafti, Hannah Jones, Dewey Tran.

Welcome.

Yeah, Mick Jagger.

You gotta get close.

Good evening, Councilmembers.

My name is Shiva Shafi, and I'm the Interim Executive Director for Friends of Waterfront Park.

I'm here to ask you to include funding to continue the Waterfront Shuttle in partnership with King County Metro.

In 2026, year to date, Waterfront Park recorded more than 6 million visits from over 4 million visitors, up 73% since 2024. As Waterfront Park becomes more and more a part of everyday people's lives, reliable transportation connections are essential.

This summer, the waterfront shuttle carried over 124,000 riders from Memorial Day through Labor Day, a 65% increase over the last year.

And our guest experience survey of the park also reinforces the importance of transit.

Over 67% of respondents this year reported arriving by public bus, light rail, or shuttle.

And 17% of those respondents also identified as having a disability.

For people who face barriers related to distance, hills, or transfers, the shuttle can make a meaningful difference in reaching and enjoying not only the waterfront, but the rest of downtown.

The waterfront shuttle links Waterfront Park with Seattle Center, Pioneer Square, and the Chinatown International District, allowing people across the city and broader region to access one of the city's most treasured civic assets.

I urge this council to include dedicated funding for the waterfront shuttle in the 2027 budget and continue the city's partnership with King County Metro on a long-term solution for transit access to the waterfront.

A welcoming waterfront depends on people being able to reach it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Shiva, and well said.

Last year, in our public hearing, we had a conversation about whether there was a Denny's on Lake City Way.

In fact, there was.

It was just a long time ago.

Today, I will ask, and if you know, what public building in the city of Seattle has the highest participation, entrance, admission, however you wanna put it.

That's the question for the rest of the evening.

We are at speaker 52 out of 110, so we're about a halfway.

If we stay at this pace, we'll be done just after 8 p.m.

With that, Hannah, welcome.

Hi, my name is Hannah Jones, and I live in District 5. I support the solidarity budget demands and their nine guarantees.

I want to live in a city that offers guaranteed income, housing, transportation, health, climate resilience, communication, care, food, and a living wage.

As someone who helps folks in my neighborhood move when they are frequently swept, the same people over and over again, I see the harm caused and how often no appropriate shelter is offered.

I fully support the mayor's budget for adding additional shelter capacity.

However, considering that 30 million is spent on the ineffective and inhumane encampment sweeps, I strongly urge city council to increase funding for supportive housing and services beyond the 37 million and decrease funding for sweeps.

Housing First is humane, cost-effective, and the most evidence-based solution to solving the homelessness crisis.

Affordable housing and services create public safety.

I urge the City Council to redirect the 13% increase of SPD's budget to instead support people's basic needs.

Please increase funding for rental support services to keep people housed.

Invest in high-quality outreach and saving parking lots for people living in their RVs.

Increase wages of frontline staff who shelter, house, and care for our community members.

And stop funding harmful, expensive surveillance.

Thank you.

Thank you, Hannah.

Up next is Dewey Tran, Riley Dolan, Gert Masterson, and Jeff Miller.

Welcome.

Hi, council members.

My name is Dewey Tran and I work at DESC, a housing and healthcare nonprofit.

I also live in the U District.

I am advocating for prioritizing investments in shelter expansion.

I was gonna stand up here and catastrophize about what would happen if we don't invest in shelter expansion, but inspired by some of the testimony earlier today, I rewrote my comments.

I rewrote my comments because I want us to invest in hope.

This is the hope a young man feels because he can now regularly see a doctor because he's sheltered.

This is the hope a mother feels because she no longer worries about her child sleeping outside.

and it's a hope that I know my neighbors feel when somebody who has been outside for many years finally accepts shelter.

These moments of hope are moments that I've been blessed to experience in the last month and Lord knows I need more of these moments.

Please invest in hope by investing in shelter expansion.

I also want to close my comments by sharing my perspective as the president of the U District Community Council.

I firmly believe that prioritizing investment in shelter expansion not only saves the lives of our unhoused neighbors, but it uplifts the entire neighborhood.

Investment in shelter expansion is not only an investment in the individuals living outside, but it's an investment in public safety and it's an investment in the vibrancy of our businesses in our neighborhood.

Yes to shelter expansion.

Yes to shelter in my neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dewey.

And I see this next group may want to, do you want to do group or individual?

I believe individual so we can have more time to speak.

All right.

With that, we've got Riley Dolan, Kurt Masterson, Jeff Miller, Liam Rooney, Sam W. Take it away, Riley.

Thank you.

Saving lives and protecting property is the mission of the Seattle Fire Department.

My name is Riley Dolan.

I am a firefighter on ladder 11 in West Seattle.

The mayor of the city is proposing cutting the fire department by $7.1 million and reducing our minimum staffing.

Here's just one example why that's a bad idea.

Two weeks ago, I was working overtime on Engine 35 in the Crown Hill neighborhood.

At 4.53 p.m., we were dispatched for a garage fire.

We arrived in two minutes.

There were flames shooting out from the top of the roof.

Less than two minutes later, we were able to fully put on our gear, grab our tools, lay out our hose, charge the hose line, and start putting water on the fire.

At this point, propane tanks next to the garage were on fire.

Three minutes after that, the fire was declared under control.

Ladder 8 from Ballard arrived shortly after we did and completed a search of the house before the fire was under control.

An elderly couple was living in that house when the fire started.

If we didn't arrive as quickly as we did, the fire would have spread to the house and the car parked outside, and the story could have been much more tragic.

I was working overtime because the regular person on that shift had to call out that day.

I was pretty tired.

I had already worked a 24-hour shift the day before, not on overtime, and I had my regular 24-hour shift the day after this fire.

We show up when gaps exist at staffing in order to fulfill our mission of saving lives and protecting property.

Without this funding to fill these gaps, six units would have to go out of service every day.

Don't cut the Seattle Fire Department.

Go to firefighterssavelives.com.

How about now?

You can all hear me now.

Just wanted to say thank you, Riley, for the second chances that you provide people.

It might be strange that I'm standing throughout this entire thing.

It's because I have permanent damage to my body.

That damage would have been a lot worse if I hadn't had the Seattle Fire Department save my life.

Thank you.

With that, I've got Gert, Jeff, Liam, Sam.

Take it away.

Jeff Miller, I'll speak.

You're still in my thunder, Councilman Strauss.

So, my name is Jeff Miller.

I'm a Seattle firefighter.

And I work on Capitol Hill.

I live in West Seattle with my wife and two boys.

I brought one of my boys.

This is William.

And Councilman Strauss, we were here on September 24th.

And one of the things we said was that the Seattle Fire Department gives people a second chance at life.

And It resonated with you because the next day in this room, you told your story.

I think 22 years ago, you were hit by a truck in Ballard.

You have to refresh my memory, but you expressed such gratitude that Seattle firefighters were there within four minutes.

to give you that second chance at life.

And you expressed equally your grave concern if we would have had rigs out of service that day and we couldn't make it there in less than four minutes.

So I implore this entire council to reject any cuts to fire because if one person doesn't get that second chance at life, it means this city will have failed them.

Thank you.

Liam, I see you're up next.

Good evening.

My name's Liam Roney.

I'm one of the vice presidents on Local 27. I'm also a firefighter on Ladder 3 in the Central District.

I'm limping around right now.

I squirted a disc at a fire about a month ago.

So the city has to pay overtime for somebody to keep Ladder 3 in service while I get better.

But I also want to thank the council members who showed up on Friday to our memorial.

It means a lot that you helped us mourn Larry Dahl.

And I also want to thank the citizens here who are showing us support.

I mean, we're spread really thin, and it's a real morale boost.

But I wanted to call the council's attention to the looming Medicare cuts as a result of HR1, as well as the state contemplating cuts to Apple Health.

People are going to stop getting regular health care, but they're not going to stop getting sick.

and they're going to call 911 more.

That means they're going to have to use the ER.

We are health care of last resort, and we are going to get spread thinner and thinner.

Even at our current levels, we're going to be spread thin.

So I want people to consider that we're not making a budget for last year.

We're making a budget for next year.

And next year is going to be hard.

So with that, I'll pass next.

Thank you, Liam.

Sam or Gert?

Do you still want to talk?

Sam?

Hi, my name's Sam Wustwin and I'm a Seattle firefighter.

I work on Capitol Hill at Station 25. I live in the Rainier Valley and I have family in their 80s who live in Lake City.

I have a sister in West Seattle.

I grew up in this city.

I was on shift last night and every single unit in station 25 was on a run and then another emergency call came in.

That means the next unit has to respond from Belltown.

This means there's a delay.

This is the current reality.

This was last night.

This is a Monday in October.

We need more resources, not less.

If we do not increase funding for the fire department, everyone in this room will wait longer when you call 911. That means waiting longer when there's a fire in your neighbor's house or a heart attack down the street.

This budget will directly affect response times to my family and to all your families.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Is Gert still with us and want to talk?

All right.

Well, thank you, Gert.

I just want to take a moment to thank you for all your service to the city.

When you save lives or help people, you don't know if they're going to go on to be an innovator or, in my case, a council member or an artist or just the ability to go home and say I love you to the people that matter most.

So thank you for your service to our city.

With that, we've got Gwendolyn Hart followed by Friday, X. M. Smith, Ed's son, Elena Rocky, Kiyoto, I'm so, that's the first name I've really messed up today.

And then Alex, Bennett, Wise, Rhea, and Elliott.

Gwendolyn, welcome.

We signed up as a group.

You wanna do a group?

Yes.

Okay.

So we have three of us and I'm gonna go after them.

So let me just check your, so show me your card, 60, your Friday X, and then your 59, Gwendolyn, 62, 61. Anyone else with you?

No, four of us.

Cool.

We'll do four minutes, 30 seconds.

Yeah, my name's M.

Smith.

I'm a member of Labor Militant, United Front for a Workers' Party, and Seattle DSA.

Katie Wilson's budget is an attack on workers in this city.

First of all, I want to say, again, solidarity with the brothers and sisters and the firefighters' union who are facing a $7 million cut in their overtime fund on top of existing short staffing.

Solidarity also with the housing activists here who are fighting against a $68 million cut to housing funds.

There's activists like Angelique who are fighting for funding for skills to live, to provide services for homeless brothers and sisters in this city.

Solidarity with Protech 17 and other city workers who are fighting against layoffs in this budget.

and solidarity with everyone here protesting the $68 million increase to the police budget and for resources for victims of police brutality, resources which the Democratic Party has spent six years trying to obstruct.

We have a fact sheet that has more.

That is just scratching the surface of the cuts that are being made in this budget.

What could we do with $68 million that's going to the police?

We could fund a public subsidized grocery store in every district of this city.

We could fund five free public health care clinics.

We could fund a new public housing development every year, creating 1,600 new public permanently affordable units over the next decade, and instead that money's going to the cops.

Everywhere, this isn't just Seattle, everywhere the Democratic Party is cutting public services, they are raising taxes on working class people, and they are shoveling more money to the police.

This is happening in San Francisco, Minneapolis.

Right now, Zoran Mamdani is asking for 2.5% cuts from every department across the city, and he's privatizing public housing in New York City.

This is happening while Trump and many Democrats are pushing a $1.5 trillion war budget.

The Democratic Party is a capitalist party.

They represent big business, big corporate landlords, and the police.

This budget is not a fluke.

This is the policy of the Democratic Party.

And this is the policy of the whole Democratic Party.

It's telling that not one of the supposedly progressive Democrats have spoken out against this budget.

Eddie Lynn, Alexis Mercedes Rink, Dion Foster, not one has spoken out against this $68 million increase to the police.

Not one has said they will vote against these cuts to housing and other public services.

And of course, the budget itself was introduced by a so-called socialist Democrat, Katie Wilson.

Again, this is the policy of the Democratic Party.

It is an anti-worker party.

Just yesterday, ferry workers went out on a sick out because the state Democrats won't give them a raise.

We will continue to be on this merry-go-round until we decide that we've had enough of the Democratic Party.

And I wanna echo Neil, who spoke earlier.

When are we gonna have enough?

So like I said, I'm here with Labor Militant and Seattle DSA.

I saw former council member Shama Sawant was here earlier, ProTech and the firefighters.

We need to get organized together The left is splintered into a hundred organizations.

Some of them are hopelessly attached to the Democratic Party.

Others refuse to work with each other because of whatever petty differences exist.

We need to bridge those sectarian divides.

We need to take real steps towards a workers' party in Seattle that can challenge the power of the Democratic Party.

and that's why we launched United Front for a Workers' Party.

So please, in my last few seconds, and I want to give some time to Friday, sign the petition.

We passed around some info that has a petition sheet.

Take a petition.

We have over 600 people who have signed up.

Help us get to 1,000 by November 5th.

Show that we are organized.

This is a tool to help us get organized.

Come out Saturday, October 10th to Rainier Beach Community Center for our monthly meeting.

Come out on October 15th.

That's a DSA Stop the Cuts meeting.

and then come out again on November 5th at 5 p.m.

to the next budget hearing.

We're saying no cuts to public services, no layoffs of city workers, no increase of the police budget, and tax the rich, not working people, and just as importantly, no faith in the Democratic Party.

We need the rest of the labor movement here.

We need everyone here.

We need to combine these fights.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

I'll see my last 20 seconds.

Hi, my name is Friday.

I'm speaking with the United Front for Workers' Party about these budget cuts.

The city is feeding workers' futures into the Seattle Police Department.

We have cut $14 million from road maintenance, 500 beds from shelters, and $68 million from housing, and have shifted all of that money towards the SPD.

Will SBD fix the roads?

Will SBD house our neighbors in crisis?

Will SBD build new housing units?

We say no.

No increases to SBD budget.

No layoffs for city workers.

No cuts to public services.

No new taxes on the working class in Seattle.

We must go after the hordes of wealth in the city instead of reaching into workers' pockets for pennies.

Thank you.

Thank you, Friday.

Thank you for your testimony, everyone.

Next, we have Alayna Araki, and then Kokot.

Ah, man, I'm just messing this up.

I am so sorry.

You're going to have to school me when you come up.

But Alayna, great to see you.

Hi everyone, my name is Elena Arakaki and I'm here representing Friends of Little Saigon in District 2. I'm here today to ask you for two things.

First, to maintain EDI funding to prevent displacement in high-risk communities, and second, to support the mayor's proposed shelter expansion plan.

As high displacement pressures and affordability issues continue to grow, the city's investment in equitable development is crucial.

The Little Saigon Landmark Project, which is slated to break ground this year, was an original demonstration project that will bring a Vietnamese cultural center and family housing to Little Saigon, a project that this community has been working on for over a decade.

Investing in communities is also good for public safety.

A socially connected, vibrant, and healthy community is one that's most resistant to crime.

We urge you to maintain the proposed EDI funding.

We also request that you support the mayor's proposed shelter expansion plan.

We know that a better response to unsheltered homelessness is possible.

Just this year, the Pioneer Square Streets to Housing Project placed 87% of individuals into appropriate shelter and housing.

Little Saigon has been struggling for years with concentrated homelessness, public drug use, and open street vending.

We're losing businesses every month.

The solution is not to lock people away, but to provide lasting resources to support their journey towards stability.

We need to invest in shelter that meets the needs of our highest acuity neighbors and prioritize people with the highest needs to get into housing and social services.

Only then will we start to see noticeable change in Little Saigon.

Please fully fund high support shelter units citywide.

Thank you.

Thank you, Elena.

I'm not going to try a fourth time.

Just school me when you come up, please.

Hi, my name is Kokoro Horiaku.

I'm here to ask the council and the mayor to divert the increase in police funding to other programs.

Alex S. Vital argues in the end of policing, real public safety comes from investing in communities, not just in more offices.

In a deficit year, SPD budget has grown by 68 million.

That is a 13.9% increase.

And that's about 50 times more the entire city's arts education budget, which shows where the city's priority lies.

The arts and education budget is one that supports communities and supports people getting after-school programs and getting arts education, yet the city is choosing to divert the funds into SPD when there are no metrics that show that crime is actually rising in Seattle.

So I'm asking the mayor to redistribute that fund into housing because 2014 out of the 24 civilian crisis responder positions that were added last year, those have all those fundings.

And there's no research that shows that more police actually make communities safer.

So please do what the research actually supports.

Thank you.

And next, we have Alex Booth, then Bennett H. Wise Shah.

Welcome, Alex.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Alex Booth.

I live in Green Lake in District 6, and I'm an affordable housing architect speaking on behalf of the Housing Justice Working Group of the Seattle DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America.

In 2023, Katie Wilson helped write a transit writer's union report called Progressive Tax Options for Seattle.

It listed 26 progressive taxation options, including easy wins.

She had three years to learn more about these options, and she had nine months as mayor to build a budget and somehow couldn't manage to propose a single new source of revenue in one of the wealthiest cities on earth.

So we ask the council to hold the mayor accountable to her own work and priorities, keep Jumpstart Housing dollars for housing and shelter, pass progressive revenue this cycle, and fund shelters, not new police, and not sweeps.

You want a strong economy?

You fund housing.

That puts people to work, and it builds homes for the workers and industries you want here.

It leaves renters with money left to spend.

That's a strong economy.

Katie's budget is not.

The Seattle DSA will be looking forward to the council members' amendments on the proposed budget.

Thank you.

Thanks, Alex.

Bennett, I never knew your last name until today.

How about that?

I never knew you were rescued by firefighters, so here we are.

You never know the second chance that they'll give us.

All right, so good evening, council.

So here we are.

This comes up year after year, but I think that every sitting person on the city council should be able to answer this question.

Why do you think the homelessness level is higher per capita in this city, and what do you think are the most common causes of new homelessness, people flowing into the homeless population?

Because Here's the thing, every city has some baseline amount of homelessness and crime, and that's why I'm not a police abolitionist, and some people get mad at me about that.

I'm still friends with some of them, I would just say I don't understand how this could work if you abolish all the police.

but if your city has more homelessness and more crime and more problems downstream from people having crisis in public, that's a symptom that something has gone wrong.

That's not human nature.

That is some sort of policy failure.

And I think that part of being in public office is you should have to be able to answer the question, why do you think it is more here than in other places?

Now, the cops come to some of the community engagement meetings.

Whatever else they say about SPD, they do come and you can ask them questions, and I believe them.

When they say that they need every available officer, I don't agree.

I believe that they believe it.

But here's the thing.

I think they're wrong about the need for more police, but even if they were right, that's a sign that something has failed more upstream.

We should be focusing on what is the upstream problem that led to more people in public crisis that led for the if you feel like you need more police than average for this city, something has gone wrong.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bennett.

Up next, we have Wise Shaw, followed by Rhea Wankford, Elliott Shaw, Caleb A, Clarissa Perez, Julie C. I'll keep going from there, but Rhea, great to see you.

Welcome.

My name's Wisp.

I'm a low-income renter of District 3, and I'm here to represent- Time out.

We're going to go pause.

Are you number 69?

Yes, or 67.

67.

You are wise, which is what- Wisp.

It is the pencil.

That is why I- thank you.

Apologies.

Back to you.

OK.

Hi.

Hello.

My name is Wisp.

I'm a low-income renter of District 3 on behalf of myself and my friends of District 4. I'm here in support of solitary budgets and demands of the nine guarantees, specifically the demands for housing and transportation.

As a low-income renter, I rely on a lot of the services provided by the city, including the Health Through Housing program, just tenant protections.

And I would hope that with the proposal for the budget that more funding is put towards tenant protections.

Also, something that I haven't heard mentioned tonight, is more allocation towards our transportation, specifically public facilities like seating and public restrooms.

My friends over in District 4 particularly find it difficult to stand around when they wait for their buses due to a lack of seating at the buses and also just a general lack of public restrooms to use within Seattle.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, WISP.

Next is Rhea, followed by Elliot.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Rhea Langford.

I was born in Seattle, and I'm homeless here now.

I've been listening to many people name the same failures.

Not enough shelter exists, not enough wages, not enough funding, not enough staff, not enough housing, not enough.

But if every solution depends on more money moving through the same structure, there would never be enough.

Seattle already has pieces of a different structure, of different structures.

Food banks often support people more directly than SNAP.

Sliding scale in free clinics exists.

Transit is foundational as gas and living costs rise.

During COVID, some payment barriers were reduced, society still functioned.

So I'm asked in the city to study and pilot a different model, a long-term shelter housing community in an unused office building, maybe, connect with the UW, food banks, clinics, transit, and public interest work.

People who support the building could live in the building, too, maybe, reducing commute pressure, rent pressure, and separation from the community and people that they kind of try to tell.

Residents would not be forced into labor by meaningful voluntary tasks could exist.

Archived transcription, maybe, city admin support, food preservation, building care, planting, and document work.

This is not another shelter.

It's a self-sustainable foundation, housing, food, care, transit, access, and meaningful work without making survival dependent on wages.

Rhea, thank you for coming and sharing with us this evening.

I'm going to read the next group after Elliot.

We've got Caleb, Clarissa, Julie, Sophia C., Ariana Riley, Valeria E., Lydia O.T., Lou Blue, and Carl Nelson.

With that, Elliot, welcome.

Hi there.

My name's Elliot Shaw.

You can just call me Ellie.

I live in District 3 and while I think the budget has helped stabilize a lot of things, I'm very disquieted by the fact that there is no new tax revenue.

New York City on the other side of the country has famously gotten rid of their deficit entirely and has really expanded all of their public services.

and they did this by taxing the rich.

I think that we can have the opportunity to do that here too.

It doesn't have to be an isolated incident.

and if we tax the rich and do so proportionately, we could help fund all of these other services that everybody else in this meeting has been talking about, from homelessness to the firefighters to the art, everything.

and it seems like a very obvious solution to me.

And I think that it's really important for this council to think about the future of our funding.

And that deficit is really going to get in the way of that.

Thank you for your time.

No one has guessed at which public building has the most, and I don't think it's admission because there's no fee for it, but if anyone knows the highest used public building in our city, just work it into your public comments.

With that, Caleb, Clarissa, Julie, Sophia, Ariana, and I've got Clarissa, Julie, and Sophia wanting to be a group.

Is that correct?

Sounds good.

Fantastic.

So Caleb?

Yeah, take it away.

Welcome.

Yeah, the taller one's better.

Mick Jagger.

All right.

Good evening, council.

My name is Kalebi.

I am a Seattle college student, and I left class early just to speak with you guys.

So I request that you look at the seal behind you.

Our city is built on the image of a brown man, and there is a Black Lives Matter sign in the lobby of this building, and I am a Project Baldwin student, which means I benefit from a program dedicated to low-income and black and brown men.

So when I look at the predominantly black and brown council in front of me, I ask how we raise the SPD's budget to $68 million, which could go to high support shelters, education, and arts programs.

I used to live on 12th and Jackson, and so with experience, I tell you council that we should be investing in renovation and not brutalization.

With that, I ask our city to delegate our funds to building communities and not jailing them.

Thank you, council.

Thank you.

And before you leave, can you show me your number just so I see it?

71.

Okay, great.

Thank you so much.

Welcome, Clarissa.

Hi.

Oh, sorry.

Can you hear me?

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Hello, Seattle City Council.

My name is Clarissa Perez, or as artists know me, La Flor Chicana, and I'm a recent UW Social Work undergrad.

I'm also a hip hop resident artist at 1111 on the block and the founder of Joy in the Hood, a youth healing arts collective that I formed for young people inspired by my own experience with violence and danger.

Back in high school, my brother lost his life to gang violence.

I survived a suicide attempt shortly thereafter, and six months after that, my mother would lose her life to drug addiction.

This all happened before I graduated.

While I was also in high school, I was appointed by the Seattle City Council and Mayor to serve on the Seattle Youth Commission to focus on public safety from 2016 to 2018, and I'm standing up here now 10 years later with my life experience and to uphold that mission to you all.

Now as an adult and college graduate, I have space and time to think deeply of what could have prevented my mom and brother's death.

When I think of what could have saved them, I think about the intricate art my brother would draw on every prison letter envelope he sent me, or the journal of poems I found from my mom after she died.

More than just my mom and brother, and more than what killed them, they were artists and humans at their core.

At times, I wonder if they would still be alive if public safety looked like art instead of police and punishment, because I know that I am only alive and I've survived these last 10 years because of art, poetry, rap and hip-hop, organizations and programs that were made available to me.

All we are asking for is $8 million of that $68 million budget.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome, Julie.

Thank you.

My name is Julie Chang Shulman.

I'm a community member, Capitol Hill business owner, and I am the primary author of the Art and Culture is Public Safety Infrastructure open letter.

It is backed by over 800 signers and 110 organizations and climbing hourly.

The reason why we have such this organic groundswell of support in under two weeks is because This summer's historic citywide decline in violent crime was not driven by surveillance or increased policing at the stadium alone.

That just doesn't make any sense.

It directly followed the city's $3.6 million investment in 80 community-led art organizations, and it would be entirely negligent to dismiss this as correlation.

Criminological research from randomized housing studies to national safety data, it consistently proves that resourcing community spaces, it increases what we call natural surveillance, right, the surveillance of the people, and reduces violent crime from up to 36 to 40%.

Creative placemaking through arts and culture is one of the most economically efficient solutions to public safety, and that is not arguable.

That's facts.

Yet amidst this deficit, the proposed budget is adding $68 million to SPD, rewarding this constrained policing model and this hegemonic police guilt that is consistently betraying public trust.

Y'all, you know it.

We just saw it last week again, right, with the $13 million overpay.

So given these realities, Appreciate y'all to direct just 8 million into arts and culture, creative placemaking.

Shouts out to the family Inspire Washington for this, but this shouldn't come from other services.

I'm going to just do a quick reminder.

We love snaps.

We love hands.

The clapping slows things down.

So does talking.

Sophia?

Oh, Sophia's not speaking.

Sophia's not speaking.

Ariana.

Sorry about that, Ariana.

I should recognize you.

Hello, my name is Ariana Riley and I live in West Seattle.

We are here yet again to talk about how we should not be defunding the city at large in order to fund the police.

It's frustrating to have to have this conversation over and over, year after year, when we could just defund the police and fund other city programs and the fire department instead, and many problems would be solved.

Other people here have had great suggestions for where the money should go instead.

People did not vote for a socialist mayor, to have no actual socialism occur, and to see budget cuts to useful services but not the police.

If there is a budget crisis, then the last thing we need to be doing is increasing the police budget.

Proposing to engage in profligate spending by throwing mounds of cash at the cops at the expense of everyone else is just plain irresponsible.

As council members who represent the public, I urge you to do your job and pass a budget that reflects the best interests of the public.

Engage in true fiscal responsibility and cut the police budget.

Thank you.

Thank you, Arianna.

Valeria, Lydia, Lou, Blue, and then Carl Nelson.

Valeria?

That's number 76, Valeria.

Valeria.

Hello, council members.

You can call me Val.

I'm a non-binary Honduran-American artist that is part of the Hot Rat Summer Art Collective, and I serve as the president and research director of Center on Contemporary Art, the oldest arts nonprofit dedicated to contemporary arts in Seattle.

We have 46 years' worth of archives from our own programming, but one of the most important reasons why we have stayed alive so long is because we have supported artists, from having cutting-edge exhibitions like James Terrell's solo show in 1982, to working with sub-pop to feature bands such as Nirvana and Mudhoney at our space in 1989, we got our start immediately engaging with the community and giving artists these opportunities to show their art when contemporary art was still a newer concept and larger galleries weren't yet so open to artists that are more experimental and off the beaten path.

Now, we are focusing on understanding our past through activating and exhibiting our archives, as well as partnering and hosting art collectives that don't have their own space to support the future.

I come to you asking to move $8 million from the SPD budget to arts and culture in order to better sustain the arts ecosystem in the city, because I know from personal experience that being a working artist in this city has not been honored and sustained enough.

We need to do more.

It would be my honor, and it is one of my dreams, to dedicate my working life to supporting other artists, and that reality is only sustainable if I can actually make a living by doing so.

Thank you, Val.

Lydia, Lou, Blue, you're up next.

Hello.

I'm here to voice my approval for budget items that support homeless response services that have supported me in getting off the street, but to not allow that personal success to put blinders on me that prevent me from seeing that unsheltered homeless neighbors experience the brunt of police violence under the guise of public safety in the form of sweeping.

I want Council to continue funding the proven human services that get and keep people off the streets and allocate the $68 million proposed police budget to that end, and to acknowledge that SPD is engaging in a violent, politically retributive crackdown on the LGBTQ community, out of the notion that there is a modern Trantifa gang like there used to be race-based mafias because many of them are hired from Eastern Washington and even as far as Idaho where they voted against the protections that we live by.

By funding and hiring more police officers, we are giving the federal government the vanguard it has routinely threatened to use as pretext for an invasion of our city like 2020. like Minneapolis last year and like LA, please defund SPD.

And also we happen to have some violent transphobic bigots in the room with us today.

So if any trans people could please remain until the end of meeting, we can coordinate a buddy system and all make it home safely.

Thank you, Lydia.

You, you're up next.

Trans people do not need 66 new cops to hose us in Cal Anderson.

Pam Bondi, who is a extremist podcaster, has shown up with Trump at the Antifa Roundtable with other Washington-based extremists and is already coordinating stuff.

Specifically, this is the same person who made a hit piece against a trans supporting detective that bullied that person off the force.

That is the caliber of person who is in the SPD now, and we can't have any more until we start getting rid of the violent bigoted ones that beat us.

This is a foothold for the Fed.

They have met with Trump.

The only reason this threat exists for us is because you don't fire violent, bigoted ones.

Stop the sweeps.

Don't hire any cops until you get rid of this pressure that is building on our heads in Cal Anderson.

It will hit us first, but it will hit you afterwards.

Blue, and if anyone is feeling unsafe as they are leaving, you can stay in chambers and we'll help you create a plan to get home safe.

With that, Blue.

We constantly feel unsafe.

We constantly feel unsafe because this city council, this city government, is giving a lot of money to the people that are making us unsafe.

I want to be safe.

I want to live in a Seattle that is beautiful and vibrant and lively and full of art where people who need help can get it easily.

You have the power to make this happen.

I challenge you to use your imagination, to use your empathy, and to use your skills as politicians to make something happen.

Dedicate your time, dedicate your energy to protecting and investing in the people of Seattle.

Nurture the people of Seattle.

It's frankly insulting that $68 million is even possibly going to the police.

It's disgusting.

They are attacking us actively and shamelessly.

This is an extremely important moment in history and I beg you to make the right choice.

Thank you.

Thank you, Blue.

After the one and only Carl Nelson, we've got Kat Munson, Clive Hayward, Natalie Morgan, Humberto Marquez, Marisa Perez, Cedar, Nadia Miller, Ashley Nurbevig, AC, and then Hannah Ziff.

With that, Carl Nelson, always good to see you, my friend.

Hello Councilmember Strauss, members of Council, my name is Carl Nelson.

I'm a 17-year renter of District 4, a founding member and co-chair of the Cedar Crossing Tenants Association, and a member of the Seattle Social Housing Developer Board of Directors.

However, I am here in my personal capacity today to speak in favor of adding $500,000 to the Mayor's budget for tenant services and to adopt the $11 increase in RRIO fees.

a story.

Several years ago, my former landlord tried to make me and six of my neighbors vacate our building so he could renovate it.

He neglected to tell any of us that we qualified for tenant relocation assistance, and when I told my neighbors about our rights, he retaliated by trying to evict me personally.

With the help of both SDCI and tenant services, I was able to force him to rescind two illegal eviction attempts.

And when I finally moved out, tenant services were critical in helping me file a small claims lawsuit.

I needed to successfully reclaim my damage deposit and help my neighbors to do the same.

This year, the Seattle City Council acted boldly when it voted to ban junk fees.

And when I see generous funding to things like, say, the police overtime budget, I can tell you all understand the importance of adequately funding enforcement to make sure the laws are obeyed.

And rental laws, which protect tenants, are no different.

So I urge you today, add $500,000 to tenant services and adopt the full $11 increase in rental registration fees to pay for it to make sure all the majority of Seattleites enjoy the full protection of the law when they pay for the roof over their heads.

Thank you.

Thank you, Carl.

Still, nobody's taking a guess at what is the most frequented public building in our city.

The Seattle Public Library Central Branch.

Almost.

Almost?

Or I'm wrong.

With that, Kat Munson is next.

Kat, you are up.

We'll start your time when you want to go.

That's what the Google told me.

So, you know, take it up with them.

Two million voters or visitors.

That's the word we're doing.

Two million annually?

Two million.

Annually.

Annually.

That's AI tricking us all.

I got a better answer for you at the end of this public hearing.

With that, we're going to start your time.

Kat Munson followed by Clive.

All right, you know my name.

D4 resident.

I work for Sound Generations, Meals on Wheels, and more, as we're known.

And I'm here representing the Coalition for Equitable Aging.

And the pink scarves that you see here tonight that everyone in line took when I foisted it upon them are in support of Human Services.

So the Seattle Human Services Coalition represents, it's like a meta coalition, representing a number of different coalitions, including the Coalition for Equitable Aging.

How many times can I say coalition in one sentence?

Okay, so I want to speak just briefly in support specifically of one of the marginalized groups that we serve, and that is low-income older adults.

The silver tsunami has hit the country.

Baby boomers are now 80. For the first time in 2030 in King County, we will have more residents over 60 than under 18. for the first time ever.

And as the callous and onerous Medicare and Medicaid changes as a result of HR1 start to hit this population, they are increasingly turning to our local senior centers to meet basic needs, connection to services, to help with the ridiculous documentation to prove that they should be getting these services for meals, for basic meals every day, and for connection, because we know they're helping.

their health suffers when they lack social connection.

So anyway, just please fund senior centers.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kat.

Up next, we have Clive Hayward, Natalie Morgan, and Humberto Marquez.

Clive, always good to see you.

I'll go with the Seattle Armory.

Clive has got the, as far as I understand, the Seattle Armory has nearly 1 million visitors per month.

During FIFA, they had over 1 million per month, as compared to the aquarium and the zoo that has just over 1 million per year, and as Kat Munchen mentioned.

Kat Munson mentioned the Seattle Public Library is about $2 million per year.

Clive's gonna tell you now why he knows this.

You're hearing today about urgent needs for arts, fire department, housing, and social services funding.

Seattle should not spend scarce public money on security staff and SPD to suppress artists, free speech, and then pay lawyers to defend those restrictions.

On September 27th, I was trespassed from the New Waterfront Park.

for entertaining tourists, for practicing magic.

When I return, I will potentially go to jail for criminal trespass.

Seattle has repeatedly spent public money defending and losing free speech cases in federal court and these are not small sums.

In 2024, Tuscan case resulted in a $1.4 million settlement.

On August 6th, your Waterfront Committee meeting was asked what criteria was used for the designated free speech zones.

They were answered that we do not have a criteria or measuring tool.

So my budget question is, how much taxpayer money are we spending on security, police enforcement, and lawyers to criminalize free speech and force and defend restrictions that the Seattle Center admits that has no criteria or measuring tool for?

That's money that could be going to vital services.

Thank you, Clive.

Natalie, followed by Humberto, Marissa, and Cedar.

Welcome.

Good evening, Seattle City Council.

My name is Natalie, and I proudly live in Beacon Hill in Seattle's District 2, and I actually just work down the street here downtown.

I'm here to ask you to include funding for Ranked Choice Voting Voter Education for the 2027 primary election.

I don't have to tell you that democracy functions best when everyone is able to contribute their voice or that Seattle has been a proud leader when it comes to sensible, inclusive democracy reforms.

I also don't have to tell you that ranked choice voting was strongly supported by voters in 2022. You already know all of this.

What I need you to know today is that we need your help.

The time has finally come to implement this important change to how we vote.

It's a critical step as we move towards a truly representative democracy and an opportunity to engage more voters and build back at least some of the trust in our democratic processes that has been steadily eroding.

We can do this by ensuring the rollout of ranked choice voting in Seattle is done proactively, that information about the change is accessible to every voter in the city, and by supporting our community leaders with the resources they need to continue the work they do all across Seattle to make sure every voice is heard.

Seattle voters overwhelmingly ask for this, and Seattle voters care about democracy.

I'm number 83 in line, and I'm not even the last one here on a Tuesday evening.

You, the Seattle City Council, can make sure us voters have the resources we need to make informed decisions no matter where we live, in the city, no matter what language we speak.

This one-time investment will be paying us back for decades, and I hope you support the opportunity to ensure the health of our communities and our democracy providing funding for ranked choice voting education.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Umberto followed by Marissa Cedar and Nadia.

Hello there.

Hi, Council.

My name is Umberto Marquez.

I'm a District 2 resident and I work at Centro de la Raza where I do voter education and outreach, but I am here on a personal capacity.

Yeah, I'm asking you to fully fund the proposed $444,000 for Ranked Choice Voting Education.

As of the last sentence, we know that here in Seattle, one out of every four households has people who don't speak English as their primary language living here.

And that number is going to grow and grow and grow as we become more and more diverse and more beautiful here in Seattle.

And as someone who works with the Latino and Spanish-speaking community, I know that translation services are good, but they're not enough.

They're not real education.

You need more outreach to reach people who don't speak English.

You need trusted community partners.

You need people there to set good examples and how this new process is going to work.

Without that outreach, we know that immigrant, refugee, and multilingual communities are the most likely to be left behind when this new type of voting is going to be implemented next year.

I also want to give a little solidarity to the expansion of shelters.

I live by Jose Rizal Park, by 12th and Jackson.

After the murder of George Floyd, the FBI put out a report about the Minneapolis Police Department.

And I think one of the underlying stories in that is that a lot of the cops, they've lost their empathy towards poor people, towards homeless people, towards people of color.

And when I see cops respond to these communities, and Jose Rosalpa, and Jackson, I see that same loss of empathy.

I think expansion of shelters will do a great job in fixing a lot of these problems.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Marissa Cedar, Nadia, Ashley.

You're all in line.

I'm going to stop calling your names.

Marissa, great to see you.

Good to see you, too.

Good evening, Chair and Councilmembers.

My name is Marissa Perez.

I am a renter in District 1, and I serve as the Executive Director of the Seattle Human Services Coalition, representing more than 240 human service agencies across our city.

This budget makes food bank and meal funding permanent, it expands shelter, and it sets aside reserves against federal cuts.

These are successes that were driven by community voices, and we ask you to sustain them.

However, the headline that HSD is kept whole in this budget is inaccurate.

Most increases and that 5.8% increase in the HSD budget are funding alignments and swaps between departments that do not reach the service providers our community relies on.

over $28 million in one-time and two-time funding that were added via community voices and service agency advocacy have been allowed to expire.

This will negatively impact organizations in every single district.

Federal actions are still causing harms to our community from direct cuts to tightening grant requirements and increasingly punitive funding restrictions.

The coming HR1 cuts will impact every single sector as people are forced to choose between medical care and food, housing, or other basic needs.

Agencies in every district will absorb the increased need at a time when skyrocketing costs are forcing those same agencies to make ends meet with fewer resources.

As you've heard over and over again, increasing police while cutting services is the same disastrous nearsighted approach to public safety that we have fought to change for years.

Invest where need is growing.

Invest in gender-based violence services, human services,

Thank you, Marissa.

Cedar, Nadia Ashley.

Cedar, welcome.

Hello.

I am here to ask the council to fund services that communities depend upon.

programs such as reliable meals for kids, fire and emergency response, and food access.

When essential services are cut, residents deserve clear explanation on the choices made and the needs being prioritized.

Before cutting these services, you need to examine police spending and use opportunities to redirect and reduce police budget to make these figures public.

The budget should reflect care for the public.

More police and guns over social needs and sustainability.

Food housing does not promote trust.

Normal money should be allotted to police, particularly after the 13 million that the police was overpaid.

We have a choice to prepare for the coming changes and disruptions to our supply chain by funding sustainable programs such as Beacon Food Forest and the Equinox in Georgetown, or use militarizing the police as a solution to all of our society's problems.

And speaking on the $68 million that we propose to police, a lot of that would probably go to LRADs and military drones, but yeah.

Thank you Cedar.

Up next is Nadia.

Welcome Nadia.

Hey y'all.

I'm Nadia Miller.

I am a Seattleite and one of the founding members of Black and Tan Hall.

I've been building that business for 10 years.

I'm a mother.

I'm also the current programs manager at the Seattle Chapter Black Panther Party Interpretive Center, which I know some of y'all are familiar with.

Both of those projects have been funded by the city in a variety of ways.

And I'm here today in solidarity with the letter that Julie Chang Schulman put together and has been stewarding for the arts community.

So we ask him for, a redirection of that $8 million from the proposed $68 million SPD budget increase into the Office of Arts and Culture, and to dedicate these funds specifically for 2027 grantmaking and creative placemaking and public art activations.

And since I got a little time, What I'm going to ask and touch on is just your humanity.

I have never been to one of these before, and it's been really powerful hearing my community speak to you all.

I don't envy you for the tasks that you have, but I see a lot of people of color up here, and I have a lot of intersectionality.

To give you a clear action item when you leave here, because this is hard work and people are asking you to defund the police, which is not an easy task because they are the biggest gang in this country.

So I'm asking you to be revolutionary and to reach out to some of the great minds that have received funding.

You have our information.

Julie Chang Schulman is one of them.

And ask for help.

We have the solutions and we are happy to share them with you.

Maybe you buy us lunch and provide some snacks.

Thank you, Nadia.

Up next is Ashley and then A and then Hannah.

Hi, everyone.

You heard earlier from Oda and Leonard, two of our participants, and I'm gonna read something from Melissa who had to go because she was falling asleep.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Melissa and I live at Tarina James Shelter in Northgate.

Shelters like mine aren't just overnight beds.

They offer wraparound services and give us hope, something so many lack.

We get a room, a key, real security, and staff who treat us like family.

We can stay 30 or 60 or as many days as needed while receiving help, obtaining IDs, accessing benefits, connecting to health care, resolving legal issues, and securing permanent housing.

when shelters lack space, emergency services, hospitals, and public spaces bear the strain, costing taxpayers more while solving less.

Funding enhanced shelters like Tarina James provides the foundation to stabilize lives, bridge people directly into long-term housing, and bridge people directly into long-term housing.

Please prioritize expanded funding for enhanced shelter across Seattle.

and just with the last 30 seconds, real quick in solidarity, I wanna flag the need to protect contingency funds that will protect our housing systems no matter what the federal government does and we couldn't do our work without exceptional services around the city and so please preserve the funding for the SHE Clinic and Aurora Commons.

Please add investments to gender-based violence prevention and services and preserve investments in food prices.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ashley.

A, you're up next.

Love your earrings.

Oh, thank you.

Can you say the full name?

Because I want to make sure you have the right A.

I got you as A.

A?

OK.

Just want to make sure there was no other As.

OK.

Seattle's homicide rates for the period of January to August of last year dropped 43% compared to the same period the previous year.

Violent crime rates for that period dropped 23%, and property crime rates dropped 18.7%.

The ballooning costs of police and surveillance siphon funds from effective solutions to preventing community violence.

And according to SPD's own survey, fewer than 40% of Seattleites actually approve of their job, an all-time low.

Despite this, 53% of the general fund is being spent on policing, all while the SPD currently owes the city $13 million.

SPD officers shoot more people per arrest than 68% of law enforcement departments across the country.

They've been responsible for 36 deaths between 2013 and 2025, with three people killed by SPD over the past year.

Studies have demonstrated a direct correlation between increases in police budgets and the number of people killed by the cops.

This budget gets SPD an increase in funding of 13.8% while other departments are getting their funding cut.

All right, so at the same time, $65 million is being transferred from the Office of Housing.

So while a person in support of housing, it's going to cost the city only $68 a day, it costs $152 a day to have a person incarcerated.

Stable housing leaves a 27% drop in King County jails.

We need more funding for community and housing and not funding for cameras or killer cops.

Thank you.

Up next, I'm going to call a bunch of names, Hannah's, just one second.

We've got Hannah Ziff, Sam Wolf, Matt Offenbacher, Sam Gordon Lieb-Miller, Sam Woestein, Dane Pichelle, Vanessa Villalobos, Slayman A., Ken Fagan, and Claire Cantor.

With that, Hannah, welcome.

Thank you.

I'm Hannah from Pioneer Square.

I stand with everyone's comments today, except for the second remote commenter was counter to everything else I've heard from the community.

Our aim is to have a virtuous cycle and beneficial relationship between us, the citizens, and the global economy and industrial sectors.

Seattle has everything we need for a bull economy and to turn our budget deficit into a surplus.

There's a lot of unmet demand in Seattle for multifamily housing.

We have the raw materials to meet our own demands and stimulate our own economy.

The city, state, and federal government should all promote the manufacturing of our own raw materials locally to meet our own demands, namely another concrete plant and turning raw timber into building materials.

They should be promoting the housing economy on every level possible, as aggressively as possible.

Local developers have a vast want for workers.

Hopefully in the new plan, we will directly create, promote, and incentivize the training of blue-collar workers, specialized and non-specialized, in order to build these homes and facilities that our city has actual demand for.

Filling in empty plots will connect dots and solve our local economy.

It seems like the want for blue collar workers is the missing cause in this local economy.

The city should also focus on turning a profit from corporate stakeholders.

I was disappointed to hear that we will renew our lease with the military for 35 acres, but there was no mention of increasing our rate to at least meet inflation and ideally help reduce our budget deficit.

As a rule, all of our dealings with corporate stakeholders should reduce our budget deficit.

I especially want to thank Rivera for keeping an eye on the budget.

I think we could turn it into a surplus in around 15 years at a rate of 10.

Thank you, Hannah.

Up next, Sam.

Matt, Sam.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Sam Wolf.

I work for PDA as the local policy director.

Tonight, I'm here for shelter, specifically high support shelter.

You've heard from several voices tonight about this year's Streets to Housing effort that took place in Pioneer Square, where nearly 90% of unsheltered individuals sleeping overnight in the neighborhood were matched to appropriate shelters or housing.

These outcomes are replicable.

They were possible because of an outreach strategy through which we could really identify people's needs, build trust to take the next step, and have the resources to connect people with.

For over 60% of Seattle's unsheltered population, the appropriate resources are high support shelter, yet this type of shelter unit comprises only 10% of our current shelter supply.

This disparity sets our ceiling.

We know how to do this work.

Our unsheltered neighbors, our service providers, and neighborhoods throughout Seattle are ready to move the needle.

Please maintain the proposed investments in high support shelter and let us turn the corner on this crisis.

And on a related note, I would also like to put in a word to preserve funding for the SHE Clinic.

Aurora Commons is one of LEAD's key partners on the Aurora Corridor, and it is difficult to imagine doing the work up there with even fewer resources than there are already.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Matt Offenbacher, still around?

Matt?

Matt is gone.

Moving on to Sam Gordon.

Sam, welcome.

Hi, thank you.

Hello, I'm Sam Gordon, a resident and local artist in Ballard, Seattle.

Cutting funds toward food security, housing, and the arts is not in the best interest of the community.

I have friends and neighbors that are already feeling the pinch of what is currently available.

And we make do trying to support each other as best we can and use what resources we have within the community, but it isn't enough.

Food, water, shelter, and creativity through arts and culture are the foundation for a thriving city.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Sam.

Lee Bemiller.

Allison, I have you up later on in the program.

I actually have Matt Offenbacher's number here, which I was told to show up and use.

That would be a first for the evening.

Are you OK waiting for your turn, or do you need to go?

If it's possible to go, I respect the fact that everybody like me has been waiting here for a long night.

I would love to just briefly say my piece if I can.

I'm going to make the exception right now.

I'm not going to make this exception again.

We had real problems last year when I let a group of students up and then the other students didn't get to go.

We've only got 18 speakers left.

Understood.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

And thanks to my fellow waiting citizens.

Alison Isinger.

I'm the director of the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness.

Good evening, council members.

I'm here to speak broadly in support of some really important elements of Mayor Wilson's budget.

primarily but not exclusively the extraordinary additional investment of resources in quality shelter and services that are a necessary but not sufficient part of our city's commitment to help people get all the way home.

And I also feel that it's important to acknowledge, as I think you all understand, and certainly everyone on this side of the dais understands, that actually I don't like this budget very much.

But I understand the need to exercise the kind of small-c conservative approach to the budget that this budget reflects.

And you have heard and we see and feel and hear every day that it is still not sufficient to do the things that this budget, like King County's budget, must do.

Protect the housing, shelter, and services that we have already invested in and ensure that we do more to prevent people from becoming homeless.

So I want to ask you to really consider where you are going to be able to sponsor additional $400,000 or $600,000 and where you will have the guts.

Thank you.

Lee B. Miller?

Sam Wolstein?

Number 94, 95?

94.

Lee, come on up.

My name is Lee B. Miller and I'm a district 3 voter.

I was going to try to use research and meticulous arguments to convince you to vote against Wilson's budget, which will take money away from the paramedics and the fire department and give it to SPD to hire 66 more cops.

To convince you that cops are not a responsible investment of public money, I was going to bring up things like Sean Barnes' $700,000 severance payout, SPD's history of voter fraud, SPD's very avoidable million-dollar carbon monoxide lawsuit, SPD killing John Amy Condula with reckless driving and having to give her family $29 million.

SPD also kills black and racialized people like Derek Hayden, Ayahuasca Falatoga, Charlena Lyles, and too many more to list.

They are just not a good use of public money.

But the more I kept thinking about it, the more I realized that rational arguments do not convince people.

Instead, I want to remind you that six Seattle cops were at January 6th.

We live under rising fascism and you are on the verge of hiring 66 more cops.

This begs the question, are you stupid?

Because aside from Bob Kettle, none of you look stupid.

Cops do not protect people.

They do not protect democracy.

They protect institutional power.

And right now, institutional power is throwing people into death camps.

You're not gonna keep anyone safer by hiring more cops.

They routinely get away with killing people.

Please think about it.

Thank you, Lee.

Sam Wustwin, Dane Pichel, Sam W. Sam W. Woostein, Sam Woostein going once, twice.

Dane Pichelle, Dane Pichelle going once, going twice.

Vanessa Villalobos, Vanessa Villalobos, once, twice.

Sleiman Appadolo, Sleiman, once, twice.

Ken Fagan, Ken?

Ken Fagan?

Once, twice, Clara Cantor.

Clara?

We're almost to Allison's name.

Megan Patel?

Line Sansmark?

Lena.

Lena, of course.

Sorry, Lena.

I am reading English, I swear.

Good to see you.

Thank you all for being here still.

All right, Chair Strauss, members of the Council, my name is Lina Sandsmark, and I'm Executive Director at a statewide arts organization called Shunpike.

Our office is located in District 1. but the majority of our 250 plus partnering organizations who we serve through our fiscal sponsorship program are in all of Seattle's districts and beyond.

As part of the city's cultural sector, we're also an essential part of our city's economy.

We create jobs, attract visitors, we support small businesses, in fact we are small businesses, and we help make Seattle a place where people want to live, work, and visit.

We run several programs that benefit all aspects of our sector.

Today I'm going to highlight just one of them, our Storefronts and Artist Residency Program, which has been activating empty storefronts and office spaces in our region on and off, depending on funding, since the wake of the 08 economic recession.

This type of activation and support not only helps the creative sector by helping artists secure new leases in commercial districts once their residency is over, for example, where they can grow audiences and attract potential art buyers.

It also helps maintain property values and keeps neighborhoods safer.

We all know that unique shops who are open for business not only attract visitors but also help reduce property destruction and other crime.

We provide this value to the sector and the public while operating in one of the country's most expensive cities.

We're asking the city...

Please support the arts.

Sorry, I ran out of time.

Thank you.

We got John Chury followed by Angelique.

I saw Angelique earlier.

There she is.

We got John Chury here.

Going once.

Going twice.

Angelique, you're up.

Come on up.

followed by Meredith Ruff, Kelsey Timmer, Fatima Din, Sonia Herrera, Melissa Eager.

There you are, Angelique, take it away.

Good evening, council.

After listening to the last meeting, I heard the city talking about stabilization, behavior change, and supporting people who are already housed.

That is exactly why I believe Skills to Live should be implemented and paired with an organization that is already doing this work.

Skills to Live is not trying to replace housing providers, outreach teams, or case managers.

It is designed to strengthen what already exists.

Organizations may be able to get someone housed, but they may not always have the staffing time or structured curriculum to help that person adjust to everyday life after the key is handed over.

The curriculum was built for that gap.

It teaches practical skills around routine communication, landlord expectations, maintaining a home, managing conflict, and changing behaviors that may have helped someone survive outside but can be created problems once they are housed.

Those numbers or concerns being discussed show that placement alone is not enough.

If people are cycling back into homelessness, then we have to look at what happens after placement.

So pair skills to live with a housing organization that needs a stronger aftercare component.

Pair it with a provider that wants to be better housing retention.

Let Skills2Live become one of the tools that help people practice now better behavior.

Build stability and to cope their housing.

Remember, it's not about getting housing, it's about staying housing.

Well said, Angelique, well said.

We got Meredith Ruff followed by Kelsey Fatima.

Welcome.

So I have a real curiosity, both based on the mayor's proposed budget and also some of your voting records.

Have any of you ever asked the question, do more police officers on the streets reduce crime?

Have you ever done that investigation?

I know my friend here said data's not going to convince you.

I'm not really here to convince you all.

I'm here to talk to these people.

Because either you did do the investigation and you know that I can bring up a study right now, like a meta-analysis published in the Translational Journal of Criminology of over 60 studies over decades, different police departments all over the United States.

And that study found that adding police officers has a minuscule, statistically insignificant impact on crime rates.

Putting more police on the street does not reduce crime.

So you are either did your research and you are cynically offering up a tough on crime stance because you want your funders, the real estate developers, the Microsofts, the Starbucks, the big business to keep on donating to your campaigns, or you never did the research.

and that is your job.

This is the third largest department in the city of Seattle.

This is over $900 million.

Do something that works.

Do not give a department $60 million more to hire more officers when that doesn't reduce crime.

Thank you.

Thank you, Meredith.

Up next is Kelsey, followed by Fatima, Sonia, and Melissa.

Kelsey?

Kelsey, number 106. Excuse me, friend who's in the front talking to security.

If you're blocking somebody's view of the dais, you can't stand.

There's somebody directly between you and me, my friend.

That's not the question.

Please stop.

We are almost done.

We are almost done.

You can be anywhere in this room as long as you're not blocking anyone.

Kelsey, not here.

Fatima, and then Sonya.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening, Chair Strauss and committee members.

My name is Patma Ramdeen and I work at Refugee Artisan Initiative, which is a non-profit in Seattle empowering refugee and immigrant women through cultural arts, workforce development, and local circular economy.

I'd like to express our deepest gratitude for the city's $326,000 investment in RAE through the Human Services Department, Seattle Public Utilities, Department of Neighborhoods, and Office of Arts and Culture.

Shout out to Council Member Juarez, Alexis, and Kelly Brown.

As an immigrant myself, I know firsthand how transformative these funds are for individuals, but more importantly, for entire families and generations to come.

Me standing here as a result of funding similar to this that my family was able to be empowered by.

The women we serve face real barriers, language, hiring discrimination, limited access to cultural sensitive support.

Many have never held a job, some are preliterate in their own languages, yet over the past year with the city's help, Ray is serving 60 women, most with households of more than four dependents, earning less than $50,000 annually, launched five micro-businesses, placed 12 women into jobs across multiple sectors, and we just know this funding works.

We ask that the city continue investing at least $250,000 annual in Ray and maintain the vital general fund support for Seattle's broader cultural art sector instead of slashing it, honoring refugee and immigrant communities and vulnerable communities across the board in the city of Seattle.

And these women also need affordable health care, housing, transportation, child care, human service.

Yay.

Thank you.

DJ D5 coming through loud and clear.

Sonia, over to you.

Hi, my name's Sonia.

I organize with the Seattle Alliance Against Racism, Political Repression, and I stand in solidarity with Seattle's solidarity budgets, nine guarantees, as were stated earlier, so I won't get into that.

I'm also fortunate enough to be a staff member at the district food bank, where we're seeing massive increases in the number of families you serve year after year, especially as SNAP benefits continue to get cut.

which means we need all the funding we can get.

We host satellite pantries in food deserts like Madison Park and other areas.

Our customers range from college students and families to the elderly to recent migrants to our houses, neighbors, and the list goes on and on.

Our recent census, the vast majority of the people served through our satellite pantries only ate food from what we could provide for them.

Many people are unable to go to traditional stores.

There's a lack of access for a variety of reasons, transportation, lack of funds entirely.

And food banks and other social services like housing, schools, health care, the fire department and more need more funding.

that funding can easily come from SPD's portion of the budget.

SPD has murdered three people in the last year since the federal consent decree was lifted last year, Jack Pileli, Christian Nelson, and most recently, Keenan Pearson.

With no transparency in varying wait times, upwards of two to three months or more for information from public record requests for various bodies.

This does not include the many people who are beaten and shot by officers, including the woman in Beacon Hill shot

for domestic violence just a couple weeks ago.

Bunting the violent killer cops and cutting other vital and life-saving departments would show me and the people in this room and in the city that your alliance and care does not lie with us, but with the bullies at FOG pushing a cop-centered surveillance

Thank you.

Up next, we have Melissa Eager, followed by Jesse Kent, Daniel, and Wyking Garrett, are you here?

Or that name was crossed off.

Then we have Daniel W and Heather W. Melissa Eager.

Melissa Eager.

Once, twice, not present.

Jesse Klen.

Jesse.

Once, twice.

Let me check this.

Is there anyone here who would like to speak that has not spoken?

Great.

So, what are your numbers?

115.

We don't have you signed up.

Come on up.

If you have not spoken yet or not been part of a group, come on up and I'll just take your name.

Hey, I'm Daniel with United Front for a Workers' Party.

I got here a little bit late after work.

And I just wanted to remark that a lot of people came out today to talk about this budget.

Many people spoke very powerfully about the importance of funding things like tenant services, various arts and community organizations, or firefighters that keep us safe.

And I think the Democrats here on City Council, they might take some of this feedback and adjust the budget to make sure that some of these services aren't completely decimated.

And they'll say they've listened to our feedback and they've responded and they wouldn't technically be lying.

But I do not trust them to do this without defunding something else important, like housing, because a lot of people have already pointed out this current proposed budget is already raiding the Amazon tax that was fought for by a movement to address the housing crisis.

The Democrats are operating on a pretty fundamental logic.

Kitty Wilson said we have a budget deficit, so something's got to get cut.

It's a zero-sum game.

And we should not be begging the city council Democrats to fund this or that's crucial services, knowing that they'd be making tough decisions to balance out that budget.

We should refuse the logic of austerity, that while the stock market is still breaking records, we, the working class, have to tighten our belts and pay for the budget crisis the ruling class created.

So I think many people made some clear demands made today.

to tax the rich.

Do not increase funding to the cops who murder and brutalize people of color, queer youth, the homeless, and the poor with impunity.

These are bare minimum acceptable demands for a budget, and the Democrats will never give an inch to them if we don't force them to.

So we have to get organized to fight for this.

They are not going to listen to us just because of this meeting.

So I encourage people, sign up to get organized with us on our petition.

Come out to our public meeting this Saturday at Rainier Beach Community Center at 2 p.m., and let's figure out how to combine our

Thank you.

And then are you Heather?

Yeah.

Welcome.

Anyone else?

If you would like to speak and have not spoken, now's the time to sign up.