Seattle City Council Public Safety & Human Services Committee 4/13/21

new recording.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, and welcome to the April 13th meeting of the Public Safety Human Services Committee meeting.

It is 9.31 a.m.

I'm Lisa Herbold, the chair of the committee and district council member to District 1, West Seattle, and Oak Park.

And before we get started, and actually, my apologies.

Can you please call the roll?

Council President Gonzalez?

Here.

Council Member Lewis?

Council Member Morales?

Here.

Council Member Swann?

Present.

Chair Herbold?

Here.

Four present, one absent.

Thank you.

And before we move on to approve the agenda, I just want to real quickly go over a few things.

On today's agenda, we will have two council appointments to the Community Police Commission.

And I just want to note that I had temporarily scheduled a discussion and vote on Council Bill 119981. This is legislation pertaining to the Seattle Police Department budget.

We cannot hear that legislation at this meeting as the monitor sent questions to the Seattle Police Department with specific instruction that the questions be answered as expeditiously as possible.

And that direction to SPD has not yet been fulfilled.

Those questions have not been answered.

And the monitoring's direction was not only that the police department should answer their questions expeditiously, but that that they should do so prior to further actions by the city on the budget of the Seattle Police Department.

So for that reason, we have not brought back the substitute version of Council Bill 119981 that we spoke about and moved on in our last committee meeting.

So I'd also like to hear an update on the new Safe and Thriving Communities Division within the Human Services Department.

I'm excited about elevating their work to consolidate the department's investments in safety and violence prevention.

We know that the Human Services Department is out advertising and seeking a new division director for the Safe and Thriving Communities Division.

and that moving forward in the future, the division will house the city's work to counter domestic violence, including a team of victim advocates transferred from the Seattle Police Department in 2020, and HSD's existing investments in youth and community safety, which will be transferred from the department's existing youth and family empowerment division.

I'm excited to hear more about this work next upcoming April 27th meeting.

And with that, if there are no objections, I would like to adopt today's agenda.

Are there any objections?

Hearing none, today's agenda is adopted.

At this time, we will transition into public comment.

Each speaker will be given two minutes to speak.

I'll call on each speaker by name and in the order which they are registered on the council's website.

If you have not yet registered to speak but would like to do so, you can sign up before the end of the public hearing by going to the council's website.

This link is also listed on today's agenda.

Once I call a speaker's name, you'll hear a prompt, and once you've heard that prompt, you need to press star six to unmute yourself.

Please begin by speaking your name and the item which you are addressing that is on the agenda.

And speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of the allotted time.

Once the speaker hears the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comments.

And if speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time provided, the speaker's mic will be muted after 10 seconds to allow us to hear from the next speaker.

Once you've completed your public comment, please disconnect from the line.

and you can continue following the meeting via the Seattle Channel or the listening options that you can find on the agenda.

And it looks like as far as a number of people signed up for public comment, we've got about 14 people.

And let's see here.

Give me a moment here.

Looking for the link to the, this time it's in an email, it's a different place every time.

Okay, yeah, we've got 15 people signed up for public comment and we will start with Howard Gale.

Good morning, Howard Gale commenting on continuing police abuse and failed accountability.

29, that is the number of people killed by SPD since John T. Williams, 14 of whom had only a knife, a broken bottle, or no weapon at all.

10, that is the number of people killed by SBD since Seattle's police accountability system was put in place in 2017. Zero, that is the number of officers held accountable in these killings.

It is also the number of policy changes or management recommendations produced by Seattle's so-called accountability partners in response to those killings.

79, that is a tiny number out of hundreds of cases of police abuse of demonstrators reviewed by the OPA over the last year.

16, that is the number of disciplinary actions taken so far by the SPD for these cases.

One, that is the number of disciplinary actions so far suggested that go beyond a written and oral reprimand in these egregious cases of police abuse.

Ten months post-George Floyd, it is clear the vast majority of SBD abuse cases will avoid any accountability.

This lack of accountability is exacerbated by the Community Police Commission.

In February, the CPC held a poorly advertised meeting where, for the first time in over six years, they got unfettered community feedback.

The feedback was overwhelming and one clear demand.

We need 100% civilianized oversight of police.

Yet one week later, the CPC voted to ignore the overwhelming public testimony voting instead to recommend against full civilianization of OPA investigations, thereby keeping cops investigating cops.

Welcome to the ninth year, the ninth year of Seattle's so-called police accountability system, where virtue signaling is preferred to acting with virtue, where community is, if not outright ignored, easily forgotten.

As we approach the one-year mark post-George Floyd, this complete lack of police accountability will guarantee more death and abuse at the hands of the SPD in the coming months.

We all need to focus our energy in creating full civilian control of police oversight, moving beyond performative pretense and virtue signaling.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is BJ Last, followed by Cody Zalewski.

BJ?

Hello, my name is BJ Last.

I'm a Ballard resident and small business owner.

I'm calling to ask City Council to hold SPD accountable for its spending and amend CB 119981 to reduce SPD's 2021 budget by the full 5.4 million that SPD overspent by in 2020. This 5.4 million needs to go to participatory budgeting so it can fund items that actually create community safety.

City Council committed to holding SPD accountable for its spending twice in 2020. In August, the Council unanimously approved Resolution 31962, Section 7 of which said, the City Council will not support any budget amendments to increase the SPD budget to offset overtime expenditures above the funds budgeted in 2020 or 2021. Then in December, Council Members Gonzalez, Herbold, Lewis, Morales, Strauss, Mosqueda, Peterson, and Juarez voted for Ordinance 126257, Section 13 of which said, The City Council expresses its intent to amend the 2021 adopted budget by reducing SPD's appropriation authority by at least 5.4 million.

The Consent Degree Monitor did not raise any objections or ask any questions about either of these pledges for accountability.

Now Council Members Gonzalez, Herbold, and Lewis are proposing only cutting SPD's 2021 budget by 2.8 million, which is roughly one half of the 5.4 million SPD overspent by in 2020. SPD has $7.7 million of projected salary savings in 2021. Reducing SPD's budget by the full $5.4 million that it overspent by last year would leave SPD with $2.3 million of salary savings to spend on the items that, as said, are its current priorities.

If we don't have budget accountability, we don't have any accountability.

SB 119981 needs to be amended to remove the full $5.4 million that SPD overspent by and give those funds to participatory budgeting.

Thank you.

I yield my time.

Thank you.

Cody Zalewski is followed by Morgan Kelly.

Cody.

Hello.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Okay.

Hi.

My name is Cody Zalewski and I'm a resident in the District 4 and a medical researcher here in Seattle.

I'm here representing the organization Decriminalize Nature Seattle addressing the decriminalization of entheogenic plant medicine and suggesting it be listed at the lowest law enforcement priority.

We propose the City of Seattle also takes up this issue with entheogen plant medicine here being defined as ayahuasca ibogaine and psilocybin which have a lengthy list of proven medical benefits.

In the wake of the Blake decision drug law in Washington State has become a massive gray area.

Many lawmakers on the state level are wary of pursuing more progressive drug law reform.

If the City of Seattle acts now and passes a resolution decriminalizing entheogens and protecting medical practitioners who prescribe them It can demonstrate that there is public appetite for change in the status quo.

A similar law I-109 was voted on in Oregon in 2020. It passed by double digits and overwhelmingly passed in a demographically similar city of Portland.

This is an incredibly popular issue.

Our organization has won the endorsement of dozens of local medical practitioners drug law reform groups indigenous healers and all three of the local legislative district Democratic parties within the city of Seattle we have spoken with.

I think the efficacy of these plant medicines in treating substance abuse, depression, PTSD, amongst others, is unparalleled, even relative to modern pharmaceutical medicine.

The city of Seattle should join other legislative bodies such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., Oakland, Denver, and many others in passing these reforms.

Thank you, and I cede my time.

The next speaker is Morgan Kelly, followed by Benjamin Sukambi.

Morgan?

Hi.

My name is Morgan Kelly.

I live in central I live in District 3 in Seattle.

I'm here to discuss decriminalizing plant medicines like psilocybin ayahuasca and ibogaine as a path to promote health equity in the war on drugs and reduce the police brutality issues we face in the city.

I've been working in addiction research most of my adult life and known many addicts personally.

While traditional therapies have been useful for some plant medicines have been life altering for those with access to them.

I've seen firsthand the power of entheogens.

I've seen one psilocybin experience bring someone back from the brink of suicide and provide the insight and help they needed to quit using alcohol.

Plant medicines and other psychedelics are the most powerful and underutilized medicines in the world for a host of illnesses not just addiction.

I urge the Seattle City Council to consider how access to these medicines can heal individuals in our community and how legal access to these plants can help end the unjust and racist war on drugs and combat police brutality issues as it's all related.

Please vote to decriminalize plant medicines in Seattle.

Thank you, and I cede the rest of my time.

Thank you.

Benjamin Serkambi will be followed by Erica Irwin.

Benjamin?

Hey, my name is Ben Serkambi.

I live in Vista 3, and I'm a union organizer.

I'm speaking to you all today as part of Decriminate Your Seattle in the hopes that you all will adopt our resolution to decriminalize psychedelics in Seattle.

Tens of thousands of folks have reported that psychedelics have allowed them to overcome and work through traumatic events in their lives.

Psilocybin allowed me to reflect on my own personal trauma and problematic behaviors through an objective perspective.

Instead of being weighed down by negative thoughts and emotions, I was able to address my depression in a way that was extremely productive.

It allowed me to not be plagued by thoughts of self-doubt every night before bed.

It was liberating to find a solution to my anxiety and depression when years of being prescribed antidepressants for years were relatively ineffective.

Don't we owe it to ourselves to explore the healing properties of plant medicine?

Don't we owe it to ourselves to remove their Schedule 1 classification that equates them to drugs such as heroin and meth?

Thank you, and I yield my time.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Erica Irwin, followed by Daniel Arauz.

Erica?

Good morning.

Your experience to defund our police department has failed miserably at the expense of public safety in our communities across the city, especially neighborhoods predominantly of color where I live.

And our two-year-old is clinging to life.

We all should be outraged by this.

You continue to divest from the department, and almost a year after your reckless knee-jerk decisions, you still have not come up with positive and sustainable solutions for policing.

There's going to be more of what happened at 23rd and Jackson last Sunday if we don't start rebuilding a robust police department and begin community engagement immediately.

And please stop funneling money to organizations who want control how we police our community.

All they offer are big ideas and no real data to support them.

This is just setting back the desperate need for immediate safety plans in our neighborhoods, especially in Central and South Seattle and the University District.

It's time to stop turning a blind eye to the surge of crime in our city.

Enough is enough.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Daniel Arouse followed by Eva Kiss.

Daniel?

Hello.

Hello.

Hello, council members.

My name is Danny, and I'm a resident of District 3. I am advocating in favor of a resolution that would decriminalize psychedelic plant medicines in Seattle.

Psychedelic medicine has been one of the most influential positive forces in my life.

Experiences that I've had on psychedelics empowered me with tools to battle anxiety, depression, stagnation, and trauma.

In addition, these experiences made me more connected to my peers and gifted me with a profound appreciation for being alive.

These substances, which are currently illegal, have incredible potential to help our society and deserve to be explored as the medicines that they are, without fear of legal persecution.

After multiple scientific studies from reputable sources, such as Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, that show their efficacy in treating a variety of mental ailments, the world is starting to notice.

Seattle was a global leader in the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis.

However, it is falling behind on psychedelics.

Please allow Seattle to join a growing number of jurisdictions across the nation, including Oakland, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Santa Cruz, Denver and others who are decriminalizing psychedelics and no longer persecute Seattle residents who seek access to these healing plant medicines.

I urge the council to adopt the resolution that would lower psychedelics to the lowest law enforcement priority.

Thank you, and I yield the rest of my time.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Eva Kiss, followed by Hunter McKim.

Yes, hello.

I am concerned about the safety of our students at the university district and in Seattle in general.

The constantly recurring acts of violence is insane.

Can a young person these days not feel safe walking down the street?

Don't they have enough to deal with already?

Is this the city we want to live in?

I do not care about your political affiliation.

We all want safety.

I on the left, I do not want violence from either side.

Yes, police actions need to be reformed, but reform cannot happen with less funds.

In a city, indeed in a country where there's an abundance of guns, we are victims.

You want to abandon our young people?

When I hear a UW student say that when she turns 21, she will buy a gun, it breaks my heart.

This is not the solution everyone's fending for themselves.

We need responsible policing.

I beg you, stop the crazy idea of defunding the police.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Hunter McKim, followed by Tatiana Quintana.

Hunter, are you with us?

Hello.

Yeah.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Hunter McKim.

I'm speaking on behalf of Decriminalize Nature.

I'm currently a high school student.

I'm a believer in God, and I've chosen to devote my time to psychotherapy.

In this time, I've had many encounters with psychedelics, first and secondhand.

I believe that it is very misunderstood medicine and has the potential that traditional psychopharmaceuticals don't have in treating the crisis of mental health and addiction.

I've experienced more relief and increased positive experiences from one small dose of psilocybin mushrooms than I have from two years of antidepressants.

Because of its legal status, though, other people haven't gotten to experience this medicine.

I believe that by decriminalizing these psychedelic medicines, people will be given access to them, and there will be increased harm reduction.

Please consider this solution, and thank you for your time.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Tatiana Quintana, followed by Anthony Yang.

Tatiana?

Are you with us, Tatiana?

There we go.

Sorry I was muted.

I muted myself.

Okay can you hear me.

Thank you.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

My name is Tatiana Quintana and I'm a resident of District 2. I am speaking on behalf of Decriminalize Nature Seattle's resolution to decriminalize natural psychedelics in Seattle.

When I was a child I survived years of domestic violence and as an adult I found myself having to break the law in order to heal myself with plant medicine in particular psilocybin.

Partnering with Plant Medicine has been a pivotal experience for me therapeutically as I process my childhood trauma and manage depression and anxiety in my life.

And by expanding my window of tolerance to stress, this has allowed me to deepen my relationship with my family and has given me an entirely new way to relate to my story of trauma, which has really helped to change my life.

With regards to psychedelics, spiritual and healing benefits within our community, if we don't take action to decriminalize growing, gathering and gifting these things for people right now, the results, if we do nothing, will likely be a Western medicalized model that is likely to replicate the structurally racist status quo of healthcare that we see already in our country.

We need you and we need us at the table so that we design policies that reflect our community's needs.

Black, indigenous, and people of color are far less likely to be able to afford health insurance due to our colonialist history and disenfranchisement of our, of those communities, of my community.

And they are less likely to trust the medical system that has been founded on experimentation on black and brown bodies.

Decriminalization of controlled substances alone reduces disparities in arrests by 95%.

You know, I urge you all also to consider Senate Bill 5476, which is, basically in the wake of the Blake decision, aiming to decriminalize controlled substances at the state level and reduce penalties.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We have other educational resources for you available in case folks would like to learn more.

Thank you, Tatiana.

I'm going to give another call out for Anthony Yang, although he's shown as not present.

And then Confetti also is listed as not present.

I'll come back to them if they show up.

We have one more speaker that is present though, and that is Rachel Kay.

Rachel?

Hello, thanks for allowing me to speak today.

Can everyone hear me clearly?

Yes.

Okay, thanks.

So I am a resident of the U district and I'm calling to urge council not to renege on the provisions detailed in CB 119981. Violent crime in Seattle has been increasing over the past 20 years.

At the same time, police budgets have bloated and there's no accountability or transparency.

and they don't seem to meaningfully address violent crime, they seem to just brutalize black and brown people and nonviolent protesters.

So, please increase participatory budgeting to address the root causes of violent crime, like income inequality and poverty, instead of just resorting to more mass incarceration.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rachel.

So this will conclude.

I want to recognize that the very beginning of public comment, we were joined by member Lewis.

Thank you to be with us.

And let's move on to the two items on our agenda today.

Agenda item number one, appointment 01872, appointment of Catherine Siebel as member of Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2021. Agenda item number two, appointment 01873, appointment of Lejaya A. Washington as member of Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2021.

Thank you so much, Alex.

If we could just do a quick round of introduction, your name and affiliation, if you're here with us to present on these two items.

Let's start with LaRon Baker.

Good morning, council members.

My name is LaRon Baker, and I'm one of the co-chairs of the Community Police Commission, and we are really grateful for the two appointments.

And I will talk a little bit about the history or the purpose of the CPC.

I don't know if you want me to do that now or after, Newell.

Let's do the round of introductions first.

Thanks.

Do we have any other folks to say hello and introduce themselves?

I'm Newell Aldrich.

I will be introducing the appointees.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Lauron, please do describe the work of the CPC.

Great.

Good morning again.

So the Community Police Commission, it was created through the litigation from the United States against the City of Seattle that was initiated after about 34 community groups came together and petitioned DOJ to investigate the deadly use of force that was plaguing the city of Seattle.

Law enforcement officers killed a number of community members of color including John T. Williams.

The litigation proceeded and a consent decree was entered and the community police commission was created from that and ultimately became permanent.

Our purpose and goal is to ensure that the community voice and expectations and perspective is included and considered when it comes to how SPD polices and develops its policies and trainings.

So we hold community engagement events to ensure that we can receive feedback from community members and then also provide input on policies and training and provide community expectations around collective bargaining.

And we ensure that there is a more robust communication both ways between SPD and the community.

And right now is a very interesting and exciting time.

With the CPC, we have new leadership.

We have a new executive director, Brandy Grant, and two new co-chairs, myself and Aaron Goodman.

We also have a full policy staff for the first time in quite a while and are embarking on a strategic planning strategic planning.

And so we're very excited to be fully staffed up with commissioners and look forward to being able to provide input on policing and community expectations at a time when we all know that is most needed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Baker.

Very, very appreciative of the work and commitment that you bring to this effort and really am grateful to the strong foundation that is being built under your leadership and that of Director Grant.

So with that, we'll hand it over to Noel, who I believe will introduce the two appointments.

Agenda item one is appointment 0872, appointment of Catherine Siebel as member of Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2021. Catherine serves as the Director of Public Policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Washington, also known as NAMI Washington.

She works to develop and advocate for legislative priorities for NAMI Washington.

She has served as legislative and policy analyst for the Committee for Children, where she analyzed, tracked, and advocated for legislation pertaining to social emotional learning and child sexual abuse and bully prevention at multi-state and federal levels.

As a teaching associate at the Columbia University School of Social Work, she suggested class content from a racial equity lens.

She has a MSW with a public policy concentration from Columbia University.

Item two is appointment 1873 appointment of the JIA Washington's member Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2021. The JIA Washington serves as operations specialist for King County Equity Now, where her duties include tracking policy projects and participating in panels and community events.

Her professional experience includes working at Seattle CARES Mentoring, cultivating the genius of black children and Black Community Impact Alliance.

She served as Assistant to the Deputy Coroner in the City of Pasco Coroner's Office and interned in the office of King County Council Member Larry Goss.

Her volunteer experience includes the Urban League Central Area Chamber of Commerce and the Tyree Scott Freedom School.

Thank you.

Thanks, Noel.

Would love to take an opportunity before opening it up to council members, love to hear from the two appointees, either Catherine or Lajaya, either one of you want to kick us off?

Would love to just hear a few words from yourselves, why you're in the Community Police Commission and what you hope to accomplish.

My name is Lizia.

I'm so thankful to be here and be appointed to the commission.

It's an honor.

I'm excited to, um, to continue to participate in the commission, bring my, my skills and, uh, help accomplish the goals of the commission and stay connected to community.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Catherine.

Good morning, council members.

I am also very honored to be considered for this appointment on the commission.

Currently, I serve as NAMI Washington's Director of Public Policy.

And because this organization has a really large grassroots reach, I have the honor to hear from people all across our state and across Seattle.

So I hope to bring the experiences, suggestions, and ideas on how our community members experience behavioral health and policing, and especially with the intersecting role of race, to further how we together can change these systems and improve their well-being for each person in our community.

So thank you very much for considering my appointment.

Thanks both of you for joining us and thank you for your willingness to serve at this really important juncture in our nation and our city's history on these issues that touch the lives of so many, particularly our BIPOC community members.

Council members, any thoughts or questions or insight that you'd like to share?

And I'm looking for both virtual and old school, real time hand raising and I do not see any.

So, again, I just really want to thank you both.

I know that the CPC provides some very thorough and rigorous onboarding, not only about your statutory responsibilities as a commission that are sort of outlined as obligations to fulfill on a yearly basis but also special responsibilities associated both with the consent decree and associated with emerging issues that that come up and how we hope that you engage with us as a council as well as bringing forward the voice of community and centering that voice in all of our decisions on these really important issues.

So again, I'm very, very grateful to be able to bring both of your nominations forward.

And I will move appointment 01872 and 01873. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Any discussion?

All right, seeing no discussion, will the clerk please call the roll?

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Council Member Lewis?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Herbold?

Yes.

Five in favor, none opposed.

Fantastic.

So your appointments will both move forward for council next Monday, April 19th.

And congratulations and thank you.

With that, it is 10.04 AM.

If there are other comments from my colleagues, happy to hear them.

Otherwise, the next Public Safety and Human Services Committee meeting is scheduled for April 27th, and we are adjourned.

Thanks for watching!