CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to appropriations for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights; amending Ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 Budget; changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the Budget; lifting a proviso; imposing provisos; creating new positions; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
body
WHEREAS, the Council is committed to confronting structural and institutional racism as a fundamental step towards addressing the racist institution of policing; and
WHEREAS, in May 2020, Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd, setting off nationwide protests against police brutality and for justice for Black victims of police violence; and
WHEREAS, these protests forced many nationwide and in Seattle to confront the racism that has been plaguing the Black community for centuries and spread to other communities of color, the harmful impacts of white supremacy culture, and the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) role in perpetuating racism and violence; and
WHEREAS, in response to both recent events and through the efforts of decades of organizing, anti-racist organizations coalesced around the following demands made to the City by Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now: 1. Replace current 911 operations with civilian-controlled system; 2. Scale up community-led solutions; 3. Fund a community-led process to create a roadmap to life without policing; and 4. Invest in housing for all; and
WHEREAS, members of the communities most impacted by policing support the demands to the City to push back against the harm the police cause to the Black community and correct years of failure to invest in Black communities; and
WHEREAS, the co-leads of the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) sent a letter on June 8, 2020 to the Mayor requesting that she “Commit to a community participatory budget process. The anti-racist organizations named above must oversee and co-design a community-centered process to determine how the funds are reinvested”; and
WHEREAS, since the 1980s there has been a disturbing trend to defund investments in affordable housing, education, behavioral and mental health, and drug/alcohol addiction diversion programs resulting in police officers responding to many of these systemic failures; and
WHEREAS, the lack of funding in these systems also disproportionately affect communities of color, compounding the harms of overpolicing; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 126151 appropriated $3,000,000 to the Legislative Department to enter into contracts with community-based organizations to research processes that will promote public safety informed by community needs, including, in part, developing and sharing a roadmap for future equitable participatory budget processes related to public safety; and
WHEREAS, the Council funded the Black Brilliance Research Project to conduct public safety research to determine what investments would create true community safety, true community health, and would allow community members to thrive; and
WHEREAS, the Black Brilliance Research Project included over 100 researchers in the Seattle area learning from community through surveys, case studies, focus groups, photovoice and story mapping; and
WHEREAS, the Black Brilliance Research Project identified five priority investment areas for creating community safety, health, and thriving: housing and physical spaces, mental health, youth and children, economic development, and crisis and wellness; and
WHEREAS, the Black Brilliance Research Final Report, including recommendations for a 2021 Participatory Budgeting process, was submitted to the Council on February 20, 2021; and
WHEREAS, over 7,000 jurisdictions around the world have implemented Participatory Budgeting programs; and
WHEREAS, The City of Seattle’s 2021 Adopted Budget appropriated $28.3 million for Participatory Budgeting; and
WHEREAS, the proviso in Council Budget Action FG-004-A-002 specifies that, “Of the appropriation in the 2021 budget for Finance General Reserves, $18,025,000 is appropriated solely to run the Participatory Budgeting Process, implement actions recommended to the City from the Participatory Budgeting process, and to develop a civilian crisis response and social services triage system app and may be spent for no other purpose. Furthermore, none of the money so appropriated may be spent until authorized by future ordinance. Council anticipates that such authority will not be granted until the Executive submits to the Council a plan for spending the funds”; and
WHEREAS, on March 30, 2021, the Executive provided the Council with two possible options for participatory budgeting, including using a third-party administrator to conduct the process; and
WHEREAS, the Council intends that the Seattle Office for Civil Rights lead an equitable, collaborative process to select a third-party administrator to conduct the participatory budgeting process, incorporating as many of the recommendations from the Black Brilliance Research Project Report as possible, and to negotiate a contract with the selected provider; and
WHEREAS, the Council anticipates funding the selected third-party administrator to conduct the Participatory Budgeting process with support from Seattle Office for Civil Rights staff; and
WHEREAS, the Council anticipates that it will use its budgetary authority to fund projects selected by the Participatory Budgeting process in 2022; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The restrictions imposed by the following budget proviso, which limits spending on the following item, are removed and they are no longer restrictions for any purpose, including those set forth in subsection 1(b) of Ordinance 126237:
|
Item |
Department |
2021 CBA |
Proviso |
Budget Summary Level |
|
1.1 |
Finance General |
FG-004-A-002 |
“Of the appropriation in the 2021 budget for Finance General Reserves, $18,025,000 is appropriated solely to run the Participatory Budgeting Process, implement actions recommended to the City from the Participatory Budgeting process, and to develop a civilian crisis response and social services triage system app and may be spent for no other purpose. Furthermore, none of the money so appropriated may be spent until authorized by future ordinance. Council anticipates that such authority will not be granted until the Executive submits to the Council a plan for spending the funds.” |
FG-BO-FG-2QD00 - General Purpose |
Section 2. The appropriations for the following items in the 2021 Budget are modified as follows:
|
Item |
Department |
Fund |
Budget Summary Level/BCL Code |
Amount |
|
2.1 |
Executive (Office for Civil Rights) |
General Fund (00100) |
Civil Rights (BO-CR-X1R00) |
$1,050,900 |
|
|
Finance General |
General Fund (00100) |
General Purpose (BO-FG-2QD00) |
($1,050,900) |
|
Total |
$0 |
Unspent funds so appropriated shall carry forward to subsequent fiscal years until they are exhausted or abandoned by ordinance.
Section 3. This ordinance imposes a proviso, as follows:
“Of the appropriation in the 2021 budget for Seattle Office for Civil Rights, $1,050,900is appropriated solely for the Participatory Budgeting Process, including, but not limited to, developing and issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a third-party administrator, reimbursing community members for support of the RFP process, negotiating and managing the contract with the third-party administrator, and providing staff support for the Participatory Budgeting program.”
Section 4. This ordinance imposes a proviso, as follows:
“Of the appropriation in the 2021 budget for Finance General Reserves, $16,974,100 is appropriated solely for contracting with a provider to administer the Participatory Budgeting Process and funding projects identified by the Participatory Budgeting Process. Furthermore, none of the money so appropriated may be spent until authorized by future ordinance.”
Section 5. The following new positions are created:
|
Department |
Position Title |
Position Status |
Number |
|
Executive (Office for Civil Rights) |
Strategic Advisor 1, General Government |
Full-time |
1.0 |
|
Executive (Office for Civil Rights) |
Manager 2, General Government |
Full-time |
1.0 |
|
Executive (Office for Civil Rights) |
Administrative Specialist 3 |
Full-time |
1.0 |
The Director of the Seattle Office for Civil Rights is authorized to fill these positions subject to Seattle Municipal Code Title 4, the City’s Personnel Rules, Civil Service rules, and applicable employment laws. These positions will be abrogated effective December 31, 2023.
Section 6. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance taken after its passage and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
Section 7. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2021, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this ________ day of _________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)