CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to community involvement in the oversight of the Equitable Development Initiative; establishing a permanent Equitable Development Initiative Advisory Board; and adding new Sections 3.14.994, 3.14.995, 3.14.996, 3.14.997, and 3.14.998 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, the Equitable Development Implementation Plan seeks to create the structures and expertise needed to create a racially and socially equitable Seattle; and
WHEREAS, the creation of the Equitable Development Initiative was rooted in the collaborative activism of community members seeking to develop new structures of partnership with the City; and
WHEREAS, the Equitable Development Initiative seeks to directly repair the harms caused by Seattle's history of racial exclusion and disenfranchisement; and
WHEREAS, political and civic disenfranchisement has been at the core of perpetuating disparate outcomes and displacement for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, immigrant communities, LGBTQ communities, and people with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, successful implementation of race and social equity strategies requires building structures of accountability that serve to further the empowerment of those historically marginalized from institutional power; and
WHEREAS, the City acknowledges that developing in-depth knowledge about the needs of the City's historically marginalized communities requires time, talent, and expertise to develop. Further, that persistent barriers exist for people from marginalized communities who have developed this expertise to be able to engage with City processes; and
WHEREAS, in 2004, the City of Seattle launched the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI), led by the Office for Civil Rights, with the vision of achieving racial equity in the community and the mission of ending institutional and structural racism in City government and partnering with...
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