Seattle City Council Must Be Urged to Move the Funds for Seattle’s Winning Participatory Budget Projects— Not a Choice, but a Promise That’s Collecting Dust

The goal of this PB process was to directly invest in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities consistent with applicable law and to increase the ownership and participation of City residents in solutions to the city’s pressing needs. 

The following 6 projects were identified as desired community investments:

- $7.2M to fund a Duwamish-centered community center that will offer programs to foster community engagement and cultural preservation
- $2M to fund mental health professionals to be first responders to mental health crises
- $2M to fund housing navigation and assistance for people experiencing homelessness or housing instability
- $7.2M to fund the staffing and maintenance of public restrooms and hygiene facilities 
- $7M to fund urban farming and food equity through leasing green space to increase access to fresh food, local business ownership, and training for small-scale farmers 
- $1.85M to fund housing support for homeless youth and young adults and also convene and compensate a youth committee to oversee outreach efforts and resource connections. 

Right now, with the current City Council, tensions are rising and the possibility of City Council abandoning the finished participatory work grows. City Council might not move the funds to where they belong and even worse, City Council is likely hoping to reabsorb the $27M to compensate for Seattle’s $230M budget deficit. This is not okay, $27M is barely 12% of the deficit, but this specific $27M has been sitting for years, depreciating in value, and community has been wondering if it even exists. Why would you reabsorb money that was already pledged to be for reinvesting in community? If City Council reabsorbs these funds, what precedent does that set for future community investments and the lack of consequences for broken promises?

To not implement the winning projects would mean to disrespect the cumulative efforts of the people who labored for this process to happen. BIPOC communities, but especially Black communities, were promised community investments, and to deny it to them after waiting years would cause and has already caused unforgivable damage to the trust community members put in the City’s elected officials to keep promises and maintain positive relations with constituents. 

For the City to preach about equity and claim to ‘recognize that systemic racism through the investments and policies by government and the private sector have caused generational harm and resulted in disinvestments in Black, Indigenous, and communities of color’ (Equitable Communities Initiative 2021), but not do the appropriate reinvestment in BIPOC communities is an insult to the abundance of advocacy seen in Seattle led by and in support of the most vulnerable populations.

Even if you don't support the specific winning projects, you should be for community investments or otherwise the Solidarity Budget https://www.seattlesolidaritybudget.com/

Additional Resources: 

Statement from Community Reps ​

CB 120774 (Carry Over Legislation)​

Give a public comment!​

Tell Council to Vote NO to CM Riviera’s amendment CB 120774 (Cutting $51M from EDI)