The Seattle City Council voted, 6-3, to remove 80 sworn officer positions from the proposed two-year budget.
In response, Seattle Metro Chamber President and CEO Rachel Smith issued this statement:
"Budgets are a clear reflection of priorities and voters have shown remarkable agreement on an all-of-the above approach to
public safety – one that includes the right number of officers, in addition to reforms and diversified emergency responses.
This September, 73% of voters agreed that hiring more police officers should be an immediate priority for the city.
Despite the voters’ alignment on this issue, today the Seattle City Council took a vote to cut 80 police officer positions, as
well as reduce funding to other police programs and investments. While much was said about how these positions and
investments could potentially be restored in future years, we need to call a spade a spade: this was an opportunity to rebuild
trust with the voters by investing in our public safety system, and today’s actions further erode the system and public trust.
Our community is progressive and wants to see progress on the most-pressing issues. And despite economic uncertainty,
the city is well-positioned to do that: we know the priorities of the voters and the City has resources, having financially
recovered from the pandemic, moved several of its costly programs to be funded by levy lid lifts, has revenues that are
growing at a rate higher than population and inflation, and has nearly $300 million in new revenue from the payroll expense
tax. By making a plan and prioritizing the use of revenues, we can make progress."
Original source can be found here.
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