August 2024

Criticism of the Council’s new proposed drug and sex work laws continues

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Happy Seattle City Council recess! Let’s take a look at what’s been going on the last few weeks.

Seattle’s proposed SODA/SOAP laws:

Perhaps the biggest local public safety story of the past two weeks has been the proposed SODA and SOAP legislation. You can read my summary and analysis of the two bills over at The Urbanist. 

KUOW reported on the differences in crime rates on Aurora in Shoreline as opposed to Seattle:

“[Jim Hammond] pointed to the 8-foot-wide sidewalks, and medians planted with trees, which he said can prevent collisions and provide more safety for pedestrians. These and other upgrades took twelve years and cost $140 million dollars. But Hammond believes they do more to deter prostitution and other types of disorder than the city’s criminal penalties.

“Environments matter,” he said. “If it looks well cared for, and you know people are going to continue to care for it, it just has a different effect on the behavior people are going to engage in in that space.””

The South Seattle Emerald ran an opinion piece discussing the harm caused by a video Councilmember Cathy Moore screened at an open city council committee meeting that showed sex workers walking up and down Aurora Avenue without their consent.

PubliCola did an analysis showing that focusing on “johns” or sex buyers has not historically reduced sex work taking place on Aurora and has a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino men. It also found from court data that SOAP orders were rarely enforced against men. The article quotes Gordon Hill, deputy director at the King County Department of Public Defense as saying, “I think what this law does is going to be incredibly disproportionate. It’s going to be people with immigration challenges, it’s going to be poor people, it’s going to be people of color. So the degree to which it works at all is only going to [exacerbate] the inequities in our criminal legal system.”

Overall there has been a lot of resistance to the proposed SOAP bill. Less featured in articles has been the similar SODA bill that targets downtown and CID drug users. But this bill also has concerning ramifications, as I explain in my article:

“The SODA bill would make it much easier for the City Attorney’s office to criminalize poverty and substance abuse disorder. As it stands now, when someone is arrested for public drug use, their drug use must be proven in court. This requires sending samples to the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory, which is currently backed up. But if someone is put under a SODA order, they can later be arrested for violating that order, and their drug use never has to be proven in order for them to be convicted of a gross misdemeanor.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council just adopted a resolution against both these pieces of legislation. 

The public safety committee will take up these two bills again on Tuesday, September 10. 

Other Seattle News:

I also had a piece in The Urbanist about the newly announced school safety plan for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Here are the investments being made:

  • $5.6 million for additional school-based mental health counselors and a health coordinator totaling 42 new positions (City of Seattle)
  • $2.4 million for telehealth therapy services (City of Seattle)
  • $4.25 million for violence interruption programs in partnership with community-based organizations, including safe passage programs, new violence intervention specialists working directly out of focus schools, individual case management for those students most likely to experience gun violence, and a new family resource fund. (City of Seattle)
  • $2.3 million for increasing staffing on the safety and security team, including hiring an executive director of student and community safety, and school infrastructure such as cameras, perimeter fencing and gate improvements, and classroom door lock enhancements (Seattle Public Schools)

The city’s $12.25 million investment is all coming from the tiny increase in the JumpStart payroll tax passed by the city council during last year’s budget deliberations. However, both the Mayor and the Council declined to spend the full $20 million amount available this year in spite of students’ urgent requests for further assistance. It will be interesting to see if the full $20 million amount is included in Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget coming out on September 24.

The Community Police Commission (CPC) continues to implode. PubliCola announced on August 23 that the CPC had hired an acting director to fill in for current Director Cali Ellis, who is on administrative leave. Then, less than a week later, PubliCola reported that the new acting director is already leaving for a new position.

Former SPD Chief Adrian Diaz is still classified as Police Chief three months after his removal from the position and is still being paid more than $28,000 per month. Interim Chief Sue Rahr is also being paid, and the total annual compensation for keeping both Chiefs on the books would be almost $700,000. It’s enough to make one wonder how concerned City Hall really is about the upcoming budget deficit.

The new city council continues to receive high levels of criticism for behavior opponents characterize as “undemocratic.” 

The Stranger ran down many of the issues, flubs, and concerning choices coming out of the council so far this year:

“After the City’s unofficial legislative session ended this month, it doesn’t look like the council pleasantly surprised any of their progressive constituents. Instead, the council steamrolled them, stifled them, betrayed them, belittled them, and arrested them–all in the service of a wealthier, older, and whiter Seattle. The only pleasant surprise came in the form of the body’s incompetence and fragility, which delayed some of its most egregious attacks on working people and the poor.”

And an op-ed in The South Seattle Emerald states:

”Policy disagreements can be intense, but we expect our civic leaders to avoid making it personal and focus on legislating. Despite their repeated commitments and pledges of “good governance,” this does not appear to be a core value of the current council majority.”

King County News

The King County Council has been having an interesting week when it comes to youth detention. The Law & Justice committee was slated to once more discuss their legislation changing definitions of what constitutes “solitary confinement” for youth. However, they chose to defer that discussion to allow for feedback from the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD). King County will soon enter their budget season, meaning if they don’t hold a special meeting, the council committee won’t be able to take up this work until after a new budget has been approved later in the fall.

The King County Council also passed a non-binding resolution proposed by Councilmember Reagan Dunn committing to keep the Patricia Clark Children and Family Justice Center open. This is in opposition to Executive Dow Constantine’s 2020 commitment to close the youth jail, a promise he postponed earlier this year. All councilmembers voted in favor of the resolution except Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who was absent.

As PubliCola reported: “As of today, there are 59 young people, from 12 to 18 years old, incarcerated at the youth jail, with another 48 on electronic home detention; 61 percent of them are Black.”

King County Metro reported on their highest one-day total ridership in the last four years. About safety, they said: “Security incidents in 2023 were down 12% from 2019 (before the pandemic) and down 22% from the peak in 2020. Drug-related incidents in April 2024 were down 55% from April 2023.”

Recent Headlines:

 

Criticism of the Council’s new proposed drug and sex work laws continues Read More »

Seattle City Council Gets a Little Bit Messy

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Seattle News:

First off, allow me to highlight my article last week at the Urbanist about the new rushed SCORE jail contract being considered by Seattle City Council. The contract was then passed by full Council vote last Tuesday. 

In fact, that meeting on Tuesday, August 6 was such a doozie that I was hearing about it even though I was on vacation. The Council was supposed to vote on whether to put I-137 (funding for social housing) on the November ballot, and for this reason Council President Sara Nelson said she was limiting public comment to one hour even though many people had signed up to speak out against the new jail contract. 

After the public comment period, Councilmember Bob Kettle moved to remove the procedural vote on putting I-137 on the ballot from the agenda, citing some unknown last minute legal concerns. What these legal reasons might be is unclear, as any legal issue with the initiative itself would likely be a matter for the courts, not the City Council. The delay passed on a 7-1 vote, with Councilmember Cathy Moore abstaining and Councilmember Tammy Morales voting against. Morales suggested that delaying the vote would open the councilmembers up to a recall.

A recall would require making the argument that the Council was acting in a political manner by deliberately intending to place the initiative on a less advantageous ballot by delaying it until a special election in February. The longer they wait to act upon the initiative and the more other business they do while waiting, the more they open themselves up to a potential recall challenge. 

However, at this Tuesday’s (8/13) full Council meeting, during the I-137 agenda item, the council had someone available to answer questions, and not a single councilmember availed themselves of this opportunity. There wasn’t any discussion or conversation about the initiative. In comparing this initiative to Council actions around previous initiatives, one could begin to build a case that this is a deviation from established practice, which is what would be required to show political intent and support a recall action. 

For now we’ll wait and see if the council advances a serious alternative to I-137 and how long it takes them to accomplish this.

Meanwhile, at last week’s meeting, those present for public comment, many of whom hadn’t been allowed to speak, were understandably upset by the delay of the I-137 vote, especially considering that had been the stated reason for not letting them speak. The meeting was interrupted by their protests, and after taking two ten-minute recesses, Nelson gave up and conducted the rest of the meeting remotely.

The SCORE jail contract was passed with an amendment that requires the Mayor’s office report on operational issues with the new plan. However, the amendment did not require that any fixes be found for issues, and the total price tag of the new contract is still in question.

This Tuesday, August 13, was also a big day for the Seattle city council. In the morning the public safety committee met to discuss the new SODA and SOAP legislation that further criminalizes drug use and sex work, including by establishing specific geographic zones where people can be banned from entering due to previous arrests. I’ll have an article out in the Urbanist next week with more analysis, but in the meantime, you can read a lot more about it here:

Then at the afternoon full council meeting, the council voted on the mid-year supplemental budget. Councilmember Tammy Morales made one last attempt to recover the remaining $10 million promised to students for mental health resources during budget season last year, but she was thwarted by Councilmember Dan Strauss, who proposed an amendment allocating $2.25 million of those dollars. His amendment passed with a unanimous vote. 

The new supplemental budget approved by Council this week included $800,000 for additional SPD marketing, for which the city is already paying $2.6 million in 2024.

The Council will be on their summer recess starting August 19 through Labor Day. Publication of Notes from the Emerald City might be a bit sporadic during this time, but fear not, I am busily gearing up for budget season!

Other News Tidbits

You can take a look at SPD’s new animated recruitment ads here.

Seattle’s latest budget forecast saw next year’s budget deficit expand by another $7 million. The deficit is now believed to be more than $260 million.

The City of Seattle learned of additional money coming their way from opioid settlements, and Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the expenditure of $2.85 million to support additional bed capacity at Valley Cities Recovery Place Seattle in Beacon Hill. The investment will pay for approximately 13 additional detox and inpatient treatment beds that could serve as many as 150 people per year. 

‘Operation Safe Transit’ is a pilot program operated by King County and the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) launched on May 1 to “make transit safer, combat crime, and provide behavioral health supports and resources, particularly along the transit corridor in downtown Seattle.” So far the initiative has resulted in 86 arrests. Since May, the King County Jail has made exceptions to bookings for misdemeanor crimes committed in the transit system at the request of KCSO.

PubliCola did a great job documenting the dysfunction and problems at the Community Police Commission (CPC), one of Seattle’s three police accountability bodies. 

Important dates coming up: 

  • On August 27, the full King County Council will consider whether to support the eventual closure of youth detention as has been laid out by Executive Dow Constantine. 
  • On August 28, King County’s Law & Justice committee will once again take up the matter of youth solitary confinement.
  • Also on August 28, there will be a Seattle Public School school board meeting, the final one before the new school year begins. 

Recent Headlines:

Seattle City Council Gets a Little Bit Messy Read More »

Seattle electeds are feeling especially “tough on crime” this week

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Has anyone else been feeling like local news has been moving at a breakneck pace this summer? Or is it just me?

In any case, I’m off on vacation next week, so we’ll have to play catch up when I’m back. In the meantime, happy voting in the primary next week!

Seattle News:

You can now read my piece over at the Urbanist about problems with SPD backgrounding highlighted in the Kevin Dave case, the police entrance exam continuing to be used as a scapegoat, and attacks by SPD and SPOG against Seattle’s police accountability system.

In other news of SPD backgrounding problems, Divest SPD uncovered that another SPD officer, Detective Anthony Belgarde, hit and killed a man with his car a year before applying to SPD. SPD was aware of the incident and hired him anyway. 

Belgarde has a spotty history since then, documented by DivestSPD, which includes an off-duty brawl for which OPA missed the investigation deadline, an alleged incident of drunk driving, and firing wildly at a car (a case for which OPA sustained allegations but the police chief overturned them). Right now he’s under investigation for pulling over a bus in his unmarked car.

This week the public safety committee heard a presentation on the new proposed contract between the City and the SCORE jail down in Des Moines. I’ll have a story about this out soon at the Urbanist, but in the meantime, you can read about it here and here. The new jail legislation passed out of committee on a 4-0 vote with Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth abstaining. It is expected to cost a minimum of $2 million per year, but we won’t know what other expenses related to the contract will be until Mayor Bruce Harrell releases his proposed budget at the end of September.

It’s also worth noting this new SCORE contract could have longer-term implications for how the City’s criminal legal system operates.

The new SCORE contract is expected to be voted on at Full Council on Tuesday, August 6 at 2pm. 

Also next week will be a discussion of the mid-year supplemental budget and proposed amendments by the Select Budget committee on Wednesday, August 7 at 9:30am. One of the issues on the table will be whether Seattle students will be receiving the full $20 million passed in the 2024 budget for student mental health and related needs, or whether they will only be receiving half the funds as Harrell has proposed.

In addition, two new pieces of public safety legislation were proposed this week. 

City Attorney Ann Davison proposed a “Stay out of Drug Area” (SODA) that would authorize the court to prohibit someone charged with violating drug laws from entering a certain geographic zone: one zone would be downtown and the other would be in the CID. This law would impact people affected by the new public drug use law passed last year, and the ban from these zones could be enacted against people who have not yet been convicted of any crime. A violation of a SODA order would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $5000.

As PubliCola reports, Seattle has tried this approach before: “Seattle tried SODAs and similar strategies to ban people from going into certain parts of the city during the period when Mark Sidran was city attorney, issuing thousands of orders against people who were banned from setting foot in certain parts of the city, even if they were not breaking any other law. The orders contributed to tremendous racial disparities in the jail and criminal legal system during that period, and did not “clean up” or otherwise eradicate longtime “hot spots” for drug activity, including Third Avenue downtown and the area around 12th and Jackson in Little Saigon.”

Councilmember Cathy Moore proposed legislation cracking down on prostitution along Aurora. The legislation consists of 3 parts:

  1. It creates a new prostitution loitering law similar to the one repealed by City Council in 2020. 
  2. It creates a new gross misdemeanor offense of promoting loitering for the purposes of prostitution.
  3. It creates a “Stay out of area Prostitution” (SOAP) that would operate similar to the SODA described above, except for an area around Aurora Ave prohibiting someone charged from a prostitution-related crime from entering the area.

Both 2 and 3 above would both be gross misdemeanors as well, meaning they could result in a jail stay of up to 364 days and/or a $5000 fine. 

Once again, PubliCola is on top of covering this new proposal, writing, “Although officials who spoke in favor of the new law on Thursday said they preferred to focus on sex buyers, and to offer services for the “victims of sex trafficking” on Aurora, the new legislation focuses primarily on sex workers and includes no new services to help women and others who want to get out of sex work. It says that “diversion” should be the “preferred alternative” for sex workers caught violating the proposed new laws, but does not specify what the city considers “diversion” or propose new funding for diversion programs.”

Both legislative proposals will be heard at the next public safety committee meeting on Tuesday, August 13 at 9:30am.

Also this week, Chief Amy Smith was confirmed as the official head of the CARE department.

King County News:

The county’s first walk-in crisis care center opens in Kirkland next week. It will provide mental health treatment to folks regardless as to whether they have health insurance or are able to pay. It has three tiers of services: urgent care, an observation unit for stays of up to 23 hours, and beds for stays of up to 2 weeks. The building of the center was not funded by the crisis center levy passed last year, but the center does plan to apply to be one of the five total sites to be funded by the levy.

Executive Dow Constantine announced the County’s Civic Campus Initiative Report this week. Of note is the report’s recommendation to move the County’s courthouse and jail facilities away from downtown, possibly to a location in SODO. The report proposes using a 15-year timeline.

Recent Headlines:

 

Seattle electeds are feeling especially “tough on crime” this week Read More »