Case 2:12-cv-01282-JLR Document 613 Filed 05/07/20 Page 1 of 5 THE HONORABLE JAMES L. ROBART 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 9 Plaintiff, 10 v. 11 CITY OF SEATTLE, 12 Defendant. 13 ) ) Case No. 2:12-cv-01282-JLR ) ) DECLARATION OF ) BEN NOBLE ) ) ) ) ) 14 I, Ben Noble, being familiar with the facts set forth herein based on my personal 15 knowledge, and being competent to testify, hereby declare under penalty of perjury that the 16 following is true and correct: 17 1. I am the Director of the City of Seattle Budget Office. My responsibilities include 18 developing and monitoring the City’s annual budget, carrying out budget-related functions, and 19 overseeing fiscal policy and financial planning activities. 20 21 22 Impacts of COVID-19 On City Budget and Operations 2. The unprecedented public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has placed an extraordinary burden on the City. The City must devote a significant share of its 23 DECLARATION OF BEN NOBLE - 1 (12-CV-01282-JLR) Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:12-cv-01282-JLR Document 613 Filed 05/07/20 Page 2 of 5 1 limited resources—both human and financial—to address a myriad of urgent issues in order to protect 2 the public health and safety of its residents. 3 3. Since the Mayor declared a Proclamation of Civil Emergency on March 3, 2020, 4 the City has been working rapidly to assist those most impacted and vulnerable residents by 5 helping people buy food and groceries, distributing grants to small businesses, funding emergency 6 child-care services, and providing shelters for our homeless population. To date, the City has spent 7 an estimated $22 million on new COVID-19 response efforts, and the City expects to spend at 8 least $100 million more in the coming weeks and months on COVID-19 related expenditures and 9 relief. The Mayor has issued six Emergency Orders in the last two and a half months to respond to 10 these various challenges and directed unprecedented resources to helping the City’s residents 11 combat this pandemic. 12 4. The City has activated its Emergency Operations Center and most departments are 13 operating under its emergency Continuity of Operations Plan. Under this plan, Seattle police 14 officers, firefighters, and medics are essential employees on the frontlines of combating the public 15 health emergency. Of the 2,000 SPD employees, approximately 236 employees are on COVID-19 16 related leave. The City’s approximately 13,000 total employees have had to quickly adapt to 17 teleworking (60 percent) in addition to the essential employees (20 percent) who are working on 18 priority essential work and report to work onsite. The remaining members of the City workforce 19 are being redeployed to support the City’s essential functions or are on COVID-19 related leave, 20 which includes employees who cannot work due to facility closure or those deemed to be high- 21 risk, vulnerable, immune compromised per CDC guidance, and/or have been exposed to COVID- 22 19. This reduced workforce comes at a time when demands on City services are greater than ever. 23 DECLARATION OF BEN NOBLE - 2 (12-CV-01282-JLR) Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:12-cv-01282-JLR Document 613 Filed 05/07/20 Page 3 of 5 1 5. In addition, the unexpected shutdown of the local economy has created great 2 uncertainty about the City’s finances. The City anticipates a 2020 revenue shortfall of between 3 $210 million and $300 million, with a significant risk of an even greater impact. Moreover, the 4 City is entering a period of sustained and severe fiscal difficulty. Revenues are not expected to 5 recover to pre-crisis levels for several years. 6 6. In response, the City has put in place stringent measures such as a hiring freeze and 7 a moratorium on entering into new professional contracts in all areas that are not related to the 8 COVID-19 response. All discretionary general fund spending has been put on hold, unless it is 9 either related to the COVID-19 response or is potentially reimbursable by the state or federal 10 government. Consent Decree-Related Expenses 11 12 7. Over the life of this Consent Decree, the City has invested over $100 million in 13 both required and complementary reforms, including the purchase and implementation of new 14 technology platforms. The majority are one-time costs that will not be repeated. These costs 15 include establishing a new bureau within the Seattle Police Department (SPD), the Professional 16 Standards Bureau, responsible for compliance and internal accountability; re-training all officers 17 on the reformed, Court-approved policies; designing a sophisticated data analytics platform to 18 track policing outcomes; augmenting the role of OPA, and establishing the Community Police 19 Commission and Office of the Inspector General. 20 8. There are also recurring costs that the City will maintain after the Consent Decree 21 ends in order to maintain standards of excellence and ensure constitutional policing. They include, 22 for example, salary and benefits of personnel in the Professional Standards Bureau, maintenance 23 of SPD’s data analytics platform, the operating budget of the Community Police Commission, and DECLARATION OF BEN NOBLE - 3 (12-CV-01282-JLR) Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:12-cv-01282-JLR Document 613 Filed 05/07/20 Page 4 of 5 1 the operating budget of the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety. These costs will not end 2 when the Consent Decree ends. In 2019, City expenditures on the independent police 3 accountability system were $4.2 million on OPA, $1.7 million on OIG, and $1.5 million on CPC. 4 The City anticipates continued expenditures at similar levels (within current budget realities) to 5 support the permanent ongoing costs for the robust civilian police accountability system. 6 9. In addition, over the life of the Consent Decree, the City has paid the Court- 7 appointed Monitoring Team compensation of approximately one million dollars annually for a 8 total of $7.9 million over the past seven and a half years. After the City achieved full and effective 9 compliance on January 10, 2018, the Monitor’s expenditures remained steady throughout the two- 10 year Sustainment Period. Concluding the monitoring activities related to the Sustainment Plan 11 areas would allow the City to reallocate critical resources at a time of fiscal difficulty. 12 13 14 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. DATED this 6th day of May, 2020 at Seattle, King County, Washington. 15 16 17 _____________________________ BEN NOBLE 18 19 20 21 22 23 DECLARATION OF BEN NOBLE - 4 (12-CV-01282-JLR) Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:12-cv-01282-JLR Document 613 Filed 05/07/20 Page 5 of 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 1 2 I hereby certify that on May 7, 2020, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of 3 the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to the following: 4 Brian T. Moran Brian.Moran@usdoj.gov 5 Christina Fogg Christina.Fogg@usdoj.gov Matt Waldrop james.waldrop@usdoj.gov Kerry Jane Keefe kerry.keefe@usdoj.gov Peter Samuel Holmes peter.holmes@seattle.gov Jeff Murray jeff.murray@usdoj.gov Ronald R. Ward Ron@wardsmithlaw.com Timothy D. Mygatt timothy.mygatt@usdoj.gov Gary T. Smith gary.smith@seattle.gov Hillary H. McClure hillarym@vjmlaw.com Kristina M. Detwiler kdetwiler@unionattorneysnw.com David A. Perez dperez@perkinscoie.com Anna Thompson annathompson@perkinscoie.com 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Merrick Bobb mbobb@pacbell.net 14 Bruce E.H. Johnson brucejohnson@dwt.com 15 Eric M. Stahl ericstahl@dwt.com 16 DATED this 7th day of May, 2020, at Seattle, King County, Washington. s/ Kerala T. Cowart Kerala T. Cowart, WSBA #53649 Assistant City Attorney E-mail: kerala.cowart@seattle.gov 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DECLARATION OF BEN NOBLE - 5 (12-CV-01282-JLR) Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 684-8200