From: Durkan, Jenny Sent: Sunday, August 9, 2020 9:32 PM To: Gonzalez, Lorena ; Herbold, Lisa ; Juarez, Debora ; Lewis, Andrew ; Morales, Tammy ; Mosqueda, Teresa ; Pedersen, Alex ; Sawant, Kshama ; Strauss, Dan Cc: Auriemma, Anthony ; Fong, Michael ; Best, Carmen ; Ranganathan, Shefali ; Sixkiller, Casey Subject: 2020 Budget Concerns and Community Engagement Plan Dear Council President González and Councilmembers, Thank you for Council’s recent outreach regarding collaboration in the coming months on the 2021 budget and the SPD budget more broadly. I look forward to Council seeking the collaborative input of SPD moving forward, as this approach is best for the city. As discussed below, I propose that we come together and create a common community engagement plan and process for charting the future of community safety in Seattle. We do our best work when we meet, listen to communities across our city, discuss differences, and focus on common ground and shared goals. We have made enduring change by doing so. I do, however, want to again voice some specific concerns regarding your 2020 proposed balancing package. As I have discussed with some of you and have stated publicly, it was unusual for Council not to consult with Chief Best on proposed budget amendments that have operational impacts on SPD. Not only does the City Charter vest her with management responsibility for the department, it also mandates that the City maintain adequate police coverage in every part of the city. Her role as Chief, and her nearly 30 years of experience seem disregarded by the Council. In the spirit of collaboration, there are four issues in your proposed 2020 budget that I request you reconsider and revise. I stand ready to discuss them with you: • • • • Laying off at least 100 sworn officers and the true limitations of “out of order” rules The effective elimination of the Navigation Team, including laying off City employees in the Human Service’s Department Cuts to the salaries of Chief Best and her leadership team Cuts and changes to SPD that could implicate the City’s obligations under the Consent Decree First, since June, the City Attorney’s Office, outside counsel, SPD, and labor relations have advised all of us regarding the challenges and complexities of the PSCSC, collective bargaining, and potential litigation regarding layoffs of sworn officers through the out of order layoff process. The recent letter from the City’s Labor Relations director and consistent advice from the City Attorney’s Office has been that it is not possible to occur by November 1 as your balancing package assumes. As doing any layoffs requires a strict process, the Chief has concluded she would have to lay off recruits and student officers to meet Council’s current budget reduction proposal for 2020. While the Chief nor I are disputing the need to reduce specialty units or a future attempt of out of order layoffs, we are disputing the continued assumption – against the advice of all outside parties - that this process can be completed in less than three months from now. Tomorrow, it would be helpful if all of Council could explicitly confirm that it agrees the department should seek to avoid laying off the newest, diverse cohort of officers and sets expectations for the community that the currently proposed out of order layoffs will not be possible for 2020. Second, I hope Council can clarify their intentions regarding the Navigation Team as the Council has stated three different three positions: encampment removals will continue to occur but by Seattle Police Department patrol officers rather than officers trained in trauma informed approaches; encampment removals will no longer occur; and encampment removals will now be performed by contracted service providers like REACH. I agree we should assess the use of police in outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness. But we must be honest that there have been, and will continue to be, encampments that are public safety and public health hazards, and historically contracted service providers have been reluctant to be on the frontline in such encampments, especially during COVID-19. Council appears intent on determining the future of the Navigation Team as a policy decision without first making a policy decision regarding how the City will address hazardous encampments. The current rebalancing package eliminates not just police in such circumstances, it eliminates all resources except litter removal – including the staff positions at the Human Services Department who are responsible for coordinating and prioritizing outreach to the hundreds of encampments located across the City. During COVID-19, this team has done lifesaving work to connect individuals with shelter. I oppose these cuts, and do not believe they make Seattle more compassionate. I have been and remain open to any range of different approaches with performance metrics. But eliminating all this work, without a substitute approach will have impact on all parts of our city. Third, I request that Council amend its action that cuts the salaries of Chief Best and her Command Staff. Chief Best is a recognized national leader in policing, and she has assembled one of the most diverse leadership teams in the country. Many in the command staff worked their way up the ranks during a time when doing so was extraordinary for women, LGBTQ+ people, and officers of color. In all the conversations I have had with Council, no one ever suggested cutting Chief Best’s salary almost in half or her team’s salaries by about 40 percent. Instead, the vote to cut the Chief’s salary and her team came the day after the Chief criticized Council’s budget proposal in a press conference with me. This surprise vote seems retaliatory, punitive, and specifically targeted towards the Chief. I do not believe its legal as the Chief’s written contract and other written contracts and agreements for pay with individual employees cannot be changed by ordinance. In fact, the City Charter mandates that I take steps to enforce and honor all contracts and agreements. It is hard to view these significant salary cuts as just budget driven, as no other department leadership was similarly targeted as part of Council’s consideration of the 2020 rebalancing package. Fourth, Judge Robart already paused Council’s action that unilaterally changed court approved policies regarding use of force and crowd control before those changes could be reviewed and considered by the accountability partners and the court. As the Judge noted earlier this week, all of the City’s budget actions regarding SPD must be mindful of the City’s obligations under the Consent Decree. This includes cuts to training, data performance and measurements, transparency and public outreach, the number of supervisors, and related policies. Some of the cuts Council has made clearly implicate the City’s obligations under the Consent Decree. I propose that before making such cuts, we have a joint working group that includes the City Attorney’s office to identify and address these issues. We know how to work together. I meet with most of you on a regular basis. I talk with a number of you more frequently. Together, we have advanced many important things for our city, including: • • • • • • An education levy that has broadly expanded free quality preschool and two years free college for our public high school students. To date, this program has largely benefited BIPOC students; A transit package that will be on this Fall’s ballot to provide essential transit service for Seattle and continue free transit for our young people; A bill to create groundbreaking labor protections for Uber and Lyft drivers, which will be further in the coming weeks; A national model for protections for domestic workers; Over $233 million in emergency COVID-19 assistance for 2020, for essentials like food security, rental assistance and small business stabilization; and A law prohibiting eviction during the COVID-19 emergencies, which I have extended through the end of the year. I think all of us agree that this type of collaboration has been missing in recent months. Nowhere is this more evident than on issues regarding policing, community safety, and our budget challenges in 2020 and 2021. I know I can do more here, and I will work on my part to change this. I truly believe that we can find common ground between the vision that Chief Best and I have laid out and the vision expressed by a majority of the Council. The Chief and I have made clear that we believe there needs to be significant new investments in the Black community and that we can and must reimagine policing while expanding programs that support community safety like Health One. I would welcome the opportunity to forge a common, broad community engagement around policing. Former Mayor Norm Rice did so around the issues of education, at a time our city was deeply divided. Today’s community debates about policing reflects many of the same issues of systemic racism and inequities, and its impacts on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Moving forward with separate or clashing engagement paths will only increase and prolong division and confusion. I believe Council President Gonzalez is prepared to appoint several Councilmembers to meet and work with the Chief and I with support staff and department support as needed. Combining the Council resolution, input from our City departments and other community stakeholders, I hope that we can design a comprehensive and accountable community engagement process that will shape and implement a bold action plan for broader community safety. At a time of immense challenges for our city, we must endeavor to work together to lead the nation in transforming a new community safety approach. Sincerely, Jenny