As the new Seattle City Council passes its 100th day in office, Councilmember Bob Kettle (District 7, Chair of the Public Safety Committee) is issuing an open letter to all Seattleites. In it, he urges the community not to become resigned to the current state of the city’s public safety challenges and lays out his framework for how Seattle can overcome them.
The letter outlines his strategic framework — how he plans to use his role, as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, to work toward solutions. That includes:
- Strengthening police staffing,
- Creating and amending ordinances to aid all elements of public safety,
- Tackling the impacts of dangerous and unsecured vacant buildings,
- Abating graffiti and developing new ways to stomp it out,
- Improving behavioral health and addiction services, and
- Better engaging with our county and state partners on public safety.
“We envision a future where families feel safe sending their children on the bus to school, businesses can operate without paying for private security, and the city can respond in a timely and appropriate manner to people experiencing acute crises,” Councilmember Kettle says in the letter.
Importantly, the letter also calls for an all-hands on deck approach to solving our public safety challenges, urging community members to get involved.
“Each of us plays a key role,” he writes. “Whether it’s volunteering on your local Block Watch, actively getting to know members of your community, calling 9-1-1 or filing a report with a first responder agency or with Find It, Fix It, with your help, we can turn the tide and no longer be by-standers, resigned to current circumstances.”