Hello Neighbors, 

I wanted to share with you my opening remarks from our last Public Safety Committee meeting, following another weekend of gun violence — this time in Belltown. 

“We have neighborhoods in crisis. Earlier this year in April, I was speaking about Little Saigon, and then we had North Aurora Avenue. Today, it’s Belltown. This weekend we had multiple gun violence incidents — one at Denny Way and Clay Street near Third Avenue. And then not far from there, at Third and Blanchard, another shooting. 

“As the Seattle Times reported “Two Dead, Two Hurt in Belltown Shootings Near a Raucous Street Takeover.”  I would add, and a chronic hot spot of Third Avenue and Blanchard. Then the next night, Elliot Avenue and Bell Street, and then down to Alaskan Way.  

“Seattle Times the next day: “Six People Shot in Belltown in 24 Hours. Teen Dies in Latest Gunfire.” This adds to the challenges that Belltown has been facing day in and day out, week in and week out. Primarily at Second Avenue and Lenora/Third Avenue and Blanchard, and elsewhere in the neighborhood. But this is new. Gun violence has increased. Looking at this from a City Council and committee perspective:  we’ve added to our Strategic Framework Plan a pillar for Gun Violence Intervention and Reduction and Community Safety.  

“Earlier this year, we had it as an agenda item speaking to the issue of gun violence intervention, which is very important. And then this summer, we had the National Network for Safer Communities here in Seattle with Councilmember Rivera hosting and partnering with the Executive, including the deputy mayor, others from the executive branch, and a large contingent from Seattle Police Department (SPD). Today, we have a resolution that has been proffered by Councilmember Rivera that builds on this safety plan, and we need to continue to build on it, because we cannot continue to have this gun violence. 

For those of us that came in two and a half years ago, we have had tragedies like Amarr Murphy-Paine, for example, all these names that we remember — there’s no justice for those families. It will be difficult for those families who were impacted on Labor Day weekend, and our city, once again.  

“We must press forward with gun violence intervention. We need to do the work, to partner with the mayor and her team to do this, to have a comprehensive approach — and that includes SPD staffing. The City Council has passed a number of bills and progress has been made from the trough of massive losses of officers. We were making progress on this front, and that is what’s key.  

“Our police officers deserve more back-up and our citizens deserve more officers on the street. We cannot become flat-footed when it comes to hiring more officers to increase SPD staffing because it is the thru-line of all these public safety challenges that we’re facing — and we must do better on this front.  

“As I said recently, we’re at an inflection point — multiple inflection points, really. The Bite of Seattle is an inflection point– as I note, adversity reveals. The removal of the Chief of Police and the search for a new Chief of Police is also an inflection point.  Our public safety budget is another inflection point, and a major one, to be blunt. We need leadership on this front that is sustained with follow-up and follow-through, and that includes our budget. We also need the implementation of laws. We’ve often talked about SODA and SOAP, but we also need to work on street racing — a bill we passed two years ago — in addition to other public safety bills, such as police staffing. We need a commitment to our neighborhoods in crisis. Little Saigon, North Aurora Avenue, and now Belltown.  

“Confidence can be gained in terms of what we’re doing with our upcoming budget, and that we can move forward. But right now, let’s look at Little Saigon. Let’s Look at North Aurora. Let’s look at Belltown, where we had three dead and many injured. This is why we need to continue this work, including the review with the Office of the Inspector General for the City of Seattle, because at the end of the day, coming back to gun violence, this is what we need:  a comprehensive strategy in partnership with all of the stakeholders involved.”