Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6 – NW Seattle) issued the following statement in response to Chief Carmen Best announcing her retirement: “I am saddened by Chief Best’s decision to retire after 28 years of service – this is a tremendous loss for our city. Chief Best was in an impossible position, caught between the Police […]

Council President M. Lorena González, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and Councilmember Tammy J. Morales issued the following statement in response to Seattle Police Department Chief Carmen Best announcing her plan to retire: “Together we want to thank Chief Carmen Best for her dedication to the people of Seattle during her twenty-eight years of public service. Throughout […]

Councilmember Debora Juarez (District 5, North Seattle), Chair of the Council’s Public Assets and Native Communities Committee, issued the following statement after Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced she is retiring: “I was disheartened to hear of Chief Best’s resignation. She has dedicated nearly thirty years of service to the people of Seattle, and for […]

Seattle, WA — Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1 – West Seattle), Chair of the Public Safety and Human Rights committee, issued the following statement in response to Chief Carmen Best’s announcement that she plans to retire next month: “As chair of the committee that oversees public safety in Seattle, I want to start by sincerely thanking Chief Best for […]

SEATTLE – Councilmember Alex Pedersen (District 4 – Northeast Seattle) issued the following statement in response to the announcement by Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best that she plans to retire on September 2: “I am deeply saddened by the resignation of our Police Chief Carmen Best. Chief Best has served Seattle faithfully and honorably for decades and happens to be […]

Seattle, WA — Councilmember Andrew J. Lewis (District 7 – Pioneer Square to Magnolia)  issued the following statement in response to the announcement by Chief Carmen Best that she plans to retire: “I want to start by expressing my deep gratitude to Chief Best for nearly thirty years of service to our community.  “While Chief Best and I had […]

– Council President M. Lorena González (Pos. 9, Citywide) issued the following statement after the Seattle City Council, through its summer budget rebalancing process, voted to make initial reductions to Seattle Police Department’s remaining 2020 budget, including a $17 million appropriation to scaling up community-led public safety interventions: “Today, Council voted on a rebalanced budget […]

“Our movement cut executive police pay and defunded the Navigation Team, but we need a democratically and independently organized movement to defund police and eliminate budget cuts” Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee, released the following statement following today’s City Council vote adopting a revised […]

Council Leads with Anti-Austerity Measures and New Investments in Community, Participatory Budgeting Process Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of the Council’s Select Budget Committee, released the below statement after the Council passed a mid-year 2020 budget addressing the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, following a first-in-recent-history summer budget session: “This Council has […]

“Today showed the necessity for protest and organizing, but also the limits of relying on the political establishment to represent the interests of working people, especially marginalized communities.” Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee, issued this statement following the City Council’s Budget Committee votes on […]