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December 1, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Rasmussen, News Releases

Rasmussen Announces Funds to Pursue Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial Project

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/1/2015

Rasmussen Announces Funds to Pursue Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial Project
Announcement made at World AIDS Day breakfast this morning

SEATTLE - Councilmember Tom Rasmussen today announced the City Council has dedicated $75,000 to initiate a planning process to create a Seattle AIDS Legacy Memorial. Those funds would be directly matched by a community organization, which would take a leadership role in planning and proposing an appropriate memorial.

Nearly 4,000 Seattleites died in the first two decades of the AIDS epidemic, and a history of both the crisis and the community's response has not been comprehensively collected, recorded or presented.  Councilmember Rasmussen sponsored the memorial proposal after listening to advocates involved in the early days of the epidemic who felt that the history and the stories of the lives that were lost be chronicled.

"The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) is deeply honored to participate in planning for a Seattle memorial to preserve the stories of those who lost their lives during the AIDS crisis, and to share the important lessons that we learned," said Leonard Garfield, Executive Director of MOHAI. "We will work to engage the entire community to help envision the memorial, to share the stories that it will honor, and to help raise funds to meet the city's generous initial contribution."

"We need to create a memorial worthy of those who died and of those worked creatively, tirelessly and fearlessly to help those diagnosed with the HIV virus," said Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, the proposal's sponsor. "The AIDS crisis personally touched my life, and the memories of those lost deserve to live on."

The planning process, which includes a requirement that the $75,000 in City funds be matched, will be put to bid in early 2016.  MOHAI, or whichever qualified organization receives the funds, will be expected to:

  • Convene and staff an advisory committee of diverse community members familiar with or involved in the response to the AIDS crises;
  • Conduct a series of public focus groups to gather input about the character of a legacy/memorial project;
  • Engage artists, design and engineering professionals and historians and curators to develop concepts;
  • Prepare collateral materials to share options of a legacy/memorial project;
  • Produce a final report that outlines scale, location, timeline, financial information, and other components of the project; and
  • Complete preliminary research and present legacy/memorial options to the advisory committee which would reach consensus on a recommended legacy/memorial project and course of action.

 

"Seattle stepped up during the most devastating epidemic of our time, to show the rest of the country how the community can care for each other," said Michele Hasson. "Seattle's response to this crisis deserves to be memorialized, and I'm thankful that we're moving toward a lasting memorial."

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Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live on Seattle Channel 21, HD Channels 321 Comcast, 721 Wave and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

[View in Council Newsroom]

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November 24, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata

Council Approves 2016 City Budget

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On the Monday the Council approved the 2016 City of Seattle budget. As Chair of the Council’s Budget Committee, I was responsible for assembling a balancing package for consideration by the City Council. The budget passed by the Council focuses on urgent, immediate needs. I believe that when more people have a chance to reach […]

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November 23, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Burgess

Final Decisions on 2016 Budget

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The Full Council voted to adopt the City’s 2016 budget today, incorporating changes Councilmembers have made from the Mayor’s proposal over the last two months. The Mayor’s proposed budget provided us with a good start, including funding for a hospital-based...

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November 23, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata, News Releases

Councilmember Licata: City Budget Increases Funding for Homeless in Response to Federal Cutbacks

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/23/2015

Councilmember Licata: City Budget Increases Funding for Homeless in Response to Federal Cutbacks

Federal Response Needed for Emergency

SEATTLE - Councilmember Nick Licata, chair of the Budget Committee, released the following statement after the Budget Committee sent a 2016 Budget to the Full Council:

"As my 18 years in office come to an end, I've reflected on how funding for human services has changed in Seattle.  I compared the first budget I voted for in 1999 to the 2016 budget approved by the Budget Committee today. Here's what I found:

  • Federal human services grants to Seattle have decreased from $46.5 million to $37.9 million, a decrease of 43%, adjusted for inflation
  • Federal grants have shrunk from 62% to 26% of the City's Human Services budget, a 58% decrease
  • The City's General Fund contribution to the Human Services budget has more than doubled, from 25% to 55%
  • The percent of the City's General Fund dedicated to human services has doubled, from 3.5% to 7%.

"This increasing reliance on the city's general fund is a direct result of federal neglect.

"These figures place in stark relief the impact of years of the federal government's retreat. The needs have not gone away--they have simply been shifted onto cities. Mayor Murray's declaration of a homeless emergency, and the emergency declared in Portland, have been building for years. Cities cannot solve this emergency alone: federal assistance is needed.

"Homelessness in Seattle is at a crisis level. The Council's  addition of $2.3 million in one-time funding, not only to expand shelter beds to get people off the street, but to fund new beds, extend day center services and outreach services to vulnerable homeless adults, support authorized encampments, and childcare for homeless children -- come in appropriations beyond the $5 million in one-time funds announced earlier this month. 

"I believe that when more people have a chance to reach their full potential and enough economic security to make investments in their future, the benefits ripple throughout communities. The budget the Budget Committee approved today invests in those basic needs such as safety, stability and health. However, cities cannot do this alone; we need the federal government to contribute."

Full Council will vote on the Budget Committee's recommendations this afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

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Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live on Seattle Channel 21, HD Channels 321 Comcast, 721 Wave and on the City Council's website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

[View in Council Newsroom]

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November 20, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Rasmussen

Budget Victories

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This was an exciting budget season with passionate testimony and messages directed to the Council daily.  This was my final opportunity as a Councilmember to work for the goals that are most important to me.   I am pleased that all of my recommendations were approved by the Council. We were fortunate that during our budget […]

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November 20, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Burgess

When Fear Reigns, Extremists Win

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Photo courtesy World Relief Seattle Recent rhetoric across the country hyping fear and scapegoating Syrian refugees takes our country back to earlier, dangerous moments in our country’s history. The vote in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday was a disturbing...

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November 18, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Okamoto

You Will Be Missed

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My time on Council has been filled with heated policy debates and second-floor strategizing, and I’ve come to admire my colleagues during this process. It takes all kinds of thinkers to make good policy, and I hope you enjoy the following observations and tongue-in-cheek predictions about my Council family. At the very least, these will […]

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November 16, 2015January 6, 2023Councilmember Licata, News Releases

Council to Vote on Dedicating $2.3M to Combat Homeless Crisis

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/16/2015

Council to Vote on Dedicating $2.3M to Combat Homeless Crisis

SEATTLE - Council's Budget Committee chair Nick Licata issued the following statement in advance of today's 10:00 a.m. meeting, during which time the 9-member Committee will consider amending the proposed 2016 budget Mayor Murray delivered on September 28:

"Homelessness in Seattle is at a crisis level. The Council and Mayor agree we have an emergency. I believe additional financial investment to address the homelessness emergency is needed. Later this morning, Council will vote to add $2.3 million in one-time funding for new and expanded shelter beds to get people off the street, extend day center services and outreach services to vulnerable homeless adults, support authorized encampments, and child care for homeless children. This is in addition to the $5 million in one-time funds approved earlier this month.

"In an effort to meet the demands of the people we were elected to represent, we must both balance the budget and address the urgent and persistent needs of the homeless in our city. As a result of a positive update to the economic revenue forecast, which we recently received, and good work by Council Central Staff who found productive ways to use restricted funds, we are able to avoid diverting funds from the City's ‘Rainy Day Fund'."

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[View in Council Newsroom]