Seattle Forward

Where Are We Headed?

The challenges of policing in our country did not arise in a vacuum. They connect to a broad array of factors . . . They connect to the fact that in this country police shootings and police misconduct disproportionately affect Black people. The challenges connect, as well, to the shameful American legacy of slavery, to Jim Crow, to mass incarceration, to the “war on drugs,” to redlining, and to public schools that have and continue to fail Black children.

 

In this context, and at this time, it is important for someone in my position to say clearly — Black Lives Matter.

 

Black Lives Matter in policing.

 

Black Lives Matter in education.

 

Black Lives Matter in our economic system.

 

We must squarely face our history of racism and injustice, and, frankly, that’s something I don’t believe our country has truly done. We will know that we have when all people of color have equal opportunity, equal protection under the law, and never doubt their standing as Americans.

 

I spoke the above words in an address to the City Council on September 25, 2017, when I was serving as Seattle’s interim Mayor. Now, nearly three years later, here we are again grappling with the same challenges in policing and criminal justice.

City Pension System Reforms: The Rest of the Story

Daniel Gilbert and the Times did some solid reporting on how city government formerly managed its employee pension funds. However, here’s the rest of the story. It’s a story of reform, transformation really, that has occurred over the past five years—new leadership, restored staff morale, greatly improved client services, beefed up professional investment staff, stronger accountability and transparency, and stronger investment portfolio returns putting Seattle in the top 25% of public pension funds nationally.

A 10-year look-back at portfolio returns shows a pretty bleak picture; 4.5% return on average per year. But with the reforms cited above, performance has dramatically improved: 8.8% in a five-year look-back and 7.9% in the most recent three-year period. The five and three year performance has matched expectations and exceeded the median performance of pubic pension programs.

The Importance of Fiscal Consistency

The Mayor announced this week that city government would not sell approximately 11 acres of surplus land along Myers Way in southwest Seattle, opting instead to retain it as undeveloped open space. This decision is unfortunately inconsistent with 13 years of expressed fiscal policy regarding this property.

The history of the Myers Way property (51 total acres) is important to understand. The city purchased the land from Nintendo in 2003 for $14.9 million as part of the Joint Training Center (JTF) project, a new facility to be used by the city’s Fire Department and utilities for skills and safety training. The City did not want to buy the entire 51 acres – only a small portion needed for the JTF – but Nintendo would only sell it as one entire property. So at the time of the purchase, the City Council declared its intent that any surplus land not needed for the JTF would be sold “for private development to offset total project costs and to spur economic development” in the surrounding neighborhood.

Youth Voice, Youth Choice Vote Week Starts Tomorrow

Last year the City launched a youth-focused participatory budgeting process, where Seattle youth will get to choose exactly how to spend $700,000 of City money. Youth delegates helped select 19 thoughtful proposals to be on the ballot, including funding for safe routes to schools, murals, job readiness workshops, or a youth-produced podcast on violence prevention.

Starting tomorrow, youth from the ages of 11 to 25 are able to vote for their favorite seven projects. Voting can be done in person at select locations or online. If you know a young person, encourage them to vote!

More details and a link to ballots are available here.

Full Council To Vote on Housing Levy Today

This afternoon the Full Council will vote on an ordinance that would send a $290 million Housing Levy to voters for consideration on the August 2, 2016 Primary Election ballot. If approved, the seven-year Housing Levy will serve as the largest investment in affordable housing the City has ever made. The Housing Levy proposal focuses on increasing affordable housing production and preservation, supporting homelessness prevention, and fostering home ownership for low-income residents. 

Since 1981, Seattle has chosen to generously invest in affordable housing for our neighbors, with a particular emphasis on those most in need. This year, the Council and Mayor have thoroughly analyzed and crafted a package that will provide affordable housing for thousands of Seattle residents.

After receiving the Mayor’s draft proposal in March, Council made several amendments that would:

• Allow levy funds to provide a grant or low interest loan to an owner of existing multifamily housing to make building improvements in exchange for putting rent restrictions on a certain percentage of units in the building;
• Allow for up to $30 million of levy funds to be used as short-term loans for acquisition and preservation of existing affordable housing; and
• Dedicate an additional $1.75 million toward homelessness prevention and housing stability services using interest earnings generated from levy proceeds. 

The Council’s amendments work within the existing funds of the $290 million proposed levy submitted to the Council by the Mayor.

The Long Road to Effective Management of Our Police Department

When Kathy O’Toole assumed command of the Seattle Police Department in June, 2014, she inherited a police department rife with staggering management challenges. For years, ineffective management had led to inconsistent practices, a lack of accountability, very poor tracking of resource deployments, out-of-date technology systems in need of dramatic overhaul, and a stagnant management culture highly resistant to change.

To put it bluntly, our police department was a mess, redeemed only in part by the individual efforts of officers and civilian employees who continued to do their jobs as best they could. Chief O’Toole has taken steps to build a stronger, more effective management environment, but it’s going to take a long time to right this ship.

The City Council recently received a report commissioned by Chief O’Toole to determine proper police staffing and deployment levels. Chief O’Toole delivered the study to the Council with this cover letter.

At a very high level, the study concludes we should hire an additional 61 to 93 officers above the Mayor’s 2014 commitment to hire 100 net new officers, which aligns with the Mayor’s more recent announcement of an additional net 100 officers by 2019. The report provides good context and helpful comparisons to other cities that will lay the groundwork for specific actions by SPD leadership.

The report also raises some important policy questions we must answer as a city:

Why I Voted “No” on Rescuing Pronto Bike Share

The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

Yesterday, the City Council voted 7-2 (Councilmember Herbold and myself voting “no”) to spend $1.4 million to rescue from insolvency the Pronto bike sharing service that has operated in Seattle for a little over one year.

While a bike sharing program has the potential to be an important, and desired, element of our transportation network, the current system is insolvent and lacks the ridership, membership and revenue to be financially viable. In essence, the Council was asked to rescue Pronto from insolvency in order for a theoretically more viable service to be developed.

Despite the passionate advocacy by some in favor of such a rescue, the risks of investing without a specific plan of action or a clear understanding of the City’s future financial exposure are exceedingly high. I believe such a rescue does not reflect the level of care the Council should exhibit as it exercises its fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers of Seattle.

The potential financial risk to the city is evident in the failure of Pronto to achieve its original ridership or revenue projections:

Our Bike Sharing Future

Update: I explain my "no" vote at the March 14 Full Council meeting in a separate post here.

Later today, I will vote “no” on legislation that would, if approved, have the city government purchase the insolvent Pronto bike sharing network and all of their bicycles, stations and equipment.

Instead, I will propose amended legislation that will position Seattle for a future bike sharing alternative that shifts most of the financial risk to a private partner. My legislation will:

• Acknowledge that Pronto faces insolvency at the end of March.
• Prohibit the City from investing in a failed enterprise which requires the City to carry ongoing financial risks by itself.
• Allow a partial lifting of the proviso to repay, if necessary, the $1 million federal transportation grant the City must repay if bike sharing does not continue in some form.
• Maintain the proviso on the balance of the funds, approximately $4 million, and reserves these funds “to support a future public-private partnership for bike share that does not rely on City of Seattle funding for operating revenue and jointly shares responsibility for capital expenses.”
• Maintain the proviso until SDOT “provides a detailed MOA between the City and an outside partner . . . that demonstrates a substantial shift in financial risk to the City’s private partner . . .”
• Shift the remaining funds to other “pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects” if a public-private partnership is not established by the end of 2016.

I believe this course is the most prudent, allows the City to quickly establish a better bike share system, and keeps some leverage for the City to influence and guide the public-private partnership into the future. Maintaining partial public ownership is preferable to an entirely privately-owned model because the City sometimes has policy goals – equity of access or distribution, for example – that may run counter to an enterprise focused more exclusively on profit.

The Council’s transportation committee meets at 2 p.m. today to vote on this issue.

Some Good News About State Prisons

The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

The state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) has been in the news a lot recently because of the data errors over prisoner release dates. But there’s another little noticed story from the DOC that is very worthy of highlighting.

In 2010, the City Council hosted UCLA Professor Mark Kleiman at Seattle’s Town Hall to talk about his new book on how to have less crime and less punishment. It was a packed event. Professor Kleiman talked about an innovative approach in Hawaii for how parole violators were supervised involving a shift away from sporadic and severe sanctions when parole violations were discovered to more modest sanctions applied consistently.

The old model: you may have multiple parole violations, you likely won’t get caught, but when you do you’ll be in big trouble (weeks, months or even years back in jail or prison).

The new model: if you violate the terms of your release, you will be held accountable for your actions immediately, but sanctions will be much more modest (a day or two in jail).

Perhaps not surprisingly, the new model was way more effective at curbing criminal behavior, while at the same time saving resources and reducing jail time. What’s not to like?

Sustainable Retirement Plan Saves Taxpayers $200 Million Over 30 Years

The City Council unanimously approved legislation yesterday afternoon that will lead to a new defined benefit retirement plan for City employees. The plan is expected to save the City $200 million over the next 30 years.

This new retirement plan is a win-win-win. We've managed to retain a defined benefit pension system, which will help attract top talent to City agencies. Employees will contribute less from their salary, which means more money in their pockets now. And, over time, the City will save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

The retirement plan, called Seattle City Employees' Retirement System (SCERS) II, will be available for new employees hired on and after January 1, 2017. The new retirement system benefits better align with other public agencies in the Puget Sound region and were developed collaboratively with City labor unions.

Following the 2008 recession, the City’s retirement system faced financial challenges after experiencing a 26.8% loss. In 2011, a City Council-sponsored report defined the challenges facing the system and offered alternatives to ensure the future sustainability of the system.

The plan approved today is structured similarly to the current retirement plan, SCERS I, and will still provide an adequate retirement benefit to employees. Both employees and the City will contribute less to the program.  Currently the City and its employees contribute 15.8% of payroll to fund the benefits earned during the year.  In the new plan the contribution will drop to 11.9% of payroll.

We’re saving money, ensuring a healthy retirement system going forward, and providing competitive benefits for our employees. I'm grateful for the collaborative effort by the Mayor, Council and the City’s labor unions to reach this outcome.