♪♪
-Hello. I'm your host Brian Callanan.
In the month of May,
the Seattle City Council faces two major votes.
On lowering at-based delivery driver wages
and changing the way the city hires police officers.
I'm talking with two of Seattle's
newest council members, Joy Hollingsworth and Cathy Moore,
to see where they stand on those issues.
Plus, they're answering the questions
that you're sending in too. That's all coming up next,
on City Inside Out, Council Edition.
-I know that specifically in District 3
we're trying to be able to ensure
that public safety is not a partisan issue.
-Right now, collective bargaining laws do not allow
for us to really get the accountability and discipline
piece that we need in law enforcement.
-All that and more,
coming up next on City Inside Out, Council Edition.
♪♪
And welcome to this episode
of City Inside Out, Council Edition.
Joining us once again is council member
Joy Hollingsworth from District 3.
I saw that you had a calf muscle injury a couple years ago,
are you -- or a couple weeks ago, I should say.
Are you doing, okay? What's going on?
-I'm fine.
You saw me walk in here without my boot, so I'm boot off.
-That's a good step. -Thank you.
-Council member Cathy Moore, from District 5.
I did not see you on the injury report.
Everything going okay with you? -So far.
Knock on wood. [ Laughs ]
-All right. We'll see how this goes.
Thank you both very much for joining us here.
Some big decisions for the council coming here in May.
And I wanted to start with at-base delivery driver wages.
So, the Council's Pay Up
legislation passed two years ago,
was intended to raise wages for delivery drivers,
went into effect this January.
And that's when the app companies like Door Dash
responded by slapping a $5 fee on deliveries in Seattle.
Some restaurants have said that's led to a drop in demand
by 50% or more.
Some drivers have said their income has been cut too.
So, Council President Nelson sponsored legislation
to lower the pay structure from $26.40 per hour
to $19.97 per hour, which is Seattle's minimum wage.
The hope is to get workers more work.
Get restaurants more orders.
And hopefully get app companies to drop that fee.
Councilmember Hollingsworth,
you abstained from a vote on this billing committee
a couple of weeks ago,
said it needed to be baked a little bit more.
What are your concerns about it?
Would you vote yes on it when it comes to the full council?
Some thoughts here.
-The goal is to get to a yes.
So, we're going to do a stakeholder meeting
with Drive Forward,
with the app companies and some small business owners
and also some drivers to see what are some of the barriers
that we're missing and some gaps that we can close.
But that's -- that's really important
that we kind of restore the ordering, the demand,
and we get workers working and also, we protect customers.
-Yeah.
In -- in terms of the feedback
you are getting from the constituents
in the central district, District 3,
what -- what were you hearing?
-Yeah.
So, our -- our district has a ton of --
of small businesses and restaurants.
-Yeah.
-We were hearing that restaurants were losing
business, 20%, 30%, 40%. -Yeah.
-Drivers, depending on -- some drivers were doing well;
some drivers weren't.
It was a really big mix,
but a lot of the small orders were going down
and customers had stopped ordering a lot of the little,
small, $10 to $30 orders. -Okay. Yeah.
That's a -- it's a big concern,
because there are somewhere around 40,000 of these workers
in the -- in the city of Seattle,
so this has a big impact there too.
-It -- it's a hu-- it's a huge impact,
but I also think
that we also need to center the small business --
-Yeah.
--- small businesses that are -- are suffering right now.
-Like the restaurants. Yeah.
-The restaurants. -Yeah.
-They're the ones who are creating this type of industry,
so you know, we also want to protect our workers,
but you want to create an optimal business environment
for people to be able to, you know,
thrive and -- and create jobs. -Okay. Great.
Councilmember Moore,
maybe get some thoughts of yours on this bill.
I know some critics have pointed out it
doesn't specifically ban app companies
from putting in fees like this.
So, do you feel confident that with this measure
the council's been working on,
you can eliminate those fees somehow
and stabilize this industry in Seattle?
-Well, that's certainly the goal.
And I'm going to be following councilmember Hollingsworth's
lead here and working with her
to try to negotiate with work in Washington,
with the small business owners,
drive forward in the app companies to see
where we can find common ground.
We all want to succeed.
We want to make sure
that this is a thriving industry for everyone.
-Yeah.
-And at the same time maintain minimum wage.
Maintain the federal reimbursement rate for mileage.
But we need to remove that fee
or at least a portion of that fee.
-Yeah.
-Because it's making it very difficult for -- you know,
we have a lot of people, particularly in D5
who are disabled or they're elderly,
and the -- it is an essential service for them.
-They need that delivery happening.
Yeah. Okay.
-And they -- they need that delivery to happen,
and yet, they're living on fixed income.
So, we've got to find a way
that we can make it work for everybody.
-Yeah.
And I -- it's always important to point out on shows like this
that legislation, it's kind of a one point in time.
These things change over time as well.
And I know, Councilmember Kettle,
in making an amendment to this said,
"We're going to keep on studying this to say, okay,
how's this going to work down the line such that okay,
maybe we need to adjust things in that way."
Is that kind of where we're -- we're leaning here potentially?
-I think so. -Yeah.
-I mean, it's always a good idea,
given something that is -- is as new as this,
it is kind of groundbreaking.
I think it is important to kin--
to see how it's playing out on the ground --
-Yeah.
--- and to make the tweaks as necessary --
-Yeah.
--- to achieve what we had hoped to be the ultimate --
-Yeah. Yeah.
--- outcome, which was a living wage for the workers,
but a -- a -- a thriving and strong econ--
small business and delivery economy as well.
-Yeah. Just some thoughts to wrap this up.
Trying to -- trying to hit that --
that balance there between helping workers,
helping businesses too. -Yeah.
It -- it's a -- it's a tough business.
When you hear a lot of people in our city,
affordability is -- is a key, right?
And so, you want to be able to support and have a --
a minimum wage for workers who are the ones --
the last mileage, or most expensive mile,
to get to people.
But it's a delicate balance too,
because margins are so thin on the restaurant side,
so, we're going to try to see
if we can find a common ground with everyone.
-Okay. Thank you very much.
Councilmember Moore, I want to go back to you
and talk about a housing and human services issue
that's come up in the past few weeks
dealing with asylum seekers, specifically.
Dozens of people seeking asylum were living in tents
at Powell Barnett Park in the central district,
looking for help.
The city has said it will fund some hotel stays for 45 families
through the end of June, some in Kent, some in Sea-Tac.
And I know, Councilmember Moore,
one of your first acts in office
was to coordinate some hotel stays for Venezuelan refugees
who'd come to a council meeting looking for help.
But this process of going month-to-month,
maybe the city's going to help.
Maybe the county's going to help.
It doesn't feel sustainable long-term,
and I know that's a concern of yours too.
Some thoughts here about how to --
how to wrestle with this big, big problem?
-Yes. Well, it is a big, big problem.
And I think fundamentally,
our federal immigration system is broken.
And fundamentally it's a federal issue.
Right now, when asylum seekers come to this country,
there's a 60-day period that they have to wait
before they can even apply to get a work permit.
So many of the people that we're seeing in Tukwila are,
you know, willing and able to work.
They want to work.
And yet -- -Yeah.
The -- the Riverton Park Methodist Church down there
has become a haven for asylum seekers.
Keep going. -Exactly.
And yet they are,
because of an unnecessary bureaucratic regulation
they're not able to work.
And so, they find themselves in this position of --
of having to rely upon, you know, local resources.
And obviously, they are at our doorstep.
It's our humanitarian obligation to make sure
that they are housed.
But we need help from the --
we need help from the federal government to change the system;
to provide more money.
We need help from the state and from the county as well.
This truly is,
when we talk about housing being a regional issue,
this is a regional issue.
-Absolutely. And -- and an international issue at that too.
-And an international issue.
-I get -- Councilmember Hollingsworth,
I just think about this,
very much a humanitarian crisis where
asylum seekers are continuing to come to our region.
It's not like this is a snapshot
and it's going to stop from here.
I -- I guess, are you concerned that as a parks board chair,
as a district councilmember,
we're going to see more camps of asylum seekers
in Seattle this summer?
-We are.
We -- we don't even have enough housing to house the,
you know, people experiencing homelessness now.
So, we are in a housing crisis.
You know, like Councilmember Moore said, state, federal,
county, we need help.
As a city, we just don't have a lot of the resources to --
to be able to navigate this magnitude of a --
of an issue that is happening at our southern border,
and now it's at the doorstep of our city.
And so, we have compassion.
There's love, there's -- you know, I --
I -- I want to thank our city workers,
our parks department, our human services department,
our mayor's office, city -- all these different city components,
our unified care team,
that had literally come togeth-- together to answer the call,
they have been phenomenal.
But we also know that it -- that's not sustainable as well.
-Yeah. Thank you.
This is going to be a frustrating issue,
I know, for a while.
But I appreciate you en-- engaging with that.
Councilmember Hollingsworth, maybe I can switch gears.
I ran into you
at a public safety forum at Garfield High School
a few weeks back.
The mayor has been looking for public feedback
on what he is calling a new public safety framework
that includes dispatching police efficiently,
using services like the CARE team --
Community Assisted Response and Engagement --
the city's alternative 911 response,
headed up by Chief Amy Smith,
whom you connected with recently as well.
I want to talk about public safety with you here.
Tell us about the feedback that you're getting from the public
at a forum like this one I just mentioned,
and where you want to guide this conversation in the city?
-Yeah. Well, you did a good job moderating, first off.
-Thanks. It was a good time to be there.
-You did great.
I think right now, I know that specifically in District 3
we're trying to be able to ensure
that public safety is not a partisan issue.
It should be nonpartisan, right? Everyone should feel safe.
Every neighborhood has their own piece of safety.
Everyone has different things.
It shouldn't be this or that.
And so, that's what we're trying to navigate,
and -- and for people to understand.
A lot of the public safety issues
we have going on in District 3 -- We have gun violence.
We have smash and grabs.
We have stabbings.
We have, you know, crime that's committed in --
in certain areas.
It's a -- it's an issue. Right?
And so, you know, we understand that, you know,
our 911 response for our police department's going to be huge.
Our CARE team's going to be huge to answer the mental health,
to take a lot of the pressure off our police department.
-Yeah. -Our fire department, who --
-Yeah. --- they don't get enough love.
You know, understanding
that they're on the front lines as well.
It -- it is literally going to take a --
a whole approach understanding the right response
to the right situation.
-Yeah.
And I think that forum specifically having, what is it?
Thirteen different departments from the city,
and -- and all of them touch on public safety in different ways.
Transportation does.
Public utilities do in some different ways.
And I thought that -- that was part of the --
the breakthrough there.
At least the attempt at the breakthrough was to say,
it's not just the police department.
There are a number of other agencies involved.
-Yeah, And I think also, too, what I loved about that forum,
it was to introduce connection to the district.
For people to understand which city departments do what --
-Yeah. --- who they can call.
-And talking with them personally at a -- at a table.
Yeah. Yeah. -Absolutely.
That -- that's huge.
We're going to be coming out with a --
a resource guide for families and -- and youth,
so they would be able to navigate
certain city departments or county departments.
I think that's going to be --
because a lot of people just don't know and so now,
they're being reconnected to those resources.
-Got it.
Councilmember Moore,
I know you had a public safety forum as well up
in your district recently.
And I've seen over the past few weeks you's act--
you've actually done a public safety tour
with some businesses in the Lake City area,
listening to some of the challenges they've been having.
And speaking of the CARE team,
you went on a ride-along recently with CARE's
Community Crisis responders.
I've been following the feed there
and the newsletter is great.
Thank you for that. I-I just wanted to bring this up
because public safety was such a huge issue for you
and all the other council members
who ran this past fall here.
I just wanted to ask what you've been learning,
specifically, maybe at this forum, I guess.
And then what priorities you're trying to establish?
-Right.
Well, as Councilmember Hollingsworth has said,
it is really a nonpartisan issue.
-Yeah.
-I think where there is some divide is
how do we approach public safety.
And I think it's important,
and the mayor's doing a good job of, you know,
doing a one scale approach.
So, it's both looking at law enforcement.
It's looking at the CARE team.
And it's also looking at are there, you know,
pedestrian safety, particularly up at Aurora where we have,
you know, unacceptable numbers of traffic collisions, and --
-Yeah.
--- pedestrian -- -And traffic deaths.
Yes. --- deaths.
So, really looking at integrating all
of the different ways that we address public safety.
I think people are -- I gu--
I'm getting a sense that people are feeling somewhat hopeful
and with the new council they feel
that we are on the right page
and we're going in the right direction.
We're working well together.
We -- you know, we just passed the SPOG contract.
-Yeah.
-Received a fair amount of feed -- good feedback
as well as some concerns about the accountability pieces.
-Yeah. And I'll touch on that in a little bit,
but keep going, please.
-Right.
And also, I'm committed to expanding the CARE team,
and I believe that legislation is going to be coming forward
from the mayor's office.
We need to get a CARE team up in D5 --
-Yeah.
--- right now they're limited to downtown.
-Right.
-One of the great things about the contract --
and I'll just jump ahead there --
-Okay. Please.
--- was that we were able to expand the responsibilities
of community service officers. -Okay.
-And that's something that I ran on,
is to actually make community service officers more
of a corollary to CARE and SPD.
And to really expand their ability to be in the community,
on the street and engaged. -Okay.
-So, that's something that we're --
my office will be working on. -Sure.
Why don't I jump ahead and talk about the SPOG contract?
-Okay. [ Laughs ]
-Because I think that was an important thing that --
that everybody's been dealing with here.
So, the council recently passed this approval
of a contract with SPOG.
The Seattle Police Officer's Guild allows
for this 23% retroactive pay raise,
making SPD officers the highest paid in the state,
but it doesn't extend it to 2024.
And this is where I've received a few emails on this issue.
Garrett wrote this,
"Seattle already has a looming budget crisis,
so why sign a massive pay bump for police,
especially without any accountability requirements?"
It is not accurate to say
that there are no accountability requirements in this,
but I think that is the part
that critics would want strengthened some more.
Maybe some thoughts about signing this new deal with SPOG,
Councilmember Moore,
specifically when it comes to accountability.
I -- I think that's a big concern for some critics,
and I wonder if you could answer that.
-So, I share those concerns
and I think it is important to note it is an in-term contract.
We are still negotiating 2024;
we are actually in the mediation stage now.
-Right.
-So,
if we are not able to move forward
on a much more robust accountability posture,
we have the ability to go to interest arbitration
where we put those issues before a neutral arbitrator
and hopefully,
they would look at the fact that we have a consent decree.
They would also look at the fact that the -- we have the cap--
the lieutenants and captains, the Police Management --
-Right.
--- Association entered
into a very robust accountability contract.
Something I would love to see SPOG do as well.
-Okay.
-So, you know, that's kind of the model
that we have to put forth before an interest arbitrator.
But if we lose, should we go to interest arbitration?
And should we lose, the next step really is Olympia.
And this is something -- -Right.
--- that I really want to bring home.
Which is right now,
collective bargaining laws do not allow
for us to really get the accountability and discipline
piece that we need in law enforcement.
We really need to go to Olympia and create --
and carve out a very narrow exception --
-Yeah.
--- to the collective bargaining laws
for law enforcement around accountability and discipline.
And I have been really up front with my -- our union,
you know, brothers and sisters,
that you need to be supportive of this,
if --
because they are often the individuals --
rightly so -- bringing accountability to the forefront.
-Sure.
-But they need to be supportive in Olympia
of making that narrow exception
so that we can really get the accountability that we need,
and our community deserves.
-It's narrow,
but it could be very big in terms of impacts
throughout the labor community.
And I guess that's the -- the -- the push here?
Or where -- where are we at?
-Well, I think it ca--
I think it truly can be narrowly crafted --
-Okay.
--- to mean exception to law enforcement only --
-Okay.
--- and for those very narrow pieces
of accountability and discipline.
We're not talking about increasing,
talking about increasing body of work or anything else.
And I -- I understand the concern about feeling like it --
it's opening the door, you know?
It's the camel's nose under the tent.
But I think we have to be very realistic
that we're not going to make the kind of progress
we need to make without that change in the law,
and that we can do it very narrowly tailored.
-Councilmember Hollingsworth,
some thoughts on this SPOG contract.
I know you've heard a lot of back-and-forth
about this needing to make sure we pay police officers
as peace -- a piece of this.
Needing to make sure that police officers are accountable
as a piece of this too.
How do you look at this contract that the Council approved?
-Yeah. No. Absolutely.
Can I also note that that's
why I love working with Councilmember Moore --
-Yeah.
--- because she has an extensive background in this,
obviously -- obviously being a --
a former judge and knowing about the back end
of the public safety piece, right?
They're the -- they're the back end of the house
and you have the front end of the house of the --
the police department.
But in terms of the -- the SPOG contract,
I know that we received --
like Councilmember Moore said,
we received our fair share of positives,
and you know, people that were concerned about accountability.
But I do know that this was a first step into a hope -- into,
which I have tremendous hope --
about us attracting really high talent because we are, you know,
paying at the top of the state,
to where we're not losing officers
to our neighboring cities.
I think that's incredibly important.
And I'm also looking forward to working with Councilmember Moore
on our 30 for 30, so --
-Yeah.
--- you know, 30% women by 2030.
I think, you know, you've got to look at states like Louisiana.
They have --
over 24% of their police force
in that entire state are women.
What are they doing, you know, differently,
than what we can be doing here in Washington state.
And I -- and I think I'm going to be pushing that --
that forward as well.
-Okay.
Wha-- let's follow up on that 30 for 30 piece,
because I know there's a concern of yours,
Councilmember Moore, both of you actually,
this idea that well, just look at it.
The SPD put out this 30 by 30 report earlier this year.
This has a goal of increasing the participation
of women in law enforcement to 30% of sworn officers
by the year 2030,
but that report also raised some issues
that I know that you were concerned about,
Councilmember Moore,
regarding sexual harassment, discrimination,
felt by women within the SPD.
Separate from this, I should point out,
there are some legal cases facing the SPD regarding
sexual discrimination.
The mayor now has an independent group reviewing that.
We're not here to talk about city lawsuits,
but Councilmember Moore,
tell us what you're trying to do to change this work culture
of the SPD when it comes to women on the police force.
-Right.
So, after we had the presentation
of the public safety committee meeting
where I did bring up and ask questions about the status of 30
by 30,
I did not hear back
so I sent a letter specifically to Chief Diaz,
asking what are you actually doing to address the concerns
that were raised, both around creating a culture a --
a welcoming and supportive culture.
One where the -- the -- the -- the at--
the atmosphere was we want and value female officers.
But we're also looking at
how do we work with increasing childcare opportunities?
How do we look at scheduling flexibility
around not just childcare,
but other caretaking responsibilities?
-Yeah.
-How do we pair people up with mentors
so that they are in a position, and they --
because, you know, the --
the statistics show that a woman can have five years
of experience,
be ready to take that next step and still feel that they're not
ready, where their male counterpart will feel
they're more than ready.
So, how do we sort of change that attitude
amongst our female officers
that yes, you are ready at that same time?
And also, just making sure that we are being very clear
that certain types of discrimination, harassment,
comments, attitudes,
are not acceptable and that there will be swift
and certain discipline if that behavior is engaged in.
Apart from the legal liability --
-Yes. --- that's involved there.
-Of course.
-So, I do know that a 30 by 30 workgroup has been set up.
I will be participating in that workgroup.
I will be following up with my letter for a response.
And I know with Councilmember Hollingsworth
that we are going to continue to look for opportunities
for recruitment opportunities. -Yeah.
-Councilmember Hollingsworth has a lot
of excellent ideas about how to do better recruitment.
And I think just as we begin to open up the department,
we are going to find that women do want to come in.
And it's about getting sworn officers
not just civilian staff.
-Right.
And -- and Councilmember Hollingsworth,
maybe I can just follow up on this idea.
This idea of recruiting more officers.
Definitely Seattle Police Department needs more officers.
They've talked about this.
Lowest officer levels they've had since the 1990s.
Help me out with this because I look at a report like this,
30 by 30, and some of the concerns that it raises.
I can't think that it helps recruiting.
I -- I --
I just want to make sure that I'm real about that with you.
-No. That's -- that's real.
Look, if you look at the national championships,
people would look at basketball and they say,
oh tho-- they're great coaches.
No. They're really great recruiters.
You have to be a great recruiter
to be able to retain great officers.
In that incidence, great players.
And so, you know, we have ideas about us
recruiting different types of athletes, women athletes.
Being able to go out to different places in which,
you know, it's not just sending an ad on Facebook,
but we're actually physically going out to
different states, different places
to be able to attract people.
But then you also have to retain folks.
You have to make an environment
that is welcoming to women, that's inclusive to women.
That they can see themselves navigate.
And then you also have women in positions
where they see themselves, right?
And so -- and they have mentors.
I mean, all of this
plays a part into creating that positive environment
where it's welcoming for -- for women officers.
-Thank you.
And I want to go a little bit further into police hiring
because that's another big vote for the council this May.
Changing the way Seattle hires its police officers.
Council President Nelson sponsoring this measure
that asks the Public Safety Service Commission,
the group that oversees the hiring process,
to consider using a different test to bring
in more applicants.
The bill also calls for some new staffing
to make sure these applicants are getting a personal contact
from the city soon after they apply,
that hasn't been happening in recent years.
Councilmember Moore, I wanted to talk about this,
this new bill,
is it going to help the SPD gain more officers do you think?
Are you concerned we're moving the goalpost
when it comes to testing? Some thoughts here?
-Well, I'm hopeful
that it's going to increase the number of people
that are testing,
and that are passing the tests and are eligible.
I mean, the -- the --
the intent was to really to standardize the test --
-Yeah.
--- because Seattle was using a separate test
and there were legitimate reasons for that.
But the --
but I think what we're finding is that that was --
because of the -- the number of times
that it was rep-- they were reporting the passing scores,
that that wasn't happening on a regular, reoccurring basis,
that there was a long delay.
Because this is a standardized test,
people were going to other jurisdictions --
-Right.
---
because they were able to take the same test
and submit the scores across the state.
-In multiple jurisdictions, right.
-Multiple jurisdictions. -Yes.
-And that's really the -- the intent behind this --
-Okay.
--- is to remove sort of a bureaucratic obstacle.
-Okay.
-It still remains within the discretion
of the director of civil service commission.
-Yeah.
-And I just want to point out to the concerns
that people feel like it's a -- a dumbing down.
I mean, I think you need to look at what does
law enforcement look like across the state,
and I think that we can say we're not --
they're not any less challenged or -- than Seattle is,
nor are they performing --
I mean, I think they're performing as well,
if not better, than Seattle.
-Sure.
-In many regards. -Okay.
-So, I'm less worried about the test in terms of
where I think the -- the issues are is,
once we pass the test, then what do we do in terms of hiring?
And are we looking at red flags that might exist --
-Right.
--- like with Officer Dave, and Kandula situation.
So, I'm actually optimistic that having a test
where people can get the results quickly to Seattle
will help with reten-- with recruitment.
-Okay.
Officer Dave referring to that pedestrian contact,
unfortunately, that resulted in a death a little while ago.
Maybe some, Councilmember Hollingsworth,
some thoughts from you about this police hiring bill
that Council President Nelson has presented here?
Some thoughts on it and where we go from here?
-Yeah.
I -- I supported it at a committee.
I voted yes on it.
I think it's important that when an officer enters --
well, a potential recruit enters into the portal
that we do everything we can to ensure
and -- and understand and evaluate them, right?
A lot of times they might come into the portal
and because different police departments have first dibs
on them, they might go to different other departments.
I ho-- hopefully,
and I'm hopeful that this helps streamline
the process a little bit better
so we can have a better evaluation of officers
and -- at an early point in the process.
-Okay. Great.
Councilmember Hollingsworth, I'm going to stick with you,
Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee, if I may.
I want to talk about the transportation levy
that the Council's working on.
The mayor introduced this proposal recently,
a $1.45 billion package.
What we -- what would be the largest levy in city history.
I know you're getting e-mails about this; we are too.
Here's what viewer, Robin, wants to know.
What are your priorities for the transportation levy?
Do you support a larger levy as some advocates are hoping for?
Robin, thank you very much for the e-mail there.
And I know you have a number of priorities
when it comes to transportation.
I've seen you out on the bike for Bike Everywhere month,
as proclaimed for SDOT.
-Thank you.
-You've even been enjoying some of the new
protected bike lanes on 4th Avenue.
I've seen that as well.
But coming back to this e-mail, Robin's pointing out,
some people want a lot more from this levy.
How do you respond to this question
that maybe this needs to be bigger?
-Yeah.
It -- it's a delicate balance, okay?
And I think it's a delicate balance because also,
we're talking about affordability in our city.
You know, who's paying for this?
You have property taxes that are being added to this
and -- and different things, and that's, you know,
going to get passed down to either the property owner
or it's going to get passed down to the renter.
So, we want to make sure that this levy, I am happy with,
you know, where it's currently at.
I know that the mayor's office and other folks
SDOT have polled -- it has polled really well --
-Yeah. --- at $1.45.
Some of the -- the priorities
that we have for our district particularly,
or for the cities, I'm Vice Chair of transportation.
I call it the bold basics.
I know Councilmember Saka had took
the bold basics thing that I said,
but also, making sure that we have,
you know, protected bike lanes, we have, you know,
potholes, sidewalks, the public -- the safety routes to schools.
-Yeah. There -- I -- there's a ton going on there,
and I -- thank you for that. -Yes.
-I think there's a lot more still ahead with that.
Councilmember Moore, Robin also had a question for you.
"Would love to hear from Councilmember Moore
her thoughts about sidewalks
and other priorities in the transportation levy.
Does she plan to introduce amendments to the proposed levy?
I wanted to point out,
you've already introduced an amendment about sidewalks
to the city's overall transportation plan,
and after seeing that map
where the red indicates the missing sidewalks in District 5,
I can understand why.
11,000 missing sidewalks in Seattle;
36% of them are in your district there.
I want to talk about how you might be trying
to shape the transportation levy,
especially when it comes to sidewalks,
and maybe some of the performance measures
I think you're trying to put into place.
-All right. Thank you.
So, I do think that we need to expand the amount
of money currently set forth in the levy
to have more for sidewalks, right?
We don't have enough money in the way -- the --
the proposed levy that's come down for sidewalks.
And I know that Chair Saka also thinks we need
more money for sidewalks.
And it doesn't have to be the Cadillac of sidewalks.
Like, we can also look at alternative to sidewalks.
They have many alternatives that they've used in Greenwood;
they've lasted very well.
They provide the --
the barriers that we need to create safety
between pedestrians and cars.
They also look nice, and they last well.
So, we -- but we absolutely have to --
what I would really like to see is basically a --
a sidewalk master plan where we sit down
and we look at where all the sidewalks are needed,
and how can we realistically fulfill those needs?
There's a lot of need in the south end as well.
But I have to say it is an equity issue for District 5.
We've been waiting since the late '50s
and we have many areas where we have, you know,
families, children, seniors, people who are using strollers,
walkers, wheelchairs,
and they are not able to get around safely.
-Yeah. -And so, it is imperative.
The one thing that we all have in common,
for the most part, is that we walk or roll.
-Yeah. -And to me,
sidewalks are fundamental to transportation and to --
and to equity in this city. -Thank you.
I've -- unfortunately, that's all the time we have for now.
I thank you both for joining me
and we will see you next time on Council Edition.
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