♪♪
-Good morning, everybody.
-Good morning.
-All right.
That's a billion-dollar good morning right there.
-Yeah.
-Welcome everybody, and thank you for joining Mayor Harrell,
the City Council,
and the Seattle Department of Transportation today
to celebrate a very exciting milestone for our city.
In a few moments,
the mayor will sign the new 2024 transportation levy legislation,
placing before the voters a balanced
and practical investment program to maintain
and modernize Seattle's streets and bridges.
This investment program is data driven and community informed.
And we've assembled a broad coalition of support.
I want to thank all the individuals and organizations
who participated in this process
representing Seattle's diverse communities.
I also want to thank my SDOT team, raise your hand SDOT team.
The mayor's office team, raise your hand
if you're part of them.
City Council, Central Staff, and the City Budget Office.
It truly takes a village to craft a proposal like this one.
Just on a personal note,
Mayor Harrell, this very week, two years ago, mid-July,
you called me into service for the city of Seattle.
I knew then that the three priorities
would be strengthening our safety program,
finishing strong on the levy to move Seattle,
and developing a new levy proposal
that could meet the moment in a growing city
that continues to attract talent from around the world.
Mayor, I'm honored to be taking this journey with you,
and I deeply appreciate your inclusive,
thoughtful leadership and bringing people together.
And with that,
I'd like to introduce the mayor of Seattle, Bruce Harrell.
-Thank you. Thank you, Greg.
Thank you very much.
I'm going to sort of ground this in a quote about transportation.
You know,
when you look for good quotes on transportation
is sometimes a little hard to find the cool, sexy stuff.
But I thought this one was very appropriate by Anthony Foxx,
who you may recall, was the former U.S.
Secretary of Transportation under Obama,
former mayor by the way,
the key word for transportation in the 21st century is choice.
You are here as this community
because you realize we are rebuilding this city
in so many ways to reach all communities, to keep them safe.
And people have choices.
Some people have choices in how they get around
and some people do not.
And I'm so excited to talk about the components of this work
because this is not my levy.
This is the community's levy and the transportation ecosystem.
The advocates that are here right now are building the city
and looking at, we are giving people choices centered
around the value of safety.
And so I want to make it clear that the speakers that follow,
you'll hear a common theme. And I was joking with Katie,
I said, let me look at what your notes are.
She's going to riff it, by the way,
she's going to throw it away.
I'm going to take it from her,
but I know she's going to talk about the jobs
we're going to create.
The work that goes into giving people choices on
how they get around.
So this is truly an exciting opportunity.
Our levy was designed to meet Seattle's
diverse community neighborhoods
and understand we are living, fortunately in a world
where we have different modes of travel,
and we wanted inputs from all communities and neighborhoods.
And I want to thank again the Seattle City Council
under their strong leadership,
their focus to make sure that we were listening as a city.
This is not the council's levy; this is not the mayor's levy.
This is our levy.
And when we talk about the size of it at $1.55 billion,
yes, that's a lot of money,
but the treasures and the payoff
and the benefits for our children and our grandchildren.
Well, I'm aging myself when I'm talking about grandchildren.
I'm talking to young folks.
But you, in all seriousness, you get what I'm saying.
This is truly the ecosystem
that we have to develop to be the city that we want to be.
Today is a pivotal moment in our transportation history.
We'll balance the need to do more with the need
not to make our city even less affordable.
And that's why we were very careful about with laser
focus our investments.
This will cost the medium homeowner in Seattle
21 more dollars per month than the current levy, $21 per month.
The leaders standing up here with me
today show the breadth and depth of engagement
we accomplish in designing this levy.
In our one Seattle approach,
we do not have those riding transit arguing with those
who are riding bicycles,
arguing with those that are still in cars,
arguing with those that are walking,
arguing with those using scooters,
arguing with those who are unable to walk.
We look at each other's needs
and we work together in a one Seattle approach.
If approved by the voters on November 5th, 2024,
this levy makes the needed investments in safety, paving,
repairing bridges, building sidewalks,
making light rail stations accessible to everyone.
And I want an applause on that one.
[ Applause ]
Now, you guys didn't just meet me.
You know, I will solicit those applauses in a minute.
Safety isn't just a term you throw around
or a line item in our levy budget.
It's a starting point for every conversation and investment
across every category.
Safety means maintaining
and modernizing key infrastructure
like the $221 million for bridges,
not just to improve commutes,
but to ensure Seattle is resilient
and connected in an emergency.
Safety means more projects like new crosswalks and signals
near Hazel Wolf K-8
that just finished construction today after requests
from residents and families,
because the safety of our children
add in traveling to school,
it must be a priority for all of us.
Safety means $160 million in community focus improvements
to meet our vision zero goals and prevent traffic collisions,
severe injuries, and fatalities on our streets.
Clearly the decision makers in crafting this levy
understood that everyone who lives and works
or visits Seattle,
they must feel safe and comfortable door to door.
And this levy will help us achieve that.
This is the means toward that end.
Now, to improve reliability, no matter how you travel,
this is sort of how we looked at it through our lens.
We will repave our busiest streets with 403 million
in road repairs that carry the most buses, trucks,
and cars and improvements for people walking,
rolling, and biking.
And don't worry speakers behind me.
I'm going to leave you a little something
to say on some of these investments.
I know I just -- I'm stealing a few speaking points
from a few of you.
We'll upgrade our signal network with 100 million
for improved timing, flow, and safety,
enhanced pedestrian and bike signals,
coordination of port traffic
particularly the freight traffic and support
for major operation events like the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
We'll push the envelope in addressing Seattle's
long standing sidewalk gaps with 193,
I know I got your attention now,
Rob, I know that,
push the envelopes in the dressing channels
longstanding sidewalks with 193 million
to build 350 new blocks of sidewalks and walkways
and make repairs.
And these good-looking folks in the orange,
we have to brag a little bit.
They just finished 250 blocks as part
of the last transportation levy.
SDOT works and they work hard.
[ Applause ]
Like I think about getting one of those orange vest
to put on out here
just sort of makes it look like you work hard,
even if you're not.
I'm very, very prideful in our SDOT performance,
and I want every SDOT employee to know that.
We're going to make it easier, yes, there you go.
We're going to make it easier to take transit
with $150 million for safe connection
to light rail stations and bus stops and upgrades to busy
and frequently delayed bus routes.
And now this is a key investment because we, you know,
when I talk to folks on the national scale
about our light rail expansion, this is,
and I'm proud to see we have our interim CEO around here.
Thank you for being us.
Give you a shout out because this --
[ Applause ]
This is the largest project of this kind
in the country, and it's here.
And so this levy is designed to complement that in so many ways,
centered around safety.
We will expand our bicycle network with $134 million
to build protected bike lanes, connect schools to bike lanes,
pass the neighborhood greenways,
and maintain and upgrade existing bike lanes,
including completing the gap in the Burke-Gilman Trail
in Ballard, and Councilmember Strauss,
I don't know if you're around me,
but I was very pleased to see that discussion.
As described in a recent news article,
we've been dealing with that issue for over 30 years.
Let's get it done.
Let's get it done centered around our values.
[ Applause ]
To support vibrant and connected neighborhoods,
we will help communities feel safe
and welcome with 67 million
for improved lighting and street use activation
so people can walk, play, and enjoy being outdoors.
And again, part of our activation strategy
is that kind of lighting
and these kinds of capital improvements
to reduce emissions
and mitigate the impact climate change
is already having on Seattle with $69 million
to create low pollution zones, plant hundreds of trees,
and make sustainable and electric transportation
options more available and more affordable.
We should be excited about this.
The current levy funds nearly 30% of our Seattle's budget
for transportation mobility.
We know that it's expiring.
That's why this work is so critical to our success.
Our city has a strong history of supporting
transportation levels,
and I expect that we will see
the same support as residents learn more
about our increased investments in programs.
This is not just about infrastructure,
this is not just about surviving,
this is about optimizing who we are as a city with our energy,
our talent, our resources, and indeed our checkbook,
to build the city
that we want to see around our values of climate change,
safety, listening to all communities.
I encourage everyone in this city
to learn more about the levy
and consider its benefits to our community.
This was excellent work.
And again, the ecosystem of leaders around me,
these folks have spent literally decades fighting
for this kind of opportunity.
Now we're going to get it across the finish line with our energy.
And I'm going to use a word I don't use a lot, our tenacity.
Our tenacity.
This is the right thing to do by this city.
And with that,
I want to thank everybody here to witness the signing of this.
We're going to pass out the pens after our speakers,
but this energy that we feel in this room right now,
I had a smoothie right before,
that's why I'm starting to energize here.
A little smoothie.
This energy is what's going to get this across the finish line.
Good work, excellent work.
Excellent work. And with that,
I hope I left a few speaking points
for the following speakers.
Thank you very much.
One Seattle, Greg Spotts, you're up.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you so much, mayor.
I'm amped two.
You know in May the mayor released his final version
of his proposed package.
And I guess rather than a football metaphor,
I'm going to go with basketball
because Councilmember Saka has a great shoe game.
He's got some cool basketball shoes on right now.
And the mayor passed the ball to the council and
Councilmember Saka, who'd been in office just for a few months,
became the starting point guard on a team in the NBA finals.
And the way that you've distributed the ball
led to a 9-0 vote yesterday.
Thank you Councilmember Saka,
for bringing people together,
for having a process that not only created a better product,
but made all the stakeholders feel great about the process,
and that's going to help us going forward.
So I'd like to introduce Councilmember Rob Saka.
[ Applause ]
-All right, good morning.
Good morning.
And first off, thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Appreciate your bold leadership on this levy.
Thank you, Director Spotts.
Thank you for the collaboration and partnership.
More work ahead,
but it's better now because of our collective efforts
and our collective partnership.
The mayor built and assembled a strong group of stakeholders
to help shape and influence the contours of this levy.
Then he kicked it off to the council, we did our thing.
We not only preserve that important stakeholder group,
but we were able to expand it, make it better.
A few of the expanded members are in this room as well.
So folks, today is a momentous day.
It is,
because today is a victory for the people
of the city of Seattle.
This transportation levy is
about us investing in our people.
By the way,
I had to make a few creative edits thanks
to your well-crafted speech on,
so I'm going to take a slightly different approach.
But this transportation levy, like I mentioned,
is about investing in our people.
It's about investing in our community's mobility.
It's about investing in our community's opportunity
and shared prosperity for all.
It's about creating good living wage jobs.
It's about making our streets safer and literally,
quite literally saving people's lives.
Seattle is worth that investment.
Each of you, the people of this great city,
are worth that investment because today is about unity.
When our government works the way it should
and functions the way it should, we see direct results.
Two esteemed branches of government came together.
The executive,
the strong legislative branch have come together.
We're united. Folks, it's no secret.
We've seen some of it
play out through all our collaborative process.
Democracy can be messy, but it works.
Democracy works.
At a moment in our country when divisions reign supreme,
when people and organizations domestically
and international actors and governments
abroad intentionally sow seeds of discord and division
amongst us and between us,
let this be a civic lesson, a political lesson, if you will.
We came together, we negotiated, we worked tirelessly.
We did the people's work of rolling up our sleeves,
getting to work to produce the best in class levy package,
collaborative process and compromise and consensus.
Yes, lots of consensus,
collaboration and compromise involved.
We reach this consensus levy
that delivers on the everyday basics in an extraordinary way.
And folks, I'll tell you,
as the king of potholes in the legislative branch,
that is the executive king of potholes,
I will say I'm ecstatic about where we landed.
Hey, for clarity,
you know, all that pothole talk and royalty
is fun and kind of banter.
But shout out to the real kings and queens and royalty
of potholes standing right behind me,
the people actually doing the work at SDOT
and our contracting partners
who are building a better future for Seattle every day.
I'm an interloper,
but I appreciate all you all for the hard work
and helping to produce tangible results
and help show impact to the tax paying public
on the essential core services
that we're delivering in this case,
in the transportation infrastructure context.
But folks, this levy,
it reflects the needs of our diverse city
because for the first time I know this firsthand,
this levy deeply inorganically reflects our seven diverse
and unique council districts.
And we dug deep into the needs of each
of these unique districts,
which is not possible in the same way
before we had district representation.
It was hard work; hard work pays off.
But yet I remind us all,
we have a multimodal one transportation system,
not a district transportation system.
Folks, when one part of our transportation system
doesn't work, the entire city and region feels the impacts.
Witness, for example,
the closure of the West Seattle Bridge for two and a half years.
And that didn't just impact the people
that I now represent in West Seattle.
That impacted everyone across the city,
across our region,
across our state, broader and international economies.
We're all connected.
I've said a lot about this levy over the last few months,
but I think there's one thing we can't talk about enough.
And that's something I started to talk about earlier.
The impact that this levy has on people, on real people.
One of those people who can't be here today is Steve Holzman.
Steve was a leader in Seattle cycling community.
In December, sadly, he was riding on Marine View Drive
when he was hit and killed by a person in a car.
It was a devastating loss for his family
and for so many in our community.
And to his widow Rita, who is here with us today.
Give Rita a round of applause, please.
[ Applause ]
Throughout this entire process,
she's been at just about every single last one
of our committee meetings,
emotionally sharing candidly her story,
Steve's story, reminding of us
that we need to do more to protect people on our streets,
challenging us to be better, be bigger, bolder,
and do a better job of achieving results,
which I really appreciate.
But because of her constant reminders,
this levy package includes some
of the biggest transformational investments
in safe streets in Seattle's history.
In a tribute to Steve and Rita's leadership,
it's only right
that this levy also includes a bicycle safety project named
in Steve's honor.
[ Applause ]
So to Rita and the thousands of other people who have made,
including many of you all here,
who have made their voice heard during the process,
end to end, to everyone who came to testify,
sent letters, emailed, or called us, thank you.
This package, I have every confidence in my heart
and in my mind,
this package is stronger because you all were involved,
you all were engaged.
You all, Rita and everyone else helped us be bigger,
bolder, act with more urgency, and be more transformative.
Thank you.
As the mayor alluded to earlier,
we need to move beyond those stages
where we're pitting one mode against another mode
and one person's choice against another person's choice.
This transportation package isn't about the balkanization
of our modes, or our people, or our choices.
It's about all of us coming together as evidence here today.
So I want to thank you all again.
I want to thank the mayor and the strong leadership,
Director Spotts, your entire SDOT team.
This is about all of us coming together.
I want to thank my own staff, Elaine Ikoma Ko, Leyla Gheisar,
who's not here today.
New person Ian, legislative director.
Raise your hands if you're on my staff.
Can you give them a round of applause please?
[ Applause ]
Folks up here, we often get credit on occasions like this,
but I'm only here because of the hard work of a lot of people
who are less visible, including some of the ones I mentioned.
So I'm grateful for everyone.
So the mayor kicked us off with a quote.
I'll finish with one.
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt said
so many decades ago,
but it is particularly prescient today.
The point in history
at which we stand is full of promise and danger.
The world will either move forward toward unity
and widely shared prosperity or it will move apart.
Our work is far from done.
But today we celebrate a strong levy package.
Our entire community can unite around
with shared prosperity for all.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you so much Councilmember Saka.
Our next speaker is Rachel Smith,
CEO of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
And Rachel, you've been a leader on transportation investments,
it's kind of like a theme throughout your whole career.
You're a generalist,
but you're also kind of a transportation nerd like me.
And I really, really appreciate the partnership of you
and your team and all the businesses that you represent.
It's really very meaningful to work in an environment
where government and business
can partner to invest in a growing city.
So Rachel, come on up
and thank you so much for your collaboration.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you all so much.
And this is kind of a special day for me.
I've worked on transportation a long time
and I had the opportunity to work
on the Bridging the Gap Campaign almost 20 years ago.
So it is a special and fun thing to be able to be here today.
And I think that you're going to hear some similar themes from me
and probably the other speakers.
And the reason is because they are all true.
I want to say a huge thank you to Mayor Harrell
for putting forward a strong transportation levy
renewal proposal
that reflects feedback from all parts of our community,
including employers large and small.
I also want to say thank you to Councilmember Saka
for your leadership in fostering additional community dialogue
and incorporating council priorities in a way
that built on the foundation of that proposal.
I also want to thank the entire council
for voting yesterday to approve the levy to be
on this November's ballot to the entire city team
who have been thanked profusely,
but we can't do it enough, including Deputy Mayor Emery,
SDOT, Council Central Staff
who have just spent countless hours to get this
over the finish line today.
And last but certainly not least,
I want to say thank you to Katie and Lee and Monty
and every single person who filled out a survey
or testified at a public hearing,
studied reports, stopped by a community table
to share their hopes and their values of this levy proposal.
That is why we have such a good product today.
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce came to the table,
of course, with our own perspectives and priorities
and it would've been easy, I think,
to see this as a zero-sum game.
Us winning meant others were not.
But that didn't happen here.
We actually had our chamber board retreat yesterday.
One of our team members actually ran over to testify
at the council meeting and then ran back to our retreat.
And one of the things that I said to them there,
which is true,
is that working in coalition is really the only way
to get big things done.
And our partners need to bring a diversity of thought,
opinion, and experience to the table.
It is harder work, but it is better work.
And I think that that's what we did here.
The fact that Labor, bicycle advocates,
and I are standing here together is a testament to the fact
that this levy reflects voter priorities and invests
in the greatest needs while keeping affordability,
which has also been mentioned in mind.
I want to thank again,
Mayor Harrell, Councilmember Saka and the whole city team.
We are thrilled to have been a part of this.
Thank you all.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you Rachel.
Our next speaker is Lee Lambert,
Executive Director of the Cascade Bike Club.
And Lee,
you and I have biked all around the city together
and walked all around together.
And you really embody the joy and freedom of cycling
that I have felt since I was a kid
when I got my first Schwinn with a banana seat.
And also Lee,
I really appreciate how you use cycling as a platform
to advocate more broadly for investing
in historically underserved communities.
And we really --
the package is better because of your leadership and input.
So thank you, Lee.
[ Applause ]
-At Cascade, we envision a Seattle
where biking is safe, comfortable,
and convenient for all people, all ages,
and abilities and backgrounds.
Whether your ride for recreation,
or for transportation, or out of necessity,
we want your trip to be safe.
Biking is a fundamental part of our transportation system.
When you choose to bike,
you're choosing a more affordable,
sustainable active transportation.
And have you ever seen someone riding a bike
who wasn't smiling?
Makes you want to smile.
This levy is key because it builds off of the investments
in the Move Seattle Levy.
And yes, there's a significant investment
in biking infrastructure,
but what's most important to what Greg said is
where that investment is being made.
It is being made in historically underserved parts of our city
and in some of the most dangerous corridors,
it'll be safer to bike.
When this levy is done, you'll be able to ride safely
on a protected bike lane from Capitol Hill
all the way to the southern portion of Beacon Hill.
That's not possible now and it's a little bit of a herring ride,
you can do it,
but I look forward to riding on that new infrastructure
when it's complete.
By sending this levy to the voters in November,
Cascade aims to help support
how this levy will meet the mobility needs of all folks.
And we'll look for people to support this
and vote yes on election day,
but we won't stop there.
We'll ensure the work with our partners at SDOT
and the city that these projects are built efficiently
on time and effectively.
I look forward to working with all our stakeholders
pass the levy process and on to implementation.
Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you so much, Lee.
And now we have two speakers who represent the workers.
Our next speaker is Katie Garrow,
Executive Secretary and treasurer of MLK Labor.
Katie, I don't know if you know this,
but because I moved up here without my LA family members,
a lot of what I do on the weekends
is I take public transportation to visit our crews
and I show up and get off the bus and spend time with them
and celebrate their work, working overtime,
whether it's in the rain or the hot sun.
And, you know,
one of the best parts of working in transportation
and infrastructure is being part of creating living wage jobs
that keep money right here in the community.
So Katie, we really appreciate your support and partnership.
Come on up.
[ Applause ]
-Good morning.
My name is Katie Garrow and I lead MLK Labor AFL-CIO.
I want to begin by just acknowledging the fact
that we have here members of the unionized free press,
broadcast, print and TV media.
Thank you for the work that you're doing to ensure
that the facts about this levy get out to voters.
[ Applause ]
I'm so proud to be here today to express the needs
and the dreams of 150,000 working people here in Seattle.
Yes, we are the transportation workforce,
but we are so much more.
We are teachers, we are healthcare workers,
we are entertainment professionals.
The list goes on and on.
And we are here today to express our support
for a $1.55 billion levy that we'll invest in sidewalks,
bridges, and roads.
Working Seattleites know that we need these investments.
We can't walk our kid to school, go out to dinner,
or go to work without noticing
that we need better transportation infrastructure.
We're catching up,
Sound Transit, the last couple of levies,
the county's work to electrify buses
are all important improvements to our infrastructure here.
But of course, we have heavier loads on the road.
We have more traffic than we ever have before
because the population here has grown exponentially.
And now we need to ensure that the infrastructure of the city
catches up with the new population.
$1.55 billion is indeed a lot of money.
But when we give people the facts,
I firmly believe that when we explain what the need is
and what the investments are,
people will agree that voting yes to Move Seattle
is indeed the only reasonable option.
This place has good bones,
so let's give it the upkeep that she deserves.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you.
Our last speaker is Monty Anderson,
Executive Secretary of Seattle Building Trades.
He represents 19 affiliate unions
and over 20,000 construction workers.
And it must be really exciting to be building the city.
I mean, look around, this city's constantly changing.
And there's a lot of talent out there
building our city for the growth that we're experiencing.
Monty, come on up.
-Thank you.
[ Applause ]
All right, thank you very much.
You know, when you go last,
you realize that you get to hear a lot of interesting things.
I want to address a couple things.
First of all,
the West Seattle Bridge going down was terrible for everybody
except for the about 200,000-man hours
we put on that job fixing it.
So that was, that was a lot of money, community.
Also Mayor Harrell I know you want to put on that vest,
but then you'd have to put on a hard hat
and ruin that perfect hair. So...don't want to do that.
And last thing here is I was talking to my friend Roberto
that works here,
Roberto, you realize that after this is done,
they have to go back to work. So the longer we talk here,
the longer they can stay inside here
in this air-conditioned building
and not go outside in record heat
and pour asphalt and concrete, right?
So once we realize that after we leave this,
they're going to go out in that street
right now in that record heat and work,
I think gets them another round of applause.
So good job, you guys.
[ Applause ]
Like I said, I represent 20,000 construction workers.
You know, we've been, my union is 125 years old.
So when we go back and we look,
we look at the bold thing Seattle's been doing
since the beginning.
Around the turn of, not this century,
but the last one,
you know, Seattle ballooned from 47 to 250,000 people
in less than a decade.
City Council had some big things.
They had to put in municipal water,
they had to put in the fire department,
they had to make sure that the sewage worked.
I mean, this city has been making bold proposals
since it started.
And this is another factor in that bold proposal.
We need this, this isn't some kind of a just idea,
but those roads and bridges,
I know you hear that word a lot,
they're the lifeblood of this community.
And like Councilman Saka was talking about, they save lives.
Having something that works for everybody is important.
And not to mention the jobs, we all know that everybody's,
there's a silver tsunami coming in construction.
People in Seattle need the opportunity
to work in the city where they live.
And because of the mayor's leadership
and the council's leadership,
they've set up apprenticeship programs for people
that live here to work here.
That means people could take transit to work.
That's important.
It creates generational wealth;
it fights gentrification, and it's good for the city.
So I don't have a lot of notes there I was supposed to say,
and I'm sorry for everybody for being done.
You have to go back to work.
But thank you very much for this.
We support this wholeheartedly.
And now on to the mayor for the signing.
[ Applause ]
[ Cheers and applause ]