Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the membership of her hand-picked Equitable Community task force Wednesday and prominent Black-led group like King County Equity Now and Decriminalize Seattle weren’t on that list. Moreover, it appears only two members from the 420 organizations (among them The Urbanist) that endorsed Decriminalize are on the list. In all, 19 people declined invitations to be on the task force–which totals 28 members including honorary “ex-officio” member Councilmember Debora Juarez–the Mayor’s Office said, without revealing the names of the decliners.
The Mayor is giving the Equitable Communities task force the job of distributing $100 million in annual revenue to communities of color after running a public outreach and engagement process. The source of that money, though, is still uncertain.
The promised $100 million will have to be secured by the time the spending recommendations drop, which is expected in the spring, to avoid an awkward situation. The Mayor’s budget scraped together the money by spending down nearly all the City’s reserves and raiding funds from the JumpStart Seattle tax, which the Seattle City Council passed over her and Councilmember Juarez’s objections. The Council doesn’t seem too keen on letting that stand.
Black Lives Matter Seattle and King County (BLMSKC) initially was confused its boardmember Marlon Brown was on the list, tweeting that they had declined their invitation. However, the group later retracted the earlier statement saying the error was on their side.
BLMSKC, King County Equity Now, and Decriminalize Seattle have demanded the money come from the Seattle Police Department (SPD)–the latter two asking for twice that–50% of the police budget. King County Equity Now is running their own parallel participatory budgeting process, which explains their snubbing of the Mayor’s reinvent the wheel task force. BLMSKC’s new statement hinted their decision to participate hinged on the source of the money.
“Although BLMSKC remains concerned about aspects of the Task Force, we understand through additional communications with the Mayor’s office this evening, that despite numerous public reports to the contrary, that no final decisions have been made on where the $100M will be sourced from,” the group said in statement.
Other coalitions where more blunt and concerted in their tactical approach.
“The old normal is unacceptable,” King County Equity Now tweeted. “Mayor Durkan’s hand-picked task-force is a tried and true tactic to halt Black progress. But our communities will not accept these anti-Black practices any longer. Move with us as we make Seattle more equitable for all.”
Deadening JumpStart
JumpStart revenue was set aside for the Council’s spending priorities, which include affordable housing, Covid relief, the Equitable Development Initiative, and the Green New Deal. These priorities were intended to further equity and serve communities of color. Thus, the net effect of the Mayor’s maneuver may in fact be rebranding the JumpStart measure as meeting her $100 million pledge to communities of color and plugging holes in her budget.
