Summer of LoveDurkan
...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone..., after vetoing Friday the revised 2020 budget approved last week by the City Council, called for new collaboration with council members, with whom she’s often been at odds."The people of Seattle expect us to work together," Durkan said during a Friday afternoon news conference, adding that she had spoken to Council President M. Lorena González on how to "make changes in a more thoughtful, deliberate way."
The council’s adjustments to the budget would have cut up to 100 coppers, slashed the salaries of police command staff and also scrapped the city’s Navigation Team, which performs outreach to people experiencing homelessness and clears encampments. Durkan strongly opposed those measures. Seattle Police Department Chief Carmen Best retired in objection to them.
Durkan described the council’s cuts to police as imprudent, saying they had "no plan for how the city will bridge gaps in the police response that will be caused if we lose 100 coppers" and "no plans for how the city will address encampments or RVs that pose a public safety risk."
She also objected to cutting the salaries of SPD’s command staff.
The mayoral veto will also stop some $14 million in additional funding the council had intended for community organizations.
"Look, it’s a loan I’m not sure we can repay," Durkan said, adding that she did not think the city could get money out of the door by year’s end and that the city faced a challenging budget shortfall.
The money would have been loaned between city departments and could have been accounted for in future budget cuts to the police department or elsewhere. Durkan said she is concerned about funding and continuing core city services during the next budget cycle.
Best’s resignation from the top post at SPD, for the moment, seems to have forced a detente in the frosty relationship openly acknowledged by both the mayor and many city council members.
Council members will have 30 days to reconsider the vetoed legislation, negotiate and then vote again. The council needs a two-thirds vote to override the mayor’s veto.