Dozens of Seattle-area business leaders are calling on Mayor Katie Wilson and the City Council to adopt a 100-day public safety action plan and more.
Dozens of Seattle-area business leaders are calling on Mayor Katie Wilson and the City Council to adopt a 100-day public safety action plan, restore surveillance cameras in high-event areas, and set clear benchmarks for police response times.
In a sharply worded letter Thursday, 38 leaders, including Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, Costco CEO Ron Vachris, Nordstrom co-CEO Erik Nordstrom, Seattle Mariners CEO John Stanton and Alaska Air Group CEO Ben Minicucci, said voters want more urgent and measurable action from Seattle leadership.
“The clearest message” from an August poll of Seattle voters, the coalition wrote, is that residents expect the city “to act with urgency, fund the actions needed to improve safety, and provide a clear plan for measuring progress.”
The letter is addressed to Wilson, City Council President Joy Hollingsworth, Councilmember Bob Kettle, and the rest of the council.
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Challenge Seattle, and the Washington Roundtable took leadership over the letter.
"There's not there's not been a single event sort of a straw that broke the camel's back," Rachel Smith with Washington Roundtable told KOMO News. "It's really been watching things deteriorate a little bit over time in terms of what we're seeing from a public safety perspective, and wanting to be a partner in getting getting that addressed and moving in a different trajectory."
Business leaders point to an August public-opinion poll that found only 34% of Seattle voters were confident the city has an effective public safety plan.
The poll also found broad support for a list of specific steps, including more police patrols in areas with persistent problems, a public safety action plan and expanded use of cameras.
"The bottom line is cameras need to be used to protect people and to solve crime full stop," Rachel Smith of Washington Roundtable said. "We also need things like foot patrols, diversion programs, and closing down open air drug markets."
The letter urges the city to reactivate CCTV cameras in Pioneer Square, the Stadium District, and other high-event areas, saying cameras can deter crime and help identify offenders.
It also calls for a public safety action plan within 100 days, with measurable goals and monthly progress reports.
The business coalition said more than 86% of poll respondents supported such a plan.
"We need action," former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, now the CEO of Challenge Seattle, said. "We've got a crisis on our hands right now, and we need action on public safety."
Among the group’s other demands:
- Regular foot and bicycle patrols in areas with ongoing public safety problems, including Little Saigon. The letter says 90% of poll respondents supported the idea. A recommitment to the city’s seven-minute 911-response-time standard, along with public reporting when the standard is not met.
- A clearer policy for drug diversion, calling for treatment and shelter to be offered first, but arrest and prosecution for people who repeatedly refuse help.
- A prioritized plan from Seattle police and the city attorney to shut down open-air drug markets.
- A ban on camping within 250 feet of parks, playgrounds and schools, with encampments in those areas cleared within 72 hours.
- The letter cites data provided by Nordstrom’s downtown flagship store, which it says received an officer response to only 29% of its 911 calls. The company’s Southcenter and Bellevue stores, the letter says, received an officer response to all of their 911 calls.
- The group also argues Seattle needs to protect and increase public safety spending during the city’s budget process. It says Seattle has about 1.31 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, which is roughly 40% below Denver, 43% below San Francisco and 58% below Boston.
“A credible public-safety plan and a budget that protects the investments behind it are inseparable,” the leaders wrote. “Seattle voters have made clear that they expect both.”
Other signatories include T-Mobile Vice Chairman Mike Sievert, Puget Sound Energy President and CEO Mary Kipp, Zillow Group CEO Jeremy Wacksman, F5 CEO Francois Locoh-Donou, Weyerhaeuser President and CEO Devin Stockfish, Vulcan Real Estate Chief Real Estate Officer Ada Healey, and Washington Hospitality Association President and CEO Anthony Anton.
The letter comes as Wilson’s administration faces sustained scrutiny over public safety, police staffing, and the city’s response to high-profile shootings this summer.
The Mayor's Office responded to the letter released in a statement to KOMO News:
“I appreciate hearing from the business community on our shared priority of increasing safety outcomes for people in Seattle. As they know, many of the specifics requests they made are well underway.
In the last nine months we increased police presence, including foot and bicycle patrols, in several neighborhoods with persistent public safety issues: Rainier Beach, the Chinatown International District, Little Saigon, North Aurora, and Belltown. We are working with residents and business owners to implement changes to the built environment that improve safety and reduce gun violence. Earlier this year, we made significant street-level investments at 8th and Lane in the Chinatown International District, and we’ve committed resources to Little Saigon as well. On Aurora, SDOT installed street barriers on residential streets at high gun violence locations. We are now working on modifying on-street parking in Belltown.
We’ve more than doubled crisis care responders’ hours, have 3,500 police officer applications in the queue, and are actively recruiting a new police chief. Next week we’ll be sharing an update on our shelter acceleration work and rolling out a comprehensive gun violence reduction strategy. The work to reduce violence and increase safety in Seattle never stops in my office.
Seattle is making progress, step by step. While any violence is too much violence, it is important to understand that SPD data show shootings and homicides at their lowest in a decade. And yet, we have far too much crime and public disorder and people have a right to be frustrated. I, like everyone in Seattle, want to see that progress happen faster and steadier.
When we work in collaborative, transparent partnership on these goals, we make real progress on what matters most – creating a Seattle that is comfortable, safe, and prosperous.”
