Kettle’s criticism comes as Wilson faces a recall effort and declining poll numbers.
Nearly four weeks after the deadly shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle, pressure is mounting on Mayor Katie Wilson over the city’s response, the still-unsolved killings and broader concerns about public safety.
Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, said Friday that Wilson has yet to present what he considers a comprehensive public safety plan for the city.
“We can’t rely on a wish strategy or hope strategy,” Kettle said. “This isn’t rocket science, but we don’t have a plan.”
Kettle’s criticism comes as Wilson faces a recall effort and declining poll numbers. A survey released this week by Fulcrum Strategy Group in partnership with the Seattle Metro Chamber and Challenge Seattle found roughly two-thirds of respondents lacked confidence in the mayor’s public safety plan.
The same survey found unfavorable views of Wilson’s job performance had risen sharply since April. Kettle pointed to the ongoing debate over Seattle’s closed-circuit camera program, arguing cameras could have helped investigators after the shooting at Seattle Center. The city’s Stadium District and Pioneer Square cameras remain off while the mayor’s office awaits the results of a privacy and civil-liberties review.
The shooting response itself remains under scrutiny. Seattle Police Sgt. Brian Pritchard told reporters on the night of the shooting that police were waiting on “dignitaries” before providing a public briefing. In an email to superiors first reported by KOMO News, Pritchard also wrote that the city’s public narrative of the response was “not accurate.”
Kettle said the questions cannot be confined to police leadership alone.
“You have my timeline,” Kettle said, referring to a timeline he released of his own actions that night. “But where’s the mayor’s timeline?”
He said the city needs answers about whether the mayor’s office assembled its own command team, considered activating the Emergency Operations Center and coordinated adequately with police, fire and emergency management leaders as the crisis unfolded.
Wilson addressed Pritchard’s allegation Friday for the first time, saying she is deferring to an Office of Inspector General after-action investigation.
“Our OIG is doing an after-action kind of investigation of the events of that night,” Wilson told KOMO News. “We’re deferring to that investigation, and obviously want a transparent result, and we want people to know what happened.”
Asked why no one has been arrested in the Seattle Center killings, Wilson referred the question to the police department and Interim Chief Andre Sayles.
“That would be a question for our police department,” Wilson said. “I know they are hard at work on the investigation.”
Kettle said he expects Pritchard to testify at a Public Safety Committee hearing scheduled for Sept. 22, alongside Seattle Police and Seattle Fire officials. Kettle said he also expects the committee to hear about the timeline, communications failures and who made key decisions that night.
