Budget Wins for District 5

Here are some items relevant to our District 5 that are included in the final Seattle city budget that was passed on November 19th, 2018:

Building District 5

• $8 million for replacing the Lake City Community Center, bringing the total amount of dedicated funding for a brand new building to $16 million.
• Funding to complete the Pedestrian Bike Bridge that will cross I-5 to connect the Northgate and Licton Springs neighborhoods when light rail arrives in 2021.
• $128,000 for a feasibility study of a new Apprenticeship Program at North Seattle College, with the goal of making sure that students can obtain good-paying jobs and stay in Seattle.
• $500,000 in additional funding for the Neighborhood Parks Street Fund, empowering residents to choose more projects for their neighborhood through the “Your Voice, Your Choice” program. D5 was awarded the most money in the city for the projects people voted for in 2018.
• $350,000 for a “Home Zones” pilot project, a new idea to calm traffic, keeping kids and pedestrians safe from cars speeding and cutting through neighborhood streets.

Caring for Our Neighbors

• $200,000 to expand the hours for God’s Lil Acre on Lake City Way, meaning that D5 will finally have an all-day hygiene center for homeless neighbors to shower and wash their clothes.
• $575,000 for Seattle Helpline Coalition (including North Helpline) to expand homelessness prevention services, including financial assistance to prevent evictions and utility shut-offs, and assist with move-in deposits.
• $160,000 for important referral and navigation services on Aurora Avenue to assist people who are survivors of sex work, opioid addiction, or mental health disorders. Aurora Commons reports that 80% of the women they serve are homeless.
• $190,000 for Mother Nation, a non-profit providing culturally-informed healing, advocacy and homelessness prevention services for Native American and Alaska Native women. This funding couldn’t be more important in light of the recent study by the Urban Indian Health Institute that found Seattle had the highest number of murdered or missing indigenous women of the 71 urban cities surveyed.
• $269,500 from the Sweetened Beverage Tax dedicated to expanding food banks and their enhanced service centers in 2019.

Protecting Our Community

• Hiring 40 additional police officers, as well as 12 Community Service Officers so that the Seattle Police Department can strengthen its community outreach and community-based policing efforts.
• $1.2 million to expand the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.
• Expanding the Navigation Team, including the addition of staff who will specialize in outreach for those living with mental health issues.

Thank you to our District 5 city council person Debora Juarez for advocating for our district.