Citizens speak
Seattle’s 2011-12 Budget belongs to all the people of Seattle and the people are beginning to tell us what they think about the mayor’s proposals for balancing the budget in this most difficult of recession Years.
Comments on the public didn’t wait until the mayor presented his budget Monday. They started a couple of weeks ago on “IdeaScale,” a website found at www.Seattle.gov/council/budget. At last count there were nearly 8,000 votes, cast on over 200 ideas.
Last nights the comments took a more personal touch as several hundred citizens showed up to comment at the first public hearing, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Northgate Community Center. Ninety four people signed up to speak, although a large percentage presented groups of people. Kicking off the hearing were a handful from Lynden Avenue who have been focusing city attention on the need to improve the street for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.
Among the others who spoke were representatives of the Human Services Coalition, who found the mayor’s trim of $400,000 from the budget “not acceptable.” Supporters of SCAN, the public access TV channel protested the proposed lack of funding for the education station “shocking.” Enthusiasts for “Streets for All” and the proposed “Walk/Bike/Ride” proposal offered enthusiastic comments about a program that is looking for additional funding. Meanwhile, a group from SHARE lobbied passionately for an extra $50,000, supplementing a proposed $300,000 appropriation.
Also concerned were supporters of senior services, neighborhood centers, the Seattle Public Library, Queen Anne gym (proposed to close), food banks and public health. Phinney Neighborhood activist William L (for “Lincoln”) Parker reminded the audience that they, too, would some day be “greyheads.” As he said, “That’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”
Posted: September 30th, 2010 under Budget and Economic Development
Tags: Budget, Citizens, Northgate
Comment from Alexander Perepchko
Time September 30, 2010 at 7:25 pm
The City of Seattle does not have enough people to do work and has too many managers. The Mayor promised to layoff 100 managers. Would this help to balance the budget?