Stay Informed with Learnings from SSB
VIDEOS from Solidarity Budget
One of our highest priorities is to make processes and procedures, like the budgeting process, Surveillance Impact Reports (SIR), and Racial Equity Toolkit (RET) at the City of Seattle accessible, understandable, digestible, and actionable for all of us in our community.
Seattle Solidarity Budget presents a Webinar on Shotspotter
"Featuring these amazing panelists: Aje Amaechi, Digital Organizer at Freedom to Thrive Portland;Gregory Davis, Managing Strategist at Rainier Beach Action Coalition; Mohammad Tajsar, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU Southern California; Jonathan Manes, Attorney at the MacArthur Justice Center; Moderated by; Aretha Basu, Puget Sound Sage Political Director.
Solidarity Budget presents: Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) panel discussion
Panelists at the event include:, Jaelynn Scott, Lavender Rights Project, Patanjali de la Rocha, Hummingbird Nest GBI, Abigail Lawson, Growing Resilience in Tacoma (GRIT), Girmay Zahilay, King County Councilmember, Moderated by; Chrissy Shimizu, Puget Sound Sage Executive Director
Ghost Cops
Seattle Police Department (SPD) has an excess of $31 million reserved in their budget for positions that they do not intend to and cannot fill, even if they wanted to, that becomes a relative slush fund to spend however they deem fit.
At the same time, the Mayor and City Council of Seattle are struggling to pay other city workers at a fair wage, to provide adequate and affordable child care and elder care, or sufficient preparations for sever weather and climate disasters, or to provide affordable housing to those who need it. No, instead, they are gutting the Payroll Expense Tax (JumpStart) revenues that were specifically raised to fund care programs and services, to support the so-called 'public safety' portion of the budget; i.e., the police.
When they do find some money for some of the things listed above, or other care centered programs and services, then they are vastly underfunded and not resourced well enough to provide a real opportunity for success. This is the case, even though care centered programs and services have be proven to effectively answer many of the social problems that police are touted to resolve.
JumpStart Defense Coalition -Press Conference 11/12/24
On November 12, 2024 the JumpStart Defense Coalition hosted a press conference in the lobby of City Hall at the base of the stair to Council Chambers to highlight concerns regarding the raiding of the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax and the proposed pieces of legislation, one from Mayor Harrell and the other from Budget Chair Strauss, that would effectively nullify the oversight committee for the Fund and irrevocably remove the Spend Plan agreed to in 2020.
Involved in the press conference includes:
- Transit Riders Union - Puget Sound SAGE - Chief Seattle Club - Downtown Emergency Service Center - Multicultural Community Coalition - Housing Consortium -Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness - 350 Seattle - Seattle Solidarity Budget
Stop Surveillance City
Emergency online teach-in and panel discussion on Monday, February 26, 2024 from 7-8pm
Featuring: Mr. Gregory Davis (Rainier Beach Action Coalition), Ayan Musse (East Africa Community, Nikkita Oliver (Creative Justice), Nia Angelique (Whose Streets Our Streets), Beryl Lypton (Electronic Frontier Foundation), & Renaissance (Seattle Solidarity Budget)
The Mayor is shoving harmful corporate police technologies including AGLS, CCTV, ALPR, and RTCC through a rushed process. Learn about how crappy this tech is, how bad it is for communities most impacted by policing and violence, and what we could have instead: violence and harm reduction programs that actually keep us safe.