“Please don’t characterize us as misinformed. We are very informed about the work that needs to happen with our projects.”
By Erica C. Barnett
Supporters of the city’s Equitable Development Initiative, which helps fund organizations by and for communities of color, held a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday morning to oppose a budget amendment from Councilmember Maritza Rivera that will require the city’s Office of Planning and Development to create a detailed report on all EDI-funded projects by September 24. This report, according to the new amendment, must include a “status update” on all EDI projects, and include, “where knowable, potential future funding requests for the identified projects.”
The council passed the amendment 8-1 this afternoon, with Councilmember Tammy Morales voting no.
At the press conference before the vote, Morales said the council was subjecting the EDI program to a greater level of scrutiny than other city-funded projects, and requiring first-time developers and small community nonprofits to complete large capital projects faster than private-market developers.
“We are staring down the barrel of an austerity budget,” Morales added. “And what we learned this past week is that when budget cuts are discussed, programs that support Black and brown communities are always first on the chopping block, and that’s not going to stand.”
As we’ve reported, the amendment the council adopted Tuesday was a significant downgrade from a proposal that could have yanked funding for existing and new EDI projects, from Interim Community Development’s ongoing renovation of Chinatown/International District community hub Bush Gardens to a child care center at El Centro de la Raza’s Four Amigos affordable housing development in Columbia City.
Originally, Rivera proposed placing a freeze on all of this year’s EDI funding—around $25 million—unless the city spent all of the funds previously allocated to projects funded by EDI, but still unspent, by September 24—more than $53 million. As the leaders of many organizations that are currently building EDI-funded projects have pointed out, this would have been an essentially impossible feat, given that the initiative funds dozens of multi-year projects that are in various stages of development.
If the programs failed to meet this goal, according to the text of Rivera’s original amendment, “the $25.3 million appropriation will lapse at year-end and become part of the 2025 beginning fund balance” and “could be reallocated in the 2025 budget.”
Explaining the need for a new reporting requirement, Rivera said she was concerned that the Office of Planning and Community Development, where EDI is housed, “has not shown an appropriate level of accountability or transparency regarding the EDI program and its ability to track and complete these important projects in community.”
In addition, Rivera suggested, the city is sitting on funding it needs to get out the door right away. “OPCD has spent, on average, only 25 percent of EDI’s total budget every year for the last five years,” Rivera said, holding up a chart suggesting that if this trend continues, the program will have $90 million in unspent funds by 2026.
Development projects have been delayed across the board since the beginning of 2020 due to supply-chain issues, higher construction, materials, and labor costs, and other factors that are not limited to community-based developers.
Community groups, including some who helped develop the EDI program, have spent the week and a half since Rivera put her original amendment online trying to explain to her how it would impact them. Rivera has responded by accusing unnamed forces of running a “disinformation” campaign that had “misinformed” community groups into thinking their funding was at risk.
Rivera’s colleague Bob Kettle backed her up on Tuesday. “At no time were the carryforward dollars or this year’s budget at risk, but the emails and the communication [council members received] had that point front and center,” Kettle said. “So where does this miscommunication or disinformation originate from or how does it get pushed? I don’t know. Some may say this is politics, but I think it contributes to the lack of civility and the ability to have a full public discourse.”
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Karen Toering, representing the EDI-funded Black and Tan Hall in Hillman City, said the council members were incorrect when they said community groups didn’t understand Rivera’s original legislation. “Please don’t characterize us as misinformed, because we are very informed about the work that needs to happen with our projects,” Toering said. Instead of imposing additional reporting requirements, she added, “What you could do is build more capacity for EDI to do the work that you’re asking them to do.”
Representatives from groups that have completed, or are in the process of developing, capital projects that received funding from the eight-year-old program said EDI is being subject to far more scrutiny than other items that carry forward in the city’s budget from year to year, such as funding for police positions that SPD acknowledges it can’t fill but for which funding carries over into the following year’s budget every year.
“The city continues to allocate $41.3 million to the Seattle Police Department for police positions that have not and cannot be filled,” Puget Sound SAGE director Aretha Basu said at Tuesday’s press conference. “And this money is allowed to carry over year after year after year. So explain to me how our communities and our programs are getting nickeled and dimed while the police department’s budget grows in the midst of such a massive budget deficit. How is that equity?”
Historically, funding for SPD’s “ghost” positions has been used to pay for other SPD priorities, such as a (recently scuttled) acoustic gunshot surveillance system and overtime for officers to provide traffic control at events. In 2022, the council eliminated 80 of these vacant positions (out of 240 at the time), a move now-Council President Sara Nelson claimed would discourage people from applying for jobs as police.
As community advocates, including Toering, pointed out on Tuesday, the city has already effectively frozen EDI funding this year. When Mayor Bruce Harrell imposed a partial hiring freeze in January, he also directed city departments to hold off on issuing requests for proposals (part of the application process for city funds) for projects above $1 million, including those funded through EDI.
At the time, mayoral spokesman Jamie Housen told PubliCola the mayor’s office was “seeking to review these in context of all projects and programs and to provide a complete understanding of upcoming financial commitments – this does not mean these dollars will not go out the door.”
Nearly five months later, the city’s planning department has not received the go-ahead to spend the money. We have asked the mayor’s office for more information about the status of this year’s $24 million in EDI funding and will update this post when we hear back.
Yea, “lack of civility.” What fatuous BS. Notice how that’s only expected from one side, and never of the side demanding it. I think it’s the lack of honesty that makes so-called “moderates” the worst of the bad actors in politics. You know it’s among their largest problems when they can’t even be honest with themselves.
Ah, samm, what part of the city is broke can’t you understand? Seattle doesn’t have the money to continue funding lots of things in funded in the past. We just had an election and the moderate “law and order” candidates won. Aretha Basu is an unelected nobody. Her opinion doesn’t carry more weight than my opinion (or yours).
Maybe next City election things might change with candidates more to your liking. Until then Mayor Bruce and his Council will run the City the way they see fit.
So the recipients of EDI funding can only try to deflect our attention by complaining about SPD? This just shows they themselves can’t show progress on their own projects. If they could they would publicize this!!!
I don’t work or belong to an EDI, but I am a homeowner in Seattle who pays property tax. I would like to know how much of my real estate taxes are paid in court/legal SPD settlements. Thanks to SPD’s stupid hiring of Officer Dave (who got canned from his last police job and was entrusted with a police car) and SPOG leaders trash talking a crime victim , we’re probably on the hook for millions of dollars to the Jandula family. Let’s not forget Chief Diaz (Harrell’s first big hire) and how much he is going to cost the city due to employment lawsuits (Hey, let’s demote one of my competitors for my job). Did Seattle voters vote for that? Would be a great campaign re-election commercial!
Methinks thou dost protest too much…
It diminishes the credibility of those responsible to manage this money,
to chose, rather than welcoming accountability and transparency of their worthy projects,
to deflect,
and instead of explaining,
demand that they be granted equally ineffective oversight that they believe other departments abuse.
This is like Trump ‘what-about-ism.’ How dare you doubt what I’m doing, when my opposition is so evil?
Explain your good work and let us cheer and support you.
As it is, this reads like there are people getting paid to do something, and they aren’t doing it, whatever it is.