Seattle human services advocates donned red felt scarves Wednesday, Oct. 7, to advertise support for their causes at the city’s first public hearing for the 2017-2018.
About 100 people attended the meeting. The vast majority who made public comment represented organizations that aim to improve the lives of low-income or homeless children, adults and senior citizens.
Many of those who testified sought the same thing: financial support and support of the Seattle Human Services Coalition’s recommendations.
Coalition materials note that Mayor Ed Murray’s proposed budget continues to fund some of the responses to the State of Emergency on homelessness declared by Murray in November 2015, but cuts others. The Coalition recommends continuing many of them so an in-depth analysis of the problem can be completed.
Earlier this year, the Lazarus Day Center began opening at 7 a.m. for breakfast for homeless men and women age 50 and older. Those representing the center — both staff and the people who have taken advantage of the early hours — asked the council to add $340,000 to the budget to allow the Lazarus Center to continue to open early as it provides a safe place for them to go while they wait for other shelters to open.
Johnny Schilling, a street outreach supervisor for YouthCare, brought with him a few teens who have been helped by his organization.
The teens told the council YouthCare gave them shelter, helped them finish school, find jobs and cared about their goals.
“Their needs are my top priority,” Schilling said. “I want to make sure that I can get youth to be safe, healthy and able to grow in the direction that they want to go.”
Nichelle Hilton is the executive director of the YWCA’s Backpack Brigade program, which provides kids with weekend hunger bags to last them from Friday lunch until Monday breakfast. By the end of the 2015-2016 school year, the organization was serving 2,000 students.
“This year, we seek to support all the homeless students,” Hilton said. That would be 2,700 students by her estimates. “We have hungry children that go all weekend without food … and I know you, the City Council, would not let that child go hungry.”
David Beard is the policy and advocacy director for School’s Out Washington, which supports learning opportunities before and after school and in the summer. Beard said that, due to increasing school enrollments, full-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes, child care programs are being squeezed out.
School’s Out Washington is seeking support for programs to secure space to provide not only care, but also academic support and social experiences.
Skyhawks Sports area manager Jason Brown advocated against a proposed increase to park field fees, which would bring the price of reserving a field for a game to $75, he said.
“The result for families will be higher tuition to keep up with these increases and fewer opportunities for kids to get into affordable programs throughout the summer,” Brown said.
Murray’s proposed budget also excluded funding for wage increases to prevent cuts in services, according to the Seattle Human Services Coalition.
DeAnn Yamamoto, deputy executive director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, asked the council to fund Coalition’s package in its entirety.
The Coalition also supports using the $150 million previously designated for a new Seattle Police Department north precinct building for 1,000 affordable homes. The north precinct building is currently on hold following protests by activist group Block the Bunker.
The Coalition also states in its recommendation that, while Murray proposes adding 72 new police officers to the force, investing in health and human services is a more effective way to help a community thrive.
Philip Locker, an active member of Socialist Alternative, said he felt the hearing was sad because all of the social service representatives were “begging for crumbs.”
“I think it’s time not to look at the margins, but to look at a fundamental change in the budget,” Locker said.
The next public hearing on the budget will be held Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers.
The council will likely vote on the budget on Nov. 21. The budget must be adopted no later than Dec. 2.