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| Mark Your Calendars |
Panel Discussion
Panhandling:
A Right or a Nuisance? Panel discussion on the proposed aggressive panhandling restrictions will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9 at the Seattle University School of Law in Sullivan Hall, Room C5 (901 12th Avenue).
Panel members include Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, Downtown Seattle Association Policy Director Jon Scholes, Real Change Executive Director Timothy Harris and Defender Association Racial Disparity Project Attorney Anita Khandelwal.
City Council Hearing
The first City Council hearing on Councilmember Tim Burgess’ proposal will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17 at City Hall in Council Chambers.
Public testimony will be taken and it is important that we show strong support. Please RSVP to jons@downtownseattle.org if you plan on attending.
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Background:
Last week nearly 200 Downtown residents, employees, small-business owners and elected officials packed the Market Theater for a Downtown Seattle Association Q&A Forum focused on public safety.
At the forum, City Councilmember Tim Burgess unveiled his comprehensive plan to improve public safety in our neighborhoods.
Burgess’ proposed plan calls for:
- Hiring new police officers
- A return to foot patrols in Downtown
- New restrictions on aggressive solicitation
- Improved outreach to those in need
- More housing with on-site supportive services
Burgess’ proposal is a critical response to the safety issues experienced Downtown and in other neighborhoods throughout the city.
Today, one in four Seattle residents say that they avoid Downtown because of a fear of safety and nearly 40% of Downtown residents say they avoid venturing out at night. In addition, Downtown’s crime rate increased 22% from 2008 to 2009 – more than any other neighborhood in the city.
Clearly, our neighborhoods deserve better!
Action Requested:
Here’s how you can help make Downtown a safer place to live, work, shop and play.
- Open a new e-mail message and insert “Safer Neighborhoods” in the subject line.
- Copy and paste the following email addresses into the "To:" field:
mike.mcginn@seattle.gov; peter.holmes@seattle.gov; sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov; tim.burgess@seattle.gov; richard.conlin@seattle.gov; sally.clark@seattle.gov; jean.godden@seattle.gov; bruce.harrell@seattle.gov;
nick.licata@seattle.gov; mike.obrien@seattle.gov ; tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov
- It’s always best to put the message in your own words, but feel free to model your message after the sample below. If you have observed or experienced aggressive solicitation or witnessed drug dealing – it’s important to include the time, date, location and any other relevant details.
- Cc DSA’s Policy Director, Jon Scholes at jons@downtownseattle.org, and share any replies, so we can track the volume of the messages and the responses. Also let us know if we can post - or if we may call on you to share your experiences as opportunitites surface for meetings with elected officials and/or media interview requests.
- Hit send on your computer!
Sample Message
I am writing to urge your support of recently proposed measures to improve public safety in our city. Street disorder is on the rise Downtown and impacts the quality of life for residents, visitors, employees and small business owners. It is time the city took immediate action to address aggressive solicitation, drug dealing and general street disorder. These problems continue to persist and are having significant impact on the livability of the Downtown neighborhood. I strongly support more fixed-beat police foot patrols, continued hiring of police officers, well-defined restrictions on aggressive solicitation, better coordination of outreach services and more housing with onsite supportive social services to help those in need.
These steps are reasonable and comprehensive and will go a long way toward improving safety Downtown. I strongly urge your support of these important measures.
Sincerely,
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