Speaker 0: The bill passes and the chair will sign it. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? Will the clerk please read the short title of item three? Agenda Item three Council Bill 120087 An Ordinance relating to Appropriations for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights amending Ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 Budget. Thank you, Madam Clerk. And the past Council Bill 120087. Is there a second?
Speaker 1: Second.
Speaker 0: Is so much because of everyone else. You're the sponsor of this bill. I'm going to hand it over to you to walk us through this list.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Council President There is an amendment. Do I address that first or should I address the base bill?
Speaker 0: It would be helpful if you addressed the base bill first and then I'll take up the amendment. Okay.
Speaker 1: So thank you. So, colleagues, this bill lifts the proviso on some of the participatory budgeting funding and directs the Office of Civil Rights to begin engaging with community members to draft a request for proposal. That RFP will begin the search for an organization that will manage the actual participatory budgeting process. An RFP would allow for an open and transparent process, gives our organizations the opportunity to bid on the work and will lead to more equitable outcomes for our community members. I have to say I'm really excited to be getting this project started and to listen to our neighbors calls for a seat at the table about how our public dollars get spent. We did here in committee, my committee last week that OCR will be working with community members this year to find the right organization to launch participatory budgeting. Next year, community members will begin to brainstorm ideas for how investments should be made. In my committee meeting, we heard from two guests Councilmember Menchaca from New York City, who said about their experience in New York that people were really hungry to connect to their government, to share the ideas that they have, and that once people started seeing their ideas were being listened to, once they began to understand the cost of a program or project, they no longer felt outside of government, but really began to understand how the government works. And it also brought their neighborhoods together. People started teaching one another about how these processes work. That's the potential of participatory budgeting. It's about democratizing access to power and resources, and it's about increasing civic engagement. So our neighbors understand how these processes work and understand that their representatives are listening. We also heard from Sean Good, who we've heard from before. He's with Choose 180. And Sean, I think, said something really important, which is that the $28 million we're talking about here won't begin to make up for the economic inequality in some of our neighborhoods. It won't begin to address the injustices or gentrification that our communities of color have experienced. But what it will do is begin to blazed a trail that speaks to how we do this in the future and acknowledges that this is the right way to allocate taxpayer dollars so that those who have been pushed for this to the margins can begin to have access to power and resources. That's the path that we're working on today. That is the equitable way for us to address our role as elected officials. And with today's vote, that's what we begin to do. So I am excited to get this moving and look forward to my colleagues support.
Speaker 0: Rethink is so much consumer wireless. I'm going to go ahead and have you make your motion on the proposed amendment, describe the amendment, and then we can consider the amendment and then we'll open it up for general comments on the bill as amended. So maybe amendment passes.
Speaker 1: Okay, I move amendment one. I'll wait. Okay. I'm sorry. Okay. So Amendment One adds a sunset provision this week.
Speaker 0: Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm so sorry. It has to be seconded before we can discuss it. So. So Councilman Wise has moved proposed amendment as presented on the agenda. Is there a second?
Speaker 2: Second?
Speaker 0: Great. It's been moved a second and to amend the bill is presented on the agenda. Now we can have that discussion, including a description of the proposed.
Speaker 1: My apologies. Thank you very much. So the base bill does create three new positions at the Office of Civil Rights to help manage the process, coordinate other departments within the city so that this work can get done. Well with the amendment does is provide a sunset provision so that it abrogates those three positions at the end of December 2023. At that point, Council will determine how to proceed with the participatory budget program and what the appropriate staffing level should be. So we are just trying to give ourselves latitude to make adjustments and course correct with this program as we move forward.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much, Councilman Morales. Are there any comments or questions on the proposed amendment as described by Councilmember Morales? I've not seen any hands raised. So will the clerk please call the role on the adoption of the proposed amendment?
Speaker 1: Strauss Yes. Herbold? Yes.
Speaker 0: Whereas I.
Speaker 1: LEWIS. Yes. Morales Yes.
Speaker 0: Mosquera I.
Speaker 2: PETERSON Yes.
Speaker 1: Swan Yes. Council President Gonzales.
Speaker 0: I.
Speaker 1: Nine in favor.
Speaker 0: Nine oppose the motion carries the amendment is adopted and the amended bill is now before the council. Are there any additional comments on the bill as amended? Councilmember Mesquita, please. Thank you very much, Councilor. President, I just wanted to take this moment to say congratulations to Councilmember Morales, to her team, and to the community at large who have been long advocating for this. We know that participatory budget is a cornerstone to how we are considering reimagining policing and reinvesting in community priorities that have been long put on the back burner. And I wanted to say thanks to Councilman Morales and the community who's been advocating for this. This is an exciting step forward as we begin the process to make sure that dollars are going directly into the communities that have been long, underinvested and underserved and look forward to the chance to follow the community's lead as we can receive feedback from the participatory budgeting process and really proud that our city has been a leader across the nation. Many other cities have called to us. Folks with the mobile progress have been looking at our participatory budgeting process and our model, and I'm looking forward to this process yielding additional information for directing investments into community based solutions. Obviously share the frustration from Councilmember Morales and team and the community that this hasn't been done sooner and appreciate the opportunity to vote on this today so that we can get these wheels into motion and get some feedback for our upcoming processes. Appreciate it and congratulations. Those comments confirm was gay. Are there any additional comments on the bill as amended? Councilmember Morales, do you have the last word? You can close out debate eight.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks so much, everybody. I do want to thank everyone who's worked so hard in the last year to get us to this point. And the organizing that's started last summer was critical to moving the city in this direction. And this is a direction of a more democratic way to allocate resources. So I want to thank the folks at Decriminalize Seattle King County Equity Now, Freedom Project, the Black Brilliance Research Project. I also want to thank my staff Leticia Farmer, Darcel Tuch, Alexis Perla, who all had a hand in keeping this moving over the last year . And I want to thank central staff, immigration and trauma La, Switzerland for helping us with all the technical aspects of how to do this right so that we can serve community well. And finally, I want to thank Dana Robertson, Stephanie Guzman, and just for helping us really elevate the voices of our community members so that we can share the information about how this works. We are adding a page onto the council website so that folks have a place to go and can follow along in the process and can answer some of their basic questions about what it is we're trying to do here. So thanks to everyone who's worked so hard on this, and I'm eager to get us started.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much, Casimir, and one on us for those closing remarks. You wrapped it up very well. With that being said, I'm going to ask that the clerk please call the role on the passage of the amended bill.
Speaker 2: Strauss Yes.
Speaker 1: For both. Yes. Whereas I. LEWIS. Yes. Morales Yes. Mr.. I. Peterson, I so want. Yes. Council President Gonzales. I needed a favor and unopposed.
Speaker 0: The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it. Will the Court please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? Congratulations. Members of the community, that's a unanimous vote in favor. Again, a unanimous vote in favor of a participatory budget bill. So I appreciate the work that's been done here. Well, the clerk please read item four into the agenda item for appointment 01915 The reappointment of Martha Lucas as a Member Community Involvement Commission for Term two May 31st, 2023.
AN ORDINANCE relating to appropriations for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights; amending Ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 Budget; changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the Budget; lifting a proviso; imposing provisos; creating new positions; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.