District 5 Budget Wins
Debora Juarez
Seattle City Council, District Five
Hello,
On November 21, 2016 the Seattle City Council voted 8-1 to approve the 2017-2018 City Budget. Reviewing and approving the city budget is one of the most important responsibilities of the City Council. I am pleased to report that, due to strong community advocacy as well as my actions, I have succeeded in securing several crucial investments for District 5.
In this budget I advocated for and secured $4.4 million in targeted investments in our community including improvements in human services, construction of sidewalks, and neighborhood planning initiatives. Ultimately, I achieved a 94% success rate for my specific District 5 budget priorities.
In the 2017/2018 budget I sponsored and successfully secured funding for:
- Shelter for unhoused District 5 residents near Lake City
- Pedestrian safety improvements and additional sidewalks on and near Aurora Ave North
- Planning and design work for the future Bitter Lake Reservoir Park
- Establishment of Literacy Source’s Ready to Work program in Lake City
- Service Navigators at food banks including North Helpline
- Sidewalk construction in the Meadowbrook neighborhood
- Planning for additional affordable housing in Northgate
- Implementing the recommendations from the upcoming North Seattle Human Services Summit
- Events and performances to activate our parks
- Low barrier services for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation near Aurora
For a detailed breakdown of the add-in budget items I sponsored, please click here.
I would also like to report that I joined the successful votes that added funding for expansion of the 13th Year Scholarship program to North Seattle College, supported successful transitional housing programs, paid for citywide community planning for siting affordable housing, and provided more space for child care programs.
There were a few additional items I advocated for that were not included in the final budget. These items included:
- Funding for the Family Works food bank in the Greenwood neighborhood
- Planning and design funds to complete the Jackson Park Perimeter Trail
- Funding for North Helpline’s eviction prevention program
These items remain important to me and I am committed to continuing to advocate for funding for these projects. I have communicated to Family Works my wish to assist their efforts to secure private funding to support their operations. There will be some transit corridor work near Jackson Park and I am interested in seeing if there is a way to use some of those funds to support the perimeter trail. The Housing Levy oversight committee will soon be identifying which organizations will receive eviction prevention funding, and I am pushing hard to ensure they take geographical parity into account when awarding funding for this approach to homelessness prevention.
All of the achievements we made during this budget were made possible by local organizations and constituents voicing their support for these critical improvements. I look forward to working further with these groups as they implement these important initiatives and to continuing my advocacy for my beloved community.
Sincerely,
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