D5 Round 1 in the 2018 Budget!

Congratulations to our new Mayor, Jenny Durkan. While our new Mayor settles in, our Councilmembers are working on 2018 budget. How well is D5 doing?  The folks in Lake City are big winners!

From the desk of Councilmember Debora Juarez: Thank you to those that have been writing in, calling our office and coming out to the budget public hearings. We have had great success in the first round of the budget review and I could not have done it without you!

I have put together a list of all the budget actions that have been included in the Initial Balancing Package. Please keep in mind this is only the first round of budget reviews. Council will be making more changes and I am dedicated to holding on to all the funds that have been allocated so far! In this Initial Balancing Package, we have secured $6,524,910 with $6,205,000 going directly to new District 5 investments! Those new investments include:

• $5,000,000 for the Lake City Community Center – these funds are the foundation for a larger capital campaign to raise all the money we will need to build a brand new Lake City Community Center. (The Mayors budget also includes $270,000 for staff to manage the current center)
• **$1,000,000 for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) expansion into the North Precinct – these funds would pay for case managers, a base of operations, a nurse and outreach workers in the North Precinct**
• $60,000 for senior services – these funds will add another day of service in Lake City and start a new program in Northgate
• $35,000 for Hubbard Homestead Park – these funds will be for community planning to identify new park improvements to be made in the upcoming years
• **$60,000 for Aurora Commons to provide services along Aurora Ave North – these funds will go to support low-barrier drop-in services along Aurora to help people find support and stability**
• $369,910 for food banks citywide – these funds, from the Sweetened Beverage Tax, will go to support food banks across the City including programs like Family Works and North Helpline in District 5
• Worker Retention – Statement of Legislative Intent – This report back will be used to build worker retention policy for the City of Seattle. I want to make sure workers are protected and have a right to stability when jobs are transferred or subcontracted

I am so proud of this first step and I will be working hard to make sure all these investments make it into the final budget. Below I have listed some additional budget actions I was proud to co-sponsor, and I hope these actions made it into the final budget as well:

• $150,000 to restore funding for the Summer Parkways Program
• $500,000 for pedestrian improvements in South Park
• $69,000 to open up all wading pools during the summer months
• $138,353 to add 3 staff at Magnuson Community Center
• $200,000 for Tenant’s Union to conduct tenant education and outreach
• **$400,000 for Childcare Resource’s homeless childcare program**
• $200,000 to support teacher workforce diversity and bilingual teacher pipeline
• **$500,000 for the Youth Opportunity Center and Housing Project in Capitol Hill**
• $75,000 for the Home and Hope project to identify future affordable housing and early learning locations in Northgate and citywide
• **$161,000 to fund an additional prescriber for addiction recovery medication at Public Health facilities**
• $150,000 for a Navigation Team nurse
• **$550,000 for Community Health Engagement Locations to support people struggling with addiction**
• **$200,000 for emergency shelter and support services for survivors of domestic violence**
• $150,000 to assist parents to regaining custody of their children
• **$400,000 for additional services to survivors or domestic violence and sexual assault**
• $450,000 to support authorized encampments and tiny house villages

Thank you again for all your support so far. Please continue to write us letters and attend Council meetings to advocate for what is important to you and District 5. The next round of budget reviews begins November 7^th. The final vote on the budget will be on November 20^th and December 11^th.

**The funds for these budget additions are from the potential proceeds from the proposed employee hours/employee head tax which has not yet been approved by the Council or the Mayor.