Earlier this summer Seattle Mayor Ed Murry declared that he would seek a new form of engagement with citizens, and changes to the Department of Neighborhoods (DON,) with an emphasis on engaging those often unheard – immigrants, disenfranchised and people of color. Last week, the Seattle DON issued a statement about the future of the Department, based on the Mayor’s Proposed 2017-18 Budget and citizen responses to a survey called ‘Engage Seattle’.
The Mayor’s Proposed Budget included legislation that addressed equitable outreach and engagement – and an outline for community involvement to be led by the DON. The legislation included a lot of language emphasizing prioritizing equity, barriers to participation and culturally relevant public involvement. It also created a new Community Involvement Commission (CIC) to advise on City plans and processes to ‘advance equitable public engagement and civic participation.’ The proposed legislation can be seen on the Engage Seattle website.
According to the DON announcement, the proposed legislation does not dissolve or disband the District Councils or any other community groups. It is still likely that these will be reconfigured to match the boundaries of the City Council, rather than the 13 districts currently used by the DON. The DON also announced that they’ve identified a suite of initiatives and tools designed to make it easier for individuals and community groups to participate in the conversation with the City. These tools were crafted in response to the Engage Seattle survey, begun in August 2016, which has collected over 3,500 responses.
The ‘Engage Seattle’ survey is still live, and available for more responses. Click here to go to it on SurveyMonkey.
Going forward, the DON leadership, led by Director Kathy Nyland, has promised more access and opportunity, new initiatives and tools and to work with other City Departments to ensure equitable and transparent outreach and engagement.