At today’s Seattle City Council meeting, I will be voting against the proposed collective bargaining agreement with the Seattle Police Officers Guild. I want to be clear about this upfront because accountability comes first, and this agreement does not meet the standard our city deserves.
Before we get to numbers and bargaining tables, I need to begin with what shapes every decision I make. I want to speak as Rob. As a father, a son, and as a Black man in America.
My life experience in this country is not an accessory, but the lens through which I see safety, justice, and the responsibility of public service. I’ve experienced police brutality firsthand. I know what it feels like when an officer crosses a line. Those moments keep me honest about what is truly at stake.
As an attorney and justice reform advocate, I have spent more than a decade pushing for police reform, stronger oversight, and public safety systems that actually protect communities. Before taking office, I served on the King County Charter Review Commission and helped pass voter-approved police reforms that were enshrined into the county charter, including subpoena authority for the county’s civilian Office of Law Enforcement Oversight in 2020. Since then, the county’s police guild has even agreed to that subpoena power in their contract. Though limited, it exists.
The contract gets at least one thing right. Expanding the CARE Department is a community win. We’ll have more trained social workers responding to crises, providing help instead of slapping on cuffs. We’ll have fewer unnecessary encounters between armed officers and residents in emotional distress. I support that reform, but it’s not accountability. Seattle needs both.
More of a good thing does not prevent misconduct or strengthen oversight. It does not bring this agreement into alignment with our Accountability Ordinance.
The most glaring failure of this contract is the refusal to grant subpoena power to the Office of Police Accountability and Office of the Inspector General. That alone justifies a no vote.
Without it, investigators cannot require officers or witnesses to participate, access all key records and evidence they need, or independently verify statements. They cannot gather information that would reveal misconduct patterns or verify claims made by officers. Investigations cannot be complete without those tools because oversight essentially becomes guesswork. And when investigations are incomplete, trust erodes, misconduct festers, and communities suffer. Seattle also retains loopholes that allow delays in investigations and keeps disciplinary rules inconsistent and vulnerable to arbitration rollbacks. Accountability cannot function under those conditions.
Seattle officers are already the highest paid in Washington. This contract adds tens of millions of dollars above baseline over four years. Meanwhile, Seattle’s working families face crushing housing costs, childcare shortages, homelessness, food insecurity worsened by federal SNAP cuts, and rising behavioral health needs. Every dollar matters. I cannot justify spending so much more on officers who already earn the most in the state while essential accountability tools remain missing.
And this moment demands more vigilance. The encroachment of the Trump Administration has triggered widespread fear, especially among immigrant and refugee communities. Reports of ICE sweeps and federal enforcement have people terrified again. Even the FBI is running amok. When federal power feels unpredictable, strong local oversight becomes essential. Seattle cannot claim to resist federal overreach while accepting a contract that weakens oversight here at home.
And Washington’s system is built to produce weak oversight.
State law prevents cities from unilaterally strengthening police discipline rules. Everything tied to misconduct must be hashed out with the police union. This means community protections become bargaining chips, and transparency is exchanged for raises or staffing concessions. Police officers have the authority to use force, including deadly force. That power requires stronger oversight, not oversight designed to collapse during negotiations. The legislature must change the law so discipline and misconduct rules cannot be bargained away. Lives depend on fixing this.
To the advocates, organizers, and neighbors pushing for real accountability: I hear you, and I am with you. Yes, I supported stabilizing officer staffing during a crisis. Yes, I opposed chaotic cuts with no plan and introduced legislation to reverse prior city commitments to “defund the police.” None of that ever meant I would accept weakened oversight.
When a contract asks Seattle to defer acceptance of its standards and pretend it is progress, I will call it what it is. Communities disproportionately harmed by policing deserve better, and I won’t settle.
Council should reject the proposal. To move forward, we need to expand the CARE Department so crisis specialists handle low-risk calls, strengthen diversified response and reinforce civilian oversight, champion a culture change in SPD through recruitment and the retention of more women officers, and fight for statewide reform to remove discipline and misconduct rules from bargaining.
I respect officers who serve with integrity. I have met many who want a department grounded in fairness and transparency. Strong accountability protects them and strengthens the institution they represent. I am committed to working with officers and SPD leaders who want a department grounded in fairness and transparency.
If you want real accountability in Seattle, contact your state legislators and tell them to change the law so police discipline and misconduct rules are no longer locked inside contract negotiations. Tell them Seattle deserves oversight that actually works.
Together, we can make it happen.
Rob Saka was elected to the Seattle City Council representing District 1 (West Seattle, Georgetown, South Park, Sodo, and Pioneer Square) in 2023. He currently serves as vice chair of the Public Safety Committee.
