Up on the city council dais, homeless advocate Peter Steinbrueck pounced on homeless advocate Nick Licata, ridiculing his council comrade's idea to pull $2.25 million away from Key Tower renovations and spend it on a homeless hygiene/day center instead. Steinbrueck didn't want to shift the money because, he argued, the cash was slated to make the Key Tower handicap accessible.
"Did you go over there in a wheelchair, like I asked?" Steinbrueck berated Licata after reading a lengthy statement from City Architect Tony Gale indicting the city-owned Key Tower for its ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) shortcomings.
"I guess we already have a homeless day center," Licata spat back at Steinbrueck, chair of the housing and human services committee. "It's called the downtown library."
Stand-offs like these--making public buildings accessible to people with disabilities versus helping the homeless--are typical during city budget season. Faced with competing priorities, along with a goal of nixing $24 million from the original budget (thanks to declining revenues and the latest Tim Eyman zinger, I-747), the city council approved $603 million worth of spending last week. Here's a snapshot of what's in (and not in) this year's pie.
THINGS THAT GOT CUT
Social Services: Not only did the council pass the buck to the Human Services Department (HSD) on nearly $1 million worth of nonprofit grant requests, including pleas from the Asian Pacific Island Domestic Violence Consortium, the North Helpline Foodbank, the Capitol Hill Homeless Youth Drop-In Center, and Solid Ground for Homeless Families, the council also gave HSD about 50 percent less money to divvy up among the requests. Thanks, guys.
The Mayor's Office: In a move that pissed off Mayor-elect Greg Nickels and sent his right-hand man, Marco Lowe, hustling down to city hall to see exactly who voted for it, the council slashed about $495,000 from the mayor's staffing budget. The cut was 126 percent larger than the mayor's office had proposed. (It was a 9-0 vote.)
Police Money: Obviously heartened by the SPD's deft handling of WTO and Mardi Gras, the council cut nearly $1 million from the police budget, calling for a reduction in SPD overtime spending and staff pay.
City Departments: $11 million in across-the-board cuts left department heads grousing about a hiring freeze (the Department of Construction and Land Use lost a housing inspector), and forced the city to hem in library and community center hours.
THINGS THAT GOT ADDED
Council Pay Raise: In order to make up for a rule that prohibits elected officials from giving themselves a pay raise while in office, city council members get a raise after reelection (which reflects what their salaries should be, had they gotten a traditional cost-of-living adjustment every year).
Apparently, the council members (everybody up for reelection this year won) thought this year's salary adjustment wasn't enough. They voted themselves a raise that's six percent higher than the one they were slated to get. Instead of jumping to $88,500 (from about $77,500), council members will go to $93,700.
God's Work: With a recession and Tim Eyman hovering, this is the kind of thing that will have to pass as a budget add this year. While the council nixed the initial 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment targeted at agencies that contract with HSD, council members did manage to sign off on a 2.6 percent increase.
Rock: The Vera Project, the all-ages youth and music program at Local 46 in Belltown, scored $75,000. Council Member Richard Conlin (and particularly his staffer Elaine Ko) deserve props from the young'uns for avenging Mayor Paul Schell's 2000 veto of Conlin's Teen Dance Ordinance repeal. Schell had also left Vera money out of this year's proposed budget.
Health Care: A longtime advocate for knocked-up, smack-addicted asthmatics, Council President Margaret Pageler fought to put more than $700,000 into the budget for asthma programs, methadone clinics, and care for low-income, first-time mothers.
Sidewalks: Council Member Heidi "Sidewalk" Wills netted a half-million bucks to build sidewalks in underserved parts of the city, like Rainier Valley and north of 85th.
Helping the Homeless: After brokering a deal with homeless advocates, Council Member Steinbrueck secured 50 percent of the next housing levy plus $2.75 million for a mix of shelter beds, transitional housing, and permanent housing totaling 440 units. Nice work for sure, but homeless advocates had wanted 400 beds specifically for immediate shelter.
THINGS THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN
No Socialism: Despite making a compelling case to raise the cable franchise fee for companies that have monopoly dibs on the city's cable lines, Council Member Wills could only get the support of fellow cable commie Judy Nicastro. The move would have brought $900,000 into the city's coffers and would have only cost cable viewers about 1 percent a month.
No Parking: Peter Steinbrueck's ploy to hit downtown parking lots with a parking tax was evidently too much for a council that once used $73 million of taxpayers' money to help finance Nordstrom's lucrative Pacific Place parking garage deal.
No Hygiene:Despite the aforementioned acerbic exchange between Steinbrueck and Licata, Council Member Licata couldn't get any money committed to a hygiene center for the homeless.
No Infinite Justice: Council Member Jim Compton's patriotic pitch to reimburse wages lost by city employees called up (as reservists) to fight in Afghanistan didn't fly.
