@1 That sure isn't the tune the chuds were singing when Trump was elected.

The people who come here and claim the council constantly wastes taxpayer money should be cheering these proposed cuts to the police department, which has the most needless fiscal bloat of any department in the city.

They would not be ‘cutting the pay of a Black woman...’ they’d be cutting the pay of an over-paid executive who’s doing a shitty job - race and gender, in this case, are incidental

Big shocker. Cops give politicians, Democrats, a LOT of money. More money than Republicans according to national data.

Yeah, it's a weird move, but it's one commitment. Fix the headline, please.

"While those reductions ended up nowhere near the 50% cut protesters have asked for, they set the stage for a 2021 budget conversation with more significant cuts."

Exactly. Folks need to wrap their head around this. Nothing much is going to happen this year. Danny Westneat wrote a very good column about this: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-takes-a-swing-at-the-police-and-mostly-misses/. In there, he wrote:

"Council members say it’s just a 'down payment,' a blueprint if you will, and they plan to do more serious cutting and overhauling for next year’s budget. That’s fair — that would at least give more time for nuance and detail, such as a deeper look at what community-based justice programs might be funded instead."

Folks are fighting over bullshit. The police budget is $409 million. This particular cut (in salaries) amounts to $375,000. Holy shit, that is less than 1/1000 of a cut. It is bullshit. It is political theater. And it is petty. I don't often agree with Westneat, but in this case he nailed it. The city council is fighting over bullshit right now. Do the work of coming up with a real budget -- one that replaces cops with counselors -- while also getting rid of the shitty cops and changing the culture in the SPD. It will take time -- it won't be easy - but that's what the (very well paid) city council members get paid to do.

@4 -- Right. Because none of this has anything to do with race.

It should be pointed out that we're only dealing with budgets for the remainder of this current year, and there is a lag time between approval and when they take effect.

More important long term are the capital gains tax, sales tax, income tax, and high earners business tax - that and Bezos making about 1000x that amount in that period alone, but paying no tax on it.

More funding for police. We need enhanced riot enforcement teams and more Federal equipment.

Walden is Best's strongest supporter and advocates for the SPD constantly. You've been punked.

@9: How can a counselor stop a paranoid angle duster or schizophrenic knifing people downtown (which has happened ~three times that I recall) or a similar scenario - without force to subdue?

@9: “...Holy shit, that is less than 1/1000 of a cut. It is bullshit. It is political theater. And it is petty.”

Exactly right. This is a huge fight over who can posture more obstreperously. There is no substance here. None.

(And the “tell” is Sawant whining about how someone else dares exploit identity politics better than she does. That’s her toy, waaaaahhhh...)

Nobody likes watching the sausage get made.

"without having enough information on the impact of this vote" - when has that ever stopped Seattle city council, or Seattle voters, for that matter?

Policing is difficult, you're dealing with a real need for policing and serious consequences if/when it goes wrong. There will also always be a lot of people unhappy no matter what the outcome. Setting someone's salary is a pretty straightforward process that every organization that hires people does. If they can't get the simple stuff right, why would anyone expect "re-imagining" policing is going to work out well?

Bellevue is a really nice place to live.

Nose rings on old white women doesn't compute.

@30 Only if you can't do basic addition.

1990 was 30 years ago, raindrop. You don't get to keep the gay marriage but just harrumph away the social change that makes you uncomfortable.

@31: I'm not uncomfortable at all disparaging her fashion choices.