Seattle is renowned as a hub of progressive city politics. The city council, currently featuring the only openly socialist elected official in the U.S., doesn’t hesitate to opine on global affairs, has passed ambitious plans to combat climate change and recently put into law a plan to phase in a $15 minimum wage that will see workers for large companies hit $15 at the start of next year. Sounds like some kind of progressive paradise, right?
Not so fast. Just as in the Biblical Eden, there is a snake that daily destroys the safety and peace of mind of countless people in this Pacific Northwest city. This snake is called the Seattle Police Department.
Like countless other police departments, the SPD has been caught, often on video, killing or otherwise abusing civilians, disproportionately people of color. This abuse reached such proportions that in 2011 SPD came under investigation by the Department of Justice, and was found to have engaged in a pattern of Constitutional violations in its use of force. Incidents included the police killing of Native woodcarver John T. Williams, the punching of Black women and girls in the face, the videotaped stomping on the head of a detained suspect while the cop shouted racist slurs, and numerous brutal beatings and other abuses.
So what should a progressive City Council do when the police department wants to spend $160 million on a militarized, three-story, bomb-proof precinct building in the North End of the city?
Some members of the City Council think the answer is to just give it to them with a smile.
Debora Juarez, chair of City Council’s “Gender Equity, Safe Communities and New Americans Committee” is very much in favor of the new precinct building plan, so much so that she sent email via NextDoor to people in North End neighborhoods where the station is slated to be located, encouraging them to come and give public comment in favor of the plan at the Aug. 10 committee meeting.
Meanwhile, a new group called “Block the Bunker” also mobilized to bring out public comment to oppose the militarized police building.
Some 44 people signed up to make comments at the start of the meeting. Three of those spoke on a different matter. Three, clearly mobilized by Juarez, spoke in favor of the new precinct. The remainder firmly and clearly opposed the project and called instead for the $160 million to be spent addressing the city’s crisis of homelessness, to improve public transportation and to address the roots of most crime in the North End by increasing funding for drug treatment.
Voices to Block the Bunker
Ted Verdone, legislative staffer for socialist city council woman Kshama Sawant (currently out of town in India) pointed out that the proposed building contains a lot of “storage.” Why did they need so much room for storage? “I was in a briefing the other day … and SPD said they had accumulated a lot of equipment for dealing with May Day protesters.”
Activist Zarna Joshi spoke forcefully about the police, stating, “They are all bad apples.”
Richard Fenwick concluded his remarks by saying, “You are funding in effect Black death and what we need are green jobs.”
Longtime union and social justice activist Doug Nielson referenced an article by Seattle millionaire Nick Hanauer “The pitchforks are coming—for us plutocrats.” Nielson made the point that instead of making society more equitable, the proposal on the table instead was to further militarize the police. “You need to go the other way,” he concluded.
Malcolm Ceboliza, a young Black man, electrified the standing room audience of mainly Block the Bunker supporters as he led a chant of “Black Lives Matter” before stating that the new precinct building represented an “act of war” against oppressed communities.
As the public comment section came to a close, Block the Bunker activist Palca Shibale stood up and militantly made an announcement, asking people to flood City Council with calls between now and Monday, Aug. 15, which is the next full City Council meeting. Word has crept out that the bunker funding may come to a full vote even while Councilwoman Sawant is out of town. Shibale held up signs with the names and phone numbers, which people photographed on their phones in the vestibule outside chambers.
Next moves
The Block the Bunker Facebook page posted the following status a few hours after the committee meeting:
Today we learned that members of council under the influence of mayor Murray are trying to pass a resolution in favor of the bunker that would approve for the project to receive 149 million dollars VERY SOON (while Councilmember Sawant who opposes the bunker is away in India) THIS WILL NOT STAND
Contact the city council NOW, especially councilmembers Gonzalez, Harrell, Herbold, and Johnson and demand that:
1. Black lives, and lives of people of color generally, actually begin to matter in Seattle when it comes to city policies and projects.
2. They either vote against the resolution being pushed in favor of allocating 149 million dollars to the police bunker and/or call to postpone voting on the resolution until Councilmember Sawant returns from India.
2. They access and USE the Racial Equity Toolkit (http://www.seattle.gov/…/RacialEquityToolkit_FINAL_August20…), before any further action is taken in favor of the bunker. There is a process the council is NOT following at this time.
3. They not make any money allocations at this time. The community is forced to wait until September-October of each year to present any funding requests, often much smaller in scale. The SPD should NEVER have priority over the community.
4. They defund this bunker project completely. There are viable public safety alternatives that cost far less in taxpayer dollars and Black lives.
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206-684-8802 [email protected]We will update you as we hear more about this potential resolution, and when we know when the vote will take place post an event page
To get the latest on Block the Bunker, “like” the Block the Bunker Facebook page and sign the pledge of support.
