Seattle protest against mayor’s cuts

SEATTLE--More than 200 people came to the budget hearing of the Seattle City Council to oppose Mayor Greg Nickels' proposal to cut $72 million from spending.

The cuts are focused at the bottom. Staff jobs that provide direct city services are being slashed while bonuses for top managers continue. Nickels' proposal will scale back subsidies to non-profits that provide city services, cut support for outdoor meals programs for the homeless, reduce funding for homeless shelters and increase furloughs for city workers.

One specific proposal in the mayor's budget is to cut hours at public libraries by 25 percent--with most branches closed for two days a week. On top of that, Nickels is proposing a weeklong furlough for library employees, with all libraries shut down. But these cuts come at a time when more city services are needed. For example, the demand for library services has tripled in the last few years while hiring has been frozen.

No one testifying at the budget hearing supported the mayor's proposal. One City Light worker demanded, "Stop balancing the budget on the backs of city employees and services. You should cut from the top, not the bottom. There should be a moratorium on executive bonuses."

One library worker told the council, "Furloughs and layoffs are the only solution so far. The budget demands that the poor do with less. You should lobby for a revision of the tax code. Priorities need to be changed. Children and families should come before profit."

Though everyone opposed the budget, most people testifying thanked the council for their previous support and only argued for support for the programs they directed or were involved with. Most people didn't call for taxes on the rich and cutting executive pay.

When these proposals were voiced, however, they got a great deal of applause. The Seattle Human Services Coalition offered a broader critique of the budget, and called for different priorities.

One irony is that the city had proposed spending $200 million on a new jail at the same time as it cut services that would reduce the need for jails. This proposal has been put on hold after a campaign organized by Real Change, the homeless newspaper, gathered thousands of signatures. In spite of this, though, the city still spends resources on police harassing homeless people and tearing down encampments, while refusing to provide needed low-income housing.

It's important that people spoke out against the Nickels' budget. Defending individual programs is a start, but the budget crisis will only be eased when there is a general movement for shifting priorities and taxing the rich.

So far, the City Council hasn't felt enough heat to make significant changes in the Nickel's budget. Mobilizing that kind of pressure has to be our goal.