About 160 business leaders have signed a letter to the Seattle City Council urging it to fund several new programs designed to clean up city streets and increase public safety.
The letter stresses the need to fund several recommendations made by the High Barrier Individual Work Group, which was convened by Mayor Jenny Durkan in response to rampant criminal activity. Recommendations include enhanced probation, case conferencing and rapid re-entry services with place-based treatment for those leaving jail.
Durkan proposed funding the programs for $2.9 million.
“It was recently reported that roughly half of all non-traffic criminal cases sent to the City Attorney’s Office failed to find any sort of meaningful resolution,” the letter states. “Repeat offenders slip through the system, causing more harm in our communities with no help or meaningful plan for intervention in sight.”
Signers include numerous prominent business executives, including Uwajimaya President and CEO Denise Moriguchi, Urban Renaissance Group CEO Patrick Callahan, Pine Street Group Managing Partner Matt Griffin and Columbia Hospitality CEO John Oppenheimer.
