This month, I will be sharing highlights from the People’s Assembly that we hosted on February 27, 2016. Adam Ziemkowski, one of my Legislative Aides, opened the People’s Assembly with the following speech. Welcome to the first People’s Assembly in the city of Seattle! It is so fantastic to see so many people here. My name is […]
On February 16, 2016, Council discussed the $2.3 million that activists won during the last budget cycle for shelter space and homelessness in general. In the discussion, I once again asked my colleagues to support spending $10 million from the Emergency Subfund to fund the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness’ plan for 1,000 addition shelter beds. […]
After years of neglect, massive cuts to social services, and unrelenting rent hikes throughout the City, Seattle’s homelessness crisis continues to spiral out of control. Volunteers for 2016’s One Night Count found 4,505 unsheltered people in King County, with 2,942 out on the streets of Seattle. That’s a 40% increase in homelessness over the past two years […]
In this week’s issue of Real Change, Councilmembers were asked about the homelessness crisis here in Seattle. For space limitations, I provided abbreviated answers. Longer responses to these critical questions can be read below. 1) What do you want to get done on homelessness in the next year? The Mayor declared homelessness a Civil State of […]
On January 19, 2016, representatives of the Mayor’s office came and spoke to Council about their “Encampment Removal Protocols” – a euphemistic expression for escalating sweeps of homeless encampments. The city is demolishing unauthorized encampments, evicting people from the only shelter they can find. Where should these Seattleites go? Shelters are full, and there is a Civil State of Emergency […]
With the Council’s recognition of the Mayor’s Proclamation of Civil Emergency on homelessness, the City of Seattle has the opportunity to dramatically escalate the fight against homelessness. Activists and social service providers have been organizing for decades to win this admission from the City government, and I want to thank everyone for the work they have done. I […]
On November 3, 2015, one day after the Mayor issued a Proclamation of Civil Emergency on homelessness, I joined homeless organizers, social justice activists, and social service providers to deliver a statement. I then addressed the Council on the need to produce a response that is in proportion to the crisis. View my speech below. I’m glad […]
On November 3, 2015, one day after the Mayor issued a Proclamation of Civil Emergency on homelessness, I joined homeless organizers, social justice activists, and social service providers to deliver the following statement. Let’s Use the City’s Rainy Day Fund to Seriously Address This Crisis SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant, along with Julia Sterkovsky, the Executive Director […]