Remarks by Mayor Greg Nickels
Proposed 2003 - 2004 Budget

September 23, 2002


Members of the City Council, honored guests, friends and family, and my fellow citizens of Seattle, my continuing goal as Mayor is: To make a difference in people's lives.

Today I will talk about changes in City government so we can do an even better job of serving the people of Seattle.

Some of these changes are painful, but necessary. We must make hard decisions and smart choices. We must change the way the City does business.

We know what must be done: Cut overhead, find efficiencies, set priorities, and get back to basics.

We must put finances in order and establish a foundation for doing better for the people of this city.

We must find ways to do things smarter, cheaper, better.

We must do it, and we will.

Though we face tough times, I've never been more optimistic about Seattle, its people, and our future. In my nine months as mayor, traveling from office to office, from stations to centers, from precincts to parks, I've met hundreds of city employees. I'm honored to work with them. They are the face of City government. They put the service in public service.

I'd like to take a moment to ask the council and the audience to join me in acknowledging their good work. Let's honor the employees of this great City.

Thank you.

I'd also like to thank the council in joining me to make the right changes in City government.

What we've done together since January is impressive.

We've reorganized parts of city government to make it more responsive and efficient.

We've streamlined building permits, started a training center for small businesses, and begun a revitalization of Northgate. We're making good news for our local economy. And there's more good news. An ordinance to further streamline permits is in committee, waiting for a vote.

We're getting things done. We funded redevelopment in Southeast Seattle and repaired buildings in Pioneer Square.

We paid down debt and cut jail costs.

We put more common sense in government. We started 684-CITY and the Democracy Portal. We improved customer service at the utilities.

To keep our environment clean and healthy, we improved our water, restricted the use of toxic materials, and promoted conservation and sustainability. We agreed to bury reservoirs and provide the public a double benefit -- new open spaces and a safer water supply.

We made progress on transportation. We made City Hall a friend of the monorail. We found ways to build that system faster and less expensively. We're ready to get started, as soon as the voters say yes.

We continued to improve the finest police department in the nation - with new training and accountability programs.

We took strides in preparing for terrorism or disaster by creating an Emergency Preparedness Bureau.

I'm pleased to say that nearly all of these initiatives passed the Council unanimously.

We are working together, and it shows. We are not letting budget problems get in the way of strengthening basic services. We are making progress. We're making the right choices.

Taxpayers are getting our message - our first goal is to deliver more, not ask for more.

We're getting things done. We're re-building confidence.

We worked together on a new levy that will create homes for thousands of our citizens. Last week, the voters looked our work and said yes: Let's do more for the poor and for working families.

To our voters, I say thank you.

We've worked hard and done well so far, and I'd like to publicly thank the Council for its efforts.

We have more work to do. Let's start now.

Today I formally propose my budget for 2003 and 2004.
My budget confronts a stubborn fact.
We have a money problem. Or put another way, a spending problem.
During the boom of the 1990s, city revenues rolled in faster than anyone expected. The City created 1,000 new positions, increased borrowing, and launched new programs and services. Costs rose for employee health care, new community centers, a performance hall at Seattle Center, and new libraries.
Then the bubble burst. The stock market crashed. Boeing slashed employment, dot-coms folded by the dozens.
Today, money is tight for businesses, employees, families - and for City government. City revenue saw the worst slow down in 20 years. Our projected General Fund budget gap reached nearly $60 million.
In January, I directed department heads to get city finances under control. I continued a hiring freeze and ordered immediate additional cuts in spending. I told department directors to cut overhead first, direct services last. They stepped up, and got the job done.

That was a short-term step.

The longer term requires not just a change in budgeting but in attitude.
Finances will be tight not just for months, but years. Growth in sales and B&O taxes will be dragged down by a stubborn recession. Growth in property tax revenue will be held below the rate of inflation by voter-approved initiatives.
Facing a long-term revenue problem, this is not the time for budget gimmicks, or for new programs that cannot be sustained.

This is not the time for false choices of people vs. potholes, parks vs.police. This is a time for balancing priorities across a spectrum.

This is a time for focusing on the City's core responsibilities - police, fire, water, parks, libraries - and doing those things well. This budget moves us away from backfilling for other jurisdictions, such as King County's public health program.
We have a choice: Do basic things well; Or try to do everything and do nothing well.

My budget is based on simple math: You can't spend more than you collect. If you increase spending for one program, you have to take away from another.
That's the simple math of this budget. It's balanced. It's fair.

With money tight, the course we must take together is clear: Set priorities, take care of the basics, do more for less. Do a better job of managing money, managing programs and managing assets.

Today, I bring to you a budget that sets that direction. It makes the right choices, brings stability to city finances, and puts us on a course to make our City stronger.
This budget makes adjustments in some fees and charges but seeks no changes in tax rates.

This budget makes the investments today in basics we can't ignore. The budget invests in systems we inherited from our grandparents and makes sure they are in good shape for our grandchildren. This budget increases investments in sewer, water and drainage system, and does more for basic maintenance of city facilities.

This budget reflects my determination to slow the growth of spending.
This budget cuts administrative costs. It eliminates a department. It cuts overhead costs in Personnel and Executive Administration by more than 12 percent. More reductions came from Parks, Libraries, Seattle Center - and virtually every department.
And yes, we eliminated positions in police and fire.
Everybody felt this pain.
Every department took cuts.

Some will argue against the cuts I've proposed. I agree that many of the cuts are difficult. But to those who question these cuts, let me say that the public will judge us harshly if we do not face facts and keep to simple math. Budget gimmicks will only make the problem worse and create a need for much deeper cuts later.

This budget presents a challenge to our self discipline, to our ability to work together, and to our values.
We should never lose sight of why we are in public service. Government is a vehicle for our hopes for a better society. Just as I will not let budget problems get in the way of strengthening basic services, I will not let hard times dismantle our safety net.
So last spring, we gathered a number of human service providers and others. We could not sustain the spending levels reached at the peak of the boom times, but we had to keep our commitments to the most needy.

We asked the hard questions: Given the recession and the need to find reductions, where can we make cuts with the least impact on the poor and the truly needy? Where can we cut overhead first, services last?
The result is a budget that continues significant investment in core human services and preserves our safety net.
To continue investments in food and shelter programs, we cut funding for things that make less sense during tough times.

For example, we cut $275,000 for lobbying. I'd rather see those dollars go to the poor than to talk about the poor.

As a result of these and other savings, this budget is able to continue a substantial investment in basic human needs. Counting just one department, the City will invest $24 million of local dollars in social services. That's more than double what we invested in 1995, and not far from levels we reached in the last two years of the boom economy.
But more important than the dollars spent are services delivered.
This budget does more for the sick, the poor, the homeless and the hungry, those who are found in what Hubert Humphrey once called the "shadow of life."
This budget delivers 570,000 bags of groceries at food banks, 300,000 emergency meals.
This budget provides shelter and rental assistance, transitional housing for 1,168 families, day care for 975 children and 764,000 hot meals for seniors.
Those numbers have faces. Those are direct services to the less fortunate of this city.

There should be no question about this city's continuing commitment to the needy.
That's a given.
But we should ask about results. When revenue slows, let us ask, are we doing everything we can to achieve the results we want?
That's why we need to shift the discussion from spending to service, from funding levels to results.
We must do more to improve the lot of the poor, the elderly, the disadvantaged and our children.
Let me give a good example.
We know we have deep-rooted problems when it comes to young people in this city. We know we must do more about the dropout rate in our schools, the poor scores by children on standardized tests, the persistence of racism in our city, and the sense by some that they are not included in our community.
It's not enough to say that the City in total spends $40 million each year on programs for young people. We have to talk about results.
It's not enough to say the City spends $40 million when children start school hungry.
When more than 90 percent of African-American 10th graders fail the WASL math test.
When more than half of Latino students do not graduate on time.
When almost 14 percent of our children live in poverty after one of the greatest economic booms in history.

We can do better.
Instead of the McDonald's approach - the number of children served, we need to focus on how well each child is served.

We must demand, and get, improved results in the lives of our children.

I want specific ways we can measure progress. I want programs aligned to achieve results - real differences in infant mortality, graduation rates, test scores, school readiness and more.
We will work with the school district, local foundations and community organizations to get this done. We will make our goals and our results public. We will demand results from ourselves and our partners.
Smarter, cheaper, better.

Another area that needs to improve is our local economy. Because our economy depends on national and international trends, local government can only do so much.
What we do, we must do well.
Throughout my budget, there are several initiatives to promote jobs and economic opportunity for all, to make the City a friend of business and labor, a partner in growing jobs and promoting economic opportunity and livable wages for all.
The mayor's economic opportunity task force gave us a blue print for progress.
So let's get the job done.
First, my budget recognizes that the City should be a partner, not a problem, for business. Let's put more common sense in City permitting and land-use regulations.
Second, I'm making sure that the Office of Economic Development has the tools to help businesses survive and thrive. To that end, I'm proposing a new Ombudsman for Small Business to help put a focus on helping neighborhood businesses navigate government rules, obtain loans and technical assistance, and do what small business does best: create jobs.
I want to see results in Pioneer Square, Broadway, the University District and throughout the City. Also, I want our policies and our actions to support the entire business community and improve the climate for business.
I want the traditional industries, the technology companies, Boeing, and especially the University of Washington to know that we see them as engines of our economy. I want more companies like Corbis to see Seattle as a great place to do business.
My budget continues a training program for small construction companies. This program is especially aimed at women and minority-owned businesses to make sure they can compete for contracts. I am pleased that the council supports this effort. It is a prime example of helping people help themselves.


The foundation of a strong economy is a strong transportation system. I ran for mayor promising to get Seattle moving again, whether you use transit, drive a truck or car, ride a bike or just walk.
We're moving on several fronts. We're continuing the popular Pothole Ranger program - just call 684-ROAD to get that hole filled within 48 hours.
We're putting more dollars into roads and street repairs. The public wants better roads, and we'll get it done, not as quickly as I'd like but we make progress in this budget.
For transit users, we're fighting the good fight. We're pushing King County for better bus service. We're pushing the state and the feds for high-capacity lanes on our roads and freeways.
And finally, finally, we're building light rail.
For walkers, I've got good news. For decades, the city has been making and breaking promises about building sidewalks in neighborhoods throughout the city. Today more than 500 miles - that's one third! - of the city doesn't have sidewalks.
That's unacceptable. We need to show progress. So next year we'll increase the number of new sidewalks by seven-fold. The next year, we'll increase the number by ten-fold.
To build even more, we're creating design templates for sidewalks to allow faster, better and cheaper construction.

There's been some talk around City Hall that I recognize and embrace good ideas.
And, right before your very eyes, I'm borrowing one right now - from the City of Tacoma.
Tacoma gets more sidewalks built by aggressive use of Local Improvement Districts. We'll do that here. Sidewalks can improve safety, promote natural drainage, improve property values and make neighborhoods more attractive. So let's do it.
We've got a long way to go, we're starting with small numbers, but we'll make progress one block at a time.

Now let me turn to another area of investment.

The foundation of a healthy society is public safety. As we prepared this budget, it was necessary to look at police and fire expenses. But I was determined that we would strengthen, not reduce, our level of preparedness. I want to publicly thank Fire Chief Morris and Police Chief Kerlikowske for outstanding work at finding efficiencies.
In the fire department, we achieve significant budget savings without closing a single station, layoffs, or going back on our promise to put a fire boat on Lake Union. Chief Morris looked at his overall operations and found savings with minimal effect on response time.
In the police department, Chief Kerlikowske also did a remarkable job. Working with his command staff, the chief took a look at the entire structure of the department and examined how to move accountability and resources to the precinct level.
His goal, and I agree, is to make each precinct captain a "chief of police" of his or her precinct.
It makes sense to do this at the neighborhood level - where police work best with businesses and individuals.
The Neighborhoods - where crime is fought, and trust is strengthened.
This budget restores the community-police team sergeants, puts Crime Prevention and Preparedness Coordinators in each precinct, and puts more officers in patrol cars - not as much as I'd like, but during a recession, it's a start.
This is the right direction for this department and for the people it serves. It's the direction we'd go with unlimited resources.

The chiefs provide a good example of how efficiency is not about cuts. It's about making smart choices and looking for innovations. Throughout City government, we've found many ways to save money, and do things smarter, cheaper, better.

All of these elements are key to what we do as a City - build community.
This budget keeps faith with what voters wanted in neighborhoods - new parks, libraries and community centers. Those new facilities will increase the City's operating costs, but we will not use delay of their openings as a budget gimmick. We will open them, as promised.

Another way we're keeping faith is recognizing what has worked long and well in neighborhoods. This budget makes some necessary adjustments but preserves the Neighborhood Matching Program and the Neighborhood Street Fund.

But we have to find a way to do better for our neighbors.

We need to expand efforts to help those who may be new to our city or new to our country. We need to reach those who may feel set apart for reasons of race or culture. Those who may be shut in or left out. Who never attended a community council meeting.

We need to reach everyone, include everyone, and make a difference in their lives.

We must do it, and we will.

This is a budget that faces some uncomfortable facts. Like you, I wish we were still in good times.
But tough times pose a special challenge. How we respond defines us as a city, as leaders. How we respond will test our capacity to balance priorities across the spectrum.

We will set right the finances of the city. We will make the hard decisions and the smart choices.
We will use simple math.
We will set priorities, continue investments in people and services. We will build a sound foundation for this City. We will make citizens proud of City government.

And we will leave no one behind.

Thank you, and God bless our home, Seattle.