Tim Burgess' City View

Invest Early in Our Children to Build the Strongest Seattle

The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

What if Seattle became a national leader in providing early learning opportunities for all of our children?

To achieve this ideal, we must move at the speed of light. Why? Because the more we research how children learn and grow, the more we confirm investing early—years before kindergarten—yields the best results.

This morning, two national experts on early childhood development and learning briefed the City Council and made the case for early investments. You can review the presentations of Dr. Steven Barnett (National Institute for Early Education Research) and Dr. Sarah Roseberry Lytle (University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences) here and here.

Dr. Lytle told us that, only hours after birth, infants can tell the difference between their native language and a foreign language and that 85% of a child’s brain is developed by the time they are three years old.

A Groundbreaking Shift in Criminal Justice

Yesterday, amid a very full day discussing gun safety measures, criminal background checks, public campaign financing and homeless encampments, the Council heard about a groundbreaking shift in the way Washington State supervises individuals recently released from prison. 

The simple premise behind the change is this: swift and certain sanctions are more effective in changing the behavior of offenders under community supervision than sporadic and more severe punishments. In other words, an immediate night or weekend in jail successfully reinforces the message that condition-of-release violations bring consequences; a longer sentence announced a month after a violation occurs feels arbitrary to the violator and is not an effective way to change behavior.

Funding Approved to Reduce Gun Violence in Seattle

Today the City Council approved a supplement to our 2013 budget that includes two innovative measures I proposed to increase gun safety and reduce violence in Seattle:

(1) A one-time investment of $153,000 to University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center for dynamic, new research that will lead to gun safety measures. According to NBC news, the City of Seattle will be the first city in the nation to provide direct funding for basic research into the causes and effects of gun violence.

(2) A one-time investment of $217,000 to Seattle-King County Public Health to implement an Enhanced Mental Health Emergency Management and Response system.

Gun violence is a public health crisis and this funding package enables Seattle to take positive action now. By jump-starting research blocked for so long by the NRA and by building the same emergency response system used by the Red Cross, we will increase public safety in Seattle.

Seattle Channel Video on Nurse-Family Partnership

The Seattle Channel's CityStream show has a great new five-minute feature about The Nurse-Family Partnership. It shows why the Council keeps increasing funding for this very effective program.

A Safe and Clean Downtown

A safe and clean downtown is something we all want for our city. Taking a big step toward that end, the City Council voted unanimously yesterday to renew the Metropolitan Improvement District (MID) for 10 years and expand it to Belltown.

The MID is one of the city’s nonprofit Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) where landowners pay special assessments to contract with private firms that provide additional trash pick-up, alley cleaning and other services that make the neighborhood cleaner and safer. The Council considered this renewal and expansion after it was presented to the Council in a petition signed by a significant majority of the would-be MID ratepayers. Because state law limits City government’s ability to raise revenues, BIAs have become an important tool for business districts throughout Seattle to raise their own revenue to make their sidewalks, buildings and streets more inviting to residents and customers.  

Consistent with our focus on results, the Council amended the proposal to require a performance audit of the MID to ensure that these beneficial services continue to be provided in an effective manner.

Pacific Place Garage: To Sell or Not To Sell?

After months of review, my committee made a decision last week to hold legislation that would have authorized the sale of the Pacific Place Garage owned by the City. (We try not to use the term “Pacific Place Garage Sale,” because that sounds like a bargain shopper’s dream and not the sale of a piece of subterranean urban infrastructure worth tens of millions of dollars.) It was not an easy or simple decision, so I thought it would be good to explain the Council’s review process in greater detail. But first, some background.

Auditing the Transportation Capital Program

I asked the City Auditor today to conduct an audit of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s capital investment program and its management of cash balances. I did so after learning that SDOT incurred millions of dollars of unused debt in recent years. In 2011, $112 million remained in its cash balance from bond sale proceeds. Last year, the total was $64 million.

We are $1.8 billion behind on basic street and bridge maintenance projects. It’s very troubling that we have been sitting on so much cash. We sold the bonds. We have the money. We should spend these funds to improve mobility and repair our bridges, streets and sidewalks today. Instead, SDOT is wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary interest payments. Until we can determine why this is happening and adopt corrective measures, I will not vote to incur any additional debt for SDOT-managed projects.

Our Fiscal Responsibility and Moral Obligation

We have a fiscal responsibility and a moral obligation to invest in effective programs both for the taxpayers and for the vulnerable who rely on our vital services. The proactive measurement and evaluation of results is what Seattle residents expect and deserve.

To further our efforts to budget wisely and effectively, my committee today unanimously approved legislation (Resolution 31425) calling for the design and funding of evaluations of any new programs in the Mayor’s 2014 budget proposal.

Using Science in Government

Two recent events highlighted the City Council’s efforts to focus on evidence-based programs and decisions.

On Friday, the Office of City Auditor organized a forum in City Hall where University of Washington professors presented research on various topics relevant for city policymakers, from transportation to crime to human services. Then, yesterday morning, researchers from the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University briefed the Council on several crime prevention efforts underway to make Seattle neighborhoods safer.

Using science and data to guide government investments and programs is smart government. You’d think that would be obvious and readily accepted. Think again.

Writing in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago, Jon Baron, president of the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, lifted the rug to reveal a few awkward facts.

Budget Values, Seattle Values

The City Council adopted the 2013 city government budget this afternoon by a vote of 9-0.

We approached this year’s budget with a strong focus on investing our limited resources wisely and efficiently to meet the immediate needs of our city. The Council also focused on those investments that would continue to build a sustainable city and enhance our ability to measure the effectiveness of our various programs. We are committed to achieving results for you.

Most of the Council’s changes to the Mayor’s proposed budget centered on three important areas—

Caring for our most vulnerable neighbors—expanding day shelter services, more food for emergency food programs at our Food Banks, and social workers to visit home-bound seniors.  We are also hiring more nurses to empower first-time, low-income mothers living in poverty.  By doing, Seattle will proudly become only the third major U.S. city to fully fund the Nurse Family Partnership. And, with a sensible evaluation strategy in hand, we will expand our Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to reach up to 450 additional at-risk young people.

Improving public safety—additional funding to hire more police officers to help keep our neighborhoods safe.

Improving transportation—redirected money to take care of urgent transportation needs—more focus on street and road maintenance and improving transit service.

I am particularly grateful that my colleagues agreed to fully fund the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP), an evidence-based early childhood intervention program that leads to better pregnancy outcomes for mother and child, higher education achievement for mother and child, and significantly reduced criminal justice system involvement for mother and child. Early interventions—like the Nurse Family Partnership—pay huge dividends for our city’s future.

You can review budget documents here and my earlier posts here.

Thanks to all of the people of Seattle who called us, sent e-mails, took our on-line budget survey, and shared with me their vision for a better city. Our best days are ahead of us.