On the afternoon of Friday August 21, following recent escalating SPD attacks on protesters, Mayor Durkan once again showed her opposition to community demands to Defund SPD and invest in true public safety by announcing that she is vetoing the 2020 budget rebalancing legislation passed by City Council.

Please enter your information on the right and click Start Writing to email your council member to tell them to hold the line for our communities, override the veto, and move on to defunding the police by 50% in the 2021 budget.

The City Council developed this proposal over two months of public meetings with input from a variety of community groups, including the King County Equity Now and Decriminalize Seattle coalitions. The legislation Mayor Durkan vetoed includes the elimination of 100 full-time officer positions and invests $17 million dollars in “community organizations working to create new systems of community safety.”

Mayor Durkan and Chief Best refused to meaningfully participate in this process and are using her veto to block the change our city needs. As Isaac Joy of King County Equity Now said, “The Mayor's veto was another action that revealed her total disregard for Black lives.”

The time for compromise on the 2020 budget rebalancing is over. Mayor Durkan continues to obstruct the clear demands from the majority of the city. If she won’t listen, she should resign or be removed. City Council must immediately override the Mayor’s veto and begin work to implement a 50% cut in SPD’s budget in 2021.  

Please send an email today to your council member to tell them to hold the line for our communities, override the veto, and move on to defunding the police by 50% in the 2021 budget.

In solidarity,
The Resign Durkan Committee
To contact us, send email to resigndurkan@gmail.com