EDMONDS — The City Council will soon vote on a spate of proposed budget amendments, like ditching a full-time city public information officer and cutting back on funding for Human Services.
Last month, council members Diane Buckshnis and Kristiana Johnson spearheaded efforts to reopen a conversation about the city’s 2022 budget.
In November, the City Council passed a $121 million plan that included a focus on green initiatives, public safety and infrastructure improvements.
Since then, though, the makeup of the council has changed.
“That majority no longer exists,” Kristiana Johnson told The Daily Herald.
With a new majority comes new ideology. Two of Edmonds’ more prominent progressives lost their campaigns to stay on the council. Luke Distelhorst fell in the primary, in a race ultimately won by Will Chen.
Adrienne Fraley-Monillas lost to former Edmonds Councilmember Neil Tibbott in the general election by over 25%.
Now budget cuts are on the docket. The new majority doesn’t view a full-time public information officer, or the newly created position of Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) program manager, as essential. They’re asking to reduce funds for the Human Services department and to throw out a pilot solar program for low-income families.
Mayor Mike Nelson denounced the proposed amendments shortly after they were announced. In a statement, he argued they would “make Edmonds unsafe, polluted, and make our residents uninformed.”
On Tuesday, residents echoed the mayor’s opinion during a 90-minute discussion.
Edmonds resident Brad Bernatek called reopening budget discussions “Mitch McConnell” politics.
“I have grave concerns about the rhetoric about invoking the will of the people when you think it’s advantageous to your position,” he told council members.
Edmonds City Council will soon vote on a series of proposed budget amendments.
And former councilmember Fraley-Monillas said some of the amendments were a sign of incompetence.
“Do you understand that you can’t remove homeless unless you can provide a better situation for them?” she said. “We have nothing in the city of Edmonds. So I think to cut the Human Services budget, it’s incompetence at best.”
City Council President Vivian Olson said a REDI manager isn’t a necessary full-time position in Edmonds.
“I think that’s the mayor’s role,” she said. “You know, I think it’s the mayor’s organization, I think it’s something that gets carried from the top and is a culture that gets built.”
Councilmember Laura Johnson pointed to the injustice across the country, and in Edmonds, as justification for the full-time REDI job.
Just in the past few years, a vandal defaced “I Can’t Breathe” artwork on a fence at downtown Edmonds’ Civic Field; swastikas were found painted on trees in Southwest County Park; and Councilmember Chen was the target of racist comments during his campaign.
Chen, who opposes the full-time position, noted Tuesday that “equity and inclusion is a change of heart, it’s not something that one person can do.”
Councilmember Susan Paine said the work of the REDI manager is intended to help each of the city’s departments use an “equity lens” when they approach projects and draft policies.
Maralyn Chase, a former Democratic state senator who lives in Esperance, said the existing budget represents residents’ “priorities for ourselves and future generations.”
The November budget vote initially drew criticism from then member-elect Chen and another resident, who suggested it was just “more shenanigans.” A handful of residents asked council members to table budget talks to December, when Chen would be sworn in.
And several council members argued they needed more time to “vet” the budget.
Mayor Nelson shared his budget proposal in the first week of October. The City Council then heard two budget presentations that month, led public hearings, and met three times to continue the discussion before adopting the budget.
Budget talks wound down during a three-hour Nov. 16 meeting. And they continued in an adjourned meeting the following day — something longtime Councilmember Fraley-Monillas said was typical of past budget decisions.
But Councilmembers Buckshnis and Kristiana Johnson did not attend the Nov. 17 meeting, despite proposing dozens of budget amendments. There, Finance Director Dave Turley read proposal after proposal, and all but one present council member reacted with silence, not making a motion to approve.
Their suggestions included removing the Police Department’s community engagement program, building maintenance and removing all $600,000 budgeted for the Human Services Division.
Buckshnis and Kristiana Johnson alleged then-council president Paine unethically managed the 2022 budget process. Their complaint, calling for a sanction, was voted down.
Buckshnis and Kristiana Johnson reintroduced sweeping budget amendments on Jan. 18, in an agenda item that included over 750 words of background.
Budget amendment talks are slated to continue next Tuesday. Any amendment to decrease funding will require a super majority, or five votes, to pass.
Isabella Breda:
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