Councilmember Tim Burgess on Rethinking Policing and on How to Better Engage the Public in Budget Decisions

SEATTLE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FEDERATION

Monthly Meeting –Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 7 p.m.

Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South  98144

[This beautiful facility with free parking and a grand view of Lake Washington is just three blocks east of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and one block south of S. Jackson Street]

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AGENDA

Councilmember Tim Burgess on Rethinking Policing and on How to Better Engage the Public in Budget Decisions

Our featured guest is City Councilmember Tim Burgess, immediate past chair of the Public Safety Committee and new chair of the Special Committee on the Budget (membership includes all nine Councilmembers) as well as the renamed Government Performance and Finance Committee.  Burgess will discuss his hopes for a change in the culture of the Seattle Police Department and a reorientation of its activities to more effectively prevent crime.  (For more, see http://timothyburgess.typepad.com).  He will also discuss his ideas for improving how the City Council and the public participate in budgeting, and will be open to questions on budget-related topics.

The Mayor will propose a budget on September 24, and the City Council will adopt the final budget before Thanksgiving.  What can be done to better inform and involve the public during those frenetic final two months of the budget process--and earlier when there is more time for dialogue about specific programs, issues, and priorities?  Among the ideas to be discussed:  workshops to engage the public early about budget and revenue choices; opinion surveys and focus groups; an early annual staff report analyzing possible spending and revenue options; an annual resolution on the Council’s priorities for bond and levy issues; and improved availability to the public of Council and staff proposals and analyses. 

The February meeting also includes our monthly Round Robin to share with others the recent issues and projects in your neighborhood.  If you have informational materials you would like distributed at the meeting, please e-mail electronic copies or links to jeannieh@serv.net.

7:00                 Administration

1.     Call to order and introductions

2.     Minutes /Treasurer’s Report / President’s Report

7:10                 Councilmember Tim Burgess   

8:15                 Round Robin of issues and projects in your neighborhood

9:00                 Adjourn