Mayor Bruce Harrell was flanked by two happy parks rangers as he announced his new spending plan that includes a boost for safety programs in the public spaces (Image: City of Seattle)

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is out with his $115 million per year spending plan for the city’s public spaces that his administration says is focused on making sure the existing parks and playfields “remain welcoming areas for recreation, learning, and healthy communities parks” as the city continues to grapple with an ongoing homelessness crisis while trying to emerge from the challenges of the pandemic.

“This Parks District budget proposal is focused on restoring, renovating, and maintaining our parks and community centers – making the significant investments needed to ensure these public spaces remain exceptional reflections of our city, now and for years to come,” Harrell said in a statement on the proposal.

CHS reported here on questions around safety, maintenance, recreation affordability, park development, and supporting community events and programs as Harrell’s office worked to plan for the next six-year cycle of spending, a budget process delayed by the pandemic and the parks department’s shift to “critical services” from only more traditional spending like lawn mowing and graffiti removal.

The new Park District budget proposal will cover the coming years for the city’s nearly 500 parks, playfields, and community centers.

The Harrell administration’s proposal includes $58 million in “necessary services” funded by the previous budget. The other half of the proposed spending, Harrell says, will include a small expansion of the parks system including turning Kay Bullitt property into a new Capitol Hill park and new initiatives to improve safety and cleanliness in Seattle’s public spaces including new park rangers and an increase in staff dedicated to addressing one of Harrell’s biggest urban pet peeves — graffiti.

• Opening 12 new park sites totaling more than 10 acres.
• Making major community center renovations at Lake City, Green Lake/Evans Pool and Loyal Heights.
• Making all 129 public restrooms available for year-round use by the end of 2028.
• Reestablishing a robust Park Ranger program, adding 26 Park Rangers (for a total of 28) to enhance safety and promote voluntary compliance of park rules.
• Adding a new staff team of 5 employees to respond quickly to graffiti and vandalism.
• Planting and establishing an additional 600 trees to increase urban tree canopy and mitigate heat islands and restoring funds to the Green Seattle Partnership.
• Decarbonizing an additional 6 community centers and other SPR facilities, contributing to the One Seattle “resilience hub” strategy to combat growing impacts of climate change.
• Doubling Community Engagement Ambassador hours from 3,000 to 6,000 hours in up to 15 languages.
• Doubling size of the new Equity Grant Fund to support community-driven park improvement projects in under-resourced neighborhoods.
• Funding 20,000 hours of youth employment opportunities per year serving 80 youth.

“We recognize that the influence parks have on our communities and lives extends far beyond sports fields and playgrounds – they are equity drivers and safe havens, outdoor study halls and strongholds in the fight against climate change,” Harrell said in the budget proposal’s announcement.

While much of the new spending would result in immediate changes like increased presence of “Engagement Ambassadors” and graffiti and vandalism clean-up crews, others are on a slower timeline. The $580,000 initiative to make all 129 public restrooms available for year-round use, for example, has a target of 2028 under Harrell’s spending plan.

Despite the ongoing crisis, the Harrell parks plan does not directly address homelessness or encampments. Seattle City Hall has been reluctant to add park resources or features that could help address the crisis or provide space for mutual aid groups including community discussions that began in the wake of CHOP that called for increased services and outreach, or resources like phone charging stations and rain shelters for mutual aid providers. Meanwhile, grassroots mutual aid efforts continue to utilize the public spaces even as sweeps have become commonplace.

Following incidents including this August murder of a man on the Cal Anderson basketball court, Harrell’s plan tries to address public safety concerns with a proposal to add 26 new park rangers. The rangers will be on hand “to enhance safety,” Harrell said, and “promote voluntary compliance of park rules.”

In 2013 when CHS reported on a previous iteration of the program, rangers assigned to Cal Anderson patrolled in pairs and were not armed, working in the park seven days a week from 7 AM to 10 PM. The Cal Anderson rangers were to “monitor and attempt to prevent potential property damage and safety hazards” and needed to be “willing to work outside in a variety of weather conditions, stand, walk, or bend for an extended period of time” and “regularly use a bike or pickup truck,” according to a job posting at the time.

The program was criticized for ineffectiveness and eventually pared down in subsequent budgets.

The new parks district budget proposal will now move to the Seattle City Council for debate and approval.

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