Mayor Durkan recommits to creating long-term solution for public safety

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan told business leaders at the Downtown Seattle Association’s annual ‘State of Downtown 2020‘ that she’s committed to improving public safety.

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The event, held at the Hyatt Regency Seattle on Thursday, was open to DSA members, Metropolitan Improvement District ratepayers, and other corporate individuals and groups.

Mayor Durkan, one of the featured speakers, assured attendants that she and Police Chief Carmen Best will be sure any proposed solution is not just a short-term fix to the city’s public safety concerns, especially following the recent shooting in downtown Seattle.

She thanked the DSA and business leaders in attendance for their support and partnership, many of whom support Durkan’s plan for two years of free college to every Seattle public student.

Durkan said she will “continue to work to make sure we have a long-term, durable solution to the problems we have seen … for far too long.”

The solutions Durkan mentioned in her speech include investing in youth to give them “real opportunities and real hope,” providing social service programs, and directing young people away from gangs and drugs.

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“[We] have the chance to change the course of inequity in our society,” Durkan said. ” … Next year, let’s talk about how we improved, how we made Seattle better, more equitable, more safe, so we can say we truly are the city of the future.”