‘I do stand by those words’: Councilmember Maritza Rivera pushes gun violence plan, defends criticism of mayor

Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera isn’t backing down from her criticism of Mayor Katie Wilson. She also wants $418,000 in the city budget to bring a gun violence strategy to Seattle.

During “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Rivera stood by her comments calling Wilson’s decision to force Police Chief Shon Barnes to resign impulsive and reckless.

“I do stand by those words,” Rivera said. “Everything that I say, I always stand by.”

Personal experience with gun violence drives Rivera’s push

She also explained her budget request, which would pay the National Network for Safe Communities to help the city carry out a strategy called focused deterrence for two years. She said the approach has cut shootings in other cities.

“This is something that has touched my family, and obviously a lot of families in the city, and more importantly, families have lost their children,” Rivera said. “So this is something I want to do something about.”

Rivera grew up in what she described as an unsafe neighborhood in the Bronx. Her children were at Ingraham High School on the day a student was shot and killed there.

“For hours we were waiting, trying to get information,” she recalled. “We didn’t know if it was going to be multiple kids or teachers that were going to get shot.”

More recently, Rivera and the mayor were announcing the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise Levy at Yesler Community Center when gunfire went off around the corner. She noticed that young children nearby recognized the sound as gunshots before anyone else did.

How focused deterrence works

Rivera explained that focused deterrence brings police, prosecutors, service providers, and respected community members together at the same table. They identify the small number of people involved in gun violence and meet with them directly.

The message to those people is to stop, accept services, or face swift consequences.

“It’s the non-siloed approach,” Rivera said. “Everyone working together, including with SPD.”

She pointed to drops in gun violence in Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore. Critics have said the strategy failed in Baltimore, but Rivera argued it only worked there once the city carried it out fully.

“It didn’t work in the beginning because they weren’t implementing it with fidelity,” she said. “Once they implemented it with fidelity, then it started working.”

Rivera held a symposium on the strategy in June with the deputy mayor, the King County prosecutor, the city attorney and community organizations. Officials from cities that use the strategy also took part. The council then passed her resolution urging the mayor to adopt it, 7-0.

The money isn’t approved yet. Even if it is, Rivera can’t make the mayor use it.

“I cannot force her to do it,” Rivera acknowledged. “She has reservations.”

Gee presses Rivera on school resource officers

KIRO host Gee Scott asked whether school resource officers could return to Seattle Public Schools. Garfield High School’s resource officer, who Rivera understands was well liked, was removed after George Floyd’s killing in 2020.

Gee argued that the community wasn’t truly part of that decision.

“If they were, these SROs would still be in school,” he said.

Rivera noted that the decision belongs to the separately elected school board, not the city. She agreed that families have asked for school resource officers to come back and urged the board and superintendent to listen to them.

Rivera defends Barnes

KIRO host Ursula Reutin asked about Rivera’s response to the mayor’s decision to force Barnes out after the Bite of Seattle shooting. Rivera praised Barnes for focusing on community policing and holding officers accountable.

She also said the council never got information to back up the rumors before he left.

“A lot of our constituents had questions I could not answer about whether or not we were about to lose our police chief,” Rivera said.

‘At what point are we going to say it didn’t work?’

Rivera also renewed her call to shut down the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA).

She was working in former Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office when the city and county created KCRHA. She described it as a well-intended partnership that had problems from the start. It went through four executive directors in five years, including two interim leaders.

However, she pointed to audits in 2023 and 2024 and a forensic report this April that found a $45 million deficit.

“At what point are we going to say it didn’t work? Let’s shut it down,” Rivera said.

She and Councilmember Rod Dembowski aren’t calling for the agency to close overnight. Rivera thinks the city should start the process now, because untangling the agency will take time.

She also pointed to the $17 million the city and county now have to cover, money she said could have gone to addiction treatment instead.

“People aren’t going to stay housed if they don’t get treatment. That’s just the bottom line,” Rivera said.

For her, ending the agency doesn’t mean giving up on the people it’s meant to serve.

“I can tell you, as a Puerto Rican with a large family, we take care of our people,” she said. “Having family members sleeping on the street, that is not what we do.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio.