‘She’s not turning them on’: Gee and Ursula split on whether $250,000 for Seattle cameras should be used for other resources

KIRO hosts Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin were split on whether $250,000 set aside for Seattle surveillance cameras should be used for other resources.

Gee agreed with Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth, who wants the unused money to be allocated toward violence interruptors from the group We Deliver Care for the remainder of the year, as reported by PubliCola. Meanwhile, Ursula agreed with Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle, who wants to save the money in hopes Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson will turn the cameras back on before the end of the year.

‘The $250,000 will just sit there’: Gee says money should be used for people on the ground

“I understand what Bob Kettle is saying,” Gee said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “Bob Kettle is saying, ‘Hey, let’s turn the cameras on,’ to which it’s August right now, and we have until the end of the year. Katie Wilson is not turning on the cameras. Katie Wilson will turn the cameras on for guests for the World Cup, but in this situation, she’s not going to. Bob Kettle is banking on continuing to keep the pressure on so that Katie Wilson will turn them on.

“She’s not turning them on,” he continued. “So in the meantime, the $250,000 that’s there will just sit there. So from August till December, if the cameras don’t come on, that money sits there, and then in January, it gets replenished. [Hollingsworth] is asking about her district, Central District, Cap Hill, all that, to get community violence disruptors to take that money and take people on the ground — the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, the late nights — to actually have people on the ground doing things, or else the money is just sitting there.”

Ursula agrees with Kettle on camera funds: ‘This mayor needs to have constant pressure’

“I actually agree with Bob Kettle,” Ursula responded. “I think that this audit is going to show they are already taking the precautions that are necessary to build those privacy safeguards. And I think removing this takes off the pressure from the mayor. And I think this mayor needs to have constant pressure to do the right thing.”

Gee asked Ursula if she believed Katie Wilson would turn on the cameras before the end of the year.

“I don’t know what Katie Wilson’s going to do,” Ursula responded. “I don’t have a whole lot of faith in her. But I do believe that the money that was set aside for these cameras, that’s already been approved, needs to go for those cameras.”

“If the mayor does not, then the $250,000 goes nowhere,” Gee replied.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.