The Spin: Seattle mayor’s office uses carefully worded statement after questions about gun violence plan

The words used by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office to describe the King County prosecutor’s involvement in her new gun violence reduction plan are raising additional questions about what the prosecutor’s office actually reviewed before the plan was announced.

Wilson unveiled the plan Sept. 15, describing it as a collaborative effort involving community violence intervention, emergency response, social services, law enforcement and regional partners.

But KIRO Newsradio reported that key stakeholders, including the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee Chair Bob Kettle, were not given the full plan before its public rollout. Multiple community and victim advocate groups also were not informed, according to sources.

The issue became more pointed after Wilson’s office was asked about a quote from King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion that appeared in the mayor’s news release announcing the plan.

The mayor’s office responded that “both the City Attorney and the King County Prosecuting Attorney were engaged in these items and provided quotes for our media release related to the mayor’s gun violence reduction plan.”

Two words in that statement — “engaged” and “related” — are significant.

‘Engaged’ and ‘related’ and what they mean in press statements

“Engaged” does not specify the extent of the prosecutor’s involvement. It does not say Manion or her staff reviewed the full gun violence plan, participated in meetings about the entire proposal, or approved it before its release.

And “related” does not necessarily mean the quote was about the mayor’s overall plan.

KCPAO spokesperson Casey McNerthney told KIRO Newsradio that the office was not provided a full copy of the plan before its rollout and that Manion and her staff first learned about it by watching the announcement on television.

McNerthney also said the quote from Manion was requested by Seattle’s CARE Department to support its work, rather than being a statement of support for the mayor’s overall gun violence plan.

Manion’s quote in the mayor’s release specifically praised the city and CARE Department’s focus on gun violence interventions and called for data-based decisions and program monitoring.

The distinction matters because Wilson’s plan moves community violence intervention work into the Community Assisted Response and Engagement, or CARE, Department, which already operates Seattle’s 911 communications center. The proposal also includes increased police bicycle patrols, youth programs, mental health services, and other initiatives.

Wilson’s own office had previously described the gun violence strategy as requiring “tightly coordinated work” across city departments and with county, state, and community partners.

The mayor’s office has characterized the new plan as a coordinated, citywide strategy. The question raised by KIRO Newsradio’s reporting is narrower: Which outside partners actually saw and participated in the plan before it was announced?

For a public statement, the difference between saying someone was involved in a specific piece of a plan and saying they were involved in the plan itself can be substantial.

In this case, the mayor’s office wording does not answer whether the King County prosecutor reviewed or supported the overall gun violence plan before its public release.

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