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The Reader – Launching the Road Safety Action Plan
THE READER
From the Office of Mayor Mike McGinn
News, Updates, and Information
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012
Launching the Road Safety Action Plan
This week Mayor McGinn joined community leaders to launch a new effort to improve road safety in Seattle. The Road Safety Action Plan, the outcome of the mayor’s Road Safety Summit, seeks to achieve zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Seattle’s roads. The Action Plan includes a public awareness campaign, Be Super Safe, which will help encourage everyone using the roads to make safe choices.
“We share our roads with our friends, our neighbors, and our family members. It’s up to each of us to do what it takes to help them be safe,” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “Our Road Safety Action Plan lays out concrete steps the City and our partners will take to improve safety. Those steps are looking out for each other, the key ingredient to reducing fatalities and serious injuries.”
For more on the plan, visit seattle.gov/besupersafe
Moving forward with implementation of Settlement Agreement with Department of Justice
Following court approval of the city of Seattle’s Settlement Agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Mayor Mike McGinn made three personnel announcements regarding implementation of the Agreement and broader reforms to ensure constitutional policing and public safety in Seattle.
Connie Rice, a national leader in urban police department reform, will advise the mayor going forward as the city implements the reforms detailed in the settlement agreement and the Community Police Commission outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding. Rice is well-known for her work assisting in the reform of the Los Angeles Police Department and has won more than 50 major awards for her work on building diverse coalitions, police reform, employment discrimination and equitable public resource allocation.
Glenn Harris will staff the Community Police Commission detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding with the DOJ. The Commission must be implemented within 90 days of the final entry of the settlement agreement. Harris has previously served as the manager of the City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative.
The mayor also announced that he is re-nominating Kathryn Olson to serve as Director of the Seattle Police Department’s Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) for a term extending until May 2013. Olson’s reappointment was put on hold in deference to the DOJ investigation of SPD and negotiations toward a mutually acceptable agreement. More information about these announcements can be found here.
Increasing access to healthy, local food through “Fresh Bucks” program
Last week our Office of Sustainability and Environment announced our new Fresh Bucks pilot program, designed to strengthen equal access to local and healthy foods. The program will double the value of purchases made with SNAP electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards at select Farmers Markets starting Wednesday, August 1, 2012, through Monday, October 1, 2012. All EBT cardholders will receive $10 in Fresh Bucks per day for the purchase of fruits and vegetables when they purchase a minimum of $10 with their EBT card.
“Everyone in Seattle deserves access to healthy, fresh, affordable food,” said Seattle Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith. “Fresh Bucks increases the purchasing power of low-income Seattle residents while introducing new customers to the small and mid-size farmers who sell at our farmers markets.”
Providing access to computer labs during library closure
During this week while Seattle Public Library branches are closed, these Seattle Parks and Recreation “Rec Tech” computer labs will be open:
- International District/Chinatown Community Center, 719 8th Ave. S, Thursday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and today and Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Garfield Community Center, 2323 E Cherry St., hours vary because of daily programming; please call 206-684-4788 for public hours.
- Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E, hours vary because of daily programming; please call 206-684-4753 for public hours.
- Yesler Community Center, 917 E Yesler Way, Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. Additional hours may be available for public use based on daily programming; for information, please call 206-386-1245.
Regular library operations resume on Tuesday, September 4.
Upcoming Events (for more see http://seattle.gov/mayor/Engage/access.htm):
August 31st, 10:30 a.m. – Mayor’s Arts Awards, Seattle Center
September 14th, 5:30 p.m. – REWA Gala, McCaw Hall
September 15th, 11 a.m. – Fiestas Patrias, South Park
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Posted by: Nathaniel Merrill