Surprise: Seattle Mayor Stomps On the BLM's Dreams

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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In this Oct. 24, 2017, photo, Seattle mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan answers a question during a televised debate in Seattle. Seattle voters on Tuesday, Nov. 7, will elect a woman mayor for the second time. Voters are choosing between urban planner Cary Moon or former U.S. Attorney Durkan to lead a city dealing with the benefits and problems of an economy booming for some more than others as e-commerce giant Amazon expands. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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The BLM has been trying to get the police defunded in Seattle by 50%.

They had many of the city council in their corner.

But a boatload of citizens came out in opposition to the plan.

The city council passed a plan, but with far fewer cuts than the 50% the BLM wanted although still cutting about 100 cops and about $4 million.

But the police chief resigned effective Sept. 2 because she wasn’t consulted over the plan and didn’t agree with the way the police were being treated.

Now the city council and the BLM is getting pushback from Mayor Jenny Durkan.

While Durkan famously let the BLM autonomous zone get out of hand and referred to it as possibly turning into a “summer of love,” she wasn’t going along with the plan passed by the city council. She vetoed the plan, saying there hadn’t been collaboration on the cuts in the plan and she disagree with the layoff of police personnel in the plans.

From Fox News:

“This veto was because the bills, as passed, did not have the type of collaboration that I think we will have going forward, and that I’m hopeful we will have going forward,” Durkan said during a news conference. “There’s some flaws in each of these (bills) that I hope the council can correct, or with discussions, we can find a path forward together.

“I continue to have concerns about council decisions to make cuts before they have a plan,” she added. “I do not believe the 2020 budget in its current form moves us closer to those shared goals. I truly believe we can, and must, find common ground for the vision of SPD.”

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Durkan also pointed out that there’s been a 50% increase in shootings since June 1st in Seattle.

She’s still trying to play this both ends against the middle thing a little bit, but she’s had a markedly different attitude since the BLM marched on her home, which finally prompted her to shut down the autonomous zone. She’s finally seemed to realize the necessity of the police and likely the residents out in force against the defunding may have played a role in her change of mind.

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