On September 22, Mayor Katie Wilson announced her proposed budget for 2027-2028, so what’s next?
The Mayor’s Proposed Budget goes to the Seattle City Council to review and amend. Over the next two months, the Council will hear from City departments and consider community feedback before adopting a final budget.
City Council wants to hear from you at public hearings on Oct. 6 and Nov. 5. For each hearing, remote public comment begins at 1 PM and in-person public comment begins at 5 PM. These are opportunities for community members to make their voices heard and let city government know what they need, changes they would like to see, and how money can be allocated to best serve all Seattle residents.
Community voices play a crucial role in creating a sense of belonging and empowerment within a city. However, engaging community members in effective and meaningful ways can be challenging for City departments when staff busy with their everyday work.
True community involvement in city government means having structured, two‑way processes that give residents a direct role in shaping local policies, programs, and services, thereby building trust, transparency, and democratic legitimacy.
AND that’s the power of community engagement!
Since our establishment, the Department of Neighborhoods’ (DON) mission has always been to bring government and community together to build collective action for a more inclusive and equitable Seattle. DON connects people to each other to break down barriers and cultivate understanding and empathy for our neighbors. Through storytelling, our community has shown us that it is far less about agreeing and more about taking the time to listen to each other so that everyone is seen and heard.
We open our platforms to community voices, commission community members to share their stories, and produce content in partnership with community. These stories offer people space to share opinions, culture, and experiences in their own voice. They challenge stigmas and give the broader Seattle community an opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of our city.
“DON plays a key role in encouraging residents to be of service to one another and to be actively engaged with their government. It’s essential to recognize that there are some things best done by government, some by community, and some by government and community working together as true partners. DON staff develop relationships with community groups and deliver those relationships to their fellow departments.”
-Jim Diers, the first Director of the Department of Neighborhoods
Programs like Peoples Academy for Community Engagement (PACE) and the Community Liaisons provide pathways for residents to get involved with government and harness leadership skills. Both programs serve communities that have been historically underserved or harmed by government and are an essential piece of building trust and credibility for the City of Seattle as a whole.
“I am really thankful to be a Community Liaison, because the Cham refugee community is very hidden, even within our own neighborhood. I didn’t really see myself as being a spokesperson for my community ever. I’m a girl, I’m young, I assumed it be someone older with more experience. It is intimidating being in a room with City officials…but to hear that my input is valuable, it helps build my confidence to know I have a voice, I have things I want to say, and there are people who are listening to me.”
-Sabreen, former DON Community Liaison, Cham refugee community
“Culture is not a complication to be managed. It is the architecture of community life, and any program or institution that approaches it as an obstacle, rather than a resource, has already failed. The City must build cultural competency into the architecture of its programs—not as a line item at the end of a budget, but as a foundational design requirement from the beginning.” –Abdirahman Omar, DON Community Liaison, Somali community
Our work is rooted in empowerment. Community grants like the Food Equity Fund enable community partners to forge their own solutions to support Seattleites who experience the most food and health inequities. In 2024, a project to transform publicly owned greenspaces into urban farms to support food equity programs was selected as a top priority through the City’s participatory budgeting process. This process invites residents to develop ideas and vote on how to spend a portion of the city’s budget.
“We’re raising up a generation of kids who will know how to eat healthy, who will know how to take care of the earth, and will know how to give back to their community. “
-Brione Scott, Director, Clean Greens, a Food Equity Fund grantee.
For the past 35 years, DON has served as the community connector, bringing Seattle residents closer to the City.
Now is the time to put to use all of the powerful and meaningful civic engagement and participation skills you’ve learned through programs such as PACE, our commissions, our most recent civic engagement days, or any of our other programs. Don’t miss your chance to make your voice heard and help shape the future of Seattle. Your voice matters!
City Council Select Budget Committee Public hearings
- October 6
- Remote public comment begins at 1 p.m.
- In-person public comment begins at 5 p.m.
- November 5
- Remote public comment begins at 1 p.m.
- In-person public comment begins at 5 p.m.
