Dear Friends and Colleagues: 

The Mayor delivered the 2018 Proposed Budget to the City Council today, and I am excited to inform you of some key investments related to OSE's programs and services. This budget includes continued funding for our office's core environmental programs, including Drive Clean Seattle, Building Tune-Ups, and Trees for Seattle as well as these exciting new efforts.

As part of the long-term strategy to sustain and grow OSE's food policy work, including the very successful Fresh Bucks program, the City has identified resources from the Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT) as a natural nexus to support OSE's food work in 2018. The SBT ordinance identified food security and education as two major priorities for the new revenues, most of which will be allocated through a new Advisory Board established in the legislation. OSE will be leading the work of the Advisory Board.

Fresh Bucks will expand to close the "food security gap," for families that do not qualify for SNAP benefits but remain food insecure. This will expand program eligibility and will increase the number of retail locations where participants can use Fresh Bucks, increase community-based outreach and promotion efforts, and add to the number of clinics and patients that receive Fresh Bucks incentives through their healthcare providers.

The proposed budget fully funds the Environmental Justice Committee (EJC) participants in 2018 and ongoing. The EJC is a fundamental component of the Equity and Environment Initiative, supporting those most-affected by historic, current, and future environmental challenges, climate change impacts, and racial inequities to have ownership of Equity & Environment Agenda implementation. In 2017, the Office of Sustainability and Environment initiated the EJC as a pilot program to make recommendations on major environmental policy initiatives from an environmental justice perspective. The shift from pilot project to full implementation aligns with the successful Community Liaison model from the Department of Neighborhoods. In 2018 and ongoing, the funding will support 10 committee participants to collaborate with each other and serve as community expert consultants who can identify needs, review City policies, and provide recommendations.

The proposed budget funds outreach to engage residents in the D uwamish Valley on asthma prevention efforts. Community members will help identify targeted actions to mitigate air quality problems. This new work will expand existing outreach efforts in coordination with Human Services and Seattle King County Public Health to include multilingual and in-language education and recruitment and assisting the City in connecting communities with proven solutions to air quality concerns.

Please let Councilmembers know that you support the City's environmental investments by emailing the Council using the Council website or attending one of the two Council budget hearings scheduled for the following dates:

Many thanks to you for your continued support of and involvement with OSE.

Thank you.

Jessica Finn Coven, Director
Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment