To find the most glaring mistakes, one only had to CTRL-F "Northwest" and click on the budget amendment doc.
https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11466058&GUID=B6231F38-79F0-488C-AE49-6ECA793F3AFDBudget Action Description:
This Council Budget Action would reduce proposed funding for planned media purchases by $500,000 GF in 2023 (one-time) from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and add $500,000 GF in 2023 (onetime) to the Office of Arts and Culture (ARTS) for organizations showcasing African American art, history and culture in the Pacific Northwest, such as the Northwest (NW) African American Museum. Many cultural organizations, including the Northwest (NW) African American Museum, were closed during the pandemic and are gradually reopening. The NW African American Museum anticipates reopening in February 2023.
The 2023-2024 Proposed Budget includes $1.5 million in 2023 for SPD's planned media expenditures in support of recruitment and retention. CBA 903-A-002-2023 in the initial balancing package scaled this amount to $750,000 to help address decreased City revenues and support other Council priorities. The remaining $750,000 in scaled funding was to fund a marketing consultant who would create a detailed marketing plan and manage remaining resources, building on $170,000 authorized in 2022 in ORD 126654 for literature, web design, and production. This CBA would reduce the remaining $750,000 by $500,000, leaving $250,000 of the initially proposed $1.5 million for SPD media expenditures.
1) The $500K in question was to go to the Office of Arts & Culture and in turn for organizations such as the museum, not the museum itself.
2) The museum is reopening in 3 months either way.
3) This $500K cut from the PD would've been after $750K was cut from $1.5m already for addressing City revenues and supporting other Council priorities.
4) This $500k cut would've then taken the allocated amount to $250K, not $1m.
You can go way deeper by looking at the referenced amendment in this one and then tracing it through to others to see the PD budget cuts. You could go way, way, way deeper by delving into the battles among councilmember groupings and mayors and special interest groups. But I think just comparing the particular amendment's budget doc to the tweet is sufficient for gE.
Anytime I read or hear something that seems a bit outlandish on any side of an argument, I like to look it up and read the details myself.
Still don't know what any of this would have to do with splitting off the confederacy, etc.
