Seattle Mayor Delivers State of the City
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is scheduled to deliver her first State of the City address today, February 17. The speech, taking place in the Central District, is expected to outline her administration's vision and address key issues facing the city, including public safety.
- Mayor Katie Wilson's public safety strategy involves retaining Fire Chief Harold Scoggins and Police Chief Shon Barnes, viewing safety as a shared responsibility between police, fire, and alternative responders. - The 2026 budget, passed in November 2025, allocates $6.9 million to double the number of Community Crisis Responder teams and $2.6 million to hire more 911 call takers. - A key component of the city's evolving public safety model is the new Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department, designed to dispatch civilian responders to certain non-violent or non-medical emergency calls. - According to the most recently published budget data, the Seattle Fire Department was allocated $271.29 million, representing 33.68% of the city's total public safety funding. - The Seattle Fire Department's next application window for entry-level firefighter/EMT positions is scheduled to open on October 7, 2025. - In recent months, the SFD has been responding to a series of intentionally set fires in South Seattle, prompting investigations by fire investigators and the Seattle Police Department's Arson and Bomb Squad. - Just last week, SFD crews responded to several significant incidents, including a fatal vehicle-pedestrian collision on Capitol Hill and a hazardous materials situation at a senior community in the Rainier Valley.
