City Hall
McGinn Outlines Job Creation "Framework"
Standing in the break room at Cascade Designs in SoDo, a camping equipment company, Mayor Mike McGinn announced a package of job-creation initiatives he said could create as many as 10,000 jobs in Seattle over the next two to four years.
"We don't want to overpromise here," McGinn said, but "even in a declining budget environment there are things we can do to make a difference." The city faces an estimated $56 million budget shortfall next year.
McGinn has already announced many of the components of today's jobs package before. They include: the Walk/Bike/Ride initiative; the Youth and Families Initiative; lifting regulations on street-food vendors; building a citywide broadband system; and expanding light rail. Of those, Walk/Bike/Ride, Youth and Families, light rail, and broadband remain unfunded, and lifting regulations doesn't cost money.
The vast majority of the funding in the package comes from federal sources and leveraged local dollars---about $70 million for business loans and about $26 million in federal energy-efficiency stimulus grants. "Fortunately, the federal government can print money," McGinn said. "We can't. We have to balance our budget."
The plan also calls for "reprioritizing" $2 million in city dollars toward job training and community college for low-income high school graduates, spending $1 million to strengthen neighborhood business districts, and putting $450,000 toward business training and microloans to small and immigrant-owned businesses. At today's press conference, McGinn said he did not know how much his plan would cost the city.
Many of the federally-funded initiatives McGinn announced today were set in motion under former mayor Greg Nickels, including the $26 million in energy retrofit grants. Asked how many of the projects in the plan were funded on Nickels' watch, McGinn said, "I do not have a breakdown," acknowledged that many were "started under the prior administration," and suggested we look at his web site.
However, that web site only includes federal stimulus dollars, which doesn't offer a comprehensive look at what McGinn announced today. Additionally the site doesn't include any information about when the city initially applied for the grants, making it difficult to tell which administration put in the applications. I have a call out to McGinn's spokesman for clarification.
The plan also includes new "business action agendas," a new business advocacy team, and a web site.
"We don't want to overpromise here," McGinn said, but "even in a declining budget environment there are things we can do to make a difference." The city faces an estimated $56 million budget shortfall next year.
McGinn has already announced many of the components of today's jobs package before. They include: the Walk/Bike/Ride initiative; the Youth and Families Initiative; lifting regulations on street-food vendors; building a citywide broadband system; and expanding light rail. Of those, Walk/Bike/Ride, Youth and Families, light rail, and broadband remain unfunded, and lifting regulations doesn't cost money.
The vast majority of the funding in the package comes from federal sources and leveraged local dollars---about $70 million for business loans and about $26 million in federal energy-efficiency stimulus grants. "Fortunately, the federal government can print money," McGinn said. "We can't. We have to balance our budget."
The plan also calls for "reprioritizing" $2 million in city dollars toward job training and community college for low-income high school graduates, spending $1 million to strengthen neighborhood business districts, and putting $450,000 toward business training and microloans to small and immigrant-owned businesses. At today's press conference, McGinn said he did not know how much his plan would cost the city.
Many of the federally-funded initiatives McGinn announced today were set in motion under former mayor Greg Nickels, including the $26 million in energy retrofit grants. Asked how many of the projects in the plan were funded on Nickels' watch, McGinn said, "I do not have a breakdown," acknowledged that many were "started under the prior administration," and suggested we look at his web site.
However, that web site only includes federal stimulus dollars, which doesn't offer a comprehensive look at what McGinn announced today. Additionally the site doesn't include any information about when the city initially applied for the grants, making it difficult to tell which administration put in the applications. I have a call out to McGinn's spokesman for clarification.
The plan also includes new "business action agendas," a new business advocacy team, and a web site.
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