(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced his new Downtown Activation Plan, alongside an executive order to address the area’s core issue of public safety.
One of Harrell’s top priorities this year is revitalizing and reimagining the Downtown Seattle area. The first steps of the new plan is to fill vacant storefronts, reopen city parks, renew the downtown “ambassadors” program, allow open container permits on special occasions in designated areas and explore the potential for repurposing downtown office buildings for housing. Increased crime and drug use in the area is Harrell’s top priority.
There were 589 overdose deaths in Seattle in 2022, with the majority attributed to fentanyl and methamphetamines, according to Harrell’s office. That is a 72% increase from 342 overdose deaths in 2021.
“These numbers are staggering of what’s coming into our city,” Harrell said at a press conference in reference to the increasing number of opioids in Seattle.
The executive order is a two-pronged effort to address the opioid crisis. It includes a law enforcement approach to disrupt the distribution and sale of synthetic drugs and hold narcotic traffickers accountable. The executive order also seeks to expand access to treatment services and overdose reversal medications.
The Seattle Fire Department will launch a pilot expansion of its Health One program that includes an overdose response unit to engage with overdose survivors to “increase acceptance of services or referrals for support,” according to the executive order. Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said at the press conference there will be no additional funding while the pilot program is run for an initial three to six months.
The city will also explore funding for more naloxone access locations in areas where overdose rates are highest. Seattle officials will seek additional funding to establish an overdose diversion facility where emergency medical services can bring people after non-fatal overdoses to recover and receive access to resources.
“There are no quick fixes to this complicated challenge, but our executive order takes urgent steps to decrease trafficking of deadly drugs and to deliver new, innovative and sustainable approaches helping those suffering from substance use disorder,” Harrell added.
Harrell’s office did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment on any cost estimates in relation to the executive order.
This article First appeared in the center square