Seattle City Council set to vote on whether to override Durkan's veto of SPD budget cuts

Seattle council to vote on Mayor Durkan’s veto of SPD budget cuts

It will take seven votes to override the mayor's veto.

SEATTLE - The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to override Mayor Jenny Durkan's veto of cuts to the Seattle Police Department's budget.

It will take seven votes for the nine-member council to override the veto.

Council President Lorena Gonzalez said she'll vote to override, but she's also presenting an alternative budget in case there aren't enough votes.

The controversial budget approved by the council includes cutting off funding for roughly 100 police officers, cutting salaries of police command staff, scrapping the city's navigation team and diverting those funds to boost community programs.

The council approved those cuts in a 7-1 vote.

The alternate budget proposal from Gonzalez lays out about 20 changes that the mayor has already approved, but not everyone is on board with the alternative.

“We ask them not to flip-flop on one of the most important votes of their careers," King County Equity Now and Decriminalize Seattle said in a prepared statement. "Nothing has changed—our city is still in urgent need of rethinking our approach to public safety. The material conditions for most Black people haven't changed. "

The council is expected to discuss the budget veto in a special meeting that starts at 3 p.m. Tuesday.