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June 16: Join OSE for the Second Building Performance Standards Online Open House

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Developing a successful Seattle Building Performance Standards (BPS) policy will require understanding and offering solutions to meet the challenges – technical, financial, operational, or otherwise – that building owners, managers, and tenants may face in making upgrades. OSE is committed to a collaborative effort to maximize benefits to building owners and tenants and to ensure equitable pathways to high quality green jobs, especially for people of color and women.

On June 16th from 12pm to 1:30pm OSE is hosting a zoom webinar to give an update on our Building Performance Standard policy work to date and share highlights of stakeholder feedback received so far on the potential policy. In this open house, OSE will share the draft BPS policy framework and the policy timeline, and take comments and questions on the draft policy framework. Register for June 16th webinar.

Catching Up on the April 5 Open House

On April 5, OSE hosted the first open house, attended by 350 people, which gave an overview of how buildings contribute to climate pollution and the ways this pollution affects people’s health and our community, especially impacting communities of color. Staff presented on existing City policies to reduce climate pollution and discussed building performance standards (BPS) — what they are, how they work, how they might complement current state and city policies, and their benefits. Following the presentation, staff responded to audience questions and comments, which are summarized in the Q & A below. 

Why Building Performance Standards?

Seattle Building Performance Standards are projected to reduce building sector emissions 27% by 2050. They are the single most impactful building policy the City can implement in the next few years to reduce climate pollution and transition toward cleaner, healthier buildings.

Building performance standards are energy or emissions targets that existing buildings must meet over time to improve energy efficiency and reduce climate impacts. The City is developing an approach that would gradually phase out carbon pollution from existing commercial and multifamily buildings 20,000 square feet (ft2) and larger through mandatory emissions targets, beginning 2026 for the largest commercial buildings, that become more stringent over time, to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2045.

For more information on Building Performance Standards, see the OSE website at: www.seattle.gov/building-performance-standards.

King Conservation District Seattle Community Partnership Programs Awards $761,000 to 13 Organizations

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King Conservation District (KCD) and OSE are continuing their longstanding collaboration to invest in natural resource improvements that are led by or in deep partnership with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

KCD received 35 applications from amazing community organizations requesting over $2.4 million dollars in funding. The program had $761,000 available to award this year and selected 13 organizations. Proposed projects represented a range of activities and ideas including community education and empowerment, green career pathways, youth leadership, food justice, habitat conservation, composting and soil health, urban forest restoration, watershed health, and many more.

The focus of this funding opportunity and the 2022 awards continues to be investments in natural resource improvements that are co-created, led by, or in deep partnership with communities disproportionately impacted by environmental injustice, climate change, and systematic racism: Black, Indigenous, People of Color, immigrants, refugees, people with low incomes, youth and elders.

This year, King Conservation District and the City of Seattle are thrilled to announce awards to the following community organizations:

2022 King Conservation District (KCD)-Seattle Community Partnership Grant Program Awardees

AmountOrganizationProject Details
$25,000Hip Hop is GreenCherry Street Farm and Lab: Youth Excellence Program (Y.E.P) Phase II
$70,000InterIm CDADanny Woo Community Garden and Cooking Project
$70,000iUrban TeenResilience, Innovation and Sustainability in a Changing World
$25,000Khmer Community of Seattle King CountyIntergenerational Khmer Land Ethic Internship
$50,000Na’ah Illahee FundContinuation of Daybreak Star Restoration for Sovereign Futures
$70,000Nurturing RootsUrban – Rural Food Connection
$70,000Plant Based Food SharePlant Based Food Share Project
$70,000Restaurant 2 GardenRestaurant 2 Garden Project
$70,000Somali Family Safety Task ForceSomali Community Growing Together
$58,000Sustainable SeattleRiparian Caretakers
$70,000Villa ComunitariaSalsa De La Vida
$70,000Windz of Change AllianceRestoring Native Stewardship in Urban Ecology
$43,000YouthCareYouthGrow Project
$761,000Total funds awarded for 2022

Listening to Community Priorities to inform Critical Climate Investments

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Green New Deal Oversight Board to present budget 2022 and 2023/24 budget recommendations in early June.

On April 18th, the Green New Deal Oversight Board held a public listening session to create a space for community input, build connections, and inform future priorities of the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal Oversight Board is comprised of 19 members who work to connect frontline community led voices and the Seattle city government to eliminate Seattle’s climate pollution by 2030, while resolving racial, social, and economic inequities.

The primary goals of the Green New Deal are:

  • Address the Climate Crisis and Environmental Injustice: reduce climate pollution and climate adaptation
  • Build an Inclusive Low-Carbon Economy: workforce development, contracting, and community wealth building
  • Promote Community Health and Well-being: reduce climate related health disparities
  • and foster resiliency

At the listening session, attendees were broken up into 8 small groups facilitated by Oversight Board members with notes captured by OSE staff. Each small group worked through the following set of questions:

  • Imagine it is 2030 Seattle is pollution free what lead us here? Share your idea in a headline form.
  • Do you know of an existing or new idea of a project, program, policy, that aligns with the
    following Green New Deal priority area?
  • Are there existing city programs or projects that you would like to see more of in your
    community? (Examples: Broader opportunities to sign up for the Utility Discount Program, more
    access to home weatherization rebates, or more environmental education programs in schools)
  • What are existing education programs, early career services, or entry level positions in the
    climate and environmental sector? How could access to these programs be expanded? What
    programs could be created in this space?
  • Of the ideas shared what things would you do immediately and what things would come later?

Breakout Group Discussion Themes

  • Decrease our reliance on fossil fueled vehicles
    • Develop programs and incentives for people with low incomes to access EVs such as a community car share program
    • More public transit electrification
    • Subsidize energy transition for community members with low incomes
  • Decrease our reliance on fossil fuels in buildings
    • Scale up our oil to electric home heating program and include gas
    • Support more solar energy generation
    • Expand weatherization programs for residential buildings
    • Close the financial gap between developing affordable and low income housing & green building
    • Subsidize energy transition for community members with low incomes
  • Invest in youth and community education efforts
    • Invest in community based organizations to provide critical education and technical assistance to community members who are eligible for incentives and assistance programs
    • Invest in education for young people
    • Environmental and climate justice curriculum in schools
    • Develop a youth workforce training & education center
  • Ensure that workforce development strategies are developed as part of climate policy development
    • Invest in pathways into apprenticeships to meet the workforce demand
    • Invest in ways that connect youth into career pathways that are a part of decarbonization and climate adaptation efforts
    • Support accessible avenues for community land ownership
    • Develop creative ways to bring people together to foster community building, community cohesion and relationship building while raising awareness around climate change and inspiring collective action & solutions development

Overcoming Challenges & Building Opportunities Together

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2021 Duwamish Valley Program Update & Progress Report 

By Alberto J. Rodríguez (OSE) & David W. Goldberg (OPCD) 

It is no secret the last couple of years have been extremely challenging. But, due to the incredible grit, perseverance, and community leadership, we have overcome many challenges and built opportunities — together. In this update we describe some the Duwamish Valley Program’s highlights from 2021.

Throughout the years, the South Park and Georgetown communities have identified priorities and developed plans in collaboration with volunteers, universities, non-profits, philanthropic entities, and government agencies, many of which are led by communities of color and low-income communities and thus ensure that racial and social justice are front and center. None of these efforts would be successful without the many community members who contributed countless hours of volunteer time and labor to improve their neighborhoods and help deliver projects and programs. To all of you, THANK YOU! 

Since 2016, the City of Seattle’s Duwamish Valley Program and Duwamish Valley Action Team (DAT) have worked to create positive change in the Duwamish Valley and build a more just and equitable city. Despite encountering many obstacles and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DAT continued to work collaboratively to break silos, use an intersectional approach, and build partnerships with community, other agencies, and philanthropic organizations to deliver on the actions included in the  Duwamish Valley Action Plan.

We would like to share some highlights from 2021:  

2022 Duwamish Valley Package of Investments: 

The City’s 2022 budget included one of the largest packages of investments since the release of the Action Plan in 2018 (approximately $9 million). These investments will expand youth leadership and capacity building, fund essential improvements to community gathering spaces, improve mobility and access to greenspace and the Duwamish River, improve air and environmental quality, and support local businesses and workforce development. Many of these were supported by and will be aligned with Seattle’s Green New Deal.

COVID-19 Relief & Response: 

Photo Credit: Rosario-Maria Medina

The Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) supported 12 women- and BIPOC-owned small businesses in Georgetown and South Park with technical assistance and/or four rounds of protective supplies and gear. Additionally, in partnership with community-based organizations, we supported more than 100 South Park and Georgetown families and individuals with rental assistance, utility payments, emergency grocery vouchers, and healthcare costs. 

Reconnect West Seattle:

The unexpected closure of the West Seattle Bridge dramatically impacted the Duwamish Valley communities. In 2021, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Department of Neighborhoods (DON) worked with South Park and Georgetown community members to identify, design, and implement traffic calming and pedestrian safety projects to mitigate for the bridge closure. Among other things, together we planted 100 street trees each in South Park and Georgetown; established Home Zones in both neighborhoods; built a new sidewalk and finished the Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center interim crossing signal to provide safer access to those visiting the Longhouse and people walking and biking on the Duwamish Trail; and many other things.  

Duwamish Valley Resilience District:  

OSE, the Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD), and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), launched, paused, and re-launched our efforts to establish a Resilience District in the Duwamish Valley. While delayed, we made progress last year, including hiring Equitable Future to lead community engagement efforts and Environmental Works as the landscape architecture firm to support the design and implementation of two pilot projects (i.e., Unity Electric site planning in South Park and improvements to 8th Ave. S in Georgetown). In the next few weeks, we will begin broad community engagement. Stay tuned for more information.   

And there’s even more!

We also want to celebrate progress on all seven priority areas in the Action Plan, including:  

Healthy Environment:

Photo Credit: Hannah Letinich

Parks & Open Spaces:

  • Duwamish Waterway Park. Seattle Parks & Recreation (SPR) has been making improvements to the park. Construction is nearing completion and work is underway with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) to define final environmental remediation actions. 
  • South Park Community Center. SPR finalized design, is currently working on corrections, and anticipates bidding this summer with construction starting in the fall of 2022. 
  • South Park Plaza. SPR has been leading this work. The project is nearing completion of construction documents and permits have been submitted to King County for their review and approval.  
  • Unity Electric. SPR purchased a 1-acre site on the Duwamish River (Unity Electric site), next to Duwamish Waterway Park to support community interests in open space, increasing access to the river, habitat restoration, and developing community-supportive nonprofit spaces. 
  • Georgetown Flume Off-Leash Area. SCL transferred part of the property SPR to develop a new off-leash area and pedestrian thoroughfare in the Georgetown neighborhood. After meeting with Ecology, SPR learned that the project is now required to submit an Interim Action Work Plan (IAWP) that Ecology must approve. Consequently, construction must be delayed until summer of 2023, contingent upon Ecology’s approval of the IAWP. 
  • 8th Ave. S and Gateway Park North. SDOT continues working with community, SPR, and the Port of Seattle on plans to improve the 8th Ave. S Street End/Gateway Park North in Georgetown, and to develop an environmental testing and remediation strategy.  

Community Capacity:

Seattle Human Services Department and OSE supported the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps and Georgetown Youth Council; OPCD and Finance & Administrative Services continued supporting tenants with developing long-term plans for managing and improving the South Park Neighborhood Center; DON, OSE, and OPCD funded community-based organizations  via the Food Equity Fund, the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund, the Environmental Justice Fund, and the Equitable Development Implementation Fund; and OPCD and SPR launched community engagement for site planning for the Unity Electric property. 

Mobility & Transportation:

SDOT secured funding for the construction of the Georgetown to South Park Connection/Trail (including the intersection at 16th Ave. S and E Marginal Way S) and SPU and SDOT began a project to improve chronic flooding and drainage issues in South Park. 

Economic Opportunity & Jobs:

Several departments increased local access to contracting and jobs and the Office of Economic Development and OSE provided support to small businesses via COVID-19 relief funds and Neighborhood Recovery Funds.   

Affordable Housing:

The Office of Housing entered into a purchase and sale agreement on two adjacent properties in South Park. They expect to complete the acquisition in the first half of 2022. 

Public Safety:

SDOT implemented pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects as part of Reconnect West Seattle and supported improvements to the Duwamish Bikeway/8th Ave. S Trail in South Park 

In 2022 and 2023, many of these projects will go from planning and design to construction, so you will be seeing on-the-ground improvements.  

We look forward to continuing working with you to advance environmental justice, equitable development, and climate and community resilience in the Duwamish Valley. 

Thanks for your ongoing support! 

Alberto & David  

Seattle Confirms Six Members to the Urban Forestry Commission

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The City of Seattle set the bold goal of achieving 30% tree canopy cover by 2037 to increase the environmental, social, and economic benefits trees bring to Seattle residents. The Urban Forestry Commission (UFC) is composed of thirteen members, six appointed by the Mayor, six appointed by City Council, and one (Position #9) is elected by the Urban Forestry Commission. Commissioners have knowledge in the areas specific to the position for which they are applying, including skills such as architecture, environmental justice, ecology, community outreach, and more. For more information

The UFC’s newly confirmed members include:

Hao Liang:

Hao Liang is a landscape architect. He devotes his academic and professional interests to design, cultural landscape, urban forestry, and marginalized communities. As a designer, he thinks cross-disciplinarily about social and environmental issues at different scales. He has worked on a wide range
of projects including public space, green infrastructure, campus planning, commercial development, and residential design. Hao enjoys the process of collaboration, learning from communities, and watching the daily changes of our built environment. In the context of the Urban Forestry Commission, Hao sees identity, inclusion, and equity as situated in different layers on a given topic, which are policy, planning, design, practice, and outreach. Hao is familiar with planning studies and design implementations. He will strive to communicate his specialty to others, make the process easier when it can be, and encourage everyone to participate. Hao is being appointed to serve the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2024.

Rebecca B. Neumann

Dr. Neumann leads the hydro-biogeochemistry research group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. The group investigates transport and reaction of chemicals in the environment, tackling societally relevant topics, such as food and water quality and global climate change. Dr. Neumann was the 2018 recipient of the American Geophysical Union’s Charles S. Falkenberg Award, which recognizes “an early- to middle-career scientist who has contributed to the quality of life, economic opportunities and stewardship of the planet through the use of Earth science information.” Prior to UW, Dr. Neumann worked as a NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology. She received a Doctorate degree in Environmental Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and baccalaureate degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Art and Art History from Rice University. Outside of work she enjoys exploring the mountains with her husband and two kids. Rebecca is being appointed to serve the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2024.

Lia Hall

Lia Hall was born and raised in Seattle by an ethnically and culturally mixed family. After a short stint as an adult in New York City, she returned to the Emerald City of her youth. She resides in Rainier Beach near her sanctuary, Kubota Garden. With her husband/business partner, Cedar, they have two small children and run a neon sign shop mostly producing signage for small businesses in and around Seattle. Lia also has taught yoga classes since 2006, prioritizing offering classes for BIPOC communities and pregnant folks. She has a Permaculture Landscape Design Certification through Seattle Tilth and is passionate about planting, propagating and sharing native plants. Lia wants to help bring our city into alignment with its sustainability goals through advocating for our tree relatives while ensuring our community members have a voice. She believes we can all have a more equitable, happier, healthier future if we plan and design for the needs of a growing city while protecting our urban forests. Lia is being appointed to serve the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2024.

Joseph Sisneros

Joe Sisneros has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Resource Management from the University of Washington, with a concentration in the Sustainable Forest Management option. He has field and research experience in forestry and riparian restoration. Born on Coast Salish lands and raised in what is now Everett, WA, Joe loves to backpack, loves to read, and loves live music. With a formal education in forest ecology and oceanography, Joe has immense appreciation for the ecology of the Pacific Northwest and a deep passion for people that inhabit this incredibly special part of our Earth. Joseph is being appointed to serve the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2023.

Falisha Kurji

Falisha Kurji (they/she) is a graduate of the University of Florida with majors in Sociology and Sustainability Studies. They are deeply passionate about the intersections of environmental and social justice, and seek to advocate for BIPOC, lower-income, and unhoused communities’ access to green spaces. They are an alum of the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at the University of Washington, where they developed a strong foundation and experience working on environmental justice issues. They are currently the Community Partnerships Coordinator at Seattle Parks Foundation, where they work with various community-led groups who are working to create safe and accessible public green spaces. In their free time, they enjoy learning about ethnobotany, connecting with their South Asian heritage, and dancing. Falisha is being appointed to serve a three-year term ending March 31, 2025.

Joshua N. Morris

Joshua is the Urban Conservation Manager at Seattle Audubon. In his role, Joshua leads engagement on
local conservation issues and coordinates coalition building, advocacy and outreach to support urban
conservation priorities which include our urban trees. Joshua holds a Master of Arts in international environmental policy and brings over ten years of professional and volunteer experience in environmental conservation to the Urban Forestry Commission. He is being appointed to a second term ending March 31, 2025.

Learn more about Seattle’s Urban Forestry efforts at Seattle’s Trees for Seattle website and the Urban Forestry Commission site.

Fresh, from-scratch meals with local ingredients are happening at a Seattle school near you 

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School food heroes at Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Culinary Services are bringing exciting changes to school food programs!

Led by director Aaron Smith and District Executive Chef Emme Collins and informed by feedback and input from youth leadership, parents, and the community, dozens of staff at Seattle schools regularly serve over 27,000 meals to students per day, working non-stop to keep kids fed – even while classrooms were closed during the pandemic. School meals are a critical food access point for many families, particularly in BIPOC or low-income communities.  

Fresh, culturally relevant, scratch-cooked meals can increase food access, improve learning outcomes and student health. It also supports purchasing more sustainable ingredients from local farms and food producers, reducing the carbon footprint of school food and decreasing waste, while investing in the local economy.  

Above all, quotes from students (overheard at a recent cafeteria in Seattle) really bring home how important good school lunches are to our youth: “Last night I was praying that there would be good food at school and I’m so happy”, said one. Other students said “this will help me focus in the afternoon”, and “this is the best meal I’ve had in three years.” 

Over the past couple years, Seattle Public Schools Culinary Services has been working on serving more scratch-cooked, local, sustainably sourced, scratch-cooked and culturally specific meals throughout their lunch and produce snack programs, in response to community and student feedback. Especially through initiatives like their “Taste of SPS” program, which introduces new menu items from different cultures with featured local ingredients at 10 schools at a time. SPS has a goal of expanding the most viable recipes district-wide. Thanks to recent EP&O School Levy funding, SPS Culinary Services will start renovating its Central Kitchen in 2022 to enable more scratch-cooked meals across the district in the future. 

Recipes representing the cultures of Seattle students and cafeteria staff alike have been adapted for school meals for “Taste of SPS”. Recent featured recipes include cajun turkey and collard green soup, jollof rice, gumbo, build your own taco and yakisoba bars, chickpea tikka masala, shiitake mushrooms & bok choy stir fry, duck spring rolls, and more. 

OSE is working to support the SPS Culinary Services Program through a partnership, funded by revenue from the Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax, that includes: 

Check out more from SPS Culinary Services staff, students, and local farmers to see the meal programs in action at: 

OSE is also beginning to convene several SPS departments, City and County staff, and community-based organizations (like EarthGen, Got Green, Nurturing Roots, Solid Ground, FEEST and their youth leaders, and more!), to align and support future work on school meals, school gardens, and nutrition and agriculture education across the district.  

Interested in supporting school meal program, and student access to sustainable, fresh, scratch-cooked, and culturally relevant foods in Seattle schools?

Here’s a few ways to get involved:  

  • Eat school lunch! Having more students participate in the lunch program, whether it’s every day or just a couple times a week, supports the program and helps ensure all students have access to good, fresh foods at school. 
  • Fill out a survey for students or parents to provide feedback to SPS Culinary Services on how to improve the school meal program 
  • Work for SPS in the cafeteria: SPS Culinary Services is hiring for open positions at schools and cafeterias to help prepare and serve students with good food! 
  • Spread the word with school administrators, fellow parents, school board, and community about the importance of supporting local, scratch made and culturally relevant foods in Seattle schools 

Learn more about the Healthy Food in Schools Program, and contact chris.iberle@seattle.gov for more information. 

Learn more about the Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment 

New Resources: Understanding Your Building’s Path to Carbon Neutral

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Buildings are one of the largest and fastest growing sources of climate pollution in Seattle, responsible for more than one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions pollute our air, accelerate climate change, and harm people’s health and the environment, disproportionately impacting communities of color and people with lower incomes. Many U.S. cities, including Seattle, are developing Building Performance Standards (BPS) that set long term targets on climate-polluting emissions from buildings. To help building owners get started, OSE has developed new case studies, most of which include cost estimates.  

Large Commercial & Multifamily Buildings

While every building is unique, most large nonresidential and multifamily buildings can use these steps to guide energy efficiency, emissions reductions, and electrification efforts. It starts with an audit, gets low to no-cost savings through a Building Tune-Up, followed by new controls and energy efficiency actions. These initial steps prepare the building for the most cost-effective upgrades of equipment to electric.

Mid-Size Office Buildings

Seattle has about 75 midsize post-war (built between 1946 and 1979) office buildings, making them an ideal pilot for exploring steps to achieve net-zero emissions. In this Mid-size Office Building concept plan, a complete building electrification, including replacing the 50-year-old gas-fired water heater and boiler could reduce energy use 59% and emissions 92%. Estimated total plan costs were $17.70/ft2 and a costly electric service upgrade would likely be avoided.

City-Owned Buildings

As called for in the 2021 Driving Accelerated Climate Action Executive Order, all City-owned buildings must operate without fossil fuels by 2035. This municipal buildings case study shares lessons learned and project highlights from 30 electrification projects underway or complete. A full electrification of The Brig recreation building at Magnuson Park reduced that building’s annual emissions 66% at an incremental cost (over replacing with a gas system) of $300,000.

Case Study: Stewart Manor Affordable Housing

Many buildings have early opportunities to change to electric as was the case in a concept plan developed for Seattle Housing Authority’s Stewart Manor Apartments. In this pilot, swapping out existing gas water heating system to electric heat pump (est. $4.15/ ft2) could reduce energy use 13% and was operating cost neutral. A straightforward and inexpensive (est. $0.20/ft2) upgrade from electric baseboard to a ductless heat pump in the building’s community room would provide an easy-to-access, on-site cooling room to help residents cope with dangerous heat emergencies like Seattle had in June 2021. Housing Development Consortium’s (HDC) has formed an affordable housing BPS task force to understand the impacts a new BPS policy may have on affordable housing.

Case Study: Washington State Services for the Blind

The State of Washington Department of Enterprise Services (DES) recently completed a full building renewal at this 1950’s era building, including a new electric heat pump HVAC system – instead of replacing the chiller and gas boiler and the remaining systems later. While more expensive upfront, DES’s approach will result in a lower total cost of ownership over a 30-year timespan.

Learn more about Building Performance standards at seattle.gov/building-performance-standards and share your own story with us at cleanbuildings@seattle.gov.

Fresh Bucks 2021 Report Highlights 12,100 Seattle Households Served, $5.6M in Benefits Distributed 

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The Fresh Bucks program, administered by the Office of Sustainability and Environment, has released its 2021 Impact Brief.  

Fresh Bucks served as a critical resource during the ongoing pandemic, serving 12,100 Seattle households with $5.6 million in fruit and vegetable benefits.  

“Every family deserves access to local, healthy, culturally-relevant foods. That’s why my administration is committed to addressing food insecurity and making it as easy as possible for our most vulnerable residents to access fresh fruits and vegetables. Programs like Fresh Bucks mean real, tangible support for families through partnerships with neighborhood grocery stores and farmers markets. We’re using community feedback to grow and evolve this program — helping more neighbors find fresh and healthy food by working together with community partners.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell, City of Seattle

Fresh Bucks prioritized serving BIPOC communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and food insecurity and transitioned to a new benefit delivery model to help ensure participating households had access to healthy and affordable food.  

“During another exceptionally challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fresh Bucks has been there to help Seattle residents, especially our most vulnerable residents including people with low-incomes, communities of color, and immigrant and refugee communities, stretch their grocery dollars and more easily access healthy and culturally relevant food. I want to share a tremendous thank you to all the Fresh Bucks retail and community partners and to Mayor Bruce Harrell and City Council. Together, we were able to provide $2 million more in benefits than 2020, and I look forward to seeing the program continue to grow in the coming years.”

Jessyn Farrell, Director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment

Fresh Bucks partners with 38 retail partners and 19 local organizations who help implement the program and reach and enroll communities most impacted by food insecurity. 

Fresh Bucks also launched a brand-new electronic benefit system, replacing the use of paper vouchers and creating a more equitable shopping experience for Fresh Bucks customers by reducing the stigma customers may experience using paper vouchers at checkout. 

With e-benefits, eligible and enrolled participants receive $40 in benefits in their Fresh Bucks account each month. Customers can spend their benefits on fruits and vegetables using their Fresh Bucks Card or app at participating farmers markets, farm stands, and grocery stores, including six BIPOC-owned grocers. 

Fresh Bucks is funded by the City of Seattle general fund and the Sweetened Beverage Tax Fund.  

To learn more about how Fresh Bucks and its partners met the needs of program participants last year, see the 2021 Fresh Bucks Impact Brief.  

For general information on the program, please visit SeattleFreshBucks.org or call 206-684-2489. 

Join the Green New Deal Oversight Board’s Online Listening Session on Monday, April 18

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Seattle’s Green New Deal is moving our city toward becoming climate pollution-free while creating jobs and advancing an equitable transition to renewable energy by prioritizing investments in communities most harmed by economic, racial, and environmental injustices.

Seattle’s Green New Deal Oversight Board (GNDOB), established through legislation, connects frontline community-led voices and the Seattle city government in support of developing policy, programs and investments that advance Seattle’s Green New Deal. The GNDOB is developing recommendations for the Mayor and City Council on how to spend a percentage of money raised by the City’s new payroll tax.

To inform their budget recommendations, the Board would like to invite you to a virtual listening session on Monday, April 18 at 5pm to hear about your and your community’s priorities to address climate change. Please register here to receive the meeting link.

Getting to Know OSE’s New Interim Director, Jessyn Farrell

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We sat down with new Interim OSE Director Jessyn Farrell to ask a series of questions ranging from Seattle’s climate strategy to how OSE will continue advancing climate justice all the way to what’s your favorite donut shop. We’re excited for what’s to come at OSE and Seattle and are looking forward to collaborating, but for now, join us in getting to know Jessyn’s vision and ideas for building a more equitable and united Seattle.

Former State Representative Jessyn Farrell will help OSE and the City of Seattle implement a pioneering climate agenda, elevate communities most impacted by issues of environmental justice, and help to leverage millions in state and federal funds to address the climate crisis. We are so excited to welcome Jessyn into the OSE family!  

Jessyn is a leader in building public consensus on difficult issues related to the environment, housing, transportation, and the economy. A long-time environmental advocate, Jessyn’s career has spanned the public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic sectors as a state legislator from the 46th District, Executive Director of Transportation Choices and most recently as Senior Vice President at Civic Ventures. Jessyn passed ground-breaking legislation on oil-by-rail safety, affordable housing near transit centers, education funding for low-income and homeless youth, protections for pregnant workers, and restrictions to cell-phone use while driving. She also led advocacy efforts resulting in billions of dollars in regional light rail investments. Jessyn has three kids, a dog, a cat, and is working on her first book. 

See what others have to say about Jessyn:

Bruce Harrell, Mayor of the City of Seattle

“Jessyn Farrell understands Seattle must set the example for the nation as a bold, climate-forward City that leads by partnering with underrepresented  communities too often left out,” said Mayor Harrell. “Jessyn will bring the bring the ambitious policy ideas and experience, needed collaborative approach, and vision grounded in a true commitment to environmental justice necessary to make the most of this moment and ensure a healthy Seattle environment today and for future generations.” 

Michelle Caulfield, Deputy Director, Office of Sustainability and Environment 

“It’s been my honor to step up during this time of transition and lead an incredible team dedicated to advancing climate action and environmental justice. I couldn’t be more excited to welcome — and work alongside — Jessyn Farrell, whose policy leadership and comprehensive approach to the issues in front of us will drive urgent action, help leverage state and federal funds, and take the Office of Sustainability and Environment to the next level.”