In an effort to foster a more collaborative working relationship with the Mayor and City Council, Seattle’s neighborhood business associations are collaborating to circulate a pledge for city government to focus on public safety issues confronting small businesses.
The online pledge seeks individual business owners to read and sign the pledge for delivery to the Mayor and City Councilmembers. Washington Retail encourages Seattle businesses to share their concerns via the online pledge.
The pledge lists the following principles:
- Owners, employees, customers and adjacent residents of small businesses in Seattle represent an essential spectrum of cultural, ethnic and economic diversity and small businesses are a gateway to opportunity for all.
- The essential services, products and economic vitality provided by small businesses within Seattle’s Neighborhood Business Districts are of critical value to our community.
- Implementation of safety measures is essential to ensure clean, safe, welcoming and vibrant business districts
- All employees and customers should be able to frequent storefronts without encountering violent or destructive behavior.
Many small businesses in Seattle are beset with a host of public safety problems that discourage shopping, including rising crime and slow police response times. In addition, many Seattle businesses have encouraged employees to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a large drop in pedestrian traffic downtown and in neighborhood business districts.
Read and sign the pledge here.
