Ordinance
Although RSJI was established in 2004, it did not become a permanent part of the City of Seattle's code until Council Bill 120525 was passed on April 18, 2023. It was approved by Mayor Bruce Harrell a few days later.
CB 120525 was sponsored by Councilmember Tammy Morales, and developed in partnership with RSJI, Council Central Staff, and other City stakeholders. You can read more about the ordinance development below.
Ordinance Details
"AN ORDINANCE establishing the Race and Social Justice Initiative as City policy; establishing governance of the Race and Social Justice Initiative within the Office for Civil Rights; authorizing the Office for Civil Rights to lead the Race and Social Justice Initiative; and adding new Sections 3.14.941 through 3.14.945 to the Seattle Municipal Code."
CB 120525 is part of the City of Seattle's commitment to "integrating racial equity and social justice principles into the work of every department and employee". It makes the Race and Social Justice Initiative a permanent part of the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR). With the passage of CB 120525, SOCR has the authority to create a framework for race and social justice work in the City.
The ordinance is only one step on the journey to making the City of Seattle more equitable for all. However, it is an important step. With the passage of CB 120525, racial equity and social justice is further embedded into law. In addition to making RSJI permanent, the ordinance outlines three areas of focus:
- RSJI bodies of work
- Internal staff racial equity and social justice groups
- Ongoing learning and trainings
Bodies of Work
Section 3.14943 of the ordinance outlines the following work for RSJI.
- Developing analytical tools
- Developing guidelines for outreach, communication, and community engagement
- Identifying ways that the City can improve its business practices
- Hosting forums for exchanging information on face and social justice
- Supporting departments in their race and social justice work
- Partnering with the City Budget Office on equitable budgeting practices
- Aligning the City of Seattle's racial equity goals with community needs
Internal Racial Equity and Social Justice Groups
According to the ordinance, each City department "should prioritize the creation of or continue support for existing internal staff racial equity and social justice groups." At the time of the ordinance's passage, almost every department in the City of Seattle had such a group, which is most commonly titled a Change Team.
Change Teams represent grassroots racial equity organizing in the City. RSJI has supported Change Teams for many years and acknowledges the critical role they play in holding the City of Seattle accountable to race and social justice organizing. The ordinance authorizes RSJI to "to develop guidance for all departmental internal staff racial equity and social justice groups."
Learning and Trainings
Trainings and education have been a foundational part of RSJI's work since the beginning. CB 120525 states that SOCR and RSJI will "define, advise upon, and make available the City’s fundamental racial equity and social justice trainings for City employees."
In addition, the ordinance says that "each department should prioritize employees completing the fundamental racial equity and social justice trainings" defined by RSJI.
To learn more about RSJI’s current work implementing the Ordinance, visit the What We Do page.
Ordinance History
Watch passage of RSJI Ordinance in Seattle City Council Meeting on April 18, 2023
In many ways, CB 120525 is a milestone representing almost 20 years of work. Not only by the staff of the RSJI and SOCR, but racial justice organizers across the City of Seattle workplace and in the Seattle community.
The seeds of the ordinance were planted on November 20 2017, when the Seattle City Council passed Ordinance 125470 (amended by CB 120000 in May 2021). The Ordinance 125470 noted internal and external concerns about structural barriers preventing SOCR from fulfilling its mission. A Racial Equity Toolkit [ADD LINK] was conducted on SOCR as whole.
The RET report was released in October 2019. It recommended several actions for the City of Seattle to take to strengthen SOCR, including:
- Strengthen outreach to the community
- Address resource/staffing needs
- Establish a community oversight board
- Strengthen commission autonomy
- Establish an ordinance and create a new Office of Race and Social Justice
In 2020, Councilmember Tammy Morales sponsored Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) OCR-002-A-003. The SLI established a new workgroup with representatives from SOCR, the Mayor’s Office, and other City of Seattle staff. The workgroup was tasked with determining how to implement the RET report recommendations.
In 2021, the SLI workgroup determined that instead of creating a new Office of Race and Social Justice, the City of Seattle should make the existing RSJI division a permanent part of SOCR through an ordinance.
"[Although] the Workgroup does not think that the new entities are yet ready for creation, the Workgroup does believe that it is past due time for race and social justice to move past being an ‘initiative’ and be embedded into the City’s government as policy in the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC). In addition, until a new entity is ready for creation and implementation, RSJI should remain in SOCR for the purposes of governance and administration." - Workgroup Response to SLI OCR-002-A-003
The workgroup also created a draft ordinance. At the beginning of 2022, the RSJI team partnered with the office of Councilmember Tammy Morales to refine the existing draft. Together, both parties were able to advocate for the importance of race and social justice work in the City of Seattle.
The final ordinance was passed by the Seattle City Council on April 18, 2023. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell approved the ordinance on April 21, finally making the Race and Social Justice Initiative a permanent part of the City of Seattle.