Select Budget Committee Chair Dan Strauss opened the Sept. 29 meeting by condemning the federal announcement to send troops to Portland and saying the move affected the committee's work on public safety that day.

'2Words I never thought I would say,' Strauss said, referring to the announcement, and called the action 'completely unnecessary, unwarranted, and only stoke division in chaos that does not exist today.' Council member Kettle echoed the point and framed the discussion around local public-safety gains, saying city leaders had stabilized police staffing and reduced homicides in part through local initiatives.

Because of concerns about the federal action's immediate relevance to public-safety planning, Strauss proposed and, with no objection, the committee adopted an amended session order to hear the Seattle Fire Department first, then the Seattle Police Department, and then the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department.

The committee's stated change in order was procedural: the chair described it as a response to current federal developments and to ensure committee members heard presentations the chair judged most relevant to the committee's work that morning. The committee recorded no formal vote beyond adopting the amended agenda by unanimous consent or absence of objection.

Council members also used the opening statements to emphasize cooperation among the mayor's office, the council and department heads on public safety priorities; Kettle urged continued collaboration on police staffing, accountability and public-health responses to safety challenges.