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Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Government
Author(s) -
Blake J. Paul,
Howe Donna
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2011.tb11536.x
Subject(s) - equity (law) , race (biology) , government (linguistics) , racism , economic justice , health equity , social equality , public administration , social justice , civil rights , environmental justice , political science , business , sociology , criminology , law , health care , gender studies , linguistics , philosophy
This article discusses the city of Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI), coordinated by Seattle's Office for Civil Rights. The initiative is a citywide effort to end institutionalized racism and race‐based disparities in city government and envisions a city in which racial disparities have been eliminated and racial equity achieved. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) created a new Environmental Justice and Service Equity Division to ensure that all utility customers receive equitable services as well as have access to SPU decision‐making processes. The article discusses research by SPU to determine whether service levels were being delivered equitably to ratepayers. Results are discussed along with measures taken by SPU in response to these findings.