Seattle Metropolitan Improvement District: The Professional Model
165 ambassadors. 300 square blocks. 1.2 million gallons of trash collected per year. 49,000 graffiti tags and stickers removed. 94,000 syringes collected since 2013. 283,000 hours of community presence annually. $18 million per year in ratepayer-funded services. A 10-year contract renewal approved unanimously by the City Council. And approximately 300 Narcan administrations in 2023 alone by workers whose job description says nothing about saving lives.
“They Don’t Feel Like They Would Be in Business If They Didn’t Have Us Around.”
Dani Cone runs Cone and Steiner in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. She described what the ambassador program means for her business:
Certainly, when we’ve had any issues or anything here in the store or outside the store, we call them. I mean, they’re a safe resource, I guess I’ll say, to call, and they’re around. Just their presence makes a positive impact.
Another business owner, Nick Ferderer of Base Camp Studio downtown, described the graffiti removal impact: “In fact, last week when they were here, they cleaned, they pressure-washed the exterior. It’s gotten a lot better, and I think that presence is definitely helpful.”
Cherie Truncer, an assistant supervisor with the MID’s clean team, described the community response:
We get thanked on a day-to-day basis by individuals out here that either own businesses out here or live out here, constantly being thanked. It’s a beautiful feeling to have someone just really approach you and say, “Thank you, thank you” and shake their hands, and “We really appreciate you.” Like, they don’t feel like they would be in business or they’d even want to live out here if they didn’t have us around to help them on all levels, whether it be safety or clean team.
How Seattle Built It
The Metropolitan Improvement District was established by the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1958. The MID is a business improvement district: commercial and residential property owners within the district pay mandatory assessment fees that fund the ambassador program.
The MID was renewed unanimously (7-0) by the Seattle City Council in May 2023 for an additional 10-year term. Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the legislation as part of his Downtown Activation Plan. The renewal expanded the district’s boundaries south to include Pioneer Square near the stadiums, a 15-block addition that brought the total coverage area to 300 square blocks.
Jon Scholes, DSA President and CEO, described the renewal: “MID services are possible because of the investment of downtown property owners. Thank you to Mayor Harrell and the City Council for recognizing the importance of these services and the strong support for their reauthorization within the downtown community.”
The budget increased from approximately $15 million per year to $18 million per year with the renewal. Councilmember Sara Nelson explained: “Most of that new money is paying for increased cleaning and also security services to support and protect downtown small businesses. And that’s crucial since we’ve got a staffing shortage at SPD.”
Jennifer Casillas, vice president of ambassador operations with DSA, described the program’s presence: “You can’t go a block or two without seeing one of our ambassadors making a positive impact in downtown.”
The Numbers
Annual operations (most recent reported year):
- 1.2 million gallons of trash collected from downtown sidewalks, curb lines, and alleys
- Nearly 49,000 graffiti tags and stickers removed
- 283,000 hours of community presence
- Over 6,000 business check-ins
- Over 10,000 welfare checks on unsheltered individuals
Cumulative (since 2013):
- 10 million gallons of trash collected
- 115,000 incidents of human or animal waste disposed of
- 94,000 syringes collected
- 73,000 welfare checks conducted
- 859,000 directions provided to tourists and visitors
Narcan administration:
- Ambassadors began carrying Narcan in June 2022
- Councilmember Nelson cited approximately 130 Narcan administrations between June 2022 and May 2023 during the City Council renewal hearing
- 108 administrations in just the first six months of 2023 (KING5)
- Approximately 300 Narcan administrations in full-year 2023 (DSA President Scholes, March 2024)
- More than 194 administrations in 2024, an 18% decrease from 2023 (DSA annual report)
Staffing:
- 165 ambassadors (expanded from approximately 130 at time of renewal)
- Coverage: 7 days a week, year-round
- Equipment fleet: trucks, trikes, all-terrain litter vacuums, needle sweep devices, pressure washers
What It Looks Like
Pre-Dawn Patrol
Seattle’s Clean Team operates on a schedule designed around the city’s daily rhythm. Crews begin before dawn, sweeping and pressure-washing sidewalks, curb lines, and alleyways before downtown businesses open.
The equipment fleet distinguishes Seattle from every other documented Clean Team program. All-terrain litter vacuums cover large areas efficiently. Needle sweep devices handle biohazard collection at scale. Pressure washers address staining and biological contamination that brooms and trash bags cannot. Trucks transport equipment and collected waste. The fleet represents capital investment that smaller programs (Lowell’s two-person operation, Cincinnati’s workforce development model) cannot match.
The Second-Chance Workforce
Seattle’s program, like Cincinnati’s, has become an employer of people facing barriers to traditional employment, . The MID describes itself as a “proud justice-involved employer” (DSA). The program explicitly offers jobs to people with criminal records.
Jesse Gillihan, who works as a downtown ambassador helping manage operations at public parks, described his experience:
I’m what they call a second-chance individual, and the MID has taken me, like I said, under their wing and has given me not only a career path, but a value to my life. I look forward to coming to work every day with a sense of urgency. I love being here in Seattle.
Cherie Truncer described her own path to the program: “Before I started working for the MID, my day-to-day struggle was very real. I was feeling the effects of the post-pandemic crisis. As I was accepted into this new position as a Clean Team ambassador, I found myself helping shape the future of Seattle and its development.”
Master Lindsey, another downtown ambassador, described the emotional dimension of the work: “You got to have some type of heart, some type of feeling for these people, like you just can’t come out here and do the job.”
Moe Dima, who has worked as an ambassador and supervisor for 10 years, described the program’s geographic expansion: “When I started, we didn’t even do Belltown, and the Belltown community now has the resources that it didn’t have before. Now Belltown is clean and is cared for, and we will bring the same energy down here by the stadiums as well.”
Narcan as an Unplanned Function
Ambassadors began carrying Narcan in June 2022. The scale of need became apparent immediately: Councilmember Nelson cited approximately 130 administrations between June 2022 and May 2023, and DSA President Scholes reported roughly 300 total administrations for full-year 2023. By 2024, the number had declined to 194 — an 18% decrease that tracked with a county-wide drop in overdose deaths. Councilmember Nelson noted that overdose response was “not part of the job description, but it is an unfortunate reality that they encounter pretty much on a daily basis.” Councilmember Nelson noted that overdose response was “not part of the job description” (Seattle City Council proceedings).
Councilmember Nelson noted that overdose response was “not part of the job description, but it is an unfortunate reality that they encounter pretty much on a daily basis” (Seattle City Council proceedings).
The Design
The Business Improvement District (BID)-Funded Professional Model
Seattle’s MID has operated since 2013. Key structural features documented:
Scale. 165 ambassadors covering 300 square blocks is a staffing density unmatched by any other Clean Team program. The density enables visible presence: Casillas’s claim that “you can’t go a block or two without seeing one of our ambassadors” is a function of staffing math, not marketing.
Equipment. The fleet (trucks, trikes, all-terrain litter vacuums, needle sweep devices, pressure washers) represents capital investment that enables cleaning at a scale and quality level that hand tools cannot achieve. This equipment distinguishes Seattle from programs that rely on brooms, trash bags, and sharps containers.
Funding durability. The MID assessment is a recurring, dedicated funding stream paid by property owners who directly benefit from clean commercial districts. The 10-year renewal eliminates annual budget uncertainty.
Institutional independence. The program is managed by the Downtown Seattle Association, a nonprofit, not by the city government. DSA operates independently of city civil service constraints. The program is funded by mandatory assessments but governed by a private organization (DSA).
Scope breadth. Seattle’s ambassadors perform cleaning, graffiti removal, safety patrols, welfare checks, concierge and wayfinding services, business check-ins, and Narcan administration. This is the broadest documented scope of any Clean Team program, crossing into ambassador functions (wayfinding, business check-ins) and emergency medical response (Narcan).
What the BID Model Enables
The $18 million annual budget enables operational features that smaller programs cannot sustain:
- Year-round, 7-day coverage (not seasonal or weekday-only)
- Pre-dawn operations (staffing early shifts is expensive)
- Specialized equipment fleet (capital expenditure plus maintenance)
- 165 employees (payroll, benefits, supervision, training)
- Expansion into new geographic areas (Pioneer Square/stadium district)
- Supervisory structure (Truncer is an assistant supervisor; Dima is a 10-year supervisor)
What the BID Model Cannot Do
Geographic limitation. BID assessments fund services within the district boundaries. Residential neighborhoods, parks outside the commercial core, school zones, and public housing developments are unfunded. Seattle’s 300-square-block coverage area is large by BID standards but small relative to the city’s total area. The program serves downtown. It does not serve the rest of Seattle.
Replication constraint. The $18 million budget comes from commercial property owners in a high-value downtown commercial district. A mid-size city without a large, high-value commercial core cannot replicate Seattle’s funding model at this scale. The model is structurally tied to commercial real estate value.
Accountability gap. The program is funded by mandatory assessments but managed by a nonprofit. DSA is also an advocacy organization that lobbies local officials on policies affecting its members. As Real Change News noted, property owners “are paying not only for pressure washing but also to apply pressure to local officials for policies which they may not agree with.” The bundling of cleaning services and policy advocacy in a single organization creates a governance question that other models (city-run, CSD-integrated) do not face.
Funding
Source: Metropolitan Improvement District ratepayer assessments — mandatory fees paid by commercial and residential property owners within the district.
Annual budget: $18 million (post-2023 renewal; previously approximately $15 million).
10-year commitment: The unanimous City Council renewal provides funding certainty through 2033.
What it covers: All operational costs: 165 employee salaries and benefits, equipment fleet, supplies, supervision, administration, expansion into new geographic areas, unarmed security patrols, and public events programming.
What it does not cover: Service outside the district boundaries. Government-owned properties within the district do not currently pay into the assessment. Evaluation research and outcome measurement beyond operational metrics (trash collected, tags removed, welfare checks conducted) are not funded.
Sustainability profile: A 10-year renewal funded by recurring property assessments, supported unanimously by the City Council, and managed by DSA with decades of operational history (DSA; Mayor Harrell signing legislation, May 2023). Neighborhoods outside the MID receive no service, . Expanding the model to cover non-commercial areas would require a different funding mechanism; Washington, D.C.’s DSLBD model uses general fund dollars for this purpose (DC.gov).
What Is Missing
No independent evaluation of impact. Seattle’s operational metrics (1.2 million gallons of trash, 49,000 graffiti tags) document output, not outcome. No study has measured whether the program has reduced crime, increased foot traffic, raised property values, improved public health indicators, or produced economic returns beyond the assessment cost. The program can demonstrate what it does. It cannot demonstrate what its work produces.
No cost-per-unit calculation. At $18 million per year, what does each gallon of trash collected, each graffiti tag removed, or each welfare check cost? Without cost-per-unit data, efficiency comparisons with other models (city-run, specialist, workforce development) are impossible.
No comparison of BID model to alternatives. Would the same $18 million produce better results if invested in city sanitation capacity, a standalone Clean Team department, or targeted spending on the highest-hazard areas? No analysis has been conducted.
No Narcan protocol documentation. Ambassadors administered Narcan approximately 300 times in 2023 and 194 times in 2024. Whether ambassadors receive formal overdose response training, what liability protections exist, and whether Narcan administration is formally included in job descriptions and compensation is not documented publicly.
No geographic equity analysis. The program serves the 300 blocks whose property owners pay for it. Whether the neighborhoods most in need of cleaning and hazard removal are inside or outside the MID boundaries, and what happens to neighborhoods that cannot fund their own BID, has not been analyzed in published reports.
Bottom Line: Seattle’s MID deploys roughly 165 ambassadors across 300 blocks at $18 million per year on a 10-year contract. Program data: 1.2 million gallons of trash per year, 94,000 syringes since 2013, roughly 300 Narcan administrations in 2023 (DSA 2024 annual report; KING5). The program is funded through BID property assessments from downtown commercial property owners. Coverage is limited to the assessed district; neighborhoods outside the MID boundary receive no MID services. Workers earn $22 per hour with health benefits, retirement, and employer-paid medical coverage (DSA). No independent evaluation of the program’s impact on crime, fear, or safety has been published.
Safer Cities Policy Intelligence
Sources
**Program structure, renewal, and budget:**
Mayor Harrell Signs Legislation Renewing and Expanding the Metropolitan Improvement District (May 19, 2023): [harrell.seattle.gov](https://harrell.seattle.gov/2023/05/19/mayor-harrell-signs-legislation-renewing-and-expanding-the-metropolitan-improvement-district-advancing-downtown-activation-plan/) — 7-0 Council vote, $15M to $18M budget increase, Pioneer Square expansion, 135 ambassadors at time of signing, Jon Scholes and Councilmember Nelson quotes.
Seattle City Council passes Downtown Seattle ‘ambassadors’ program renewal, The Center Square (May 3, 2023): [thecentersquare.com](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_7da86e68-e9d9-11ed-a8cd-a31a3a8c66f3.html) — Nelson Narcan “about 130 times” citation, Councilmember Lewis quotes.
Mayor Harrell renews Downtown Seattle ambassador program, MyNorthwest (May 18, 2023): [mynorthwest.com](https://mynorthwest.com/local/downtown-seattle-ambassador-program-renewed-10-years/3884621) — 130 ambassadors at renewal, Narcan 14 times in one week, Truncer quote.
Downtown ambassadors are a win-win for Seattle, The Seattle Times editorial (April 24, 2023): [seattletimes.com](https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/safety-ambassadors-are-a-win-win-for-downtown-seattle/) — 128 ambassador positions, 285 blocks pre-expansion, cumulative 2013–2022 figures (8M gallons trash, 97,315 syringes, 71,156 welfare checks, 770,806 visitor directions).
**Operational data and annual metrics:**
Stadium District now being served by Downtown Ambassadors, KING5 (August 2023): [king5.com](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/stadium-district-downtown-ambassadors/281-91e5777f-3f29-46b4-8730-12e6bd9ea198) — 300-block coverage post-expansion, 1.2M gallons trash, 53,000 graffiti tags, 6,000+ business check-ins, 10,000 welfare checks, 108 Narcan administrations first half 2023, Moe Dima and James Sido quotes.
Seattle’s Metropolitan Improvement District renewed for another 10-year term, KING5: [king5.com](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/metropolitan-improvement-district-renewed/281-4f3cb75c-d2c8-4a40-bc2a-2489bb1b020a) — Nelson “about 130 times” Narcan, Jennifer Casillas “can’t go a block or two” quote.
**Narcan data (2023 and 2024):**
Downtown Seattle leaders rally for a transformative 2024 amid drug crisis challenges, KOMO News (March 10, 2024): [komonews.com](https://komonews.com/news-brief-newsletter/state-of-downtown-seattle-king-county-city-council-drug-crisis-violent-crime-police-department-washington-state-narcan-administrations-chief-adrian-diaz-overdoses-fentanyl-sara-nelson-public-safety-community-public-use-law-911-ambassadors) — “about 300 Narcan administrations in 2023” (Scholes), 65 full-time downtown ambassadors.
2024 At a Glance, Downtown Seattle Association (February 2025): [downtownseattle.org](https://downtownseattle.org/programs-services/research/economic-report/2024-at-a-glance/) — 194 naloxone administrations in 2024, 18% decrease from 2023, overdose death trends.
**Ambassador voices and workforce:**
Downtown Seattle Association coverage via Real Change News — Cherie Truncer, Jesse Gillihan, Master Lindsey, and Moe Dima quotes on second-chance employment, daily experience, and program expansion.
Dani Cone (Cone and Steiner) and Nick Ferderer (Base Camp Studio) quotes via KOMO News coverage of MID renewal.
**Downtown Activation Plan context:**
DOWNTOWN ACTIVATION PLAN: Mayor Harrell Announces Immediate Actions to Revitalize Downtown (April 17, 2023): [harrell.seattle.gov](https://harrell.seattle.gov/2023/04/17/downtown-activation-plan-mayor-harrell-announces-immediate-actions-to-revitalize-downtown-issues-executive-order-to-address-fentanyl-crisis/) — MID expansion as component of broader downtown strategy.