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Council to consider creating voluntary Seattle ID cards

Until everyone is embedded with an RFID chip at birth or employed by Microsoft, governments are going to continue to wrestle with how to best outfit people with paper and plastic ID cards. Councilmember Bruce Harrell announced Monday that he would begin to explore the creation of a city ID card, citing serious barriers to acquiring identification from the state.

“A municipal ID card can provide a much more affordable and easier pathway for residents from diverse communities to succeed and more efficiently access critical services,” he said in a statement.

Several cities already issue city IDs, including San Francisco. Harrell said Seattle residents could benefit from the card in multiple ways:

  • The ID car would be accepted as proof of identity by all city agencies, as well as other institutions in the city
  • Thousands of Seattle residents could more easily obtain library cards, further education, get medical help, cash a check, sign leases, find employment, or open a bank account.
  • The identification card would allow many of Seattle’s most vulnerable residents such as immigrants and refugees, the elderly, the homeless and members of the transgender community better access to participating in civic life.
  • The identification card will allow members of the immigrant and refugee community to gain greater confidence and feel more comfortable when seeking assistance from law enforcement.

The city council will be discussing the proposed program at Wednesday’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee meeting at 2:00 PM.

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Gordon Werner
9 years ago

so what exactly are these alleged “serious barriers to acquiring identification from the state” nobody covering this story has bothered to mention what these barriers are.

Dan
Dan
9 years ago
Reply to  Gordon Werner

Excellent question. It’s also not clear from the story how someone unable to obtain a state ID would qualify for a city ID… presumably, some sort of supporting documents would still be required.

Honario
9 years ago
Reply to  Dan

For refugees an immigrants it would be documents showing how they arrived here which would not be acceptable to prove identity to the state. For homeless Vets records from their service can get them access to services. But, again, those documents will not suffice for proving identity to the state. For others, who have had to decide what to take/carry with them when leaving their home for the last time socks, underwear, shoes and such take precedence over documents.

Annie
Annie
9 years ago
Reply to  Honario

There are a lot of barriers, the first being money. Renewing one’s ID is not cheap – $54 and if you lose it, it is $20.

I have worked with a lot of youth and young adults who are estranged from their family and never got WA State IDs. It is near to impossible to prove someone’s identity at a young age because examples of the acceptable documents include marriage license, gun permit, divorce papers, driving record and so forth.

If someone (of any age) has an original social security card and certified copy of their birth certificate they still need at least two more documents to prove their identity. To get a social security card, one often needs a photo ID – so that’s tricky.

Another barrier is of name change. I have often brought a youth with a parent and because the parent has changed their name, it no longer matches the original documents and the youth is ineligible for an ID. The same goes if the youth’s last name has changed – a lot of times their own documents do not match each other. This happens a lot more than you would expect!

jc
jc
9 years ago
Reply to  Gordon Werner

$45 fee. Long lines at DOL, although it can be done online. Those are what come to my mind.

Honario
9 years ago
Reply to  Gordon Werner

Certified birth certificate. Few people have one that is acceptable to the state. The process to get one can be lengthy and cumbersome in this age of identity theft. It can be down-right impossible for refugees and immigrants. If you don’t have do not let your state ID expire. It took me some three months to get one from Washington D.C. It required an exchange, by snail mail, of several documents. I was fortunate in that I had an expired US passport with a photo that still resembled me. That shortened the process.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Gordon Werner

Yes, of course, it takes a bit of effort to obtain a Washington State ID Card, but is it really that difficult? It’s almost as if some groups of people want some state worker to come to their home and issue an ID card on the spot. Take a little personal responsibility, please.

Adam
Adam
9 years ago

And who’s going to pay to implement and administer this system? Taking over functions of the state government is not going to help the never-ending funding crisis that we seem to have.

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
9 years ago
Reply to  Adam

Don’t worry. Our whiz-bang city council will place it onto our next ballot as yet another funding issue that will raise your property taxes by .0004 per $1000 of assessed value. Just like everything else they punt down the road. Renters will all vote “sure, I don’t own a house, why not?”. You know, just like parks, ambulance/911, metro funding, jail funding, schools levy, blah, blah, blah.

zeebleoop
9 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

yep, and then those same renters will bitch that they can’t find affordable rentals on the hill any longer.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

I agree, Jim. It’s much easier for renters to knee-jerk approve of various levies, because they don’t directly pay property tax. Yes, I know that in theory renters help pay for the levies they approve through increased rents, but there are many elements to those increases, only one of which is the property owners’ property tax. So, when a levy is approved, renters do not experience the direct and immediate increase that homeowners do.

Eric Hutcheson
Eric Hutcheson
9 years ago
Reply to  Jim98122x

Not all renters are idiots!

Robert
Robert
9 years ago

Yeah, I’m not terribly keen on this balkanization of IDs. People move in and out of Seattle all the time. Should every independent municipality (Bellevue, Shoreline, Kirkland, etc. etc.) need an ID as well? If I don’t have a proper city ID, will that mean I don’t get the same city services? This looks like a paperwork nightmare. It’s enough of a necessary evil to have a state ID. Let’s not compound this.

caphilllover@hotmail.com
9 years ago

This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas iv’e heard. Serious barriers? Like proving you are who you say you are? This seems like were trying to be nutty for the sake of being nutty.

Honario
9 years ago

Yep. It used to be pretty easy for me to get documents to prove that I was you. Identity theft. Nutty? Doesn’t seem that way to me.

Timmy73
Timmy73
9 years ago

I was curious as to what the current process is to obtain a WA State ID so I went online to check it out. It seems pretty straightforward.

If there are barriers for some to obtain a WA State ID card, we should work to solve those barriers (online access, transportation etc.) to obtain the card rather than creating an entirely new ID card and system.

Creating a new localized card creates a whole set of challenges such as training businesses, fraud detection/prevention, lost/stolen replacements, the list goes on.

We should really stick with what we’ve got today and make it easier for everyone to get, that is if those barriers are really keeping people from obtaining it.

Honario
9 years ago
Reply to  Timmy73

A lot of the barriers came into play to combat identity theft. It used to be very easy to get a copy of anyones birth certificate which can then be used to a Social Security card. People used to go to cemeteries to harvest info and get ID. Certified Birth Certificate. If you do not have one then do not let your State ID expire.

Taxidermist
Taxidermist
9 years ago

It is incredibly difficult and sometimes impossible for some people to get government ID. Especially Alaskan Natives and older Vets who were able to use their (no pic) Veteran IDs for many years and it is no longer acceptable. Add to those groups, folks with mental illness, developmental disabilities or people who have experienced homelessness. I’ve worked with clients for years who couldn’t get ID, including vets who hadn’t previously sought benefits, even with the help of experienced case managers who know the system well. I’d ask you to at least see what the system would entail before writing it off. Maybe it’s a small cost that could make a world of difference to some less advantaged members of our city. Thanks for listening.

Honario
9 years ago
Reply to  Taxidermist

Hear here! Having my complete service record (given to me when I was discharged and then put into a box for 20+ years) was a life saver and a gold mine. I still can’t really explain why it was one of the things I decided to take with me when I had to leave my apartment for the last time. Perhaps so it would be that I have something to look at, something to hold, something tangible that said “Yes, I have existed. I still exist.” Thank you for your work. It’s important. And I’m certain there is someone who forgot to say ‘Thank you.’

Honario
9 years ago

Security Clearance: 0
Risk Level: 10

Ha! Ha! Ha! I think those ones are being color-code into fiery tones!!

Timmy73
Timmy73
9 years ago

Honario & Taxidermist, understanding your points, why don’t we remove those barriers in obtaining a State Issued ID so we can have a “universal” ID system in place rather than one that is piecemeal, limited (TSA won’t recognize the proposed ID card) and one that potentially sets up the recipient of this new ID card up for disappointment?

People in this situation are most likely suffering or have previously suffered enough, why not level the playing field of these individuals and treat them equally (using a State issued ID) rather than a sympathy-based ID card? This seems to be the most respectful thing to do.

I vote for correcting an existing system before creating a new one to circumvent it.

Eric Hutcheson
Eric Hutcheson
9 years ago

This is unnecessary and a duplication of services already available from the state. The millions spent on this should instead be spent on homelessness, mentally ill, our pot holed streets…..