(The Center Square) - Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee  Chairperson Bob Kettle says he doesn’t believe Mayor Katie Wilson is adequately addressing the issue of prostitution on North Aurora Avenue and the gun violence that has emerged between rival pimps.

Kettle has accused Wilson of lacking a public safety plan to address crime and continues to cite North Aurora Avenue in North Seattle as an example of the mayor’s inaction.

“I don’t really have a lot of confidence because we have the tools, we have the abilities, so often as we see in Seattle, we don’t take the next step," Kettle said at a press conference on Friday.

Kettle has stepped up criticism of the mayor following the Bite of Seattle shooting on July 26 at the Seattle Center that left three dead and four others injured. 

He has attacked the mayor for putting a surveillance camera program on hold, for delaying a press conference for hours to inform the public about the food festival shooting and for asking former Police Chief Shon Barnes to resign.

Aurora Avenue is also one of his concerns because he said residents keep on complaining about continuing prostitution, which creates the potential for continued gun violence. 

Wilson had promised stepped up police enforcement on Aurora Avenue at a  June 11 press conference after neighbors closed off streets on their own off Aurora Ave, after they say gun violence between pimps had become a nightly event.

The Aurora Avenue corridor has been a long-time center of Seattle prostitution trade, with many of the sex workers being minors, but neighbors say that gun violence has gone out of control in recent months.

It's not only Kettle who is blaming the mayor.

Residents say the inaction by the mayor's office to gun violence fueled by the prosecution trade has continued.

“We were promised bike patrols,” said Jake Wallack, who lives in the North Aurora Avenue corridor.

Wallack told The Center Square that Wilson’s promise for those patrols at the June press conference never happened. 

He testified at the City Council after the Bite of Seattle shooting that the narrative about North Aurora Avenue needs to change. 

He said hundreds of johns gather nightly to solicit prostitutes, but nothing is done by authorities to stop it.

He said the city knows most of the shootings are related to the prostitution trade, but refuses to do anything about it. 

“City press releases aren’t changing it,” Wallack said. 

For the North Aurora Avenue resident, the issue is very personal, with gunfire coming into his home and threatening his baby, a story he told to the City Council Public Safety Committee on May 26.

Wilson is also facing a recall effort, after two residents claimed the mayor has been derelict in her duties to protect the city. They cited the violence on Aurora Avenue and the response to the Bite of Seattle shooting in their petition.

Additionally, several recent polls have showed the mayor's approval rating dropping significantly, along with approval of her public safety policies.

Kettle said the mayor’s office needs to ensure that additional officers are added, particularly on evening shifts when the prostitution and gun violence occur.

Wilson defended her record on public safety earlier on Friday at a press conference.

"Public Safety is an extremely high priority for our office," she said.

A spokesman for the mayor referred The Center Square to the police department Monday for additional details. 

Sergeant Patrick Michaud said violent crimes are down 18%, and property crimes are down 15% along the Aurora corridor year to date compared to last year.

“Nearly every day there is a car dedicated to the Aurora corridor. Not going to 911 calls outside of that very specific area,” Michaud said. “We don’t discuss specific deployed numbers due to security concerns, so I can’t go into more detail there."

"We will keep working to drive that crime rate down as it appears the work in that area is starting to pay dividends," he said.