Good afternoon, everyone.
The September 16th, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.
It is 2 06 PM.
I'm Sarah Nelson, council president.
Before I asked to call the roll, I apologize for being late.
The, um, the tribal summit is happening downstairs.
And so I, um, was late getting up here, but will the clerk please call the roll.
Council member Rink.
Present.
Council member Rivera.
Councilmember Saka Councilmember Hollingsworth Councilmember Kettle Council President Nelson Five present Thank you and I just want to remind folks for the record that Councilmembers Juarez Strauss and Solomon were excused from today's meeting Okay, there are no presentations today.
So colleagues at this time, we'll open the hybrid public comment period.
Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar and the council work program.
Clerk, how many people do we have signed up today?
We have nine in person, one remote.
All right, let's give everyone two minutes and start, let's just get through the people in person and then we can go to the remote speaker.
The public comment will begin with 20, up to 20 minutes.
Speakers will be called in the order in which they register.
Speakers will alternate between the sets in person and then until we finish remote speakers.
Please begin by stating your name and the item that you are addressing.
Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left at their time.
Speakers mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.
The public comment period is now open and we will start with the first, I'll call out the first three speakers so you can start lining up.
So we have Yvette Danish and then we have Eddie Rye, if I'm mistaken, and then Omar Qureshi.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, council members.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
What I'm addressing today is first of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for passing the camera ordinance thing.
I know there was a lot of, the place was packed online and in person, vehemently opposed.
And for those who are opposed to this, I would suggest, continue your civic engagement by volunteering in your community.
I also want to address Article 2, the bills as far as paying bills, and I want to speak on fiscal responsibility.
The Seattle Times had an op-ed on how King County funding, there's no free accountability.
Money was being spent that was granted on stuff for which the grant was not addressing.
So I'd like to see the city council, the city of Seattle do the same thing.
Those who get city grant money, that there's a system set up so that there's a quarterly accountability, like how the money was spent.
because a lot of money in my community that I know is misspent because people tell me so.
And also congratulations to Sally Bagshaw on her reappointment and Eric Pettigrew on his appointment as well.
And I think that was it.
I think that's everything I wanted to address today.
Yeah.
So keep up the good work.
I appreciate it.
Thank you, council members.
My name is Eddie Rice, Jr. and I'm here representing the Washington State chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors.
And last Thursday's front page article of the Seattle Times hit us kind of hard.
We knew what was going on.
And December 3rd, after I-200 passed, which John Carlson explicitly states and is on the voter's pamphlet, it would not kill the primitive action.
On December 3rd, 1998, Governor Gary Locke issued Governor's Directive 98-01.
I emailed all council members a copy of this.
And for almost a quarter of a century, there was no affirmative action.
It had a serious impact on African Americans that were in business, tried to stay in business, or discouraged people from trying to go into business with no affirmative action.
In 2022, I'm thankful to former state representative attorney Jesse Weinberry, put together an executive order that was signed by then Governor Jay Inslee.
And to show you how it goes, in 2021, before he signed the executive order, African Americans did 0.18% of state's business.
After he signed it in 2022, at the end of the year, African Americans had 0.22.
I checked with the State Office of Modern Learning Women Business Enterprise before I came.
Last year, African Americans had 0.34.
That's why we can't afford to live in Seattle.
That's why we can't afford a lot of things.
It is economic apartheid that's happening in Martin Luther King Jr.
County.
and it's just unbearable and just unbelievable that this is continuing to happen as though some people just don't count.
I mean, there have been situations where we had this whole Infrastructure Act money come through and the State Department of Transportation has taken 10 black truckers to a meeting to talk about an opportunity on a contract that's already been awarded to a white trucking firm.
So this is the kind of stuff we're dealing with.
We didn't get anything, I'm sorry, we didn't get anything from Merrick Garland or from Pete Buttigieg, and we did not participate in the windfall that came through.
Even though we've died in every war, worked for 240 years for free, caused slavery, and yet is still ignored today.
African-Americans are the least respected and most of them are.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
So we have Amar, and then after Amar, we'll have Paul, and then Victoria Palmer.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Omar Qureshi.
I'm here representing Americans for Equalities.
Americans, number four, equality.org.
Now, I've been in tech for nearly 22 years, where big tech have hired me to build programs, platforms, and technology.
And one of the key consistent themes that goes around is when you walk around in the hallways of Microsoft, Amazon, other big tech firms, there's just not enough Latinos, enough African-Americans.
And this was a cause that was near and dear to me, and I was humbly invited by Eddie Rye Jr., who is also chairman of the board, to join that cause.
So we started this about a year ago, and we have trained about 400 or so applicants that have gone through our programs, seven cohorts.
We have done that by bringing in volunteers and some amazing staff members who are working part-time and full-time.
Now, the approach we have followed is the same approach that has worked in other programs and big tech firms, is through iteration.
The approach worked to a point where we are able to get folks internships, placements.
Now, you all understand that AI is a seismic shift, right?
We see it around in the headlines.
We see it in the news.
We see it in the layoffs.
We are seeing what's happening to UW and other colleges, class that are coming out.
Now, it's not only going to affect the young folks that are coming out.
It's going to also affect folks that are in their mid-year journey.
So 40-plus years old folks that are employed today may have a huge seismic impact on how they go about doing the jobs.
So I'm over here asking you guys to please consider partnering with us.
We have done this with two nonprofit organizations, Africatown and Community Passageways.
There are 200 plus students that are from Seattle that have gone through our program.
And we can do more, but just require some creative thinking.
Thank you.
We have Paul Glumaz and then Victoria Palmer and then Robin Balcom.
Hello, I'm Paul Glumaz.
I'm active with the King County Republican Party.
I am the state committeeman.
And today I'm dealing with a theme that I've been dealing with for some time, though in a different way.
I'm calling out the politics of intimidation and violence, exclusively coming from the left that dominate Seattle.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk is how the politics of intimidation works.
Promoting labels such as fascist and Hitler on those with political differences is to single those out for violent attacks.
which those labels might appear to justify for many of the left.
Would the City Council or individuals on the City Council put out a statement opposing the use of such labels to at least push back on the intimidation we face in Seattle?
Intimidation for being openly in favor, for instance, of President Trump or being a Republican or opposing the Housing First program that is creating addicts and causing crime and mayhem throughout the county.
So this is something that you may not be able to stop, but at least the city council or some of the members of the city council should make a statement to that effect.
Thank you very much.
Hello, council.
I am Victoria Palmer, executive board member of the King County Republican Party and a Seattle resident in Council District 6. In light of last week's assassination of Charlie Kirk, we can no longer ignore the political violence from the left here in our own city.
This last year has seen innumerable incidents of threats, intimidation, and even physical violence against conservative journalists, activists, and even our own candidates, with the perpetrators getting no more than a slap on the wrist, if even that.
The Republican Party represents the average American, the small business owner, homeowner, workers, and parents.
To describe us as fascists is to invite and condone violence against us.
I urge our city council members to stop using President Trump as the scapegoat to push your personal agenda.
and I urge all sides to end the name calling and make room for civil discourse in our politics.
Thank you very much.
You have Robin and then Bennett Helston and Nathan Wall.
Okay, I'm gonna read, otherwise I say too much.
My name is Robin Balcom and I am a follower of Jesus.
I'm a wife, I'm a mother, and I'm a grandmother.
I'm also married to a small business owner.
I pray for Seattle and I pray for each of you by name.
I spoke at this podium on May 28th after the attack on Christians in Cal Anderson Park.
I was mocked and shouted over, and it was intimidating.
I'm a little bit less nervous this morning.
I thank you for allowing public comment, and I ask you to please continue to listen to all of us.
Protect faith in our city and please restore safety, common sense, and civility in our community.
Seattle has been on a decline for many years, and it's time for change.
I appreciate each of you stepping into leadership roles.
I urge each of you to consider all of the citizens of Seattle Let's restore the Emerald City to a safe, affordable, welcoming, and thriving city that people will want to visit and also live in.
And since I have 45 seconds, I will pledge allegiance as well to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you for your time.
Good afternoon, Council.
How about those Mariners, am I right?
And speaking of that, so apparently City Council might soon be considering various proposals to deal with these street preachers outside T-Mobile Park who keep blasting at people at over 100 decibels.
So I've actually been out there at a lot of the Mariners' home games.
I hold a sign making fun of them.
I'm actually wearing a pride flag.
It's like a superhero cape, which is laying it on a little thick even for me, but never mind.
So why do that?
Well, to a lot of people, I think the stuff that the preachers are yelling and really ugly stuff about gay people and really graphic descriptions of hell can be very triggering to people and really give them a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach that really brings them down.
And they see me making fun of them and it turns into a moment that they get a chuckle out of it.
Multiply that by a couple hundred or a couple thousand people and I think it's definitely worth the time.
I have people come up to me and give me a hug with almost tears in their eyes and I definitely think it's worth it.
But a side effect of that is that I now have maybe more data than anyone else in the city about how the street preachers operate and the volume that they're using at different points around the stadium and how they are likely to respond to different proposals.
Like, I've heard, you know, ban amplified noise within 200 feet of the stadium.
The thing is, one of them has already moved to the little curlicue pedestrian ramp between T-Mobile Park and the light rail station, and the further they are from the stadium, and in particular further they are from the police, the more likely they are to crank up the megaphone over 100 decibels and point it directly at people.
When they're right in front of the cops, sometimes they angle it away from people, but the further they are when nobody's watching them, they're more pointing it directly at people, more likely to cause hearing damage.
So I would actually, if you're interested in fixing this, I can come back with the data, do an honest-to-God presentation if you want.
It'll probably be the first time you have somebody sitting in that chair who has an active open case for getting arrested here.
It's not dismissed until November if I stay out of trouble.
But I'm happy to do the whole PowerPoint thing and bring back the page.
and the records of the decibel levels and stuff.
And Council Member Saka, and please call Council Member Juarez.
I will put numbers on all of the individual slides just for you guys.
That was my closing joke.
I'm not taking it out just because she didn't show up.
Thank you.
And Nathan?
And then we'll move into remote speakers.
So I am also concerned about the political violence in this country.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk was unacceptable.
I think we can all agree that people should not be killed for what they believe and what they advocate for.
And on that, I would like to say the person that came to the council meeting and told you to kill yourselves, that was unacceptable.
And I hope that you guys recognize the discomfort in the room and the lack of applause in the room when that was said.
I'd just like to say, though, when Melissa and Mark Portman were killed, you guys laughed, you made jokes, you mocked them.
Yes, you did.
And I think that the gun violence in our country is a problem.
Political violence in our country is a problem.
We need to turn down the temperature.
However, I am also concerned that Donald Trump is going to use this to invade Seattle and further his authoritarian control of our country.
I think that it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
And I'm really concerned that many members of the city council are not taking this as seriously as they should.
I really am concerned.
This country is not so special that a dictatorship can't happen here.
Seattle is not so special that what's happening in D.C.
can't happen here.
The vote on Tuesday was disgraceful.
You gave more power to Donald Trump, and then Councilmember Rivera talked down to the folks that came and spoke against it, and you didn't even show up at the comp plan hearing on Friday, so I appreciate that.
You guys are not taking what's going on in our country seriously.
I really appreciate Council Member Rink for actually taking this seriously.
I appreciate Council Member Hollingsworth for taking it seriously to a larger extent.
But this is really disappointing and we need to stop the violence in this country.
We need to have a democracy where we can come here and express our views and not be concerned that we're gonna be imprisoned for it.
And I think we should all agree on that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll move on to remote speakers and a reminder to our remote speakers to please press star six after you've heard the message that you have been unmuted.
Our first remote speaker is David Haynes and David will be followed by Joe Kunzler.
Go ahead, David.
Hi, thank you.
David Haynes, we need a more transparent budget process coming up with more details that get right to the points about all the spending priorities that were supposed to have been taken out in the last budget that are still baked into this budget that keeps undermining the integrity of the public safety efforts, the homeless crisis efforts, and the reactivation of the economy without the debt and the deficits that are being caused by a downturn in the unwillingness of people to be able to go anywhere downtown and feel safe and enjoy it.
without evil predators from the underworld continuously getting away with it.
And it's not fair that we don't have a more transparent access where the public comment gets to like speak about each individual committee when it comes to the budget and not just like one time for a minute because there's a lot of details that are not being addressed when it's almost seems like Ben Noble is not the best director that we've had in the last five or six, seven years.
And it's not fair that he seems to bring this strategically coached, stuttering distraction that doesn't get to the details, but time consumes with generalities and stories.
and if you take a look at how the budget chair who defunded the police and has been protecting the progressive revenue spending priorities that bought off Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd protesters that are hiding behind the same corrupt nonprofits that need to be investigated on the county level, who are the repeat offenders, it's really undermining the efforts to solve the budget that is part of the problem because the executive has gotten a pass from the independence of this council who thinks it's better to defer and capitulate to Bruce Harrell instead of calling him out for the same bad spinning curve.
Thank you.
Our last remote speaker is Joe Kunzler.
Go ahead, Joe.
Joe, you may need to press star six.
There you go.
All right, thank you so much.
Thanks for your patience.
Joe Kunzler here, regular caller and big sound transit fan.
I wanted to call in and thank Board Member Strauss for his excellent questions at the System Expansion Committee, especially of Linwood Link.
Sorry, Everett Link, I misspoke.
I share his assessment that any surface running light rail would be an absolutely more expensive and risky tragedy.
And I really appreciate him asking those questions.
It is very much appreciated.
I also want to stress in this wake of political incivility, one, I appreciate those that have spoken up against it.
It isn't just Alex Zimmerman.
It's important to stand up to it because those of us who are in this space for a period of time, we know people who are of different beliefs and all, and we have to try to create a welcoming environment for everyone to build back better Finally, I do want to stress that it's important to deal with Zimmerman.
I'm appreciative that he was excluded from Seattle City Council for a month, but I also think he needs to be excluded from Sound Transit and that needs to become an issue of regional concern.
His behavior is simply put atrocious and condemnable.
With that, I want to again thank Sound Transit Board Member Strauss for all he's done for Sound Transit.
Really appreciate it.
Go Sound Transit.
Thank you.
Thank you.
That was our last remote speaker.
Thank you very much.
We've reached the end of our list of public speakers, so public comment is now closed.
All right, moving along here.
I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.
Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.
Are there any comments?
Yes.
Sorry, I'm trying to put my hand up.
I see you.
Go ahead.
This is the referral calendar.
Yes.
I'm going to move to amend...
Thank you, Council President.
Sorry, my hand is up now.
I move to amend the introduction and referral calendar to add resolution 32183 entitled, A Resolution Relating to the One Comprehensive Plan Update, calling for additional measures by city departments to further advance the goals of the One Seattle Plan.
Second.
Does the full title need to be read into the record?
Well, just to confirm that where the referral will be.
I need to read the entire thing.
Thank you.
Okay.
So can I have a redo?
Or no, I just read the whole thing?
Or just clarify, just providing information as to where it's going to be referred.
Awesome, sorry, thank you, my apologies.
So the resolution relating to One Seattle plan, comprehensive plan update calling for additional measures by the city department to further advance the goals of the One Seattle plan and requesting that the Office of Planning and Community Development and other city departments develop additional amendments to the comprehensive plan in 2026 and by referring it to the select committee of the comprehensive plan.
Can we have a second again?
Second.
Second.
All right.
It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction and referral calendar to add resolution 32183 and by referring it to the select committee on the comprehensive plan.
Are there any comments on this amendment?
All right.
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the amendment to add resolution 32183 to the introduction and referral calendar.
Council member Rink?
Yes.
Council member Rivera?
Aye.
Council Member Saka?
Aye.
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council Member Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The motion carries in the introduction and referral calendar is amended to include resolution 32183. Any final comments on the amended introduction and referral calendar?
All right.
Seeing none, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted as amended.
And I'm not hearing any objection about that either.
So therefore the introduction and referral calendar is adopted as amended.
All right.
If there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.
Hearing none, the agenda for today is adopted.
We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar.
The items on the proposed consent calendar are The minutes of September 9th, 2025. Council Bill 121078, payment of bills.
Appointments from the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee and nine appointments from the Parks, Public Utilities and Technology Committee.
Are there any items that council members would like to remove from the consent calendar?
I'm not hearing any and I neglected to say that it was two appointments from the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee.
All right, I'm not hearing of any items to be removed, so I move to adopt the consent calendar.
Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?
Council Member Rink?
Yes.
Council Member Rivera?
Aye.
Council Member Saka?
Aye.
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Aye.
Council Member Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Six in favor, none opposed.
The consent calendar items are adopted.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf?
And I do want to note that council member Rivera is here.
Okay.
Will the clerk please read item one into the record?
The report of the city council agenda item one resolution 32182, a resolution of intention to change the assessment rate and exceptions for the Soto parking and business improvement area and fix the date in place for hearing thereon.
All right, this is in my committee.
So I move to adopt resolution 32182. Is there a second?
Second.
It's moved and seconded to adopt the resolution and as sponsor, I will address it.
All right, so this is a procedural formality and not a substantive vote on the underlying BIA amendment.
So we heard legislation in my committee last week to amend the Soto BIA and state law requires that amendments that impact a BIA's business improvement areas assessments need to have a public hearing and that a resolution giving notice of a public hearing must be adopted by council at least 15 days before the public hearing.
So because of budget, we need to accelerate the timing of the public hearing notice resolution so that it can be adopted more than 15 days before the December 11th, Governance Accountability and Economic Development Committee at which the hearing is scheduled to take place.
So, I mean, we don't have many other options.
I'm happy to go over what the actual ordinance amendment does, but frankly, it's pretty simple.
It's needed because currently the Soto BIA collects payments from some government owned property.
but under a different method than that of privately held property and there are so many different government agencies in SOTA that are operating that we need to change slightly how the assessment system works down there so that they can continue to be a viable BIA.
Anyway, we're not talking about that today.
It is simply to set the public hearing for December 11th during our regularly scheduled Governance, Accountability and Economic Development meeting.
So are there any questions about this?
All right.
If you have any questions about the underlying amendment, feel free to reach out to me or to central staff.
I'm not seeing any comments.
All right.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?
Council member Rink?
Yes.
Council member Rivera?
Aye.
Council member Saka?
Aye.
Council member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council member Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
All right, the resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
And please also read item two into the record.
The report of the Housing and Human Services Committee, agenda item 2, Council Bill 121039, relating to residential property transactions, requiring certain disclosures to owners before presenting an offer to purchase a residential property.
Establishing consumer protections for owners of solicited residential property, the committee recommends the bill passes amended.
Thank you for that.
On behalf of the committee chair, Councilmember Rink will provide the committee report.
Thank you, Council President.
Colleagues, our Land Use Committee Chair and Vice Chair are excused today, so I will be presenting this committee report.
This ordinance passed unanimously out of committee on September 10th.
This legislation will establish new consumer protections for owners of solicited residential property as well as penalties for buyers who fail to comply with these new protections.
For residential property transactions in which a potential buyer actively solicits the purchase of residential property through public advertising or written, electronic, or in-person contact with an owner of residential property that is not currently publicly available or listed on the real estate market for purchase, residential property owners will have the right to an appraisal by a licensed appraiser, receive notice of the right to an appraisal, and have the right to cancel the purchase contract.
The legislation closely aligns with recently passed state legislation, House Bill 1081, but differs in the following ways.
It allows the city to impose more fringent fines on violators, provides more notice to residential property owners of their rights and legal protections, provides owners more time to cancel the purchase contract, and provides residential property owners a right of private action if the buyer fails to comply with the city ordinance.
and that concludes my report.
Thank you.
All right.
Are there any questions or comments on item two?
Council Bill 121039. All right.
I'm not seeing any.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council member Rink?
Yes.
Council member Rivera?
Aye.
Council member Sacca?
Aye.
Councilmember Hollingsworth.
Aye.
Councilmember Kettle.
Aye.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
All right.
The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
And please read item three into the record.
Agenda Item 3, Council Bill 121 075 relating to historic preservation, opposing controls upon Toliver Temple Church of God in Christ, a landmark designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board.
The committee recommends the bill pass.
Thank you.
Councilmember Rivera, as chair of the committee, you're recognized in order to provide the committee report.
Thank you, Council President.
The building that is the Tolliver Temple Church of God in Christ was constructed in 1929. It was initially home to Sephardic Beaker Holom Synagogue and then became the Tolliver Temple Church of God in Christ in 1964. at committee, we heard from the church's pastor, Isabel, who spoke so eloquently about the importance of this church to community and the importance of the building and the partnerships that have been part of that community and that church for many, many years.
The Landmarks Preservation Board presented this building for a landmark status and it passed both out of the Landmarks Preservation Board and also out of our committee last week.
And I'm really proud to have been part of that designation for this important church in our community.
So hope for your support.
Okay.
Any questions or comments on the bill?
All right, I'm not seeing any.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council Member Rink?
Yes.
Council Member Rivera?
Aye.
Council Member Saka?
Aye.
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council Member Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Clerk, would you please read item four into the record?
The report of the Parks Public Utilities and Technology Committee, agenda item four, Council Bill 121037, relating to Seattle Public Utilities, updating site sewer regulations to conform to current standards, clarifying existing requirements, allowing site sewer fees to be created by the director's rule, and updating definitions.
The committee recommends the bill pass.
Council Member Hollingsworth is chair of the committee.
You're recognized to provide the committee report.
Thank you, Council President.
Council Bill 121037 would update parts of the Seattle Municipal Code relating to side sewer permitting.
Last budget season, the council approve approved of the staffing changes to move the side sewer permitting program from SDCI to SPU.
This bill updates the code to reflect that shift.
It will also move the permitting fee schedule from the code to an SPU director's role to be grouped with the department's other fees, but no fees are proposed to be changed.
This bill passed unanimously last week in committee and I urge a yes vote.
Thank you.
All right.
Are there any comments from colleagues?
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council Member Rink?
Yes.
Council Member Rivera?
Aye.
Council Member Saka?
Aye.
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council Member Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
and please read item five into the record.
Agenda item five, resolution 32175 relating to Seattle Public Utilities amending resolution 31800 as later amended by resolution 31825 and updating the ongoing customer review panel to provide additional opportunities for young adults.
Engagement in clarifying panel eligibility for optional stipends as SPU implements the six year strategic business plan and conducts future plan updates.
The committee recommends the resolution be adopted.
Thank you very much.
Council member Hollingsworth, as chair of the committee still, you're recognized to provide the report.
Thank you, council president.
This resolution updates SPU's customer review panel to expand panel with opportunities for young adults and clarifies the panel's eligibility for optional stipends for their work.
Optimal, they can get optimal stipends.
No, they get optional stipends for their work.
As you all know, the customer review panel provides technical expertise and live experiences and they do work that helps guide the policy decisions like the ones in SPU's six-year strategic business plan and future updates.
I'm excited about SPU's dedication and commitment to provide these opportunities, especially for youth.
So it forms a new youth addition to this panel.
And it also provides a stipends as well, which you all know that a lot of people that sit on panels, it takes a lot of time and energy and they are not compensated.
And this offers some sort of stipend for them as well.
And I hope to have your support today.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any comments or questions?
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?
Council member Rank?
Yes.
Council Member Rivera.
Aye.
Council Member Saka.
Aye.
Council Member Hollingsworth.
Yes.
Council Member Kettle.
Aye.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
There's a fan of this legislation up there in the audience.
Okay.
Okay.
Will the clerk please read item six into the record?
with the Report of the Sustainability City Light Arts and Culture Committee, Jundi item six, Council Bill 121062, relating to the City Light Department, authorize an execution of a 16-year power purchase agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration and related agreements.
The committee recommends the bill pass.
Thank you.
Council Member Rink, as chair of the committee, you're recognized in order to provide the committee report.
Thank you.
One moment, colleagues, I apologize.
Thank you.
So this is an ordinance authorizing the execution of our 16-year power purchase agreement with Bonneville Power Administration.
This ordinance authorizes this purchase agreement to ensure that City Light can purchase its portion of the federal Columbia River power system managed by the Bonneville Power Administration or BPA from October 1st, 2028 to September 30th, 2044. The relationship between City Light and BPA dates back decades, and this power purchase agreement, better known as a provider of choice contract, allows City Light to purchase federal power at one or more cost-based power rates.
The legislation provides flexibility as it authorizes the City Light's general manager to suggest modifications and amendments throughout the 16-year term of the power sales agreement to the extent it is reasonably necessary.
This passed out of committee unanimously, and I ask for the whole council support today.
And that concludes my report.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Are there any questions or comments?
Okay.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council member Rink?
Yes.
Council member Rivera?
Aye.
Council member Saka?
Aye.
Council member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council member Kettle?
Council President Nelson.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
And now we're up to item seven.
Please read that into the record.
Agenda Item 7, Council Bill 121063 relating to City Light Department authorizing department to develop programs to enter into agreements with customers and other parties and provide incentives for modifications to customer electricity consumption.
The committee recommends the bill pass.
Okay.
The floor is yours, Council Member Rink.
Go ahead and provide the committee report, please.
Thank you, Council President.
This ordinance amends Seattle Municipal Code to provide city lights with the authority to establish demand response programs for customers.
Demand response programs help flatten peak demand, which should reduce costly energy purchases in the wholesale market and should additionally reduce the size of generation, transmission, and distribution of investments required to meet peak load.
This ordinance primarily first authorizes City Light to enter into agreements with customers and provide incentives and secondly provide City Light with the authority to build and offer demand response programs for eligible customers.
I know we had a great discussion in committee about one of our partners over with steel fabrication in District 1. This passed out of committee unanimously and I urge a yes vote on this today.
Thank you.
Are there any questions or comments?
I'll just note that I am very, I don't sit on this committee, but I'm very happy to see this coming forward and happening because I do know that Nucor Steel has been asking for this for a very long time.
And given its importance in our local economy and also the fact that it is a major recycler, which is very necessary for environmental reasons, I'm really glad to know that this is that this has finally gotten done.
So thank you very much for your leadership on that and thank you City Light.
All right, will the clerk please call the roll?
Go ahead.
If I may, thank you.
Yeah, I just wanted to add my voice of support of this legislation.
As has been noted, this is an important piece of legislation that allows the department to enter into agreements with customers and other parties and provide important incentives, namely demand response.
And I believe it is a valuable program for all customers One of the city's strategic customers, top customers, after the University of Washington is Nucor Steel.
And they, to your point, Council President, they've been asking for this for a long time.
So during the committee vote, I supported it contingent upon me checking in with Nucor in my district.
And of course, no surprise, they're very supportive.
So proud to be able to support this today.
and officially launched this program from a legislative perspective.
So thank you.
Thank you for the comments.
Sorry, I did not see your hand on the screen.
Okay.
Any other comments?
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?
Council member Rink.
Yes.
Council member Rivera.
Aye.
Council member Saka.
Aye.
Council member Hollingsworth.
Councilmember Kettle.
Aye.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Please read item nine into the record.
Number eight, I read number eight.
Okay.
Yep.
Okay.
Just making sure.
Right.
Yep.
I scrolled down too.
Please read item eight into the record.
There's a lot of city light on this agenda.
Go ahead, please.
Thank you.
Agenda item eight, resolution 32176, relating to the City Light Department and acknowledging and approving City Light Department's adoption of the biannual energy conservation target for 2026 through 2027 and 10-year conservation potential.
The committee recommends the resolution be adopted.
All right, Council Member Rink.
Go ahead and provide the committee report, please.
Thank you, Council President.
Colleagues, every two years, City Light must establish and make biennial acquisition targets available to the public.
This resolution updates City Light's energy conservation targets for 2026 to 2027 by establishing a 16 average megawatt conservation target and a 10-year conservation potential of 78 average megawatt.
This passed out of committee unanimously, and I urge a yes vote from full Council today.
Thank you.
Any questions or comments?
Okay.
Council, um, I would, I'm interested in knowing what the, what the, uh, the target was a couple of years ago, but we can talk about, I'll get that information offline.
Okay.
Since I'm not seeing any comments or questions, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?
Council member Rink?
Yes.
Council member Rivera?
Aye.
Council member Saka?
Councilmember Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Councilmember Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
And will the clerk please read item nine into the record?
Agenda Item 9, Resolution 32181 relating to City Light Department, approving the City Lights Departments 2026 through 2029 Clean Energy Implementation Plan is required by Washington State's Clean Energy Transformation Act.
The committee recommends the resolution be adopted.
Council Member Ring, you're recognized in order to provide the committee report.
Thank you, Council President.
The State Clean Energy Transportation Act, or CETA, requires utilities to develop and submit a clean energy implementation plan every four years.
And this CEIP fulfills three statutory requirements.
First, it outlines specific actions City Light will take between 2026 to 2029 to advance the transition to 100 percent renewable and non-emitting electricity.
Second, it establishes metrics for identifying and measuring equitable distribution of clean energy benefits, particularly for highly impacted communities and vulnerable populations.
And third, it reflects customer and community input collected through an inclusive engagement process, ensuring customer voices shape the CEIP.
This passed out of committee also unanimously, and I urge a yes vote today.
Thank you.
All right.
Does anybody want to oppose this clean energy resolution?
Just kidding.
Okay.
I'm not seeing any questions.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?
Councilmember Rink?
Yes.
Councilmember Rivera?
Aye.
Councilmember Saka?
Aye.
Councilmember Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Councilmember Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Six in favor, none opposed.
Thank you very much.
The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Now we're up to item 10. Will the clerk please read item 10 into the record.
The report the Land Use Committee joins item 10, Council Bill 121047, relating to Seattle's construction codes, limiting the areas for which substantial alterations are required to spaces or buildings greater than 7,000 square feet in gross area.
The committee recommends that the bill pass.
Thank you very much.
So council member Solomon is not present and so on behalf of the committee chair, I'll provide the committee report.
This is about permitting.
And this is something that I'm sure that each one of us have heard numerous complaints about.
And so this is one effort to address one of many of our problems in the permitting system.
And I just wanna give a little bit of history about this whole effort.
In my committee, in the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee, February of 2024 I held a, no it was actually 25, I held a small roundtable discussion with architects to discuss what are some of the main problems with the permitting system that seem to appear over and over again and really prolong the permitting process and jeopardize frankly the viability of projects because if permitting takes too long financing can disappear.
And so this particular group, which was led by Jim Graham, came up with several recommendations.
And this is one of them.
But for the record, I do want to just read them all into the record.
One of them was establish a standing work group to act as the conduit between SDCI and architects' applicants.
Two, establish an evaluation process for permit applications to rate their experience and offer comments on how things went well or did not go well.
Three, open the permit desk to more effective and regular communication between city staff and applicants.
Four, establish clear guidelines and higher thresholds for substantial alteration requirements or waive requirements in commercial areas, urban centers altogether to speed up investment.
Five, relax requirements for changes to the established use of a building or waive requirements in commercial areas, urban centers altogether to speed up investment.
Six, establish new uses that better reflect the arts and cultural uses and needs of spaces today.
Seven, relax energy upgrade requirements for older existing buildings.
Eight, reopen microfilm to the public.
And then nine, establish an inter-departmental team that expedites permits for commercial areas that are seeing higher vacancies.
So there's a lot to work with here.
And I did send this email, this list of recommendations to Director, SDCI Director Torgelson, Deputy, well, our COO Marco Lowe and a whole bunch of other people in leadership basically saying, can you please move on this?
and this is one of the bills that came out of this initial effort.
So what this bill specifically does is it changes or it It sets in stone or it creates certainty for anyone trying to build anything by establishing particular timeframes for when your project permit will be presented or you'll get it.
The state of Washington passed three separate permitting related bills since 2023 and this first of two permitting bills before the council today will bring the city in alignment with those laws by adopting the default permit review timeline set in the RCW for project permits and also updates the city council rules for quasi-judicial actions to better be in line with actual practices.
So that's what this does and I invite any questions or comments.
All right.
I'm going to want some claps at the end here.
This is a good one.
All right.
I'm not seeing any questions or comments.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.
Council member Rink.
Council member Rivera.
Council member Saka.
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council Member Kettle?
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
Thank you.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
And will the clerk please read item 11 into the record?
Agenda item 11, council bill 121045 relating to land use and zoning, updating timelines for city review of land use permits, amending sections 32.76.005 and 23.76.010 of the Seattle Municipal Code and amending resolution 31602 to update the city council rules for quasi judicial proceedings.
The committee recommends a resolution be, sorry, the bill be passed as amended.
Thank you very much.
I'll stand in for the committee chair again.
Colleagues, this does get to the fourth recommendation that I just read out loud, which was established clear guidelines for substantial alteration requirements.
So the second bill would significantly reduce the number of projects which qualify as a substantial alteration under our building code.
Currently, projects deemed to be substantial alterations must retrofit the entire space to the latest energy and seismic codes, which is an extremely time-consuming and expensive process.
by exempting many potential projects from this designation, we open up a huge number of properties to small businesses who would otherwise not be able to afford such an expensive and expansive retrofit work.
So specifically, this bill will exempt buildings and spaces with a gross area of 7,000 square feet or less and remove the default designation of substantial alteration when a building or space has been vacant for more than two years.
and it also clarifies that SDCI will not apply the substantial alterations definition when the change of occupancy affects 20% or less of the overall building area, even if that is greater than 7,000 square feet.
So this issue around substantial alteration has been a major barrier to small businesses looking to open up shop across our city, but especially in the hundreds of vacant storefronts downtown.
Over the past eight years, the city has issued about 180 substantial alteration permits for commercial, institutional, industrial, and multifamily projects.
Under the proposed 7,000 square foot exemption, nearly half of those would no longer need a substantial alteration permit.
With this legislation, we unlock a wide swath of properties that would never have been considered given the substantial alteration requirement.
So this change could help reactivate more than 50 small commercial storefronts by 2030, but that number will likely be much higher.
So this is a really good thing.
We're trying to remove barriers here.
And the legislation came to us, I believe that the original square footage area that was mentioned, It was not as much as 7,000, but we did research how many properties exist, what the downtown, what the potential for small business usage, et cetera, which is why we raised the number to 7,000 square feet.
Anyway, are there any questions or comments from colleagues?
All right.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.
Council member Rink.
Yes.
Councilmember Rivera?
Aye.
Councilmember Saka?
Aye.
Councilmember Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Councilmember Kettle?
Aye.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Six in favor, none opposed.
All right.
Thank you very much, colleagues.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Thank you for that class.
I do have to say, I'll just say one more time that our permitting problems, slow economic growth, slow activity, you know, slow housing construction and also sometimes are so onerous that small businesses just decide to go elsewhere or they close up shop because the improvements they need to make to spaces just isn't affordable.
So thank you very much for this.
Moving on.
Uh, there were no items removed from the consent calendar.
There is not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.
Is there any further business to come before the council?
I am not seeing any.
All right.
We've reached the end of today's agenda.
The city council will hold a special meeting on September 23rd at 2 PM.
It is 3 0 1 hearing no further business.
We are adjourned.