City Council Special Meeting 11/3/2025

you can see.

Good afternoon.

The November 3rd, 2025 special meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.02.

I'm Sarah Nelson, Council President.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Solomon?

Here.

Council Member Strauss?

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Here.

Council Member Juarez?

Here.

Council Member Kettle?

Here.

Council Member Rink?

Present.

Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Saka.

Here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Eight.

Present.

Thank you very much.

If there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

And if there's no objection, the council rules will be suspended to consider a resolution for introduction and adoption.

Hearing no objection, the rules are suspended and the council will proceed with consideration of item one, resolution 32186. Will the clerk please read item one into the record.

The report, the city council agenda item one, resolution 32186, modifying the October 30th, 2025, mayoral civil emergency proclamation regarding the federal government shutdown and the disruptions to SNAP benefits for Seattle lights.

Thank you.

Council member Hollingsworth, you're recognized in order to move the resolution.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to adopt Resolution 32186. Second.

Second.

It is moved and seconded to adopt the resolution.

Council Member Hollingsworth, as sponsor, you're recognized in order to address it.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council President.

This is a simple addition, acknowledging that the various orgs that help with food access beyond food banks, we have meal providers, there are senior centers, there are schools, the entire food system sector.

is included in this.

SNAP benefits are diverse, range of meal and food providers that accept SNAP throughout the distribution channels.

This provides executive the flexibility to distribute the funding, different avenues.

We're not deciding where it goes, we're just giving the executive the flexibility to distribute with different avenues.

And colleagues, I would hope for your support.

Thank you.

So at this point, if there is no objection, the rules will be suspended to allow council central staff to address the council.

Hearing none, the rules are suspended.

Ben Noble and Lauren Hendry, you're recognized.

Good afternoon.

Please introduce yourselves for the record.

Lauren Henry, Central Staff Legislative Legal Counsel to the Seattle City Council.

Ben Noble, Central Staff Director.

If Council wishes, I can walk through the October 30th, 2025 mayoral proclamation and then a summary just affirming what Councilmember Hollingsworth has already said about the limited actions and modification here today.

Please do.

So on October 30th, 2025, the mayor did issue in a civil emergency proclamation regarding the federal government shutdown and its dire impacts on the SNAP beneficiaries in Seattle.

The mayor's proclamation quoted that roughly 50,000 Seattleites received SNAP benefits totaling approximately $16 million per month and that those individuals and families would be impacted due to the disruption in monthly SNAP benefits.

As a result, the mayor's proclamation was issued pursuant to SMC 10-1 which affords the mayor via his emergency powers the opportunity when certain preexisting circumstances or a threat to various circumstances like the safety or welfare of Seattle's residents, the opportunity to engage those emergency powers.

So that occurred on October the 30th.

And specifically the mayor had two delegations to his city department heads.

The first was to the director of the city budget office, authorizing the spending of emergency funds to mitigate the loss of SNAP funding and food access.

including but not limited to contracting with certain organizations to increase food availability.

And the second delegation was to city department heads generally to authorize and permit the use of city facilities and equipment and to reassign personnel from their ordinary duties to assist in this emergency.

Now, pursuant to that same SMC 10.02.010 subsection C, the council has four options.

One is not to act, in which case the proclamation and any forthcoming executive orders stand as they are until the civil emergency is either terminated by the mayor or by a two-thirds vote of the council.

and then the three remaining acts are actions of the council.

One might be to confirm and ratify the mayor's proclamation as it stands.

The second would be to modify the proclamation and the third might be to reject it outright.

The path before you now by resolution is a simple modification of the mayor's proclamation.

And as council member Hollingsworth already stated, there are just two components to this resolution.

They both recognize that the scope of the food shortage will likely necessitate distribution to the full spectrum of established food systems in Seattle, and they therefore will have provisions within Section 3 regarding the contract and borrowing authority to commit the mayor to distribute resources to that full spectrum of established food systems, be it meal providers for children, seniors, other vulnerable populations, community centers, food banks, and diverse food distribution channels.

And then the second component is to commit the mayor to, in consultation with council, identify the sources of public funds available to address the food shortage and demonstrate the plan to distribute resources and staffing equitably to our community.

So two components to this resolution and I'll pause there for questions.

Well, let me just jump in and say that speaking for myself, it feels like we are experiencing or we are responding to the impact of what's been a slow moving train wreck because we've been seeing this coming for a long time.

However, now it is upon us and I am proud that the city of Seattle is stepping up because we know that more than 50,000 people in Seattle use this benefit and We're stepping up to put as much resources as we can forward to help those people in need right in this very, very moment and going forward over the next few weeks.

So thank you very much for that synopsis of our options and the process that we must go through.

Colleagues, are there any questions?

Council President, if I might, I can perhaps shed a little bit of light on the resources that are potentially available and that are being by implication targeted in the emergency proclamation.

So in particular, the general fund has two large reserves.

One is the rainy day fund or more technically the revenue stabilization account.

That's to address shortfalls in revenue.

That's not the situation we're in here.

The other is the emergency sub-fund, and it's to address unanticipated expenditures, and that is presumably exactly the situation we are in.

As of now, that fund has just over $85 million in it.

There's a set of policies that call upon the city to fully fund it to a level, and we have been doing that.

So if it is drawn upon us in a significant way, the policies do call for it to be replenished over time in an appropriate way.

But there are significant resources available for this kind of a thing, although obviously it's not necessarily what anyone had anticipated that emergency subfund being used for.

But just for you to understand a bigger picture about the extent of the mayor's pointing towards resources, those are they, if you will.

Thank you.

Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Lauren and Ben.

Let me just ask a quick question.

So under the civil emergency powers, is this the first time our city has done this for something as basic as food?

And also, is there other cities that are doing this?

I might be able to answer the first question.

The most recent time these powers were invoked was during the pandemic, and that was more specifically about the medical response.

But part of that was, as I recall, about food, because, for instance, the meals available to children via school and the like were disrupted.

So that was part of the overall effort, but obviously a different situation.

What about other cities?

I've only been reading the paper that you have that currently there are other cities and states that are doing things comparable.

Same, this is a fast moving issue, but so far I have read about various state responses to standing up food distribution centers and the like, but I need to get back to you about the array of city commitment

Right.

If I can have one follow-up, Madam Chair.

So is this the, it's $8 million, right?

Rainy day?

Or I'm sure just...

And it was interesting, the divergence here between the proclamation itself does not reference the dollar amount.

Right.

The public information provided by the Mayor indicates that as much as $8 million is what they have in mind, yes.

Over two years?

One year?

Over two months, is our understanding.

Two months, I'm sorry, two months?

Yeah, November, December.

Okay, thank you, Madam Chair.

Going back to the question of other jurisdictions, is King County, have you heard of anything that the King County is going to be doing, especially for unincorporated King County residents?

I haven't, but I'm happy to look into that and report back to the council.

Thank you.

Let's see, Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, just noting that providing food to hungry Americans is the duty of the federal government.

In this time where they are not doing their job, we as the city council, along with the mayor of the city of Seattle, will do all we can to keep Seattleites fed.

This proposal before us is not a sustainable solution.

And we will do everything we can to keep the people of our city fed and healthy to the best of our abilities.

at the end of the day, the federal government needs to reopen and do their jobs so that everyday Americans can get the food that they need to learn, work, play, care for their family and everything else.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle and then Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Director Noble and Ms. Henry for joining us today and giving that background.

I want to start off by thanking Councilmember Hollingsworth for your leadership on this and speaking to this, because this builds on the work that you've done in terms of grocery and pharmacy deserts, and I've heard you in media, I've heard you from the dais, and that leadership is really important, so thank you for your work.

and in answer to Ms. Henry's point, we need to act.

We need to show leadership and we need to show Seattle's values.

I think that's important across the board, but especially in this area.

So in terms of the three options, yes, we need to act, we need to modify based on Council Member Hollingsworth's efforts here.

Separately, I just wanted to note, you know, we do need to go beyond food banks, but at the time, I do want to say thank you to the Queen Anne Food Bank that does great service there at Sacred Heart Church in Uptown for the community.

I've been there, and what they do is incredible for the small size that it is.

It has an oversized impact despite its small size, and I want to thank the men and women and the people that really make the Queen Anne Food Bank work.

And by the way, that is also not those that just work at the food bank.

The relationships that that food bank, like all the other food banks have, various grocery stores or maybe a bakery, all the various pieces of this food distribution network, you know, if you will.

It's a grand undertaking, even if for a smaller one like the Queen Anne Food Bank.

And then next I'd like to say, I think all of us have seen this, because it's part of our duties as council members, going out in community.

And there you realize that food banks is not enough.

and the food distribution that really happens is tied to our housing and our service providers.

D7 downtown, but really all across the city you see this with providers who are taking on that piece, that food piece to bring to their clients, their people, the people that they're taking care of.

And that is really important to understand because that's something that a lot of people don't see.

We're privileged in that sense in terms of engaging with community, engaging with housing providers, engaging with human service providers and seeing the work that they do, particularly in the area of food, and to ensure that those that are under their care or that they're engaged with are in good stead.

So, I just want to thank them for their service.

I know we're coming up on Veterans Day, but I think it's really important to the people of the Queen Anne Food Bank, but all the food banks, for all those housing and human service providers that have that that food aspect to their mission sets to say thank you for your service to the people that you serve, but also to our city.

And I just wanted to say a true thank you for your service.

Council President.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you Council President and thank you Director Noble and Lauren Henry for being here.

Council Member Kettle, thanks for giving the shout out to the food bank on Queen Anne.

I want to give a shout out to University District Food Bank and the Wallingford Food Bank operated by Family Works and to all the food banks across our city who are really having to pick up now where the federal government is not doing its responsibility.

and I will say Council Member Juarez, you may remember and you talked about the mayor issuing an emergency proclamation prior during COVID and there were food items involved with that.

The only difference is the federal government was actually giving us more money to feed people during COVID and now they're taking money away.

so we cannot feed our people in our cities across the country, including Seattle.

And that could not be the most egregious thing that I've ever heard of in my lifetime.

And over the 30 years that I've been doing this work, and in the 15 to six years I've been on this planet, completely egregious, unacceptable, not to feed families and children, seniors, folks that don't have anywhere else to go to get food.

I talked to with even at the state level, I was having a conversation with Representative Davis, Lauren Davis, who said she has someone in Shoreline who called her because he is can't leave his home and he doesn't have any food or access to food.

That is completely unacceptable.

During COVID, Ben, you're right, we were getting meals to children because some meals, some children rather, the only meal they have that day or the only couple meals they have, they have it at school.

And we were trying to figure out how to get SAC meals to those families so they can eat.

and then now we're seeing this administration saying, we don't care about families across this country.

We don't care whether they can eat or not.

It is completely unacceptable and that we now have to pick up the slack for what they refuse to do is completely unacceptable.

And I'm angry about it.

I'm beyond angry.

I'm sad.

I'm all of the negative emotions around this because I just cannot believe that in 2026 this is happening in the United States of America.

It is not okay.

and I appreciate the mayor for issuing this executive order and I stand with you colleagues to support this today and figure out a way how we can get food to our citizens and our residents across the city who need food because of this egregious action by this federal government.

It's not okay.

They need to reopen and they need to release those SNAP benefits.

Totally not okay.

So thank you, Council Member and I, or Council President, and I would apologize for my outburst, but I'm not going to because it's simply just not okay.

Thank you.

Outburst appropriate.

Thank you.

All right, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

I will actually start my remarks by thanking Councilmember Rivera for her anger, and I share in it.

It is absolutely unacceptable, the circumstances we are in right now.

And so I want to thank you for your passion, and I share in it as well.

And thank you, colleagues, for your remarks.

I know as the Chair of the Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes, is unprecedented and intentionally cruel.

and this past Saturday, November 1st actually marks the first time in history that SNAP benefits lapsed and this includes previous federal government shutdowns.

and this is a policy choice.

And nearly one month in, with no end of this federal shutdown in sight, Republican leaders in our nation's capital are continuing to play games with low-income families as low-income families are figuring out how they're gonna get food on the table for their kids.

And earlier this morning, we learned that the federal government will only, quote, be obligated to cover 50% of SNAP eligible households' current allotments for the month of November.

And this is only happening because a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the U.S.

Department of Agriculture to either start providing full November benefits or partial benefits, as USDA opts to only draw on the SNAP's contingency fund.

The federal government has the power to turn this funding back on, even during a shutdown, and they simply lack the will to do so.

This is a choice.

And here in Seattle, we do not lack that will.

We refuse to let people go hungry.

So I will be throwing all of my support behind this action by the city.

And I wanna close by thanking our community because I saw some incredible things happen over this weekend.

Over this weekend, I was in Capitol Hill and came across a pop-up food drive sponsored by just folks in the neighborhood who are coming together to meet the moment.

In just two hours, they brought together, we had nearly 2,000 pounds of food donated by our neighbors.

And all of that food is going over to the Rainier Valley Food Bank as well as Jewish Family Services.

And I know I've seen local restaurants also stepping up to bring together food and provide meals for our neighbors.

Just over the past couple of days, I've seen Seattleites step up in absolutely remarkable ways.

It's been nothing short of inspiring.

And so I want to thank every neighbor who's donating their time, their money, their pantry goods, and I want to thank every human services provider who is on the front line of taking care of our community's most vulnerable during our time.

And it's clear that when the federal government is stepping back from supporting people, it is clear that Seattle will step up, and today's action confirms that.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Salkup.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I, too, am outraged and alarmed that the federal government's actions and inactions, the federal government's, the Trump administration's weaponization of food, their politicization of food, leads us to this point where we're at today.

I share in Councilmember Rivera's frustration and concern I agree with the sentiment expressed by Councilmember Strauss a moment ago that this is principally a federal responsibility.

The next layer of that, I think, is the state.

And I think the state has already started to step up and act.

And no doubt they'll probably continue that.

And here we are as a city, as a local municipality called upon to step up and act ourselves.

is outrageous.

We shouldn't be in this position.

Everyone deserves to feel safe.

Everyone deserves to have their basic, most basic human needs met, especially in including food access and food security.

I know this firsthand.

Someone who actually relied on SNAP benefits or the equivalent in the 80s Someone who relied on food banks and food shelves and food pantries to help my family meet its basic food needs.

Children are going hungry because of the Trump administration.

Our most vulnerable are going hungry because of the Trump administration.

Immigrants, refugees, who sacrificed everything to come to this country in the hopes that they will too one day share in the prosperity that the American Dream has to offer.

They just, some of them, not all, just need a helping hand with basic access to food to help them stabilize.

and be put in a better position to earn a living for themselves.

And we failed on that promise, and we failed on that commitment.

Well, the federal government did.

But I won't fail on that promise, and I won't fail on that commitment.

And everyone deserves basic food access and security.

It is our moral imperative to act and although I am outraged and shocked and all the other sort of negative emotions that you expressed, Councilmember Rivera, I am proud to be able to, as a city, step up and help in such a way and won't hesitate to do it either.

Again, this is our moral imperative to act.

I want to thank Organizations in District 1 that have stepped up to answer the call from a local community group perspective as well, including the West Seattle Food Bank, Cultivate South Park.

My office has been in direct contact with both of those organizations and others in District 1 this whole weekend, this morning.

learning what they're doing to support the need and backfill, learning how we can help as a city.

And we're gonna do our part as a city.

We're gonna step up.

But this is ultimately not just a federal and state, and now we're taking up our share from a city perspective, a city responsibility.

This is a shared responsibility as well.

It's not just a government responsibility, high level.

This is a shared responsibility between community and I am encouraged and heartened to hear some of the tremendous ways communities are showing up as Council Member Rink talked about a moment ago.

We've seen that in my own district as well.

Volunteers, we need more of that.

So I'm calling on everyone.

to find a way to step up and support the need, provide volunteer hours to some of these community food banks, West Seattle Food Bank, for example.

Donations, food donations, monetary donations, especially.

A lot of these organizations could particularly use monetary donations.

We're certainly coming in from a city perspective and helping with the monetary piece.

But this is a collective shared responsibility that we have.

to truly live up to our city's values.

I won't hesitate to do it, and I'm proud to be able to do it today.

We're here to do our part.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Just one moment, please.

So I do have some specific questions.

I have to note that I second everything that people are saying.

We are recognizing the generosity of our city.

I had occasion to be out and about going on many porches yesterday and I saw bags of food on porches.

So it's not just organizations, it's individuals that are stepping up because when the federal government won't lead, Seattle will.

And that's what we are doing as a city today.

The facts are right now, specifically, that we are really trying to step in and mitigate against the uncertainty of when federal resources will get to the people, to the tables in living rooms across the country and in our city.

So although federal courts have ruled that SNAP funding may remain, It's apparent that only half of eligible households will receive the benefits this month or they will get half as much as they really need and no one will receive anything if this drags on into December.

It's just there's so many unknowns at the federal level.

So one of my questions is do we know how fast this funding can be released or be transformed into food and trucks that is available for families.

That's one question.

And I know that that depends on the outlet and I do want to ask more specifically what you know about that.

But then also I've had questions prior to this meeting, people asking, well, what if you don't need all the 8 million?

Or what if everything is fine, you know, in five weeks or six weeks?

And so I just kind of want to know more about those dynamics.

But the fact is that it is now November 3rd.

and there are people that haven't had the resources for two days, three days.

And so it's imperative that we get going and not think too far down the line, but these are the questions that are out there.

It is just a shocking situation that we have to deal with right now.

It's incomprehensible the harm that many families are feeling right now and could continue to feel if we don't act right now.

And we are, but they will still be a few days in arrears.

So any information you can share, thank you.

I do not have details, but it is my understanding that the executive and the person of the director of HSD has met with the Food Network.

There is an ongoing group of folks who are involved in that work consulting with one another regularly, and given assurances that the city will be providing resources shortly so that they are able to move ahead immediately in terms of ordering and bringing new food into the system because they know that they will be reimbursed and shortly.

Again, with this action you will be confirming the mayor's authority so it takes sense if there was any question about that that will have been eliminated as well.

More than that I don't know.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

How does it work with other entities that might not be food banks?

Or can you shed any light?

I mean, this is what you did for so many years.

I'll try to do my best educated guess.

And if I get some numbers wrong, I apologize.

So you have food banks.

Those are in Seattle.

Those are all over Seattle.

There's 32 of those in the city.

They're allowed to get USDA funding, TFAP and EFAP funding, which is the state funding and also federal dollars.

Then you have meal providers that are all throughout the city that do distribution through our senior centers, community centers, organizations, everywhere.

You also have our senior centers, you have meal providers, you have community gardens, like you have a very wide range of different types of food.

that can get to people, and you don't wanna overwhelm a system.

And so you wanna give the opportunity to have different types of food distribution networks in case something switches at the federal, or you wanna just have the most diverse options to be able to do distribution.

And that's what this amendment does in this case.

During the pandemic, this is a manufactured crisis that's going on right now.

Pandemic was very, very different.

as there was food channels that were like, for example, prime example, when airlines shut down, a lot of that food went into the food bank sector.

If the stadiums that shut down, those went into the food bank sector, and they overwhelmed that sector with the food banks, and so that continued to spread out into other networks, whether it was a mobile food pantry, whether you saw churches doing distribution, whether it was community groups, whether it was Miss Yvette with Color Girl Garden Clubs, you had all these different types of food distribution networks.

This is different because you are taking away people's ability to go purchase their food at a farmer's market, at a grocery store, at a mom and pop store, and different things.

I think this is gonna impact us a lot different than the pandemic did.

And so we have to be prepared in all distribution channels, especially through our schools that have kids on free and reduced lunches.

It's not, we're not deciding where stuff goes.

I think this just gives the executive the option of different types of food outlets.

It's not putting one against the other.

We are very grateful to food banks.

It's just making sure that we have different options for distribution for food.

And I would imagine they appreciate that, too, because of staffing shortages, etc., I would imagine.

Correct.

And I will say this, the one barrier to this is, you know, you're flooding a system with food and that's great, but people need operational dollars to go deliver, to fund people.

The gas, the storage of all these supplies.

If people are buying food, where are they going to store it in these big refrigerations so they can get lower costs down?

the transportation alone is significant.

So there's the last mile, as we call it, the distribution network.

So that's gonna be a challenge, but I think this is a great first step and this is also not sustainable.

So like I echo my colleagues, we need the federal government to reopen.

Did you have another comment?

Go ahead, Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you Council President and thank you Councilmember Hollingsworth.

The volunteering piece is really critical because with the operationalizing of trying to get food to folks that is also really helpful.

So that is a way that everyone to Councilmember Saka's point also earlier can get involved.

I will say in my disbelief and impassioned comments and thank you for letting me say that, colleagues.

I should have really given a shout out to Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell and our congressional delegation who've been working so hard on behalf of Seattle and our residents here at the federal level.

And then I had a question, Director Noble, about the state level funding the 2.2 million a week that the state is releasing and how when are we gonna get and how can we get information about how that is helping Seattle like what does Seattle's what support can we expect to see and very much appreciate Governor Ferguson's swift action there.

And we know that when we do all these efforts from a fiscal standpoint, there are things that you need to do and put in place to be able to release dollars.

So do we have any information and when can we expect to see information about how that will get out to the cities across the state.

I do not currently, but after this meeting, that first question I can pose.

I also, while I've been sitting here at a moment to consult with the executive, I have some additional information about the distribution mechanisms they are currently pursuing, and those include food banks, meals programs, and then food bags to send home to families with children and their parents, obviously, from both childcare facilities and schools.

So again, to me, these are familiar systems that were tapped during the pandemic, as we discussed previously.

So that is, as I understand now, the work that is underway.

I will follow up with the question about how the state money is feeding into that system and whether there's any way for us to know what share of the state's money is coming to the Seattle area.

Thank you, Director Noble and colleagues.

I've been in close contact with the Interim Superintendent.

I'm going to reach out to him today to ask that question also.

I really appreciate that Seattle Public Schools, all the work they do to make sure they're providing food to the kids at school.

And I wanna learn more about how all of this will be operationalized because during COVID we also, we partnered, we came together to make sure that kids and their families did have food and that is what we're doing now.

I will let you know colleagues what I hear back in terms of that.

But I am confident that, look, everyone and all our partners are coming together to really try to help our residents.

And I very much appreciate that.

And I just need, I mean, this federal administration, you know who's not going hungry tonight?

Trump's kids and grandkids.

That's who's not going hungry tonight.

So thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Council President.

All right.

Let's get that check out the door.

All right.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Council Member Solomon?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Aye.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Sarka.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine 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?

All right, colleagues, the city will now, let's see, the city will now discuss and have the opportunity to affix our signatures to a letter drafted by the Puget Sound Regional Council relating to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program.

Another wrinkle, federal wrinkle.

Councilmember Rivera, you are recognized in order to address the letter.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, the Puget Sound Regional Council of which I sit on the Growth Management Committee is bringing this letter to our attention and requesting that we provide our support.

It is a letter to Senator Murray and it is a letter thanking her for her efforts and advocating on behalf of release of the continuing of care funds that the federal government is holding.

This is to Council President's point, another wrinkle that this administration now One more thing that they are doing to basically what I see is an attack on our residents and our folks that need the help the most.

This funding, the continuing of care funding is used to provide permanent supportive housing for those who are in the most desperate need of shelter.

As we have just spoken about in distressing detail, the federal actions are creating fear and confusion among those who are most in need of our help.

This letter was written by the Puget Town Regional Council in consultation with their lobbyist in D.C.

who actually happens to be our lobbyist as well.

And it's to amplify our call to the federal government to release our tax dollars so we can care for our residents.

We won't be taking a roll call on signature if you would like to sign Our clerk has provided the, there is a place you go in and sign your name that the Puget Sound Regional Council has provided for us, but because, you know, we need to do everything in open session, I wanted to bring it to your attention at this meeting.

Okay, so are you going to explain the mechanics before you...

Just want to clarify, we will do roll call in open session, and then therefore, which will then allow your staff to fix your signatures on the form letter online.

Thank you.

Thank you, Amelia.

I stand corrected.

and also know council members that I've heard from some folks about confusion about the letter.

I have spoken with Senator Murray's office and with the Puget Sound Regional Council folks again and at the end of the day what this letter is attempting to do is again tell the federal government please release the continuum of care dollars I think there was some confusion as to a little bit at the wording so I want to make sure that I'm very clear that what the letter is attempting to request is for the federal government to release Continuum of Care funding to our providers.

So I wanted to say that and also acknowledge that I know some of you in the past have said that you don't necessarily want to sign on to letters and that is okay.

This is if you feel comfortable, you can sign on.

If you don't, that's okay too.

I know we're all grappling with all, there is so much coming out of the federal government that tracking it minute by minute has proved challenging to elected leaders across our city, our state, and our country.

So we're all grappling with the best ways to show our support.

At the end of the day, we just want to show our support to our residents.

And that's what this is about.

Thank you, Council President.

And thank you, Amelia, for correcting how we were going to do this.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle.

Council President, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

I am one of those people who don't do sign-on letters, so I just wanted to say it out loud, because at some point you'll see that the signature won't be there because I don't do sign-on letters.

I've done this before, and to change my approach now would be, not in keeping with my decisions in the past related to sign-on letters.

It doesn't mean I'm not concerned about continuing care and all the ways that it comes to us and the pieces of it and the need for the federal government to do its part.

This is just basically an administrative approach, if you will, that I have related to sign-on letters.

So thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

I can appreciate that and it's always important to be consistent so nobody asks questions.

Councilmember Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

I want to thank Councilmember Rivera for bringing this letter forward.

It's tremendously important, and I know the issues related to the Continuum of Care funding were first surfaced in our Select Committee meeting on housing some months ago, where KCRHA shared a little bit about how this could be under threat, and I think it's important to center that in our region, 4,500 households are housed through our Continuum of Care funding, so this is a huge deal for us, and so I'm glad that we have a letter before us to be further advocating to our congressional delegation, to Senator Murray, because of its importance.

I'd also note that the NOFO associated with the Continuum of Care funding has not been released.

It can't be released now that the federal government's shut down, It was already later than it ever has been released, even before the federal government shut down.

So just to underscore, we are in tremendously unprecedented times.

This funding is critical when we're talking about housing our neighbors across the region, especially for support for permanent supportive housing too.

And so I also want to affirm the listening public that this is one piece of advocacy that's tremendously important and we need to do hard work to also contingency plan about how we'll make sure that all of our housing stays online.

That's funded through this.

Working with our partners at the county to also develop a plan for applying for the NOFO and putting forward a competitive application still when that comes forward will be really important.

But this is a really important piece of advocacy right here today and I'm glad that it has come to the attention of the Puget Sound Regional Council and I want to again thank Councilmember Rivera for bringing this letter forward today and I will be adding my name.

Thank you.

I echo those things.

Thank you very much in your role, bringing this forward.

Vice Chair of Government Affairs, what position do you?

I sit on the Growth Management Committee of the Puget Sound Regional Council.

Got it.

Yeah.

I mean, ultimately, this is the first time that I can remember that after just one year, because they were late, that these contracts have only been active for a year.

And so now we're going to, you know, the potential to pull out the rug from underneath those contracts and the people that have been depending on them to have a roof over their heads.

So anyway, in my mind, it's a color of money issue because we protect our people.

And many of these are Seattle residents, of course, and so therefore we would want to step up anyway.

All right.

Would you please call the roll on the...

Council President.

Oh, sorry.

Go ahead.

Am I recognized?

Go ahead, yes.

Thank you, colleagues.

I want to also thank the mayor for adding a Federal Reserve account to this year's budget.

If these COC dollars do not come through, it will eat up the entirety of our Federal Reserve budget.

And so we are doing both things.

We are planning for the uncertainty that the federal government is causing unnecessarily.

and if for some reason we were to reduce the funding in that Federal Reserve account and these dollars didn't come through, we would be in a world of hurt.

This is my pitch to everyone that we should be adding to that Federal Reserve account, baseline minimum, because our city and our Seattleites are one unnecessary chaos, moment of chaos away from a lot of uncertainty that is not needed.

We're doing everything that we can as the municipal government to keep our government running and to keep Seattleites' daily lives unchanged, but if we reduce any of that money in the Federal Reserve account and this money does not come through from the federal government, we're gonna have a lot of problems that we're just, we're gonna have a lot of problems.

And so we're doing everything we can, but I just urge you to please do not reduce the federal reserve account as we walk into this week of council member amendments.

That's my pitch to you today.

Thank you very much.

Budget deliberations trailer.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Seeing no other hands, would you please find out who would like to have their signature on the letter?

Council member Solomon.

Yes.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

Aye.

Councilmember Kettle?

No.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Eight signatures will be affixed.

Thank you very much.

All right.

So that's that.

And then we will sign it on our own.

Thank you very much for that roll call.

And we have now reached the end of today's agenda.

The November 4th city council meeting is canceled.

and the City Council will meet again on November 12th, 2025 at 2 PM.

Hearing no further business, it is 2 51 and we are adjourned.

Thank you.