missing title

Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee will come to order.

It's 9.34 a.m.

I'm Dan Strauss, Chair of the Committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Vice Chair Rivera.

Present.

Chair Strauss.

Present.

Five, excuse me, five present, zero excused.

Fantastic, thank you.

I am going to move, we've got five items on the agenda today, an appointment for the Indigenous Advisory Council, three appointments to the Seattle Indian Health, Seattle Indian Services Commission, and an overview of the 2025 Tribal Nations Summit.

If there is no objection, I'm going to amend the agenda and have the overview of the Tribal Nations Summit first, followed by the Indigenous Advisory Council appointment and then the Seattle Indian Services Commission.

Is there any objection to amending the agenda?

Hearing no objection, the agenda is amended.

And is there any objection to the agenda being adopted?

Seeing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now move into the hybrid public comment period.

I am not seeing any folks remote or physically in person who would like to comment.

And so with that, the public comment period is now closed.

So we're gonna move on to the third item of the agenda that we're doing first, which is the overview of the 2025 Tribal Nations Summit.

I'll just say that this is the first of many, and then I'll speak some more a little bit later, but we've got council member Donnie Stevenson of Muckleshoot with us today, and I'd pass the floor to you for opening words, and then we can pass it on to department leads for introductions.

And these microphones, you gotta get real close.

Mick Jagger is what we say.

I gotcha.

Was that with the...

So we had...

We had...

Donny Stevenson teach that.

Buckle Shoot Ops, Chad.

Welcome and good morning, my friends and relations.

My name is Donnie Stevenson.

I am an elected member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribal Council and appointed member of the Indigenous Advisory Committee for the City of Seattle.

And it is an honor and a privilege to be here this morning to speak about our second Tribal Nations Summit.

In terms of The messaging I feel is important to get across in terms of the summit itself is the nature of it being a follow-up and the second that I think that that speaks to and specifically points to a consistency and a follow-through and it allowed an opportunity for us to connect with our tribal partners, the city, and really speak to the progress that had been made since the first, which if we're speaking frankly was the first such meeting in any meaningful sort of way formally within the city of Seattle since treaty times.

And so to be able to follow through on the commitments that were made to one another in a formal way held a lot of value and a lot of meaning.

and I think it also speaks to the shared intent to continue to do this work together in a way where we are sort of looking to ensure follow through and consistency and that commitment to one another is done in a way that's real, that's meaningful, that makes a positive difference for, in our language, we say , what that translates to is for all our people.

So thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning and speak a little bit to where my head and heart are with that work, which I do think is really important work, and to really represent why we feel The Tribal Nations Summit is a vital part of the tribal city relations as they exist today.

Thank you for letting us be your guest today.

And if you all want to do introductions, and then we'll tick through the whole presentation, then we'll come back for questions along the way.

So over to you.

Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you Councilmember Stephenson for your ongoing leadership and support to the Indigenous Advisory Council and as a tribal leader that has actively participated in this work for many years.

My name is Francesca Murnan.

I'm a citizen of the Shawnee Tribe and of the Cherokee Nation, and I work in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations as the city's tribal relations director.

Good morning, my name is Lydia Faitalia.

I am the Civic Engagement Manager in the Department of Neighborhoods.

Thank you for having me today.

And the Tribal Nations Summit is a collaboration between the city's Indigenous Advisory Council housed at the Department of Neighborhoods and the Office of Intergovernmental Relations as the lead convener in coordination with the Mayor's Office and other legislative branch and city departments.

But for today, I'll be leading the content of the presentation and then we'll close with some additional reflections from our IAC representatives.

Thank you Chair Strauss and members of the committee for inviting us to share about this work again.

The last Tribal Nations Summit took place on September 16th here at Seattle City Hall and we're here today to discuss the role of the summit in our city's tribal relations program and share some summary information with you all as council members.

And we're pleased to be joined by our leaders who can share their first-hand experience of this work.

At its core, the Tribal Nations Summit is an exercise of the government-to-government relationship between the city and the 29 federally recognized tribes that are located in Washington State.

This committee has received a few briefings on the political and legal context of tribal governments and tribal beneficiaries that underpins this engagement.

The summit is modeled after best practices from federal and state governments, including the United States President's Tribal Nations Summit and the Washington State's Annual Centennial Accord Meeting.

These government-to-government engagements are critical gatherings for federal and state leaders to learn of top priorities and interests to tribal governments through a government-to-government format.

The city summit discussions create an opportunity to shape a new future for our city-tribal relations and further define the role of local government in fulfilling trust obligations to tribal beneficiaries.

It's an important part of the city's efforts to better honor and respect tribal sovereignty and local governance and engage tribal nations as sovereign governments and regional partners.

The idea of the summit was developed following meetings with tribal councils in 2022. Tribal leaders shared that it was important that this gathering go beyond just talk and result in concrete and meaningful action for tribal governments and native communities.

The Indigenous Advisory Council, in particular our tribal caucus, made up of elected leaders of federally recognized tribes, has co-developed much of the structure and format of the summit and guided the discussion topics.

The summit comes 170 years after tribal representatives were coerced into gathering at Mukilteo to sign the Treaty of Point Elliott, where significant land and resources were ceded in exchange for reserved rights and lands.

During this treaty-making era in Washington state, there were several treaties that were signed with many tribal nations that the city works with today.

As this committee knows well, there have been significant periods in our 170-year history where tribal nations have not been engaged or consulted in city work that directly impacts their trust and treaty rights.

And there is an emerging awareness in local government that tribal nations are critical regional governing partners with interest in the critical decisions affecting the stewardship of our shared lands and water resources.

and advancing the quality of life for all residents in our region.

And it's with that grounding that we set out to host another Tribal Nations Summit.

As this work evolved over the past several years, we have three main goals that remain.

First, we seek to identify actions and desired outcomes that uphold the sovereignty and treaty rights of federally recognized tribes.

We seek to build partnerships, strengthen collaborations, and enhance diplomacy with tribal governments and native communities.

And we share updates on our city's efforts to strengthen our engagement of tribal and urban native communities in local government.

The 2025 summit- Francesca, I'm gonna slow down just a little bit.

I'm tracking everything because I've been to both tribal summits, but for anyone who- Yes.

Just a little slower if you could.

Thank you.

Happy to do so.

Thank you, Chair.

The 2025 summit included representation of elected leaders and staff from nine federally recognized tribes.

Tribal interest in local government extend well beyond the geographic boundaries of local jurisdictions, and so therefore all federally recognized tribes in the state were invited.

As previously discussed in this committee, we know that city policy, services, our utility infrastructure all have far-reaching impacts to tribal nations, and we also know that tribal nations have a strong interest in serving tribal citizens that live, work, and play in Seattle and practice their sovereignty and treaty rights in the city and across the region.

and we also, portions of the summit also engage representatives from urban Indian organizations that are recognized as American Indian and Alaska Native service providers, advisory bodies, public health authorities and public development authorities, all through local, state or federal statute.

The relationship and engagement of these recognized providers, it is distinct from the government-to-government engagement, but it represents the ongoing trust obligations to tribal citizens and beneficiaries, regardless of where we reside.

Representatives from the listed urban Indian organizations offered their guidance and their expertise to the conversations, particularly in the areas of public health, healthcare, housing, and gender-based violence response, as well as other human service areas.

and we also recognize that this isn't only the fraction of the native organizations that operate in and around Seattle.

The city does engage with dozens of additional urban Indian organizations and groups and indigenous consultants across our departments and policy issues on a routine basis.

Some of that work has been captured in some of our past summary impact reports and this list here is just reflective of the political and legal context of this particular event.

It was with deep respect, humor, wisdom, and honesty that the tribal and urban Native leaders that were in the room with us that day told the city how we can be better partners to tribal nations and the urban Native community.

This list is all of the government representatives that were also in attendance during the event.

We share this list to give you a sense of the broad interdepartmental support for tribal engagement across the city of Seattle.

In 2025, we increased the number of city departments that prepared for and engaged in this event by 37%.

These departments have varying levels of engagement with tribes and urban Indian organizations, and they all seek to improve or strengthen their relationships to be better partners.

The summit was attended by 22 city departments, the executive and legislative branch, as well as a few county or regional partners that directly work on issues that impact tribal governments and native communities.

During the event, elected leaders engaged in sharing their priorities through a listening session with Mayor Harrell and his executive staff, followed by an opportunity for city leadership to listen and learn directly from tribal leaders on how to work together more effectively as governments and regional partners.

Tribal and urban native leaders then engaged in direct talks and candid conversations that all focused on three areas of shared concern, community safety, housing and homelessness, and cultural and natural resources.

These discussions were marked by candor, humor, and vision.

Tribal leaders called on the city to rise to the occasion and work in deep collaboration with tribal governments and native communities that are impacted by the city's actions.

And notably, the mayor called on city leaders to identify actionable items and commitments that address the needs presented in the discussions in the room.

As a result of that engagement, the day was filled with meaningful dialogue, actionable outcomes, and new and stronger relationships.

From the city's perspective, the guidance from the native representatives largely fell into these four categories of comments.

Effective intergovernmental relations was an area where we heard representatives stress the fundamental principles of effective tribal relations is that government-to-government relationship.

The city has a responsibility to engage with sovereign nations through the framework that is rooted in tribal sovereignty and self-determination.

Representative shared that some of the defining features of working more productively and respectfully with tribal governments includes early and often engagement and two-way dialogue that results in meaningful consideration of tribal priorities.

In the area of education and awareness, representatives spoke to the diversity and complexity of tribal interests in local government, ranging from cultural and natural resource impacts, including the growing energy demand in our region, and also the role of local tribal law enforcement and community-based responses to issues of missing and murdered indigenous people.

Representatives discussed the legal, political, and racial equity context of indigenous communities and shared how culturally-tuned approaches demonstrate the unique context in which tribal governments and native communities provide these services.

In the area of relationship and trust building, representatives encourage city leaders to lean in to challenging conversations to identify areas of shared interest and priorities.

While some areas of local government have long been challenging in complex areas for tribal relations and Native engagement, the representatives in the room encourage continued efforts to repair, restore, and innovate through sustained relationship building and trust building.

I'm looking at the screen, I see Esther.

Welcome, Esther.

Thank you for joining us.

Is it okay if we pause for a quick introduction?

Yeah, welcome to this.

So everybody my name is Esther Lucero and I am today at my mom's side Latina my dad's side and I serve as the president and CEO for the Seattle Indian Health Board and a proud member of the IAC.

I apologize for my tardiness I came from the governor's Indian Health Task Force all the way up in Squim and traffic was not fun so I apologize.

Thank you for joining us Esther we're glad to have you.

I'm going to jump back in here in the last column on collaboration and partnership.

In this area, we heard a lot of conversation around the investment areas, coordination and partnerships that drive better outcomes, particularly around those bodies of community safety, behavioral health response, natural and cultural resource stewardship and social services like housing.

Representatives expressed positive support for the city's efforts to invest and partner with tribal governments and native communities over the last several years.

Areas of improvement included inter-jurisdictional communication and coordination on public safety issues, such as drug trafficking and human and sex trafficking.

Innovation to improve data quality, particularly in the area of education data.

and enhanced data sovereignty, particularly in the area of tribal cultural resources.

And we also heard about collaborative approaches to improving water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, as well as access for tribal members to address their treaty-protected rights to fish.

The Office of Intergovernmental Relations is in the process of formalizing this into a summary report from the event that we'll plan to release in early 2026. At the event, we released a 2025 progress report that documented some of our most notable efforts to date to improve our relationships and engagement.

We shared those updates with our partners and they're now available through a document on the Office of Intergovernmental Relations website.

The City has been clear that from the beginning of our efforts to strengthen these intergovernmental relationships and define our role in fulfilling trust and treaty obligations to Native communities, that we must sustain the path of documenting the outcomes and the progress made.

While this work has presented challenges and complexities across departments, we are seeing a notable effort and a clear drive to create meaningful improvements and expand our efforts in the months and years to come.

And with that, we'll cede the time back to our representatives from the IAC and tribal leadership to share any reflections that they have from attending the event as well as the importance of this work in local government.

Welcome.

Council Member Stevenson already opened us up.

So Esther, if you have thoughts that you'd like to share, you're up.

And one funny aspect about our committee table is you have to get really close to the microphone.

I oftentimes forget it myself.

Okay, no problem.

I always make sure that we put our tribal leaders first, and so I'm grateful to hear that Donnie went first, even though he and I argue often about it.

I think what I would like to just share with you, from an IAC perspective, I don't want you to underestimate the magnitude of this movement.

The establishment of the IAC is something that is unique across this nation.

We have a real opportunity to set forward a government-to-government agenda with our tribal communities at the city level.

That is something that will change the world.

I think what we're witnessing with this administration and past administrations is that local authorities are getting more power.

and with power comes responsibility.

And what we can't have happen is to have our tribal sovereignty diluted just because there is a lack of understanding and knowledge and commitment to that government-to-government relationship.

And so what I'm asking just the city council to do and even the mayor's office is just really let's take this to the next level.

Let's establish that tribal consultation.

And because we have such a prominent and vibrant urban Indian community here, moving towards urban confer.

And if we do those things and we put our money where our mouth is, what you're going to see is you're going to see this city transform.

Because when you work on Indian issues, when you take it from that place, that connection to the land, right, that connection to community, and you do that from an indigenous place, you solve all other problems.

and so that's really what I want to say and so I've been committed to the IAC for that reason.

I've been committed because I believe in all of you because I believe that we can do hard things and that we can be innovative and we can change the world.

So I guess all I want to tell you is that we need to walk together to make that happen.

Thank you, Esther.

Colleagues, do you have questions or comments?

And did I hear you say, Francesca, that the commitment areas are on the website now?

The 2025 progress report.

So we'll continue to report out through that commitment area framework.

It gives us the most flexibility to capture existing and emerging work happening across the city.

Fantastic.

Colleagues, questions at this time?

I've got a number.

Yes, Council Member, I see, Council President Nelson and then Council Member Kettle.

His hand was up first, if that matters.

Council Member...

Okay.

Is Seattle nice?

Who wants to go first?

Council President.

Over to you, Council President.

So, thank you for...

As you were talking, I was thinking, If given the opportunity to be much more direct about your top priorities, the things that the city should do right now, what would that be?

So, and I've been on, now I'm on the Office of Intergovernmental Relations website and I don't know where to precisely go on the progress report from the first, between the first and the second gatherings, but what I would like to know is can you just tell us what What are some of the things that we can easily do that have been recognized as top priorities and just get it on the record?

Actionable items, I think you referred to them.

I think it's what it, thank you, Council President Nelson.

I think it's exactly what I just said.

If you want something that's budget neutral, start with tribal consultation and urban confer.

Do those two things, you change the world.

Second thing is putting your money where your mouth is, which is, you know, we've advocated for some carve-outs that are related to housing.

You know, just we've advocated for carve-outs around health and human services, right?

Those types of things are really beneficial.

And I can tell you they've worked at the federal level.

These are things that we've advocated for, you know, at every single tier of government.

And every time we do it, you have a huge return on your investment.

So if I would pick two, it's those two things.

Thank you.

So I tend to agree with sort of everything Esther had to say and offer.

The perspective that I would add I think comes from not only the IAC, but I think also the government-to-government relationship as a representative of a federally recognized tribal government that calls this city a piece of our important homelands.

and that means that virtually every policy that's implemented from within the city has bearing an impact on our nation.

That even things that you may not sort of think off the top of your head would have potentially major impacts in terms of the way that our people are affected.

inevitably can do so.

And so I think that the idea of that government to government relationship and consultation in meaningful ways before decisions are made, not as a matter of sort of checking a box or not as a matter of making sure that this obligation is met so that it reads the correct way according to whatever the steps of implementing policy look like within the city.

But so that tribal voice is represented and interest is represented, particularly in this city.

That you can't take a step here without sort of really walking in the footsteps of the indigenous population that sort of came before and laid the foundation for where we are.

And as indigenous people, we're the only people who have shown the ability to live sustainably within a region historically over the course of millennia.

And that's especially important today, where for the first time as a species, we've shown the ability to have a negative impact globally that there are things taking place within the environment of this planet that appear to be harmful and it appears to be directly as a result of the decisions we make as human beings.

Well, tribal voice has a real ability to have a positive impact there and we have a shown history of being able to do so.

And so I think now more than ever, making sure that that voice is represented in the decisions that impact all people is so fundamentally important.

and I feel it's our obligation as tribal leaders to speak for those who don't have the ability to speak for themselves, like the species that you see that live in the Salish Sea, just outside the window here.

So thank you for the opportunity to share again.

And I'm just talking about saving the world.

I know that's not a huge ask or anything, but that's really fundamentally where my heart goes when you ask that question.

And I'll just add from the city of Seattle, we did track the original 23 outcomes that came out of the 2023 summit.

And we do monitor the progress on those by collecting information from city departments who are working towards achieving those.

Some of them are high level, like improving our communication.

And some of them are a little bit more measurable, like increasing the number of content on Seattle Channel.

So it's a wide range of things.

And then we also have the Indigenous Advisory Council's policy priorities.

which are a little bit more specific in terms of the items you heard here, reflecting and matching those to what are those areas of the city budget that they would like to see investment sustained or increased investment in, as well as some of those things that don't require financial pieces like consultation and confer.

Please.

Thank you very much for that information.

I'll do some more research on that.

I heard one thing that was understandable and doable was a carve-out, a housing carve-out.

So I'd love to know more about that, and I hope that you can communicate that to the council going forward.

Because it's those sorts of things that, you know, sometimes we just, we, it's the legislative actions that are quite clear and direct that sometimes make a big difference.

I am, so, Seattle has a, we are sister cities with Christ Church New Zealand.

and so I was able to go there last year or the year before.

And one of the things that I notice is that they have, I believe, now I hope that I'm not misrepresenting this policy, but I believe that they have a policy of the right of first refusal for surplus government property.

There was a huge earthquake in Christchurch and a lot of that public property was decided that it wasn't going to be rebuilt or whatever.

that makes sense to me and then you, and so they're subsequent to that there have been a lot, there's a lot of tribal real estate in the middle of downtown.

So has that ever been, is that one of the items on your list?

I'll just briefly share that yes, the city surplus land disposition policy update has been something that's appeared on the advisory council's policy priorities and through discussions at their group, if you'd like to share more.

I can just share with you, Council President, filling in a little bit of this void that while we haven't officially updated this policy to date, we have begun practicing this in different ways, so much so as there was a parcel that was planned to be transferred out of city jurisdiction just last week that was paused for additional tribal consultation before proceeding forward.

So that's just of last week.

Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday and we still haven't given the land back.

So with that.

Thank you.

I knew that there was an official phrase for what I'm trying to get at.

So thank you very much.

I'll read up more.

Fantastic.

Anything further, Council President?

Not for right now.

Fantastic.

Council Member Kettle?

Thank you, Chair Strauss.

Thank you, everyone.

Council Member Stevenson, Ms. Lucero, and from our city side, Ms. Merman and Ms. Faletella.

Hopefully that's close.

And work on it.

But I just wanted to I'll say a few things.

One is regarding the briefing, summit goals, totally in alignment with them, and the engagement, particularly on the urban-native issues, and the third bullet, that's so very important.

And then with the themes, as I scroll down to that slide, these are also very important, the two-way dialogue, as you noted, Ms. Lazaro, is so important, and to partner on different issues.

looking at those two slides and then thinking like, you know, how can engage as a body but also individually as council members?

Because we each have our own portfolios, our main areas that intersect differently with the, particularly the urban Native community.

And so on that front, I just wanted to say that, you know, as Chair of Public Safety, you know, the issues in public safety are large.

You know, obviously the violence against women, you know, missing indigenous women, Those challenges that we face and the linkages with the elements of city government like Seattle Police Department that we can be interlocutor to that, go between a bridge, because as you can imagine, two years as Chair of Public Safety have strong links with all the elements of public safety to include the police department, and that might be an avenue to create an opportunity, and maybe construct a committee meeting centered on that, and then bring in care, like the alternative response pieces with fire and so forth, to look at those pieces and see what's possible.

And that really brings me to the point of an area that I'm looking more and more into is that seam between public safety on one hand and homelessness or housing and human services.

because when I've been dealing, it's like when you work the issue and you're pulling the onion back, you start finding new things.

The linkages, and this goes to the idea of a criminal, I often say functional criminal justice system, but we also have to have a functional public safety system.

And those linkages between public safety and service providers or some of the departments within the executive, we really need to be working these things and we have to have everything on the table because another thing I've learned is that a lot of things are left unsaid.

for different reasons.

And in order to really attack a problem, you have to have a basic understanding.

Those things that are left unsaid, in a lot of ways, need to be said.

And I think having this dialogue, we can really work through those issues.

And so I would like to do this.

And I'm doing it in my own way, in terms of working these issues, as respect to public safety.

But I don't know what I don't know.

And I can imagine there's pieces there particularly because of representation or representation and what are those unique drivers?

What's those little hiccups?

What are those choke points?

What's causing the system not to be working the way it should or to have a situation where different groups are overrepresented from a demographic percentage perspective?

So that is something.

I was going to go to my next thing, I could see the engagement already in body language, so I will stop there, Chair, and I have a follow-up, of course.

And today, we're out of the budget cycle.

We're not taking votes on amendments.

We're in more discussion mode today, so feel free to just jump right on in.

Okay, great.

Council Member Kettle, I think my favorite interaction with you was when we did that, when you all did that listening session in the CID.

And I remember you and I having a conversation about public safety right after that.

And I remember just feeling so grateful for you in that moment because you just heard us about the impact of the Navigation Center and decisions like that without something like tribal consultation or even community consultation, those types of things.

and I probably should start off by just saying thank you for getting money in the budget for the Thunderbird Treatment Center because what we're talking about here is the intersection between public safety, mental health challenges, substance use disorder, housing insecurity, homelessness, right?

Yes.

And sometimes you have to deconstruct that to be able to solve some of these problems and then sometimes you have to find that place where they intersect to solve them.

So I think the investment in Thunderbird Treatment Center is significant because, obviously, we don't have enough beds, right?

We're still missing significant aspects of the continuum of care to address substance use disorder.

Detox, for example, is something that's really lacking, is to get people into those detox beds.

And there's a reason for it.

It's because the reimbursements are so low that it is impossible to be able to sustain that as a business.

and as a service.

And why are they so low?

So this is something I've advocated for, and I have to ask Francesca permission to go off script a little bit.

Yeah?

Is that okay?

So, you know, one of the things that's unique about City of Seattle is the contractual relationship that you have with King County.

and what I've witnessed over and over and over again, I've been here for 10 years, is that we're constantly leaning into that contractual obligation and expecting the county to build capacity for things that already exist.

And so what we're doing is we're utilizing resources to build capacity instead of investing in the organizations that already have the ability to conduct these services and with little investment could actually build capacity.

and so when I think about that, that part is very frustrating if you think about how much money goes back and forth between the city and the county and how many times we're just building a new thing, building a new thing.

and I'm sitting here as a leader of an organization that is both a federally qualified health center and an urban Indian organization and we do behavioral health residential treatment.

And I had to work so hard to get just that tail end of money to be able to get the treatment center going.

Well, guess what?

We already know how to do it.

We know how to do it well because we have the best recidivism rates in the state when we operate at Thunderbird Treatment Center with the worst building on the planet.

Right?

That's what I'm talking about.

Is that we have to invest in the organizations that already exist.

We don't have those relationships.

Right?

Those have become dismantled a bit.

I was thinking about this as we've done the work with the CID and then Little Saigon.

The thing that the Gang of Four had was strong relationships.

They knew each other.

They knew their kids.

They knew their family members.

And they came together like that.

And that's when change happened.

We don't have those relations now.

We're just now getting to know one another.

I can't believe, Councilmember Kettle, that this is only the second conversation we're having after that very powerful moment, yeah?

So that's what I'm talking about.

And I think about my conversations with Chief Barden and her commitment to true community policing, and I think that's amazing.

My proposal is that we start our very first community policing precinct right in the CID.

I know that Sharon Lee just purchased a building and she's got 11,000 square feet of retail space there that we're looking to do something with.

What if you brought these community partners together, right?

What if police became the last responder because you have such community investment?

That's the kind of stuff I am talking about.

And I'm willing to do that.

And once again, if you do it with indigenous people first, as a pilot, you're gonna find your path forward for everybody else because it all goes back to that connection with the land.

It all goes back to sovereignty.

It all goes back to community power.

So my offer to you is, let's sit down.

Do you want to know my kid's name?

His name is Elias.

We can start there, right?

And build this relation to make this happen.

But I think we've got some good pieces and we have tremendous opportunity now.

Let's get it done.

Well I totally agree and there's a certain somebody in OIR that can help facilitate this and in fact we can just do it direct and then have Council Member Stevenson as well and to work to these pieces because as you're highlighting I'm recognizing what you're talking about because as you pull the onion back another one by the way is the relationship between the city and the council I mean the county That's a whole other piece.

And it's like, why are we doing certain things?

Why is our homeless authority paying them a million dollars in interest?

It's like, what are the mechanisms that are button play and how can we do it in such a way that we can get to the point where we're getting better outcomes.

And so thank you for that.

So after this meeting, I'll give you my card.

And because this is something where, again, this is an area where we're working in terms of public safety.

And in terms of the outreach and so forth, shifting from public safety to parks, like in my district, working with Budget Chair Strauss, in terms of Portal Park that runs not far from the Zalich, that meeting place.

And that's part of that meeting place by extension.

And it's part of the connection east-west across, between the waters, if you will.

And we're at the point now where we're doing survey work, but we're at the cusp of really engaging in the neighborhood, because you do that technical stuff first, the surveying and so forth, particularly because it was essentially a brown site.

But now we're about to go, after this year, like this time next year, going into the engagement.

And as I said in an earlier meeting, the last thing I want to do is come at the very end and say, hey, can you endorse this?

Basically rubber stamp it.

Because I think that is the history of the engagement, is the rubber stamp ask.

So we're about at the point now where community engagement is about to start.

And so this is again an invitation to be here at the very beginning as we work with our District 7 Neighborhood Council, work with the Belltown Community Council, Belltown United.

But having a partner from an organization, either tribal government and or native community would be great for that.

Just to bring in those pieces from our history.

I think would be great.

And then the last thing I will say, Chair, thank you, is for Councilmember Stevenson, when you're talking about the waters, the Sailor Sea, as you know, that's one of my three strategic priorities, which crosses the gamut of different issues to include what's happening with climate change, the acidification, and the fact that the Sailor Sea is even more vulnerable to that than others.

As someone who's been out on the oceans, you don't The waters talk to us, and they're talking to us right now.

But you know what?

Most people don't listen because they don't really have that exposure.

We do it here.

Like, we get articles in the Seattle Times that don't show up in the Buffalo Evening News or the Rochester Democrat Chronicle, like where I'm from, you know, even though Great Lakes have its own issues.

But we need to be listening to that, and we need to be ensuring, you know, that the waters will be there, not just the port and its function, but the waters 100 years from.

That's why in terms of like Council Member Hollingsworth and I were out in the Duwamish getting a tour on the water of all the different pieces and understanding the work to recovery in terms of what is a, not essentially, what is a Superfund site and having the CSOs, the combined sewer stormwater outflows and having the water that goes back in get that quick clean to the best of its abilities to help regenerate the health of the water.

that's another area where I will say that it's one of my three strategic priorities so I will definitely look to engage on that too and you definitely have my support and be there for those kinds of issues.

So those are three main areas that I'd like to engage personally that relate to like what I'm looking to do on the council.

So public safety, huge, but parks and those kinds of pieces and then the maritime.

Thank you, Chair.

Fantastic.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle for that offer to assist us with the different public safety departments.

I'll just say one of the easiest commitment items that was made during the tribal summit was for the Seattle Police Department to have memorandums of mutual aid with the tribal police departments, because the tribal police departments are already commissioned peace officers within the state of Washington, and especially with the FIFA World Cup happening this year, this is a time sensitive commitment area.

With that, I'll move on to some of my questions unless folks have additional questions.

If we can tick back to the summit goals, slide four.

This was one of the areas where you were still buzzing through here pretty quickly, so I'd like to dig into this.

Identify actions and desired outcomes that uphold sovereignty and treaty rights of federally recognized tribes.

building partnerships, strengthening collaborations, and enhancing diplomacy with tribal governments and native communities, and then sharing updates on city efforts to strengthen tribal and urban native engagement in local government.

For the panel here today, can you share with me either what any of these mean to you, or how are these different?

Because I think for some, if I hadn't attended the summit, the reason I ask is because if I had not attended the summit, I would see these all being essentially the same.

And they're fundamentally different and unique.

And so that's why I prompt this question.

I'd rather hear from you before I give my perspective.

And if there's something to follow up with, I'll add at the end.

But over to the committee table.

Council Member Stevenson, you want to start?

You can filibuster for a second if you need to think about it a little bit more, but over to you.

So I think in terms of the

idea of tribal consultation.

It's important to point out the politically and legally distinct sort of status of tribal nations that a lot of times when it comes to interaction with outside or Western government, tribes tend to be lumped in as either ethnic or community groups, neither of which we are.

We are distinct political nations who have sovereignty and the ability to engage on a government-to-government basis with other jurisdictions.

And so drawing specific and literal attention to that engagement and that relationship is always a fundamentally important part and piece of the role that I hold, I think, within the IAC and certainly as a tribal council member for my tribal nation.

That being said, the city of Seattle is unique in the fact that there is such a distinct urban Indian population that lives within the city limits who may or may not be members of the federally recognized tribes of this region.

And that's a group that also deserves, needs, requires attention, consultation, and the ability to engage with city leaders.

and I think that our group as a team, the reason you see the diversity represented within the IAC is we have the ability to speak to our individual areas of sort of expertise.

I use the term very loosely when I'm speaking about myself, but our individual areas of focus and that becomes fundamentally important.

I think it's important to point out sort of those specifics and those and each and every one of those responsibilities because they're all relevant to the city of Seattle and not doing so as a disservice to the indigenous population that call this area home, whether members of the federally recognized tribes who have historically lived here or as members of tribal nations who have relocated and moved here to be a part of the urban landscape of the city.

making sure that we're calling those priorities while also sort of making those distinctions is fundamentally an important part of what we do.

So in the role that I hold here, there have been times where my tribal nation's perspective may be different than the perspective of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

And in those cases, I have to be very clear and direct that this is not the tribe's perspective, this is a position that I've taken as a member of this committee.

And vice versa, right?

And vice versa.

And so that complexity should never be lost when it comes to the relationships that we hold and the communications that we're holding with one another.

And I find it important to sort of draw those distinctions and to make those lines clear.

But really for the intent and purpose of making sure that the entirety of the group that we're here to represent, all tribal peoples, all indigenous peoples, Native Americans within the city, receive focus, receive attention, and receive the service they deserve.

Fantastic.

Esther?

Yeah, I also think that everything that Councilmember Stephens said, of course, and I'm grateful to him and his tribe for allowing me to be a guest on this land, but no, I think it's a formal process.

Tribal consultation is a formal process.

It's not sitting here having this conversation, right?

It's not, let me invite you to the table so that we can discuss property if we think about it or if you, a protest enough, right?

It's not like that.

It's very formalized.

Here is a policy that we're implementing that will impact your tribal community.

We want to have your say on it.

And we have a time frame in which we have to respond, right?

That's what tribal consultation is.

Urban Confer does something similar, but only around the things that we actually have authority over.

because our tribes, they depend upon us to take care of their relatives when they move to cities.

We have 76% of all American Indians, Alaska Natives living in cities now, right?

And Seattle's one of the big ones.

And so it's also a formalized process for meaningful engagement.

So it gets us to bullet two, which is, I have to tell you, there was one point where I was probably on like 22 different task forces, committees, and commissions, and none of them had outcomes.

Right?

I've been saying the same thing for 10 years.

Francesca could probably give my talking points because I haven't changed.

I haven't changed because we haven't changed.

Right?

And so all of those things, that's what we're talking about, the rubber stamping piece.

That's what it feels like.

It's like I'm gonna come here, I'm gonna speak my truth, I'm gonna say the same thing over and over just so that you can say you heard from me and then you're gonna do what you want to anyway.

That's why meaningful is important, and that's why measured outcomes is also important.

So when I think of those three bullets, I'm talking about formalized consultation, formalized confer, I'm talking about meaningful engagement, and I want to see proof of outcomes.

That's how they're different.

Thank you.

Francesca or Lydia, do you have thoughts that you want to share?

Yes ma'am.

I'll share my perspective just in real time doing this work and if I get this wrong or if there's clarifications please correct me in public because that's what I'm asking for at this time.

Which is the first bullet identifying the actions and desired outcomes.

A little bit of what Esther said of you have to, we'll get to the commitment areas.

That was my first question of the day and it will be one of my last as well.

Because those key actions and desired outcomes are what's are what's functional to move us forward.

Healing, time doesn't heal wounds, actions heal wounds.

And then the sovereignty and treaty rights is critical because that is to what Council Member Stevenson was saying.

And I'm not sure that the world or the public understands that Council Member Stevenson is the highest elected official in this room right now.

that the tribe is a sovereign entity recognized by the federal government and that the municipality of the city of Seattle, it can be incorrect for us to engage in certain ways because your relationship is through the federal government and not through the state or the county or anything else.

And that's the important, and what you were saying about the first tribal summit was the first time folks had come, that many different tribal nations had come together since treaty times is because the land that, and I heard the word that folks were coerced into a meeting, and I think that that is likely the truth, where these treaties were signed that provides you that sovereignty, but that those rights have not been upheld.

We've seen over time things get better, but we've still got a lot of work to do.

And that's the importance of that first bullet.

That second bullet to me is the partnership, strengthening collaborations, enhancing diplomacy with tribal governments and native communities.

This is more broad.

This is for both the sovereign nations.

It is for the Indian Health Services Board.

It's for Chief Seattle Club.

It's for United Indians of all tribes that are both tribal governments and community.

And the partnerships is like with Thunderbird.

and then the collaborations are, I know that we're late, but we also got the money in the budget for the back and building.

So we're moving forward faster.

So these are those partnerships, the collaboration of when tourists visit our city, they aren't welcomed by art made by Europeans that looks like Native art, that they are actually welcomed by the sovereign nations with having land on the waterfront.

So that's what that second bullet to me means.

And then the third, is sharing that updates and efforts to strengthen tribal and urban native engagement in local government.

This meeting today is one of those commitment area, and Esther, your interactions with Council Member Kettle, like yes, I'm sure you all are gonna get together much more often from here on out, but this has also been a desire of me in this committee where I have wanted to, and we're going to formalize over the course of this next year, more regular updates on the progress from the Tribal Nations Summit.

So moving forward, we will have at minimum one update per month.

and we'll be looking, just looking at the time, I might not go through all of my notes about the themes, but getting back down to those commitment areas, to Council Member Kettle, your point, whether you wanna have a meeting in your committee or we'll bring other folks into this committee space so that we're continuing to follow up on these commitment areas.

And the sharing of updates is, is just making sure that both parties are sharing information in an ongoing way.

May I speak to this just a little bit?

Because this is what I'm talking about.

The city council sets the culture for the city.

And when I hear you saying we're gonna give updates, I love that, and I'm grateful to you for that.

When you give them, I want you to give them with such pride that we are investing in our Native communities and that we are unapologetically doing that.

And here is the outcome for our Indigenous communities and here is the outcome for a broader population.

Like, I want you to champion the culture shift.

If I think about places that have done miraculous culture shifts, I think about Singapore.

They were just unapologetic about how they moved forward in the change.

And I need a leader for that.

Can you be that?

I'm working on it.

You know, I'll just say that it's taken me two years of mentorship by Council Member Juarez in this space and it's taken me two years as chair of this committee to working with our partners to really move that forward.

And so that's why moving into next year, we'll have those monthly updates rather than every other month or quarterly so that we can dig into those details, we can dig into those facts and we can be better partners.

So with that, I'll just say, I'll see you next month.

I guess just moving into and I'll make this last bit short since I already talked about but if you want to move down to the themes or commitment areas actually one of the things that was really powerful similar to the interaction that Esther and I just had in on the dais was the mayor was very clear that we weren't like we were there to talk about feelings and all the rest, but the outcomes had to be very clear.

And so throughout the meeting, we would have moments of saying, this is a commitment that we're making.

And when we said those words, I wrote them down, other folks wrote them down.

And that's where I'd like to start digging through over the course of the next year.

These commitment areas put into four categories does represent the universe of our commitments.

But as we move forward, and if you want to tick back two slides, there are three slides to the department list.

the colleagues our work is to make sure that all of these departments follow through on their commitments and Esther a little bit back to you know the four-year journey it's taken me just to get to where I am today is also a more collaborative journey that I'd like to bring the rest of the council along and I think that that's I know it's a little bit of a culture shift for our departments who have traditionally liked to just get work done and quietly so because that's the most effective way to get work done.

I'm asking us to be a little bit more public so that we can bring along the rest of the City Council and the new mayor into this work.

And so by doing it in public, I think that it will feel a little uncomfortable at times, but that it will achieve better outcomes and stronger relationships.

And so colleagues, that's my call to all of us is These are the list of the city departments that have made commitments and it is our duty to make sure that they follow through on them.

With that, Council President.

Thank you for putting things as clearly and as plainly as possible.

What I heard you saying is you don't need to reinvent the wheel, people.

We're already doing things that are successful, and so why don't you just give us the money to do it, if I'm not misstating what you were really talking about.

Oops.

one of the things that I'll mention I want to know more about what are the actions that we're not doing to uphold treaty rights that is something maybe we can talk about that offline or you can just say right now because again I like specifics I'm glad to see that this budget got finally 1.8 million dollars into the budget for the Thunderbird Treatment Center that was good tried to do that last year but seeing it go forward there will also be I think it was 2.4 million for the actual services, so capital and service funding, and that's great.

But I want to read the headline or the title of a press release that was put out on November 21st from the DEA.

First defendant sentenced in family-based drug trafficking ring connected to Lummi Nation overdose deaths.

Seven years, by the way.

Four people.

I think it was in 2023 that a council member from the Lemmy Nation, I'm struggling to remember his name, came and said, was Chris Miller?

What?

Nick Lewis.

Okay.

Right.

Wanting us to declare a state of emergency.

And we didn't.

that is an example of a failed opportunity to partner on an issue that is affecting everybody, but the disproportionately tribal peoples.

So anyway, That is, I think, my, unfortunately I won't be around to really help bring forward some of the actions that you have identified and that will be available to people.

I would just say that we've got a lot of catching up to do because you're tired of coming to these meetings and there's a lot of good intention and we just have to prove our intention with action.

Thank you, Council President.

I know that some of the work that we do has been quiet and understated and if we were to go through the list of harms that have been done to tribal nations or native communities in our city, we would be going back to the first law that we passed in the city and we'd be here for a long time and it would be, there's a lot of pain to fix, there's a lot of healing to occur that must take actions to achieve Colleagues, any further questions at this time?

I'll just kind of wrap up with a summary and then I'm going to pass it over to the table for final work.

Councilmember Saka, I see you've got a hand.

Thank you, Chair, and I just want to thank each and every one of you for being here today and being so generous with your time and insights and candor.

This is I've only had the pleasure of being on this committee for less than a year, but in part, part of the committee's work plan, we launched the second ever, the focus of today's conversation, Tribal Summit.

Now we're here to talk about outcomes and accountability and implementation of some of those commitments and the additional work ahead.

And I just wanna reaffirm my commitment to working alongside you all to do this work.

It's tough, but it's critically needed.

And I couldn't be more moved by your devotion and inspired by your commitment to do it together.

And so Councilmember Stevenson, really appreciate you, sir.

You know, the general in the room, as the chair noted, and Francesca as well, Esther, I'll just say I've had the privilege of working alongside you on a few things over the last couple years and one thing I really appreciate about you in particular is that you deliver your insights and your feedback in a thoughtful and respectful but very crystal clear manner and you don't beat around the bush or mince words or hide the ball, adopt the Seattle passive aggressive approach.

You say what you mean and you mean what you say, but again, in a thoughtful and respectful manner.

And so I applaud you all and look forward to continuing to do this work together.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

I want to Just echo the gratitude for you all being here.

I was very humbled and appreciative to be able to attend the summit this year.

And I'm always humbled when I'm able to participate within the tribal communities.

I always appreciate the engagement and the intentional reach-outs for us to participate in the various ways that we're able to.

I look forward to that continued engagement.

I, for one, appreciate, I'm a very direct person.

As most of you know, I appreciate what my colleague is saying, Councilmember Saka, is the respectful engagement, but the directness I think it is really critical because we can't get to what we need to do if we're not really open and honest with each other, knowing that that directness comes from a place of really wanting to work together toward positive outcomes.

So I feel very appreciative to be able to be part of the continued conversations.

I'm very grateful to both Francesca and Lydia for all the work at the city and the engagement with our tribal partners, including the two of you today.

And I just, again, I just very much appreciate that these conversations are not one-time conversations.

This is an ongoing partnership.

and it does need to be robust.

And it does need to lead to positive outcomes, not just talk.

Talk doesn't help and improve people's lives.

And so I am all about how can we get to doing actions that will make a positive difference in people's lives.

So anyway, all to say I really appreciate you coming today and I look forward to the continued conversations.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Colleagues, any final comments?

and I'll just share that I really appreciate Council Member Stevenson's noting that this was the first and then the second time since treaty times that this many elected tribal leaders have come together.

It's something that we must continue.

Two statements which is healing takes action and trust takes time and the follow up there is I'm looking forward to seeing you next month.

With that, I'll turn it over to the committee table for closing comments and Council Member Stevenson, you've got last word for today as well.

I think, again, I'm just expressing gratitude for everybody here, and I don't want to live in the past.

We know how we got here.

What I want to say is we have the best opportunity any city has in this country to create meaningful change right here, if we can implement just a couple of those things.

and so that's where I want to live.

That's how healing will happen.

That's how we'll make sure that we are walking our talk.

That's how we will be a leading city and that's where I want us to live.

Yeah, echoing Esther's sentiment, thank you for the opportunity to be here and to again engage about this important topic.

In just sort of backtracking a week, Seattle hosted the National Congress of American Indians a week ago, starting a week, or I guess a little more than a week ago.

But you had more than 300 tribal nations represented at the top sort of collective leadership body of Indian country.

intertribal leadership here on site.

And I'll tell you one of the, and we hosted that as Muckleshoot.

We were a primary sponsor and obviously it's here in our homelands.

And so in that way we showcased a lot of what the city is today and some of the successes that we've had in recent years in terms of working together and the relationships that are in play today.

And that was an exercise that was is fundamentally a really positive thing because it sort of acted as a direct point of reference and reminder to me of how much progress we have made.

And it's good to do that from time to time, to take stock of wins.

It's also really important to stay focused on the work we have to do and the accomplishments yet to achieve and the work before us and that's why discussions like this are so fundamentally important and I really appreciate everyone here and the time and the commitment to that end.

I'll say that during the course of NCAI, one of the primary questions that I was asked was not necessarily about my role as an elected tribal leader.

It was about the Indigenous Advisory Council within the city of Seattle.

That nationally, this group has been recognized in Indian Country as being something that is unique and that there are not a lot of examples of out there in the rest of the country.

a lot of questions pertaining to how things work.

What is the work that we're doing?

What are we focused on?

How does that interaction play out?

And is it meaningful?

As tribal leaders, one thing that is inherently true is that there are only so many hours in the day.

and we don't have hours to commit to things that don't produce.

And I'll tell you that this is a group that, again, in echoing some of what Esther's already said, I've served on countless boards, commissions, committees in my almost 10 years as an elected tribal leader, 30 years working for the tribe overall.

and a lot of that has been performative, for lack of a better way to describe it, that there are a lot of nice pictures that are taken, a lot of fancy people in fancy rooms looking fancy, but not always a lot of measurables that come out of those sorts of settings.

This is a group that I can very happily say is the exact opposite of that, that every minute we spend together feels like time that's invested toward the betterment of the people we serve lives in meaningful and intangible ways that are measurable, that have benchmarks, that we really have the ability to circle back to and measure progress upon.

Anything we can do to continue to forward this work and the commitment that's been made to this group I think is fundamentally important and I'd say that not only for the city and not only for my tribal nation and the indigenous people who live here but I think also with the focus towards Indian country in the larger picture that if you have that many tribal leaders coming to our shared city and our shared homeland and the number one thing I was asked about as a tribal leader was this group that tells a story to me.

That tells me a story that what we're doing is being watched very closely.

And we have the ability to set a positive example and the possibility to lead to many more groups like this in a lot of other areas of the country doing similar work.

and I ask that we all keep that close to heart and close to mind as we continue to push forward.

That we're setting an example, we have the opportunity to lead the way and I guess I sort of task everybody here with making sure that we're doing our work in a way that represents that.

So thank you again for the opportunity to be here.

My hands are raised to everybody for the work that's taken place so far and the work yet to come.

Thank you.

Thank you, and that does conclude this item on the agenda.

We cannot follow those words up in any better way, but Council Member Stevenson, thank you again for letting us be your guest here, and I'm looking forward to next month.

With that, we'll move on to the next agenda item, which is agenda item one.

If the clerk could read the short title of agenda item one into the record.

Item one, appointment 3355, appointment of Eddie Sherman as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Council for a term to July 31st, 2027. This item is for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Presenters include Lydia Faltalia of the Department of Neighborhoods.

Wonderful.

Lydia, welcome.

Welcome, I guess not back, just here we are.

Here we are, Chair.

Here we are.

And so I know that you've got Eddie here.

If you'd like to maybe just do a brief description, I guess we don't need to do a description of the IAC because Council Member Stevenson just described it.

Eddie, you've got big shoes to step into, no pressure.

Over to you, Lydia, if you want to share a little bit about Eddie, and then Eddie, if you want to say a few words.

Thank you, Chair.

In position eight, we are pleased to present the recommend appointment for Eddie Sherman.

Eddie Sherman is DNA, is a nationally recognized leader in the strategic planning, governance, policy, advocacy, and tribal engagement on federal land management and conservation.

Eddie has dedicated his life with a career to advancing sovereignty, racial justice, self-determination, and building independent political power with indigenous peoples.

Eddie brings two decades of experience facilitating governance transformations, leading coalition advocacy, and guiding organizations through complex strategic planning and federal policy engagement rooted in indigenous values and relational accountability.

I will go ahead and look to Mr. Eddie Sherman.

Wonderful.

Mr. Sherman, I see you're here.

Apologies for having to change the agenda up on you with little notice, but anything you'd like to share, feel free.

No, thank you very much for the opportunity and the privilege to be here with you all.

I really appreciate this opportunity to serve alongside Esther and Council Member from Muckleshoot.

It has been a privilege to be able to work alongside them on some of their planning efforts since their inception and so fairly familiar with the work of the IAC and have been really entrenched in some of the work with grassroots urban native nonprofit organizations in the Seattle King County area and so really excited to be able to be of service in another arena here and so but again just privileged and honored to be nominated for this opportunity wonderful thank you for being here Eddie I've got a few questions and colleagues if you've got them now is the time one of the items from the

The summit that we didn't talk about a few minutes ago was one of the commitment areas to have an economic development summit as part of the Tribal Nations Summit.

Eddie, I see that you've worked for the Oregon Native American Chamber, the Native American Business Network, and then also had development roles in a number of different non-profits.

This is kind of putting you on the spot.

I didn't prep you for this question, but as we are thinking about developing that economic summit based off of the tribal summit, what advice do you have for us?

Yeah, I would probably say that there are a number of Native-owned businesses that are right here in Seattle and King County, and there are a number of tribal enterprises that are doing really great work, even outside of their reservation boundaries.

As Councilmember Stevenson from Muckleshoot had mentioned, like NCAA was just here, and we, as a chamber, had hosted an event that really highlighted the creativity the food and the entertainment and art of Seattle's.

We had a event at Thailand's.

We had a performer that's locally anchored here.

We had some beverages from the Chehalis tribe and We really try to highlight and elevate all of the Native entrepreneurs in this area.

So there are a lot of, there's a thriving entrepreneurial community here in Seattle.

And so I would probably tap, and a lot of this work is deeply relational.

So I think in addition to the traditional like business or tribal business, there are a number of Native nonprofits that actually have their own economic footprint as well.

Seattle Indian Health Board would be one of them.

So I think that it would really be incumbent upon the city to really tap into what's right in front of you.

There's a lot of really great businesses here, a lot of like an ecosystem that is continuing to evolve and thrive and you have each generation which a lot of the people saw the Snoqualmie tribes acquisition of that as really a giant step forward in tribal enterprise.

economic development and diversification.

So I think this, what we have to show here is really exciting and I think the Northwest Native Chamber and its work and expanding into Washington is also exciting because it's an opportunity to connect a lot of the dots across our business community here, our economic development community here as well.

Yeah, really well said.

That's a good reminder.

The nice thing about eighth generation is it's not just gifts or items of jewelry or anything like that.

It's also daily household items.

And so if you need a new bath towel, they sell amazing bath towels.

I used mine this morning.

With that, I can also see, Eddie, why you've been selected here through your work as the principal and founder against the current consulting.

You've got clients, national and international clients, MacArthur Foundation, Doris Duke, Casey Family Programs, Pew Charitable Trust, and then also our Native Arts and Cultures, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest, Potlatch Fund, Seattle Indian Health Service, Seattle Indian Health Board, Northwest Native Chamber, United Indians of All Tribes, Chief Seattle Club.

I mean the list goes on.

The list just keeps going on and so I can see your important role of being a connector through all of these different entities and I'm looking forward to having your voice on our IAC and as you heard we're getting national attention so looking forward to your contributions there.

Colleagues any other questions at this time?

Eddie anything you want to leave us with?

Nothing I can think of.

Again, it's just a great honor and privilege to be able to serve in this capacity.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

And I see that we held you late into another meeting.

With that, you don't need to come to city council meeting.

This appointment will go directly to city council and we look forward to seeing you at the IAC.

And so with that, colleagues, if there are no further questions, Lydia, any last words?

And seeing no last words, if the clerk can call the roll on appointments.

Getting the correct number here on appointment 3355.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Sacca.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Vice Chair Rivera.

Chair Strauss.

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Five in favor, zero opposed.

Wonderful.

The committee recommendation that the appointment 3355 of Eddie Sherman will be sent to the Tuesday, December 9th Seattle City Council meeting.

Thank you, Eddie, and we look forward to seeing you at the IAC.

Thanks for hanging with us so long.

No problem.

Thank you very much.

We'll now move on to items two through four.

Will the clerk read the short title of items two through four into the record?

Appointments 3356 through 3358. Re-appointments of N.

Iris Friday, Robert E. Howard, and Michael R. Reichert as members of the Seattle Indian Services Commission for a term of November 30th, 2028. This item is also for briefing discussion possible vote.

Presenters include Lydia Fatalia of the Department of Neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Lydia, right back to you.

These are all reappointments, so I know that we've had them before committee before, which is why they're not here today.

Please feel free to share with us a little background on the commission and then these reappointments.

Thank you, Chair Strauss.

We had three reappointments to the Seattle Indian Services Commission.

The Seattle Indian Service Commission is Seattle's oldest public development authority chartered by the City of Seattle in 1972. The Commission's mission is to provide effective, comprehensive, and coordinated housing and planning service activities and programs that will meet the unique needs of so many American Indian and Alaska Native residents of Seattle and King County in Washington State.

SISC and other Native community service providers are directly connected to the legacy of American Indian Women's Service League founded in partnership with Pearl Warren.

Pearl Warren was Macaw tribal member and a woman leader who was moved to action and organizing community over the concerns she had about Indians living about urban Indian living conditions and the lack of access to indigenous culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Seattle.

Standing shoulder to shoulder alongside our region's most dedicated native-led service providers, we continue Pearl's visions of service and commitment to meeting the unique housing needs of native people.

Our vision is a healthy, vibrant, urban native community connected through culture and equitable housing and economic opportunities.

SISC's governing council oversees the operation and function of the commission in maintaining the integrity and legacy of its past, present, and future.

SISC is comprised of five governing council members.

In governing council position one, we are pleased to present the recommended reappointment of Iris Friday.

Iris Friday is Tlingit.

She is the chair of the Seattle Indian Service Commission and a Native American program specialist at the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

She brings decades of experience advancing affordable housing and asset building in tribal communities across the country.

A nationally recognized expert on Native housing and financial empowerment, Iris has also served in leadership roles with Native Action Network, the Center for Women's and Democracy and the Seattle, Tlingit and Haida Community Council.

She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Washington and a master's of public administration and tribal governance from Evergreen State College.

In governing council position two, we are pleased to present the recommended reappointment of Robert E. Howard.

Robert E. Howard, who is Apache, is a citizen of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and was born and raised in both Seattle, Washington, and on his tribe's reservation in Arizona.

He currently serves as the tribal liaison for Elevens HealthPoints, Washington, engaging with all 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington state.

Robert has over 20 years of leadership in tribal governance, operations, and economic development.

His career spans service as a tribal council member, a vice chairman, an administrative advisor for the San Carlos Apache tribes, as well as in executive roles in tribal enterprise and managed care.

With deep expertise in tribal sovereignty and strong network among tribal enterprise and managed care.

With deep expertise in tribal sovereignty and and strong network among tribal and public sector leaders, Robert is a dedicated advocate for native self-determination and sustainable development.

This reappointment represents Mr. Howard's second term.

In governing council position four, we are pleased to present the recommended reappointment of Michael Reichardt.

Mr. Michael Reichardt was appointed in 1979 as the president and CEO of Catholic Community Service of Western Washington and Catholic Housing Services.

In 2002, he became the president and trustee of the Catholic Charities Foundation of Western Washington.

He also served for three years as commissioner to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

now the president emeritus of CCSWW.

He was responsible for combined budgets exceeding 170 million and managed more than 3,300 employees.

He brings an extensive background in housing development, human services, employment, training programs, and financial management.

Mr. Reichardt's other activities include supporting the Billy Frank Leadership Institute, board member treasurer at the Wahulet Indian School in Olympia, a senior fellow with the Wildflowers Institute in San Francisco, chairperson and founding father of the Low Income Housing Institute, chief financial officer for the Puyallup Tribes of Indians and development consult for the North Central Montana Coalition.

Michael is a graduate of Central Washington University and is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe White Earth Indian Reservation.

This reappointment represents Mr. Reichardt's fourth term.

Thank you, Lydia.

Thank you, Chair.

That was a lot of information.

And with the fact that these are reappointments, having read their packets, I don't have any further questions, but I do want to check in with my colleagues.

Colleagues, any questions on these appointments?

Council President.

Not a question, just wanting to express my gratitude for the the appointments for stepping up and wanting to serve and in some cases continuing to serve.

So thank you very, very much in all the cases that we're voting on right now.

Thank you.

Please pass that along.

Thank you, Council President.

Wonderful.

Seeing no further questions or comments at this time, if you could, if the clerk could call the roll on appointments 3356 through 3358. Actually, I need to move Appointments 3356 through 3358, is there a second?

Second.

It has been moved and seconded to recommend confirmation of these appointments.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Sacca.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Vice Chair Rivera.

Aye.

Chair Strauss.

Yes.

Five in favor, zero opposed.

Thank you.

The committee recommendation that appointments 3356 through 3358 will be sent to the Tuesday, December 9th Seattle City Council meeting.

Colleagues, with that, that does bring us to the end of our agenda.

Is there anything for the good of the order?

Seeing none at this time, I thank you all for a long year of meetings and for your work and attention.

This is our final finance tribal Finance, Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee of 2025. I look forward to seeing you in 2026 to continue this work.

Thank you.

We are adjourned.