City Council 9/9/2025

Good afternoon, everyone.

The September 9th, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.03.

I'm Sarah Nelson, Council President.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Rink.

Present.

Councilmember Rivera.

Present.

Councilmember Sacca.

Here.

Councilmember Salomon.

Here.

Councilmember Strauss.

Here.

Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Juarez.

Here.

Thank you.

And Council President Nelson.

Present.

Eight present.

Jody, just a quick second.

I'm sorry, Council Member Hollingsworth.

I'm present.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nine present.

There we go.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

Council member Strauss has a proclamation proclaiming October 9th, 2025 to be Christopher Williams Day.

Council member Strauss will share comments on the proclamation.

Then I'll open the floor to comments from council members.

After council member comments, we'll suspend the rules.

Thank you, Council President.

I see we have packed chambers.

The conversations later in the agenda.

If you will permit us, we'll have those conversations later.

And first, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate a longtime steward of Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation, Christopher Williams and Veronica, because I know it takes two to do every job.

I don't have comments prepared, Christopher, and I'm going to just speak from the heart.

Oh, I saw it.

Which is, and for folks that may or may not know Christopher, Christopher, you've fixed so many problems in our city that nobody knew were problems.

You've provided solutions before things broke.

You were able to come in and say, you know what, we're going to change how we're doing the program to make sure that everyday Seattleites are served to the best of our abilities as the city of Seattle and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Department of Parks and Recreation not only responds to the executive and the city council, they also have their own independent commission, their board.

And it can create a lot of, whenever somebody has three bosses, it can be sometimes difficult to know which one is the one to listen to.

And Christopher, you've always listened to the fourth boss, which is the people of the city of Seattle.

You've come through to make solutions work.

You've been able to cut red tape when it needs to be cut.

You've been able to create a...

I have to wonder, is it because the Waterfront Park is done that you're now leaving?

We couldn't have that success without you.

We couldn't have the successes throughout our city, whether it was Rainier Beach Community Center, whether it's the Lake City Community Center, whether it's the boathouse down at the hydro pits or the boathouse up at Green Lake.

Your fingerprints are everywhere in this city.

We couldn't have done this without you.

I have worried for today for many years And I'm also relieved because Andy has stepped up into the seat that I usually see you sitting in.

Andy, you might've noticed I haven't called you in a couple months.

I've called Andy every other week.

And that succession planning doesn't always happen in departments and with departures of your scale.

Because I know that you've been asked to be the superintendent of the parks department many times over.

You've always respectfully declined.

And that's okay, because we know that true leadership does not require being in the CEO position.

You've always been a leader by example.

And while I can't always remember everything that you've said to me, I can always remember how you have made me feel, whether it was a staff member working for Councilmember Bagshaw, who is here, or as an elected official trying to get things done for our city.

I'd say, Council President, if you want to call on other Councilmembers, I might crib a couple words out of this proclamation, but I'll save it for once everyone else speaks.

Sure.

Do any of my colleagues have any questions or comments?

Councilmember Rivera.

Oh, so far I see Councilmember Rivera, and then I'll go down the line.

Thank you, Council President.

Christopher, as I said earlier, I can't even believe it.

You might change your mind.

I just want to thank you for your many, many years of service at the city.

You've served in the superintendent interim role as interim superintendent more than once.

And always willingly and happy to do so.

And the fact that I see a lot of colleagues here, both directors from other city departments and then many colleagues from parks here is a testament to you and your collaboration and the hard work that you've always put into your role at the city.

Always with a smile, always with grace, always collaborative.

You have always returned my call, whether I was in the mayor's office or now in this role, without fail.

And again, always with a smile and always ready to problem solve with me.

And I just cannot underscore the service that you've provided to the city and how appreciative I am for That service and I know I'm not alone in that gratitude and in that recognition.

So I'm glad to see that this day has come for you and for your family.

It's very well earned, your retirement.

And I really wish you a really amazing retirement.

And I know that we'll see you around the city because you care that much about the city.

And you care that much about the parks in the city.

So I know this is just a see you later.

And I really just appreciate you so much for all the hard work that you've put in.

And thank you to your partner and to your family for allowing you all those years to take the leadership role that you have at the city.

So thank you.

Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you.

It's really, Christopher, let me say two things first.

As someone who left and came back, don't.

Debra, it's not that bad.

So I just want to start with that, and I want to recognize, of course, that what Councilmember Strauss said, to recognize Councilmember Bagshaw, who chaired Parks Waterfront before me, and then she handed it off to me, became my, I said, my plucky sidekick.

She became my vice chair.

Then I had four, six more years.

And Christopher, you with Jesus, and then now Diaz, I don't even know where to start with the parks.

You know, let me see.

I could go on.

Okay.

All the projects, community meetings, lawsuits, budget, NPD, zoo, waterfront, aquarium, pocket parks, off-leash dog.

I mean, we could just go on and on and on and on.

And you have always been there, even though we tried to make you the guy in charge.

You've always said, no, I'm going to stay right here.

This is where I need to be.

And now I know why.

I just want to say it's such a pleasure working with you.

I don't think the public hears this enough.

When there are public servants like you, and I've learned this in Indian country as well, I mean, those are the people that aren't going anywhere that care.

And I just remember a couple times where I didn't know what I was doing and you were sitting at the table and would quietly remind me, you need to move that.

You need to second that.

I want to thank you.

And I don't think people understand how hard People work in all these city departments to make this city work, just behind the scenes stuff.

I know people come here and they're angry and they holler at us and call us names.

Okay.

But then there's people like you that make this a reason why I would come back here.

I just want to, and I want to thank your wife because I know you put it with a lot, girl.

I'm just saying, I know you did.

See?

So with that, thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you, Councillor Bagshaw.

Councillor Bagshaw, will you raise your hand?

Please let people know you're here.

There you are.

There she is.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor President.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll be super fast.

Mr. Williams, Christopher, thank you so much for your service to our city.

I've known you for a long time.

You worked with my father at the Parks Department, and he always spoke very highly of you and all the great things that you've done.

Anytime I spoke with anyone in our community, they always talked about their great interaction with you, how you cared passionately about the park system.

You're like a walking encyclopedia.

You know parks in and out.

I see your lovely wife shaking her head.

You know the park system in and out, especially with not just the parks department, but the community groups.

That continue to keep our parks healthy and connected and that are advocating for them.

And I think that is a big piece and what our parks department does is making sure that we have great interaction with our community and just really thank you for really setting the tone and the bar and hopefully that you enjoy every piece of your retirement forward.

So thank you.

Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

Mr. Williams, thank you for your service to the city, and thank you to your family, as noted.

We all know that that's real.

And I just wanted to say, I think it's important, so thank you, Council Member Strauss, to celebrate those that have been in service to the city for such a long period of time, and that service at such a high level for such a long time.

So thank you for this opportunity to celebrate, Mr. Williams.

And since we are a port maritime city, I'll just close by saying fair winds and following seas to whatever lies next in your next chapter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Looking to see if there's anybody else with their hand up.

I'll just simply say I'll miss you.

You know, our parks are commons.

You know, it's probably the most tangible and beloved symbol of our democracy.

It's where we come together, it's where we go for solitude, and it's everything in between.

And the stewardship of our parks says a great deal, if not the most, of our stewardship of our democracy, basically.

And so I know that sounds grandiose, but it really is.

Our parks are a representation of Our ability to deliver, to just perform local government for our constituents.

It's delivering basic services, but it's also doing so in a way that improves people's lives and shows what we can be as a city together.

So you leave a legacy and thank you very much.

I also hope that you write your memoir someday.

Be interesting.

Anyway, thank you very much.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

And a point of clarification, maybe this is for the clerk.

We have Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth here with us in open session.

Can she sign, please?

Thank you.

I didn't, I couldn't hear the end of what you said.

Can Council Member Hollingsworth sign the proclamation since we are in open session?

Yes.

Is that, are we allowed to do that?

There's a technicality.

Go ahead.

At this point, the protocol for it is the signatures are represented from those members who are present for that meeting and who signed on to it at that meeting.

Okay.

We'll scribble in Joy's name later.

Can I give a verbal signature?

I verbally sign to the proclamation.

We'll put a post-it note on there.

I'll just close with some final remarks reading from the proclamation.

I won't read every word of it.

Christopher, you embody quiet power.

You've served our nation.

You've served our city.

You come not looking for the spotlight or the soapbox or to say what is right and wrong.

You come to say what will work for Seattleites.

How do we get the job done?

How do we get it done as quickly and as equitably as possible?

It's just a sincere pleasure.

So reading from this, Having grown up in Seattle and as a graduate of Columbia University, a former United States Marine Corps officer and committed community leader, Christopher's professional achievements are matched by his personal integrity.

He's been recognized by the Municipal League of King County's 2011 Public Employee of the Year and the recipient of the National Recreation and Parks Association Rose Award for his contributions and exceptional commitment to his field of profession.

Christopher has served for more than 30 years here in the City of Seattle, and his steadfast commitment ensures Seattle's parks and open spaces thrive, and it has been instrumental in promoting the city's health, sustainability, and community service.

You've served in a number of roles in the parks and recreation under five different mayors, including acting superintendent during three times.

You've provided the department with the steady direction during challenging times, always stepping up to guide the team with professionalism and grace.

And as Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff, Christopher managed the day-to-day operations of the parks and recreation system that is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

AP never lets me forget that.

Expertly overseeing over more than 1,000 employees, 10 swimming pools, 26 community centers, and the maintenance of 6,200 acres of parkland across the city, which include nearly 500 developed parks.

We couldn't have this city success without you.

I'm sure that AP and Andy will continue that legacy while you're out fishing.

And if you ever have any extra fish, you've got my number.

With that, Council President, I would ask if we could all take a photo and to have Christopher's guests join us on this side of the barrier, if that would be all right.

Sure.

I have to suspend the rules to present the proclamation to our guests and allow our guests to provide brief comments.

I see no objection to suspending the rules.

And let's go forward.

So the hearing objection, the council rules are suspended.

The proclamation will now be presented.

And after it's presented, Christopher can say a few words to us.

All right.

Go ahead, please.

Wonderful.

So if you are here for Christopher Williams, and Council President, we're doing this a little bit on the fly, so tell me if I'm out of line.

If you're here for Christopher Williams, if you want to come up to this front area, and then Christopher and Veronica, if you want to join the council members on this side of the dais.

Does that work?

On this side?

Yep.

Is that okay?

Outside.

There's a lot of mixing of...

No?

All right.

Sorry, I just...

Just tell me what to do.

Yeah, just stand right here.

We're all in this together.

Love it.

Love it.

Thank you so much.

Tim's back there going, how am I going to work this?

And everyone's got to double up, and we're just going to, as long as you can see Tim's camera, you're good to go.

Sally, come up here.

Say that again.

Got you.

And then behind this group over here.

It's like a wedding, okay, everybody?

Angle, slight angle, wedding.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Christopher.

I gotta reach out and say it.

That's amazing.

All from the heart.

So good seeing you.

You want to come back too?

Yeah, come on.

Come on back.

Right here.

Come on.

Yes, we do.

Don't do it.

Don't do it, girl.

Don't come back.

Thank you for doing that.

He almost got assaulted when he was sitting right there.

The guy came up behind and he tried to hit him.

It was like my fifth meeting.

Okay.

Can I start?

All right.

Well, I'd like to thank the council.

You are all here and just thank you for all of the kind remarks.

And the nice words, they are sincerely heartfelt, and I feel it right here.

I also want to acknowledge that I've sat at that table many times, and just the abundant courtesy and respect that you offer to city staff whenever we come here and sit in front of you.

I want to acknowledge that.

That's something you may not hear a lot, but it means a lot for people like me and staff who work in the department.

I want to acknowledge the team I work with, A.P.

Diaz, our superintendent, Michelle Finnegan, Andy Sheffer, Desiree Tabarras, Daisy Kataig, Caitlin Seychell, Rachel Shulkin, and Alex Vaughn, who will be taking my place soon.

Just a wonderful group of colleagues and professional people, and they keep it real.

And what is special about this team?

As nobody is vying for recognition or to get notice.

They work really well together in a collegial, professional way.

I want to acknowledge a couple of tall-seaters who are here.

Holly Miller, who hired me way back when, and Ken Bounds is here.

Ken?

Yeah, there's Ken and Holly.

And Kurt Greene is also here.

I think Kurt Greene had his own proclamation day way back when.

And I want to acknowledge some other special people here.

Sally Backshaw, Steve Boyd, Bob Davidson, my family, my lovely wife, my mother-in-law who are here.

And just with heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for everyone here whose name I didn't call, but I love you.

I appreciate you.

What we have shared together is just so much reciprocal respect and appreciation and really love for the public park and recreation system.

And our pervasive commonality around the love of the park system has driven our relationship for more than 30 years.

And that has held a special place in my heart.

So thank you to the council.

Thank you to my colleagues and thank you to the city of Seattle for the opportunity to work here.

for 30 years and provide for my family.

It has been a transformational experience and transformational ride.

Thank you very much.

After applause, there's supposed to be an encore.

Just kidding.

All right, everybody.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

Moving on, colleagues at this time, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar and the council work program.

How many people do we have signed up to speak today?

We have 60 in person and 69 remote.

Okay, we'll do 10 and 10, please.

Start with 10 in-person commenters.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they're registered.

We will alternate between sets of in-person speakers and remote speakers.

Speakers will hear a chime.

When 10 seconds are left of their time, speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

We'll now begin with our in-person commenters.

Okay, we have the first 10 speakers.

We have Yvette Denish and then Rachel Snail, Joe Gox, Alex Feier.

If you can please start.

Thank you.

Yvette and Rachel Snail.

Thank you, first of all, for the Waterfront Park.

I went to the grand opening.

It is just, just wonderful.

I also want to thank you.

I want to comment on yes to the cameras.

I'd rather have them or not need them or need them or not have them.

And then I don't have time today to speak on accountability, but I also have a small token of appreciation, which I gave to Amelia and to give that to you once the meeting is over.

That's all I have to say for now because I only got one minute.

Thank you.

Rachel Snell.

Good afternoon, President Nelson and members of the City Council.

My name is Rachel Snell.

I, like many other Seattleites, am urging you to vote no on SPD's piloted use of the surveillance program.

Federal authorities currently use these tools and data they collect through ICE and Homeland Securities to surveil those who are immigrants and those seeking gender-affirming care and violate their rights to privacy and will, in fact, decrease public safety.

Immigrant communities here in Seattle are already under facing and under attack.

Families are being torn apart, and many of our neighbors don't feel safe going to school, work, the grocery store without having to worry about being kidnapped or coming to an empty home.

Instead of promoting another worthless piece of legislation like you guys get in the habit of doing and waste more tax dollars, why not take a stand for actual public safety and stand up for the communities of color and immigrant communities who truly make this city an amazing city to live in?

And thank you, Councilmember Rankin, for your tireless leadership.

Thank you.

Please go ahead.

Before you start, I want to note that I was alerted that 43rd Legislative District Representative Sean Scott is in the House, and so I didn't realize that when I was starting to call people.

It's our tradition to offer electeds and former electeds the opportunity to speak.

So if you would like, you can come up after this speaker.

Thank you.

Go ahead, please.

I've spoken at Seattle City Council meetings four times in the last year and a half regarding the use of amplified sound systems on the sidewalks surrounding T-Mobile Park.

I've spoken to the Mariners, a city council member, two police captains, and a representative of the Seattle City Attorney's Office on numerous occasions.

During that time, the problem has gotten worse.

On Sunday of this past homestand, six individuals using loudspeakers were circling the ballpark as they blasted families waiting for a game with the highest sound levels I have ever recorded at T-Mobile Park.

They were all over 110 decibels, and one was broadcasting at 121.7 decibels.

And this was Little League Day.

Four months ago, I was told the city attorney's office is looking to draft a legislative approach To fix the gaps in our current law, how many kids have to suffer a hearing loss for the rest of their lives before this can be solved?

Thank you.

Okay.

Go ahead and call the next speaker.

But before you do, I just want to say that we will attempt to get through everybody who is here to speak today.

So to make sure that we can keep things rolling, please, Jada's hands and snaps.

Are encouraged, but clapping, shouting, chanting, and other disruptive behavior.

Please, no thank you.

Go ahead, call the next speaker.

We next have Alex Fair, then Nathan Wall, and then Elyse Vaudevich, please.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Alex Fair, and I'm speaking just for myself, but also for Seattle Indivisible as well.

Wanted to address why we're considering expanding the surveillance right now, middle of our pilot program and without the results in.

The city's own process says evaluate first and then decide, yet the independent study won't be ready till 2026, 2027, yet you're proposing the expansion now.

And I feel like that breaks the promise of a data-driven pilot in the first place.

In addition, the civil rights risks are real.

The CPC and the ACLU of Washington are both opposing this expansion, citing threats of data flowing through fusion centers to vendors and hostile actors, including immigration enforcement.

And I just want to pause on that moment for a second because regardless of your intentions, Seattle cannot guarantee how third parties or the federal government will use this data.

ICE will gain access just like they have at Medicaid and the Department of Licensing.

Please.

Hello.

I'm here today.

As we speak, federal agents in Chicago are preparing to roll out troops.

Federal agents have invaded D.C., and they've threatened to invade Seattle and Portland as well.

While you guys say that this is something that you don't want to see, what are you doing about it?

You're passing bills that make it easier for Donald Trump to get away with his constitutional abuses.

Police should have to get a warrant if they want to access this footage.

It's simple as that.

They do not have the right to spy on everybody in this city.

I went to Garfield High School, Councilmember Hollingsworth.

I'm very proud of going to Garfield High School.

Don't do this to our community.

Councilmember Solomon, you've been in my house before.

I am from District 2. You know me personally.

I know that you're a good person, but this is not something that you can vote for.

This will harm my community.

Kettle, Rivera, if you vote for this, know that your chances of losing go up.

You won by less than 500 votes, both of you.

Councilmember Nelson's not going to win re-election.

And Councilmember Saka, I don't even know what I want to say.

We have Elyse.

And the following Elyse would be Arisa Samani and then Karl Noss.

OK.

Good afternoon.

I just want to point out, while everybody's in love with technology and toys and machines, that my experience with CCTV has been pretty useless.

CCTV caught whoever stole my husband's bicycle in broad daylight in a Safeway parking lot.

Yeah, we never saw the bike or the perpetrator ever again.

When someone was having some problems and went through the alley and smashed over half a dozen windows in the cars that are parked in the alley, yeah, that was on CCTV.

Big whoop.

We had to go to our insurance.

Nobody ever caught the guy.

Nobody ever really could do much.

And just recently, again, on CCTV, we could watch as somebody broke into our Recycle and trash and took great big defecation all over everything.

And that is not the first time.

So I would just say, please think about people and community.

Thank you.

Arisa?

My name is Arisa.

I live in Capitol Hill, District 3. Surveillance does not prevent crime.

Surveillance does not increase safety.

Surveillance of this kind is too powerful and too unregulated to be in the hands of a police force that has demonstrated they can't even drive properly.

This bill is a thinly veiled attempt for this body to double down on your failures.

More money for more weapons.

More money for more out-of-touch policing by out-of-state cops.

And millions more for it all.

The only thing that we need more of that we don't have is bold leaders.

We are in a national state and citywide fight to protect our neighbors.

Do you want us to be ashamed to be yours?

I yield my time.

We now have Carl and then after Carl will be Lucas Moore and then Tara Miller.

My name is Carl Knoss.

I'm a Seattle resident living in Ravenna.

Can you get closer to the mic?

I'm a Seattle resident living in Ravenna, and I strongly oppose the expansion of surveillance technology in Seattle.

The data shows crime in Seattle is going down, yet somehow our council members feel this is the time to sell out our privacy and human rights to corporations like Axon and Flock in the name of public safety.

But how safe is that?

These vendors regularly share data with ICE and other law enforcement entities beyond our state's jurisdiction.

Council, if you vote yes, you will seriously endanger women seeking health care who come here from states where abortion is illegal.

You will be aiding and abetting ICE.

Surveillance vendors don't care about innocent people's privacy.

They happily sell your data to the highest bidder, whether that's an advertising company or the state of Texas.

They're in it for the money, not our safety.

Counsel, what are you in it for?

You can make the brave choice to protect our human rights, or you can be cowards and vote yes to prop up our mayor's failing reelection campaign by joining him in pretending to be tough on crime during an election year.

I urge you all to vote no.

Thank you.

We now have Lucas Moore and then Tara.

The news of the Trump's administration overstepping is a Tuesday night for us.

We see it over and over and over and over again.

Sanctuary City, Oakland, police have already funneled surveillance data into ICE, so why can't it happen here?

Would this harm the safety of the American people if ICE, if the SPD got ICE to, oh my god.

There are two dogs here.

There is SPD, which is already violent.

And there is the Trump administration.

And if you Say yes to this bill.

You are not only feeding the SPD, which is already violent, but you are feeding the Trump administration, who probably wants all of us dead in this room.

Vote no.

We now have Tara, and then after Tara, we'll have Marina Ortiz, and then we'll go to remote speakers.

My name is Tara Miller.

I'm in District 5, and I'm one of the Church Council of Greater Seattle's co-executive directors.

We are deeply concerned about potential civil rights violations by expanding the city's real-time video surveillance, so we're asking you to delay its expansion.

Our federal government is swiftly demonizing and attacking as many communities as it can.

Black and brown communities, LGBTQ plus communities, and migrant communities of which the church council is in accountable relationship.

People are terrified for their safety, and as a queer and trans person, I am too.

This is the time more than ever where our cities who claim to provide sanctuary must take that value seriously.

It is our moral obligation in an immoral time.

In the face of another budget deficit and federal cuts to community services, $1 million to further surveil our communities does not embody the city's value of care for our neighbors.

Delay expanding the pilot program until it can be evaluated, conduct meaningful community engagement about the impact of this program, and invest in evidence-based community safety programs.

Thank you.

Marina, who will have two minutes.

Good afternoon, council members.

I am using an interpreter to share my testimony, so I am requesting additional time for this accommodation.

Soy organizadora comunitaria del Consejo de las Iglesias y resido en el Distrito 5. Les pido encarecidamente que rechacen la expansión apresurada del programa de videovigilancia.

Esta expansión incumple el acuerdo de realizar la evaluación durante dos años y genera preocupación por el posible mal uso y las intenciones ocultas.

I am a community organizer with the church council and I live in District 5. I urge you to reject the rushed expansion of the video surveillance program.

Expanding it now ignores the agreed two-year evaluation and raises concerns about misuse and hidden intentions.

Este programa amenaza con causar daños irreparables mediante la discriminación racial que afecta desproporcionadamente a las comunidades negras, latinas, inmigrantes y de bajos ingresos.

Las consecuencias son reales y alarmantes.

Creamos un entorno donde los padres tienen miedo de ir a trabajar, los niños dejan de ir a las escuelas y cualquier persona puede ser objeto de vigilancia y discriminación y detenciones arbitrarias.

This program threatens irreparable harm through racial profiling that disproportionately targets black, brown, immigrant, and low-income communities.

The consequences are real and frightening.

We create an environment where parents are afraid to go to work, where children stop going to school, and where anyone is subject to scrutiny profiling and detention.

Nuestra ciudad tiene la oportunidad de marcar la diferencia y de demostrar que no vamos a sacrificar la libertad por la falsa sensación de seguridad.

Les pido que propongan la expansión.

Realicen una consulta comunitaria real sobre el impacto que este programa y que inviertan en programas de seguridad comunitaria basados en evidencias.

Our city has a chance to lead differently and show that we will not compromise freedom for the illusion of security.

I urge you to delay the expansion, conduct meaningful community engagement about this impact of this program, and invest in evidence-based community safety programs.

Thank you.

We'll now move to remote.

Speakers, and as a reminder to our remote speakers to please press star six after you've heard the message that you have been unmuted.

We'll begin with Red, followed by Alper Sarikaya and Shomaya Tripathi.

Go ahead, Red.

Good afternoon, Seattle voters.

Seattle calls itself a sanctuary city, but actions speak louder than labels.

Recently, Washington's Department of Licensing was caught quietly sharing information with law enforcement, under meaning immigrant safety.

Now with this bill, we are expanding surveillance cameras in neighborhoods where many vulnerable communities live and work.

This isn't true sanctuary.

It's performative sanctuary.

Expanding surveillance aligns more with Project 2025 than with our city's values of privacy, safety, and inclusion.

Our general election ballots will be arriving soon.

Remember who voted for this bill and who stood against it.

Seattle had the most police officers at the Capitol on January 6th.

Public safety is not in the hands of immigrants.

It's under threat from violent insurrectionists.

Reject this bill, look at the data, and stop pretending otherwise.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alper Sarikaya, followed by Shomaya Tripathi.

Go ahead, Alper.

Hi, my name is Alper Serakai.

I live in Wedgwood.

I wanted to provide some comment against the adoption of Council Bill 121052. In my opinion, this is not a good time to be pushing this sort of legislation through.

I've read multiple documents related to this bill, and I'm really struggling to see the need to enact the bill as written out.

A major point that I want to make here is that Seattle-owned ordinances related to surveillance require substantive evaluation to ensure that a pilot is warranted to become permanent.

From the documents I was able to access, I'm not convinced.

The Office for Civil Rights certainly isn't convinced that this investment is warranted and does provide strong substantive steps forward for community policing that I think we should follow, packed by current research and criminology.

And other comments or notes that we have not even reached the two-year mark to evaluate the copyright.

I urge the Council to table this bill until the community concerns are met.

Port of this bill really feels a dismissal to all of us who speak up.

I want to convey my heartfelt thanks to Christopher Williams for his service to the city.

Bravo.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shomaya Tripoli.

Shomaya will be followed by Jill Friedberg and then Ashley Nurbolvig.

Go ahead, Shomaya.

My name is Shomiya.

I'm calling on behalf of Asian Counseling and Referral Service in D2 to urge council to vote against the proposed expansion.

As a service provider to over 30,000 Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community members in our city, we very much understand the importance of public safety.

But the expansion of this program does the opposite of protecting our immigrant and refugee communities.

Expanding the data and information we collect on our city's residents through a cloud-based surveillance system creates an infrastructure and potential loophole for federal immigration enforcement to target We urge you to vote against this expansion.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jill Friedberg, followed by Ashley Nerbovig.

Go ahead, Jill.

Hi, I live a block from Garfield High School.

The cameras that are already on the Garfield campus did not prevent the murder of Amar Murphy Payne, nor has that footage helped apprehend his killer.

But that's just anecdotal.

There are ample statistical data indicating that surveillance cameras Do not reduce crime.

However, installing surveillance cameras does create the appearance that the city is doing something to so-called reduce crime, but the data tells us that this very expensive violation of privacy will not achieve those goals, and the city council knows it.

At a time when the federal government is trampling human rights protections and threatening to wage war on so-called sanctuary cities, There is no true guarantee that the data and footage collected by these cameras won't end up in the wrong hands.

The city should be protecting its citizens, not making them even more vulnerable.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ashley Nerbovig followed by Howard Gale and then Katherine Dawson.

Go ahead, Ashley.

Hi.

Hi, I'm asking you to not extend STD's use of CCTV cameras.

I'm Ashley Nervovig, and I know you're going to hear a lot of comments against this legislation today.

And if you've walked into this chamber with your mind made up, I just ask that you open up a small crack in your certainty and consider our position.

I know that those of you who are planning to vote yes were elected on a public safety platform, and I know you do want to do right by this community.

And I'm just asking, look Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Howard Gale, followed by Katherine Dawson.

Go ahead, Howard.

Good afternoon.

Howard Gale.

Over 156,000 Seattleites who were foreign-born are now under imminent threat in an America where Seattle is high on the list of cities that our federal government wants to go to war with.

Those who, for a time, managed to escape kidnapping, detention, or deportation Will still face the daily fear and trauma from simple routine acts like going to work, going shopping, taking their children to school, going to church, enjoying cultural or religious festivals, never knowing when or where they might be abducted.

They and their loved ones will face life-altering traumas.

The question is, in the coming years, do we want to end up like the Americans of the 1940s who could only say, we were good, we did not partake in sending folks to internment camps?

Or do we want to be able to say, we did what we could to prevent Our next speaker is Katherine Dawson.

Katherine will be followed by Katie Gendry and Flora Wright.

Go ahead, Katherine.

Hi, I'm Katherine.

I'm a renter in District 3, and I'm calling to voice my opposition to expanding surveillance.

I live in Capitol Hill and previously lived in Central District.

The primary area's new surveillance is being proposed.

I'm opposed to this proposal because it expands the powers of Seattle Police Department and is more likely to further discrimination than it is to prevent harm.

Personally, I don't want to live in a neighborhood that has constant police surveillance.

It feels especially urgent, as many people have noted, because we're in a time of heightened state violence, including ICE abductions in the military occupation of U.S. cities.

We've seen this in our own city recently as well, so we can't promise it won't happen, with the anti-LGBTQ police violence in Cal Anderson when the neighborhood's affected, and the sharing of data through the Washington Department of Labor and Medicaid.

We can't afford right now to put any more power or trust in the hands of the police state.

I second the concerns that have been raised by the community, the ACLU, and the Office of Civil Rights, and I ask that you please vote no on expanding police video surveillance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Katie Gendry, who will be followed by Flora Wright.

Go ahead, Katie.

Hi, my name is Katie Gendry.

I live in D6.

For years, we've been telling you surveillance and policing do not keep us safe.

They actually make us more unsafe and cause significant harm in our communities.

Civil liberties groups have proved this, showing that Washington police have shared surveillance data from block license plate readers with the feds on the obscure SPD email list.

We're in a political climate now where our civil liberties are actively being violated.

We don't need your empty words or false promises or shallow values.

We need you to take bold and brave action to challenge the status quo and white supremacy and to hold firm in values of love for all people and of community care and support.

Show us that you are not supportive of the Trump administration.

Show us that you refuse to assist in kidnapping our neighbors.

Prove it by taking action now to protect our community members.

Vote no on increased surveillance.

We do not want more surveillance in our community.

No queremos más vigilancia en nuestras comunidades.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Flora Wright.

Flora will be followed by Michael Wilmarth and then Aidan Carroll.

Go ahead, Flora.

You may need to, there you go.

Hello.

Hello, I'm a resident of District 3 calling in to oppose the expansion of mass surveillance.

More surveillance helps Trump target Seattle's LGBTQ and immigrant communities, abortion seekers, protesters, and everyone's right to privacy.

Data from the King County Housing Authority's Flock ALPRs has been used hundreds of times to hunt immigrants and an abortion seeker from Texas, despite a state shield law.

Although Flock paused federal agencies' access to nationwide searches, they can still make direct requests through SPD's email server without public oversight.

Meanwhile, the feds have taken control of DC's Fusus RTCC, the same company SPD uses.

SPD has a history of abusing surveillance tools, buying on prisoners in 2020, and stalking former romantic partners.

Last month, they used CCTV to racially profile and arrest an innocent man and jail him for a week.

The only studies they cite in support of this text concluded, quote, no significant effects observed for violent crime.

And Seattle officials clearly didn't do enough research into this text, as they recently claimed they were duped by the Atlanta cop and Axon Ford member that sold them on Fusus.

Don't ignore the recommendations of the Community Surveillance Working Group or the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, which both oppose this expansion.

Listen to your constituents and vote no.

Our next speaker is Michael Wilmarth, and Michael will be followed by Aidan Carroll.

Go ahead, Michael.

Good afternoon.

My name's Michael Wilmarth.

I'm a renter in D3, and I'm calling in to voice my strong opposition to the proposed expansion of SPD surveillance capabilities.

criminalization doesn't make us safer and it feels particularly myopic to implement additional surveillance technology when just yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in favor of waiving Fourth Amendment protections for Los Angeles residents on the basis of racial profiling.

This morning the White House press secretary said that Trump would love to send armed troops into every Democrat run city in the country.

What do you think these tools will be used for and by whom?

How do you think they'll be used in a year?

Who exactly will any of this keep safe?

criminalization and surveillance of poor people, of black and brown folks, of immigrant communities, none of this does anything to improve safety or quality of life.

I simply cannot wrap my head around thinking this is a good idea.

If you truly care about the well-being of Seattleites, please vote no and start thinking about how you can leverage your position and your power to protect vulnerable people living in this city and fight back.

Thank you.

Our last remote speaker for this group will be Aiden Carroll.

Go ahead, Aiden.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

So we need to repair the social fabric.

The concept that efficient time saves nine is an old one, but it is the basic reality when we see that neither police nor surveillance can prevent or respond to crimes.

Now, this proposal was multi-wrong before Trump, but it seems to be extra obvious now.

I think it was necessary to point out, I moved up the list here because a bunch of people seemingly had to go back to work, and the stalling did not go unnoticed.

You know, Andy Shavert led the attack on the BLM Garden, and I'm sure that AP and Chris have been very involved in the attack on homelessness in the last decade.

The thousands of dead homeless are the ghosts.

Okay, and I'll move back into in-person speakers.

We have P.

Caleb, and then we have Charlotte Phillippe, and then Courtney DeRuin.

Caleb, I'm a local United Methodist pastor here in King County, and I'm here as a representative of some of my fellow faith leaders and migrant communities.

As a pastor, I've had the privilege of walking alongside and providing pastoral care for migrant communities throughout King County.

These communities are already deeply fearful about the risk of being detained and denied due process.

As they go through the grocery store, as they walk their children to school, as they go to work, or even go to church.

How much more fearful will they be knowing that there's increased surveillance throughout Seattle that could be used to target them and their families?

As a pastor and as a person of faith, I take very seriously Seattle's value of providing sanctuary, and I urge you to also take this value seriously by delaying the surveillance pilot program until it can be properly evaluated and conduct meaningful community engagement with migrant communities about the impact of this program.

Thank you for your time.

After Charlotte, we have Courtney.

Okay, so I just want to tell a story about, you know, like in Orange County, the Home Depot cameras.

They're, you know, being used to help ICE.

And I think that what we're seeing in our country right now is we're seeing local law officers colluding with ICE.

Who, like the caller said, is profiling people.

Even though the Supreme Court did not support the lower court ruling, we know that it's not right.

And we still have to do the right thing.

We're a sanctuary city and we have to have a stance of non-cooperation.

Why are we making things easier for people that we know want to hurt our community?

I think that we want to get ready for being invaded by the national government.

We now have Courtney.

After Courtney it will be Emi Kayama.

Madam Council President, members of the Council, my name is Charlotte Philippe.

I'm a resident of District 3 and I'm on the 43rd board of directors for the 43rd LD Dems speaking in my personal capacity today.

I'm opposing the expansion of the closed circuit television and the real-time crime center.

The scale of the expansion is concerning.

I agree with most of my fellow public commenters here today.

We see that the federal government is ignoring the laws on ink and paper.

I don't trust them to not scrape the data.

I don't trust them to interfere with the data collection.

Seattle's already on the watch list for the federal government.

Again, why are we making it easier?

To the Bob Caucus, Bob Kettle, Bob Saka, you were both military intelligence officers.

You know what they were capable of then.

Who knows what they're capable of now?

Why are you doing this to us?

Count how many people who are here opposing this, and now count how many people are here opposing this, or supporting this.

Done already?

Thank you.

Oh, no.

Kimmy.

Emi?

Yeah, following Emi will be Geoff Krull.

Hello, this is Emi Koyama, representing College of Rights and Safety and a former member of the Community Task Force and Community Legal System Realignment that was tasked to make a recommendation to City Council.

One of the recommendations we made about four years ago was to use extreme caution on the use of surveillance technology and algorithmic decision-making that are known to have disparate negative impact on communities of color, and other marginalized communities.

The contrary to the recommendations sought by the council and for which we spent the whole year deliberating in earnest, this council seemed to be rushing toward a further expansion of criminalization tech without even investigating its efficacy of harms.

And at the very moment, the federal forces are threatened to step in and overwrite local laws and policies protecting immigrants and other members of our community.

So the stake cannot be higher, and I ask the Council to wait on the surveillance bills at least until studies have been conducted for the pros and cons of existing pilot and until the courts sort out limits of federal executive power and local

Now I have Jeff Kroll and then David Montoya.

Jeff Kroll.

And then David Montoya.

Then Nicole.

I can't read the last name.

It starts with a B.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Hi there.

My name is Jeff.

I continuously come to these things to hopefully speak to you about what I feel is important to the city.

I've lived in the Central District, and I've spent a lot of time in CID.

Yeah, there's a lot of going on.

There's a lot of busyness.

But living in the Central District specifically, the most crime I see is people speeding down 23rd.

And I don't think you're going to catch anything on camera.

It just seems so backwards to install cameras in what otherwise is a pretty peaceful residential area.

I think there's a street camera right outside my HUD subsidized housing that pretty much just looks in my window.

I can actually see the same things it's seeing, and I haven't seen a single thing that's concerning.

What I am concerned about is the amount of homeless people that are going to be rolled up into this and put in on a straight path to the prison system.

Like, that's what I'm really- Thank you.

David, then it's Nicole.

I believe it's maybe Beach, Botch?

Excuse me for mispronouncing, and then BJ last.

My name's David, and I'm asking you to oppose this surveillance proposal.

Firstly, thank you to Councilmember Rankin for having the Office of Civil Rights demonstrate to your fellow council members how damaging forcing this through would be.

It should give pause to any council members claiming to care about the well-being of the city's citizens.

A fascist authoritarian is currently weaponizing a police and surveillance state that was created by both political parties and that this council is trying to push through a sort of diet MAGA proposal.

ICE agents have already shown an ability to sidestep sanctuary city protections, and Washington agencies like the Department of Licensing have already collaborated with ICE.

ICE is already abducting our neighbors, and these assaults will only intensify as fascism becomes more entrenched due to bodies like this failing to meet the moment.

As the ACLU and many organizations and speakers have pointed out, surveillance does not reduce crime.

You are stripping people of their rights to privacy.

This will disproportionately affect my neighbors.

I see my unhoused neighbors suffer daily.

The city has failed to both listen to and address their needs.

Nicole.

Thank you.

After Nicole, it'll be BJ Lass and then Mialani.

Good afternoon.

My name is Nicole Bache.

Councilperson Nelson, earlier you said our parks are our commons.

It's where we go for solitude.

Well, I go to them for community, specifically Denny Blaine Park.

Today's vote directly impacts, as you said, what we can be as a city together.

Chicagoan at heart, I moved to Seattle 11 years ago.

I've never been to City Hall until yesterday and now again today to carry a message to you, our message.

Seattle has a pee problem.

People pointing private cameras at public places, pressuring peaceful park goers to part from previously safe spaces.

I've seen firsthand the effect of constant cameras that they can have on community.

I've heard how Seattle Park users feel less welcome in their favorite place to commune.

I've talked to the ice cream vendors whose sales are down due to less pedestrians.

Today's vote will not reflect on you lightly.

Will you align yourself publicly with the fascist regime sweeping our nation, or will you align Seattle with other international cities investing in uplifting the very communities this vote would harm?

BJ Last.

And then after BJ will be Miliani and then we'll go back into remote speakers.

My name is BJ Last.

I'm here speaking against the expansion of CCTV and the RTCC.

I want to make one thing clear first.

We need to clear up the amount of time.

Council members keep saying that CCTV footage is only stored for five days.

That is grossly incorrect.

The law allows it to be stored for 30 days.

Claiming it as five is misleading the public.

If you want it to be five, you can amend the bill today to change it to five.

Otherwise, stop misleading the public.

Next, people have talked about this data getting used by ICE and immigration enforcement.

We know that.

SPD has already been working with ICE.

They attacked people who are trying to prevent ICE from kidnapping someone to make sure ICE could.

Amendment A even specifies that Seattle works with the federal immigration authorities on criminal matters.

We know how this plays out.

ICE just asks for information, swearing at something criminal, and SPD hands it over to them.

There's nothing guarding against that happening.

Surveillance isn't safety.

We have over 20 years of studies, and if it was, this would be going in Ballard, Wallingford, Queen Anne, not the CID.

Our next three remote speakers will be...

We have one more speaker and then we'll go into remote speakers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Maylani and I'm a resident worker and historian in the Chinatown International District.

I oppose the expansion of the surveillance network.

You put 20 cameras on nearly every intersection in the CID.

People can't enter or leave the neighborhood without being surveilled.

You did this to a poor immigrant community that remembers the racist surveillance of the 20th century when the government surveilled Japanese Americans before sending them to concentration camps and the cops had books of Chinese mugshots to profile and justify police violence.

Surveillance and policing does not make my community safe.

In fact, you are actively putting us in harm's way.

Because the CCTV data is not stored in Washington, our immigrant community is being put at risk of ICE.

The surveillance expansion rolls out the red carpet for ICE to kidnap our families, friends, and neighbors.

Do we not deserve safety?

Please do not expand the surveillance network today or ever.

Thank you.

Our next three remote speakers will be Hamza Kaiser.

Hold on.

Can I just, just a reminder to please jazz hand snaps in between speakers, but we do have a lot of people signed up and we want to make sure that everybody has a chance to speak and that we proceed in a, in a way that respects everybody's time and comment.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Jody.

Yes, and I'll remind the remote speakers to press star six when you hear your message.

Our next three remote speakers are Hamza Keiser, Allegra, Silcox, and Hannah Jones.

Go ahead, Hamza.

Hi, my name is Hamza Keiser.

I'm a citizen and resident of District 3, represented by Council Member Hollingsworth, and I'm calling to oppose the expansion of CCTV and the use of cloud-based real-time times under software.

These proposals are not only ineffective, they're also shockingly ill-timed.

We already live under a surveillance state where people who were police in other states have access to our traffic jam footage and have already used it to track people seeking abortion access.

ICE is already using tools like this to find and track people they want to deport.

This is not some hypothetical potential misuse of these tools.

It is happening now, today, and expanding the surveillance network that allows ICE's dragnet to function and putting any of that data in a cloud service is the last thing we should be considering.

We should instead be restricting the use of technologies like this so the federal government and other states cannot use them against vulnerable people.

And you should be making the data we already store less easily accessible.

You have a responsibility and an opportunity to protect our privacy as well as our safety in this moment.

That is what it would look like to rise to the occasion.

And I want to stress that most of the people here, like most of the people here, that right now the most significant threat we face as a sanctuary city is from the federal government.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Allegra Silcox followed by Hannah Jones.

Go ahead, Allegra.

My name is Allegra Sulcox.

I'm a new resident of Seattle District 7, and I vehemently oppose the council bills aiming to expand surveillance of Seattle.

You don't know who I am, though, so let's consider who else opposes this and has urged the council to halt the pilot program.

In the city, the Office of Civil Rights, whose report has said research has not demonstrated that surveillance technologies reduce persistent felony and violent crimes.

The Community Surveillance Working Group, whose Surveillance Impact Report logged 12 key concerns with these bills.

The Seattle Renters Commission and the Community Police Commission, whose letter states that the community members are overwhelmingly against expansion with immediate concerns of the growing risk of actors outside the city, like ICE, misusing surveillance information.

The city is breaching its commitment to scrutinize the surveillance, whether it works and its impact on civil rights during a two-year pilot before continuation or expansion.

In addition, over 60 community groups oppose, including the ACLU of Washington, who adds that the City Council has rushed this decision.

Please.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Hannah Jones, who will be followed by Nico Buccaro and then Ashley Ford.

Go ahead, Hannah.

Hannah, have you pressed star six, please?

Interesting question.

Okay, we're going to move on to Nico Buccaro, who will be followed by Ashley Ford.

Go ahead, Nico.

Okay, let's move on to Ashley Ford, followed by Stephanie Valardi.

Go ahead, Ashley Ford.

Hello, City Council.

This is Ashley Ford, co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission and Development Director of the Washington Bus.

Earlier this year, most of you took quick action to sign on to an ordinance declaring Seattle to be a welcoming city for 2SLGBTQIA people and affirming our right to gender-affirming care.

So we know that the Trump administration is coming for queer people.

You all know that the Trump administration is coming for Seattle, yet we're taking steps to collect information that's going to put us in harm's way, something that's not at all welcoming.

I really need you all to understand that two queer and immigrant communities, this additional surveillance isn't public safety.

This is data collection that is going to be weaponized against us if the federal administration keeps heading in the direction it is, and we know that it probably will.

You can say that Washington has laws in place that protect us from this, but the fact is we know these laws don't protect us as much as we once thought.

Please don't do the Trump administration's job for them.

Please protect our civil rights.

Please delay this expansion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Stephanie Velarde, followed by Edith Evergreen and then Scott Sternberg.

Go ahead, Stephanie.

Hi, my name's Stephanie Valerdi, Ph.D.: : Hi, my name is Stephanie Valerdi and I work at Perinatal Support Washington and we support families navigating the challenges of new parenthood.

Stephanie Valerdi, Ph.D.: : I also work for Q Law Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the dignity and respect of LGBTQ plus Washingtonians within the legal system.

Stephanie Valerdi, Ph.D.: : We stand in strong opposition to any expansion of the surveillance in our city.

Stephanie Valerdi, Ph.D.: : The families we support are already facing extraordinary pressures.

Many are afraid to leave their homes.

Not because they're doing anything wrong, but because they live in a society that too often punishes vulnerability.

Increasing surveillance doesn't make them feel safer.

It makes them more visible to punitive systems that are more likely to separate families than support them.

Postpartum mental health struggles are not criminal.

Poverty is not criminal.

Struggling to survive in a system that doesn't support you is not criminal, but surveillance reinforces those narratives.

It increases fear and deters people from accessing care and deepens the trauma that they are already trying to heal from.

We cannot be complicit in building systems that monitor rather than nurture.

Our next speaker is Edith Evergreen, who will be followed by Scott Sternberg.

Go ahead, Edith.

Edith, you may need to press Star 6. Okay, we're going to move on to...

Oh, go ahead, Edith.

There, I see you.

Okay.

I lived in Seattle for over 50 years, and I strongly urge the Council to vote no on the expansion of surveillance cameras.

I believe they are a violation of American citizens' right to privacy, the creeping nature of surveillance, Max of constant and vigilant observation of law-abiding citizens with no future understanding of how the videos would be used.

I have been told that there is a budget deficit and programs for those in need have been cut.

I don't see how the City Council can justify the funds necessary for this project.

The data does not support the examples given by the Seattle Police Department do not justify the use of surveillance cameras for law-abiding citizens.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Scott Sternberg.

Scott will be followed by Jessica Castellanos and then Liz Walters.

Go ahead, Scott.

Scott, please press star six.

Hello.

I vehemently oppose the proposed expansion of surveillance and ask each of the council members to reject this proposed expansion.

My name is Scott Sternberg of Beacon Hill.

I'm a public health researcher and a family therapist.

So I bring that background to my stance here.

Surveillance is a tool of social oppression and state violence.

Surveillance is used to criminalize communities, particularly marginalized communities, and create pretext to arrest, incarcerate, deport, kidnap, and disappear people.

These dangers were highlighted by many in public comments previously when the pilot project using these tools was first proposed.

However, you, the council, ignored it and voted to approve the pilot.

Now you propose to expand surveillance.

I ask that you again vote no.

The research demonstrates over and over that CCTV does not make...

Our next speaker is Jessica Castellanos, followed by Liz Walters and then Cody D. Go ahead, Jessica.

Jessica Castellanos, Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Jessica Castellanos, and I'm speaking as a Seattle District 2 resident and as managing director of Kids Needed Defense, also known as KIND.

Which provides direct legal services to unaccompanied children and youth in our city.

I urge you to vote no on extending the surveillance pilot.

Extending just three months in without evaluation is premature and dangerous.

This is not hypothetical.

Just last weekend, the federal government tried to unlawfully deport Guatemalan children in federal custody and warned of more involuntary repatriations, possibly impacting children in Washington.

Seattle's contract with Axon only increases these risks.

Without safeguards, sensitive data is vulnerable.

Seattle must live up to its values as a welcoming city.

Please pause this extension and protect our most vulnerable residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Liz Walters, who will be followed by Cody Dee and then Karen Chapman.

Go ahead, Liz.

Hello.

My name is Liz Walters, asking the Council to reject the proposed CCTV extension.

I speak today from my experience as a case manager for homeless youth in King County, as well as a longtime Capitol Hill and Central District resident.

While I think there are hidden dangerous intentions that SPD and the federal government hope to use the surveillance for, I nonetheless want to state that expanding surveillance would be a grave misuse of vital financial resources that can instead be used to actually prevent the crime that the surveillance is said to address.

Surveillance doesn't stop crime.

Surveillance does not prevent crime.

What prevents crime is ending poverty.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Cody Dee, followed by our last remote speaker in this group, Karen Chapin.

Go ahead, Cody.

Hello, my name is Cody.

I'm a local resident and citizen, and I'm deeply concerned about the proposed increase in surveillance technology and how it will deeply negatively impact our community.

I'm asking that we do not expand city surveillance technology and systems and instead invest in more important and more effective programs for the betterment of the city.

Many people in Seattle, despite their own best efforts and the efforts of their neighbors, are still lacking adequate shelter, food, medical care, and other essential basic needs.

This city would be investing inefficiently in their community by putting more resources into surveillance while people still suffer while they live without what they need to survive and thrive and even die.

Studies have shown that increased surveillance does not actually decrease violent crime, although it would make vulnerable populations even more vulnerable to exploitation and harm by those who would have easier illegitimate access or usage of this information with these proposed changes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last remote speaker for this group is Karen Chapin.

Go ahead, Karen, and please press star six.

Hello.

Hello, my name is Karen Chapin, and I also oppose the additional CCTV surveillance.

I am anxious, and so my words might I would urge you to reflect on how this call and this meeting has gone so far.

I don't believe that anyone has been in approval for this so far, so I would really urge you to listen to your constituents and the people that are in your community right now.

Thank you.

Okay, we'll go back into in-person speakers.

We're gonna start with Sue Kay, Joan Fox, and then Crow Delavan.

Good afternoon, councilmembers.

My name is Sue Kay.

I'm 80 years in Seattle now.

Just had my birthday.

And I'm here representing the CID community.

I'm a member of the CID coalition, also known as Humbaos, not hotels.

Maybe we need to say Humbaos, not surveillance.

I just want to say again that our community goes way back.

We've had a lot of destruction, and now is not the time to put in surveillance cameras.

We have a lot of other pressing needs.

We need housing, and like many people have said, let's make this an amazing Seattle.

I've grown up here for 80 years and graduated from Garfield and the U of W.

It's not just the CID, but all of Seattle.

Let's cancel the surveillance.

That's stupid.

You had Joan and then Crow.

Hi.

Thank you for hearing our comments, Seattle City Council.

I'm Joan, and I'm going to speak in my personal capacity as a trans person.

Right now, we have seen the Trump Department of Justice label my community as mentally defective as a way of trying to take away our rights.

As somebody who works directly with trans refugees who fled to this city, Because of the persecution they faced by our federal government and in cities across this country and states across this country, this expansion of surveillance would directly put them at risk.

Right now, I have held them in my arms as they've cried, as they've felt scared.

Councilmember Kettle, I know you're trying to keep people safer, but this is not the way to do it.

This will put my community at risk.

It will put the most vulnerable members of our city in harm's way.

I know that's not your intention and I know you have a chance to change your mind.

Thank you.

We now have Crow and then after Crow will be Britt Lampert and then Dan House.

Hello, my name is Crow Delavan, and I am a resident of District 4, and I am here today to urge you to vote no to expand the surveillance of SPD's CCTV cameras.

ICE can and will gain access to this surveillance.

And after the recent Supreme Court ruling, we'll use the CCTV footage for more racial profiling and racial targeting of our most vulnerable populations.

Seattle is known across the country as a sanctuary city for immigrants and for those seeking reproductive care, for those seeking gender-affirming care, and approving this expansion would put all of these communities in harm's way, and I'm urging you to vote against it.

Thank you.

So we have Britt, and then Dan Howes, and then Chris Rojas.

Hi, council members.

I'm Britt Lampert.

I just moved back to Central District a few weeks ago after spending two years in D.C.

where I worked for the White House under both Biden and Trump administrations.

And I'm not against surveillance in general all the time.

I worked in national security.

I understand that sometimes it is needed, but I do not trust the Trump administration to not go after this data.

And I don't think that we should pursue it until there is more information about how you're going to protect Seattle from the federal government when they do come after us.

So thank you very much for your time.

Hi, my name is Dan Howes.

I live in District 5 and I work in District 6, and expanding video surveillance will not make this city safer.

On my way here today, I was waiting for the bus, and as happens sometimes in this city, I was accosted by one of my unhoused neighbors who was experiencing addiction.

It was upsetting, and it made me feel unsafe.

However, I know that expanding video surveillance would not prevent incidents like this.

What will prevent that is spending our limited resources on housing, on addiction treatment, on mental health treatment, and expanding video surveillance will make this city less safe.

It will make all of us less safe, especially our immigrant neighbors, our unhoused neighbors, and our trans neighbors, and people seeking reproductive health.

So I urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to vote no on these bills.

Thank you.

We're going to have Chris Littlehouse, and then Bill Clifford, and then Caroline Mueller.

Hello, my name is Chris Rojas.

I have worked in the field of computer vision for the last 15 years.

As an expert in the field of computer vision, I'm here to warn you that it is especially dangerous at this point in history to turn Seattle into a mass surveillance state with the additional proposed CCTV cameras.

The technology used to be able to track the movement of everyone and to be able to roll that back in time to determine where anyone has been for the last however long was developed and tested as a tool of war in Iraq.

What did they do with that technology after it was done, if they were done with the war?

They brought it to US cities in 2016 until the ACLU told the police to stop using it.

Does Seattle, a liberal stronghold who has routinely stood up to Trump, want to install a tool of war against its people, a mass surveillance system that can be used, that can be taken over by the federal government to target anyone, like the governor, the mayor, this city council, you?

Do not install.

We have Bill Clifford and then Caroline Mueller.

Is Bill here?

Bill Clifford.

And then Caroline Mueller and then Garrett Johnson.

And could people please line up or be ready to speak as soon as the person in front of us?

It's really hard to hear the names out there.

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

Thank you for letting us know.

Can you talk louder or turn your mic up?

Thank you.

I sent you my comments this morning by email, so I'm not going to go over them again.

I think I made some good points about the environmental impact of artificial intelligence that's going to be used in this that goes against the decarbonization goals of Seattle.

But I want to talk about two things that happened Personally, to me, I moved into the Garfield Nova Target area in 1979. I know kids have been shot.

I know kids have done the shooting.

I also worked in youth diversion for a while.

And I can tell you all those kids would testify that a camera doesn't stop an angry, scared, or alienated kid with a gun and a poor impulse control from shooting somebody.

That's just the way it goes.

I also drove for Metro for 36 years after Mark McLaughlin was shot in 1998. We got video cameras on the bus with the promise they'd never use them for discipline.

Our current newsletter says they're pulling video 6,000 times a year for minor complaints.

Okay, please call the next four people.

And we have three quiet in between people.

Speaking would help you understand and hear the name she's calling.

So we need to pick up the pace of this a little bit by shortening the time in between speakers.

The last three speakers in this set are Caroline Mueller, Jarrett Johnson, and Elena Arikaki.

Carolina Mueller, Garrett Johnson, Elena Arikaki.

All right.

Hi, City Council.

I'm a resident of District 2. Hi, Mark Solomon.

I come to you today as a member of our community who's deeply concerned about the expansion of CCTV.

See, I'm a scientist by trade.

When it comes to planning out experiments, I use known data.

I start my studies and prioritize my energy in areas that have shown, statistically, to have the highest likelihood of success.

A 2019 study of CCTV by J.

John College of Criminal Justice collated all CCTV data from the 40 years prior and organized changes in crime into the following five categories.

Disorder, which includes addictions and mental health, drug trafficking, property damage, vehicle damage, and violent crime.

In their conclusion, CCTV only significantly reduced property and vehicle damage, where disorder and violent crime reduction were not even close to a p-value of 0.05 significance.

Therefore, I believe CCTV has the ability to monitor property, but it will not change our culture to protect the people of Seattle.

I encourage you to look at what Chicago is doing and follow their lead.

Thank you for your time.

Hello, counsel.

My name is Garrett.

I live in District 3. I feel like this is a lazy way of handling crime.

I oppose the real-time crime center because there are better and proven alternatives to prevent crime than mass surveillance.

For example, Denver's STAR program sends mental health professionals to non-violent 911 calls, reducing levels to 35% in the first year.

Seattle's own LEAD program diverts people from jails into services, which we could also fund using the money for this program.

Oakland's violence interruption team has reduced shootings by more than 50% over several years, and crime prevention through environmental design.

I am a planner, so I know that proper lighting and design can help reduce crime other than surveilling people in their bathrooms.

These strategies cost less, build trust, and address root causes.

Thank you.

Oh, I just don't know.

Our last speaker is Elena, and then we'll go into remote speakers.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Elena, and I'm here representing Friends of Little Saigon.

We oppose increased surveillance technology in Seattle because of the risks it poses to our immigrant and refugee communities.

We're seeing truly frightening threats to immigrant community safety.

Just yesterday, the US Supreme Court gave permission for ICE to conduct raids in LA based on racial profiling.

Raids have been getting more violent and rampant across the country.

The federal government has been using surveillance technology to aid in deportation efforts, and we can't risk Seattle data being used for this purpose.

Research shows CCTV cameras do not reduce violent crime or make our communities safer.

Instead, we must invest in community-centered solutions to public safety threats, such as supporting our neighbors who are experiencing the greatest need, which will raise the overall quality of life for all Seattle residents.

We ask that the city delay the expansion of their surveillance pilot and do community engagement with immigrant, refugee, and other communities about the unintended impacts of increased surveillance before any action is taken.

We urge you to oppose expanding surveillance in our city and instead invest in solutions that address the root causes of crime.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next three remote speakers are Noel Rivard, followed by Julia Buck, and then AVO.

Go ahead, Noel.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, great.

I'm Noel and I'm a resident of District 2 and I'm here to vehemently reject the bill that we're here talking about.

I'm a little upset that I have to be rushed through this because this is a very rushed decision on your part and it's clear to me that we're rushing to get out of the door when 120 constituents are here I'm vehemently opposing this with data and backed up by what the peoples actually want and need.

So I urge you to stand with the people.

We are all the people here with people's movements for justice and lasting peace.

I don't know if it's been made aware to everyone yet, but our federal government is now called the Department of War, and that will be against us if we move Thank you.

Our next speaker is Julia Buck who will be followed by AVO and then Lois Martin.

Go ahead, Julia.

Hello, my name is Julia Buck and I'm a resident of District 6 in Seattle.

Since I last spoke about the surveillance in the City Council meeting, Seattle officials managed to become a national embarrassment because they were quote-unquote duped By Marshall Freeman, who was introduced as a member of the Atlanta Police Department, actually was a board member of FUSIS's board, the RTCC provider.

In addition, The federal government has taken control of D.C.' 's FUSIS system and is using it to impose martial law and invade a U.S. city.

Meanwhile, our own Mike Solon, the president of SPOG, is praising Trump's takeover of D.C.

and posing with Tom Homan.

This expansion is Vici garbage.

I urge you to reject it.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is A.V.

O followed by Lois Martin and then T.

Sanen.

Go ahead, A.V.

My name's Abby.

I live in District 7. And honestly, I'm just appalled that this technology is even being marketed to me as something that's going to make our city safer.

Moving increased surveillance will turn Seattle into an even stronger surveillance state that seeks out, tracks, and punishes people of color, immigrants in-house, the LGBT community.

I could go on.

Extending surveillance would do nothing but harm marginalized communities, and I'm deeply concerned that this technology is going to be used to coordinate with ICE and other federal agencies to brutally disappear people, as we've already seen.

I would be dumb to believe that this technology would be used to protect anyone except the wealthy, white, and conservative, which is a group of people who want nothing more than to stamp out any semblance of difference or diversity.

For these reasons, and for so many more I can't name right now due to time, I'm urging you to please vote no on implementing additional surveillance technology.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lois Martin, who will be followed by T.

Sannen and then Olivia Green.

Go ahead, Lois.

Good afternoon, council members.

Nearly every major international city, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, New York, relies on cameras to discourage crime, provide evidence in emergencies, and protect residents.

Seattle deserves the same tools to keep our community safe.

But we must pair this expansion with safeguards.

As the federal government, including ICE, excuse these systems for immigration enforcement or community surveillance, the city must shut down access immediately.

Cameras should never be weaponized against immigrant, BIPOC, or vulnerable communities.

With strong oversight, equity and placement, transparency and operation, and a firewall against federal misuse, Seattle can strengthen safety while upholding its values of inclusion and protection.

Please move this measure forward with the amendment to ensure these cameras serve the people and not federal enforcement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is T.

Sannen, who will be followed by Olivia Green and then Demian Godin.

Go ahead, T.

Good afternoon.

My name is T.

Sannen, speaking on behalf of the ACLU of Washington.

We strongly oppose council bills expanding CCTV and RTCC.

These technologies will not make our community safer, and they will create real harm.

Surveillance data is already being requested and accessed by out-of-state and federal agencies, and it's being used to target vulnerable groups, including immigrants and people seeking gender-affirming care and reproductive health care.

In Washington, D.C., the local RTCC has become a hub for potential federal access to both public and private cameras.

This kind of overreach is not hypothetical.

It is happening.

Here in Washington State, DHS and ICE have already accessed information from Washington agencies, despite existing protections.

Seattle should not be next.

We urge you to listen to the overwhelming opposition to these technologies, including from the City's own Community Surveillance Working Group.

Please vote no on both Council bills.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Olivia Green, followed by Damian Godin, and then Amy Jervaisickel.

Go ahead, Olivia.

Hi, my name is Olivia.

I'm an LGBTQ resident of Seattle, and I'm calling to urge you to vote no on expanded surveillance for the Seattle Police Department.

The location of the cameras in the CID and around Garfield High School and around Cal Anderson Park disproportionately target Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, renters, and queer people, people with disabilities, low-income, and houseless residents.

Also, the expansion of Seattle's surveillance network includes the concentrated surveillance of children, specifically in the CD, Garfield, and Nova, an alternative high school that serves BIPOC youth, queer youth, and unhoused youth.

So Seattle's mass surveillance is working to further build the school-to-prison pipeline.

Surveillance is also a powerful tool being used by ICE and Border Control to target immigrant communities in Washington State and in Seattle.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Damian Gawden, followed by Amy Juravistical and then Alicia Hendricks.

Go ahead, Damian.

Hi.

I'm a Seattle homeowner in D6, and I care deeply about real public safety.

That's why I strongly oppose the expansion of CCTV and Realtime Crime Center.

The proposed expansion is misguided and irresponsible.

Contrary to vendor claims, such technologies will not make our community safer.

In fact, they'll put vulnerable communities in greater danger.

We're being delusional if we think the data being collected here will not be used by ICE or Homeland Security to bypass due process and kidnap and abduct members of our community.

This alone should Lead the Council to put a pause on this increased surveillance.

We also know that this surveillance is going to target our most vulnerable communities.

And is it...

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amy Juravizical followed by Alicia Hendricks and then Dre Say.

Go ahead, Amy.

Hi, my name's Amy Julevisi-Gun.

I'm calling from Lower Queen Anne, District 7, Bob Kettle's district, and I am calling to oppose the CCTV expansion.

As a lot of other public commenters have mentioned, the surveillance targets and makes more vulnerable lots of communities, such as immigrants and folks seeking healthcare for abortion or gender-affirming care.

And I also want to implore Bob Kettle and the rest of the city council to think about if they don't see themselves as one of those vulnerable community members that perhaps thinking about the fluid nature of crime and anybody could be considered an undesirable dissenter, a protester who is worth surveilling and targeting unfairly.

The surveillance can go as far as monitoring who shows up to which community meetings and who is frequenting which businesses.

It's expensive.

It's dangerous.

It's ineffective at reducing crime and it's an act of betrayal for all Seattleites.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alicia Hendricks, who will be followed by our last speaker for this remote group, Dre Say.

Go ahead, Alicia.

Hello, I'm Al Hendricks.

I'm an active duty Air Force pilot and I'll be expressed to represent my own as a city citizen.

As ICE raids increase and BIPOC immigrants are separated from their families without due process I do not believe that increasing surveillance on areas of higher immigrant and unhoused populations is ethical or conducive to maintaining healthy working communities or stable families.

I believe my taxpayer dollars should help people access equitable housing, food options, healthcare, and education.

I believe we can fight crime by investing in one another as human beings rather than increasing the risk of our own and our neighbors personally identifying information being absorbed by the state and mishandled by the government.

Governor Bob Ferguson has declared that our state is to never bend the knee to authoritarianism.

Surveillance is a key tool of fascism, and if we choose to increase police surveillance as opposed, we would be casting aside our city values of fostering a thriving, equitable, and sustainable community, using the disregard of dignity of our citizens, and instead pouring funding into tools of oppression.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last speaker for this remote group is Dre Say.

Go ahead, Dre.

Hi, my name is Dre and I'm a member of the Seattle Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression.

And I'm opposed to the expansion of surveillance.

I do not trust SPD with our data.

I'm worried that we as the Seattle community do not have community control of the police nor community control of this surveillance.

This is a police department that loves Trump and has been sued recently, even within their own department over issues regarding racism and sexism.

I'm also worried about the CCTV expansion near Garfield High School because I'm concerned SPD will use this data as a way to criminalize Black students instead of addressing community safety.

As others have spoken about, I'm especially opposed to this expansion of expensive big tech surveillance while the attacks from the oppressive Trump-led federal government are expanding.

For instance, with the expanded data collected, Trump and the National Guard come in and take over this real-time crime center.

BSLU and community members are opposed to it and I'm opposed to this too.

Thank you.

Okay, we're gonna go back to in-person speakers.

I will try to speak a little bit louder.

My apologies, we'll use numbers, which is what I prefer to ensure everyone understands where we're at.

So we are now at number 31. 31 of 65. Okay, so I'm gonna call it the next four names so you can start lining up.

And so we have Vanessa Reyes, Nera Selson, Madison Barber, and then Sarah Turner.

Oh, just a second.

Okay.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Vanessa Reyes.

I'm the policy manager with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network and a resident of Seattle.

I'm joining the many people and organizations, along with the city's own Office of Civil Rights and the Community Police Commission, speaking against expanding CCTV and real-time crime center surveillance technology.

This increased surveillance creates more risks to immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized communities, especially when this technology is operated by private parties.

This summer, we have seen how our local and state protections have been disregarded by a federal administration intent on using every tool available to terrorize immigrant communities.

There have been reports of how our data from our state Department of Licensing, our state Medicaid program, and also license plate readers used by the King County Housing Authority have been accessed by ICE, despite our local attempts to protect that data.

Seattle can't call itself a welcoming city for immigrants while expanding another avenue that can be used to detain and deport our neighbors.

Please vote no to expand surveillance.

Hello again, everybody.

You may remember me as Neera Selsen, Sarah's progressive twin who cares about your civil liberties.

Mom says I'm the pretty one.

And I'm here to voice my opposition against the CCT cameras.

First, I want to talk about the asinine comments that Councilmember Kettle said during the committee vote.

When people were concerned about the Trump administration invading Seattle and using these cameras for illegal purposes, Bob said that wasn't going to happen, and the public commenters had talking points.

They weren't talking points.

They were legitimate fears that we have.

ICE has already used data from the Department of Licensing and Department of Health, and the Trump administration will use the cameras for deportation because you all write terrible bills.

Next, I want to address my council member, Joy Hollingsworth.

You proposed the cameras around Garfield, which is down the street from me.

What will actually help students at Garfield is fully funding mental health services, funding after-school programs, and violence prevention programs.

You posted a tasteless meme last night that showed how Seattle progressives help people of color.

Well, I can tell you how the council can help people of color, and that is to vote no on the CCT cameras.

Finally, these cameras have not helped preventing crime in my name.

Thank you.

We have Madison Barber and then Sarah Turner and I believe it's Sage Mitchell.

Hello, my name is Madison Barber.

I'm a recent resident of District 1, and I'm here to encourage y'all to vote no to CB 121052 and CB 121053. I recently moved up here from New Orleans, Louisiana, where similar technology was used, and I can tell y'all firsthand that it has done nothing to mitigate or even prevent crime.

And if anything, the ordinances that y'all are proposing would be dangerous and invasive to our communities, particularly our marginalized communities, as well as being antithetical to Seattle being a sanctuary city.

And if all else, these ordinances would be symbolic of bending the knee to the Trump administration.

So vote no.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers.

My name is Sarah Turner, and I live a block off Aurora Avenue in Councilmember Juarez's district, and I'm a member of University Congregational United Church of Christ in Councilmember Rivera's district.

As a Christian and as a resident of an already highly surveilled neighborhood, I'm deeply concerned about civil rights violations by expanding the city's real-time video surveillance.

This expanded surveillance puts already vulnerable people in our neighborhoods at even higher risk.

Our unhoused neighbors, our immigrant neighbors, regardless of their documentation or citizenship status, our black and brown neighbors, our LGBTQ neighbors, and our neighbors seeking reproductive health care.

This is a threat to the safety of all of us.

Seattle has been a sanctuary to so many communities.

As a Christian and as your constituent, I take seriously our claim to provide sanctuary, and I urge the City Council to also take this value seriously.

Thank you.

So after Sage, we then have Emma.

I believe it's Emma Hare, if I'm not mistaken, and then Nicholas Layden, and then Philip Lewis.

Hello, my name is Sage Mitchell.

I am opposed to the expansion of surveillance in Seattle.

It is deeply problematic to surveil the population and use it against us when the federal government is overreaching the way it is.

We have a situation where the three branches of government at the federal level are essentially colluding with each other, and the checks and balances are not doing what they're supposed to.

This is your opportunity, respectfully, to actually stand up and oppose what's happening there.

You need to protect this community.

That is your duty.

And I'm not seeing that yet.

I demand it.

I would like to encourage people to read IBM and the Holocaust and Automating Inequality.

Thank you.

We have Emma.

Good afternoon, counsel.

I'm a resident of the CID.

We are living in a time where the impact of a surveillance state weighs more heavily on an individual's experience than ever previously in the history of this country.

Lopsided immigration enforcement continues to stabilize and destroy communities both socially and economically across the country, especially in blue states like ours.

We would be doing ourselves a disservice by building a centralized video monitoring system that is easily co-opted by those anti-democratic and anti-American forces which are now at play.

This proposal makes assumptions about SPD's ability to handle this data in a non-discriminatory manner and inherently makes the assumption that these kinds of systems cannot be abused.

A well-meaning organization, which I believe you all are, can build something like a mass surveillance system with good intentions and then have that system used outside their control in hostile ways.

It cannot be stressed enough that the law does not matter to those for whom this data is valuable.

Okay, we now have Nicholas and then Philip Lewis and Chelsea Stevenson.

Nicholas, Philip, Chelsea, Guimero, Zazueta.

Nicholas is not here.

Okay, we'll proceed to Philip.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Phil Lewis, and I serve as one of the co-chairs for the Human Rights Commission and as a pastor in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

I've seen the impacts of policy like this firsthand actually in my mom's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Too often, these kinds of approaches in Memphis push young people into school to prison pipeline, rather than setting them up to thrive as the community desires for them to be able to do.

I want to thank Councilmember Rink and her office for the civil rights analysis that she requested from the Office of Civil Rights in that way.

And thank you for the amendments that you provided to protect our community in that way.

We know that surveillance does not crack down on violent crime.

Surveillance actually cracks down on the civil rights of black and brown immigrant communities in our neighborhoods and in our city.

We know that the realities of these impacts are felt throughout our city and in our country.

And this is why I urge you on behalf of the co-chairs of the Human Rights Commission to vote no on this bill, to follow the directive of the Office of Civil Rights that was given to you all.

Thank you for your time.

We have Chelsea and then Guimero and then Jason.

Hi, council members.

My name is Chelsea Stevenson and I'm a resident and voter of district five of council member Juarez.

And I'm a former longtime employee providing community safety work in district two and currently serving as a volunteer on the human rights commission.

I am here asking you guys today to please vote no on the expansion of the CCTV.

I, having worked a decade with young people and marginalized communities in South Seattle, I have seen firsthand the fears and the concerns brought forth when proposing legislation like this.

I am instead asking that you delay expansion of the Surveillance Pilot Program until comprehensive evaluation data is available and federal data access protections can be guaranteed.

Conduct meaningful community engagement with immigrant refugees and other vulnerable communities and invest instead in evidence-based safety programs that actually reduce harm.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You, Mettle, and then Jason, and then we'll go back into remote speakers.

Hello, counsel.

My name is Guillermo Sazueta, and I'm here on behalf of One America.

One America is an immigrant rights organization that has served the city for nearly 24 years.

And in the name of the safety and protection of our immigrant communities, we urge you to vote no on expanding the CCTV and RTCC surveillance technologies.

We are disappointed that the city has ignored the recommendations of its own surveillance working group, the Office of Civil Rights, advice against the adoption of these bills, and this raises serious concerns about the harm these technologies will bring, the lack of outreach by this council to communities who will be most impacted, and the hastiness of this process as a whole.

As service providers, we also fear that these tools will be used to target us when we're working with clients and members.

There is no guarantee that the city can protect this data from being abused by the federal government.

We live in deeply unprecedented times where this federal administration is using every tool at their disposal to violate our rights.

Let's not give them another tool.

We strongly urge this council to delay these bills and first conduct meaningful community engagement with these communities.

Thank you.

Jason Chen.

And Jason Chen will be the last speaker.

We'll move into remote speakers.

It would be incredibly naive of this council not to recognize how this proposed expansion of surveillance will end up targeting the most vulnerable among your constituents, activists, marginalized communities, and most relevantly now, immigrants.

Let's not forget how in 2020, Operation Palladium aggressively spied on civilians 24-7 in order to send federal agents into major sanctuary cities to increase immigrant arrests.

And now we've seen internal emails describing ICE's intent to, quote, flood the streets with agents.

Even if this is not misused by SPD, what guarantee can there possibly be that DHS will not be able to subpoena for access to this coverage?

If you are a city council member who is opposed to the destructive, intrusive, and unconstitutional methods of the Trump administration, then vote against creating this dangerous and invasive surveillance network.

Thank you.

Our next three remote speakers will be Cody Zalewski, Michael Schroeder, followed by Jackson Marr.

Go ahead, Cody.

Hi, my name is Cody Zalewski from District 4, and I'm speaking strongly against the expansion of CCTV and real-time crime center software.

With ICE rounding up our neighbors in states like Texas, using the assistance to hunt down women and seek abortions in our state, I, for want, am not naive enough to think that this won't be used in the same way here.

Seattle has a progressive reputation with respect to civil liberties.

With the most recent primary results, it should be a reminder.

It's embarrassing to think that anyone here in the city would be gullible enough to assume that a mere pinkie square would prevent use by the current fascist administration.

It's only a matter of time before the National Guard is deployed in Seattle.

The City Council is another example of a timeless Democrat, bending in secrecy to Trump, and fundamentally, anyone who votes for this is a quizzling who shouldn't be reluctant.

Thank you, and I see my time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Schroeder, followed by Jackson Maher, and then Jordan Hume.

Go ahead, Michael Schroeder.

Hello.

Thanks for your time, council members.

My name is Michael Schroeder, and I live in Beacon Hill, Seattle.

I'm asking for the council to vote no to defending the use of PPPP surveillance across Seattle.

This is a warrantless dragnet and will be abused by the federal government We've shown that they are more than happy to send troops to squash political dissent.

Not only will this have a chewing effect on free speech, it is unnecessary.

Public data from the Seattle Police Department has shown that both property and violent crime rates have been decreasing.

Despite the SPD's claim that they are too understaffed to fight crime, Seattle's property crime is at a historic low, and violent crime has dropped below levels in 2018 before the spikes caused by the pandemic.

Our publicly available data shows that the police are operating perfectly well, better than ever, in fact, with their due staffing.

There's simply no reason to waste money on a system we don't need, we don't want, and will dramatically undermine our privacy.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jackson Marr, followed by Jordan Hume and then Nate Buck.

Go ahead, Jackson.

My name is Jackson.

I live in District 3, and I am urging the council to vote no to the surveillance program.

Despite the promises of police chief Sean Barnes and this council to protect Seattle from the Trump administration, SPD has already facilitated their mass deportation campaign.

Today, the council is considering giving that police department a massive expansion of surveillance that they would have no ability to prevent from falling into the hands of ICE or the federal government.

They have already promised, that administration has already promised to expand their police campaign beyond D.C.

to other blue cities, naming Seattle specifically.

They will come here.

The only question is whether we will have handed them the tools to crack down on immigrants, queer people, and communities of color that they have promised to attack.

I urge the council to delay expansion of the surveillance pilot program until federal data access protections can be guaranteed and to invest in evidence-based community safety programs that actually reduce harm while strengthening community trust, which is what many of you ran on in the first place.

I cede the rest of my time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jordan Hume, who will be followed by Nate Buck and then Nicole Albright.

Go ahead, Jordan.

Hi, my name is Jordan Hume.

I'm a resident of Capitol Hill.

I'm calling to strongly oppose the mass expansion of surveillance cameras in Capitol Hill and the rest of the city.

At a time when the federal government is trashing privacy laws, sending in the troops to cities like Seattle, and compelling cooperation from local law enforcement, it's truly an outrage that the council is considering a mass expansion of surveillance.

There is no way to assure that these cameras won't be turned against Seattleites to violate our protected rights to assembly and free speech.

If we think that some amendment to this or a state law is going to somehow prevent this abuse by the least law abiding presidency in our history, then we are incredibly naive.

ICE is already getting data from local and state law enforcement.

Why does this council want to make it easier for vulnerable Seattleites to be terrorized?

Also, I find it very interesting that when I review the map of the proposed camera locations, there are these dense clusters in Cap Hill, the Central District, and First Hill, but not in Ballard, not in Wallingford, or West Seattle.

Surely this council isn't suggesting that neighborhoods historically known for their large queer and Black communities are somehow in need of extra surveillance, right?

I strongly urge all of you to reject this mass expansion.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nate Buck, who will be followed by Nicole Albright and then Bea Jackson.

Go ahead, Nate.

Nate Buck, Hi counsel.

Thank you for your time.

My name is Nate Buck and I'm a District 3 resident.

Nate Buck, I want to focus on the expansion from the existing on-premise RTCC to a cloud-based service provided by companies outside of Washington State.

Nate Buck, This move will open Seattle residents to attacks from out-of-state organizations who will bypass our own state laws.

Nate Buck, Among other concerns mentioned today, this will enable anti-trans lawmakers in other states to pursue those traveling here for necessary care.

I have a friend in Linwood who offered his home to a mutual friend from Florida so that she could come to Washington anticipating the anti-trans legislation that we've recently seen there.

I drove her to her first appointment with a suicide prevention clinic since she was unfit to drive as she was relying on self-harm to get even a few hours of sleep each night.

The thought that state authorities from the other side of the country would know her exact whereabouts is horrifying.

I'm positive she would be dead if she had been delayed in receiving care here.

And I know that will be the case for others unless the council votes against these ordinances.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nicole Albright, followed by Bea Jackson and then Matt Offenbacher.

Go ahead, Nicole.

Hi, my name is Nicole.

I'm a resident of D3 in Capitol Hill, and I'm going to be echoing other speakers here today, urging the council to vote no on expanding police surveillance in our neighborhoods.

It's been just months since Trump left office, and he's already used violent crime as a pretext to send troops into cities like ours.

Seattle has already been named a target, and we have no real legal protection stopping surveillance data from subpoenas by ICE or federal agencies.

And let's be honest, with multiple SPD officers identified at the Capitol on January 6th, how can we trust this department to stand up to federal overreach?

And given their behavior when facing scrutiny, how can we trust that they even want to?

This isn't about safety.

This is about power.

And we should be asking, who is this surveillance actually protecting?

Who is it actually putting at risk?

Seattle's path to safety lies in accountability and community investment, not in expanding tools that can be turned against our neighbors.

For those of you still on the fence because you are not in a minority group, I want to remind you that policing the margins is only the beginning of fascism.

Our next speaker is B Jackson, who will be followed by Matt Offenbacher and then Justin Ward.

Go ahead, B.

You may need to press star six, B.

Okay, we are going to move on to Matt Offenbacher, who will be followed by Justin Ward.

Matt, are you there?

I am.

Hi there.

Hi, council members.

Thanks for listening to us today.

And I do hope you're taking in all this amazing testimony.

Less than a year ago that you voted for a two-year CCTV pilot program.

This was a compromise.

There was strong community opposition to camera surveillance at that time.

You went ahead and approved it, but you also promised us that you would evaluate the program before any further expansion of it.

This evaluation hasn't happened.

A lot of voices are telling you expanding CCTV is a very bad idea.

Community organizations, religious leaders, many, many concerned residents, the Office of Civil Rights, your own police accountability partners.

We don't all have to agree for democracy to work, but we do have to try our best to be honorable.

What does it mean to serve your city with honor?

It means no bait-and-switch, no squirrelly backroom deals.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Justin Ward, who will be followed by Garrison Dinsmore, and then we'll try B.

Jackson once more.

But go ahead, Garrison.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead, Justin Ward.

Hi.

Hi.

My name is Justin Ward.

I live in D2, and I run the Police Watch Dog Group Divest SVD.

I feel like the risk and threats of this legislation have already been covered pretty well.

I want to talk about the benefits of which I think there are a few.

Particularly, I want to focus on how the Seattle Police Department has sold this.

They said that they had 600 incidents that the RTC was involved in over about 60 days.

So through the math, that's 10 incidents per day.

So we don't really know how The RCCC was involved.

We do know that there are less than 10 incidents that were included on the police blotter.

And for the most part, they were kind of underwhelming.

So like the two that resulted in arrests were a misdemeanor crimes, DUI, and a simple assault.

So if that's like their best foot forward, like some real doubt

Our next speaker is Garrison Dinsmore, who will be followed by Bea Jackson, if Bea is online.

Go ahead, Garrison.

Garrison Dinsmore.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

All right.

Thank you, Council, for your time.

My name is Garrison Dinsmore.

I'm a renter in D5.

Benjamin Franklin said, those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety serve neither liberty nor safety.

Privacy is a constitutional right and a mental health necessity.

Studies have shown, published in the Oxford Press University Journal Neuroscience of Consciousness, that when people are surveilled, they begin to exhibit symptoms of psychosis and paranoia.

As people have already mentioned, these cameras are going to be set up in neighborhoods that target groups and minorities of the Trump administration targets.

Even Nashville, Tennessee declined to move forward with the FUSIS system, which is the system that SPD is currently using, because Nashville believed that it would funnel straight to ICE.

Texas used RTCC to get CCTV data from Washington State.

We can't allow that.

Our last remote speaker for this group is Bea Jackson.

Go ahead, Bea.

There you go.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm Bea Jackson.

I live in Capitol Hill.

Definitely want you guys to say no to expanding these CCTVs because it's literally giving, like, open air prison.

Like, it's really giving fascism.

And I'm really, like, not surprised that, like, maybe, like, all the white council members would vote yes.

But, like, all the POC, like, it would really be giving, like, aligning with, like, I'm like, that's so not cute, not cool.

So yeah, don't do it.

Just don't do it, babe.

Yeah, thank you.

We're now moving back to the in-person commenters.

Thank you, Jody.

Okay.

The next four speakers, we have Jackie Magda, Joel Schwillinger, Simon Anafus, again, apologies for the mispronunciation, and then Clara Cantor.

So it's Jackie, Joel, Simon, Clara.

Hi, council members.

My name is Jackie Macta, and I'm a resident of District 3. I'm here today to oppose the expansion of the CCTV and RTCC technologies.

A 40-year study conducted by the City University of New York and cited by SPD states that the CCTV cameras had no significant effect on public safety on violent crime rates, and that public safety agencies combating violent crimes may need to consider whether resources would be better allocated towards other crime prevention measures.

So instead of spending millions of dollars on ineffective technology, we should instead be investing in services like housing and healthcare for all and mental health services, which are actually known to reduce crime.

Not only are the technologies ineffective, but actively harmful, especially for marginalized communities like immigrants, BIPOC, unhoused, and queer people.

We've already seen one such example where SPD incorrectly jailed an innocent man for one month due to the CCTV footage camera.

The data can easily get into the wrong hands and be used to expedite deportation of our immigrant neighbors.

So in this alarming moment of history, let's go with compassion instead of surveillance.

Thank you.

We have Joel, Simon.

Joel and then Simon.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Joel.

I'm a resident of District 6, and I'm here to voice my opposition to the bill that will expand mass surveillance throughout Seattle.

Expanding surveillance under constituents won't change the circumstances under which crime has taken place.

And these cameras will only serve as a way to perpetrate the prison industrial complex, which we know for a fact does not reduce crime.

The Washington DOL has already been granting access to ICE for its internal search engine, which contains sensitive details such as names, addresses, driving histories, and vehicle information.

It is not far-fetched to assume that these new cameras will inevitably be used to detain or deport families and community members.

It is not a coincidence that these cameras are primarily located in queer and marginalized communities.

Mass surveillance does not elicit the feeling of safety.

If you are actually serious about reducing crime, we need to be planning years in advance and investing in mental health care, affordable housing, and after-school programs for our communities rather than reacting out of fear and creating a system of surveillance that does nothing to address the root of the problem.

Vote no.

Hi.

Pardon me.

My name is Simon Kanapis, and I'm here in my capacity as a member of the Board of Directors of the Beacon Hill Council.

The Beacon Hill Council advocates for a welcoming, diverse, and healthy community.

Because of this, we are concerned with the expanded surveillance proposed in CB 121.52 and CB 121.053.

I'm going to read Much smaller version of the letter that we sent out to you all, but I expect that it's in your inbox.

Our neighborhood is 70% people of color, 44% immigrants and refugees, and home to many queer and trans people and people with disabilities.

The risks posed by surveillance are greater now that the U.S.

Supreme Court has lifted restrictions on immigration raid procedures.

We are deeply concerned that Seattle Police Officer Gil Mike Sullen has publicly made statements that he would support assisting ICE, and we are concerned about the security.

We next have Clara.

Following Clara is Eric Kennedy, Patrick McKee, and Jan Miller.

Do we have Clara?

Is there a Clara?

Okay, I don't see Clara, so then we'll move on.

Eric Kennedy, Patrick McKee, then Jan Miller.

Okay, no Eric.

Okay, moving forward.

Patrick McKee.

No, I'm here.

Oh, sorry.

I apologize.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

And your name again is Eric?

My name is Eric.

Thank you.

I'm here to speak about youth rights.

I'm a member of the National Youth Rights Association.

I think the city of Seattle could do more to protect the legal rights and political freedoms of its minors.

We would like...

Cafeterias to stay open during weekends and school breaks.

We would also like the City of Seattle to extend voting rights to minors in council and mayoral elections.

Any minor who lives in the City of Seattle deserves the right to have a say in what goes on in the City of Seattle because it affects them.

Thank you.

So we have Patrick.

Yeah, hi, I'm Pat McKee.

I live in West Seattle.

I particularly want Councilmember Saka who voted last year to approve the CCTV pilot to hear me.

The Council is now considering expanding an overhyped AI-driven surveillance technology of no proven effectiveness that's cynically being presented as a one simple trick solution to public safety concerns.

You've got your own City Office of Civil Rights calling this expansion a definite threat to already marginalized communities with, quote, direct consequences for equal protection, privacy, and the freedoms of speech and association.

Meanwhile, we're looking at a demonstrably fascist federal regime now threatening America's cities with actual war, a regime which will unquestionably end up accessing this data, whatever promises Seattle officials make.

Every one of you knows this.

There's a reason cities such as Denver, Austin, Nashville are rejecting similar programs.

Come on, council members.

The pilot hasn't panned out.

The facts on the ground have changed tragically.

You're not married to any previous to-

We next have Jan Miller, Ali Carlson, Dennis I think it's Dennis Madrigal.

I think it might be Ian Miller.

Oh, it's an I versus a J.

Yeah, I got it.

I got scratch ready.

Yeah, Ian.

Thank you.

And before you begin, if you've heard your name, please stand.

Please be ready to speak as soon as the person in front of you has ended speaking because we want to make sure that we can get to the people on the phone as well.

So we have Ian, Ali, Dennis, and then Carl.

All right.

Hello, City Council.

My name is Ian Miller.

I'm from D3, and I'm here to urge you to vote no on expanding the police department surveillance systems.

The consent decree has been terminated, meaning the SPD has less accountability now more than ever.

They are not a transformed institution.

Just a few months ago, they used excessive force on counter-protesters at the anti-LGBTQ rally in Kel Anderson, a historically queer neighborhood.

The SPD is complicit in the kidnappings of immigrants.

Just a few months ago, the SPD assisted by arresting protesters trying to stop unidentified ICE agents from illegally kidnapping immigrants.

The Supreme Court just ruled that ICE is allowed to detain and question anyone they expect of being an illegal immigrant.

Ali.

Hi, I'm a resident of District 3 and a frequenter of the CID, and I'm here to oppose the efforts to expand CCD cameras throughout the city.

I get we're kind of a tech city, but like, come on.

At least in regards to surveillance, I can't imagine that enabling the encroachment of civil liberties by administration best described as a regime is a really wise use of tax dollars during a budget deficit.

I know we have a very long time-tested tradition here in this city of making short-sighted, stupid decisions, but I beg us not to do it this time.

To slow down here, I'm a queer resident of the city.

I'm tired of going out and every day increasingly fearing for my life, fearing for my neighbor's life, fearing for my friend's life, who are immigrants, who are also queer people, just based on the color of their skin.

Even citizens, they're going after citizens.

We've all seen Garcia.

We all are Garcia.

Vote no, and regardless of how you vote,

We now have Dennis, and then following Dennis will be Carl Nelson, and then we'll move into remote speakers.

Hello, Dennis Madrigal.

Throughout the life of the USA, the mere definition of what it is to be a criminal has changed many of times.

From the very union workers protesting for our labor rights, the black community protesting against racial inequality, which was legal to even right now to the very people protesting against the apartheid state of Israel are being threatened and have been threatened and being labeled as criminals for being against our nation's best interests and for being anti-Semitic towards Israel.

This very proposition to expand the CCTV cameras across Seattle will greatly empower those in power who wish to once again redefine what it is to be a criminal.

During a time when now the Supreme Court gave the power to ICE to racially profile people based on the language they speak, their skin color, occupation, and affiliations, combined with the fact that the very person's right to do process under attack.

Recently, it was discovered that the Washington State Department of Licensing has been found to have misused data sharing agreements with Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Members of council, my name is Carl Nelson.

I'm a 16-year Seattle resident, renter, small business owner, and a member of the Cedar Crossing Tenants Association.

I am also here today to speak in opposition to expanding the surveillance pilot.

Earlier last month, Washington DC's police force was literally taken over by the federal government, which prompted the head of Seattle Police Officer Guild Union, Mike Solon, to say, a man elected by about 60% of his rank and file membership, Pay attention to what's happening in the District of Columbia because it is the blueprint of what you're going to see nationwide when it comes to the Trump administration's public safety actions.

He said this to the union head of Washington, D.C.' 's police union.

To imagine that Seattle is somehow unique from other blue cities in this country is naively foolish at best and willfully destructive at worst at a time like this.

Research has not supported claims that this technology has any real effect in its purported aims of combating gun violence or human trafficking.

And given our federal situation, I urge you all to shoot this down.

Thank you.

We'll now move back into remote public commenters.

Our next three remote commenters will be John Brown followed by Rowan Kaufman and then Liam Niehaus-Staub.

Go ahead, John Brown.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen in the chamber and the Seattle City Council.

I will spare you time today with a very simple statement.

I have this much to say to the politicians on the dais today.

If you do not protect the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, people will embrace the second as the solution to their problems.

Remember that.

Good day.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Rowan Kaufman, who will be followed by Liam Niehaus-Staub and then Sage Walland.

Go ahead, Rowan.

Hi, my name is Rowan Kaufman.

I'm a Seattle City President in Deacon Hill, District 2, City Council members.

I'm speaking today to ask that your constituent and frankly beg you as a community member of your city that you vote no on expanding surveillance technology implementation.

You already know and have heard plenty today of the dangers to immigrant community members, abortion seekers, and every single one of us posed by this surveillance.

This should be more than enough to guarantee your vote against this threat to our city.

Personally, as a part of the 50% of satellites who are renters and we subjected to the placement of cameras in apartment buildings by SPD or by landlords, I do not even have the comfort of Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Hello, my name is Liam from District 4, and I'm also speaking in opposition of expanding police surveillance.

Just because we live in a quote-unquote blue city doesn't mean that these tools cannot be used against us by the Trump administration.

As everyone has said previously, the SPD has already cooperated with ICE to arrest Washingtonians, and I'd like to now read you a poem by Martine Niemöller.

First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists.

And I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

So I'm now speaking out, and I would like all of you to speak out as well by voting no on this bill.

Do not give them more tools so that they can silence us.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sage Whalen followed by Charlie Kaplan-Pettis and then Dylan Baker.

Go ahead, Sage.

Sage, you may need to press star six.

There you go.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi.

I just also wanted to call and be in opposition to the expansion of this ineffective and dangerous text.

I know the council is not naive because to work in politics and be behind those closed doors, you can't be.

This will be used to harm our neighbors.

It will be used to harm people and whatever the policy states, it does not matter.

So don't let this be your legacy.

I really hope you decide to do the right thing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Charlie Kaplan-Pettis followed by Dylan Baker and then Char Smith.

Go ahead, Charlie.

Charlie Kaplan- Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Charlie Kaplan- Hi, my name is Charlie Kaplan-Pettis and I appreciate the time today.

As so many speakers have said already, Even under the best of circumstances and with the best intentions, the research does not support an expansion of our surveillance like this.

But now, more than ever, it is very obvious why this would be detrimental to our communities and to you as individuals in the near future.

And I know that you've probably come into this meeting with minds made up or how you voted in the previous support for this.

But I would just like to say that it is a sign of courage and strength to be able to meet a moment where it is and to change your mind.

And I think we've all heard enough today to know what is right for our communities.

And I urge you to vote no on the expansion of surveillance in Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dylan Baker, who will be followed by Char Smith and then Jay Foxglobe.

Go ahead, Dylan.

Dylan Baker, Hi.

My name is Dylan Baker.

I'm also speaking to oppose the expansion of the surveillance network.

You've heard plenty of counter arguments at this point, so I'll keep it personal and on one point.

I'm the lead research engineer at the Distributed AI Research Institute.

I study harms of technology and AI bias.

I'm a former Google engineer and computer vision.

I'm also a Seattle homeowner in District 1. I do a lot of studying of technology, who builds it, how it's built.

And I've been working in tech for a long time.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

The people who keep people safe, who study how to keep people safe, have other findings, investing in things like housing and expanded library hours.

That keeps people safe.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Char Smith, who will be followed by Jay Foxglove and then David Haynes.

Go ahead, Char.

Hello.

Hello.

My name is Char Smith.

I'm a District 2 resident, former commissioner for the Seattle Reds Commission.

I'm calling to say hell no to this expansion of extralegal surveillance.

A vote to expand this program is a vote explicitly for Trump's fascist agenda.

It is a vote to embrace the executive misaligned worldview that civil rights are an impediment to our growth rather than a necessity for the survival of the republic and for the safety of our communities.

And it is a vote to surrender in advance to the militarized response that our city will see foisted upon it by the president sooner or later.

This vote will not make any of us safer, but it will ensure that Trump's goons, such as ICE, DHS, and others, will be actively assisted by both SPD and by this very council in a request to tear apart families And send our neighbors to concentration camps in the Everglades, in El Salvador, and elsewhere.

In parting, I offer my heartfelt thanks to all those who took time out of their day to sign up and show up to comment.

Clap all you want, you beautiful people.

It's your city home, not the council's.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jay Foxglove, followed by David Haynes, and then Becky Sessa.

Go ahead, Jay.

Hi.

My name is Jay Foxglove.

I'm a renter in D3 in the Central District and I'm joining the chorus of voices here calling you to vote against the proposed expansion of surveillance in the City of Seattle.

I hope that our time and testimonies will not be in vain.

You cannot proudly claim Seattle to be a sanctuary city if you implement these measures as we have no assurances as to how the data will be managed and no guarantee that it will not fall into the hands of ICE and other federal agencies with nefarious intentions.

You cannot pat yourselves on the back of creating a culture of inclusivity and safety in the city If you are threatening the safety of vulnerable communities by following their every move as they go about their lives.

Time and again, your constituents, your community members, have brought forth data and personal stories that stress the difference that funding could make to strengthen community resources and programs to help folks experiencing homelessness, mental health emergencies, and those in lower income brackets.

Yet time and again, this council has voted to increase policing to no measurable impact on reducing crime.

Increasing surveillance will likewise not reduce crime and will instead endanger the communities and make Seattle the city that it is.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is David Haynes, and David will be followed by our last remote speaker for this group, Becky Sessa.

Go ahead, David.

Hi.

Noble use of crime-fighting tools.

If a gun-toting criminal walks up and robs my employees in the stadium district again, we need a more detailed video and a capability to deploy a drone to hone in on a perpetrator attempting to run or drive out of the area and change the color of their shirt around the corner.

Because by the time the cops get informed, it turns out most of them would be inside the Seahawks game in opposing team's jerseys, making overtime, entrapping drunk Seahawks fans, while not even being tied into fighting the crime around the stadium district.

I hate to say this, but we need drones to hone in on a perpetrator and tie in the kiosk to the stadium network of CCTV cameras and make it more deployable and user-friendly and rely on the vetting and the proper hiring and training.

Thank you.

Our last speaker for this remote group is Becky Sessa.

Go ahead, Becky.

Becky may not be online anymore.

Let's move on.

Thank you.

Yes, go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

Sorry, I'm coming from an allergy appointment.

Okay, we do not want more surveillance in our communities and ACLU Washington has written a letter with studies showcasing why these technologies are not equitable, effective, and violate civil rights.

We are supposed to be a sanctuary city.

Yet, I don't see the city or state doing enough to protect our neighbors from ICE and ensure they identify themselves, excuse me, or do not show up at immigration hearings.

There have been data sharing incidents at the state level and I oppose this opportunity to create a new path for ICE to target our neighbors.

What makes me feel unsafe at the moment is the overreach of our federal government with its racist targeting of the people I care about.

I had the privilege of growing up with immigrant communities, and I want to see their safety prioritized, since they are what makes this city a place I want to live.

This surveillance is not only unnecessary, but I oppose this possible consequences.

I urge you to invest.

Thank you.

We'll now move back to in-person public commenters.

Okay, next, excuse me, our next speakers are going to be Kate Rubin, Ali Knowles, CS, SD, Cameron Frazier, Casey Soligold, Eden Armstrong, Bethany Miller, Sandy H. All right, so we have Kate Rubin.

Thanks.

Co-chair of the Seattle Renters Commission.

The proposed mass surveillance expansion disproportionately targets renters, black, indigenous, and other people of color, and queer, trans, disabled, and low-income residents.

SPD plans to accept live video feeds from apartment buildings.

Renters could be surveilled and tracked from the moment that they leave their homes.

We're facing unprecedented threats from our federal government.

It's time to take the moment that we're in seriously.

A 40-year meta-analysis found that surveillance has no effect on violent crime, so you're considering putting our safety, privacy, and civil liberties at risk?

For what exactly?

The Renters Commission joins the Office for Civil Rights, Community Surveillance Working Group, Community Police Commission, and the Human Rights Commission in opposing this dangerous and expensive expansion of mass surveillance.

Thank you.

The people here have been very charitable to you.

They've appealed to your humanity.

I will not because I do not believe you have it.

They've made logical arguments about how this program will not do what you say it will do, and I won't do that either because I think you know that.

I think this program means for you to offer up Seattle to Donald Trump on a silver platter because you think it's safer for you to live at the right hand of the devil than under his boot because you are cowards.

Alright, so I'm not here to tell you to vote no because I know it doesn't matter.

What I'm here to remind you is that the tech billionaires that have all bought and paid for all of you already are building their bunkers in rural New Zealand because they know this is all coming down around them and they need somewhere to hide from us.

And when the power grid goes off, they're not bringing you with them.

When we start eating, people, we're going to remember who voted for these things that made our lives worse.

We're going to know your names.

We're going to know your faces.

We're going to know your families.

We're going to know how you live.

And we're going to come.

If you get a chance to kill yourself before then, I recommend you take it.

All for what?

Two parts?

Use mortar oil.

One part of black acrylic paint.

One part of crushed glass can damage optical sensors to the point they need to be fully replaced.

Please proceed.

Hi, please read item 4.4, the CCTV SAR.

It explicitly lists the original locations as being part of the pilot and via omission designates the new locations as having a duration of deployment that is permanent.

A record-breaking amount of people submitted public comments opposing both these original surveillance technologies.

And 60 organizations, such as Lavender Rights Project, Casa Latina, Rainer Beach Action Coalition, Chief Seattle Club, and Planned Parenthood, among others, all voiced opposition to a lot of these technologies.

And again, there was a huge amount of public comment submitted to Seattle IT opposing the expansion of these surveillance technologies.

Plus the Community Surveillance Working Group, Community Police Commission, and Seattle Runners Commission have opposed both technologies.

As the August primary showed, the majority of state voters are not happy with council members' actions and don't want these technologies.

Any council member who approves these council bills is clearly not going to be reelected.

Listen to residents.

Please vote no on both council bills.

Thank you.

We have SD.

Hi, I am a resident in District 5 and I often, at least once, sometimes twice a day, I pass through the intersection of Aurora and 85th where this technology already exists on almost every single corner of it.

I feel great shame because about a month ago I was sitting at that light.

I was about seven cars deep.

Waiting for the light to turn during rush hour.

And at the corner is a gas station which has about four cameras on the roof of it and hardly ever see any vehicles go in there and get gas.

But there was a dilapidated RV parked at one of the station gas pumps.

And while it was waiting, I saw SPD come to that gas station.

And the owner of that RV was about to exit and leave, but they came and they harassed him for expired tabs.

Harassed him for expired tabs.

Thank you very much.

Cameron, Frazier, and then Casey, and then Eden.

Cameron?

Casey?

Hello.

Sorry, I'm way back here.

All right.

Hello.

My name is Cameron speaking on behalf of Tech4Housing in opposition to the proposed expansion of video surveillance in Seattle.

This proposal comes while ICE is harvesting all available data to hunt down the most vulnerable in our community.

We know this type of data is nearly impossible to protect from abuse once gathered.

So do the state agencies whose data has been accessed by ICE despite commitments to protect it.

In this context, the public absolutely cannot entrust surveillance tech to the police department with more January 6th attendees than any other in the country, or the department whose union president said the armed takeover of DC should serve as a blueprint for policing nationwide.

This summer, a Seattle resident spent four weeks in jail due to SBD's shoddy analysis of surveillance footage.

That person was lucky to be an Amazon employee with all the resources to defend themselves.

This legislation would expand those flawed practices across the city to people without those resources.

Other cities have brought down crime faster with investments in community health and violence disruption programs, which are actually backed by peer-reviewed evidence.

This program would aid Trump's campaign of vengeance and fail at its day-to-day.

Casey, and then Eden.

Hello.

My name is Casey, and I'm living in Capitol Hill.

Just like everybody else here, we want you to vote no on this program.

It does not help keep people safe.

As an ER nurse, I keep people safe, and that's not by surveillancing them constantly.

It's by offering them support and help in where they need it.

What in the 1984 are we doing?

Why are we freaking trying to surveil me walking to the park or going to the grocery store?

I don't feel safer having cameras on me just trying to live my life.

It doesn't help anybody.

And I hope that those who have already made up their minds actually take their constituents into account.

We've all come here today in hopes of appealing to you because you're supposed to listen to us and our opinions and what makes us feel safe.

And I can see people can't even make eye contact with us or they're reading their emails or making faces.

How does that let us have faith in you guys?

We want us to be safe too.

We have Eden.

After Eden will be Bethany, then Sandy.

Good afternoon, counsel.

My name is Eden Armstrong.

I'm here with a unique opinion of not really approving of what you are all considering today.

I am a trans woman who comes from Florida, a Republican state, and I have a very good understanding of what discrimination and surveillance is like in that state, where I have to worry if I have to use the restroom of my choice when I use the restroom.

Using these CCTV cameras, allowing the city to set up this kind of infrastructure, allows the current administration to use that infrastructure.

Apologies.

If you think that is not possible, if you think, oh, it couldn't happen here, I assure you it could.

Harvard, one of the most renowned institutions in the United States, was not able to keep up against the Trump administration.

In what world do you think that is not something that could happen to the city of Seattle?

It can and it will.

Creating and enforcing this program in a far bigger manner than it has been will only seek to hurt minority groups that you so diligently work to protect.

I urge you to vote no.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, City Council.

My name is Bethany Miller.

I live in District 7, and I also expose the expansion of Seattle Police Department use of CCTV.

I echo the concerns of many of these other people who have spoken today that this will not prevent crime, merely document the crimes that happen.

We have better ways to spend money in this city, things that could Really improve the lives of people who live here more than being surveilled.

With the current regime that is in place in D.C., I think it is not, none of us are safer having this data out there.

I also believe that once we cede this privacy, it is really hard to get it back.

Once these cameras are in place, taking them down is really hard.

Once a fascist regime comes in, it's hard to get them out.

That is why we need to resist now.

Bob, I'm here.

You're my neighbor.

I'm here representing my family and a large group of your neighbors on Queen Anne who could not be here today.

I am fortunate to be here, and we are begging you to go down.

Thank you.

Sandy, and then we'll move into remote speakers.

Hello, City Council.

Thanks for hearing us speak.

My name is Sandy Ha.

I live in District 3. I'm a homeowner and a 17-year resident of Seattle.

I urge you all to vote no on Council Bills 121052 and 121053. The Seattle Office of Civil Rights did a third-party assessment of these bills, and they advise against passing these bills.

They violate the Seattle Surveillance Ordinance 125376, and I ask you in what way implementing these bills would actually sustain the commitment of this council to uphold the surveillance ordinance.

What has been shown with RTCC is inconclusive evidence of it actually preventing serious felony gun related crimes.

It's cost and resource intensive, which means both money and environmental costs, energy to uphold their human resources to monitor it, as well as...

Thank you very much.

Our next three remote speakers.

Go ahead.

We've got four in-person, six remotes.

And we've got a council member who has a hard stop at seven o'clock and there could be others that I don't know about.

So my plan is to have everybody speak, please.

And then we'll go right into our items business.

All right, we're going to go with the first three remote speakers, Jacob Sanchez Baca, followed by June Freeman, and then Oyson Gunning.

Go ahead, Jacob.

Yep.

Okay, Jacob, press star six.

While you're looking at that, we're going to move on to June Freeman.

Go ahead.

Oh, here we go, Jacob.

I think I see you.

Go ahead.

Okay, we'll move to June Freeman and then Oysen Gunning.

Go ahead, June.

My name is June.

I'm a District 3 resident.

So many commenters have clearly explained how this premature surveillance Locally unstudied, that surveillance cameras do not reduce crime, and that this surveillance is really profoundly dangerous in a time of federal invasion, forced disappearances, and the criminalization of basic health care.

On a personal note, the proposed camera placement in and around Cal Anderson would surveil me from shortly after I walk out my door.

I would be watched in real time when I walk through the west side of the park to the grocery store or to the farmer's market, and when I sit in the park with my friends and my community.

That's a place where I feel safe.

And which is important to me.

And I just, I want you to think about whether any of the council members would want that for yourself.

Please note Bo.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Oysen Gunning, who will be followed by Jacob Sanchez-Bacca.

Go ahead, Oysen.

Ashin Gunning Hi, my name is Ashin Gunning.

I live in D3, right by Garfield High School.

I'm a high school teacher.

And I, just like everyone else here, I'm calling to express extreme disapproval at this expansion of the RTCC.

Nobody wants this.

This is the kind of thing that once you open this door, it's incredibly hard to roll back.

Once you set up security cameras, it's very hard to undo that.

And as everyone else has said, especially in the context of ICE raids, federal invasions of cities, Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

And I would note that it's not in front of any of your houses.

So how would you feel if I sat outside your house and filmed you every day?

And, oh, I promise I'll delete it after 30 days.

Vote now.

Okay, our next speaker will be Zoe Dahl, followed by Alberto Alvarez.

Go ahead, Zoe.

Hello, my name is Zoe Dahl, and I'm here to strongly oppose the expansion and surveillance in our city.

As many of my neighbors have already expressed, we know that ICE has and will continue to use these cameras to hunt down and harm our already vulnerable neighbors.

In light of yesterday's Supreme Court decision, expanding surveillance will only open the door to increase racial profiling and put our immigrant, BIPOC, and low-income communities at an even greater risk.

This proposal does not make us safer.

Surveillance does not stop crime.

Supporting our citizens does.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Liza Rankin.

Tanya Woo.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alberto Alvarez, followed by our last remote speaker, Sean Izzam.

Go ahead, Alberto.

Thank you.

Council, malice surveillance tools are already being used to persecute people across the nation.

No promise or guarantee can protect our communities.

Only stopping this expansion can prevent it from being weaponized.

It is a fact that the administration is already kidnapping our immigrant neighbors, attacking the rights of the LGBT, and soon, very soon, the freedoms of women.

Abortion care and trans care patients will fall victim to bounty hunter laws from the other states.

Telling entire communities that our city will endanger their freedom is inhumane and discriminatory.

This council is happy to say a lot and do nothing to help communities who are in crisis as of this very moment.

Stop expanding mass surveillance.

Stop serving up our city to a fascist takeover.

Have a day.

Thank you.

Our last remote speaker is Sean Isom.

Go ahead, Sean.

Hello.

My name is Sean Isom.

Good afternoon, council members.

I live in Rob Stockton's district.

You all ignored our outcry to keep the SPD's less lethal weapon ban in place the last time I spoke.

Today, unlike other speakers, I am not here to plead with you.

You need to vote no on CB 121052 and CB 121053. ICE and DHS have already been kidnapping our state and city's citizens from the federal courthouse down on 2nd Avenue.

and hauling them down to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma until they can be flown out of the King County Airport on multiple weekly deportation flights across the street from the Museum of Flight.

If you can't acknowledge that this will be used to expand this current process, you're either ignorant or you don't care.

And either of those options should disqualify you from your current position on the City Council.

The data is not on the side of this proposal.

Your constituents are not on the side of this proposal.

We'll now move back to in-person speakers.

Judy, I believe we have one more speaker.

It's Kirk Robbins, and then we can move into in-person.

I'm sorry I don't call Kirk Robbins, but if there's a Kirk Robbins out there, go ahead.

Hmm.

Hi, I'm Kirk Robbins from District 6. I am addressing Agenda Item 6, which involves environmental protection.

It seems like calling 160-foot poles with nets between them is not routine, it is not maintenance, and yet it is exempt from environmental consideration on the pretext of it being routine maintenance.

I watched the hearing.

I couldn't understand why the Committee ignored this after having been brought to their attention by one of the commenters.

There are treaties, federal treaties, protecting birds.

There is an exemption required from the FAA for this matter.

I can't really expect the federal government to be proactive in matters like this.

But I think that environmental protection is more than just a chore.

It's more than something that kicks in when you're dealing with a federal Superfund designation or gas stoves.

I think that you go get back to taking this seriously and think of it as a as a duty rather than a chore.

Thank you.

Okay.

We'll now move into in-person speakers.

We have Timothy Kitchen, A.L., Tiffany Burks, and then Coco Weber.

Timothy?

Hi there, council member, members, everyone.

I've met some of you before.

My name is Timothy Kitchen.

I'm from Fremont.

I've served as president of Fremont Neighborhood Council, president of student body for UW Seattle, and Bible Sunday Club president in high school.

So most of you campaign on evidence-based policy.

I ask you keep your promise and let the pilot program complete and be analyzed as intended.

Voting yes.

Is a betrayal of your Evidence First campaign promises.

This is personal.

My family is part Hispanic.

I'm basically terrified the kids in my family who look Hispanic will be deported to death camps.

Expanding his surveillance dramatically increases that risk.

In the last two weeks, Trump tried to illegally deport 600 Latino kids to a South American country, the same country my family is from.

Liza Rankin.

Okay, let's get straight to the point.

Essentially today you are voting for a surveillance system that will track us each and every minute of our lives.

We will have our movements documented in Axon cameras using AI that is refreshed each month to track us.

They will have 30 days to track us, and this data will be made available to ICE, it will be made available to the feds, and it will be made available to Trump, who will be able to use this information to track down anyone they consider a dissenter.

This is criminal.

This is a surveillance state that you are installing today, and you are looking to expand it even further than this.

This is ridiculous.

And for a fact, this is enabling a Nazi organization.

This is enabling people that are taking our neighbors out of their homes.

This is enabling people to be stolen out of their places they call home.

And we will not forget each of your names.

Doesn't matter if you're temporary.

Doesn't matter if you're on the way out.

Thank you very much.

Does not matter.

We will remember each and every one of you.

Next speaker, please.

We have Tiffany and then Coco.

Hello, Seattle City Council.

My name is Tiffany, and I am the advocacy organizer for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, WISEN for short.

I'm also a Seattle resident, a womanist, black feminist, and freedom fighter.

I'm proud to call Seattle my home, and I'm even more proud to stand in opposition to expanding the use of CCTV and surveillance technology.

And I haven't even heard one person speaking in support, so I think it's a no-brainer to vote no on this.

Surveillance capitalism is not going to save us.

SPD has only started using this program three months ago, so there's no justification for the expansion.

And in my time as an activist over the last decade, I have attended over 200 protests, and I have never felt comfortable or safe with a drone camera or surveillance technology at those actions.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Coco, and I am a teacher in Seattle.

I live in District 3. I teach in District 4. And before I begin, I want to say I hope you honor the people who are our most vulnerable community members, who are trans, who are immigrants, who are queer, disabled, and who are putting their lives at risk coming here being on TV to say, please think of our lives under a federal government that is trying to make them go away.

Now, I want to speak as a teacher.

I work with children with learning disabilities.

I work with our most emerging students in our schools, so kids with autism, multilingual learners, immigrant families.

And you can imagine what it's like to be a kid who's not doing too well in school.

Well, I do know because I volunteered in the King County Jail as a tutor, supporting people getting their GED.

So when you have people in your county jail who all need their GED, we are failing.

Seattle's own report said in the early...

Thank you.

...to prevent youth violence.

You need preschool.

You need access to health care.

You need access to school programs.

This guy here...

Thank you very much for your...

...to hang out with, to hang out in.

So true community safety, please come out.

True community safety...

Thank you very much.

We have to be fair to everybody, so please...

That was our last registered speaker who's present.

I just have to say thank you very much everybody for coming out and for being so respectful to each other and for everybody sticking in there to get through all of it so that we can hear all of the speakers.

So we will now proceed with our items of business.

So public comment is now closed and we will proceed.

Hold on a second.

I have to scroll back up here.

Okay.

If there is no objection, the agenda, no.

If there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

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

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar and the items on the consent calendar are The minutes of September 2nd, 2025, Council Bill 121070, which is payment of the bills, and 19 appointments from the City Council.

Are there any items council members would like to have removed from today's consent calendar?

All right.

Seeing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Sacca.

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Aye.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.