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All right, good morning everyone.

The December 12th, 2025 special meeting of the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee will come to order.

It's 9.34 a.m.

I'm Maritza Rivera, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Present.

Councilmember Lin.

Here.

Vice Chair Rink.

Present.

Chair Rivera.

Present.

Four council members are present.

Thank you, clerk.

Council Member Juarez is excused from this committee meeting.

And I wanna welcome our newest committee member, Council Member Eddie Lynn.

We're so happy to have you on this committee and here today.

All right, now onto today's agenda.

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Well, hello, good morning colleagues and guests.

Welcome to the last committee meeting of the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee.

We had a very busy year for the LEN, what we call the LEN Committee.

because most of the committee meetings were repurposed for working on the Families Education Preschool and Promise levy.

That levy was passed by almost 80% of Seattle voters in November and I am so grateful to Seattle voters for taxing themselves in support of our kids and their families in the city.

It goes, as you know, to support early learning K through 12 academic investments to make sure our kids are college ready and Promise, which ensures all Seattle public school kids have access to a two-year degree or path to the trades.

Seattle continues to support and value our kids' education by providing programs from childhood, preschool, K through 12 investments, promise, which as I said earlier, includes the trade.

So it's really from beginning to end.

I look forward to the levy implementation plan, which the Department of Education and Early Learning will be bringing early in 2026. This year is unique as well in the need to hear multiple times from the Office of of Office of Immigration and Refugee Affairs about how it is helping our residents protect themselves from harmful and cruel actions of the federal administration.

We heard that from the department earlier this year and about all their hard work as they help to support our immigrant and refugee families in the city.

I want to acknowledge all the work of the departments that fall under our committee, which also includes the libraries, which actually next year will have its levy renewal coming up and we, Council, will be working on that.

As we all know, we all support our libraries in this city and we look forward to that so that we can continue to provide the library service that we provide in this city who really loves its libraries for many, many different reasons, not just to read books but as a community gathering place and a place where folks can go from youngsters to our senior folks in town.

All right, I also want to just a special note of gratitude to the committee members that serve on this committee, Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, Councilmember Deborah Juarez, Councilmember Eddie Lynn here in Chambers with me, and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rink.

I very much value all your contributions to this committee.

We've done great work this year, like I said earlier, between the levy the OIRA work and everything in between.

And so I really wanna thank you for your commitment and your hard work and your partnership on this committee.

And I also wanna thank the clerks who support us and I wanna thank in particular also my staff, Wendy Sykes, Jacob Evinger and Nick Duda, who've been working and supporting this committee all year on all the work that we've done together.

And of course, our community partners, some of which are here, Rachel from the market, and our members from the, our Director Chappelle, whom you'll hear from later, and all his team at the Department of Education and Early Learning, we are all partnering together as community to provide the best service to our Seattle residents and the best support to our Seattle residents and in this committee, especially to our working families and children.

So I have a lot of gratitude for that.

I have a little sadness this morning as well.

I wanna say that our Roosevelt High School in the district lost a teacher this morning or rather yesterday, I found out.

and we're just saddened.

So I'd like to take one second.

I want to get the teacher's name because I think that's important.

Christine Garrow.

She was the orchestra teacher, very, very beloved in that community.

So the Roosevelt community is suffering that loss and I just want to take a moment of silence for the loss of this really important life who's touched the lives of so many kids and considering we're gonna be talking about the families and education levy today, I think it is appropriate for us to take a minute this morning.

All right, colleagues, thank you for that and guests.

All right, today we have 23 items of business on today's agenda.

We have several appointments to the boards and commissions and I'm also pleased to present Director Dr. Director Duane Chappelle for his second reappointment hearing, appointment as director of the Department of Education and Early Learning.

And we have two landmarks designation.

As you can see, we have a full agenda, so let's get started.

I also wanna note that later in this meeting, I will ask if committee agrees to suspend the rules so we can send all these appointments and bills to full council next week on the 16th.

All right, we will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on the agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

Currently, we have two in-person speakers and two remote speakers signed up.

Thank you.

Given that, we'll have speakers have two minutes each.

Clerk, will you please read the public comment instructions and we can get to public comment.

Thank you.

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

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

We will start with the in-person speakers first and then remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

The public comment period is now open.

We will begin with the first speaker on the list.

The first in-person speaker is Carolyn followed by Heather.

Good morning.

I want to start by thanking the committee for hearing the matter on which I'm appearing, which is agenda item number 23, the landmarking of the Stewart House.

I would also be remiss if, in addition to thanking this committee, I did not thank Aaron Doherty, who has shepherded us through this process of landmarking our home and is everything, a city employee should be an asset to the city.

and also Ms. Sarah Stote, who is here today.

My husband, Brechtostevin, and I own and live in the Stewart House.

We petitioned the city to designate this house as a landmark.

If the committee members have had an opportunity to look at the photographs, I think they can see that the architecture is unique and, I dare say, beautiful.

It is important not only as an example of Spanish colonial revival architecture in the city of Seattle, but it is the second house designed by Lionel Preece, who was a local noteworthy architect.

The house was discussed and analyzed in this book I'm holding up, It is Lionel Preece, architect, artist, and educator, which was written by Professor Jeffrey Ochsner of the University of Washington, and we're grateful for his help, too, in presenting this matter to the city.

The reason why we chose to ask the city to landmark our home is because architecture is a part of art history, and art history is a part of our history.

History is important because it shows us where we have been, perhaps where we are now, and hopefully where we're going.

and if these things are not protected, they will be lost.

So we're grateful for the ordinance to be considered.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Carolyn.

Our next speaker is Heather Peel.

Also members, I'm Heather Peel, president of Friends of the Market.

Friends of the Market led the initiative that saved the market in 1971. The 1971 initiative created the role of the Pike Place Market Historical Commission.

I'm here today to support the appointment of Ross Pinato.

One of the things that Friends of the Market has been advocating for is for the return in abundance and profit too for farmers at Pike Place Market.

And I coordinate a weekly advocacy committee for that.

We are delighted that Roz Pianato was interested in taking on the role of The Pike Place Market Historical Commission has a really important role in preserving the character of the market.

There is an entire web of organizations that is keeping the market the soul of Seattle as we know it, and it is the Market Commission's role exclusively to make decisions about changes in use and design and whether or not those affirm and continue the character of the market.

I think you will be very proud, as I am, to have Ross there.

He is, I mentioned, a farmer, and he has institutional memory, and especially with regard to questions of, for example, how the uses and design changes of Pike Place, the street, are to be decided.

Someone with institutional memory is really needed right now.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And we love the market here at the city, so thanks to the friends of the market for all the work you do.

Thank you.

We will now move on to remote speakers.

We have two remote speakers.

The first remote speaker is Eugenia Wu.

Please press star six, what is it?

Eugenia, please press star six to unmute.

Hello?

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Good morning, Chair Rivera and members of the committee.

My name is Eugenia Wu.

I'm here representing Historic Seattle.

And we just want to say that we enthusiastically support the designating ordinances with controls for Lincoln Springs Park and also for the Stewart House.

We are thrilled to see these two landmarks join this list of designated landmarks in the city.

There are over 400 designated landmarks, and very few are related to indigenous culture and history, and so Lincoln Springs Park helps to represent that.

And regarding the Stuart House, we just want to thank the owners for their stewardship of this historic property.

Historic Seattle owes eight properties, historic properties ourselves, and we understand what it means to, you know, be able to maintain these places for the future.

So by designating, passing the designating ordinances with protections, we can see many, many decades of the future for these two historic places.

And so thank you for, I want to thank the owners for that.

That's all we want to say, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eugenia.

Our next speaker will be David Haynes.

David, please press star six to unmute.

Hi, thank you, David Haynes.

The library still has not improved whatsoever.

you still can't get any personal space when you use the computer and you have to put up with other people's behavioral crisis problems and bad habits and the flawed design of the library that scoots metal chairs across metal floors as if it's designed to keep you awake, but it only irritates you.

That said, it's revolting that the Department of Neighborhoods gets to be used like the Land Use Committee where the landlord on the dais, the chair, is going to do a favor for the property speculators who are going to preserve all these historical slums, all these building code violating areas.

Like you take a look at Ballard, they don't have enough floor space for the grace of offering a business a sustainable plan that generates enough revenue.

So they have to build a whole bunch of floor space in the gutter of the street and make them sit on park benches outside because of COVID's acknowledgement that there's too much spit spray concern within all the real estate that makes Seattle's slum developers obsolete.

And I think Ballard is stuck in the 1940s.

Like 1945, they just stopped any improvement in the Ballard Ave area.

And we could have a 21st century first world quality redevelopment but it looks like the landlords are listing all of these, like Pioneer Square is a perfect example of cracked buildings, flawed floor plans, and completely unsafe to use.

And you can't generate enough revenue for your small business because there's not enough floor space for the grace of accommodating the customers without feeling rushed.

But yet, for some reason, the library committee is going to be doing the landlords and the building owners who have all this small real estate a favor so that they can get welfare to cosmetically prettify some ridiculous facade that all needs to be torn down and rebuilt 20%.

Thank you.

Thank you, David.

Chair, that was our last registered speaker.

All right, thank you.

Since there are no additional registered speaker, the public speakers, the public comment period is now closed.

We'll proceed to our item of business.

Given the number of appointments today, we're gonna break up the presentations by introducing the appointments in groups and then vote on agenda items one through 20, which means all of the appointments with one just vote at the end.

Members will have an opportunity to request that an appointment be removed for a separate vote before moving all 20 appointments.

Presenters will share a brief bio on all the new appointees.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, appointment 3435, the appointment of Alex Rasmussen as a member, Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council, for a term to June 30th, 2029. For briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, Clerk.

This appointment has been read into the record.

Rachel, will you please join us at the table?

And while you're coming up here, I'd like to acknowledge we're being joined by Rachel Lichtenberg, Executive Director of the Pike Place PDA, who'll be presenting the first appointment.

And I just wanna say on a personal note, I just so enjoy working with you, Rachel.

Thank you for all your stewardship of the market.

The market is looking fantastic, especially with its new connection to the waterfront.

It is just amazing down there and I am just so happy about that as is every resident that I know in this city.

And so thank you for all you do.

Go ahead, state your name for the record and you can present the appointment.

Thank you and good morning, council members.

Honored to serve as a steward of the market and really quickly about this appointment.

Pike Place Market PDA is led by a 12-person council.

It's made up of four mayor appointments, four from the council itself, as well as four that are elected through the constituency.

Council is led by the charter established in 1973, and are the governing body.

This individual, Alex Rasmussen, comes from an elected position from the constituency, and he regrets not being here this morning.

He would have loved to have been here, and he's happy for me to present him.

Born and raised in Washington, he's had a lifetime of connection to the market.

In his 20s, he began busking nearly seven days a week at the market, and busking turned into serving as an agent and a salesperson in the market.

And recently, he actually had his second book published through Chin Music a printing press in the market.

And so that latest book called Into the Void.

In 2023, he was elected to the executive committee of the Pike Place Market constituency.

And after becoming really interested in the governance of the market, he threw his hat in the ring to be considered for a PDA council role.

absolutely thrilled with his service to the market and in this role.

So thank you.

Thank you, Rachel.

Colleagues, do you have any comments or questions on Alex's appointment?

All right, seeing no questions, I'll just say that I am so appreciative.

Always appreciate folks.

These are volunteer positions.

Folks volunteer their time and commitment because they care very much and I am so appreciative because it is very necessary.

We get advice.

from these boards and commissions that is invaluable to me as I do my work, as I know it is to my colleagues as well.

So I do not want to underscore the appreciation for all the members that we're appointing today and for, in this case, Alex.

So thank you, Alex.

Sorry you couldn't be with us, but we appreciate you and are so grateful for you nonetheless.

And thank you.

Thank you.

We'll now move on to the next agenda item.

Clerk, will you please read agenda items two through eight into the record?

Agenda items two through eight.

Appointments 3426 through 3429, 3432, 3434, and 3436. The appointments of Sean Bryan and Catherine Walker as members of the Pioneer Square Preservation Board for a term to March 1st, 2026. The appointments of Maya Spotted Bear and Katrina Pluwinski as members, Pioneer Square Preservation Board for a term to March 1st, 2028. The appointment of Joe Krentz as a member, Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board for a term to June 30th, 2026. The appointment of Ross Pinato as member, Pike Place Market Historical Commission for a term to December 1st, 2028. and the appointment of Matthew D. Zinski as a member Landmark Preservation Board for a term to August 14th, 2028. For briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you, Clerk.

These appointments have been read into the record.

I see Aaron and Sarah have made their way to the table.

Thank you.

We're joined by Aaron Doherty and Sarah Dossot from the Department of Neighborhoods who will be presenting these appointments.

And I also want to acknowledge we're joined by one of the appointees, Matthew Zinski, for the Landmarks Preservation Board.

I wanna recognize him and thank him for his willingness to serve.

I'll say more later.

Erin and Sarah, please state your names for the record and then you may present the appointments.

Erin Doherty, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

Sarah Soat, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

And which would you like us to follow the order of the agenda?

That's great, thank you.

Okay, so we'll begin with the appointment of Roz Painato.

This is for the Pike Place Market Historical Commission.

This is coordinated by our colleague Minchao Lee, who is here with us in chambers.

And this is the Friends of the Market position.

Roz is the owner and founder of Urban Farm Northwest, a market business specializing in locally grown and crafted food products.

He is a second-generation market merchant and fifth-generation farmer.

He upholds the market's treasured meat-the-producer tradition by emphasizing high interaction with customers and the broader market community.

and in public comment we had some detailed comments about what the commission does and I'll just reiterate that they review alterations, new design, and changes in use for a Pike Place Market.

and then I have the next and it's for Maya Spotted Bear for the Pioneer Square Preservation Board in the position of human services member.

So Maya Spotted Bear worked in the real estate office for the Chief Seattle Club who has a major presence in Pioneer Square, not just the operation of three buildings but being active neighbors in the neighborhood.

Maya not only understands the maintenance of historic buildings, but also the needs and impacts to people in the district, especially the unhoused community and urban natives and their program services.

She will add to the board the perspective of indigenous history and the value of inclusivity in decision making.

So next is for Sean O'Brien, also in the Pioneer Square Preservation Board in the property owner position.

So Sean works for Urban Visions and has familiarity in working with the Pioneer Square Board on new construction buildings in Pioneer Square.

His background in construction management, his appreciation in the preservation efforts in Pioneer Square and his desire to step up for the community and his problem-solving experience will all be valuable perspectives for the board.

and the next, also Pioneer Square Preservation Board, Katrina Pluwinski in an at-large position.

Katrina lives in Pioneer Square and will bring the perspective of a resident to the board.

She also works at the Downtown Emergency Service Center in Pioneer Square.

Katrina makes the connection of how both people in the neighborhood move forward and are both grounded in connections to physical place and learning from the past.

And then the next is also Pioneer Square Preservation Board, Katherine Walker in the attorney position.

So Catherine is a retired attorney.

As a former attorney for the Westin, she understood that iconic hotel buildings attract visitors, and she sees visitors to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum awed by the historic buildings and history of Pioneer Square.

She is also a member of the Seattle Parks Foundation and a former Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission Chair.

OK, next we are switching to the Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board, coordinated by our colleague Min Chao, who is here with us today.

This candidate is Joe Krentz for the architect position.

Joe is a lead green associate credentialed architect with a deep appreciation for the landmark district's unique social and architectural qualities.

The district is part of the fabric of his daily life where he lives, volunteers, and enjoys the thriving small business scene.

His architectural practice has spanned the west coast of the US, Singapore, and Beijing.

In 2025, he received the distinction of being selected for the Metropolis Seattle Arch 30 cohort, which recognizes architectural talent among professionals under the age of 35. And I'll note that in Ballard, the board reviews both alterations and new design for the district.

The next candidate is Matt Zinski and this is for the Landmarks Preservation Board.

The Landmarks Board contemplates new landmarks for the city.

They also review proposed alterations and new construction at Landmarks and they also review similar types of applications for four of the city's eight historic districts because those four do not have their own boards and commissions.

So Matt is up for appointment as the finance position.

Matt is a registered architect and partner in a local architectural firm with over 18 years of experience with new construction, historic preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse within multiple market sectors, including commercial, residential, and institutional design.

Part of his role is evaluating construction project costs, producing feasibility studies, and advising clients on development options, all financial matters.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Science and Master's degree in Architecture from the University of Buffalo.

In addition to technical architectural expertise and financial knowledge, Matt is passionate about history and looks to bring all this experience to the Landmarks Preservation Board.

Thank you, Erin and Sarah.

Matt?

Is that you?

Would you like to come up and say something?

You don't have to, I don't wanna put you on the spot, but I do wanna recognize you're in the audience.

Great, thank you.

Thank you for being here and thank you for your willingness to serve.

Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments about this set of appointees?

All right, then we will move on to the next agenda item.

Will the clerk please read agenda items nine through 17 into the record?

Agenda items 9 through 17, appointments 3417 through 3425. The appointments of Chelsea Affleck, Elise A. Herwig, Nada Ramadan, and Jalen M. Smith as members of the Community Involvement Commission for a term to May 31st, 2027. The appointments of Gabriel de Los Angeles and Timothy Turner as Members Community Involvement Commission for a term to May 31st, 2026. And the appointments of Max Chandrasekharan, Kaurab Tadasi, and Audrey Maitreenin as Members Seattle Youth Commission for a term to August 31st, 2026. For briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you, Clerk.

These appointments have been read into the record.

We're joined by my friend Lydia Faitalia.

Lydia, do you want to...

as state your name for the record and you can present our appointments.

Thank you for being here, Lydia.

Good morning, Chair Rivera and esteemed committee members.

My name is Lydia Faitalia.

I'm Samo Nentongen Oceania.

I serve as a civic engagement manager in the Department of Neighborhoods, which is led by Director Jennifer Chow.

The civic engagement programs are part of the Community Partnerships Division under the leadership of Director Daniel Sims.

Our programs include Community Engagement Coordinators, People's Academy for Civic Engagement, Seattle Renters Commission, Indigenous Advisory Council, Community Involvement Commission, and the Seattle Youth Commission.

I'll go ahead and start if that's okay, Chair.

Yes, perfect, thank you, Lydia.

Thank you very much.

Today I am pleased to present six appointments to the Community Involvement Commission and three appointments to the Seattle Youth Commission.

For Council and Public Awareness, Alvin Edwards serves as the liaison for the CIC, while Rosa Garcia and Nejma Sheikh serves as the liaisons for the Seattle Youth Commission.

So I just want to give a shout out to my team for all their hard work and dedication in connecting Seattle residents to city departments and resources.

The Community Involvement Commission, CIC, is comprised of 16 commissioners and are responsible for advising the Mayor, City Council, and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods on equitable public engagement strategies with a focus on underrepresented communities.

In position two, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Chelsea Affleck.

Chelsea Affleck is a community advocate who believes that strong, connected neighborhoods are the foundation of a healthy, thriving community.

She is curious how communities define health and belonging, create space for well-being and shared power, and use inclusive engagement to shape neighborhood programs and public spaces, strengthening both health and democracy.

In Seattle, Chelsea has collaborated with community health centers, local nonprofits, networks to advance equity and civic participation.

In position five, we are pleased to present the recommended appointments of Gabriel D. Los Angeles.

Gabriel D. Los Angeles is the son of Chief Andy D. Los Angeles of the Snoqualmie Tribe.

Chief Andy was recognized by the City of Seattle with Chief Andy Day on February 15th.

for the immense history of Native community work and work on all levels of government.

A Lake City resident, Gabriel is also the board president of the Indian Parent Advisory Committee with Seattle Public Schools.

He is also educated as a PHC in education psychology, specializing in learning science and human development at the University of Washington's College of Education.

He is mentored in that work by Dr. Megan Bang Ojibwe, Gabriel is also a storyteller teacher, mentored by Roger Fernandez from the Squalum Tribe.

You can find him in Seattle working on increasing Native American education for all, as well as telling traditional Native stories in classrooms and other places.

In position 12, we are pleased to present the recommend appointment of Elise A. Herwig.

Elise has lived in Seattle for the past seven years and calls South Seattle home.

She is passionate about the transformative power of community and believes that local communities are where people have the greatest power to engage and create change.

She has a master's in social work from the Washington University in St. Louis, and has a professional background in nonprofit and philanthropy.

Her work was focused on stakeholder partnership, collaborative solution design, capacity building, evaluation, and continuous improvement.

She has additional training in community engagement and collaboration through the Tamarack Institute, as well as knowledge gained from trial, error, and learning and practice.

In position eight, we are pleased to present the recommend appointment of Nada Ramadan.

Nada moved to Washington State in 2021. Her love for outdoors and adventures made her fall in love with the region.

Her favorite part is living in the middle of the city and feeling like being in a forest cabin the whole time.

While Nada's background is in education, she has always been an advocate of community engagement.

She is very passionate about creating inclusive cultural programs that bring people together from across the world.

She has coordinated international festivals, managed community programs, and spoken at events attended by hundreds of people.

Nada is excited to serve the city with the Community Involvement Commission.

In position 10, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Jalen Smith.

Jalen Smith uses the pronouns of they, them, any, and all, was born and raised in rural Arkansas, and will tell anyone they meet their favorite soul food dish before they tell their name.

Jaylin lives in Seattle for almost 10 years, where they have completed their Master's of Education degree from Seattle University and have worked as a higher education professional at the University of Washington across many intercollegiate areas.

In working within education and administration at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Jaylin took charge of student recruitment, admissions, and coordination to heart, understanding that the community diversity begins with a kind of smile and a warm hello.

Last but not least, for the CIC appointment in position three, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Timothy Turner.

Timothy Turner has called Seattle's Queen Anne and Capitol Hill neighborhoods home for the past three years.

Timothy is a proud alumni of the Ohio State University.

He earned a bachelor's degree in social work and a minor in sociology.

He has cultivated a diverse career dedicated to the community service roles as a mental health case worker, an English teacher, and a children's social services specialist serving the deaf community of Central Ohio.

Timothy now serves as a resource coordinator working in Seattle's low-income public housing communities where he is passionate about connecting residents to vital community services.

Are there any questions, Chair, for the CIC appointments?

Thank you, Lydia.

That was a lot of appointments, so I really want to thank you for running through them and running through their bios, because it's really great to hear the backgrounds of the folks that are volunteering again.

I'll say it again for these positions.

We're so grateful.

Colleagues, do you have any comments or questions?

And also for the record, Council Member Hollingsworth is now in chambers with us, but she was with us the entire time, so thank you.

All right, seeing no questions, Lydia, I just wanna thank you for all the work that you do at the Department of Neighborhoods.

We love our department.

Neighborhoods, you have more.

Okay.

Sorry.

Okay.

No, that's okay.

All right.

So now we'll move.

Do you have appointments A3 to 20?

Is that what we're doing next, clerk?

The Seattle Youth Commission.

The Seattle Youth Commission.

Go ahead.

Okay, we have three appointments to the Seattle Youth Commission.

The SYC is comprised of 15 Seattle's from all over the city who are appointed by the mayor and city council to connect youth to local elected officials, advise on city policies and discuss issues that youth in Seattle are facing.

In position seven, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Max Chandraskaran.

Max is a 15 year old student at Lake City Lakeside School.

excuse me, Lakeside School and a member of the Seattle Youth Commission.

He is passionate about civic involvement, transportation, and making Seattle's neighborhoods accessible, especially downtown.

In position 11, we are pleased to present the recommend appointment of Korub Tadasi.

Korub is a resident of West Seattle and a senior at Lakeside High School.

She is passionate about uplifting marginalized communities and providing a platform for their voices.

And last but not least, in position two, we are pleased to present the recommend appointment of Audrey Mae Trennan.

Audrey Mae Trennan is a senior at Seattle Preparatory High School, where she is a president of the school's Asian Pacific Islander Club and an active member of the Global Justice Coalition.

Audrey is passionate about gun violence, food inequality, and how climate change disproportionately affects communities of color.

She lives in District 2 her entire life and have grown up witnessing the many issues with community that she hopes to address.

Audrey is honored to have the opportunity to give her community a voice on issues like mental health, gun violence, gang violence, food inequality, housing and education.

As an intern with the Inter-Community Peace and Justice Center, she has done advocacy work in solidarity with immigrant communities.

Audrey has participated in the Youth Civic Engagement Program with Seattle Office of Civil Rights, where she learned techniques for advocacy, learned the city government and legislative process.

It is through the Civic Engagement Program where she had the opportunity to meet with Council Member Mark Solomon, to urge him to act on gun violence in District 2. Audrey has also lobbied to support the Climate Displaced Persons Act and have experience in meeting council members and the mayor.

Audrey is excited to be part of the SYC.

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you, Lydia.

We love our Seattle Youth Commissioners.

So Max Korib and Audrey, we are so grateful for your service.

Impressive resumes for such young people.

I love to see that, so thank you.

Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments?

All right, we're excited to vote on these later in the agenda.

Thank you, Lydia.

Now I can thank you for all the hard work that you do at the Department of Neighborhoods.

We love the Department of Neighborhoods.

I very much appreciate you and Director Chow for all the work that your staffs do at the department, so thank you.

All right, now we'll move on to the next appointments on the agenda.

Will the clerk please read agenda items 18 through 20 into the record.

Agenda items 18 through 20. Appointment 3430 and 3431, the reappointments of Maureen Ellinga and So-Yoon Kim as members of the Pioneer Square Preservation Board for a term to March 1st, 2028. And appointment 3433, the reappointment of Anthony Salazar as a member of the Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board for a term to June 30th, 2027. For briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, Clerk.

I just want to acknowledge Maureen, Soyun and Anthony.

These are reappointments which means they've been on their boards and commission and now they've loved it so much and we love it that they love it because they want to do it again and so really want to appreciate them for wanting to be reappointed to these commissions and I'm happy to do that today as I know you join me in that colleagues.

Unless you have any questions about the reappointments then I want to Let's now move on to the vote.

The committee has heard all 20 appointments.

Would a committee member like to remove an appointment for a separate vote?

Seeing none.

If not, I'll move on all appointments.

I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 3417 to 3436. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, it's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointments.

Are there any comments?

All right, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Vice Chair Rink?

Yes.

Chair Rivera?

Yes.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

All right, terrific.

And again, thank you to all the folks that want to serve on committees, that volunteer your time, that are so committed to serving the people of Seattle.

We very much appreciate you, your hard work, and the advice that you give us as we do our work in representing this city.

We'll now move on to the next agenda items.

Will the clerk please read agenda item 21 into the record.

Agenda item 21, appointment 3294, the reappointment of Duane Chappelle as director of the Department of Education and Early Learning for a term to August 1st, 2029. For briefing, discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, clerk.

This appointment has been read into the record.

This is a different type of appointment.

This is a director appointment.

And in this case, it's actually a reappointment.

And I'm so happy to have my friend, director, Dr. Director Duane Chappell here and also Andrew Meyerberg from the Mayor's Office who will be presenting Dr. Director Chappell.

Andrew, would you please state your name for the record and then we can get started.

Andrew Meyerberg, I am Mayor Harrell's Chief of Staff.

All right.

Dr. Duane Chappelle, proud director of the Department of Education and Early Learning.

Thank you.

Andrew, you can begin.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Rivera and council members.

Thank you for allowing me to be here today to introduce someone that you know really well.

Do I have to call you Dr. Director every time?

Okay.

Director Duane Chappelle.

And as you will know, he is here for reappointment to the Department of Education and Early Learning.

for the city.

Deal provides critical services to our city and to Seattle's children, youth, and families.

And under Duane's leadership, we are serving more children and families than ever.

During his time as director, Duane shepherded the city's education levy and he has expanded his department services to benefit children and families from cradle to college.

Since Duane's appointment in 2016, the Seattle Preschool Program has served more than 11,000 children and received multiple national awards for quality.

He also played a critical role in establishing the transformational Seattle Promise Program that enrolls 1,500 students each fall and led efforts to expand access to mental health services for all Seattle Public Schools students.

Duane is recognized by the community as an accountable and responsive leader, as well as a responsible steward of investments in our city's youth.

Duane's relationship with community and strong ties to education are an amazing asset for DEAL and have led to transformational partnerships with more than 200 schools and community-based organizations across the city to foster meaningful, measurable outcomes across early learning, K-12, and post-secondary education.

Duane has also helped our young people and the educators and providers who care for them through some of the most challenging times, including during remote learning and standing up emergency childcare during the COVID pandemic.

And he has continuously adapted to the ongoing and changing needs of our public schools with social emotional supports for students, investments in school safety and more.

Deputy Mayor Washington has a deal in her portfolio.

She very much wanted to be here today, but she could not.

So I am pinch hitting for Tiffany.

She wanted me to say, for the record, that she loves Duane.

She does, deeply loves Duane.

What drives her crazy about you, Duane, though, is that every time you walk somewhere with her, everyone stops you to say hello, you shake everyone's hand, and everyone wants to talk to you.

So she says it takes forever to get from place A to place B with you.

But that being said, I think that speaks to who you are and how, frankly, beloved you are in our community.

With his experience as a father, educator, and former principal of Rainier High School and his deep experience leading deal, Dwayne is the clear choice in our perspective for this position and we are thrilled to be supporting his reappointment.

So I'm not gonna pass it over to, oh, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Andrew.

Thank you for presenting Dwayne and Deputy Mayor Washington and I have worked with Dwayne for a long time and I agree with her.

and I wanna take a moment to say a few words about my friend Dwayne.

We've been working together for eight years now and we've been through thick and thin together.

Dwayne and I partnered during COVID to deliver critical services to kids and working families.

And we really had to shift some things in order to really meet the moment.

And Duane provided such strong and great leadership at a time where we had to shift to meet the moment.

And it sounds, it's hard for me to even say that because it sounds like just a fact.

but the emotion during that time, I cannot underscore how important it was for the department to have Dwayne there and under his leadership working with myself and Deputy Mayor Washington, who at the time was the deputy at Deal, working together to really meet that moment.

And we did, and we did.

I feel very grateful for that time and for our work together to support our working families and our kids in this city during a global pandemic.

Dwayne and I share a commitment to children and working families in the city.

He is always thinking about how to better support our kids and our students.

He is really one of the biggest advocates for our students and our kids in this city.

And I've never seen this man without a smile on his face and a positive attitude.

That is why everyone loves Dwayne Chappelle.

and I joke that in my next life, I wanna come back as Dwayne Chappelle.

It is really good.

Actually, it is really great to be Dwayne Chappelle.

And I say that in jest, but also I am just so grateful to know him.

He spent his career in the service of kids, not just at the Department of Education and Early Learning where he has served under three mayors, but also as the principal of Rainier High School, where he really touched the lives of so many youngsters and I was with Dwayne last night at Denny Middle School during one of the FEP Levy community sessions and it is really clear that everybody really does love Dwayne and is because when you talk to Dwayne he is focusing on you and he is listening and he is being positive.

The smile lets you know that he is encouraging you.

and that he is in that positive space with you.

And I had the pleasure of meeting one of his kids who was every bit the charmer as Duane is.

So I'll say that.

It was really, really great to meet your daughter.

Duane, I think the world of you as you know.

and your work just I think it really does speak for itself.

Everybody knows Duane across the city and like I said earlier it's because he really He takes the time to meet everyone and especially the kids and how the kids respond to him, you can tell they really appreciate and love talking to him because they know that he is such an advocate.

So anyway, I could go on and on about my friend, but I will now let him speak about his work at the department and at the city and then colleagues, I'll have an opportunity for you to answer questions.

I will say also that we had requested questions.

We had some questions come in and Director Chappelle has responded.

They're sitting at your desks.

So he will briefly touch on some of them in his remarks, but this is really an opportunity to talk about Director Chappelle and his work at Deal as we're looking at his reappointment.

and really want to focus on that.

Take it away, Dr. Director Chappelle.

All right, thank you, Councilmember.

And even before I get into my intro, I just want to just thank you for our fun eight years.

I didn't realize it was eight years, because when we're doing great work and we're passionate about what we do, that time goes by quick.

And I've enjoyed all of our late-night conversations, early-morning conversations, which really has been about how are we gonna help kids and families.

So I've appreciated that and I look forward to continuing to do that.

But one other thing I do wanna say again before I go in into a little bit about my intro, it's, It never surprises me just how passionate you are about every child and every family member in this city.

And I just want to thank you for that.

And I'm looking forward to, we just passed this levy.

I'm looking forward to continuing to build this out in service of our family.

So I appreciate you, your leadership, and most importantly, your friendship.

and thank you, Andrew, for the wonderful introduction.

That is funny what Deputy Mayor Washington mentioned.

And it's also great to hear some of those things of how people think about the work that I've done.

Before I jump in, I also want to say good morning to The other council members up here, Council Member Hollisworth, Council Member Rink, welcome.

Council Member Lynn, congratulations, good to see you as well.

And so I'll just start talking and just share that I am Dr. Duane Chappelle, and I've had the privilege of serving in this amazing role as Director of Education and Early Learning since 2016. and I'm super honored to be here seeking confirmation to continue this critical work alongside the executive and council.

I do come before you as someone that's deeply rooted in this community.

At Rainier Beach High School, we achieved what Seattle Times called a stunning surge in graduation rate.

and transforming a school once facing closure into one where young people walked across the stage into futures that was filled with possibility, which is the work that I'm continuing to make sure that this community is.

And that's also making sure that the community is safe and that I have enriching environments for our young people.

Over the past nine years, Deal and the City, we've accomplished remarkable things together, as you just mentioned, Councilmember.

We've secured overwhelmingly voter support for the transformative $619 million FEPP levy back in 2018, which was my first levy as Deal's Director.

And we've also expanded access to our award-winning Seattle Preschool Program, which now serves more than 2,500 children annually.

You kind of mentioned this a moment ago, Councilmember.

During COVID, we stepped up with emergency childcare for our essential workers, right?

And we provided, we did technology distribution to K-12 students, meal distribution and programs, and a mental health service expansion to our summer programs.

And we're demonstrating our department's agility and unwavering commitment to equity.

Deal also launched a brand new program under my leadership, as you lightly touched on, Councilmember, which was the Seattle Promise, which now serves more than 1,400 high school graduates annually with free tuition, college, and comprehensive supports.

And I'm just excited to expand our investments again with a focus on trade and career pathways under the 2025 FEB levy.

throughout my tenure, building my authentic relationships really has been the cornerstone of my leadership.

And, you know, I've personally visited hundreds of partner sites from preschool classrooms to college lecture halls.

because for me these relationships shape every policy decision that we make and there's nothing more powerful than witnessing a shy preschooler blossom into a confident kindergartner or watching a promised scholar return as a college graduate ready to give back to their community.

And now let's talk about the Every Child Ready FEP 2025 levy, which was approved, as Councilmember mentioned, with 80% voter support, the highest in the levy's 35-year history.

And, you know, this suite of investments will sustain and expand tremendous opportunities for our Seattle students and families.

And our vision is powerful, but yet simple.

Every child in Seattle will thrive, will prosper, and will pursue the future they choose, from preschool to K-12 to post-secondary and career pathways.

We're building a citywide promise that no child's future will be determined by their zip code, their race, or their family's income.

And I know I said it earlier, but I just again want to convey my gratitude to you, Councilmember Rivera, the chair of this committee, and the FEB levy, whose your leadership and unravering dedication shaped the transformative 2025 FEB levy.

Councilmember Rink, Councilmember Hollinswerve, Councilmember Rores, Kettle, Nelson, Sock, Strauss, and now I see you down there, Councilmember Lynn.

Again, welcome.

But working with each of you and your dedicated staff really has been, truly has been an honor.

And I look forward to strengthening our shared partnership to ensure that working families have access to affordable childcare, students have the supports they need to succeed, and our community investment in education delivers results for every child.

The challenges facing our young people today require bold leadership and proven experience, and my two decades of experience grounded in authentic community relationships and direct engagement with students and families has prepared me to navigate these complexities while maintaining a focus on what matters the most.

and that's ensuring every Seattle child has what they need to succeed.

So with your partnership and confirmation, I look forward to continuing this work and ensuring that Seattle remains a national leader in educational equity and opportunity for all.

So together we can make Seattle a city where every child's potential is realized and every family dreams are within reach.

So thank you and I look forward to partnering with you and I welcome any questions.

Thank you Director Chappelle and we have had the pleasure of working on two levees together from the start and that is really amazing that we've had, you know the levees been around of course since the 90s but you and I have worked on the last two together and that's really been just a source of joy for me. and so I'm really grateful to have had your partnership for the last two because that shows continuity also and we see the progression of the changes that have been made with the two levy investments.

So I really appreciate your partnership and that and your continued partnership as we move on to the implementation plan.

So thank you colleagues, questions?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Chair.

I don't have any questions.

I just have a comment if this is the appropriate time.

Dr. Duane Chappelle.

Yes, Dr. Duane Chappelle.

And I'm also glad to hear, Dr. Duane Chappelle, that you're not the only person that gets early morning phone calls from the Chair.

It's always about work and kids, which is good.

It always centers around that, so I just wanted to highlight that.

So that's good to know.

Dr. Duane Chappelle, I believe that you are an extraordinary leader whose impact on the city of Seattle, especially our youngest residents, is absolutely incredible.

It also speaks volumes that you have transitioned through a number of different administrations as well, which simply shows that you are doing a great job.

and meeting the measurable goals, but also, too, that I think is really important that you can work with anyone as well.

And as the current director of the Department of Early Learning and Education, you bring a deep brilliance of vision, heart, to work on ensuring every child has a strong start in life.

Your leadership reflects an unwavering belief that early education is not optional, but it's foundational for our kids.

Through your guidance, the city has strengthened access to high-quality early education, expanded critical resources for families and centered children, not just as students, but as whole human beings with my favorite part of a kid, limitless potential.

as you say, from cradle to career.

Since you started your role at DIL, the department has consistently evolved to meet the community's needs.

From the Seattle Promise Levy, mental health supports, childcare assistance programs, and the new levy, I know, and one of council members' biggest priorities with the pathway to the trades, dirty hands, clean money.

And that was in the levy, and I think that's gonna be a complete game changer for our youth and our kids to have a future, to work with their hands.

But I believe what truly sets Dr. Chappelle apart is your profound commitment to our babies, as we like to call them.

I know some people call them our youth, our kiddos.

They're our babies.

and the ecosystem that supports them and their families and the educators and the communities.

And I think you lead with care, accountability, purpose, and you're always grounded in policy and real outcomes for our kids.

You have shown that when you have come to these committee meetings prepared and always with data and information and why you all made these decisions so we can understand the measurable outcomes and really, really appreciate all of that information.

I believe Seattle is very much stronger because of your leadership and our children are better off because you show up every day with integrity, compassion, and dedication, and most importantly, your smile.

And I am very happy and confident to support this appointment today.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

See, it's good to be Dwayne.

I'm just kidding.

Thank you, Council Member Hollingsworth.

Colleagues, any other comments?

Council Member Lynn.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Dr. Chappelle for coming here for all your years of service.

both in this role and as principal of Beach, crown jewel of South Seattle.

I just wanna make a few comments.

There's nothing more important than our kiddos, our families, to the future of our community, our city.

And I think the resounding vote speaks to your leadership and the importance of this issue.

for our city and particularly for District 2, which I think probably receives more investments from the FEP levy than any other district.

I do just want to highlight a few things that I think are particularly important that I was thankful to see in the FEP levy.

So I just want to thank you for your leadership, Chair, for your leadership in making sure that these investments were in there.

You know, I am speaking to a friend recently who's paying $3,000 a month for childcare for one kiddo.

$3,000 a month.

And that is unsustainable.

And we see the heavy burden that our families are and we know we are one of the cities with the fewest children just per capita because it is so expensive to live here.

And so thankful for that investment also, but particularly thankful for the investment in the employees' wages for childcare workers because there's just no way around.

the workers that do this work.

You can't AI your way out of making it cheaper.

Little kids need adults and guidance.

And so that comes with an expense, and we just have to invest.

So I was really appreciative to see the wages as part of that investment.

Also excited to see for the first time the public safety investment.

We, unfortunately, have seen too many tragedies, as we are all well aware.

and so excited to see the future of those investments, to see the plan for how those will be spent.

Again, we have a lot of great community nonprofits doing community violence intervention work, doing mentorship with our youth and very excited to see how those dollars are gonna be spent.

Similarly with the apprenticeship, critical, critical investment.

So, so excited to see that work with our trades.

I was speaking with the electricians, IBW77, who were working with Rainier Beach High School students, graduates, and really wanna see.

We had a meeting the other day with City Light talking about the need to do, to potentially spend two billion on undergrounding cable in the next 10 years.

Huge public works projects and we should be lining up that work with our trades and our youth because those are good paying jobs and why not invest in multiple ways in our community if we're gonna be doing this work.

so excited about that.

One thing I do want to highlight is the importance of our school-based investments.

I've spoken with principals and I know there's discussions about how to spend that money.

Just want to say how important it is, you know, family support workers, interventionists, and that they're integrated into the system.

I know there's always We need to be careful about when we're paying for SPS staff, not to supplant the role of the state, but I do believe those are critical investments, and I've heard from principals how important it is to have those people on staff where they're part of the same system, same supervision, and I just want to highlight the importance of that.

And finally, I just want to highlight the importance of, and I'm excited to attend some of the upcoming community meetings, making sure that we are engaging with the students and families and educators who are doing this work every day.

I know that you work very closely with Seattle Public Schools leadership, but want to make sure that we're engaging the community who just voted to approve to make sure that their voices are heard.

And so I would love to, if you could speak a little bit about your public engagement and how folks can get involved and make sure that they have a say in how these critical dollars are spent.

Yeah.

Were you going to say something?

No, I was gonna say thank you, Councilmember Lynn and Director Chappelle.

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember Lynn.

So for me, listening to our parents and community is really critical to Deal's work.

And while we're doing increased engagement, like whether it's through surveys or events like last night, to inform the design of the FEP 2025 levy.

We're always listening and engaging with our partners and community.

I can tell you since 2018, we've actually conducted 26 investment evaluations.

We've done 53 surveys, and that's with over more than 10,000 respondents.

about 88 focus groups and interviews with more than 2,000 site visits and I'll tell you that these learnings inform the 2025 levy proposal and are the basis for our implementation plan and engagement as councilmember just mentioned we had a event last night and this month we're actually hosting for community and conversations to engage community members following this passage of the levy.

Last night really was our third event that was at Denny Middle School.

It was fantastic in West Seattle.

And it was great to hear directly from you.

so not only youth but youth parents and other leaders that were in the event and we're currently developing a second round of engagement from January to February of next year and it will include some virtual, some cultural affinity and language-based conversations as well as in-person and virtual conversations focused, like on youth and parent priorities.

But at the end, all of the events are family-friendly.

We provide a healthy meal and offer interpretation services.

And I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you.

Anything else, Councilmember Lynn?

Okay.

I will say that Duane what you didn't mention too is you all will be doing the in order to do some of the sessions to community with language access needs and given the state of affairs at the federal level you'll be doing online sessions in language in order to make sure that we are reaching our immigrant communities as well across the city, which I very much appreciate.

And I also appreciate your partnership with OIRA during this time to make sure that our families in Seattle, our immigrant families and their kids are supported.

So I wanna flag that and highlight and uplift that as well.

So thank you.

Colleagues, any other?

Oh, Council Member Rink, I see your hand.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Chair Rivera, and thank you for bringing up that last point also on our immigrant and refugee families here in the city.

That's certainly in line with where my head is at right now in this moment.

And Dr. Director Chappelle, thank you for your nearly decade of service to our city as Director of DEAL.

The work of DEAL has changed under your leadership, and we've seen expanded investments in crucial areas.

And colleagues, I know I've talked about this in committee and out in community, but the kinds of investments that Deal is making into our kiddos and young people are the kind of investments that shaped my upbringing and really changed the trajectory of my life and I'm a firm believer that when we invest in working families and young people, regardless of their beginnings, we can change generations and that's exactly the work that Deal is doing Seattle voters keep saying yes to doing.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up in this moment, again, as Chair Rivera mentioned, just the state of federal affairs, we're in a moment of divestment on the federal front.

And while we're doing things right here in Seattle, Seattle voters saying, yes, we need to invest in young people, there's this broader context that we're in where we're seeing the federal government step away from more than step away, actively harming working families and our young people through their actions.

And so just speaking to this point, and I wanna express my appreciation as well for your answers to the questions that we put forward, but wanted to hone in on this point on with so much changing on the federal front.

How is the department tracking these broader federal impacts?

And how is the department, again, taking this concerted focus on really standing by and supporting our immigrant refugee families?

Thank you.

Thank you for that question, Council Member Rink.

And the federal administration actions, including threats to withholding funding from schools with diversity and equity and inclusion programs, and executive orders aimed at eliminating what they determine as DEI.

It does create real challenges for our Seattle kids and their families.

And yet, we here at DEAL and the city, we remain steadfast in our commitment to education equity for all Seattle children via our FEP levy.

I said it earlier, but Seattle has a proud history of standing with its values.

We will continue to ensure our program serves students further some educational justice, including students of color, our immigrant and refugee youth, our English language learners, our LGBTQ students, and those students experiencing homelessness, because that is what our community expects, and it's what our children deserve.

Thank you for answering that.

I just wanted to share my comments to it.

Thank you for stating that.

And I know I feel like I'm asking this all the time, but I think it's just so important, again, to get on the record and reaffirm publicly our values and how we are making these investments.

I know a lot of the conversations in my office is having in community.

We're talking to families.

who don't feel safe coming to City Hall.

So often, folks in community don't always see the difference between our local government versus state government, federal government.

But I think during this time, given that we are in many ways out of step and moving in a different direction than our federal government, it's important for us to reassert our values and stand firm in them.

So thank you for speaking to that question, and I look forward to our continued work together.

And again, thank you for your service.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you Council Member Rink and thank you for your thoughtful comments and I will add that folks at DEAL do such a great job working with our immigrant commute families and kids and there's a lot of I will say you know you can see it you can see it and I invite you to attend some of these community sessions in person or online because you'll be able to see the impactful work.

that Deal is having across the city, including the communities we care about.

Well, we care about all communities, but also communities that have been disenfranchised and who are under attack currently.

So I'll just say that.

And you and I can talk more offline.

I'm ever mindful of saying things that everyone can hear what we're saying.

But I will say that I really appreciate Deal's hard work I want to also acknowledge that there's some DEAL members in the audience who've also been at the department for quite some time.

And that also speaks to Dr. Chappelle's leadership, that there's continuity in his staff.

People like working with Dr. Chappelle and it's evident.

and so I just want to acknowledge Marissa Roussel who's in the audience, Ismael Fajardo and Gemini Davis.

I really appreciate working with all of them over the years and like I said, it speaks to Dr. Chappelle's leadership as well.

So I feel like we're in great hands with Director Chappelle at the helmet deal.

And I look forward to partnering with him and all of you on this next iteration of the levy.

And Councilmember Rinke, I appreciate your comments.

Also, I was thinking, you know, in the face of everything that's happened, we've almost doubled down on our FEP levy investments.

So it also shows the commitment of our taxpayers across the city that they care as well about our families.

And the fact that we've been very open and transparent about the fact that we do prioritize communities for this from, you know, with the most need.

I'll say.

So our Promise investment is universal.

Many of our investments are prioritized and we do reach a lot of families with greatest need and that feels really good.

And when you interface with families and you see the impact that it has, I've gotten out to talk to families.

I've attended every one of these community sessions and will continue to do so.

Of course, I know that we all interface with families and kids across the city as we do our work.

And it is so important to speak to the families and the kids, more importantly, who are impacted by these investments because kids don't need grownups talking about them.

They need to be part of the conversation.

And so that is very much a priority piece for Dr. Chappelle and his team.

So I really appreciate that.

We need to hear from the kids themselves what they need.

because grownups always think we know what our kids need and also we need to listen.

And it is a partnership between the kids and the grownups and the educators and then the city folks.

So Dr. Chappelle does such a great job facilitating between all of those groups to come to a place where we're having the best outcomes for our kids.

And I just feel so lucky that we live in a city where we super support our kids and our working families.

so that is a source of pride.

So I know there's a lot happening across the country and at the federal level but I feel really great to be in Seattle.

I feel really lucky and I feel like we are all aligned in our values and in that way I'm gonna say again what Mayor Harrell always says, the one Seattle.

I wanna give him credit for that term but it is a really great one because we are one Seattle and we are working together to really help our kids across the city.

So anyway, if there are no other questions, I'm gonna say thank you.

You have something?

Yeah, just wanna close out by really- Closing comments.

Say it again?

Closing comments.

Yes, my closing comments.

And you took a little bit of it earlier.

Also wanna always thank, I do have the best staff in the city.

and I'll argue any director or city leader, Dr. Fajardo, Marissa, Jim and I, and my whole executive team, I want to thank you all for everything that you all have done over these past years.

I know it's been fun, but the real reason that I believe that folks stay committed in deals, because they love the work, they love the impact, and at the end of the day, I've never worked with more passionate individuals who care about making a difference in young people's lives.

So thank y'all.

Thank you, Jim and I and everyone in the department from our coaches that are in the classrooms to our educational specialists, to our folks on the grants and contract team, There's not a single person in our department who doesn't care about impacting kids.

So I want to thank you all for what you do showing up every day.

Also, I want to thank my mentor who's here in the crowd, Dr. German.

You know, he's been someone that's been standing by my side since day one, and I appreciate him and his leadership.

and my parents, you know, sometimes I sit back and reflect, because my mother and dad have been instrumental in my life, and I really just thank them for showing me what servant leadership was or is, and I feel like I'm taking it after them.

and last but not least, my wife and kids, I just wanna thank them for putting up with me but most importantly for being there because they know when you love and do something, when you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work, it doesn't seem like it's a lot or any stress but at the end of the day, it does take time out of their lives and I just appreciate them for acknowledging and being there with me as we continue to do this.

So I just wanted to say that as my closing remarks and I do believe that this FEP levy, we are gonna continue to be a game changer, a trendsetter to show every other major city in the states how do you take care of kids and make sure that they can thrive.

So I just want to close with that and thank you all again for believing in me.

Thank you, Dr. Director Duane Chappelle.

I want to thank Andrew Meyerberg from the Mayor's Office for coming to present your reappointment.

And I also want to acknowledge Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington, who, as I said earlier, was also at DEAL as Deputy for a time, and her commitment to Seattle's kids and their families is unwavering.

and so I wanna thank her and recognize her as well.

Okay, colleagues, we've come to the moment where we get to vote on this reappointment.

I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointment 3294, the reappointment of Director Chappelle.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Councilmember Ring, for the second.

Councilmember Hollingsworth, I saw you trying to get in there as well.

I know we all are super excited and that makes me so grateful that we're all unified in our support of Director Chappelle.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of appointment 3294.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Vice Chair Rink.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

Aye.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

The motion carries and the recommendation that the appointment be confirmed will be sent to the December 16th City Council meeting.

Thank you, Director Chappelle for being here.

Thank you, Andrew Meyerberg.

Thank you, Deal staff.

Congratulations at this stage, Dr. Chappelle, and we'll see you Tuesday.

All right, we will move on to our final agenda items.

I'm gonna get you out of here on time, colleagues.

Will the clerk please read agenda items 22 and 23 into the record?

Agenda items 22 and 23. Council Bill 121140, an ordinance relating to historic preservation, imposing controls upon Licton Springs Park, a landmark designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board.

and Council Bill 121-139, an ordinance related to historic preservation imposing controls upon the Stewart House, a landmark designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board.

Both items for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you.

These items have been read into the record.

I see Erin's made her way to the table.

Please restate your name for the record and present the two landmarks we will be voting on today.

Oh.

All right.

Get one of these that works.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Erin Doherty, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

Okay.

So thank you committee for having me here today to bring these two landmarks designating ordinances.

to just a brief introduction.

The Landmarks program resides within the larger historic preservation program at the city, and we are with Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

The mission of DON is to provide resources and opportunities for community members to build strong communities, receive equitable access to government, and improve their quality of life.

Historic preservation works in collaboration with communities to preserve places that are identified as important.

Keeping a tangible connection with the past helps foster community belonging in the present and future.

The historic preservation program includes more than 450 individual landmarks in the city, and we have eight local historic districts.

We had appointments for a number of them today.

We coordinate the work of the board and commission members, all led by community volunteers.

We support people through the landmark nomination and designation process, the applicants.

We also manage what's called the certificate of approval process, which is the way in which someone seeks to alter a landmark or make a change of use in the districts where it is applicable.

We conduct surveys and inventories of historic resources.

We coordinate major project review and interdepartmental permitting, and we engage community in education, outreach, and storytelling.

So when contemplating a new landmark, the Landmarks Board needs to evaluate aspects of the code.

They need to determine that in order to be designated, a building, object, or site must be at least 25 years old, and that is a code that's slightly different now, but this is what's relevant to the two that you're seeing today.

it must meet at least one of the six standards for designation as outlined in the ordinance and there are standards A through F.

Would you like me to read them or shall I?

Please.

Okay.

Thank you.

Standard A. It is the location of or is associated with in a significant way the historic event with a significant effect upon the community, city, state, or nation.

Standard D, it embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style or period or a method of construction E, it is an outstanding work of a designer or builder.

F, because of its prominence of spatial location, contrast of sighting, age, or scale, it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood or the city and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood or the city.

and then in addition to meeting at least one of the standards, the object site or improvement must also possess the integrity or availability to convey the significance.

Okay, so I've advanced the slides, but it's not doing that on the screen.

Okay, here we go.

So the first one we have today is an ordinance to codify the signed controls and incentives agreement between Seattle Parks and Recreation and the City Historic Preservation Officer, and that's Sarah Soat, who joined me earlier.

She's still here in chambers.

This nomination was submitted by community member Matt Remley.

Matt had hoped to be here today, but he could not, and David Graves from Seattle Parks and Rec also hoped to be here, but he had a scheduled conflict.

This landmark's traditional Coast Salish name is Lictod.

It is also the present-day Lictod Springs Park that we see here on a map of North Seattle.

This was designated as a landmark in October 16th, 2019 by the Landmarks Board.

They selected standards A and C, so they are recognizing it as a place of historic events, but also for its cultural heritage.

The controlled features of the landmark include the entire park site, but they excluded the shelter and play equipment on the west side that were present at the time of nomination.

The physical park was designed by landscape architects Jones and Jones and was completed in 1974. I know that the nominator Matt Rembley provided a letter to many of the council members, if not all, outlining the many people that contributed to the creation of the nomination application.

So I won't repeat them all here today because we're sort of limited for our time.

But in addition to thanking Matt for his years-long, multiple years-long commitment to this endeavor, I want to acknowledge Tom Spear.

Tom was a major contributor to the writing that got included in the application.

Again, he had hoped to join us but couldn't be here.

Matt told us he was inspired to pursue this landmarking by elders Chief Andy de Los Angeles of the Snoqualmie people, Jackie Swanson of the Muckleshoot people, and Ken Workman of the Duwamish people.

When Licton, Licton Springs Park, was considered for nomination and ultimately designation by the Landmarks Preservation Board, we received an overwhelming show of support from individuals, organizations, and communities across the entire region, including elders down to youth.

or youth up to elders, however you'd like to think about that.

The cultural importance of this place was identified by all as undeniably significant and sacred, noting that countless generations of Coast Salish people gathered at Licton Springs for celebration, ceremony, spiritual renewal, and healing.

The iron oxide-laden mineral springs and the red ochre-colored mud for which this place is named, Licted, are both fundamental to the past and living history of this place.

Shall I take questions or move to the second one?

You can move to the second.

Okay.

Thank you, Erin, and then we'll do questions after.

Thank you.

Okay.

So, the second one, this ordinance is to codify the controls and incentives agreement signed by the property owner and the city historic preservation officer.

Owner Carolyn Ramamurti nominated this property, and the application was authored by local architectural historians David Peterson and Jeffrey Ochsner.

And Carolyn is with us here today.

You heard from her in public comment.

She's accompanied by her spouse, Breck.

This is the Stewart House at 10455 Maplewood Place Southwest.

Here we see it on a map.

This is the end of line, Arroyo Heights neighborhood in West Seattle.

This was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board on November 20th, 2024 under standards D and E.

So the board were recognizing the architectural character of the home as well as an outstanding work of the architects.

The features designated by the board include the site, the exterior of the house, the exterior of the apartment garage, which is a separate building, and portions of the interior, which are essentially the entire first floor.

This residence, referred to by the historians in writing the nomination, called Spanish Eclectic Style, was built in 1931 and is the product of a four-year architectural partnership between Lionel Preece and William J. Bain, Sr.

Both individuals had long, productive careers in Seattle.

And this is another example of their design collaboration, which is also a city landmark, is the Bellroy Apartments in Capitol Hill.

Some of you may know.

This house was originally commissioned by a gentleman named Ralph Stewart.

He owned a home heating fuel company and Stewart Lumber, and Stewart Lumber might resonate.

It exists still today in Rainier Valley, down at Rainier Avenue.

There have been numerous subsequent owners of this property, but the longest of the owners were the Ramamurti family, and they've owned and stewarded this property so beautifully for over 50 years.

So thank you.

In addition to the gorgeous setting of this home, along Puget Sound, the house is distinguished by highly intact, unique architectural details throughout the interior and exterior.

And the owners have recently completed a beautiful restoration of many of the original historic steel windows and then carefully recreated new metal windows where needed to match the original design.

That's it.

Thank you, Erin.

Colleagues, are there any questions about either of these properties?

Councilmember Lin, go ahead.

Yeah, thank you so much.

I do have questions about both, but first we'd like to start with Licton Springs.

And so this is a city-owned property, is that correct, owned by the Department of Parks?

Yes.

Could you just talk about what it means sort of legally to designate this site and also maybe talk a little bit about the uniqueness of this because I believe it's one of the first of its kind in terms of an indigenous cultural site being designated.

Sure, so many people have referred to this as the first indigenous landmark of Seattle, and in many ways it is.

There is a separate landmark that recognizes a statue of Chief Seattle, but it's a work of a white sculptor, as I understand, so we don't think of it as a traditional indigenous property, so we would say that this is the first.

and then it is owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation currently and they are the owners of several landmarks across the city and when we negotiate an agreement with them, what we do is, the role of the board is to review making alterations and what we try and do is come up with a whole list of things that can be excluded from review.

So work they can do so that the park can function on a day-to-day basis like it normally would.

So we have a whole laundry list of things they can do and they don't require review.

We also try and distinguish what types of things that require a certificate of approval, but they don't need to go to the board, they can come to the staff.

So that always saves the applicant time because they're not having to go to public meetings and usually takes a number of weeks out of the full review.

and in fact just in the past few years the City Council passed some legislation that created administrative review across seven of the eight districts and across the whole Landmarks program because landmarks agreements are created on an individual level.

So if some was created 40 years ago, 50 years ago, 30 years ago, they might not have the same types of review.

So that created equity across all those landmark properties that people could have access to administrative review.

So I would say for this property in particular, the most important thing is trying to preserve the character of the open space.

I know the nominators were most concerned about the springs and the clay, so the land and the water.

I think the trees are also important.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has a vegetation management plan for this property that they adopted long before it was a landmark.

So they already sort of have a working plan for how they do things there.

So to date, the only things that we've reviewed were on the north side of the property.

A few years back, they installed a large boulder that has identifying and interpretive signage for Lictin.

and they did an application for that.

And then recently, the comfort station on the west side, that had burned to the ground.

And so we negotiated as part of the agreement the ability to replace that and do it through an administrative review because we knew that the building itself wasn't important to what was important about this place and its cultural significance.

So we agreed that if it was generally in the same place and of the same scale, it wouldn't really alter any of the other features of the park.

So I did that work directly with park staff and it went pretty quickly.

Thank you for that.

And on the one hand, I'm super excited to have this come before us and to be the first of its kind.

I'm also, in a sense, deeply troubled that it's now 2025 and this is the first time that we're having something like this come before us.

And I just wonder if you could speak to a little bit.

I mean, we know about part of the dark history of our country is erasing the history of indigenous culture and languages and I know that so much of your work is tied to historic preservation and trying to, and we're in this dark time where and there's an attempt to erase a lot of history and there's reasons for that.

But I just wonder if you've had any thoughts or reflection on why, you know, is there something in our procedures about how places are landmark that, you know, for some reason this has taken so long for this to be the first?

Is there something in the requirements?

Are we prioritizing architecture over cultural significance?

if there's anything that one, we could change or should we do to encourage more sites like this and or just why this has taken so long to get here.

So I'll give you my thoughts on that.

There's probably some history that I don't know.

I've been with the city 13 years and this program's been around for 55. I think very early years, the city staff nominated a lot of the properties, but I don't know that that lasted for particularly long.

I think that was a way to kind of get the program started.

The vast majority of the applications come from the public.

So they are not originated by the staff.

We're not deciding what to nominate.

So it's people who come forward like Carolyn who decide, you know, I want to nominate my home.

Community members like the Licton property, that was community led and we think that's a very important thing to have because people can say this is important to us and this is why we want to do this.

There's a recent change from the state level that happened this summer that you may be aware of and that has changed what this will look like in the City of Seattle because owner consent will be required for every landmark nomination application.

So It's gonna change what this looks like, but we know that people will still be interested in having landmarks.

And I think there's gonna be more conversations to say, community members approaching an owner to say, we really think that what you have here is important and we'd like to nominate it.

Would you agree?

So in the past, we've had nominations, many nominations that came from community.

and initially property owners were like, well, I didn't want this to be a landmark, but then they decided, you know, I'm okay with this.

So they kind of felt proud of it and maybe not all, but some do.

And we negotiate a controls and incentives agreement with them that gets codified in legislation.

So another part of the work that came to us was through the code.

The State Environmental Policy Act had requirements for referring projects of a certain age over 50 years.

That was what the policy looked like until the recent code change.

And then, of course, there were other thresholds.

It wasn't every single property proposed for demolition.

It had to do with its size.

It had to do with what zone it was within the city.

So a small number of things that were potentially going to be demolished in any given year came through a referral process or a developer was proactive because they thought, oh, this is likely Landmark's material and they would bring it forward to us.

and some number of them became landmarks and many of them did not become landmarks.

So that was kind of another way in which these things happened.

But again, that's going to be changed by the code changes that came out of the state.

I will say that we also do survey and inventory work and last year we had our special project, a context statement that was written about disability activism history and that's gotten some people excited about nominating some properties.

In some cases, these are properties owned by the individual and others are maybe owned by an organization.

So people are working with them to say, we'd like you to work with us and nominate this place.

And we are hoping to do other special projects coming up for Heritage in the City to encourage people to do that as well.

and I can also say there was a history, I'm gonna say maybe 10 to 15, not 10, more 15 plus years ago where the city decided that they were going to nominate properties themselves.

This was the downtown core.

They did a survey and inventory so that property owners could have an understanding of what is the importance of their building and I think they were categorized one, two, three and four.

and the board contemplated some number of them and then stopped doing it because many of them were not becoming landmarks.

So they decided that wasn't, we have all that information.

So if anyone comes to us and says, we'd like to nominate our building, we have history to share with them.

So the city has played an active role in funding certain projects and doing things, surveys and inventories and or nominations, but the majority of it comes from community.

Sorry, that's a long answer, but it's kind of a big question.

I appreciate that and I guess just either follow-up question or comment, I guess I just wonder how much the tribes or any of our other Native American communities organizations look to the landmark designation as something to participate in, and if not, if there's an opportunity there to lean in, again, just recognizing that this is, so many years later, the first of its kind.

Sure.

So you may know Francesca Murnin.

She is a tribal relations officer for the city, and she was our colleague at Department of Neighborhoods for some time, and she coordinated the Indigenous Advisory Council and we had talked to her about the opportunity to work with her group at that time and I think it just wasn't seen as a priority because they had so many other really important things that they wanted to work on.

But we do see that opportunity in the future and I'll say that Landmarking isn't the only recognition.

We have some buildings in Pioneer Square in particular that have important indigenous history that are recognized and are contributing buildings as well as some new buildings.

And that may be true of other neighborhoods in the city as well.

So we are, we embrace anyone who wants to approach us and have those conversations, because we certainly want to see an increase in that.

And people were so excited when Licton Springs came to us that we thought we would see that increase.

But not, we haven't received another one yet, but we hope to.

Any other questions?

That's all for that one.

I did have a question about the Stewart House.

Sure.

OK.

Just for the Stewart House, I was just curious about two parts.

I think there was perhaps a garage that was built more recently that I couldn't tell if that was protected or not.

And then also, what does it mean for the site to be protected?

Could you just clarify that?

Sure.

So the exterior of the garage apartment building.

So you can see this image in 1931. You can see the garage tucked over here.

Later years, I would say 60s or 70s, that got expanded into an apartment building.

multiple units, maybe two or three, reside there now.

And the architect was very careful to make the language of it similar to the historic home, so it was like a village of buildings there.

So it was a very sensitive addition.

and even though it wasn't original, it was old enough to be considered, to be included.

And we asked the owners if they were okay with that and they said yes.

And the hope is that if...

let's say Carolyn decided to sell her property in the future and someone else came along, the board would have the ability to participate in making reviews to that because they are essentially connected too.

It doesn't stand alone.

It has this covered walkway that links them too.

So they really are sort of integral to one another.

It stands alone, but it's an addition.

And then in terms of the site, it's very common for the board to include the whole site because it gives them an opportunity to participate in the review of new construction for the site.

But here, it's probably not likely that anyone would build in front of their view to the sound, but they might.

It's quite possible.

But the landscape, it's also fairly significant.

It has very formal and has some built elements to it.

But somewhat in the future, I could certainly see you might design cottage or something along the edges and still maintain that open sort of lawn that goes to the water's edge.

that just means that there's opportunity in the future.

It doesn't mean it's prevented from being built.

The certificate of approval application process is like design review, and the board usually looks at, discusses alternatives, how does the character relate to the language of the landmark itself, does it respect the landscape, so those types of things.

Thank you.

Any other questions, council member?

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions, colleagues?

I did, Council Member Lynn, appreciate your questions.

I will say that separate from the landmarks, I've been very happy to see as waterfront work has done, at least as it relates to the city, our tribal partners are consulted and brought along, like the waterfront park, and that's really great.

So it's not necessarily landmark, but it is opportunities to make sure that as we're making these decisions that our tribal partners are very much a part of that.

I very much support that.

I know you do too and I want to, for my part, want to continue to see that as a commitment to our tribal partners.

So thank you for the questions.

I know that's part of where probably it's coming from and I agree.

So thank you, thank you for that.

And I'll just add to that, that when the commemoratives and stone and interpretive signage was created, Seattle Parks and Recreation did consultation with tribes as they would to make sure that this worked for everyone.

They all had an opportunity to participate in it.

and to agree on the traditional name of the place.

We asked that question of Francesca before we include it in the legislation because we wanted to make sure that that was appropriate, and she actually went back and reviewed the consultation that had happened on the park site for the standing stone so that we were being consistent.

And thank you for bringing up Parks and Recreation.

That's obviously separate from the Department of Neighborhoods, but Department of Parks and Recreation and Superintendent APD, as I know, works with our tribal partners when they're working on parks property that way too.

So that is really a commitment that all the departments have made, of course we can always do better and we want to do better and part of that conversation was part of the tribal summit we just had.

So again, I just want to make sure that the public knows we are having these conversations not just here but in other departments of the city and it's something we all very much care about and we acknowledge that we can do better and we want to do better.

so thank you, thank you.

Okay, if there are no further questions, let's move forward then with taking a vote on these.

All right, I move that the committee, we're gonna take votes separately on the two properties.

So the first one, I move that the committee recommend passage of Council Bill 121140, which is the Lichten Springs Park.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

It is moved and seconded to pass the bill.

Are there further comments?

Okay, seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 121140.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Lin.

Yes.

Vice Chair Inc.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

Aye.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation that the bill passed will be sent to the December 16th City Council meeting.

All right, seeing no further questions about these two properties, let's go to the Steward House nomination.

It is moved and seconded to pass Council Bill, sorry, before it got seconded.

If I move, Sorry, colleagues, I was not in the right place on my script.

I move that the council committee recommend passage of Council Bill 121139, which is the Steward House.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Council Member Rank.

It is moved and seconded to pass the bill.

Are there any further comments?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 121139.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Lin.

Abstain.

Vice Chair Rink.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

Aye.

Three in favor, zero opposed, one abstention.

The motion carries and the council bill will be sent to the December 16th City Council meeting.

All right, thank you.

Thank you chair and thank you committee members.

Thank you.

All right, so colleagues, due to the timing of today's vote, which is after Thursday, the Thursday 1 p.m.

rule deadline, I am requesting that we suspend the rules to send today's legislation that we pass all of the pieces to the December 16 city council meeting.

If there is no objection, the rules will be suspended to send agenda items one through 20 to the December 16th City Council meeting.

Hearing no objection, the rules are suspended and agenda items one through 20 will be sent to the December 16th Council meeting.

One second, colleagues.

Okay.

Sorry, clarification, it's one through 23. One through 20 were the appointments and then we have 22 and 23. So it's suspending the rules to send items one through 23 to Tuesday's December 16th City Council meeting.

Any objections?

Seeing none.

All right, then we will be sending these to the Tuesday December 16th full council meeting for a vote.

Colleagues any further questions or comments today?

No?

Great.

Then again colleagues I just want to thank you for working together on the land committee items throughout the year and in particular I want to say a special note of gratitude for all the work around the Families Education Preschool Promise Levy.

As you know, that is something that I am so passionate about.

Director Chappelle and I talked about it earlier and I'm just so grateful for all the hard work that went into that and a lot of our committee meeting went to do that work so I want to thank you for sticking with me and using some of that committee time to do that work and I look forward to continuing to work with you on the implementation plan in the beginning of the year.

So I am just grateful for your collaboration.

I very much enjoy serving with you.

And all right, this concludes the December 12th, 2025 meeting of the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee.

I hope you all have a peaceful and restful holiday season, whatever you celebrate, and of course, a peaceful and terrific new year.

If there's no further business, this meeting will be adjourned.

Hearing no further business, it is 11.30 on the dot and this meeting is adjourned.

Council Member Lin, I promised you on time and we are.

Thank you, colleagues.