City Council Special Meeting 1122024

Good afternoon, everyone.

The recessed January 12th, 2024 special meeting of the Seattle City Council will come back to order.

It is 2.01 p.m.

I'm Sarah Nelson, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Kettle?

Here.

Councilmember Moore?

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Present.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Seven present.

Thank you very much.

If there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow public comment at today's special meeting.

Hearing no objection, the council rules are suspended and we will proceed with public comment.

Colleagues, at this time, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

Please note that because this is a special meeting of the city council, speaker's comments should only relate to items on today's agenda.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today, please?

We have eight in person and approximately nine online.

Okay.

We will...

Oh, I would like to recognize that Council Member Moore has joined us.

I will allow one minute per person.

We have 20 minutes signed up.

We have 20 minutes on the agenda.

I will extend that to one minute and 30 seconds per person.

Okay.

And we will start with the in-person commenters, please.

All right, thank you.

The public comment period for this meeting is 20 minutes and each speaker will be given one minute, 30 seconds.

Each speaker will be called in the order in which they registered on the council's website or on the signup sheet here in council chambers.

When a speaker hears a chime, that means there's 10 minutes, 10 seconds are left of the allotted time.

And once you hear the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comment.

And if speakers do not end their public comment at the end of the allotted time, the speaker's microphone will be muted.

The public comment period is now open.

We'll begin with the in-person speaker.

And our first in-person speaker is Clifford Cawthorn.

All right.

Sorry, that one did not work, so I'm going to have to crouch, so my apologies.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Cliff Cawthon.

I'm the Advocacy and Policy Manager for Habitat for Humanity of Seattle-King Kiatas Counties.

I'm here today because the city council vacancy presents a major opportunity to appoint someone that will have the expertise and vision to move the needle on housing in general throughout the city, as well as to address the comprehensive planning updates, one of the most important policy decisions you'll be making this year.

As you know, Habitat's been working in this community for 38 years, helping to build community and build resiliency amongst so many in our city and our region as a whole.

And this council has made great strides on addressing the housing crisis, but the work isn't done.

That right now, housing is still at the intersection of so many issues that we face in our city, everything from homelessness to public safety to the quality of our environment, so on and so forth.

And while I look forward to working with all of you in the foreseeable future in order to address all these issues, that one of the things I would ask you to consider as you go forward in this process is the work that we have to do, and more importantly, what we have to gain in terms of making sure we build more affordable housing, making sure we have all the tools that are disposable to increase supply of housing, as well as to make sure that we can build complete, connected, safe, and healthy communities.

Thank you so much for your time.

I'm honored to be here and see all of you.

And have a happy Friday and a good day.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ray Dubicki.

And following Ray will be Betty Law.

Go ahead, Ray.

Thank you, Council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I am Ray Debicki, a parent and renter in Ballard, and I am an applicant for position eight.

More than just wanting the job myself, I really want to emphasize the importance of the comprehensive plan in your pick for the City Council vacant position.

The updated comp plan must provide abundant housing in every neighborhood of the city.

It will set the bar for housing affordability for the next 20 years, and it will also decide if the city can afford all of our transportation investments or be on the glide path to failure on our roads and bridges.

The comp plan must step away from the redlining and segregation of 20th century planning.

Now, as a planner and land use attorney who has been writing about these issues, I do look forward in helping Seattle develop this comprehensive plan and prepare us for 2050 and beyond.

Please prioritize abundant housing in the comp plan.

Please select a city council member for the vacant position eight that addresses these issues.

And I do look forward to being that council member and working with you all in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, our next speaker is Betty Law and following Betty will be Amy Chen Lozano.

Hello.

I'm asking for an accommodation for my vision issues, please.

Yes, that's fine.

Thank you.

I'm Betty Lau, a longtime community advocate.

Let's look at Tanya Wu's lived experience for getting things done.

She manages a family business.

She co-founded CID Community Watch.

I know.

I talked to her before.

walks the neighborhood to check on unsheltered neighbors, passing out water, food, supplies, administering life-saving CPR and injections, connecting people on the streets to resources and help.

She led conversion of a historic hotel to affordable housing.

She listens, learns, and works collaboratively with others across a wide spectrum of perspectives and opinions to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.

I urge you to appoint Tanya Wu to the position eight vacancy.

Thank you.

Ms.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amy Chen Lozano, and she will be followed by Betty Luke.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Amy Chen Lozano and I'm an advocate and organizer with the Chinatown International District.

Tonya Wu is the candidate that Seattle needs.

She has shown time and time again that she deeply cares for her neighborhood and her city.

She has boots on the ground experience and most importantly, she shows up.

Tonya is widely supported throughout the city but lost the election for District 2 by a very slim margin.

I've emailed all of you an online petition supporting her appointment to the position eight at-large position.

We have, just in our region, we have 1,299 signatures both online and translated that we all went boots on the ground getting signatures from our non-English speakers supporting Tanya.

I started this petition because I deeply admire and respect the work that Tanya has done and believe in her vision for the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amy, excuse me, Betty Luke and Betty will be followed by Ascari Addison.

Hello, my name is Betty Luke.

I am the sister of Wing Luke, who is the very first person of color elected to the Seattle City Council.

I also am a diversity trainer, and I've conducted diversity training in 36 different states across the nation.

And with that background, I'm here to urge you to choose diversity in your choice for the...

And I really recommend Tanya Wu.

She's a person who is currently out in the community.

When she shows up, people know who she is.

When she shows up, they know she's going to listen.

They know that she has background in meeting in communities, even going into communities that the police consider cautionary neighborhoods.

She has demonstrated concern, problem solving.

She has worked with the arts grants.

She has worked with the military, with Cathay Pulse 186. She has worked out in the community and within and about.

So I strongly urge, we need a voice of courage.

That's Tanya Wu.

We need a voice of diversity.

That's Tanya Wu.

We need a voice who is able to include and to recognize across the borders, cross-culturally, age-wise, and ethnic groups.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have copies of a petition from 37 different Asian American leaders urging the inclusion of Asian American representatives.

Thank you, our next speaker is Ascari Addison, who will be followed by Guy Chan, or Gee Chan.

Pardon me?

It's pronounced Gee.

Gee, thank you.

Good afternoon, City Council.

My name's Ascari Addison.

I've served in different capacities working in public health for most of the last 10 years, and I see homelessness, poverty, all of these different social colonial determinants of health as major public health issues that are influenced by the knowledge of the built environment and by the presence of people who have compassion as well as intelligence.

And I believe that Tanya Wu comprises all of those traits.

I've seen personally in my short time in the city, the knowledge that she has not only of Chinatown but the city at large, awareness of the various economic factors that have a deleterious impact on the public, as well as her taking her own personal time to inform new residents to Seattle, to show people the huge benefits that this city provides the state, the nation, and the world, as well as areas where it could improve.

And for those reasons, I stand in support of her today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Gee Chan, and Gee will be followed by Sue Marr.

Hi, I'm Gee Chan.

I'm a longtime Seattle resident of District 3, and I just took down Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth's launch sign.

Anyway, I want to say that the letter that Betty Luke has passed on to you was signed by Asian American community leaders, as well as the business owners.

And these are people who are concerned about the Chinatown International District.

The letter is really in support of Tanya Wu to be appointed for position eight.

And for far too long, the CID has not had a voice in this city.

And we have all witnessed the results of never being represented.

So Tanya Wu as a council member will truly represent our community as well as the city of Seattle.

Asian Americans represent 18% of Seattle's residents.

We deserve representation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sue Marr.

And then I believe we have one more.

I'm gonna go check the sheet.

Hello, my name is Sue Marr.

I've lived in Seattle my entire life, and I once worked for the City of Seattle for about 32 years.

Now I'm a small business owner in the Little Saigon area, a community that is struggling with constant crime, drug sales, and use in shootings.

I'm here today to support Tonya Wu for City Council, position eight, representing voters on citywide issues.

I volunteered for Tonya's campaign, and I learned a lot about her.

She's kind, intelligent, responsible, thoughtful, and hardworking.

Tanya spent every day attending meetings, events, and debates.

She listened and talked to everyone, including homeless, victims of crime, senior citizens, business owners, and even people who had different opinions from her.

During her campaign and to this very day, she volunteers in homeless camps.

Tonya has the right attributes to be a great leader.

She has the energy, the motivation, a fresh perspective that will help implement balanced solutions to address Seattle's many issues.

Tonya is forward-looking, hands-on, and collaborative.

She has real grassroots experience, seeking timely solutions to issues, developing and managing affordable housing, working with small businesses, supporting organizations that provide social services to people in need.

Tonya's different from other candidates.

She led a successful protest.

She organized and led rallies, protest marches, and public testimony to challenge the county and the city on a plan to build a mega homeless center on the border of the CID.

This project was...

Tanya, with no political experience, had the guts to run for Seattle City Council.

I watched with sadness the deterioration of Seattle, but working with Tanya gave me a little bit of hope that things can change in Seattle.

The current city council does not have an Asian American rep. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last in-person speaker will be Jasmeet Singh, and then we'll move on to remote speakers.

Dear Seattle City Council members, I have the honor of recommending Neha Naria to the vacant Seattle City position.

I believe she will be a great success in the position.

My name is Jasmeet Singh and I live in Seattle City District 2 representing King County District 2 on the King County Behavioral Health Advisory Board and work for the Crisis Text Line, one of the 988 providers.

20 years ago when I met Neha as I was graduating from high school and she was finishing up at UW, I was a young girl coming from a broken home riddled with alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

She believed in me and my desire to do things differently despite the cards that I was dealt.

Under her guidance, I became the youngest board member of the Indian Student Association at UW, which paved the way for freshmen to serve in leadership.

Her mentorship over the years has been pivotal in solidifying my commitment to civic service.

For nearly two decades, I've seen Neha take the idea and blossom it into reality despite the odds.

Her perseverance is balanced with realistic expectations on how and when things can get done.

At UW, she collaborated with several student groups to launch They See the Maka, which has gone on to become the premier South Asian talent show.

selling out year after year.

After completing her master's and AmeriCorps, she returned to Seattle to revamp and rebrand the Seattle Pacific Hotel as a civic hotel, bringing to life her family and community's desire.

When the pandemic hit, she pivoted and offered up the space to serve as transitional housing in alignment with her values to give back and support the homeless.

Neha has the agility and the compassionate drive the city needs.

of urging voters to vote.

Thank you.

We'll now move into our remote speakers.

And as a reminder to the remote speakers, once I call a remote speaker's name, you'll hear staff say you have been unmuted, and then you need to press star six to begin speaking.

Thank you.

Our first remote speaker is Eric Feeney, and Eric will be followed by Tia Petrovich.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Are you there?

Eric?

Yeah, hello?

Yes, go ahead.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, yes.

Sorry, I must have a telephone connection issue.

I see this as an opportunity for the sitting council members to...

Oh, boy.

It seems like you're cutting out, so if you get to a place where you have a better connection, we will come back to you.

Why don't we go to the next speaker?

Sure, that sounds like a good idea.

So our next speaker is Tia Petrovich, and Tia will be followed by Micah Rothman.

Go ahead, Tia.

Good afternoon, Council, and thank you for the opportunity to address you remotely.

My name is Tia Petrovich.

I'm a 30-year resident of Pioneer Square.

I chair the Pioneer Square Residence Council, and I work with several community and downtown organizations focusing on safety and health neighborhoods and safe shelter and housing for all.

I'm speaking in support of Captain Steve Strand for appointment to Seattle City Council at Large Position 8. Over the last few years, it's been my honor to work with Captain Strand in the realm of public safety, community issues and concerns, and reports, including statistics, trends, and policies.

In my view, Captain Strand is a unique individual.

He understands community.

He gets human needs.

He is always there to help neighborhoods.

He's safer, and he's the first to call.

When we call, he'll talk about the LEAD program, the CARE team, and other diversion programs for those who've found themselves in trouble and need a helping way forward.

He listens.

He can interpret and translate policy in a way that makes sense to the average citizen.

He's provided pathways for input and feedback, and he's incredibly compassionate to all.

When talking with Captain Strand, it's like I'm talking to a neighbor and a broad thinker and a champion of people.

I know how valuable Steve's been for my neighborhood and for West Precinct, especially as a critical thinking partner.

I'm willing to share him with all of Seattle, and I support his desire to serve our community in this new arena.

I encourage you to choose Captain Strand as your top choice when filling the city council seat that's open.

Thanks so much for your time, and have a great Friday.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Micah Rothman, and Micah will be followed by David Haynes.

Go ahead, Micah.

Good afternoon.

My name is Micah Carose Rothman.

I am a resident of Judkins Park, and I commute via the 7 bus to Pioneer Square every day where I work as an attorney.

I am also a fourth generation Seattleite.

My great grandparents immigrated to Seattle from Japan at the turn of the 20th century and they lived with their families in the vibrant Central District.

I am here today on behalf of over 300 community leaders across Seattle to offer our strongest support for Mari Sugiyama to be appointed to the vacant city council seat.

Mari is smart measured compassionate and deeply committed to social and racial equity.

Like me Mari comes from several generations of Seattleites.

Our families have been connected for three generations and we share experiences and values.

I know Mari cares very much about our city and will work tirelessly on behalf of our communities especially the most vulnerable and marginalized.

I know you all share this commitment and concern and you'll find an incredible partner in Mari.

Mari will also bring a fresh perspective and bold ideas to the council.

will bring her extensive knowledge from her nearly 10 years of experience managing millions of dollars in the city's human services department to help solve our city's most complex challenges.

For more insights on Mari I encourage you to read an op-ed written by Michael Wu, Veri Gossett, and Dalma Valoria which was published in the South Seattle Emerald today.

Thank you very much for your consideration of Mari Sugiyama.

Thank you, our next speaker is David Haynes, and then we'll try after David to go back to Eric Feeney.

Go ahead, David, please.

And David might not be available.

David, are you there, and press star six?

Okay, can we try back with Eric Feeney?

Eric, are you back online?

It does not look like he's online, so we'll keep going down.

Our next speaker then will be Matt Molloy.

Are you there, Matt?

Hello, this is David Haynes.

Can you hear me?

Oh, now we've got David.

Hello?

Yes, go ahead, please.

All right, thank you.

David Haynes.

This is another fraudulent special election with a criminally corrupt 20th century city chapter that needs to be changed to allow for the people to choose a replacement, not government officials.

Right after the election results, we should have had the candidates apply.

And then through that period of process, we should have been allowed to question them and allow the media to have town halls so that by the end of January, the people would be able to choose.

Instead, We have a circumventation of our democracy, which resulted in a really bad choice the last time they had a replacement.

Now, we need to have a fair and balanced forum for questioning the candidates, not more politically connected nonprofits who take payoffs from progressives and help progressives who've imploded Seattle.

They help people get elected while censoring the questions from the local community.

For example, Transit Riders Union needs to stick with solving all of these crisis and inefficient problems with public transportation.

Instead, they want to dabble in politics and play racial games that basically have imploded our society.

And the thing is, we've had bad policies coming out of City Hall for too long.

And Tonya Wu knows how horrible Progressive bottom of the barrel policies have caused the Chinatown.

I got attacked twice three weeks ago in two different bus stops at 5th and South Jackson and 4th.

We need her to represent at the council.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Matt Malloy and Matt will be followed by Genevieve Courtney.

Go ahead, Matt.

Hi, Council.

I am Matt Malloy, a Green Lake resident, speaking on the Position 8 appointment.

I'm one of the six dozen candidates who announced their intention for Position 8. I apologize I couldn't be here.

I had to substitute teach today, but my candidacy is a long shot.

There are many qualified candidates with years of experience who warrant serious consideration.

I'm not here to advocate for myself, but I want this platform to talk about the most important issue this temporary appoint will face, which is a comprehensive plan.

The comprehensive plan will serve as a roadmap for growth in the city for the next 20 years and beyond.

The first two speakers spoke to the importance of the comprehensive plan.

I want to emphasize its importance as we become a climate sanctuary for future refugees.

Allocating appropriate resources is vital at this time.

The council at this time lacks a strong urbanist voice, one who will advocate for those without a car like myself.

Many of you are homeowners and don't understand the struggle of renting in the city.

We need a bold plan for dense urban growth across the whole city, not just the urban village approach.

That includes the 70% of residential land zone for single-family homes.

Most of you come from a professional background and have distanced yourself from the blue-collar and service industry work in the city.

Please pick someone who shores up your shortcomings and highlights the valuable new perspective you all bring to the council.

Pick someone who will challenge you to learn and and about the city from a new point of view.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Genevieve Courtney and Genevieve will be followed by Gary Lee.

Hi.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Great.

Hi.

My name is Genevieve Courtney and I'm here to speak out for the support of Tanya Lou.

I am a resident of North Beacon Hill, and I am a doctor, and I am a park steward for the Jose Rizal Dog Park, and I'm also a bike commuter, and I bike through Little Saigon every day in 12th and Jackson.

During these bike commutes, just me, one person, I've witnessed three shootings, and I've met with Tanya Wu about this and about the issues that are going on in Little Saigon and the surrounding international districts.

And she uniquely understands these issues because she has boots on the ground right in there trying to help this community, this community that is currently underrepresented.

Because for one, it's very, very small.

There's not that many people who live in this community, but it affects everyone in Seattle.

I have treated patients with PTSD from things that they've seen in this community.

I do not treat acutely ill patients, but I would imagine our hospitals are filled up with folks who are using drugs from this community, who get shot in this community.

It's impacting everyone.

There is a open-air market on 12th and Jackson, and this market is filled with stolen goods that are being stolen from all of our stores throughout the Seattle area, causing stores to be shut down, and this affects everyone.

So I highly support that you choose Tonya Wu to represent an underserved community.

Thank you.

Our next speaker will be Gary Lee and Gary Lee will be followed by Dabuta Dash.

Hello I'm Gary Lee and I'm the co-chair of the Public Safety Council in Chinatown.

I'd like to echo my support for Tanya Wu as everybody else has stated earlier today.

I would like you to add another common sense council person to the council who is public safety oriented as well as a housing advocate.

So I would again urge you to appoint Tanya Wu to the vacant seat.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dabuduta Dash followed by Henry Lee.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hello.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Debajuta Dash.

I have been a long resident of Seattle, almost more than 20 years, and I have been the board president in the past for the Asian Council Referral Service, SERS, as well as commissioner to the Washington State COPPA, the Commission on Asian Affairs, Asian and Pacific Islanders Affairs.

I have been the chair of the Economic Development Committee And as a leader, I strongly recommend Tanya Hu for the citywide council position because she has the compassionate, she has all the leadership qualities.

She talks less and acts much.

She really walks the talk.

She has been a public safety champion.

She also has a housing advocate.

And she is a champion for the underprivileged.

uh a voice from the seattle international district in china town is very much necessary and she is also the voice of the entire asian community and and being an asian american i strongly uh support uh her candidature and i hope uh he will have he will she will have uh the required support to be the citywide council thank you so much

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Henry Lee, and Henry will be followed by Kim Khanh Van.

Hi, my name is Henry Lee.

I'm a resident of District 7. My district is represented by Councilmember Kell.

I want to thank the council for the opportunity to speak today.

You guys have a unique opportunity before you to appoint somebody who is to better round out the council and more fully represent the city.

I want to voice my support for Tanya Boo for the at-large position, position number eight.

I want to point out, again, all the existing work that Tanya has already done to support the elderly and homeless and marginalized community in D2.

These are people who rarely have opportunity nor capabilities to speak for themselves, and she's really highlighted all of their struggles over, you know, for as long as they've been around.

boots on the ground experience leading the CID night watch, which I see that very, very few people, especially on the council, have.

And so that would bring a very unique view to the council.

In the role of city council member, citywide council member, I also want to see the tremendous impact that she's already had as a private citizen living in D2 to being somebody who actually will have resources to support the city at large.

And so taking that small bit of impact already to something much greater.

This council needs more representation, specifically from the Asian community.

Asians represent nearly 70% of Seattle's population, according to the census, who are currently not represented on the council.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our last speaker will be Kim Khanh Van.

Kim, can you hear me?

YES, MY NAME IS KIM KANVANG.

YOU PRONOUNCE THE NAME AS KIM KANVANG, WHICH IS FINE.

IT'S THE AMERICANIZED VERSION.

I AM A RENTON CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, AN ATTORNEY, A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, A JAG LAWYER WITH THE UNITED STATES ARMY VOLUNTEER RESERVE.

BUT I COME TO YOU TODAY NOT IN THAT ROLE.

IN A ROLE AS A FORMER CHILD REFUGEE FROM VIETNAM WHO RESETTLED WITH HER FAMILY TO SEATTLE.

FROM BALLARD GRADUATING FROM GARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL PROUD DOG AND NOW HAVING move to Renton.

I'm here to support Tanya Wu for the citywide position eight because Tanya is collaborative, she cares, she listens, and she gets results done through her experienced leadership.

I've witnessed through the pandemic where community members were being harmed because of anti-Asian sentiment, hate crime.

Tanya was first to come to support, and this is not because she was running a campaign.

She is who she is, authentic, and she cares.

She comes and speaks to unsheltered communities, supporting them, also making sure we work collaboratively with our city officials, making sure that we have gun violence prevention working in Rainier Beach communities.

Her second thing that she's done that I witnessed is the housing, really boots on the ground.

I mean, a lot of the speakers have mentioned this, But I want to reiterate how she wants to house our unsheltered brothers and sisters.

And it's the work that I've done in reparations for her, she has also supported.

So I ask that you look at all these things she's done, not only that she's a representative of CID, but for Little Saigon, for all the marginalized voices out there.

So please give us a voice.

Again, I'm a former child Vietnamese refugee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that's our last speaker, Council President.

Thank you very much.

So the public comment for today's meeting is now closed.

Everybody is here and ready to go?

Okay.

So our first item on the agenda is item one.

Would the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, selection of community organization to host a public forum.

Thank you very much.

Actually, the first item on today's agenda is some thank yous here.

I just want to let people know that we speak more into the mic.

Folks in the audience and out there watching, today, if you're counting, we're at day 10 of a 20-day process.

And we have before us 72 eligible candidates, applicants that we will be needing to call.

So I just want to say, first of all, that it was no small feat to get us to this point.

It is, with that many people It was a monumental task to make those available online, redact the personal information.

A huge thank you to the clerk staff and the folks upstairs on the third floor who really did the work to make sure that they were available to the King County staff over there that were checking the details of the applicants to make sure that the minimum qualifications were met.

Obviously, Clerk Shireen Steadman and her team here we couldn't have done it without you working very, very late hours.

And to our council, Lauren Henry in alley, our deputy central staff director, everybody deserves a thank and mostly I want to say, Thank you to the people that stepped up out there to offer themselves for service, for public service.

So with that, also one thing, my staff as well, they've been keeping me on track here.

Anyway, let's move forward with, can you please read item one again?

Agenda item one, selection of community organization to host a public forum.

Okay.

I move that Seattle City Club be selected as the community organization to host the public forum.

Is there a second?

Second.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to select Seattle City Club as the community organization to host the public forum.

As a sponsor, I'll address the issue and then open up the floor to comments.

So, 19...

Community organizations submitted an online form that provided feedback on the format, the questions, and the accessibility considerations of the public forum.

And of those 19, two of them submitted a letter of interest to host the forum, the Transit Riders Union and the Seattle City Club.

The transit riders union is a and I'm quoting from the website, a democratic organization of working and poor people taking control over our own lives and building up the power we need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet, end quote.

Seattle City Club.

quoting from the website is, tagline, democracy starts with you, quote, nonpartisan 501 nonprofit organization improving the civic health of the Puget Sound region by providing programs that bridge politics, sectors, and generations to inform and engage residents and community leaders, end quote.

In 2019, when Abel Pacheco was nominated to fill Councilmember Rob Johnson's vacancy, the Transit Riders Union was Council's community partner.

This past fall, prior to the general election, City Club hosted four candidate forums in the races for District 1, 3, 4, and 5. They were held in district and produced in conjunction with a local media partner serving as one of the moderators who posed questions that were chosen in advance and also questions that were offered by the audience during the debate.

The questions related both to citywide issues and also to district specific issues.

The debates were live streamed and they're also available on YouTube if you would like to watch them yourselves.

I suggest that Seattle City Club is the clear choice for this purpose at hand for two reasons.

Their track record hosting well organized public events from soup to nuts is well established.

And they just came off a round of debates in four of the city's seven districts.

And so they know the issues that are top of mind for the voters out there and also for the candidates that are coming and offering their service.

So that is the reason why I go ahead and suggest Seattle City Club.

Are there any comments?

No comments.

Yes, go ahead, sorry.

Well, I don't disagree with anything you said about City Club being well qualified to do this.

I think we've all probably participated in their forums.

I would also say though that Transit Riders Union has similarly organized candidate events across the city for different topics and worked in collaboration with other organizations.

So given that there were only two community organizations that applied, I wonder if we might just allow them both to work together.

They do have slightly different constituencies, but have both worked on being able to provide access to folks who are interested in these issues.

So I would be interested in seeing if we could just allow both of them to participate and organize together to create an event.

Are there any further comments?

I have a comment, but I don't think my, is my mic connected?

Yes, it is working.

Okay.

Given that we have such an expedited process, I would be supportive of having only one group rather than trying to add additional burden to having two groups try to manage this process together.

And so for those reasons, I would be supportive of the City Club.

I do think this is a...

We cannot deny the politics that are involved, and so I think it's important that the community forum be hosted by a group that announces itself to be a civic, nonpartisan group.

I think, however, we should send a very clear message to them that they need to do maximum outreach so that all of the communities who want to have input are aware of the forum and are able to participate, able to submit questions, so that everyone is feeling that they've had an opportunity to be heard.

Thank you, Council President.

Are there any further comments?

I would just add that the every organization, not every organization, but of the 19 organizations that I already alluded to, many of them did submit questions.

And so what will happen with those questions is that they will be sent to the to the organization that is chosen in this case, hopefully Seattle City Club.

And they and that organization will work with our our clerk's office on logistics and those questions and additional questions that come in before the actual forum will also be considered by those organizations.

So this is not that any organization is excluded.

I also agree with Council Member Moore that choosing one organization just to organize the logistics is the most wieldy option.

Can I ask a follow-up?

Yes.

My understanding is that there aren't really resources for the organization, whoever it is, to organize that.

We will very likely have that forum here in Bertha Knight Landis.

Is that established or is that...

That's the information I'm going with right now.

However, I do know that Seattle City Club does have access to other venues.

I do have...

It's my understanding that Seattle City Club has access to other venues, but I am operating on the assumption that it will be in Bertha Knight Landis.

If there are no further comments, may we please proceed to a vote.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much for that.

All right.

Will the clerk please read item two into the record?

Agenda item two, selection of city council vacancy position eight finalists.

All right.

So we have two things to do today.

Our tasks are to choose a process and then come up with a narrowed list.

And I first want to provide some context here because it's unusual that a majority new council has a nomination process as the first task at hand.

And so I want to provide some history in...

because it's helpful to all of us to understand how this has been done in the past.

And I always appreciated how Council President Juarez used to provide some history because it does provide important perspective.

This is not necessarily an uncommon process in filling a vacancy.

In fact, Council has filled three vacancies in the past eight years, in 2015, 2017, and 2021, and the selection process was different every single time.

What we're going with is a 20-day time limit, but beyond that, there's great latitude.

So in, I'm just going to go through, in 2015, in April, council filled a vacancy for position nine in two meetings, starting with 43 candidates.

And that, and so how that happened was that the council president came to that meeting, to the first meeting with a list of eight candidates, and a motion was made by council member Burgess, duly seconded and carried to advance them to, for final consideration at a subsequent meeting.

and then they picked their finalists.

And after two rounds of voting at that meeting on April 27th.

In October of 2017, there were eight candidates that had been put forward to fill a vacancy.

Now, this was an election year.

This is in 2017. when Positions 8 and 9 were on the ballot.

When Mayor Murray resigned, Councilmember Burgess, who occupied Position 8, I believe, and was not running for reelection, took over as mayor.

So in this case, a placeholder was the only option, so a caretaker position was the only option because that person would serve until right after the election results were certified.

And there were eight candidates, as I said.

Council did not narrow the number of candidates prior to the appointment, but did narrow candidates the day of final vote by opening nominations, which narrowed the candidates from eight to three.

And then those three were voted on until one received a majority vote, and it took only one round of voting.

So Kirsten Harris-Calley received a majority vote and was elected and appointed to fill that And then most recently...

Oh, and then filled it until Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda took over right after the results were finalized.

And then most recently, in April 2019, 11 candidates were in the offing.

Council did not narrow the number of candidates prior to the appointment, but did narrow candidates the day of the final vote by opening nominations, and then narrowed it down to three, and those three were then voted on.

And so on.

So that is the last three that were actually easily available in the legislative database.

But prior to 2015, this is interesting, for Jim Compton's resignation in 2006, there were 98 candidates, all right?

They each had three minutes to speak at the council meeting.

They were narrowed down to 14 semi-finalists and then to six finalists.

Sally Clark was then selected to fill the position and she opted to run for that position, for the permanent position later at the end of the appointment.

In 1996, there were two vacancies that council filled.

So you get my point.

What I'm trying to say is that variation is the norm in this process.

And so I recognize that the process that we have chosen to fill this vacancy, people might have differences of opinion for how we're doing it.

But the fact is that even though it's done differently every year, There are two very, there are, the conditions under which we are filling this vacancy are different in two very, very, very important respects, all right?

And so we're in a different position here.

First of all, we must comply with an additional layer of rules as set forth in the Seattle Municipal Code Section 393010, passed in 2017, which requires a public forum.

to interview candidates hosted by a community organization.

That is a new requirement.

And we received, as I said, 75, winded it down to 72 applications that were eligible.

And that's a lot to go through, and so we have got to narrow the field to make a manageable public forum.

We can't have a public forum with that many candidates, so by necessity we must narrow the field to a small enough number, I believe, that the discussion should be meaningful and that questions can be asked that allow for a meaningful response.

Second, the charter provides that public notice of a vacancy.

This is the second factor that's different in our case.

The charter provides that the public notice of a vacancy can be made a maximum of seven days before the actual resignation.

Council Member Mosqueda had announced that she'd resign on January 2nd, so the vacancy webpage on the council's website was published on December 26th.

under a different council president and before we had a fully formed city council.

So that made things a little bit difficult going forward.

In 2019, Councilmember Johnson announced in December that he'd be leaving Council for a job at Climate Pledge Arena, but he didn't resign until four months later.

So there was a long period of time in which it was known that he would be leaving, and the resignation came four months later.

In the intervening time, Council was able to devise some criteria by which to judge and choose select appropriate candidates for final consideration.

I don't know how they decided on that criteria.

Frankly, I wasn't paying close enough attention, but that must have taken some time in and of itself.

And that's time we don't have.

A majority of us only took office officially on January 1st, which was a holiday.

Next Monday is also a holiday.

We cannot make any decisions outside of a public meeting.

And I don't believe that just simply using the criteria that was used in the prior selection process is a workable option.

So we were left to evaluate candidates according to what we each believe would be the best for the city and for an at-large position.

So that's where we're at.

Some of us shared our thoughts publicly prior to today.

Others did not.

Personally, as Council President, I had some decision-making authority about some of the details, and I wanted to avoid any perception of influencing the process through voicing my preferences, so I did not.

But others did, and that is fine, too.

Those are the constraints under which we are doing this.

It's not an uncommon process, but we were operating under some very specific conditions.

So, in the end, we had less than 48 hours to review a packet of 72 applications far surpassing expectations, or at least my expectations.

Again, thank you very much to everybody that made this possible.

I anticipate that there will be grumblings about the process and also people who will not be happy with the people that end up on our narrowed-down list.

And that is fine.

That is democracy.

But I want people to know that we are playing the hand that we were dealt, and we are doing it as fairly and as transparently as we possibly can.

So that is the context.

Now, we are going to then approve a procedure.

And I want to, again, remind folks that we've got this public forum that we have to consider that is coming up next week.

And so my intention is that the list of finalists moving forward in the vacancy appointment process include no more than eight names total to ensure that the public forum required under the Seattle Municipal Code remains manageable.

And this procedure is intended to foster an equitable process in which each council member has an opportunity to propose one name only and that each council member is limited to one opportunity to provide a name.

That is the procedure that I am proposing.

Those are the reasons that I'm about to move this particular procedure.

With that said, I move to adopt a procedure to select city council position eight finalists to be as follows.

The council president will open nominations to select city council position eight finalists.

Council members will be called in order of this week's city council meeting roll call.

Each council member will have the opportunity to provide comments and nominate no more than one applicant.

This will not require a second.

An applicant will need to be nominated by a council member for the applicant to move forward in the next steps of the council vacancy appointment process.

If a council member's preferred nominee has already been nominated, the council member is not required to designate an additional nominee, but will not have an additional opportunity to offer a name to the list of finalists.

After all nominations have been made, the council president will close the nominations.

After nominations are closed, those finalists will move forward to the council vacancy appointment process.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the procedure to nominate and select finalists.

Are there any comments on this proposal?

Council President.

Yes.

I move to amend the procedure that you just provided by allowing us to make revisions once all council members have finalized putting their names forward.

Second.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yes, just as the proposal was just described by council president, the way it would work is by the time we got to the last council member that provided the name put forward, that would be the end of our ability to revise that list, whether adding names or subtracting names.

I don't really foresee this to be a problem.

The only thing that I see is that if we get to the end of the list and there's not an opportunity to revise that list, we're done.

And so in the spirit of flexibility and being iterative, if we get to the end of the list and we want to make revisions, my amended aspect to this procedure is just giving us that ability.

Can I talk?

Yes, you were about to talk.

Go ahead.

Yes.

I think what I'm hearing and what is also something I would like to or have a conversation about is, as I'm understanding the process, if we go down the line and there's really only one or two names to put forward to the community forum, that feels less useful.

And so if we get to the end and somebody wants to either add another name or swap out a name, that we have the opportunity to do that.

I mean, we could still stay within the eight, but just to make sure that it gets beyond one or two, I think is the intent.

That would be my intent, so I don't know if anybody else wants to weigh in.

May I comment?

Yes.

So I am supportive of the motion with one change, which is that I would be supportive of being able to add names, but I am not supportive of removing names.

So with that change, I don't know if you would consider that an amendment.

I will second that.

Yes.

Amelia is going to give us some directions on how we're going to do this.

How many names are we talking about with that amendment?

Adding, potentially adding.

If I could just clarify, at this point the motion's been made, it hasn't been seconded, and it's been revised.

So at this point it is the property of the mover to determine at this point what he would like to proceed with as far as accepting the language that's been provided.

So you can modify your motion right now because it has not been seconded.

I will modify my motion to allow for additional names to be added.

So once we get through all eight council members providing their name, allowing the flexibility to add names as long as we are not exceeding eight total names.

Second.

Great.

I'm sorry, that's...

May I speak?

My understanding of the motion was to allow us to expand the pool of nominations beyond eight.

I would obviously be supportive of setting a certain number.

I am not supportive of removing nominated names from the list, and that's how I understand your amendment.

That is correct.

So, only adding names, not exceeding eight, because I also heard that was a concern.

giving us the ability, once we get through the eight of us, to come back and make sure that we got it right before we're done.

And not removing any.

Adding, not removing.

Let's take turns.

I would like to, please, let's not.

I understand the spirit.

I am concerned about fairness and who is, if we go another round, if there aren't eight people and then somebody wants to add, then that person got the opportunity to add a name.

Then does everybody get an opportunity to add a name?

And then now we're over eight and now we have to possibly remove names.

That's a difficulty that I'm seeing with this, so...

Go for it.

May I speak?

So we want to add names if they haven't already been nominated and that cannot exceed eight, and we can't remove any.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry, Amelia.

Thank you.

So as I understand it, we're trying to...

the cap it at eight, we can add a name as long as it hasn't already been said and we can't remove any names.

So presumably the person's, if you're adding one is because someone has already said one that you would like to keep, is that correct?

And so then we're just adding one that an additional, is that?

Yes.

So if only five of us put forward a name.

The same name.

No, just if only five of us put forward individuals, then there are five people on the list.

If we get to the end of that, then that would allow us to say, yes, we would like these other people up to eight people.

So you're referring to the three people that did not put forward a name.

Not everybody gets to put forward another name.

Is that your point?

That's correct.

A total of eight people.

just to make this more complicated, I would say that if you put forward a name and you'd like to swap it for another one, I'm fine with that.

I think, Council President, what I'm getting at is the way that you described the procedure in which we are about to engage in.

It is one directional and does not create a release valve at the end of that procedure.

And so all I'm interested is to say that once we're done everyone giving their name, that there is the ability to say, okay, we've now for the first time heard everyone's we want to make sure that that list is the correct list moving forward.

And are you suggesting that if you decline to provide a name, then those people that declined put forward, or does everybody...

Are we going to keep redoing the list over and over, is my thinking, is what I'm wondering.

That is one of the things that...

Councilmember Saka.

So thank you, Madam Council President.

So I'm curious to better understand from the amenders perspective how let's say in your scenario, we only have five people after everyone's gone and nominated.

How are we going to align or nominate and fill up to an additional three.

Are we all gonna have the opportunity to float additional names and discuss, for example, and then vote on yes, let's move collectively yet?

That's a little unclear to me under your amendment.

The process for how we fill the, if we only have five, How we fill and get it up to eight after that.

If I was leading the meeting, I would call on the people that had not put forward a name.

And if they still declined to put forward a name, I would accept recommendations from anyone else.

I think, you know, I just look at how the list is being called.

Council Member Kettle goes first.

Council Member Hollingsworth goes last, right?

And so if I...

make put forward a name or that then makes Council Member Kettle wanna change or anything.

Sorry, Council Member Kettle, you're just first on the list today.

So using that as the example, but the people at the beginning of this process do not know what the people at the end are gonna do.

And so my amendment is simply asking for the ability to make changes once we get through the whole list.

One last question.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

Thank you, Council President.

So a different way to do this is just everybody gets to say a name.

If someone already has said your name, that you're allowed to add an additional name.

I believe, again, having thought about this and looked at different scenarios, the very fact that we're discussing exactly how is that going to go forward, why not just put forward a name?

And I believe that from my understanding from executive session, there are a lot of very good candidates.

And so if somebody's first choice was named, why not put in a second one?

That seems like it would be easier and would keep us within the limit of the names.

That was my point.

Thank you.

That was your point?

Yes.

Are there any other comments?

I recommend that everybody take this opportunity to put forward whoever they think would be best for the job.

Okay, go forward, Amelia.

Central staff, you and Lauren, do you want to weigh in on this?

No, I think perhaps Amelia can reposition us procedurally with where we are.

Yes, at this point, the motion to amend the procedure by adding additional names, but not up to eight names to be presented is before the council.

It's been moved and seconded, and there has been debate.

So at this point, if the council is ready, then the roll call can be made for you to vote on that amendment.

Okay, go ahead.

Are we ready?

Council Member Kettle?

Nay.

Council Member Moore.

Nay.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Nay.

Council Member Saca.

Nay.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Excuse me.

Council Member or Council President Nelson.

Nay.

Three in favor and five opposed.

Okay, the amendment fails, and we will proceed to a vote of the procedure as described, as moved.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saca?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries.

Okay.

Now, I will now the...

The work begins to proceed to the selection of City Council Position 8 finalists.

This week's City Council roll call starts with Councilmember Kettle.

Councilmember Kettle, you're recognized in order to make a nomination, and you're welcome to explain why you are making the nomination that you are, and you do not have to do that.

And again, if you choose not to make any nomination, you can just pass it to the next person.

Thank you, Madam Council President Nelson.

I appreciate it.

And also, thank you to all the applicants, as mentioned earlier.

Thank you to all the applicants who put their name forward.

It's very important to have a strong interest, to have such a strong interest far beyond the previous recent experiences.

So thank you for that history lesson.

That's helpful.

In my review of the 72, we have strong candidates across many areas, the tech world, community involvement, government sector, the veteran community, the urban development slash real estate, and also legal.

So we've had many candidates exceptional, strong candidates to look from.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank also the community for reaching out and expressing your support for the various applicants.

I've heard it both in email, I've heard it here in chamber.

It's very helpful to receive those endorsements.

Moving on, President John Kennedy was quoted as saying, I have pledged myself to a continuous encouragement of initiative, responsibility, and energy in serving the public interest.

I like that.

The continuous encouragement of initiative, responsibility, and energy in serving the public interest.

This goes to leadership and good governance, which is key criteria.

Further, my criteria includes the work and professional experience.

academic background, and importantly, civic involvement.

Being a civic volunteer, a community leader, someone who has experience working with the various elements of city government and having that perspective of engaging city government, I think that's very useful.

So with that said, and mindful of the position eight, committee assignments, I nominate Tanya Wu.

Go ahead, Council Member Moore.

Thank you very much, Council President Nelson.

And I just wanted to start by saying thank you for your navigating this very complicated and widely unnavigated territory.

And I believe that you are attempting to do it with full professionalism and transparency and really giving council members an opportunity to have a voice in how this goes forward rather than it being dictated by slowly by the council president as has been done in the past, so I do appreciate that.

As was mentioned, the city clerk received over 70 applications to fill this vacancy with all of the supporting material that was over 600 pages worth of documents.

in a very short turnaround.

I got those on Thursday, yesterday.

And I just want to reassure everyone that I personally read every single page that was submitted, as did my chief of staff.

So both of us read all 600 plus documents and were able to have a very you know, thorough discussion, even on a short period of time.

I would note that we received applications from every sector of the community, from nonprofits, tech, the arts, real estate, government, and more.

Everyone pretty much talked about the needs of our city and spoke of their backgrounds, some coming from deep roots in the community, some being recent transplants here.

And many spoke of their community involvement and ongoing community service.

So to that point, what I wanted to say is while we only have one vacancy seat to fill up here, we are going to have many vacancies on our commissions and boards and perhaps other task forces.

And so to all of those who have expressed a desire to serve their city, this is not the only opportunity in which you may do so.

And so I would encourage you to look into our boards and commissions and other opportunities to serve as a volunteer in the city of Seattle.

and bring that commitment and expertise forward for all of our benefit.

As Council President discussed, this is a very expedited process, and I think all of us were somewhat surprised at the level or number of applications that were received.

So that was both a daunting number, but also a positive in that, again, as I said, that indicates many people are very interested in serving their city.

But that does mean, because we have this additional requirement of having to have a community forum, which I think is a good idea, that it makes it difficult to turn this around in 20 days with so many people, and also to make that community forum actually an effective forum for candidates to be fully vetted by the community, and so we, while it would have been my preference and an ideal world to allow every person who submitted an application to go through that community forum process, and then for us to then be back here, that is simply not possible.

Also, given that our committee meetings will be beginning, in the early part of February.

So again, not to make the perfect enemy of the good, we are having to move forward.

So I evaluated each applicant's application for their active involvement in their community, their demonstrated commitment to public service, and their hands-on experience with the biggest challenges facing our city today, which are public safety, homelessness, and affordability, and also climate change.

And I realize that this is an incredibly consequential choice in front of us, and we all take it very seriously.

My first name has already been put in nomination, which is Tanya Wu.

But in the spirit of trying to make this a process where more people get to participate and the community is heard from, gets to hear from additional candidates, I am going to offer a second name and nomination in that spirit.

And so I would be pleased to nominate Neha Naria for this seat.

Thank you, Council President.

Council Member Morales, excuse me.

Thank you.

Well, thank you, Council Member Moore, for reminding folks of the many opportunities to sit on boards and commissions and get involved in local government in other ways.

We have a lot of boards and commissions.

So there's no shortage of opportunity.

As I said during our first council meeting of the year, my focus has been on finding a candidate who can bring some background experience in some of the really big decisions that we're gonna have to make this year.

The person selected for position eight will sit on the Transportation Committee, on the Housing and Human Services Committee, Land Use, and will chair Sustainability, City Light, and Arts and Culture.

So before reviewing the candidates, and I also read through all 618 pages, so that was a lot to do last night.

But before we got the list, I created my own spreadsheet of qualifications that we used in my office to sort of evaluate all the candidates and figure out who might be the best fit for this vacancy.

There are many people who applied who have experience, not in everything, but in one or two areas, significant experience in policy, administration, budget, or even some of the particular areas of expertise.

So that said, I am going to nominate Mari Sugiyama.

Our office has received many nominations for Mari, including from Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos, one of the longest-serving representatives for the CID.

Today, former County Councilmember Larry Gossett, a living legend and last survivor of the Gang of Four.

Former State Representative Velma Valoria and Michael Wu co-authored an op-ed calling for Mari's appointment.

So I just wanna read a short excerpt from that op-ed.

As a fourth generation Japanese American, she has seen how government policies can shape the lives of others in profound ways, sometimes for generations.

Her grandparents were wrongfully incarcerated in World War II.

Family members saw the injustices brought on by racism and prejudice, and her family's experience had a major impact on her worldview.

Like her parents before her, she's grounded her work on equity and justice.

This lens and worldview give Mari an astute perspective.

She worked in the private and nonprofit sector, but really came into her own when she began working for the city over eight years ago.

At the city, she's found a place to couple her passion and skills with good governance, implementing programs that bring meaningful and impactful solutions so all residents of Seattle can thrive and prosper.

Mari's had amazing mentors and teachers, not the least of which were her late parents, Alan Sugiyama and Kathy Tagawa Sugiyama.

They were activists who exposed Mari to the ideals that Seattle is not just a city for those with resources, but for all who live, work, and play.

The Alan T. Sugiyama High School in Rainier Beach was named after her father, the first Asian American to be elected to Seattle Public School Board, and is a reminder for those who served the community before us.

So Mari has listened to her parents' ongoing conversations about policy, process, and electoral politics.

She'll be a no-drama, trailblazing council member carrying her father's passion and her mother's steady hand to work through city policies and procedures to find the best ways to restore faith in local government and to serve all the people of Seattle.

So I think it's gonna be important for us to have a colleague with some experience in the city with the particular issues that we've had to face that we will be facing this year and look forward to the opportunity to hear more from her at the forum and here in front of colleagues in chambers.

Thank you for that.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I want to first thank all 72 applicants.

Having run recently myself and been voted to sit on this amazing body, I know how hard it is to put your name out there.

So I very much appreciate your willingness to serve.

It's because of folks that are willing to serve that we have this amazing city and we have an opportunity.

to get the city back to the beautiful and safe city that we all want it to be.

So I thank you for that.

I also want to acknowledge and thank all the staff in the legislative department.

who've had to work really hard and diligently and extra hours to really help us get this process done in a very short amount of time.

So I really want to thank our staff.

I also want to thank community, those that have given public comment today, but also folks that have emailed us to let us know what you think.

We all serve at the pleasure of the constituents and the residents of this city.

And it is really important for us to hear from all of you in this city as to what you think to help inform the decisions that we make.

So that is not lost on me.

It's always at the forefront of the decisions that I make.

So I want to thank you to all who reached out to let us know your thoughts on this appointment process and who you would like to see.

Like Council Member Moore and others and Council Member Morales, my staff and I reviewed all 72 applications and we looked for similar criteria.

I think many of us were aligned on who we would like to work with and who we think our constituents would really like to see as part of this body.

I think that government experience and policy experience, finance experience, someone that understands the public safety issues that are really a hugely important issue across the city.

I know it is in my district and many of our districts.

And then very importantly, community engagement.

After giving careful consideration to all the candidates, the candidate that I would have nominated is also Tanya Wu.

and having had others nominate Tanya Wu, I would nominate Juan Cotto.

Juan is someone who has really robust government relations experience in town.

He's very plugged into community, not only in his work, but in his various volunteer capacities.

And so that is who I would add to the pool.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you.

I also want to echo the sentiment that's been shared.

Thank you to our central staff for helping guide, advise, and implement our way through a very tough, challenging, complex, thorny process over a very tight timeline.

Also, thank you, Madam Council President, for your leadership in bringing this to life and making sure all of our feedback is reflected into the process that we're aligning on.

I wanna also be a little more transparent from my perspective on my own personal evaluation criteria, how I'm thinking about choosing this, our new colleague.

And I think ideally, had we had more time, we would have been able to collectively align on a unified set of principles or criteria upon which to judge our new colleague, but time is short.

and TikTok.

So, but that said, let me go and share kind of how I'm approaching this and how I evaluated things.

I'm looking for someone who has an ability to collaborate across differences, find common ground and get stuff done.

Collaboration is the touchstone of really what I'm looking for in that regard.

I'm also looking for someone who doesn't view me as the enemy.

someone who doesn't view any of my colleagues as the enemy either.

And it's unfortunate that that is something that I have to state as something we should specifically avoid in this day and age.

But that's where we are.

That's a point where we're coming from.

We need to move beyond that.

So let us move beyond the divisive, toxic, inappropriate rhetoric of enemy, and otherwise.

As a combat veteran, together with my colleague, Councilmember Bob Kettle, we're both veterans.

I've been an intelligence officer.

I've deployed overseas in support of the troop surge in Iraq.

I've flown combat missions with air crew fighting against enemies.

And what we're doing is not...

does not create or engender an enemy mindset or mentality.

So it's pretty simple.

It's a floor, it's a low bar, I get it, but someone who doesn't view me or my fellow colleagues as an enemy.

I'm also looking for someone who is focused on delivering results, someone who has a strong record of service, someone who isn't just showing up for this particular engagement.

I'm also looking for someone who has a growth mindset, who doesn't be in mind told that their thoughts, perspective aren't always correct or in line with what most people are thinking or that they're wrong.

And someone who is willing to listen and incorporate feedback and not push back.

I'm also looking for someone who has an ability to win citywide if they choose to run again long term.

And I will be honest, I'm pretty agnostic about whether we want to, I don't really care if this person chooses to be a caretaker or wants to run again.

But if they do choose to run again, I am looking personally for someone who has the ability to and the stamina to win a citywide race.

And then also, finally, I'll say something that has really struck a chord with me personally.

During one of our earlier meetings, we heard public comments.

One of our first meetings last week, we heard public comment.

And one of them, someone respectfully challenged us as a council to think critically who's in the room.

Who's in the room?

Who's at the table?

Who has a seat?

And who doesn't?

And that's something that's personally been weighing heavily on my mind and my heart as well.

And to be even more explicit, I want to members of our local Asian American community who are demanding a seat at the table, demanding that we consider any number of well, exceptionally qualified candidates.

I want you to know I see you, I hear you, and I appreciate your feedback.

That's how I approach this whole process.

That's the evaluation criteria upon which I chose to arrive where I'm at today, right now.

And thank you everyone who applied.

A lot of exceptionally well qualified people.

I also reviewed 600 plus page doc line by line and my chief of staff helped me review as well.

So we had multiple layers of review in my office.

and I very thoughtfully considered everyone.

And a second plug to, or a third plug maybe to all the boards and commission opportunities.

That's how I, that's how, that's one skillset that I learned and contribution to various communities that helped me and hopefully helped the organizations that I was involved with.

I did two boards and commissions at the county level, one for the city, multiple nonprofits.

So third plug for boards and commissions.

All that throat clearing aside, you know, there was, like I said, a large number of very qualified candidates, people like Tonya Wu that met this criteria.

A lot of people off the board.

This is what happens, you can go later.

But a lot of very qualified people like Tonya Wu, Neha Naria, Chris Porter, is someone that I think meets this criteria.

Lin Tai, Mari Sugiyama, and others.

Steve Strand met this criteria.

But the person for me, from my perspective, that stood out the most was Mark Solomon.

I nominate Mark Solomon.

Thank you.

Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Not only do Council Member Salk and I sit together, we stand together on a lot of what you just said, Council Member, especially about choosing somebody who is not viewing any of us as the enemy, who is here to work together collaboratively to find common ground to the biggest intractable problems that we have to solve this year.

For me, the criteria that is focusing on these basics of being a good partner, that somebody that puts the city above themself, that does not put others down to put themselves up so that they put themselves up on their own accomplishments and their own work and that they work well together with others, that they're focused on the basics of governance and government.

It's important for me that this individual has a knowledge of government, whether it's the city, county, school board, port, has either worked inside or with, that they have had a track record of community involvement, and that they have a knowledge of not necessarily all of these subject matter areas, but at least one of them.

And the areas that this person will share is sustainability, city light, arts, and culture, serving on housing and human services, land use, libraries, education, neighborhoods, and transportation committees.

With that, Council President, colleagues, I would nominate Vivian Song for this position.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President.

The cool thing about going last is you see whoever else, everyone else picks.

I've been crossing people off, but I really wanna thank, and I don't wanna, I know a lot of people have said this, the applicants that put yourself forward, a lot of us who just ran, it was really hard running.

It's hard to put yourself out there, it's hard to be vulnerable, it's hard to navigate a political world.

And so to put yourself in there to submit an application, to put together a resume, to put together all the packets and then hit submit, knowing all that information is gonna be publicly shown is very hard.

And so I just wanna thank everyone for putting their name in.

And I also wanna thank the community groups that put their name in.

I read through a lot of those questions that they asked and they were really good.

And they talked about a lot of the issues that were gonna go on with our city.

And so when we were looking through this process of all the applicants and trying to figure out some of the requirements, but also what we're looking for, just personally, I'll speak personally, for a colleague, positive leadership was one.

Community roots and that experience was another one.

a collaborative approach, so not either or, up, down, that there's some nuance to a lot of the issues that we're talking about today.

And it's not right or wrong.

It's everyone has different perspectives.

And then also constituent services, you know, City Hall is the front porch to a lot of our city government.

And so I think it's really important that someone that understands that, that wants to be out there connecting with community, serving our community, and being just the nuts and bolts of just constituent services, responsiveness, which I think is huge.

And a lot of the priorities that we have, I was very transparent about it before, is we have a...

public safety issues going on in our city.

And so someone that really, public safety means different things for different people in different communities, but someone that really holds that to heart, someone who is passionate about economic development and economic mobility for certain communities that are underserved, and also understands about essential government services.

And so a lot of the names that I had had planned to nominate, and I know some people are in here today that, I would have nominated, but my colleagues have.

But in the spirit of ensuring that, you know, we have a good line of list of people, I would like to nominate Lin Tai.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

I am the last person to speak, and the thing that...

I was really looking for was somebody who was going to run for office this year.

Because as I said, we, in fact, I don't remember if I actually said it in this meeting, it seems like the day has blended together.

But the point is, is that we, I would like somebody who's willing to step up and run when this, you know, in the general election this year for, in the special election, because We have a lot of really important decisions to make this year.

And there's the transportation levy.

There is going to be a massive lift to figure out how to balance the budget and everything else in between.

And I am looking for, I would like the person that is in this seat to be the person who is going to have to live with those decisions that they make over the next nine months.

Instead of, the tendency to promise more than we can deliver long-term is what I believe has gotten us into this position.

And so I am very much looking for somebody who's going to be willing to be accountable for the decisions that they make when they're at this dais.

And so that was my first criterion.

And then my second was, somebody who's very, very strong on public safety.

Public safety was the defining issue in this election, and it's clear that we've got some very good candidates that we're entertaining right now who, on the trail and off, have stated that keeping our people citywide safe and ensuring that our neighborhoods are welcoming places not just for residents but for small businesses is important.

So those were the two things for me.

Somebody who's gonna make decisions about our investments with an eye toward the long haul and also someone who is very much focused on public safety first and then everything else because I believe that our economic recovery is dependent on a safer Seattle.

And when I say public safety, I am including in public safety addressing our fentanyl crisis.

Okay, so that's all that's on my plate.

And I will just go ahead and say that I think that seeing where this is going, I think that we've got a very good pool of candidates.

And so I'm just going to stop.

I am not going to put forward the person that I was going to say, who would be Captain Strand, because Stephen Strand, who is the...

He is the...

uh, West precinct captain and he's on the front line.

I would like to go ahead and read his, um, what I appreciate.

Number one, he made explicit.

I am also prepared to run a robust campaign for the open seat in the 2024 general election.

And in his experience in his resume, this is a section that I highlighted because I think it's important that one has a good sense of all the different agencies and how they all work in the city.

Partnered with multiple city departments, human service providers, businesses, and community-based organizations to address homelessness, drug addiction and organized retail theft.

Coordinated operations to target predatory drug dealers that fueled the fentanyl crisis.

And goes on to talk about his experience.

Have you ever been to a, have you ever applied for a job and you felt like maybe you wanted to make sure that you were being taken as a serious candidate, and you wanted to make sure that you were going to be given consideration equal to everybody else.

I believe that we've got a very, I'm struggling with the fact that we've got seven already candidates, and we have to have a very meaningful public forum, and the You know what?

I just convinced myself.

I am going to nominate Stephen Strand, but here's my concern, that we have so many people that people don't have time to answer the questions in a deep way at the forum.

So I am going to suggest that the organizers structure the questions well so that they are...

so that everybody could get a chance to express themselves and answer the questions.

So perhaps narrowing the choice of questions that are asked to all the candidates.

How's that for my first presidential act?

Changing my mind on the dais.

Yeah, so there we go.

Madam President?

Yes.

Thank you for clarifying that you are in fact now nominating.

I don't know if this is the right time, but how and when will we start to have a conversation or understanding of what January 22nd will look like?

Because that is, as I recall, the opportunity for this body to now have a conversation with these seven, eight candidates.

Um, do we have a structure for that yet?

So here's my proposal.

Um, and, yep.

Before we proceed, can we just, um, can we confirm that the nominations at this point are closed?

Thank you.

Okay, sorry.

I thought there was some other procedural things.

Okay, it worked out.

We all, we all put forward a name.

It didn't get messy.

We all didn't have to game the system, and we have eight candidates now.

I would say that the, um, the...

The process is closed.

Okay.

Now we need to vote on the list, correct?

No?

We do not, but would we like to restate all of the nominees?

Why don't you go ahead and do that?

All right, and my apologies that I mispronounced any of the nominees, and please verify as well, too, that your nominees have been represented.

Council Member Kettle, Tanya Wu, Council Member Moore, Nihai Naraya, Council Member Morales, Marie Sugamaya, Council Member Rivera, Juan Cato, Council Member Saca, Mark Solomon, Council Member Strauss, Vivian Song, Council Member Hollingsworth, Lin Tai, and Council President Nelson, Stephen Strand.

Yep.

All right.

So, I...

propose let me just focus on the next step so the what's going to happen next is that um there will be a communication between the clerk and the and the public uh the seattle city club I propose that the Seattle City Club also help structure the interview questions for the meeting of the 22nd so that we just outsource that process altogether so that they can, knowing what questions were not asked at the forum, suggesting they can work with the clerks or well, central staff on how to proceed with the actual interview, because that is another requirement of the law that we're working under.

So am I answering your question?

Mostly.

I do think that, well, I would be interested to know from my colleagues the extent to which you would like to be involved in shaping the questions that get asked on the 22nd here as well.

Or if there's maybe our plan is to interview the candidates individually or I just don't know if like two minutes at a forum and two minutes here in chambers is gonna be sufficient or folks are interested in having a deeper conversation with the candidates.

I'll go, if I may.

I am not planning on interviewing any of the eight people who have been nominated.

I wanted to leave that to the community forum and then to our questions.

I guess what I would like to be able to do is I support that idea that Council President has put forth, maybe to add additional questions to what the forum comes up, to leave that door open in case they haven't covered Any particular ground that I'd like covered?

Are there any other questions about what happens next?

Okay, so to conclude, if there is no further business to come before the council, we've reached the end of today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled council meeting will be held on January 16th and 2 p.m.

Hearing no further business, we are adjourned.