Seattle City Council Briefing 3/10/2025

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today is March 10th, 2025. The council briefing meeting will come to order, and the time is 2.02.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council Member Solomon?

Here.

Council Member Strauss?

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Council Member Kettle?

Here.

Council Member Moore.

Present.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Salka.

Here.

And Council President Nelson.

Present.

A present.

Thank you very much.

If there's no objection, the minutes of March 3rd, 2025 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

All right, we don't have any proclamations or executive session today, but we do have our weekly update from our OIR state legislative team about developments in Olympia.

And tomorrow's city council meeting may be another relatively short one.

On the meeting agenda, there are 16 items on the introduction and referral calendar.

which are the weekly bill payment ordinance, Council Bill 120950, an ordinance reaffirming the city as a welcoming city, supporting access to reproductive healthcare services and gender affirming treatment, and extending city employees' responsibility to protect the provision of those services.

And I'll talk a little bit more about that in our round robin section.

And then we also have 11 appointments, including two to the Seattle Human Rights Commission, three to the Seattle Women's Commission, one to the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council, two to the Urban Forestry Commission, one to the Public Library Board of Trustees, two to the family's education, preschool and promise levy oversight committee.

And then as well as Council Bill 120948 on the construction code allowing an extension for certain projects and building permits in Council Bill 120949 in ordinance relating to easing barriers to construct accessory dwelling units.

Then finally, there's resolution 32166, approving installation, maintenance, and operation of a pedestrian skybridge over 8th Avenue north of Cherry Street.

And the consent calendar includes just the weekly bill payment ordinance.

There are also two pieces of legislation under committee reports and those are resolution 32165, revising the statements of legislative intent that were in our 2025 budget and capital improvement program and council bill 120946, lifting a proviso of the 2025 budget imposed on transportation levy funds.

All right.

With that, moving on to our state legislative session update.

We'll wait for our participants to join us here.

Great.

And when you're ready, please go ahead and introduce yourselves, and you may begin.

Good afternoon, Council President Nelson and council members.

I'm Mina Hashemi.

I'm the director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, and I'm joined by my colleagues, Anna Johnson and Sameer Janejo, who you will hear from momentarily.

As always, thank you for having us.

The Washington State Legislature has reached the midpoint of the 2025 session with members working long hours on the floor and in caucus as they approach the March 12th deadline for bills to pass out of their chambers of origin.

As of this week, there have been 1,051 House bills that have been introduced, and 519 have made it to the Rules Committee for further consideration.

The House has been working, especially long hours, trying to pass as much legislation as possible, staying on the floor into the wee hours of the morning this last Saturday and Sunday.

Over in the Senate, 805 bills have been introduced, with 271 entering the Senate Rules process.

Bills that do not clear this stage of rules committee, polls, and floor action unless deemed necessary to implement the budget, or NTIB, are generally considered dead for the session.

However, it's worth noting that no bill is entirely off the table until the session ends.

The first half of floor action typically features bills that the majority anticipates will inspire less debate, and those laden with time consuming amendments are saved until closer to the March 12th deadline when debate can be limited.

And that's what we saw this last weekend with those long hours.

A number of Seattle priorities have cleared this hurdle.

And with that, I will turn it over to Ana and Samir to give you an update on where things stand today.

Again, the 57th day of the 105 day session.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, counsel.

I'll start us off, Anna Johnson, State Legislative Affairs Director.

So as usual, we'll start with a legislative priorities update for our specific priorities, and then we'll also give you some issue-based updates of bills that have cleared the floor and are already on their way to the next chamber.

And then a little bit of a preview of what's to expect after Wednesday's cutoff deadline, because there will be hearings on Thursdays and Friday of this week.

So this list should look familiar from last week, so I'm just going to highlight the bills that have had action or are ready for floor action.

So last week we saw Senate Bill 5098 dealing with weapons in certain locations past the Senate 28 to 21. We also see that Senate Bill 5060 and House Bill 2015 deal with public safety funding.

They're both on the floor calendars ready for floor action, one in the Senate and one in the House.

We also saw that House Bill 1423 vehicle noise cameras passed the House 57 to 40. And also on this list, you can see two of our priority bills already are scheduled for hearings in the Senate on Thursday.

That would be House Bill 1112 related to pro tem judges and also Senate Bill 5595 related to shared streets.

Good afternoon, and you'll see House Bill 1515 updating outdoor dining and sales center alcohol regulations passed the House this past week by a vote of 83 to 13. And then also House Bill 1774, the lease leaking unused highway land passed the House as well, 70 to 27. Two bills related to condo, condo development, condo reform 1403 and 1516 are on the floor calendar and awaiting awaiting action.

And also I should point out House Bill 1733 related to the relocation expenses for businesses impacted by agency displacements is in house rules also has until Wednesday to move off the floor.

Last week, we also saw our big recycling reform bill pass the Senate, 27 to 22. This one's Senate Bill 5284. Our city light priority bill related to joint use agreements for power generation, battery storage, transmission.

So this is House Bill 1253 is already scheduled for hearing in the Senate on Friday.

The Clean Fuels Program Improvements Bill is on the floor calendar, ready for floor action.

A child care siting bill, Senate Bill 5509, passed the Senate 42 to 7. Two other child care and early learning related bills passed unanimously this past week, so House Bill 1309. Allison McWilliams, 14 related to the early learning facilities grant and loan program as well as 1648 related to improvements to childcare provider qualifications cleared this.

Allison McWilliams, Checkpoint here and then one of our K through 12 funding priorities has passed so far, so how Senate bill 5192 pass the Senate 47 to two and i'll talk more about it later in our presentation.

Moving to the recap of some other bills that had action this past week.

House Bill 1791, it deals with the local government real estate excise tax and makes permanent a lot of the flexibilities, the COVID era flexibilities for how those funds can be used by city governments.

And the city has been pro on that bill, and that bill moved off the House floor.

A few more climate and environment bills have made its way through the House and Senate.

So House Bill 1483, this is known as the right to repair bill.

This has been around for a few sessions.

This establishes that manufacturers of digital electronics need to make available independent repair shops and products in order to have those devices be able to stay in their life cycle and not go to the waste stream.

This one passed nearly unanimously, I think it was 76 to 1 or 96 to 1 off the House floor.

Also House Bill 1497, this deals with improving our organics waste system.

We were pro on this bill as well as pro on the right to repair bill.

And then Senate bill 5627, this is known as dig law or safe excavation law.

Both city light and SPU had concerns as well as law with this bill, but we had been working with the sponsor and with the coalition behind the bill to make improvements for the Senate floor.

And we're happy to say those amendments were adopted and it's going to the house now with a few very minor concerns.

So we'll continue to monitor and stay engaged on that bill.

So 1096, dealing with lot splitting past the house this past week.

Also House Bill 1696, which updates the Covenant Home Ownership Program to increase the AMI for the eligibility for that program past the house this past week.

House Bill 1353 is an optional program that allows ADU self-certification for cities to opt in to self-certify ADUs.

That bill passed as well.

And House Bill 1491, which I brought up in the past, which creates new density requirements for transit-oriented development, also passed the House floor and moved on to the Senate.

And then lastly, House Bill 1621 relates to Housing Court Commissioners allowing King County Superior Court to appoint Housing Court Commissioners to help with the eviction backlog and the city's been pro on that bill and that bill has also moved from the House to the Senate.

The labor and commerce bills now, Senate Bill 5104, protects employees from coercion in the workplace based on immigration status.

This essentially is preventing situations in which a person's immigration status is not being used as leveraged by an employer to create essentially worse labor workplace conditions or wage issues.

That bill is also moving past the Senate.

And then another immigration-related bill, House Bill 1875, allows the use of paid sick leave to prepare for or participate in certain immigration proceedings, also passed the House.

And Senate Bill 5023 relates to labor market protections for domestic workers.

The city is pro.

It, for the most part, reflects a city model after a similar city ordinance.

And central 50101 expand access to leave accommodations to include workers who are victims of hate crimes or bias incidents in the city is pro on that bill as well as it moved off the Senate floor.

And then this past week, the Senate also passed a bill that expanded unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers.

Some public safety and criminal justice bills that had action over the last week was House Bill 1163. This bill is the permit to purchase a firearm bill.

This creates enhanced requirements to purchase, transfer, or possess a firearm by creating a permit to purchase and creating standards and training protocols when you issue a license for a computer.

concealed pistol and create some record keeping for the state and reporting requirements for those who have the licenses.

Also, Senate Bill 5268 passed the Senate.

This bill creates a requirement for 12 months of community custody for convictions of unlawful possession of a firearm.

And then over the weekend, House Bill 1113, which creates a misdemeanor diversion program option for certain misdemeanor offenses, passed the House by a slim margin.

And there was a number of amendments on the floor, so the city will be re-reviewing this bill for a position.

And then finally, in terms of social programs and education, Senate Bill 5192, this bill we have been supporting along the way.

It deals with materials, operational costs, and supplies.

It's an acronym that is described as MSOC, And this is essentially a bill that helps our school districts be able to use state funding more flexibly and be able to direct it towards whatever is the specific need of the school district at that time.

It also makes flexible the amount of funding they received based on enrollment, because what we have seen a lot of times with these school districts that are in a challenging position with their budget is because of student enrollment.

And so what the state is allowing is averaging out the calculations of MSOC funding they received over a three-year period in case there is changes in the school enrollment.

And the city is pro on that, as well as Seattle Public Schools.

And in transportation, House Bill 1923 increases the availability of passenger-only ferries by establishing the Mosquito Fleet Act, and that passed off the House floor and onto the Senate.

And then this week, House of Origin cutoff is on Wednesday, so bills have their until Wednesday to leave their respective chambers and then bill hearings and the opposite chambers will start on Thursday.

And so you'll see two of our bills already being heard on Thursday, the pro tem judges bill and also shared streets.

And then Friday, we have the joint use agreements bill being heard.

And that's our presentation.

Happy to answer any questions.

Do my colleagues have any questions?

Thank you, Council President.

I don't have a question, but I do want to thank Director Hashemi and Ana and Samir for all their hard work in Olympia.

I know it's fast and furious, and I know it's a lot of hard work that you're putting in.

I also want to thank you, Director Hashemi, for the conversation we had a couple weeks on what is going on in the other legislature on the east coast and i want to say that i really appreciate you honoring my request to have a weekly call where we can our staffs can get informed you know weekly on what is going on it is really colleagues the best way that we can stay up to date up to the minute on what's going on in dc and i encourage you if your staffs have not participated to do so because Director Hashemi is working with the person in her office who tracks the federal work, who is excellent, Annie, mayor, and also the federal lobbyists.

I think you all know we actually, the city of Seattle has hires a federal lobbyist at the federal level just We always have had one, and they're working really hard now with everything that's happening.

So it's really the best way that you can get your answers to your questions and also get the information by which you can make decisions.

So really, thank you for that.

I very much appreciate the partnership.

There's a lot going on in Olympia, and you're doing the federal as well.

really just can't thank you enough.

And again, colleagues, I really encourage you to participate, have your staffs participate on that call if you're not.

Thank you.

I'll second that.

Thank you, Council Member.

Yeah, thank you and say that it is really good timely information.

Council Member Rink.

Thank you.

And I want to just again echo the appreciation my colleagues have voiced for the work that you all are doing right now in Olympia and on monitoring our federal work.

Truly, thank you.

And I wanted to follow up because my office was spending some time reviewing and better understanding some of the elements of the all cuts budget that has been made public and looking at things like 3.5 billion taken out of healthcare, 1.3 billion taken out of human services, early learning, 1.1 billion taken out of higher education, 1.5 billion out of long-term care and developmental disabilities, 365 million out of behavioral health, and 376 million out of corrections.

And so really devastating cuts that our state could be facing.

And so in light of that and looking at, I know finance committee in the state was canceled for this week.

What are you all hearing about upcoming revenue proposals?

When can we expect to be hearing more discussion happening in Olympia right now around how to solve the budget deficit the state is experiencing?

I'll kick us off and then turn it over to Samir, who has been more closely tracking the conversation in Olympia.

But I think right now, because of the focus on the House of Origin cutoff, we actually haven't heard a ton of chatter or seen any policies directly relating to revenue, I think in the last week or two since we last updated you.

In regards to the budget and the all cuts budget, we certainly are taking a look at that and looking through the governor's proposed cuts and working with our various departments and agencies to try to assess the impact that it would have on the city's operations.

Samir, what would you add to that?

I would just add that the next date to look forward to would be, I think, March 20th, which is when the revenue forecast will come out for the state.

And that's the information that they will use to write the budget.

And so I think that's the next kind of milestone.

And then we'll see the budgets shortly thereafter.

And we have heard from both state and house budget writers that it's very unlikely that they'll also release an all cuts budget and there'll be some sense of revenue there.

But I think how much revenue versus how many cuts is still up in the air.

And so we'll certainly know a lot more once the revenue forecast comes out.

Thank you for that.

And certainly would just want to make sure that we're staying apprised.

And again, colleagues, if you haven't had a chance to take a look at what's on the line, we're talking about things like kidney dialysis centers and other forms of critical services I know our residents depend on.

So certainly want to stay updated and lend our voice to Olympia where and when appropriate.

So thank you.

More to come.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

And I too, first off, want to express my appreciation to the OIR team, Director Hashemi, Ana and Samir for your sage advice and just keeping track of all the things.

Now is a critically important time for you all and your work streams because it is a critically important time for our city.

And so just want to say shout out, kudos, appreciate it.

Keep it up, we need you, but you're doing a great job.

My question pertains to House Bill 1423, the vehicle noise enforcement camera legislation, so it's good to know it passed the House.

And colleagues, as you'll recall, because we all signed a letter, I organized a letter and we all signed it, and so did the mayor in support of this important piece of legislation to enable, ultimately, the city to have another tool and our toolkit to address some of the problem noise areas that impact specific areas in all of our districts.

In my district, for example, Elk Eye Harbor Avenue, et cetera.

So it passed the House, and I personally testified in favor of the Senate version, but just curious to better understand next steps.

Where do we go from here?

What's the status or pendency of that bill in the Senate?

And what's the sort of harmonization process, reconciliation process on a going forward basis for this specific bill?

Yeah, thanks for that question.

So what we'll see next is the version that passed off the House floor go to the Senate, likely the Senate Transportation Committee, which, like you said, had heard a very similar version of the bill in the first half of the session.

So it'll be their choice.

They'll likely hold a public hearing again.

So it'll be an opportunity for us to voice our support.

It might be more brief than the hearing they had in the first half of session.

And then hopefully we can work through the challenges that that committee might have had because the House version was ultimately the vehicle, pun intended, of the session for that bill.

And so we just have to make sure that that chamber is still excited.

And so we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

But like you said, the next step is just public hearing in the Transportation Committee.

In the Senate?

Sorry, in the Senate.

Correct.

Thank you.

Really appreciate it.

Okay, Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

And Anna, I picked up on your pun intended with the vehicle.

I appreciate that.

Gotta give a shout out when it's due.

Director Ashimi, I just wanted to follow up.

Based on the couple of conversations, or a couple of points made today on the dais, but also in a number of meetings to include this morning that I've been having, You know, here we're focused on the state side and, you know, with the bills and so forth.

And as noted with the budget challenges facing the state, and we also, Council Member, with Council Member Rink's question and Council Member Rivera's question or point regarding the federal side, I will tell you, too, the county, and I know this may be finance and select budget, so not to jump in on that area, but all three levels are problematic, and that's of concern to me, and I'm not sure.

That may be more of a committee meeting, but I just wanted to raise it just for everybody's situation awareness because it's coming up again and again in these meetings I'm having.

And we shouldn't just get focused on, you know, the state budget challenges or what the federal may or may not do for different reasons.

There's also the county piece as well.

So just for general awareness.

Thank you.

And that was, thank you for noting that.

That was noted at the last KCRHA meeting, you know, the regional homelessness meeting.

meeting, governing board meeting was just a quick touch on some HUD funding as well.

So are there any other people that would like to ask questions, make comments?

All right, seeing none.

So just definitely keep us in mind if you need rapid response from council members in support of something that they've already noted that they would be interested in testifying about or writing in on.

Thank you.

Thank you, council members.

Okay, so we will now move to the part of our meeting where we go through the, I'm trying to find my, excuse me a moment here.

I am looking for the roll call order.

Okay, we'll now move into the round robin section of our meeting.

And today's roll call starts with Council Member Salomon.

Thank you very much, Madam Council President.

So just to give a quick update, the past two weeks, the week of February 24th, I was actually teaching a basic crime prevention course on behalf of the Washington State Crime Prevention Association.

The association basically provides training for people getting into the field of crime prevention and community engagement.

And we teach them the nuts and bolts of how to do that work.

In addition to having folks from around Washington state, we also had some representatives from jurisdictions in Oregon who came to take that training.

Last week, I was participating in a board retreat for the State Crime Prevention Association to, again, craft the course for the remainder of the year as to where are these stations going, the trainings they're going to be providing, and really looking at partnerships with other crime prevention associations from around the country.

So that's work that I've been doing for quite a while.

And I find it very rewarding to partner with other organizations that are doing similar work around the country as well as in Canada.

uh, and internationally.

So, uh, this past Saturday, I was at a special meeting of the Beacon Hill council.

It was a hybrid meeting where basically it was like, come meet your council member.

So, uh, I had a good time there, spent a couple of hours, fielded a lot of questions, responded to a lot of concerns, uh, and hearing a lot of the concerns that the community had regarding, uh, public safety, air, noise, pollution, tree canopy, housing affordability, all the issues that we've been talking about now that relate to land use issues, comprehensive plan issues.

So we've already done some follow-up on some specific points that were brought up and we'll continue to work on those issues as folks bring those issues forward.

In terms of what I have coming up this coming week, I'll be meeting with the Denise Louie Education Center on Beacon Hill.

I think they want to connect regarding you know, family education levy.

Following that, I'll be going to the West Precinct to meet with the West Precinct command staff to talk about the Little Saigon area, what have they got going on, who, you know, and what supports that they need.

So in addition to talking with Captain Brown and Lieutenant Carrillo, I'll also be meeting with Barb Yondo and Monica Lee.

At the same time, I'm also recircling back with Folks friends little Saigon skipped CID BIA and again seeing how we can bring folks together in Partnership to really address what's going on there including our partners with lead and reach To make sure that we're addressing the public not only the public safety concerns but the What I would refer to as the human suffering that's occurring in that area For our land use committee coming up, we do have a meeting next Monday on the 17th at 930, looking at a couple appointments and votes regarding the Irvis forestry commission.

There are additional five applicants that do need to be voted on.

And we're looking at doing that at our April 2nd meeting.

We'll be looking at the application for the major institution master plan for UW Medical Center on the Northwest Campus.

We'll also be briefing and discussing the building permit extension ordinance to expedite housing construction.

We'll be discussing the ground floor use ordinance for some downtown areas to expand the options for what can be in those spaces.

so that we don't just have empty storefronts, but we do have some kind of activation in there.

Final thing is that we are working to set up office hours throughout this district for the next several months so that we can put the information out there so that the folks in D2 have ample notice about day, time, and location as to when we're going to be doing those so they can take advantage of that and plan accordingly.

So that's how I have it at this point.

Thank you.

So you have four bills in Land Use Committee.

How many did you say that you're going to be discussing?

We'll be discussing two bills that are going to be discussed, one bill for a possible vote.

Thank you.

And I do want to note that I appreciate your work on crime prevention.

I have had people ask if ordinary residents can access some of that information or how do you, what does one do in order to get that training for a resident?

Yeah, for anyone who's interested in the Crime Prevention Association or finding out what resources are available to them, it's very easy to just go to the WSCPA website, which is WSCPA.net.

Got it.

Thank you.

Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Council Member Solomon literally teaching the class on how to do this.

That's why we're benefiting from your expertise here, Council Member Solomon.

Colleagues, Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments slash Select Budget Committees, here's the report.

At the Select Budget Committee last week, we passed the legislation sponsored to lift the proviso on the transportation levy.

This will come to a final vote at Council tomorrow.

Thank you for both the accountability measures as well as the government efficiency to make sure that the unintended consequence of delay did not occur.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka, for all of your work and partnership in all of this.

As well, thank you colleagues for sending my office your questions for Interim Director Kirsten Grove's appointment as the Permanent Director of Finance and Administrative Services.

Those questions have been sent to her.

We will expect written responses by this Friday.

And Acting Director Grove will join the March 19th meeting of the Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments meeting for full Q&A as well as vote.

So if you've got questions, if you want answers, that's the meeting to come to.

In external committees, Seattle City Employment Retirement Systems, SIRS.

We have a SIRS board administration meeting this Thursday.

We'll be receiving investment reports, an update on their search for new office space.

Their office is in a building that is no longer meeting their needs and are looking for a less expensive with higher quality option.

As well, we will be getting an update about the 2025 trustee elections that are forthcoming.

In Association of Washington Cities, I want to thank Councilmember Rivera for sending out the AWC budget tracker.

There's also a weekly budget or legislative update meeting every Friday at noon that anyone can participate in as a member of the Association of Washington Cities.

If you want that login info, contact my office or Council Member Rivera's office, and we'll set you up.

It's very, very informative, much like what we receive on Mondays, just on Fridays.

In Sound Transit, the CEO search continues, and this week in System and Expansion Committee, the Graham Street and Boeing access infill stations will come up Graham Street for a briefing, as well as Boeing for a slight change in the study that they will do.

There is not a vote to put these forward into build at this time.

It is simply for design and information.

In District 6, I had office hours last week, I have office hours this week with T6 residents, and this last weekend, along with Port Commission President Toshiko Hasegawa and King County Council Member Jorge Barron, we had the opportunity to bless the North Pacific fishing fleet before they head out to sea.

Colleagues, I want to speak to something else that has happened this week.

I was troubled to learn.

I was removed as the vice chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee.

I was troubled less about the decision, but more so about the process.

As I mentioned last month, changes to the committee roles within a biennium is unusual, and it's even more unusual to make these types of changes mid-year or twice in two months.

What was troubling to me was less about the decision, but rather the process.

I think Councilmember Hollingsworth is doing a fantastic job, and I have been honored to help her and support her in any way I can.

Now that council member Solomon has been named vice chair, I stand ready to support him however I can as well and as his land use vice chair.

I do think it is necessary to flag that removing a vice chair from a committee is not a normal use of powers of the council presidency.

This was troubling to me because our council president did not speak to me directly.

Rather, she directly informed my staff as I was returning from the select budget committee last week.

This is a type of decision I would have hoped to have had a discussion about and at a minimum to have a direct council member to council member conversation rather than our council president informing my staff.

Our council president could have had a conversation with me before making the decision.

She could have walked me through the decision making steps herself and how she came to that conclusion.

But unfortunately, that didn't happen.

And as you all know, I've been consistent about letting the record reflect when our council president has exercised her powers in ways that are outside the norms of previous council presidents.

This has been a practice not to agree or disagree with the factors leading to these decisions rather to let the record reflect that the change in precedent is occurring, especially as we have so many new and recently no longer new new, but recently new members.

I was surprised by this decision and I don't wanna cause further drama, but I do think it's necessary to point this out for the health of our institution and for the record to reflect.

Just as an example of that from last week, I thank you all for attending the Select Budget Committee last Wednesday.

We were able to pass legislation which will come to full council tomorrow.

as you know, lifting the restrictions on the transportation levy funding.

What you may not know is that the Select Budget Committee last week almost never happened.

Since January and repeatedly through February, I'd requested the Council President to allow us to convene that meeting of the Select Budget Committee.

On February 23rd, our Council President notified me via email that she would not allow the Select Budget Committee to meet.

If her decision would have stood, it would have delayed our consideration of the transportation levy proviso legislation by at least a month.

And that could have delayed funding for voter approved transportation safety projects across our city.

I warned about the adverse effects of this decision.

And that decision could have created the unintended consequence of delay in delivering the transportation levy.

Unfortunately, just minutes after the Select Budget Committee ended, and even before I could reach my office, our council president went into my office and told my staff she would be removing me as the chair of the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan.

Colleagues, I feel the need to daylight this.

I don't want to stir the pot, but I think this affects the health of our institution, and I can't help but wonder if the disagreement last week about whether or not the Select Budget Committee would meet was connected to me being removed from the role of Vice Chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Ultimately, unilaterally, removing me as Vice Chair of a committee won't change much because I have full faith in Chair Hollingsworth and Vice Chair Solomon, and I'm still here to serve you both.

However, I have a growing concern about the health of our institution from what is becoming a pattern of behavior.

What I'm most concerned about today is that the June and July select budget committees have also not been approved.

This lack of predictability, especially after last week's events, makes planning our budget accountability and reform work more difficult.

While we have made big reforms to the budget last year, there's more work to be done to create the ongoing fiscal sustainability and important accountability work.

With the economy in flux at the moment, you may have heard this morning's reports about the stock market, If there are any changes to the revenue forecasts or grant funding, our work will become even more urgent.

I'm eager to have the June and July select budget committee meetings approved to follow up on our budget actions from last year and accountability and reform and setting the course for this fall so that we are as well prepared as we were last year for the difficult and important budget decisions coming this fall.

Thank you, colleagues.

That is my report.

Happy to take any questions.

Seeing no questions, I'll pass it over to council member Hollingsworth.

I do have a, just a comment.

You know, it's, I hear you and I, I choose, I could also sit here and explain all of my reasons that I have explained in emails directly to you and, and also through our colleagues about my decisions.

And I choose not to use this time to get into a back and forth.

I mean, come on, we're the most senior people on this council and, and you know, People don't like to see mom and dad in a spat.

So a note on the vice chair of the comp plan.

Normally the comp plan is chaired by the land use chair.

Our land use chair left her post early and the leadership of the comp plan committee, the select committee on comp plan was made in a void of someone to take that place.

Clearly, I really do appreciate you stepping in and offering your expertise having been a past chair of land use.

Now that we do have a chair of land use who has hired a specialist in land use as staff, it only seemed correct to go back to the norm which has the chair of land use in the leadership position.

And that is especially important because there is other legislation that is coming down from from the executive that have to be managed in a land use committee.

And it only makes sense that the vice chair of the comp plan and the chair of the comp plan are all working together and making sure that when meetings are scheduled for future comprehensive plan meetings that they don't interfere with mission critical or deadlines that have to be met in land use legislation.

So happy to go into the other points that you made, but I really do, wanted to make clear that that is why I made that decision.

It's always been the land use chair as the chair of the comprehensive plan.

And I'm very happy that we have now.

Of course, I should have also mentioned council member Hollingsworth stepping in as the chair of the committee.

So anyway, sorry that you're disappointed for having been removed.

That was, that was, it had been talked about for, you know, sort of in between offices for a long time.

And so I just wanted to make clear that that was the change as we put out the notification for the additional dates.

Thank you, Council President.

If conversations have been occurring for quite some time, I would like to be included in those conversations.

Thank you.

there was no effort to exclude you from the conversation.

You simply were not in your office after the meeting and we had to get those dates out to make sure that folks knew what the next committee dates were for the comprehensive plan.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

The Parks Utilities Technology Committee will be Wednesday, March 26 at 2 p.m.

The agenda is still being formed.

So hold off on your excitement because we're still forming the agenda.

The next thing is the comprehensive plan meeting is going to be March 19th.

We sent out those dates.

We've checked with everyone's office.

We've also sent out a press release regarding the comprehensive plan.

A lot of people have asked questions regarding the appeals that have been towards the comprehensive plan and particularly the environmental impact studies.

Please note that while that is in the process with our attorneys, that we're gonna continue the process and focus on House Bill 1110, which is the current legislation in front of us that we can make amendments to and actually has a deadline to as well coming down the pipeline.

Um, that, that has been sent out as well.

If you have any questions, more than happy to answer them.

Um, also, uh, last week, uh, council member Kettle and I had a meeting last week where we both, um, uh, talked about, uh, the regional water quality committee, uh, just flagging this heads up and we're going to be having more meetings about this.

Um, the rates for King County, um, have been proposed to increase and that has a direct implement, implication to our rates with our Seattle public utilities.

And so there are very big concerns regarding that in the massive short little of time and then also those proposals as well because affordability is key.

And right now, I just think what's been proposed is completely unaffordable for folks and how we are responsible for rates.

Last but not least, and I just have to say this because I know that Council President, you and Council Member Strauss have had conversations, but I've shared privately with you and now I'll share publicly that obviously I support your position to make this decision, but I didn't agree with the decision or the process just because I wanted Council Member Strauss there for consistency and institutional knowledge.

You explain why that is what it is and I respect that decision.

I also respect the relationship that I have with each and every council member And being in the middle of certain things, you know, is just, it causes tiptoe for stuff and eggshells.

And it's quite frankly uncomfortable, to be completely honest.

And so I don't want to get distracted from the work that we have with the comprehensive plan, but I just wanted to note that I would appreciate a better process and communication with folks just so it wouldn't put people in uncomfortable positions.

And so I know that's duly noted, but I just, I don't want people I don't want the process to ruin what we have put forward.

I appreciate Council Member Strauss being available and accessible and committed to that continued work.

I really appreciate Council Member Solomon for jumping in as vice chair, but if it's gonna cause an issue, I'm more than happy to have to jump off as chair of the comprehensive plan to make things easier for folks.

But I just wanted to say that because I appreciate Council Member Strauss' institutional knowledge and consistency with this process.

So anyways, I wanted to say that and thank you so much.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Hollingsworth.

For my updates, we have a Public Safety Committee meeting tomorrow, 11 March.

All are welcome to include those not on the committee.

It's primarily focused on care, alternative response, and that will be tomorrow morning.

For this week, just want to highlight a few things.

Starting off even with today, I met with the Seattle Housing Human Services Coalition, a very informative meeting, and then the King County Jail Health.

So that was an interesting meeting, which I will be sharing the briefing from with my committee members.

And then I'll be in talks with them as well, potentially of bringing them to committee.

So I think it would be quite interesting.

Also today, we have a meeting with the Belltown Community Council as part of the outreach that we've been doing A couple weeks ago, it was Magnolia Community Council, last week was the Queen Anne Community Council, and tonight is the Belltown Community Council meeting, which will also include West Precinct Captain Brown.

This Wednesday, a meeting with, you know, Wednesday night condo constituent meeting, something different in my district.

I have a lot of condos and apartment buildings, so sometimes we have specific address meetings.

Looking forward to Thursday's meeting along with Councilmember Saka for the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board.

And also a meeting, as you well know, I've been quite engaged on things international here on the Council.

And Thursday I'll be meeting the Galway delegation because Little heads up, we're coming up on St. Patrick's Day, which is a week from today.

And as someone who is a bit Irish, I'm looking forward to it.

And hopefully I don't get COVID like I did last year.

And that won't...

And that will include the Irish Proclamation Luncheon sponsored, hosted by the Irish Heritage Club on Friday, the 54th edition of that.

For next week, I'll be meeting with Plymouth Housing.

I'll also be meeting with the Complete Communities Coalition related to the Com Plan.

Thursday, meeting on cybersecurity for elected officials, something interesting.

kind of in the line of Council Member Solomon's work.

And then next Thursday will be our D7 Town Hall, which will be held at the library.

And then Friday, meeting with the FIFA World Cup folks.

Last week, I just wanted to highlight last week, last Friday, I'm really appreciative of this.

It was a jam-packed day that had me bouncing around.

But I just wanted to highlight to everybody, on Friday I was with the Council President, but along with Governor Ferguson and Mayor Harold at the ribbon-cutting of the new YWCA.

location on Seneca.

Beautifully done.

If I remember off the top of my head, 114 residences, studio small, one bedrooms, which is like that next step for housing for women and families who need that help in that transition and back.

So it was a fantastic event.

It was really good to have conversations with Governor Ferguson and then also Mayor Hill.

And, you know, again, fantastic event.

Stay tuned for pictures.

They will be in our next newsletter.

I also had a great visit.

I'm not sure how many of you have done this.

Went to the Bumbershoot Cannonball Building on 3rd and Virginia.

Great work.

That effort, much like base camp just down the block, is reflective of the great work that we have in our city of individuals taking up an effort and really transforming our downtown.

And I just wanted to thank the Bumper Shoop Cannonball Group for all the work that they're doing in that part of our downtown.

Councilmember Hollingsworth mentioned the RWQC, which is some serious pieces to that.

As part of that, on Friday I went to the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Facility in Georgetown with King County Councilmember Balducci and others.

And again, a very great tour.

Much like in other areas, city light and so forth, we do have some challenges coming before us in terms of rates and budgets and the like.

And keeping the King County theme going, I also met with King County Council Member Jorge Barón, who's my counterpart committee chair, talking about the issues that we're facing to include transit security.

I haven't had a chance to debrief Council Member Saka, but we also talked about that.

And finally, I just wanted to note, today we had a press conference with Mayor Harrell, myself, and a number of groups in support of the Democracy Voucher Program Levy Renewal.

So that was kicked off today with Mayor Harrell.

And so that will be coming into committee, Council President's Committee, Governance Accountability and Economic Development with an eye, actually more than an eye, we really need to.

get it on the ballot for August.

And so the Democracy Voucher Program, which should be in the news tonight or on Seattle Channel, the award-winning Seattle Channel.

That is all for me.

Any questions, pending questions?

Bueller?

Bueller?

Council Member Moore.

Thank you.

Let's see, normally we would have a Housing and Human Services Committee on this Wednesday, but that is going to be canceled because we, at the moment, don't have any items.

So everyone should have received notification of that.

Sorry, Councilman Rivera, you won't have a committee to hand it.

Honorary member.

Anyway, so this week I'm scheduled to attend the Regional Policy Committee with Council Member Rink.

I think at this meeting we'll be talking about the King County Parks Levy and she and I've met to coordinate our position as Seattle representatives.

So far it's looking really positive in terms of what's being proposed for parks money for the city and Woodland Park and the waterfront.

Anyway, we're going to make sure that Seattle is well represented in the levy.

Also, we'll be attending the Aging and Disability Services Advisory Council on Friday.

And just wanted to note, I had the opportunity to attend the WORA Commons fundraiser on Saturday, and it was very well attended by council members.

Council Member Strauss was there, Council Member Rink was there, and my fabulous predecessor, Council Member Deborah Juarez, was there.

Just a fantastic organization on Aurora.

It really provides a place of belonging for so many who are on the streets and struggling to find their way forward.

So it was a great event.

I was really honored and privileged to be there, particularly with my colleagues.

So that's it, short and sweet.

I'll pass it on.

Thank you.

Council Member Rink.

Thank you.

Starting off first with our committee, the Sustainability City Light and Arts and Culture Committee.

Just a reminder that we will be meeting on the 21st and we'll be receiving a report from Offices of Sustainability and Environment on our most recent greenhouse gas emissions report for the city.

So going to be a really exciting briefing if you haven't had a chance to check out the report that was emailed to us.

Certainly would encourage you to, we are seeing an increase in some of our emissions in the city and so we're going to be getting some further detail about the report findings.

And I want to thank everybody also for your participation in our first Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes.

Truly, thank you for coming.

We had two panels present.

One panel focused on LGBTQ and reproductive health care, and the other focused on immigration and labor protections.

I know our panelists brought forward a lot of information.

There's a lot of takeaways from those meetings, and certainly want to be able to translate some of what they've shared into action for this council to be able to take up.

So thank you again for your participation.

We know the impacts of these federal policy changes are profound.

They're seemingly hitting every corner of our community.

And I think it's worth noting that since our committee met on Friday morning, it was shared that our local SBA office is closing.

And so I'm particularly thinking about the loss of resources for our small businesses in our city as a result of that.

And I also want to set a reminder that our next committee meeting of the Select Committee will be April 3rd.

The agenda is forthcoming, and we've transmitted additional dates to the Council President to approve.

So hopefully we can get those on folks' calendars.

I know everyone is very busy, and again, appreciate folks making the time for this meeting.

I'm sitting alongside Councilmember Moore for this week's Regional Policy Committee, and yes, we'll be receiving a report on the King County Parks Levy, which is going to be a really exciting opportunity for the full county to be making investments in our green spaces.

I'm very excited about that and happy to report back on some of those findings in the discussion that we have in committee.

And then for some of the events over the past week that my office has the opportunity to participate in, we were able to attend the American Waterway Operators.

which was very, very cool.

Hearing from folks and connecting with some of our partners in maritime and also having some good discussions about the impacts of the tariffs on our international economy and what this means for our port.

Also have had some meetings with the social housing developer CEO about next steps there and excited to be able to support the developer as they are standing up so we can deliver housing for the community.

I spent the day in the CID, a good chunk of my day in the CID, alongside a number of community-based organizations and providers talking about issues in the community, but also celebrating the amazing work that is in the CID, the incredible businesses that are there.

And this included organizations such as SCIPTA, Interim CDA.

historic south downtown, and it was just a really, as well as the Wing Luke Museum and more, it was a really fantastic meeting.

Oh, I can't forget Friends for Little Saigon.

But walking through the neighborhood and just connecting and talking about, you know, not just the challenges, but also where there is really incredible work happening.

And then staff also attended our Stand for Science rally at the Seattle Center on Friday.

On Saturday, there was a lot happening across the community, but of course had the opportunity to join at the Aurora Commons.

Again, an incredible organization serving and truly reaching our community's most vulnerable neighbors and really giving people dignity and leading with dignity and humanity, which I think is so important to center these days.

But also worth recognizing that the waterfront bike path opened on Saturday.

So another really exciting development, of course, for all of our investments in our waterfront.

I had the opportunity to hop on my bike and ride along and give it a test ride with Cascade Bike Club.

Very, very cool opportunity.

And it's just so clear that cyclists in our community are really excited to have this greater connection in our city and really...

feel safer while riding through the waterfront area.

And I'll close with a final meeting I was a part of yesterday actually at the Northgate Library.

I was invited into a community meeting that had been put together with a number of organizations.

really focused on how we can be responding and protecting communities in the wake of these federal administration changes.

And so it was a packed room.

There was overflow.

Folks were standing out in the hallway.

But this was organized alongside a number of organizations, including the local Democrats.

And they invited in the ACLU, as well as Care Washington and myself to talk about local responses, Know Your Rights trainings, and just what everyday residents can be doing to stand by their neighbors.

So it was a really, really beautiful event, and it's very clear that the federal policy is really front of mind for a number of our neighbors, and they're ready to take up whatever action that they can, again, for the spirit of safeguarding our city.

And with that, I'm happy to take any questions.

All right, thank you.

Seeing none, let's go ahead with Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Last week, just out of the gate, I want to talk about the public safety issues at Magnuson Park.

I met with the mayor's office with Deputy Mayor Justin Farrell, who now is the deputy mayor overseeing parks for the mayor's office.

Talked with her about the activation that I've requested for Magnuson Park.

This is an activation similar to the ones that have been done in past summers at Golden Gardens and Alki to manage for public safety issues at the parks.

I've also talked about the importance of some crime prevention through environmental design, a.k.a. SEPTED, for my friend down at the end of the dais.

Council Member Solomon, appreciate all your work in this regard.

But I've talked to the mayor's office also about doing some things at the park.

and with the parks department as well.

I'm looking forward to getting positive responses back to the mayor's office on these efforts, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I know both SPD and parks in general have been supportive of trying to do this activation, and I'm looking forward, like I said, to hearing back in a positive way from the mayor's office.

Separately, I went to last week to the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association's meeting where they wanted to talk about, of course, comp plan.

It's on everybody's mind.

And so had a robust conversation about comp plan and the needs in that area of the district.

Also participated on the PSRC last week.

I sit on the growth management committee.

for PSRC, and we actually certified some comp plans for some of the cities in the region.

I also attended the American Jewish Committee Advocacy Action Dinner, saw my friend Councilmember Kettle there.

In addition to last week, Sorry, I lost my point in the notes here.

Oh, I'll say this week we have our libraries, education and neighborhoods committee meeting where we're going to talk about the Department of Neighborhoods will be there to update us on the Chinatown International District Community Capacity Building.

They have some progress to share from the last time they presented last year on this project.

This week I also have the first of quarterly meetings of the District 4's community council group leaders.

We have about a dozen community council groups in the D4 and I thought this was a great way more efficiently show our work and spread the word about what my office is doing on their behalf.

And I have to thank Councilmember Kettle who gave me this idea.

I know he does this in his district and very much appreciate the collaboration there and the idea.

So I want to give my friend Councilmember Kettle credit there.

This week I'll be attending, as I'm sure many of you will be, the appreciation reception for former interim chief Sue Rahr.

I'm so grateful for her leadership during this time before interim chief Barnes came on.

This was a large commitment for her, and I really do appreciate all the collaboration and partnership, particularly regarding Magnuson Park, the university district and other areas in the district that are experiencing public safety issues.

And then lastly, I get to participate this week with the Department of Education and Early Learning and the mayor to celebrate the latest expansion of the Seattle Preschool Program.

This year's expansion will be in the D4.

We'll be at the Children's Center at the Burke-Gilman Gardens.

The program goal is to serve, as you know, 2,500 children by 2026, and we're currently serving 2,180 kids.

Unless anyone has any other questions, I'll pass this on to my friend, Councilmember Saka.

All right.

All right.

Cool.

Well, thank you colleagues, transportation committee on the transportation committee front.

I first want to acknowledge and say thanks to everyone who attended the, our meeting last week, which on Tuesday we had, we heard and discussed two important topics, including the 2025 levy delivery plan and vision zero with respect to the proposed levy delivery plan, I believe the plan was the first ever such detailed plan that was presented to the council and it represents important accountabilities for voters.

And as council member Strauss pointed out, the next day in our select budget committee, We reviewed and ultimately unanimously approved the plan.

And we're gonna be voting on that finally get it out of our queue here on the council tomorrow.

So our next transportation committee meeting will be next Tuesday.

The agenda there is still being finalized, but I can say fairly confidently that One of the items there will be a briefing and presentation from Sound Transit, SDOT and SDCI on the proposed link light rail expansion.

And then time permitting, we'll have some street permitting items as well from SDOT.

As we know, transportation policy, infrastructure, city plays a central role in terms of our Seattle Department of Transportation, but it is also a very important regional challenge and regional issues.

And so we're gonna...

And with respect to light rail expansion, we have our scene colleague on the council, Council Member Strauss represents our voice on the board.

Sound Transit is the decision maker on that, or at least the primary decision maker, but our city plays a role in helping to enable and implement some of the decisions that were made.

And so we'll talk a little bit about that at our next committee meeting.

Now, moving on from a regional committee perspective, as Councilmember Kettle noted, I am looking forward to our next PSRC, Transportation Policy Board meeting on Thursday, I believe.

Always lively and engaging conversations.

I will be having district office hours later this week, I think on Friday, looking forward to that.

The final thing I'll note for purposes of this kind of round table, round robin, just want to comment, do a quick comment on one of the bills that did not pass this year.

The free school meals bill, HB 1404, as we learned earlier in previous updates from our OIR team, did not advance in the state legislature this year.

And colleagues, you know, that was a priority of our city.

And I think that I don't envy the decision makers in Olympia.

I know it is a tight resource constrained environment there.

And so I don't envy the decisions too.

And I think as I understand it, the budget implications were key driving factor for that bill not passing and moving forward this year or so.

which totally understand the broader budget challenges, but I am concerned and disappointed, and frankly, I'm saddened that that bill did not pass.

All the resource constraints notwithstanding, particularly in light of what I started to read about this morning in the paper in the Seattle Times about some pending congressional action, that would essentially reduce, purportedly under another cost cutting mechanism or rationale, that would purport to reduce the threshold for qualifying schools and therefore students to receive free or reduced school lunch under the Title I program.

And initial state estimates indicate that tens of thousands and probably hundreds of thousands of students in our state would be impacted, which means they wouldn't have access to free or reduced lunch.

And that in parallel with the fact that that free school meals lunch bill at the state level did not pass, I am concerned and again saddened as someone, we talk about the importance of education and I'll just speak candidly here and from the heart as well, as someone who has overcome the foster care system, as someone who has relied heavily on free and reduced lunch, as someone who has went to 13 Title I schools K through 12 growing up, and as someone who went to school oftentimes growing up, to receive services and food first, and as a secondary thing to receive an education, I'll tell you that those two things together are gonna be devastating.

The state lack of passing this, and then if congressional action, everything tees up how it's shaping up to be now, those two things in parallel are gonna be completely devastating for our education system.

Look, I know what it's like to struggle, and we all have our own stories and journeys, and I know what it's like to go to school hungry.

It's not a good feeling.

And the quality of the education notwithstanding, imagine trying to learn if you can't focus because you have hunger pains.

So I just see that as really an existential crisis for our state and our country.

And it's going to have profound impacts if, like I said, things shape up the way they're shaping up or turn out the way they're shaping up.

And I just want to highlight that as an opportunity for all of us.

So thank you.

No further comments, questions?

I welcome any, actually.

And if none, I will pass it on to whoever the next person on the list is.

All right, I don't see anybody else, so I'll go ahead and give my update.

The next meeting of the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee will be this Thursday, March 13th at 2 p.m.

And we'll have an appointment of Joy Shigaki to the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District DBA for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

And then following that, we'll have a briefing, discussion, and possible vote on Council Bill 120950, The Shield Law.

You may have seen last week that the mayor's office sent us this bill to conform Seattle law with Washington state shield law supporting access to reproductive health care services and gender affirming treatment.

And the mayor's office drafted the bill in cooperation with the city's LGBTQ commission.

And I noticed Councilmember Hollingsworth and Councilmember Solomon, quotes from you were included in the mayor's press release in support of the bill along with representatives from GSBA, Seattle Pride and the city's LGBTQ commission.

So thank you for that.

Specifically, the bill incorporates relevant portions of state statute into city law and extends its provisions to city employees.

And as you may know, state law provides protections against out of state investigations and prosecutions, professional discipline, and civil liability.

And it also provides extensive protections for consumer data related to reproductive and gender affirming care.

So given the urgency of the issue with actions taken by the Trump administration, I wanted to fast track this and not wait to show that we support our LGBTQ plus community and to reaffirm our city's commitment to be a safe, welcoming place for all people.

And so to that end, for everyone familiar with the pace of how legislation moves forward here at Council, the quickest path forward that wouldn't involve a delay on final passage until the middle of April, Next month is to add it to tomorrow's IRC so that my governance committee can consider it at our March 13th meeting and move the legislation forward quickly.

Then following committee will plan to address it at full council on March 25th.

Again, this would just conform our law with state law and it uplifts policies to protect the rights of historically disadvantaged and vulnerable communities and it extends state laws protection state law's application to city employees to show our commitment to protecting the rights and liberties of all Seattle residents and our commitment to providing everyone with access to city services.

All right, so last Thursday, I participated in City Club's monthly Civic Cocktail, where I was joined by Deputy Chief Yvonne Underwood and Director of Public Safety Natalie Walton Anderson, and the event was moderated by South Seattle Emerald's Florangela Davila.

I recommend that if you've never been to one of these Civic Cocktail events, they're They're formatted really well so that there's a lot of time to meet new people.

And the second one I've been involved in, they're always very compelling and some pretty good food too.

So if you're invited to participate, Please consider accepting.

They do a good job putting that on.

Okay, and then finally, as folks know, International Women's Day, March 8th, passed over the weekend.

However, it will be celebrated tomorrow at Bertha Knight Landis.

So I hope to see you there for a bit of the Bertha Knight Landis International Women's Day event.

And it will have, this year for the first time, a dance party and a DJ.

I left the name of the DJ at my desk, but...

Note that everyone is welcome tomorrow in Birthnight Landis.

Is there any further business before we adjourn?

All right, hearing no further business, it is for our folks 1516 p.m.

I'm kidding.

It is 316, and we are adjourned.

Thank you, everybody.