Seattle City Council 4/15/2025

Good afternoon.

The April 15th, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is two oh two.

I'm Sarah Nelson, council president.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council member rank.

Present.

Council member Saka here.

Council member Solomon here.

Council member Hollingsworth president.

Council member Kettle here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Six present.

Thank you.

If there's no objection, Council Member Moore will be excused from today's City Council meeting.

Hearing none, Council Member Moore is excused from today's meeting.

All right.

Council Member Moore does have a proclamation proclaiming April 2025 to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

And the proclamation will be presented by Council Member Rink on Council Member Moore's behalf.

Council member Rink will share comments on the proclamation and then I'll open the floor to comments from council members.

And after those comments, we'll suspend rules to present the proclamation to our guests and allow our guests to provide brief comments themselves.

Council member Rink, you're recognized in order to address the proclamation.

Wonderful.

Thank you, council president.

And thank you to Council Member Moore for bringing this forward.

Again, Council Member Moore has been excused from City Council today and has asked me to present this proclamation on her behalf.

And she has the following remarks.

Thank you to everyone able to add their name to the proclamation.

That's April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Seattle.

Thank you to, oh, thank you to Council Member Rank for reading my comments into the record yesterday.

I want to give a big thank you to the Seattle Women's Commission and King County Sexual Assault Resource Center for the work you do.

It is an honor to be a part in presenting you with this proclamation, even though I cannot be there in person with you today.

With that, I will present the proclamation.

Uh, before we present, I was supposed to ask if there are comments that any of my council member colleagues would like to make.

I just want to thank council member Moore for bringing this forward and I was unable to attend a council briefing yesterday.

So thank you council member Rink for, uh, for serving as council president pro tem in my absence.

So that meant that I could not sign on to the proclamation, but I do want to express my support for recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

And my message here is simple.

We must support survivors and work together as individuals and communities to prevent sexual assault in Seattle and everywhere.

We need to increase awareness and education, particularly in the workplace and on college campuses.

Seattle should be a safe place for all, and I'm committed to doing what I can to assure that.

Sorry for that interruption.

Seeing no other comments, please go ahead.

And if there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to present the proclamation and allow our guests to accept it and provide comments.

The rules have been suspended.

I've heard no objection.

You may proceed.

I'm here to receive this proclamation on behalf of the Seattle Women's Commission.

We are a diverse group of women who volunteer as commissioners because we care deeply about our communities and about our city.

We develop our focus areas and work plans through surveys and other public engagement activities, and through our experience and expertise from our various professional and community roles.

Topics around safety continue to be a priority identified by Seattleites and our commissioners.

Therefore, the commission has maintained related work for many years, including subcommittees focused on health and well-being and addressing gender-based violence.

We believe that everyone deserves to be safe.

We believe that everyone deserves a life free from sexual violence.

But we know that this is not the reality for many in our city right now.

We know this because the statistics on gender based violence tell us so.

We know this because our colleagues are survivors of gender based violence.

We know this because our friends and family are survivors of gender based violence.

We know this because the folks we support in our work and in our community roles are survivors of gender-based violence.

And we know this reality because we, past and current members of the Seattle Women's Commission, are survivors of gender-based violence.

So thank you, council members.

Thank you, Mayor Harrell, for recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Sexual violence affects every community in our city, and each of us has a role to take in being part of the solutions.

We take this moment to highlight the 2025 theme of Together We Act, United We Change, because we know that prioritizing the voices of survivors and coming together to address and prevent sexual violence is the path forward.

Thank you to all the survivors, advocates, coalitions, groups, and organizations promoting healing, support, and hope in our region.

They envision the liberated, anti-racist future that we deserve.

We need to continue resourcing these efforts.

And we can and must join alongside them in this work to create safe, healthy, and respectful communities.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you for having us here.

My name is Kate Garvey, and I am the CEO of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, or KSARC, as you might have heard it called.

We are a nonprofit that serves this city and all the communities throughout King County.

I'm here to accept the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month proclamation on behalf of our organization, and I just want to thank you all for being the solution to sexual violence.

First, to the survivors in the community that may be listening, I want to say you are not alone.

Sexual assault is common.

Half of women and one-third of men have experienced sexual assault in their lifetime.

People from marginalized communities due to disability, race, or ethnicity, or their gender or sexual identities are at even greater risk.

Chances are that you know someone who has been sexually abused.

The trauma of sexual assault is something that can affect a survivor's mental, physical, and behavioral health, their ability to form healthy relationships, remain in school, or even in the workplace, plus so much more.

But recovery from sexual trauma is possible with support.

KSARC assists 4,300 individual survivors and their family members in the last year alone.

Almost half of those individuals are under the age of 18, so children and teens.

We know that young people are the most vulnerable to sexual assault and the least likely to speak up about it and the least likely to be believed about it.

I want to end with another message to survivors.

Free and confidential help is available to survivors or to anyone who needs more information about sexual assault.

Our 24-hour resource line is a good starting point.

You can reach us at 1-888-99-VOICE.

We always say we can't change what we can't talk about.

So I want to thank you all for your leadership and your willingness to be loud about sexual assault.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for coming today and providing those comments, that education.

And again, thank you, Council Member Moore for bringing this forward.

All right, colleagues at this time, we'll open the hybrid public comment period.

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

Items one and two, clerk file 314491 and council bill 120962 are quasi judicial matters and the council cannot accept public comment on those items.

Clerk, how many people have signed up to speak today?

We have three in person and one remote.

Thank you very much.

Let's start with the in-person commenters.

Speakers will be called in order in which they are registered.

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

Speakers mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

And I will honor our tradition of extending the first place to present and former elected.

So Council Member Wu, you are present and you may approach the podium, please.

Thank you.

So I stand here today with a heart full of gratitude for the work we've done together on the after-hours nightlife legislation.

And so I want to talk a bit about the motivation for my personal fight for this legislation.

It's rooted in tragic loss of my dear friend Donny Chin.

Many of his close friends are here and watching today.

Donny was not just a protector of our neighborhood, but a true pillar of our community.

He lost his life safeguarding the very space we now seek to regulate.

His death and the deaths of many others indicate the dangerous consequences of these unregulated after-hour clubs.

And so this legislation is a step toward a safer, more just city for all of us.

It's about ensuring that our communities are safe while also creating a new economy that matches our world-class city.

It's about creating spaces where people can go out, have fun, but also return home safely.

So I want to thank each and every one of you who have supported this cause, from community members like Francisco David Eschatel's sisters, Caroline Eschatel, Erica Santana, to advocates like Aaron Goodman, and especially the state attorney's office, Scott Lindsey, and my colleagues, former colleagues on the city council.

Your tireless efforts, belief in justice, and commitment to making Seattle safer for everyone has made this legislation possible.

I also want to thank Nina Park and Sarah Mays who helped facilitate the stakeholder meetings.

And to the many club owners who shared their stories, frustrations, and constructive suggestions, their voices have been invaluable.

And so as we hope for this legislation to pass, I believe it's a testament to the power of community action and the importance of standing up for what We believe it even when the road is tough.

This has been years in the making, but we learned so much along the way, and together we made a change that will hopefully save lives, and I'm incredibly proud of what everyone here stands for.

So thank you for the continued support.

Thank you for understanding and standing with all of us in this fight for a safer nightlife.

Let's continue to push for safety, justice, and for a future where every person can feel secure in their community and go home safely.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alexander Dean.

Following Alexander will be Joe Cox.

Hello.

My name is Alexander Dean.

I'm here to address about the fact that we have been having, frankly, an extraordinarily hard time recently in the city and in the U.S. generally.

But specifically, Seattle is a sanctuary city.

I have had the experience quite recently of Being in the back of a cab being driven by a gentleman from Mexico who was here legally Broke down into tears because his family were afraid to go out The federal officials that have been allowed to come into the city have been theoretically Stopped from doing things illegal, but in practice they have harassed and directly victimized my neighbors who are here entirely legally and And if they're going to act like criminals and thugs, they cannot be here.

If ICE and the enforcement of what is frankly not a legal demand that has been made by the current administration is going to actively harass and victimize people who are Latino or Hispanic simply because they're Latino or Hispanic, then we need to ban them entirely from the city.

I understand that legally that may not be possible, but it is the morally right and just thing to do.

because people are not feeling safe.

I'm obviously quite angry about this, and I think it's pretty reasonable.

I don't understand how anyone isn't.

We are seeing people take into a fucking gulag, and we're allowing this to happen in our home.

We're allowing our neighbors and people who are entirely innocent to be abducted and sent to a fascist dictatorship to be fucking put into a death camp, shot in the head, and dumped in a river.

Do you have any idea how many people have been found in Salvador's rivers currently?

This is a thing.

Since Bukele took office, over 100 bodies have been found of unidentified individuals who were from the prisons.

How is this allowed here?

This is supposed to be a good place.

Kick those fucks out.

Joe Cox?

Hello?

You may go ahead.

On Mariner game days, there's a problem with high sound levels being generated by four or five individuals using electronic bullhorns.

Fans are standing in line waiting to get in and can't move away from the excessive sound levels that are being blasted at them from five to ten feet.

They're being subjected to sound levels that are consistently above 100 decibels and reach as high as 115 decibels.

This is assault.

all the more reprehensible when directed at small children standing with their parents.

The National Institute for Health says, long or repeated exposure to sounds at or near or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss that cannot be corrected through surgery or medicine.

OSHA says that if an employee is exposed to noise levels at or above 85 decibels, the employer must provide hearing protection.

Sound levels 30 decibels higher than this 80 decibel threshold are guaranteed to cause hearing loss.

Something needs to be done.

Fixing this problem is going to take direct and sustained action on the part of the city of Seattle.

Last year, a mounted police officer at the ballpark explained to the individuals the use of amplified sound systems was not allowed.

And after a lengthy discussion, the men with bull horns screamed their message at the top of their lungs for 20 minutes, then left.

When the police left, the individuals came back and resumed their bullhorns.

This is not a question of freedom of religion, and it's not going to go away on its own.

Thank you.

That was our last in-person speaker.

As a reminder to our remote speakers, please press star six after you have heard the message that you have been unmuted.

We have one remote speaker, and that is David Haynes.

Go ahead, David.

Stop this exploitation station, 1492. Whatever year in your universal historical perspective began predatorizing innocence, while liberal society has imploded with exempted from jail drug pushers, and yet the cops still give us excuses hanging out with law-abiding citizens as council goes out of their way to legalize and legitimize shady slum businesses from the third world that need it and should have been shut down a long time ago.

Donny Chin would have been alive if they would have shut down all them shady businesses.

But because we got slum lords and government capitulation to any tax revenue they can generate, they're willing to look the other way on gun violence, proliferated, businesses that have nothing healthy.

Can you imagine how maybe drinking with some people and you go into some Cougar lounge and you smoke some tobacco that's been tainted and laced with poisonous chemicals from some evil third world piece of crap that has no business selling that stuff in the United States.

And all of a sudden you're all whacked out of your gourd and some dude's acting violent not knowing what the hell he's talking about.

And you all will have legalized that, but yet you don't want to allow for an organic marijuana cafe, but yet you don't want to give anybody a 25 or $50 ticket for smoking cigarettes, vaporizer, or smoking weed on the sidewalk.

You don't want to do anything about illicit drugs like crack nuts, heroin, and fentanyl in and around the bus stops because you're still liberally capitulating to the devil's advocate and too afraid to rise up and properly implement policies that don't cater to some Ignorant ideas and agendas that implode society, turn against our fellow man, and undermine community.

Yet here we are waiting for laws to stop the stall in progress while you guys digress into a mess as people are forced to undress.

That was our last remote speaker.

Thank you very much.

That was the end of our list of public comment speakers, so the public comment period is now closed.

Okay, moving on.

If there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

And if there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendars, and the items on it are the minutes of April 8th, 2025, Council Bill 120965, which is the payment of the bills.

Are there any items that council members would like removed?

All right, hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council Member Rink.

Aye.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Solomon.

Aye.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf?

All right, moving on to committee reports, the Land Use Committee.

Will the clerk please read the title of item one into the record?

The report of the Land Use Committee, Junt Item 1, Clerk File 314491, application of NCORT Architects PLLC to rezone approximately 34,654 square foot site located at 8601 Fremont Avenue North from single family to low rise tube with a mandatory housing affordability suffix.

The committee recommends that the city council grant as condition the applicant, the clerk file.

Thank you very much.

Council member Solomon is chair of the committee.

You're recognized in order to provide the committee report.

So this legislation, actually no, comments on the other legislation.

Really we're looking at getting this bill through and I don't have anything to add unless there's any questions.

Are there any questions or comments on the clerk file?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on granting the clerk file as conditioned?

Councilmember Rank.

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon.

Aye.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Six in favor.

None opposed.

The clerk file is granted as conditioned and the chair will sign the findings, conclusions, and decisions of the council.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the findings, conclusions, and decision of the council on my behalf?

And will the clerk please read item two into the record?

Agenda item two, Council Bill 120962 relating to land use and zoning, amending chapter 23.32, the Seattle Municipal Code at page 26 of the official land use map, trees on the property located 8601 Fremont Avenue North from neighborhood residential three to low rise two with the M1 mandatory housing affordability suffix.

Committee recommends the bill passes amended.

Thank you very much.

Item one and this item basically go together so it makes sense that you speak to this one.

Council member Solomon is chair of the committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Council President.

This legislation rezones the property located at 8601 Fremont Avenue North and accepts a property use and development agreement limiting future development on the parcel.

The rezone will facilitate the development of two apartment buildings containing 53 affordable apartments.

With that, I move to amend Council Bill 120962 as presented on the recently distributed Amendment A. This amendment attaches an executive property use and development agreement, or PUDA, to the legislation.

This PUDA sets for certain development rights and responsibilities to facilitate the contract rezone.

All right, it's been moved to, are there any comments here?

Nope.

It's been moved to, first, we need a second, second.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 120962 as presented on Amendment A, and you've already addressed it.

Are there any other comments on the amendment?

Okay, I see none, so would the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment A. Council Member Rink?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Solomon?

Aye.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries.

Amendment A is adopted and the bill as amended is now before the council.

Okay, are there any further comments about the underlying legislation?

All right, hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill as amended.

Council member Rink?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Yes.

Aye.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I wanted to be council member Saka for the day.

My bad.

That's my bad.

I know.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council member Kettle.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Will the clerk please read item three into the record.

The report of the Parks Public Utilities and Technology Committee, agenda item number three, Council Bill 120916 related to Lower Duwamish Waterway and authorized Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to continue expending funds to participate in environmental investigations and remediations of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

All right.

Councilmember Hollingsworth is chair of the committee, recognized to provide the committee report.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council President.

And like our phenomenal clerk has mentioned, this is an ordinance relating to the Lower Duwamish Waterway that authorizes Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to continue the cleanup of our Lower Duwamish Waterways.

Super fun site.

It passed for in favor, none opposed.

I know we've had a ton of briefings and...

Yeah, looking forward to continuing to protect our industrial lands and our environment.

So thank you.

And I encourage my colleagues, I guess, on this vote.

And this is also in Councilmember Saka's district.

All right.

Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues?

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President, and thank you, Councilmember Hollingsworth, for considering this legislation, an important piece of legislation at your committee, and honored to be able to support it today.

Today's legislation is particularly impactful, not just for our city, but for residents of District 1, many of whom live in the affected area of the Lower Duwamish Waterway.

Indeed, communities in the Duwamish Valley, South Park, Georgetown, are vulnerable and have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized.

While the profits from this industrialization of the area have been exported, the burden and environmental impact have remained solely in house in the impacted areas.

So this helps us better address Some of these concerns, better take care, be better stewards of our environment.

At the Superfund site, we know it contains dangerous contaminants that can pose a risk to the health and safety of anyone exposed to them.

Imagine living there and the generations of impact that it has on many people.

So everyone across all of our districts deserves to live in a clean, safe, and healthy environment, plain and simple.

And so what we're doing today in my view is basic good governance and taking care of our city's responsibility.

And it's not just the city responsibility, make no mistake, but taking care of the city's responsibility to better address these concerns and advance and champion a climate resilient posture as a city.

So our communities can collectively and individually be stronger as a result.

So thank you, proud to support this.

I would just like to...

I don't want to interrupt.

I am not seeing the order of hands raised.

Just a second.

Council Member Kettle, go ahead, please.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank...

I serve on the Regional Water Quality Committee with Council Member Hollingsworth, so I want to thank her.

for bringing this forward and the work that's done on it, but also thank those on the Regional Water Quality Committee and also the support that we receive from SPU, from General Manager Lee and his team, Bob Hennessy, Mr. Hennessy, and Martha as well, for their support, Ms. Newman, for their support of us serving on that Regional Water Quality Committee, because this is important.

you know, the Lower Duwamish, the consent decree, and the efforts that are going to take to fix the situation related to these Superfund sites is really important and critical for our city.

So I just wanted to say thank you to all involved.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay, looking to see.

When you hear the word Superfund, that's, that is a significant, significant environmentally troubled project and so this is an enormous body of work is simply what I want to say and this is not the end of that work, this is simply the beginning of the next phase and so I just want to say that this is a tremendous milestone and Of course, thank you to our city staff, especially SPU, for having brought us to this point.

Just figuring out which agencies owe how much money and figuring out how to associate or allocate responsibility among polluters.

It is a tremendous body of work and also has involved much more than just simply city and other jurisdiction staff.

I mentioned this in a previous council meeting or committee meeting, but I do want to repeat my thank you and gratitude to the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, which is now called the Duwamish River Community Coalition for all the work they did to keep you know, to keep the bureaucrats honest here and make sure that we were all aware, this is going back to the early 2000s, of the continuing threat to the people that live along the river and use the river and for sustenance, because this is a...

This is...

uh, this is something that we'll be continuing to have to monitor.

So I just want to say this is a, this is a big step and in a long journey.

So thank you very much for having the fortitude council member Hollingsworth to bring this forward and be the lead on this.

Thank you.

I'm not seeing any other comments.

So, uh, would the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Council member rank.

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Council member Solomon?

Council member Hollingsworth?

Council member Kettle?

Council President Nelson?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

All right, will the clerk please read item four into the record?

They report the Public Safety Committee, June 4, Council Bill 120956, relating to the regulation of after-hours nightlife lounges, defining after-hours nightlife lounges, establishing operation and safety requirements for such businesses, and describing enforcement mechanisms.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Kettle, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

I wanted to start by saying that Seattle is wary of gun violence, yes, and we're taking action.

I said this at committee, but I think it's important to state again here at full council that yes, Seattle is wary of gun violence, and we're taking action.

Too often, as chronicled in this legislation, people have lost their lives at or near after-hour establishments, knife-life lounges over the past decade.

During this period, we have allowed this to happen, permitted it to happen, by not addressing the gap in the business regulations, but by also not giving the tools to take action to fix this public safety concern.

We have heard from community, we have heard them shout loud and clear as we continue to state that it's not acceptable.

And I really wish to thank communities affected and those that have raised their voices, and particularly, as we heard earlier, from former Councilmember Tanya Wu, but also from others, the families, like the Escatel family, who's tragically lost Francisco last summer, but also in the area of, like, SOTO, SOTO BIA director, Aaron Goodman, They've all shouted loud and clear that to continue as is, again, is not acceptable.

I want to thank City Attorney Ann Davison for her work on this bill.

Her partnership on this bill and others is crucial for the Public Safety Committee and the Council overall in terms of its work on public safety.

It's really important.

I also want to thank, kind of unique in this bill, Finance and Administrative Services.

This FAS, as we say, is not part of the city government that I normally work with, but I want to thank them for their support on this bill.

And again, just like the last item, I also want to thank Council Member Hollingsworth for her support and especially her legislative assistant, Nina Park.

It takes a lot of staff time, a lot of staff effort, a lot of work.

And we need legislative assistance like Nina Park and others to go out to community, to reach these families, to say, hey, this is what's happening.

This is the process of government.

It could be frustrating to say, hey, we hear you.

Ultimately, that's the most important thing.

I think it's important for the residents of the city to know that their city government hears them.

And oftentimes, it's our staff that does that work across all of us, nine of us here on this council.

But related to this bill, I did want to recognize Nina Park.

Colleagues, this bill builds on the work we've done this far as it relates to our strategic framework plan and our efforts to create a safe base in our city to include our neighborhoods that have these after-hours establishments.

And with that, colleagues, I'd ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any questions or comments?

Council member Osaka.

Thank you, Madam Council President, and I look forward to supporting this legislation today.

I also want to thank Chair Kettle, Public Safety Committee Chair Kettle, for reintroducing this proposed bill that Councilmember Wu had been working hard on last year.

As I mentioned during our last, at the Public Safety Committee level, every strategic initiative, every piece of legislation proposed, whether it's by the executive, the city attorney, whatever, it needs a champion.

at least one champion on this floor in order to have any hope of passing.

So that's why, again, I wanna thank the people I just mentioned for your leadership and I'm proud to support this, be able to help support this, especially thanks to all the members of the public who have taken the time out of their busy days and lives to speak out so forcefully or for this proposed legislation in various public safety committee meetings, including the family of Francisco, David, Escatel, sisters, and everyone impacted by gun violence We know that these unregulated, unpermitted nightclub, nightlife establishments that we are now seeking to regulate, they operate in a gray area under the guise of legitimacy.

And they also geographically happen to operate in parts of the city that include a lot of my district in district one, Soto, Pioneer Square.

Communities have had enough.

We're fed up of gun violence.

We're fed up of senseless shootings and killings.

We're fed up of celebratory shootings.

What happened in West Seattle and Delridge a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday evening at some parks in the city of Seattle happened hours after two people were senselessly murdered from gun violence from one of these unregulated, unpermitted facilities.

Communities have had enough.

It is time they're demanding action, they're demanding relief, and this is one thing we can do to bring the relief to communities that they so desperately need.

Is it the end-all be-all?

No.

But it is an important step in the right direction we can take to take stronger action and better prevent some of this gun violence.

When people go out to these various nightclub establishments, they should expect to have a good time.

They should also expect to come home at night and feel safe.

So should the workers and security guards.

And this legislation will help ensure as much and help our city better deliver upon that goal, that ideal and that guarantee.

Donny Chen, tragically met his demise almost 10 years ago, July of 2015. So if this passes, it will be just short of the 10-year anniversary of his murder.

And as I mentioned at the committee meeting last time, what we're proposing now to regulate these unpermanent, unregulated nightlife establishments, it's not a net new proposal.

It's been thought, it's been considered before.

And for one reason or another, potentially due to lack of political courage and will, it has failed.

And I'm sorry to the family of Mr. Chin.

And I'm sorry to all those victims who this is coming potentially too late for.

We unfortunately can't take back some of those following, some of those ensuing tragedies.

But we can make sure that we don't have any Donny Chen murders happen in the future.

We can make sure we don't have any Francisco Escatel killings in the future.

And this is an important part of that approach.

This is an important part of that strategy.

So proud to support it today.

My district is overly represented in terms of the underlying gun violence challenges across the board, but more specifically pertaining to these currently unregulated, unpermitted, after-hours nightlife establishments.

And now it's time to act.

Let us strive and endeavor to be like the great 21st century philosopher, future pro football Hall of Famer, Marshawn Lynch, Be about that action, boss.

This is exactly what helps us do that.

So I ask for everyone else's support as well.

Thank you.

Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to amend Council Bill 120956 as presented on Amendment A on the agenda.

Second.

We've been seconded to amend Council Bill 120956 as presented on Amendment A. Councilmember Rinca's sponsor, you're recognized to address it.

Thank you, Council President.

I bring forward this amendment today after my team was able to have some discussions with Councilmember Kettle's office as well as the city attorney's office.

This amendment will request that FAS will work together with other departments to enact an effective implementation plan as well as providing this council with data.

This data will allow our council to be able to demonstrate to the public how this ordinance has impacted violent crime outcomes.

To dive a little bit more into the amendment, under Section 2A, this segment of the amendment will request that FAS will transmit their implementation plan on the enactment of this bill, especially with the consideration of language access and ensuring that the written safety plans from those businesses are filed with the director and distributed to the chief of police.

Section 2B, this segment of the amendment requests an annual report on the implementation of this ordinance.

Effectively, this portion of the amendment is monitoring and evaluating the evaluation of this ordinance, ensuring that we effectively capture the data about enforcement activities.

So in essence, this amendment would create a pathway for us as a council to receive the information we need to understand the effectiveness of this legislation.

It is my sincere hope that this legislation mitigates gun violence because there has been far too much death in our communities.

And I want us to be able to have the data to be able to show proof that this legislation has an impact as well.

And with that, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

As sponsor of the bill, Council Member Carroll, you have your hand up, so I'll allow you to respond or speak to this amendment.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Council Member Rink.

As mentioned in my remarks, Finance Administrative Services is a key piece to this bill.

And related to this amendment, I do support it.

I do consider it to be a friendly amendment to the overall bill.

and look forward to working with FAS to ensure, to the points made by Council Member Rink, that we get the most out of this bill and ensure its success.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Any other comments on the amendment?

Okay.

We will hold other comments until after we vote on this.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment A?

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Saka.

Aye.

Council member Solomon.

Aye.

Council member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council member Kettle.

Aye.

Council president Nelson.

Aye.

Six in favor then opposed.

The motion carries and amendment a is adopted and the bill as amended is now before council.

Are there any other comments on the bill as amendment amended?

And I did see, I believe council member Hollingsworth hand up first.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll be super quick.

I did notice that if we were playing on a football team and you were the ref, it'd be four to one on versus sides.

So I just wanted to, but if you were Marshawn Lynch, I think you'd run us over, Council Member Saka.

Want to thank everyone who had anything to do with this.

I know we have former Councilmember Wu here and her staff and Councilmember Kettle, who is the sponsor of this bill, but I thought the process was phenomenal.

And if anybody watches Marcus Limonis for business stuff, he always says people, process, product.

Now in my council member hat, I say people, process, policy.

And the process is just as good as the policy.

And I thought the process was phenomenal, meeting with businesses, meeting with people in the community, advocates, other council members, like just a lot of the behind the scenes work that happens before a bill is brought forth to council.

Even the amendment council member brought forth very thoughtful.

So I just wanted to give kudos to everyone who had had any type of hand in the process with this and special thanks also to our city attorney's office.

I always get to obviously city attorney Ann Davidson, but also I always mess up his name.

I always say Scott Lindsey or Lindsey Scott, but it's an inside joke, so he knows.

So thank you.

Also for meeting with district three constituents and business owners and taking the time explain and help educate what this meant and how it will impact their businesses.

And what I heard from a lot of District 3 businesses was how stuff that was happening in other districts was coming over during nighttime issues that were going on in District 1 and District 2, but how, you know, just all the activity on the street, how it impacted some of them as well.

And some, you know, business owners that were right on the border were talking about the impact of, you know, that they felt like stuff was coming this way and so forth.

So just want to thank everyone about the process.

I thought the process was phenomenal.

So thank you, chair.

Thank you.

Thank you to all the council members for putting forth that that was a really good process.

And I just wanted to recognize that.

Council Member Solomon.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

I do want to acknowledge everyone who had a hand in making this possible.

I'm looking forward to supporting this legislation.

Thinking about where I worked prior to being here, the after hours establishments were definitely a, lack of a better term, a thorn in our side.

There are three, actually now just two, in District 2. One, voluntarily decided to close.

After receiving a letter from Chief Barnes, basically putting on a notice that you need to clean up your act.

So I'm very thankful for that.

I know the community is very thankful for that.

Definitely want to acknowledge former Councilmember Wu for all the work that you put in, all the advocacy that you and your staff did to bring us here.

Want to acknowledge Deputy City Attorney Scott Lindsey for everything that you've done.

Everyone in the community that's been able to make this possible.

I've seen the comments that have come from community members urging us to take this action, urging us to take this long overdue action.

So I'm looking forward to supporting this bill.

I thank everyone for us getting to this point.

And as I have said before, I am tired of adding another name to the list of people who have died at these establishments.

So let's take this action so that we say no more.

Thank you very much.

So there have been, I believe, 35 shootings at after-hours lounges in the last five years, 10 homicides in the past, or over a dozen homicides in the past dozen years.

And so I just want to say it's about time that we do something about this unchecked problem that's gone on for so long.

and I do want to lend my voice to the choir of folks that thank Council Member Wu for pushing this.

It was a priority before she left office and also the city attorney's office for working so closely with the legislative department, with Chair Kettle to bring this forward now because this has gone on for too long, cost too many lives, and it's it's about time that we do something to fix it.

So this will set us on the right path.

And it is my sincere hope that the damage to the people that patronize and live around some of these businesses is relieved with the action that we're taking.

So thank you very much everyone for bringing us to this point.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, colleagues.

One thing one can notice from the remarks is that the impact of these incidents, these killings, and this violence is often in Districts 1, 2, and 3, but by taking action, we help the whole of the city.

By taking action, we once again say, hey, we're not accepting this.

And this will ripple across the city.

The impacts will not be limited to districts one, two, and three, but will be for the entire city.

And so again, thank you everyone for your support.

And again, I urge you to vote yes on this bill.

All right.

Are there not seeing any of their hands up?

So will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the legislation?

Council member rank.

Yes.

Council member Saka.

Aye.

Council member Solomon.

Aye.

Council member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council member Kettle.

Aye.

Council president Nelson.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

All right, there were no items removed from the consent calendar and there's not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any further business to come before the council?

I'm not seeing any.

All right, we have reached the end of today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is on April 22nd at 2 p.m.

It is 2.53 and hearing no further business, we are adjourned.