Seattle Council Briefing 7/725

you

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today is July 7th, 2025 and the council briefing meeting will come to order.

The time is 2 25 and to our listening public, I am very sorry for the delay.

We had some technical difficulties.

Let's see.

Council member Saka and Hollingsworth are excused from this meeting and council member Kettle is remote today.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council member Strauss.

Present.

Council member Kettle.

Here.

Council member Moore.

Council member Rink.

Council member Rivera.

Present.

Council member Solomon.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Seven present.

Thank you very much.

If there's no objection, the minutes of June 30th, 2025 will be adopted.

Hearing none, hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

All right, we don't have any proclamations, presentations, or executive sessions today.

Uh, on tomorrow's city council agenda, there are 12 items on the introduction and referral calendar and the consent calendar includes the weekly bill payment ordinance, seven appointments and the minutes of July 1st, uh, of the July 1st city council meeting.

And there are five pieces of legislation from committees to from the finance native communities and tribal government governments committee and five from the transportation committee.

And that's all the information that I have right now because things were kind of getting late, getting loaded into the system.

And moving on to item three, there are no proclamations again for signature today.

So we'll just move right into blue sky, which is the preview of city council actions, council and regional committees.

And today's roll call begins with council member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Let me get my notes in front of me here.

There is no Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee this week.

Next week, we do intend to host likely a select budget committee.

That would be on July 16th.

I know that this is a deviation from the standard process because of the density of topics.

I know we're working with you, Council President, to figure out what that cadence is, because at the end of the I'll get to this in just a minute.

No matter what the committee is next week, we are intending to take up the carry forward supplemental World Cup and Workday Interfund loan legislations.

First, planning on briefing those items.

like the midyear supplemental budget to be voted out of Select Budget Committee on July 30th.

Second, we also know that there's a lot of interest around the B&O tax proposal, the shield law, and so that will be taken up as well.

And we had packaged the carry forward and supplemental budget to be taken up at the same time because it is all related.

What are we carrying forward and what are we adding to this year's budget?

So our team is still waiting on some information from council president's office about whether we're going to turn next week into a select meeting or we're going to add a meeting.

So I thank everyone for holding their time, whether or not we do a select meeting or a finance meeting.

Everyone is welcome because there's a lot of a lot of meaty topics.

Focusing in on the carry forward.

The carry forward is essentially that what is being carried forward from last year.

I did note that when I was going through Legistar today, it doesn't seem as if the legislation has been referred to my committee at this time.

So Council President just flagging for us to take it up next week.

I do need to have that.

I understand the referral process.

Yep.

By Monday, the 15th.

Thank you.

But I understand action needs to be taken by Wednesday of this week.

To get it onto the referral calendar in advance of the 16th?

That's correct.

So just noting that it hasn't all the other legislation seems like it's in order, just need to make sure that this is moved to my committee so we can take it up next week.

Moving on to full council.

Colleagues, I am excused from full council tomorrow as I'll be meeting with the Suquamish Tribal Council.

If I can make it back, I absolutely will.

We have a few items to be taken up tomorrow.

We have the appointment of Director Dan Eater as the Director of the City Budget Office.

Thank you, Vice Chair Rivera, for being able to speak to that.

We also have the Seattle Social Housing Developer Loan.

Council Member Roeink, if you're interested, mind taking that one up for me?

And lastly, Sound Transit, Councilmember Saka's office and I became aware this morning of a technical fix that needs to be made to the Sound Transit legislation.

Our offices are working together to chart a pathway forward, and it seems likely that there will be a request to hold the legislation for a week to ensure the maps and written description in both the memo and the resolution are correct.

There were some technical errors in there.

And the Sound Transit and External Committee, Sound Transit Expansion Committee, will be meeting this Thursday and moving forward on acquiring a few pieces of property for the West Seattle Link Extension.

And in District 6, I held office hours last week.

I have an odd week this week because I'm not having office hours, but that is because I am meeting with almost every single one of the neighborhood centers and their group.

So we're taking up the office hour time.

I met with one group last week, and there's one that we're just trying to nail down as to when the scheduling is.

So I'm continuing to meet with community members, just not with the office hours.

So we'll do office hours again last week.

And lastly, when I read the introduction and referral calendar today, I did notice that the public safety resolution with budget implications is being referred to the governance committee, just stating for the record that this, in my opinion, should be referred to either the public safety or the budget committee as those are the committees of jurisdiction.

Thank you, colleagues.

That is my report.

Any questions?

I do actually have a question about the carry forward legislation, so it'll come next week for discussion.

That's correct.

And then the second meeting will be on the 30th.

That's correct.

Is there any previews you can give on the carry forward legislation?

just like I do with every type of legislation that comes before the committee, requesting members get private briefings to come up to speed because it's dense.

It's straightforward, but dense.

And so please request a briefing with the CBO, and then we'll be taking it up on the 16th and then again on the 30th.

Okay, thank you.

It's helpful when you say it for the viewing public, but I can absolutely get a briefing from CBO.

Part of the reason that usually the carry forward legislation is taken up earlier in the year, and that was the original plan when we had on our original committee calendar for the year, because of the downturn forecast in April, we paused to take a deeper look.

I know that the executive made some revisions, and we wanted to take a deeper look into it before we took it up, which is why it's coming in August instead of April, May.

Sorry, what's coming in August?

I thought you said carry July 30th.

Sorry, I'm already thinking the next month.

July 30th is August for me.

But yeah, usually we would take it up in April, May.

This year we're taking it up through July, voting it out the day before July or last day of July.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nothing else?

Council President, questions?

Yes.

I this is more for the public record and also for the CBO.

I have said several times at the dais that I am really hoping that the CBO could return the response to slide CBO 0035A or three.

I think it might be 3SA, but in any case, that was my sly request on historic underspends and also a kind of a spreadsheet of all the contracts that exist in the three top departments that usually have the most contracts with service providers, and the due date is July 31st, but I've mentioned to Interim Director Dan Eder that I was hoping to have that a response before we took up the carry forward, which was transmitted with $169.2 million of carry forward.

So I think it's good to be able to look at both documents at the same time or be able to consider carry forwards within the historical context of underspends that you had presented in your committee maybe a month and a half or so ago.

Note to the CBO, that would be great if we could have that a couple weeks early.

Is that why the legislation hasn't been referred to my committee?

No, the legislation will, I was fully intending on referring the legislation.

However, here's what happened.

They referred the carry forward included more items that would be paid for by the jumpstart fund than we actually will have in the jumpstart fund because of the forecast.

And so our central staff director, Noble, did request that CBO redo the carry-forward legislation, and so I don't know if there is or when there will be a revised carry-forward bill.

It's my understanding that it's in Legistar right now, but

It is.

The first one we got, the temporary file is in.

That's the one that had $169.2 million.

And my understanding is that Ben looked at the numbers, added them up, and had asked for some revisions.

And so that is what I was waiting on, but I was fully intending to refer it to your committee, in fact, the Select Budget Committee.

So...

So it sounds like we're having a bit of miscommunication because what you just explained on the record, it was my understanding as well.

It wasn't just Director Noble that requested more information.

It was me as well.

And so my understanding was that we are ready to go now, but we can take this up offline if you'd like.

We're just trying to move forward.

Oh, yes, we need to move forward, definitely.

Yeah, we don't have very much time until we get the real budget legislation and maybe even the supplemental or whatever.

So in any case, that is the plan going forward.

But I was just answering your question because it seemed like you were thinking that I was in arrears of referring, and I was waiting for the final go-ahead that it was ready to go.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

I don't know who comes after Councilmember Hollingsworth.

I'm always just and up next is Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Maybe it's Councilmember Kettle looking at the big screen at the side.

Councilmember Kettle over to you, my friend.

Well, thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Can you hear me?

Feedback.

So if you turn off your computer sound, I think it's because I'm turning off my volume on the my laptop.

I get a thumbs up from you.

Councilmember Strauss.

Can you hear me?

All right.

excellent thank you i'll ignore the uh not hearing anything uh thing i'm getting on my door for the it folks all right so uh our next public safety committee meeting is tomorrow and it's uh we're going to be looking at again for the second look graffiti and chronic nuisance properties we do have a number of amendments on those and so we will work through those uh tomorrow and committee um David Miller- Separately for this week in terms of outside and different meetings tomorrow meeting with the DSA policy committee on Wednesday, I have a walking tour with the Magnolia Community Council.

David Miller- On the D seven side of Magnolia the East slope.

David Miller- The then a meeting with the downtown Community Council and then i'll have a meeting also with the first avenue transit alliance talking about public transit bus service on first avenue.

Obviously, this is something that we need for First Avenue.

And then the Coast Guard Tall Ship is in town.

There'll be a tour of that.

Thursday, in terms of regional committees, the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board.

And then on Friday, we have a meeting with Plymouth Housing and Grow Northwest.

And for next week, relatively quiet, I do have a meeting for my colleagues in Districts 4, 5, and 6. will be going to North Precinct on Wednesday.

And this is part of my last year.

I went to all five about this time last year.

And so doing another cycle through all the five precincts that will be on Wednesday.

If anybody would like to join me, they can.

Please just have your team connect with with my team on that.

And then on Thursday, the King County Board of Health.

So given my tech challenges today.

I will leave it at that to see if there's any questions.

I see no questions here.

All right.

The next.

Normally I would pass off to Council Member Moore.

But I'll pass off to the alphabet here.

I think Rink.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

And hi, colleagues.

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and is taking care.

I want to start off my comments just by acknowledging the horrific flooding disaster from over the weekend that happened in Texas.

And I know at this time, what we've come to understand is that nearly 90 people, including 27 young girls from a summer camp, have lost their lives.

It's such an important reminder of how the National Weather Service as an agency plays such a critical role in helping emergency managers prepare for events like these.

Losing staff on the federal level at NWS means less timely reporting, which can have truly devastating consequences.

So my heart is with Texans at this time and certainly looking forward to upcoming opportunities to get briefed on and better understand our own emergency management functions on the city level.

Not to continue on too much of a somber note, but I also want to recognize some additional troubling instances just happening in our own backyard here, particularly related to vehicle-related incidents just this past week.

From a hit and run on Lake Washington Boulevard to also a vehicle driving into Mia Posto and District 4, you know, It's just tremendously troubling and has certainly had me thinking about the safety on our streets, how we're making better progress towards our Vision Zero projects, and certainly hopeful that when it comes to Lake Washington Boulevard, we can continue the work and finish those important traffic calming measures to make sure that people are And so moving on from the somber notes, this upcoming Friday for the Sustainability City Light Arts and Culture Committee will be meeting.

We'll be hearing, we'll be seeing appointments on the Arts Commission and the Green New Deal Board.

We will have a briefing from City Light on the power supply and a briefing and vote on the City Light Kalispell Tribe Interlocal Agreement.

And next week on Friday, on June, pardon me, July 18th, there will be a meeting of the Federal Administration and Policy Change Select Committee where we will be focused on the impact of the one big, beautiful bill that passed this past week.

I know my heart certainly fell when I saw that vote go through Congress and wanting to focus this select committee session at really unpacking the impacts of that bill and what it will have for our region.

And so we're pulling together a list of stakeholders and panelists, some of the best experts who can really speak to those kind of nuances and certainly interested in making sure we can fully understand what all those impacts may be.

Additionally, RPC, the Regional Policy Committee, will be meeting this Wednesday.

There will be a session on economic impacts of the King County Airport, as well as an update on information security and planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

And with that, that is all I have to share for today, colleagues, unless there are any questions.

I'll pass it to council member Rivera.

I have a question.

You mentioned the big, beautiful bill.

Um, did you, uh, I am seeing a letter here that was signed by a bunch of people.

Um, can you give some background on this?

Did you go ahead?

Yeah, certainly.

Um, understanding the impacts that this will have on our region, which, as I mentioned, we're trying to further digest and understand.

I had some conversations with members of our state delegation to really uplift and talk through what are the kind of messages that our neighbors need to hear right now?

And how are we going to work across levels of government to formulate solutions?

And so That happened, I believe it passed on, what is time?

Last Thursday, but wanting to mobilize quickly to put some words to paper and figure out what is the message that we wanna send to our community.

And so this was done in partnership with folks within the state delegation.

It was primarily collecting signatures over the holiday.

So I know a lot of folks were out of town doing stuff, As you can see from the letter and as has been reported, there's been a lot of support from across the state with various city level elected officials, state level elected official, like members of the state legislature, the insurance commissioner also signed on, Patty Kuderer.

as well as members of the school board and port governments as well.

And so wanting to make sure that we had a broad reach in the development of that letter.

That's a little bit of the background.

Okay, I just, thank you very much for explaining.

I just saw today at one when the hard copy was dropped off and there is some question about whether or not we need to disclose that council members did sign outside of a public meeting.

Usually we, that's why we have to vote on or raise our hand and say aye, that we'll sign on to letters and proclamations.

And so I am just noting for the record that it is acknowledged that that was that that occurred outside of a public meeting.

Yes, and part of, you know, we'll be seeking further guidance from the clerk on the best way to collect signatures, especially when it comes to letters that include other governments.

We also learned in this process how much, you know, state legislators also have different rules around how they engage with this type of letter collection process.

So it was done very quickly to try and, again, meet the moment and be responsive.

You'll see much of the language the letter really speaks to just the holiday.

Um, and the meaning behind, um, Independence Day.

And so.

Wanted to quickly stand something up, but thank you for acknowledging that we're seeking guidance from the clerk's office on how best to make sure that we are within those kind within OPMA.

And we're again, working with state legislators as well to better understand how we can work with them to collect signatures.

We're all council members asked to sign.

No, we had quickly, again, I had done some individual touch points throughout, and I know that there was outreach throughout the state legislator world.

But if anyone would like to sign on, I know there's been additional opportunities, would welcome signatures truly.

But again, understanding the challenges as well, wanting to make sure that we are compliant, and then again, getting guidance from the clerk's office on how best to do this.

Okay, thank you very much.

It came to my attention just today, so just wanted that to be noted.

Okay.

Councilmember Rivera.

Okay.

All right, this week I'm looking forward to a few things.

One is tomorrow I'll be taking a walk through the proposed Bryant Neighborhood Center in the district with residents of the area and representatives from OPCD so they can learn more about the residents' concerns and answer their questions.

Out of all the neighborhood centers in the D4, this one has raised the most questions and I've heard from the most folks about.

in regard to choice of this particular location.

So looking forward to having OPCD there tomorrow to answer questions.

I will also this week be going to former legislator Don Mason's fish fry on Wednesday.

Besides being a former elected, you all know Dawn is an enduring activist and respected leader and community.

I look forward to the event and I'm so honored to have been included.

This Thursday will be our next Libraries Education and Neighborhoods Committee meeting.

On the agenda this week are several appointments, three appointments to the Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority.

and five appointments to the Pike Place Market Historical Commission.

Also, this Saturday, my office is looking forward to the one Seattle Day of Service.

We'll be spreading out this year with two of my staff volunteering to clean at Dahl Playfield, one helping clean up at Gasworks Park, and I'll be volunteering at Magnuson Park.

Day of Service is a really great day for everyone across the city to come together and give back to our communities.

I know we do this not just once a year, but it is nice to come together as the city of Seattle to do this day of service.

So I'm looking forward to my office's participation.

Also wanted to mention a significant drug arrest that occurred near the housing at Magnuson Park.

An individual who was wanted for both a Department of Corrections warrant and a domestic violence warrant was arrested in possession of a large amount of narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as a scale and packaging materials.

I want to thank the SPD for their efforts in keeping the folks who live in and around and near the park safe.

They are doing a lot, they're managing a lot, and they're being really responsive to the public safety needs across the city.

So I wanted to acknowledge this particular arrest last week.

Then next week on Monday, I'll be holding my fourth public safety walk, this time in the Roosevelt business area.

These walks have proved very helpful.

They're a great way for the city departments to hear directly from businesses and residents in the neighborhoods about the problems or concerns they're experiencing and to answer questions.

It's a really great opportunity to have a dialogue and have that presence between the city and community and residents get a chance to learn more about city resources, which is really important straight from the folks who are providing the resources.

So really have enjoyed getting to do these walks during my time here and looking forward to next week's walk.

which will include the chiefs of police and fire, as well as folks from OED, SPU, City Light, the graffiti abatement folks and more.

Next week, I'll also be having my monthly meeting with Chief Barnes, really looking forward to his swearing in as well coming up.

And then I wanted to mention two unfortunate incidents.

One is the fire at the frat house at the UW.

This past Saturday, the Seattle Fire Department responded to 911 calls reporting a fire on the roof and deck of a four story residential building in the 4500 block of 19th Avenue Northeast in the university district.

When crews arrived on scene, they found the occupants were able to extinguish the small deck fire.

However, upon assessing the area further, they found the fire extended into the attic void space, at which point the incident was upgraded to a two alarm response where more than 80 Seattle Fire Department personnel were dispatched to the scene.

Firefighters were able to get the fire under control by 4.54 a.m., but it caused significant damage to the roof, the attic, and top floor.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

And then, Council Member Rink, you brought up the car crashing into Mio Posto this weekend.

Police said the car, a white 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV ran a red light and crashed into the restaurant causing minor injuries to multiple patrons of the restaurant.

Police said the car was not, oh, sorry, the driver was not arrested at the scene after evaluation showed no signs of impairment.

SPD said the driver was given a citation, will also be liable for damages and medical expenses, and the restaurant will be temporarily closed for repairs.

So I wanted to give that information as well and happy to answer any questions.

I want to thank both of you for bringing up the vehicle accidents over the weekend.

Actually, a constituent asked me about that today and was saying, why aren't we enforcing our traffic laws or something along those lines?

And it's my understanding, and I'll have to check with who's the public safety chair or with SPD directly, but it's my understanding that there was a decision, a policy decision made in 2022 to, um, to discontinue the enforcement of traffic of some traffic laws or, um, yeah traffic laws except for through the speed enforcement in school zone cameras but I I will have to check to see if that is in fact the case unless anybody has okay thank you

I did get some questions, Council President, about why the driver was not arrested.

And I have some more questions out to SPD as to why they were giving us a citation, but not actually arrested.

There was no impairment.

Nevertheless, they ran the light.

now this business is suffered.

There were minor injuries, but nevertheless injuries.

Um, and now also Mayo Postal has to deal with, um, their restaurant, uh, the significant impact to, to that business in the district.

So, um, all of that, uh, I just wanted to acknowledge that there were those minor, um, though minor impactful injuries to folks who were dining there and also to the restaurant as well.

And I will share more once I learn more.

I appreciate the insurance companies that are still serving this market, the small businesses in this town.

Yeah.

Thanks.

All right.

Council member Salomon.

Thank you very much.

Actually following up with the issue of traffic, one of the things that I've been working on since before I joined this body was traffic safety along Rainier Avenue from in the Rainier Beach neighborhood from 57th and Rainier down to the city limits, where some of you may have seen video that's come forward by folks in that community of vehicles rolling over, smashing into other vehicles, actually intruding into people's homes, people's living rooms, you know, garages.

So I had a meeting this past week with members of SDOT and primarily Vinu Nomali Nunmani, who's been working with that group of neighbors on Rainier about traffic calming, what has been done up to this point, what is looking at being done in the near future and going into 2026 to really facilitate a reduction in the incidents that we've seen over the past several years.

So there are methods or ongoing measures for traffic calming.

They are meeting on a regular basis with SDOT, and there is more to come.

So I did get an update about that.

There's also some traffic issues that I'll be talking with them about regarding the area between 57th Rainier and Rainier Beach up to Rainier and Henderson, which is another area where we've had some traffic issues.

So traffic safety and deep D2 are things that are definitely on my mind and, you know, our offices, you know, working with the community and SDOT on those.

Along those lines, we've been getting a lot of correspondence from folks in D2 regarding traffic calming along Lake Washington Boulevard South.

You may know that there has been some traffic calming that's been done.

It's all in some speed humps.

Money has been allocated to complete that process.

The process has yet to be completed, and a lot of the correspondence we're getting is saying, get it done.

Again, money's allocated.

let's just finish that project and get those speed humps in to reduce speeds along Lake Washington Boulevard to reduce incidents of, not incidents of just speeding, but also better traffic control, better pedestrian safety.

So those are things that are ongoing right now that our office is working with.

In terms of committee work, our next land use committee will be Wednesday the 16th at 2 p.m.

Um, you know, stay tuned for what we actually have on tap for that.

I think we have a couple of appointments that are going to be coming forward.

Uh, we'll probably be continuing our conversation on permit or design review rather.

Um, but we're also looking at, uh, permit, uh, reform measures.

And I believe council president, you have some ideas along those lines.

We've been hearing something from the executive.

So you'll really want to, um, hone in on what those, um, you know, what those proposals are so we can actually have something going forward and, you know, getting an act.

Let's see.

I did attend the, um, ST3 streamline permitting process bill signing, uh, that happened on Wednesday.

Uh, some of the other meetings we've had in this past week are along talking to some of our developers, workforce housing developers, on MFTE legislation and what changes may be coming there, what's being proposed, what their assets are, as well as our continuing conversation on codifying crime prevention through environmental design.

I've also had a meeting with the King County Borough Association and their Housing Justice Project, looking at some of the issues that have been coming or that have been talked about around tenant right, tenant reform, landlord issues, just seeing, okay, what are they seeing along these issues?

Just as we're hearing from the Housing Development Consortium as to propose legislative changes that they may want to see, I'm also doing some information gathering to find out, okay, well, what is the problem from you know, from the bar associates, what do they see as the issue?

Along those lines, I also had a meeting with the renters commission because I want to understand from them, what do they see as the issue?

If, you know, we're getting information from folks that there's a problem with our housing providers and the housing providers are saying, here's what we need.

I also want to hear from the renters as to what protections they're looking for.

And I want to hear from the folks who are involved in um, eviction cases to find out, okay, well, what is, what is the actual groundwork?

So I'm doing a lot of information gathering at this point to see what can we craft together going forward that'll help our housing providers provide stability for our renters and help people stay in their homes.

And at the same time, help continue our help us to have our, um, low-income housing providers to continue to provide low-income housing, you know, because that's my goal.

Keep people housed, keep our housing providers solid.

Did attend a meeting of the Puget Sound Regional Growth Management Council this past Thursday.

Also met with some folks from Bloodworks Northwest, really wanting to understand how can they promote more members of the African-American community to actually be blood donors.

What are the barriers?

What can they do to incentivize it?

And how can we help push the word out?

And I did make a commitment to them that if they've got upcoming blood drives that they want to publicize, we would definitely be happy to put that information in our newsletter.

Excuse me.

This coming week, we have meetings with the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom, with the Seattle Indian Services Commission.

The Office of Civil Rights Youth Civic Engagement Program will be attending the Seattle Sports Commission celebration of Seattle women's sports.

After that will be the police department's community forum at the Rainier Beach Community Center.

That'll be on Thursday.

On Wednesday, I'll also be going to Chief Barnes Swearing In at the Northwest African American Museum.

And following that, I'll be going to Elder Mason's event in her backyard, because evidently I'm a co-sponsor of that event, so I guess I better be there.

So I will definitely be there Wednesday.

And I think that's all the updates I have for you all right now.

Are there any questions?

I have a question on Rainier Avenue.

You said that you were talking to constituents today about safety issues.

And when you were talking about the segment, the first segment that you addressed, the one that goes to the city limits, what is the road configuration there?

Is it two lanes each direction?

It's one lane.

It was two lanes.

It is one lane each direction with a center turn lane, which the center turn lane is being used by a lot of drivers as a passing lane, which has led to a lot of the traffic issues.

So one of the fixes, if you will, is to put some kind of barriers in that center turn lane to prevent folks from using that to pass.

At the same time, realizing that people do need that center turn lane to turn into their own driveways.

especially the people that live on the lakeside of Rainer Avenue.

They've got to be able to make a left turn going southbound so they can actually get into their homes.

So how those barriers are going to be spaced is something that the Department of Transportation is working with the community to figure out.

There's also the proposal to put in a roundabout right by Lakeside Park where if you know where Pizzeria Puccinella is and Taylor Creek, you know, that particular thing right off of Cornell, looking at doing some kind of a roundabout to again, slow folks down because there is no traffic control at all between 57th and Rainier until you get to almost rent it.

So you're looking at several miles of roadway with no traffic control.

So, One of the ideas is flashing crosswalks on the northern part of that stretch, traffic calming island right in the middle of the stretch, and then possibly looking at working with King County and their Rose Department on some other China traffic control that could happen further south when you get from basically Lake Ridge Avenue down to basically where Clutch Cannabis is.

I mean, that's the next stoplight.

Got it, so it's a long...

A long stretch of uncontrolled...

Right.

Speeding.

Got it.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Okay.

I guess I am the last.

All right.

So this coming Thursday is the next meeting of the Governance Accountability and Economic Development Committee.

So Thursday, July 10th, and we have three items on the agenda.

First, we'll have a briefing and discussion with the city auditor on their 2024 end of year recommendation implementation report.

which highlights which of the recommendations from the previous audits have been implemented by city departments or are still um left to be implemented and uh so that is that that should be interesting to hear how we're doing on not just uh audits from the past year but um previous years as well although they won't go that far back they do have a dashboard however i do want to point out and will be mentioned during the meeting that their dashboard is really helpful to understand ongoing work and work that departments are due to the auditor, including the legislative department from way back.

uh so that's one item the second item will be a briefing and discussion on the uh the treatment funding resolution that um that states that if and when the mayor proposes utilizing state the state authorized one tenth of one percent sales tax increase for public safety then up to 25 of that um ought to be allocated to various treatment and recovery programs and The list of programs or services is the product of a months-long stakeholdering process with primarily Purpose Dignity Action, DESC, and Evergreen Treatment Services, which are the three largest homelessness services and behavioral health providers in the City of Seattle.

And they all advocated for what they saw as high priority investments to really fill out our ability to help people struggling with substance use disorder and offer them an actual pathway to recovery instead of kind of a hodgepodge of services that exist either at the city of Seattle or at the county.

so that was presented at a press conference with the principles of those organizations as well as the representatives of neighborhood business districts in this case it was i it was aaron goodman and i believe that there was another director of one of the business improvement areas but in any case It was a mix of small business and service provider representatives there.

And one interesting thing was that it did also represent the full breadth of approaches to dealing with addiction and well, substance use disorder sometimes.

you have a more narrow conversation about what should be done, but when you have people from The More We Love, We Heart Seattle, in addition to DESC and PDA, et cetera, it does show not only the diversity of thought on how we should approach addiction, substance use disorder, and also the public response to it, but also the seriousness that these organizations are taking issue that they'll all get together and call for something more to be done um and uh it to address your point uh councilmember strauss there were three other there were three you know more natural committees that i could see this legislation going to the first would be housing and human services there will only be it's my understanding one um meeting of of housing and human services clearly uh the we lost our chair and, um, council member Solomon is, is pitching in as the vice chair and kind of doing double duty this whole summer on, on land use and, um, housing and human services.

Thank you very much for that.

But it's my understanding that the, that that agenda of that meeting is mostly full due to urgent federal DHS legislation.

And then of course, the second thought was to send to the select budget or finance committee.

However, given the carry forward capital improvement plan and now the BNO legislation did not think that the capacity would be there to take on that an additional piece of of which is a resolution, my resolution that I'm talking about.

And then finally, the other place was the public safety committee, but the same thing.

Absolutely full, pretty much every committee is really doing their darndest to get through what's on the legislative plate before we head on into budget.

And so that is why it ended up in my committee, partly because of the natural link with the fact that The support for expanded access to substance use disorder treatment has been carried by a lot of the neighborhood chambers and business districts.

but also because there is room in my committee and I have been really, really, really focused since day one on this issue.

And starting in 2022, trying to get a budget item passed that would have allowed for the city just to write a check to treatment facilities for the referral of individuals that our caseworkers bring to the city's attention or to the treatment facilities attention.

So that, you know, Failed in 2022, but then got into the 2024 budget at $300,000.

That's having some success and saving some lives, but that was followed by my effort to get, and thank you very much to the chair of the budget committee last year because I was able to secure enough money, well, about $400,000.

for Evergreen Treatment Services to purchase another mobile medication van to serve people suffering from opioid use disorder right where they are in some of the hotter spots in Seattle like Little Saigon and Third and Pike and Pine area downtown.

And then of course also really championing the recovery-based services within actually uh permanent supportive housing and that was brought up as very much needed in the audit that was presented in my committee last july on the concentrations of the overlap between overdose and crime so it's been a topic that has either been in my committee or front of my mind um for a very long time so uh that is why that decision was made council president and i'm not finished could you wait until i'm yeah And the third item in our agenda is on Thursday is the, hold on a second.

A BRIEFING AND DISCUSSION ON THE NEW COUNCIL RULES PACKAGE.

THIS IS A BIANNUAL PROCESS TO REVIEW AND, IF DESIRED BY COUNCILMEMBERS, REVISE THE EXISTING RULES AND MY TEAM AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH CENTRAL STAFF, THE CITY CLERKS AND LAW TO DRAFT THIS PACKAGE OF 18 CHANGES, THE VAST MAJORITY HAVING COME FROM CENTRAL STAFF OR THE CITY CLERKS.

So this was the rules, the draft of this legislation was circulated to all of you at the beginning of last month.

And I thank everybody who provided feedback, which we were able to take into consideration before presenting this final draft.

So because this concerns the whole body, I am inviting anybody to Participate in the governance, accountability and economic development meeting this Thursday at two o'clock to continue.

If you have any amendments, I haven't looked at the latest list, but if you have any amendments that you want to advocate for, by all means, come on down to our committee or just listen and comment on the docket.

So again, but that will be the first discussion and then it will be voted out.

the next committee and I don't have that date at top of mind right now.

All right, so moving forward, I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing time this past weekend with friends and loved ones.

On Wednesday, this coming Wednesday, I'll be attending the Office of Civil Rights Youth Civic Engagement Program celebration here at City Hall, and the event will recognize 20 high school students who participated this spring in the program for their leadership and engagement in local issues.

And on Thursday, I'll be attending the Seattle Sports Commission's celebration of Seattle women's sports.

Looking forward to seeing leaders and representatives from the Seattle Storm, Rain, and our new pro women's hockey team.

And I will be joining Councilmember Rivera and perhaps other people at Elder Masons.

I think that you were going as a co-sponsor or supervisor at the fish fry this coming Wednesday as well.

And I'm sure I'm forgetting some other things that are going on, but it's a busy time of year.

So are there any questions or comments?

Yes.

Council President.

I just want to repeat back what I think that I heard regarding your resolution, which is really a budget resolution.

You're speaking about how we're funding different programs in our city.

Did I hear you correctly that you made the determination on my behalf that my committee was full?

I will have to check with staff and find out if there was a staff to staff communication on that.

Because you did not ask me and you made that decision on my behalf without conferring with me about my own committee.

You took the agency out of my role as the committee chair regarding a budget topic.

My next question is, are you proposing a new revenue source?

No, I am not.

And are you proposing how funds will be used from our budget?

I am proposing a suite of services that it could be used for.

Yes, I am.

And so what we have before us is a proposal with, I'm assuming, a specific dollar figure.

No.

It is anticipated.

Let me address something.

I see where you're going with this, and if you would like to talk offline about why I made this decision, we're welcome to, but I will also remind that we do have a history of having budget legislation not in the Finance or Budget Committee, especially one that has had extremely concrete consequences, such as the legislation for wage equity that came out of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, which then was acted upon by the Mayor and Council in 2023, I believe, 2024 and 2025 budgets.

And so when things concern resolutions, when these are resolutions that have a budget component or a proposed budget component, there are several examples of legislation that did not go to the budget committee.

I'm wondering if the resolution on federal issues and how we should be dealing with potential federal budget cuts.

Did that go to the budget or the Finance Committee or the Select Budget Committee?

Council President, if that's a direct question to me, it was something that I conferred with the sponsor beforehand, which is the most important part of working together is that consultation between council members regarding areas of their committee's jurisdiction.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where this resolution goes, but colleagues, I urge caution in asking for funding, especially without proposing new revenue in this year, and doing so out of sequence of receiving the budget, because the suite of services could or could not be included in the mayor's budget in the first place.

No, I have been in consultation with the mayor's office, so this is something that I do know was likely not going to be in the mayor's budget.

Council President, I'm going to request that you stop interrupting me.

This is the third time just this one meeting.

I am saying at a more macro level, it doesn't matter what the program is.

And I had the same conversation with Council Member Rank earlier this year of proposing funding out of cycle without the full context of the budget.

is not good practice.

It's not good governance.

And to furthermore be proposing to spend money from a revenue source that we're also in this resolution not saying that should go forward.

I'm just seeing a lot of red flags.

I'm going to bring us back out to the macro level, though, which is proposing funding out of sequence can set us up for bad situations in the future.

That's all I'm saying, and a request for consultation.

But that's it.

Council member Rivera.

A couple of things.

One is this is a resolution.

It sounds like this is something council president has been working on for a long time.

And I do see it as good governance because of the mayor is going to propose where someone will be proposing a sales tax increase.

What goes to fund is good governance.

So I understand what you're saying about finance.

I also see it as council president stated, these things, these kinds of resolutions or proposals can go, can fit in many different committees.

And it is the council president's prerogative.

When the council president sets, you know, legislation comes down, refers it to the IRC, to the committee that makes the most sense, depending on the legislation.

I don't see it as incongruous with other things that we've done, and we have done other things here where we've picked a different committee than maybe was what folks were thinking would be the quote unquote most natural.

depending on what it was that has happened.

And people have actually proposed funding sources for things in the past as part of the different processes that we take in committee.

So all that to say, Councilmember Strauss, I think that your comments are a bit heavy-handed, I think, in the context of what this proposal is.

It's a resolution.

Resolutions are not binding, and I do see it as a form of good governance, so we can agree to disagree on that point.

But I don't think it's erroneous for it to be coming to the Good Governance Committee in the way that you're suggesting, since it is not proposing to increase funding for something like a, it is a resolution that says, if we bring a funding source, we want to have some focus on behavioral health and addiction, which I think is a very worthy cause in the context of all the things that we're seeing on the ground right now.

and all the issues that are related to homelessness and housing and a myriad of other folks that people are experiencing.

So I just want to say that.

Thank you for those comments.

Yes, that was the intention of Representative Entenmann and the Black Caucus in advancing that this proposal because they see public safety as much broader than simply paying for law enforcement.

So I am proud to be able to conform to their thinking about how to establish a more comprehensive and holistic sense of public safety in community.

I will also note that when it comes to communication, Um, you held a discussion in, uh, in the finance committee on new legislation that wasn't even that hadn't even, uh, you scheduled that, that discussion in the finance and, uh, native communities, tribal governments.

I'm sorry, I'm getting the name of yours, of your committee wrong, but it was scheduled before that legislation was even.

transmitted and or before I think that our colleagues had seen a draft of it which I think that we saw that day or the day before so it was you know there was some assumptions taken on your part and perhaps the executives part that that would end up under your purview either in finance or the Select Budget Committee but again there wasn't any you know conversation and I chose to me it made sense and so I

decided that you know I didn't know where else it should go so I went along with that but it's always a good reminder that more communication is better than less I agree and I would also say that funding requesting funding for programming at this in this year should likely come along with the revenue source

Oh, there is a stated revenue source.

The stated revenue source would be the anticipated 0.1% increase in the sales tax that Mayor Harrell did mention he was interested in pursuing in the press conference on the BNO proposal.

So it's very clear what the funding source would be.

It's just staking a claim on the spending.

in conformance of the sponsors.

Let's now cut.

I think that this has gone far enough.

Thank you very much.

If you want to make a move to change the referral calendar, you are welcome to tomorrow.

All right.

Is there any other legislation?

Go ahead.

And some other business counsel, President, if I may, I just wanted to take a moment because I apologize.

I did not have all the information at hand when we were discussing the letter.

So I want to take a moment to say for the record, after consulting with legislative, with legal counsel, I see that we have not violated any OPMA rules.

We did miss a step.

So before we ask for any more signatures, which will be welcome, um, my staff will work with your office council president to ensure all of our ducks are in a row.

Got it.

Thank you very much.

Do you want to ask for additional signatures, um, at the, uh, at a meeting tomorrow or what is the intent I'm offering?

We'll certainly chat after this meeting to make sure we can accommodate that.

Thank you for your flexibility.

Okay.

Thanks.

looking up at the screen I'm asking if they're I think that we're at the end of our agenda is if there isn't any other business but Councilmember Kettle is do you have any other further business shaking of head okay all right hearing no further business this meeting is adjourned and it is 324