Seattle City Council 7/11/2023

Good afternoon, everybody.

Today is Tuesday, July 11th.

This is the Seattle City Council meeting.

I am Deborah Juarez and I am now calling Council to order.

Madam Clerk, will you please take the roll?

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Nelson.

Here in Chambers.

Council Member Peterson.

Here.

Council Member Sawant.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Herbal.

Council Member Lewis.

Present.

Council President Juarez.

Here.

Yes.

Oh, Council Member Herbal, just slid it onto the wire.

Thank you.

Seven present.

I was trying to use a baseball analogy.

People gave me a hard time about the baseball comment yesterday.

Yes, I know it's the all-star game.

I got it.

It's important.

I'm sorry.

All right.

Before we begin, if there's no objection, Council Member Mosqueda will be excused from today's city council meeting.

not seeing or hearing an objection, Councilor Mosqueda is excused from today's city council meeting.

Presentations, we have no presentations today.

And before we move forward, I would like to welcome the University of Washington Evans School students to Seattle City Hall for our council meeting.

Unfortunately, we only have one matter on the agenda, so you might wanna come back when we have a lot more and it's absolutely much more exciting.

Next week.

So colleagues at this time, let's move on to public comments.

Madam Clerk, how many remote speakers do we have?

Seven.

Okay.

And we have five in person.

We have a total of seven.

How many are remote?

We have zero remote and seven in person.

OK, great.

I got that wrong.

All right.

All right.

So this is what we're going to do.

We're not going to run the recording that we normally do.

But the the rules for public comment are posted.

But I will share again that this is a safe space.

that we ask that you be respectful, that you be kind, that we want to hear what you have to say.

We have one matter on the agenda, and that is regarding an ordinance to land use and zoning in which Council Member Strauss will discuss.

So Madam Clerk, if we have seven people in chambers, let's give them each two minutes.

Those of you in chambers, please be mindful when you see the 10 second light and timer.

because we don't like to cut you off, but you have to stop.

It's unfortunate, particularly for the viewing public when you just get cut off.

So again, I'm asking you to please be respectful and know what the rules are.

And basically, we would like to hear what you have to say in public comment.

So with that, Madam Clerk, go ahead and start calling on our speakers.

Our first speaker is Marguerite Richard.

Good day, everyone.

I see this tape around this thing.

Is that the thing?

The last time I was here, I had it.

And next thing I know, the thing was broke.

Anyway, my name is Marguerite Richard.

Such is life with this 45 CFR 80.3.

Discrimination is prohibited.

So we're gonna talk about point of order, such as the Eric Mays getting all this tick-tock revelance in, no, not Detroit, Flint, Michigan.

I have never seen so much degradation.

What I'm saying to you, I filed a discrimination complaint.

Do you know what those jokers did down at the civil rights office?

They reversed it, put all these derogatory words in a letter towards me.

And I'm going to tell you right now, the blood of Jesus is against you.

You don't come against one of God's anointing and think you're just going to walk.

What, you're driving dirty or smoking something dirty?

or something else, I told you to leave me alone and I'm not going to tell you no more.

You hear me?

And if you don't like what I'm saying, go call Mr. Crump.

Not Trump, but Crump.

That's trying his best to uproot this hell that indigenous black people keep going through And even you down here don't have an answer for it.

What's wrong with you?

We want our reparations now.

When I say now, I don't care if you have to go find an oil well to give it to us.

Go get it.

Do you feel me?

Our next speaker is, I believe Manning is the last name.

Say who?

Manning.

Yep.

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Peter Manning with Black Excellence Cannabis.

First of all, a couple of weeks back, there was a bill before this council when it was referring to the drug policy and the drug policy here in Seattle.

As a victim of the war on drugs that was housed right here in this King County jail in the 90s because I have substance abuse problem.

lengthy jail time for a problem that I had.

Instead of dealing with me as if I had a problem, I was dealt with like I was some criminal.

However, when it comes to that of white people that are participating in the drug market, all of a sudden, enforcement of that is unconstitutional.

When it was with me, it was constitutional.

What I'm saying is this, listen, if the city wants to make a change in this, and how they deal with the drug policy and how the drug policy affects its citizens, it should probably apologize to those people that they're hurt with the war on drugs.

Secondly, I can't even bring my kids down here to this downtown Seattle.

When I was a kid, I enjoyed the pleasures of being downtown.

I took my kids on an outing three months back downtown.

It was terrible for them.

It was a terrible experience.

We need to do something to clean this up.

And I am a person that is speaking from the side that was affected on the war on drugs.

I'm not telling you to lock people up.

I'm not telling you to do anything.

I'm just telling you to get a grasp on it.

Deal with it like you dealt with us when it came to the drug enforcement.

There's gotta be some policies in place.

I'd also like to add that I supported Sarah Nelson's, her bill, which was 120586. I think that was an excellent bill.

I think the city council needs to take a different stance and stop using the war on drugs as a reason not to clean it up because there's white people that are doing these drugs.

You know, we got to look at this on a different level, a secular level as a group.

We need to fight this drug problem as a community and that's not,

Our next speaker is Valerie Schloret.

Hi, my name's Valerie Schloret.

I'm addressing an important item on the council's work plan, which is police accountability.

One aspect of community input into police accountability under the consent decree is the ability of the public to voice concerns, even criticism, to city council and to the accountability partners like the Community Police Commission.

The CPC has been hearing some opposition from myself and others for many things it does, including its request for changes to the 2017 accountability legislation.

Contrary to what you've been told by the CPC, abuse is only going one way in public comment, and that is from the powerful, the CPC, who have a public platform to members of the community who do not.

Please Let us show you the evidence and actually listen to what we're saying to you.

The CPC should argue its positions based on evidence and fact, not a libel and slander of community members like myself who make public comment.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Castille Hightower.

Hi, my name is Castillo Hightower.

I'm speaking in regard to a fundamental part of the work plan, which is police accountability.

In 2004, my brother Herbert Hightower Jr. was shot and killed by Seattle police while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

And so I'm speaking from someone who has had direct experience with Seattle police violence.

I have worked in the community with other community members such as Valerie and Howard, and I am piggybacking on what Valerie just stated in regards to the slander and the misrepresentation of us.

One thing I wanted to point out is I helped pass the affected persons program legislation for a work group for the affected persons program that was undermined by the CPC.

I had worked with trying to get amicus status to give a voice to those directly affected by police violence that was undermined by the CPC.

We held a a silent, non-violent protest in regards to them shutting down public comment and shutting us out of any kind of community engagement.

And we were threatened with police violence by doing that.

I was re-traumatized because of that threat of police violence, that threat that I did take against my life and other community members' lives.

You know, it's just not okay to just take their word for it, and to take the word to try to make it seem as if we're the abusive ones when in fact they have continued to abuse us at every single step at every single stop, they have continued to slander us they have continued to threaten us, they have directly come into trying to shut down programs for victims of police violence and their families who are asking for money to simply bury their loved ones, to get funeral expenses for their loved ones, to be able to learn how to navigate a bureaucracy that has continued to be abusive to us, and that is how the CPC has continued to abuse us and to continue to silence the voices of those most impacted by police violence while they sit up there and try to make it seem as if they care about community engagement.

They've done nothing but abuse me.

They have done nothing but abuse other community members, and it's unacceptable, and we are owed the- Thank you.

Who's our next speaker?

Our next speaker is Mike Osio.

Osio.

Thank you.

Maybe it's the radio, bro.

I'm sure.

Good afternoon.

Mic on.

Good afternoon, my name is Mike Asai.

I am the founder of Emerald City Collective, the first downtown Seattle Medical Cannabis 2010, unjustly shut down by the city of Seattle.

I'm the vice president of Black Excellence in Cannabis.

I am also the president of Shaka's Kids, a foundation looking to help the black and brown youth in our city.

I'm here today, I echo Peter Manning's comments.

We're in support of Sarah Nelson's legislation.

Look, it's real clear.

The war on drugs was a war on the black and brown community, okay?

This is not the war on drugs.

We need to get this city cleaned up.

I used to be a Metro driver when I was 21 years old.

I can't imagine being a Metro driver today.

The city is, it is dying, it is dead.

Let's just be real.

Is anybody thinking about the youth when we're thinking about this drug laws?

The youth are the future and what they're seeing right now is a city that is just a catastrophe.

I've had family overdose on fentanyl.

I've had church members overdose on fentanyl and some died and some didn't.

We have to make a stand now.

And to use the war on drugs is using the black face for a white agenda.

That needs to stop.

It's the same thing in cannabis.

The war on drugs, let's legalize cannabis, but then let's cut out the black pioneers, the brown pioneers.

And that's what I'm fighting for right now is to get back into an industry that I helped build.

Council Member Shawan, I was hoping you would be here and I don't know if she's listening, but we have a problem with you always continuously using the black struggle to further whatever you want to further.

You need to stop it.

Let's clean this city up and stop using black people and brown people as a reason not to clean this up because the majority is white.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you for your words.

Our next speaker is Howard Gale.

Hi, Howard Gale, District 7, speaking on police accountability.

Next week, this council will hear a bill which was basically written by the Community Police Commission, allowing it to write its own rules of the road.

The Community Police Commission, for 10 years now, has remained unaccountable.

Council Member Nelson, you claimed this morning in committee hearing that the CPC has the right to operate without interference.

You've confused the issue of interference with accountability.

There has never been an independent audit or account of the CPC.

In fact, to the extent that they've ever been looked at last year, they commissioned their own study in 2022. and found that, quote, the CPC's engagement of the public is subject to much criticism regarding who it engages and how.

CPC's community engagement to date is lacking depth.

CPC is viewed as uninvolved and disconnected from the community, only engaging certain voices they agree with and transactional in their engagement.

That is the CPC's own evaluation.

So this isn't about interference.

This is about a commission that's become hostile to the community, has attacked those community members most affected by police violence, and now gets to write their own rules and enrich themselves.

The only commission in the city of Seattle, out of 120 or so commissions, the only commission where commissioners will actually get paid a monthly stipend of up to $1,200.

and they get to write their own rules.

So what I'm requesting is that council members meet with community members that have faced hostility and aggression from the CPC and understand why we're opposed to any change of legislation without a full community hearing, where the community can actually engage with the community police commission.

And you can find out what the needs are of the community and not what the needs are of the CPC, which are totally self-serving.

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Kathleen Brose.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kathleen Brose and I am a lifelong Seattle resident who has lived in the Ballard neighborhood for the past 13 years.

I love my city and I don't want it to become another San Francisco.

Our downtown should be a thriving and safe place to visit for Seattleites, visitors, and conventioneers.

A financially healthy downtown benefits the city coffers, all the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as all of King County and the entire state of Washington.

The generated tax revenues fund the programs to aid the services needed to address our addiction and mental health crises.

I am here today to request that you support Mayor Harrell in adopting state law, making the possession and public use of illegal drugs, a gross misdemeanor in our municipal code.

Passing this law is a necessary precondition for reducing the community harm caused by public drug use and getting more people into treatment.

As people recover from addiction and move out of short term housing, they will need more permanent housing.

Please reconsider implementing CB 120606, which will exacerbate Seattle's housing shortage by driving housing providers out of the market because their revenue cannot keep up with increasing maintenance costs.

This is especially true of mom and pop landlords who supply the vast majority of below market rate units, including single family homes that are affordable to families and students who have far less equity and cash reserves.

Please skip rent control and continue to invest in more affordable housing.

Reduce some of the regulations to help keep building costs down and incentivize developers to build low income housing as well as middle income housing.

We need families to be able to live and work in Seattle.

Thank you.

That was the last in-person public commenter.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, and thank you, those who provided public comment here today.

So we are going to we have reached the end of our time for public comment and we're going to move on in our agenda.

We are now moving on to the adoption of the introduction and referral calendar.

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

Not seeing an objection, it is indeed adopted.

Let's move on to today's agenda.

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

not seeing or hearing an objection, the agenda, today's agenda will be adopted.

Moving on to adoption of the consent calendar, let me share with you today what we have on the consent calendar, which includes the minutes from July 5th, 2023, council bill, payroll bill, council bill 120610, and six appointments recommended by the Land Use Committee One appointment to the Equitable Development Initiative Advisory Board, four appointments to the Seattle Planning Commission, and one appointment to the Urban Forestry Commission.

Each of these appointments were recommended unanimously by the Land Use Committee in which Council Member Strauss shares.

Are there any items that any of my colleagues would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

All right, not seeing any, I move to adopt today's consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

It is indeed adopted.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

And I apologize.

Oh, go ahead.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

I apologize.

I actually got ahead of myself on the adoption, but thank you.

So the, um, consent calendar is adopted.

And Madam Clerk, can you please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf.

All right.

Let's move on to our committee reports.

We have one item today out of Councilmember Strauss' committee.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, Council Bill 120592 relating to land use and zoning, updating regulations for rooftop features in the Pioneer Square Preservation District.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, colleagues.

As I mentioned yesterday in Council briefing, this is essentially a cleanup bill from a bill that we passed in 2022. For the Evans students in the room, I'm sorry we didn't have a more interesting bill for you today.

This bill applies to one area, that is Pioneer Square.

potentially only 11 parcels.

What is contained in this bill was thought to have been addressed in the 2022 legislation.

And for some, there's been some confusion around that language in the 2022 bill, which is why we have the legislation before us today.

This bill before us right now simply clarifies assumptions that we made last year and creates an even playing field for buildings in Pioneer Square, as compared to the rest of the city.

So pretty simple bill.

It's essentially a technical cleanup, and I urge passage of this bill.

Thanks, Council President, colleagues.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any comments from my colleagues regarding this piece of legislation or questions?

Okay, I do not see any.

And with that, Council Member Strauss, is there anything you want to add before we go to a vote?

I do not.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Sawant?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herpel?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, the bill passes, the chair will sign it.

Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

That was our one item, so let's move on on our agenda today.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar and moving on to adoption of other resolutions.

There are no other resolutions that I am aware of.

Moving on to other business.

I have two matters.

Customer Strauss, let me see.

Let me go first and I'll call on YouTube and a customer.

I'm sorry.

I just want to discuss from a scale is not here.

If there's no objection, customer scale will be excused from the July 18 city council meeting.

Hearing no objection, council member Mosqueda is indeed excused.

With that, we have council member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, and I know we spent some time yesterday recognizing Jennifer Winkler and her amazing work in her retirement party.

I'd like to take the opportunity today to wish Yaya a happy birthday.

Today is Yaya's birthday.

Yaya serves us so well here at the City Council and has for so many years.

I just wanted to say happy birthday.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Council Member Morales.

I will say happy birthday to Yaya as well.

Council President, there is an 80% chance that I am going to have to be in Olympia next Tuesday afternoon.

And so I'm going to request to be excused.

And if I don't have to be there, I will be in Chambers.

All right, so we will be on the safe side.

Was there any objection to Council Member Morales being excused at our next meeting, which is July 18th, next Tuesday?

not seeing any objection, Council Member Morales, you will indeed be excused.

And if you can make it great, if not, don't worry about it.

We got you.

All right.

Before we move on, I just want to remind everybody that Monday, July 17th is our colleagues birthday.

Council Member Council Member Peterson has a birthday Monday.

I think he's turning twenty nine again.

So happy birthday to you early.

Council Member Peterson.

Yeah, I did that to you.

So, okay.

I have a list of everybody's birthday, so I do it for everybody and I just do it.

Anywho, so moving on, I think that pretty much wraps things up.

I do not see any other hands up.

So before we go, before we adjourn, it does conclude today's items of business.

Our next meeting is next Tuesday.

It's July 18th.

And then with that, thank you all for coming.

Thank you, those who provided public comment here today.

We are adjourned.