Seattle City Council Community Economic Development Committee 8/12/21

We are recording.

Thank you, Sun.

Good afternoon, everyone.

The August 12, 2021 special meeting of the Community Economic Development Committee come to order.

It is 2.02 PM.

I'm Tammy Morales, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Lewis.

Present.

Council Member Peterson.

Present.

Council Member Sawant.

Council Member Sawant is excused.

And Chair Morales.

Here.

That is three present.

Thank you.

We do have a quorum, and I understand that Council Member Juarez will be able to join us, but she's going to be a little late, so I will make sure to acknowledge her when she gets here.

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

Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

At this time, we'll open the remote general public comment period.

I don't see anyone signed up, but I do need to open the period.

Son, can you please confirm that we do not have any public speakers today?

There are no public comment registrants.

Very well.

In that case, I will now close the public comment period for this committee meeting and move on to the agenda.

Giselle, will you please read items one through nine into the record?

Agenda items one through nine, appointments 2015 through 2023. The appointments of Geneva Arunga, Mia Arunga, Naima Clark, Afua Koyate, Sergio Max Legon-Talamoni, Melina Rivera, CM Ruiz, Julie Chang-Schulman, and Michael Sawara as members of the Cultural Space Agency Public Development Authority Governing Council for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you very much.

I am really excited about this, what we're doing here, I have to say.

I'm sure Kalandra will give a little bit of background, but I just want to remind folks that the Cultural Space PDA that we're here to talk about today is a really critical step in realizing our goal as a city.

in building community wealth, which is something we've been talking about in this committee for the year and a half that I've been here.

The intent of the PDA is to really have a mechanism in place that can help to secure long-term affordable commercial cultural space with community partners.

It can help build community wealth through direct investment in real estate.

and that can create opportunities for ownership of commercial cultural space.

And I will say over the last year, we've been hearing a lot from, particularly from cultural spaces and cultural organizations about how tenuous their ability to stay in the city is right now, particularly because of COVID.

And so this is an opportunity for us to partner with communities of color with a particular focus on black and indigenous communities.

Today, we will be voting to seat the first governing council of the Cultural Space Agency.

The council will be responsible for ensuring that the Cultural Space Agency is meeting its mission.

And while they're not gonna be involved in the day-to-day management of the agency, they are ultimately responsible for the agency's finances, for the property investments, and for compliance and executive level staffing of the agency.

So I'm really excited about that, just that whole body of work.

I know there's been a lot of work happening over the last couple of years on this.

Really excited to see it coming to fruition and very excited to be able to seat this first governing council.

So with that, I'm going to hand it over to Calandra and Tim Lennon, and let you all introduce yourselves and introduce your new appointees.

Thank you so much, Council Member, and thank you for your enthusiasm about this work.

I am Calandra Childers.

I'm the Acting Director at the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and it is such a pleasure to be here today to present this slate of the next council, or the first council, I should say, of the Cultural Space Agency.

I'm just going to spend a moment or two to share a little bit more about the Cultural Space Agency, just to ground us in exactly how the Public Development Authority works.

But thank you, Council Member, for speaking to the strategies around wealth building and that this is a long time coming.

So the Cultural Space Agency is a mission-driven cultural real estate development company, chartered and initially supported by the City of Seattle.

It was chartered to address displacement pressures pushing against the cultural spaces in the city, as you noted.

And it was chartered to build community wealth through a racial equity lens and specifically partner with Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities on the ownership of commercial real estate in our region.

The Cultural Space Agency has been in development in partnership with over 50 BIPOC leaders for more than five years, and it reflects the needs of the communities that it was designed to serve.

It already has a pipeline of more than 20 projects, including the acquisition of a historic theater, the acquisition of ground floor commercial space and new affordable housing development, and the restoration and public reopening of the second floor of King Street Station as a new youth-centered creative industries hub.

We've been so proud to steward this work in the last five years in alignment with 11 executive departments across the city committed to this work and in partnership with both the mayor's office and city council.

We also invested heavily in developing and deepening our relationships with the city's various cultural communities of color.

Those relationships have made the space agency what it is and establish the agency's values.

They set the parameters for the creation of the properties pipeline and help forge partnerships that have anchored the agency to the needs of a diverse cultural community.

Six representatives of those communities have also volunteered to serve as the interim governing council to the new organization, and I'd like to thank them for their time, energy, and dedication over the last several years.

They include Cassie Chin, the current acting executive director of the Wing Luke Museum, Vivian Phillips, an independent art consultant, Kote Sorens, the owner of Resistancia Coffee, Randy Engstrom, the former Director of the Arts Office, Sarah Wilkie, the Director of Planning of Meany Center, and of course, Tim Lennon, the Executive Director of Langston and the President of the Interim Governing Board.

And I am about to introduce Tim to share a little bit more about our council.

and the process that he went through, and the whole group went through over the last year to develop these nominations.

Before I do, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that launching this public development authority was a Herculean lift, and that without these people, without the time that these people have offered, it would not have been possible.

They are going to raise up this project that has been in development over five years and carry it far into the future.

And on behalf of the Office of Arts and Culture in the City of Seattle, I just really want to thank them for the time and recognize the scale and the importance of the work that we're doing here.

So with that, I'll hand it over to Tim.

Thank you.

I think Director Childress and thank you all for spending time with me this time.

Tim, I'm having a hard time hearing you.

It's a little fuzzy.

How about now?

Yeah, much better.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Just really wanted to thank Acting Director Childers, thank all of the folks on the council that are here today, all the nominees especially, for all the work that you put into making this incredible new community wealth building possible.

By way of background on the process, the CSA is the first public development authority launched by the city in over 35 years.

And it's the very first one to trust community members to nominate the entirety of the organization's leadership.

Typically in a public development authority, the mayor, the city council, and the existing governing council place new governing council members unilaterally.

Here we've intentionally subverted that and ensured that all the nominees come directly from the impacted communities through a group we call the constituency.

That group is the leadership and community representatives, community responsiveness group at the center of the Space Agency.

It's almost 50 BIPOC leaders from the worlds of commercial real estate, philanthropy, community development, government finance, and the arts.

Members of the constituency with members of the interim Governing Council, myself included, have spent the last six months working on an application system for community members to self-nominate to the Permanent Governing Council.

These community member applications were reviewed by the Council Development Committee, and from them we developed this nominees that we're really proud to be presenting today.

Everyone on this list has direct personal connection to Seattle's cultural spaces and its cultural life.

Everyone on this list has experienced the displacement pressures that Calandra mentioned and that we're all well aware of.

Everyone on this list has deep roots in our cultural communities and has lived experience with the challenges that this organization is about to take on.

So our community's nominees to oversee this critical work are Nia Arunga, Geneva Arunga, Julie See, Naima Clark, Afua Kuyate, Sergio Max de la Gonne-Talamoni, Melina Rivera, Sam Ruiz, and Michael Serra.

These nominees to the governing council, once approved, will join me and the other five interim governing council members.

And later this year, they'll be joined by another nine nominees for the permanent council.

So please do know that these opportunities to work with us remain open.

We will be launching another application process immediately for the remaining seats on the council.

And we continue to accept new applications through our website at culturalspace.agency.

With that, council members, I present the nominees to the committee for your review.

Thank you, Tim.

Before we continue, I do just want to acknowledge that Council Member Juarez has joined us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

I'm speeding down I-5 to get here in time.

Sorry.

That's quite all right.

So, Calandra, am I handing it back to you to introduce the individual appointees?

I think if we would like to have each individual speak, we could name them and have them- Terrific.

provide some biographical information?

Yes, please.

Tim, do you want to walk through them or would you like me to name them?

Yeah, no, let's go ahead and, sorry about that.

Let's go ahead and start with Nia Orunga.

Hi, so you just want me to introduce myself?

Yeah, if you don't mind, just a quick word of introduction and why you're excited to be part of this amazing thing that we're doing.

All right.

Greetings, everyone.

My name is Nia Arunga.

I am a freelance consultant specializing in the arts.

I come from a family of artists and social activists.

And I definitely do know firsthand what it is to be need cultural spaces and to lose cultural spaces.

So I am here, very excited to do the work and to be able to advocate for artists in Seattle.

Right on.

Is Geneva here on the call?

Geneva Arunga?

Just to add, if we want to give her just a moment.

Why don't we go to...

Okay, I think it works.

Oh, there we go.

I couldn't find the buttons.

How are you guys doing?

We're doing well, Geneva.

Good.

I mean, I'm glad to be joining y'all here.

And I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to be saying about myself, but...

Geneva Runga, 31 years old, Seattle Central District, is where I reside and just here to listen and learn and support in any way I can.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much for your service, Geneva.

Julie C., if you wouldn't mind to hop on.

Hi, everyone.

I'm sorry I have a camera off.

The reception can be kind of bad down here.

My name is Julie C. I'm an artist, cultural worker, community organizer with Seattle Artists Coalition for Equitable Development, Forever Safe Spaces.

I've been a part of the BASE cohort and sort of tracking this, the evolution of the cultural space, whole discourse in the city for the last five years.

And I'm really enthused.

I think this is a really important step towards the ultimate goal of, you know, having community ownership and I also want to note that even in our moments of celebration, acknowledge that this year we've lost faces, we've lost people, and there continues to be critical need and critical threat in our community every day that we're dealing with.

So I appreciate all the work that was done, the foundation that was laid by the city and the folks at the Office of Arts and Culture, to begin this journey.

And I'm eager to see what we can do.

Thank you so much, Julie.

Naima Clark.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am Naima Clark, resident and born and raised here in South Seattle.

I guess my background is in agriculture, so I represent nurturing roots.

I guess that is my cultural roots.

But when I think about arts, I want to lift up the summer musical at Langston, lifting up new Black Arts West Theater.

But in my early years, I started with theater and I ventured into social justice and fighting for liberating communities of color, I think, as soon as I could start walking.

But being able to be enriched with culture in my own family unit has really impacted me in my life.

A lot of my direct impacts have been in my community, but I see this as being an opportunity to kind of broaden, connect, being able to network with like-minded individuals, and really being able to make those impacts that we see lacking in our communities.

So I'm excited to be here, but glad to meet everyone.

Thanks.

And we're grateful that you're a part of this.

Fua Kuyate.

Yes, good afternoon everyone.

It's such an honor to be a part of this conversation and to be a part of this work.

I am Afua Kuyate, and I'm the executive director of Adepua Cultural Education Workshop.

We are in our 36th year.

So can you believe it?

For 35 years, we've been mobilizing our programs all throughout the city of Seattle, not having a cultural space that we can say, this is where we're based at.

So if you can imagine still maintaining through those years and the pandemic, and still not being in the streamline of funding to make it happen.

So those are the reasons that I'm really excited about being a part of this council.

And I will, you know, continue to do the work.

And I am wanting to be the voice of those people that are not going to be able to sit at this table.

I'm really concerned about, you know, BIPOC, more specifically black artists that are here in different passages that will not be able to talk or have that space that we're gonna represent at the table.

So I'm really honored.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Let's see, Sergio Max, are you there?

Yes.

Hello.

Hi, everybody.

Hello, council members.

Hello, colleagues.

Thank you for having me here.

I'm an architect by trade.

I'm also an adjunct faculty at Bellevue College in the interior design program.

I am also a graduate of the BASE program.

And having seen this kind of grow out of a conceptual stage up into where we are today, it's just a beautiful thing.

I'm here to learn alongside my colleagues.

I also hold myself accountable to preserving cultural space and to find new opportunities for cultural space and new development.

I spent the last four years serving on the International Special Review District Council, which is a historic preservation board tasked with preserving the culture and identity of the international district.

So through this work and this opportunity, I hope to do the same.

So thank you for your recommendation.

Thank you for your service.

Melina Rivera, are you on the call?

Going once, going twice.

Sam Ruiz.

Hello, my name is CM Reese.

Thanks for the opportunity.

I'm a visual artist.

I'm usually like a visual storyteller, but I wrote down some things to make sure I hit like what I actually wanted to say.

So a little background was that I moved to Seattle when I was 18 and I didn't know anybody, but I was like trying to pursue visual art.

And it was all of the like, cultural spaces that I found that helped me foster a lot of small, early friendships.

And I noticed that these spaces had like these, this patchwork of people that had different knowledge and skills, but like we're working together to or like a collective lift.

And I tried to get myself into that fold.

And then I felt like I needed to repay what I was given and help keep it alive.

Then a lot of different type of events and programming.

And even though some were pretty off the radar, we never had empty houses, which I think illustrates a need.

and for these spaces and it's kind of all to say that on a personal level I'm looking to sort of expand my ability for outreach and connect with other contemporaries that are in cultural space advocacy and to help play a role in all of this and The last thing I was going to say was I wanted to thank the city for carving out time for this sort of thing, for all these programs, and the Office of Arts and Culture-based cohort program, which taught me a lot that cultural spaces is a vague enough indicator, I think, that It has very many valid interpretations by very many different types of people.

But I think that they always provide a healthy environment for people to psychically heal while experiencing the fruits of other people's passions.

And I think that's just like something we need more.

So that's what I wanted to say.

And thanks for the opportunity.

Thank you, Sam.

That's dope.

And shout out to DIY Spaces, where many of us got our starts.

Lastly, Michael Syrath.

Michael, are you on the call?

Yeah, Tim.

Thank you.

Michael Syrath.

I'm happy to be here.

Hello, council members, everybody else who came before this effort to make it possible.

I raised my kids in low-income housing.

I maintain a practice as a filmmaker.

I've run a number of art spaces, worked at an affordable housing organization, and I'm currently the executive director of Southeast Effective Development, or SEED.

We do affordable apartments, art space, and economic development in Southeast Seattle.

We're in a cultural space emergency, particularly in BIPOC communities.

I show up in service to this effort and service to community to address this crisis.

Thank you, Michael.

Council members of the committee, our community's nominees to the governing council of the Cultural Space Agency.

Thank you so much to all of you.

I'm so excited about this.

I really am.

I think this is gonna be a really important tool for us to really start to move toward community ownership, toward the sort of acquisition of property in the city that can really help anchor folks here and keep our cultural sector vibrant.

The PDA is a mechanism to help us acquire and hold land so that community members can, or facilities, so that community members can develop and maintain them as stewards of, not just of the facilities themselves, but as stewards of our cultural sector.

But that's just one piece.

The next thing we need to really start thinking about is acquiring it is great, but where does that money come from?

So that will be, I'm sure, part of your first bit of work as well.

And as a city, we're also talking a lot about acquisition funds for affordable commercial space, for more affordable home ownership and rental as well.

So it's a huge issue across the board.

board.

But I'm really excited that this piece is starting to get in place and just very excited for all of you, the contribution that you're willing to make to the city.

Colleagues, before we take a vote, I do want to see if anybody has questions.

I don't see any hands.

Calandra, you wanted to, oh, yes, let's go ahead and introduce our interim folks before we take a vote.

I know Kote and Randy are here.

I don't see Cassie.

I think Cassie is on the call.

Yes.

So just wanted to recognize our Interim Governing Council.

These six folks have spent a lot of time developing the process that we use to get to this list and just really want to recognize their time and energy.

So we've got Cassie Chin, Vivian Phillips, Kote Sorens, Randy Engstrom, Sarah Wilke, and Tim Lennon.

Well, thanks to all of you for getting us this far.

Okay, I don't see any questions from my colleagues.

So I am going to move that the committee recommends confirmation of appointments 02015 through 02023. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend confirmation.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Juarez.

Aye.

Council Member Lewis.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

And Chair Morales.

Yes.

That's four in favor, none opposed.

Terrific, the motion carries.

The committee recommendations that the appointments be confirmed will be sent to the August 16th City Council meeting.

Congratulations, everybody.

Thank you very much for your willingness to do what's going to be a lot of work.

We're very happy to be moving this forward.

Okay, Darzel, will you please read the short title of items 10 through 17 into the record?

Agenda items 10 through 17. appointments 1996 through 2003 for the Seattle Music Commission, the appointments of Andrew Jocelyn and Anne Barry O'Dowd as members for terms to August 31st, 2023, the appointments of Jovina Santos-Neto, Jessica Thune, Nick Berwick, and Shannon Wells as members for terms to August 31st, 2022 and the appointments of Keola, Kama and reappointment of Nate Omdahl as members for terms to August 31st, 2024 for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much.

I'm very excited for this opportunity as well to see these music commissioners today.

The Music Commission focuses on cultivating partnerships and developing policy, but it's really about facilitating connections between our community members and our music industry.

really making sure that we have an environment that allows musicians to thrive in the city.

So I'm really excited to hear from these folks as well.

I believe Alex Rose from OED and Reese Tanimura, the chair of the Music Commission will be here to briefly speak to these appointments.

Indeed.

Thank you, Chair Morales.

Go ahead, Reece.

Yeah, thank you, Councilwoman Ross and committee.

I'm really happy to be here today to also watch the new council for the Cultural Space Agency also begin its journey as being a part of the base cohort.

and seeing so many faces who cross over in this work is really exciting to be all in one room.

And I also wanted to note that this round of nominations came from a very community-involved process.

This is the first time we did an open call for nominations, and then a panel process jointly with some staff from OFM Arts and the Arts Commission and the Film Task Force.

So a big thank you to Alex and Chris and the team over at OFM, also Charlize, Metcalf, Nate Omdahl, Megan Sibold, Kayla DeMonte and Terry Morgan and Myron Partman who all participated in a panel process to get these nominations to both the mayor and to the council.

And so we appreciate that your confidence in us to bring community members forward that are going to really serve our sector at this time, which as all of you know, and been here before talking about how just important it is for all of these amazing voices with so much experience and passion for not just the recovery and relief of, you know, things that have happened for the past year, but folks who really have a great vision about what the city is and can be in terms of music and the creative industries.

Really appreciate that and really happy to hand it over to Alex as we present this panel of the slate of new nominees.

Thank you, Reese.

And I would just love to acknowledge your leadership as you are looking at the final leg of the marathon of chairing the music commission.

Reese will be completing her second term on the commission at the end of this month and has just been a terrific leader and I really appreciate you.

So, And yes, I also wanna underscore the importance in celebrating what just happened in terms of the Cultural Space Agency and look forward to having the Music Commission connected to that work as well.

So I'm gonna just go through the order that is on the agenda and I'll ask Andrew to introduce himself first and then Keola.

So Andrew, take it away.

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

Hello everyone.

My name is Andrew Jocelyn.

I've been a full-time musician for about 15 plus years now and have occupied a number of different positions throughout the music industry over the years.

I'm a composer, violinist, and orchestrator by trade.

and have worked closely through the pandemic with Seattle Symphony on their Essential Series, which focuses on highlighting regional music with the orchestra.

I'm also leader of the Passenger String Quartet that has toured extensively around the world over the years.

With advocacy, I'm co-chair of National Advocacy, with the Recording Academy, a board member of SMASH, Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare, vice president of Seattle Composers Alliance, and I've been an active industry activist in King and Kitsap counties for many, many years.

So I've been passionate about music advocacy and worked directly with like State Representative Pramila Jayapal for the passage of the PUA Unemployment Assistance in 2020, Music Modernization Act in 2018, as well as the incredibly important critical CARES Act in 2020 for you know, for musicians.

So I guess the final thing I want to say is, you know, music isn't a career, it's a calling.

The music industry was devastated by the pandemic and we continue to see it hemorrhage as time crawls on.

This time is critical for us as a city and a region to protect, lift up, and expand this industry for our working class musicians and music creators.

and as well as for future students and artists that are drawn to this noble calling.

So thank you guys so much for hearing me out and putting me up for this nomination.

Thanks so much, Andrew.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Keola Kama.

Born in Maui, but moved to Seattle as a child.

Grew up schooled here through U-Dub, so I've got some, you know, deep roots in Seattle.

Music's always been a passion.

I mean, I literally grew up with it in my house from day one.

My mom plays, sings locally around town, performs, you know, school band growing up.

College got into DJing.

After college, I actually moved down to L.A.

to get into the music industry.

Started at Capitol Records.

in digital marketing at a time when that wasn't even a thing yet.

It was called new media because it was still very much in the physical world.

So it's kind of interesting to be on the forefront of like how, you know, the norm of how music is consumed now.

Once Capital and Virgin were merged, I went to EMI.

So I got kind of a different view of music running account management.

So basically like managing digital streaming services, iTunes, Spotify, Rhapsody, et cetera.

And, you know, it's it's kind of interesting to be able to get a look at the music industry from these different lenses.

So one in the middle of a label itself, a capital, then to kind of an apparent company managing the relationships.

I've always been inquisitive and always wanted new challenges.

So.

After doing that for a while, one of the accounts I managed was Rhapsody, which is based in Seattle.

When a job opened up here, I moved back to Seattle.

So kind of coming back full circle to see kind of what the music industry looked like from that lens.

So I've just tried to throughout the career stack different blocks of kind of experience within the music industry.

So that's kind of been, you know, one of the kind of the main growth points.

It's not staying on one track, but just kind of keep exploring.

And I should also say a bit about volunteerism and activism.

I've just kind of always believed in volunteering.

So whether that's camp counselor in high school, I was a Big Brothers of America mentor in college.

One of the jobs I had in LA was running the volunteer system for this community radio station.

So kind of in that community volunteer activism advocacy role.

And so now this is kind of bringing everything full circle.

I'm back in Seattle at a company, music company, who's based in Seattle, whose roots are here.

Being, you know, a part of the commission is, makes me able to, you know, be able to volunteer, be able to be a part of the community and be able to kind of push the push the goals forward.

I've certainly kind of seen so many different views of the music industry that hopefully, you know, that insight can kind of help inform some of the work, you know, connections I've made should help in these different programs.

So it's just, it's amazing that Seattle created the Seattle Music Commission because they saw there was a need.

So I'm just glad to be, you know, approached for this concert and I look forward to, you know, learning, growing and helping success of the mission.

Thank you.

Thanks, Keola.

All right, so Jovino and then Anne.

And I also want to just take a quick moment to recognize the leadership of Tim Lennon and Randy Engstrom in recent years on the Music Commission as well, and Julie See for being involved in some committee work as well.

So just want to give credit where credit is due.

So Jovino.

Yes, hello.

It's a pleasure to be here in this meeting.

My name is Jovino Santos Neto.

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

And I lived a long time there and I was actually involved in playing with one of the monsters of music in the world, Hermeto Pascoal, with whom I toured the world and produced several records.

And 28 years ago, I moved to Seattle with my family.

So I have two homes connecting the diagonal connection of Southeast Brazil to Northwest United States.

So very pleased to be a resident of Seattle for all this time, and to be involved in a number of activities, all of this related to music, as a pianist, as a composer.

I've been nominated three times for a Latin Grammy Award, and I've been involved also in the Recording Academy since 1999 in several different capacities, as president of the local chapter, also as a governor.

And also to be connected with the Seattle music community, which my pleasure in doing that comes from the fact that we can really cut across the musical tribes that are always segregated by genre of music.

So I'm very much proud of the fact that I can converse musically with musicians from any category, any style, any genre, from classical to folk to everything that you could name.

And not that I do everything, but there's some universal aspects of music, which in a way are like gravity.

We're all subject to that.

And so it's so happy to be here, to be able to be involved in a city that I love so much, with people that I respect so much, like people that's commissioned here.

So thank you so much for having my name added to this list.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

All right, and thanks, Jovino.

Hi all, thanks so much for this opportunity.

My name is Anna Dowd.

I was born and raised in Seattle and I've been a part of music, arts, and cultural events and festivals since 2001. I started in the DIY world with the Vera Project and am very interested in mentorship and supporting young folks who want to be a part of music, arts, and culture.

I manage the work behind the scenes, production, operations, and the nuts and bolts of how stage and surrounding supports are set.

Recently, I supported Northwest Folklife, Bombershoot, and Pride Fest.

Currently, I manage event operations and production for Friends of Waterfront Seattle, Empire 62, and in planning for the future Waterfront Park.

I'm excited to join the Music Commission because I want Seattle to continue being a place for musicians, artists, and creatives, as well as the folks that support the creative economy to thrive.

I think music is a connector of people and cultures.

It's an entry point to understanding a place and creating community.

As Seattle grows and changes, I think it's critically important that there's not only space held for creatives to create, there's also active investment in infrastructure, gathering spaces, financial and planning resources, and increased opportunities to bring communities together.

This is especially important in the wake of the pandemic.

And I strongly believe that bringing people together to celebrate arts and culture and music improves the quality of life and connections between neighbors.

And I want to advocate for that in Seattle.

Thanks so much for considering my nomination.

Thank you.

And yeah, as you can see, just by these first few folks, you know, just their words are making me excited about the time that I have to work with them on the commission and then hopefully still interacting as I trail off.

But you were leaving our, our community and industry in really great hands and great leadership.

So I'd like to follow up next with Jessica Toon.

Hello, Councilmembers and colleagues.

My name is Jessica Toon.

I use she, her pronouns, and I am currently the Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy.

I was born and raised in Ballard, where I am sitting right now, and the vibrant music and arts community here in Seattle has completely shaped my life.

I dedicated my career to developing and supporting creative communities through work in mission-driven arts and culture organizations.

So I've owned, locally owned and operated an independent record label.

I've served as Director of Marketing and Communications for the Seattle International Film Festival, led strategic brand marketing and community building initiatives as Director of Marketing and Audience Development at EMP, now known as MOPOP.

And I also currently serve as an advisor and consultant on several additional projects in the music and film industries.

I've just always felt really called to serve and make positive impact in the community where I live and work.

and as a huge music fan and arts and culture fan, it has meant so much to me to dedicate my career to this work, advocating for art and artists.

I'm also just so appreciative of the collaboration between all of the music-focused entities in our city, and I think the Commission has done an incredible job of gathering us all together All of us together have just such a giant platform and opportunity to move goals and initiatives forward.

So I thank the commission for that work.

You know, and I think we've all said this, but it's just such a critical time for our industry.

And for me personally, it would be an honor to serve as a Seattle Music Commissioner, just to work in partnership with the entire organization and the commission and the city in service to our community.

So thank you for considering my nomination.

Thank you, Jessica.

Nick?

Sorry, I double muted my phone and my Zoom.

So hi, everyone.

Good to see all of you virtually and greatly appreciate the time and opportunity to speak in front of everybody today.

My name is Nick Berwick.

I work at the new Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center.

My role there is the Vice President of Programming.

Simply put, my role is to manage the calendar.

So day to day, in addition to working with the various sports leagues in the NHL, the WNBA to schedule all of the Seattle Kraken and the four-time world champion Seattle Storm Games.

I will work with many various different promoters, agents, managers, bands to book and negotiate terms and conditions for all the concerts, all the family shows, any non-team related sporting events that will come to Climate Pledge Arena.

So we've obviously been very busy.

with the construction process of the new building.

However, we are looking forward to the city, everyone here, seeing the finished product come this fall.

I've been in the arena business for over 15 years now, starting in the accounting department, actually, settling all the financial terms for concerts before moving over to the programming side while I was in Phoenix, leading the opening from there of the NASA Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, New York, uh...

that was after a hundred and eighty million dollar renovation uh...

that building and then ultimately today uh...

amazing opportunity here in seattle uh...

my kind of music really hurt much earlier than that though uh...

it dates back to when i was young uh...

playing drums in a band uh...

throughout high school and college and promoted our concert uh...

through that time uh...

and while growing up that helped drive my passion for music uh...

and help speaks directly to my interest in becoming a commissioner with the Seattle Music Commission.

I understand from those experiences and continuing to do what I do now, how important a vibrant, diverse, supportive music community is for a city and my responsibility that I have to help foster that at this building.

So personally for me, it's exciting to be a part of supporting the mission of Seattle Music Commission.

as well as the opportunity to help artists, musicians, really anyone interested in navigating their way through all of the opportunities that exist in this business, in this world, and support them in that.

And lastly, I'm excited to work and learn from all the commissioners.

There's a great roster that's on the Seattle Music Commission.

And I'm excited to learn and work with them and all their perspectives and experience in this city and working with them to drive the mission.

Thank you all again for the time today.

Greatly appreciate the consideration to be appointed as commissioner to the Seattle Music Commission.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nick.

Shannon.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Shannon Wells, and I moved to Seattle 20 years ago because its music scene called to me from across the country.

I've worked in live music for over 22 years now, and I have a deep knowledge of venue operations and worker relations.

I'm currently the Assistant General Manager of both Showbox Venues and Marymoor Park Concerts.

My background is really wide ranging in visual art, music, and ecology, and it's deeply rooted in community service.

Over the last 20 years in Seattle, I've produced community arts events, mentored teens in photography, managed a community garden, restored urban forests, I founded Friends of the Showbox, and co-led the campaign to landmark and save the Showbox.

I am currently an advocacy lead for the Washington Nightlife and Music Association.

I'm also a member of the national group, Reopen Every Venue Safely, which formed during the pandemic to work on reopening strategies.

I also worked with music lovers during the pandemic to build Keep Music Live, which was a philanthropic campaign that raised and granted a million dollars to independent Washington venues.

All of this work is volunteer based and I think it illustrates my commitment to building relationships and serving community.

I'm interested in joining the Music Commission because there's much work to be done to recover from this pandemic and to build an inclusive music industry.

I see areas for improvement in venue hiring and training practices to address equity and also to end harassment and to create safe spaces in our venues.

I see areas for improvement in waste management to curb our excessive waste in the clubs and also to reduce our industry's environmental impact.

I'm very passionate about environmental areas.

The pandemic has really exposed limitations in the unemployment system for our cultural workers.

I spent many months during the pandemic assisting our venue workers in navigating the unemployment system.

I think there's a lot of advocacy work to do there and to also look into how to provide health insurance for our cultural workers and to provide a living wage for them.

I'm really passionate about arts advocacy and I would be honored to serve Seattle's music sector by joining the Music Commission.

So thank you very much for considering my appointment.

Thanks so much, Shannon.

Before I just go into a reappointment, as you can see, you know, the folks you see here today and for the committee members who saw the nominees from a couple of weeks ago, just a deep range of folks who are involved both in the local and global music scene, as well as in economic development and community development in ways that I think that is the forward look of how we have to think about moving beyond what is happening right now in this lingering sort of situation with COVID-19 and the pandemic.

So I'm really excited for this fully seated commission and this, this brain and heart trust to move forward on the advocacy that it can provide to our artists, our culture workers, our communities, our young people, to make sure that the, you know, one thing that you'll see in common that all of these folks want to make sure that we not only provide Seattle the sort of landmark or national stature or competition within this industry, but really focus on making sure that this is an attainable, affordable, and thriving city for the local music population and arts population here.

So I'm very, very excited for this this vote and for these folks to be able to roll their sleeves up and get to work on creating this renaissance we hope to see.

And with that, I also bring the reappointment of Nate Ondal, who is currently serving as the chair of the Advocacy and Economic Development Committee for the commission.

Alex he's he's not here today or he's here today yeah um and I'd just like to remark about Nate's work um you know and really strong voice uh in the commission to make sure that we are that the creative work is seen as labor.

It is seen as something that is valued and that is contributory not to economics, but just a thriving community and society.

and his work around rooting out some potential areas of policy and practice that are currently happening is some of the things that Shannon mentioned that we could do better on both on the city level and on the state level.

that there's more legwork to be done and more advocacy to be done.

And as you can see, many of these folks have cited, they are ready to take up the charge for that advocacy.

So very happy to bring his reappointment forward as well to continue to do more great work with the commission.

Thank you, Reese and Alex.

I almost said Axel again.

I'm so sorry.

Child of the 80s.

So this is great.

Thank you.

I'm looking forward to all of you.

helping contribute to a really vibrant and thriving music community.

And as many of you have said, really getting some of the infrastructure set up that can help ensure that our venues remain open and that there are places for our musicians to be able to perform and to thrive.

So thank you for your willingness to serve on this commission.

Colleagues, any questions for the appointees?

I do not see any questions.

Okay, so Darzell, then will you please call the roll?

I should probably move first.

I move the committee recommends confirmation of appointments 1996 through 2003. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded.

Now, Darzely, please call the roll.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Lewis?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

And Chair Morales?

Yes.

That's four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries.

The committee recommendation that the appointments be confirmed will be sent to the August 16th city council meeting.

Thanks very much, everybody.

And I just wanna remind our appointees who are here today, you are welcome to stay, but you are not obliged to stay.

So once your appointment is voted on, if you need to hop off, please feel free to do so.

Okay, let's move on then.

Garzal, can you please read the short title of items 18 and 19 into the record?

Agenda items 18 and 19, appointments 16, 29, and 1980 for the Seattle Women's Commission, the appointments of Sangyun Sophia Lee and Rachel E. Morowitz as members for terms to July 1st, 2022 for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Fantastic.

Thank you very much.

We have appointments to a few different commissions here.

So I'm going to hand it over to Marta Edowu from the Office of Civil Rights.

who I think, are you going to walk us through?

Yeah.

So are we going to just do the first two and then we'll go on to the next ones.

Okay.

Great.

Okay.

Start with the women's commission.

Are you able to see me?

Yes.

Okay.

Good.

Okay.

Thank you.

And good afternoon.

My name is Marta Ida Woo with the Seattle office for civil rights, and I am the civil rights advisory commission liaison for the Seattle women's commission and the Seattle human rights commission.

And I'm going to, uh, give some background information about the work and the structure of the commissions.

The new appointments are here today and I'd like them to be able to share a little bit about their work and then ask them to be moved forward and then go through the reappointments and go through that stuff.

And then so the Seattle Women's Commission and the Seattle Human Rights Commission are composed of 21 accomplished individuals who come together as volunteers to research, analyze, make recommendations, and advise the mayor, the city council, and city departments on issues that are facing women and human rights in Seattle.

They're composed of eight commissions are appointed by the mayor, eight appointed by the city council, and four appointments are made by the commission, plus one additional member joins the commission for a one-year term through the Get Engaged program, which is a leadership development program for youth 18 to 29 years of age.

Commissioners are appointed to a two-year term of office, and they serve without pay.

So all of the new appointments that are gonna be going forward today, all of these individuals have been attending meetings, actively participating and helping on a lot of our events that we've had.

And some of the events that we've had has been the Renter's Rights Forum that we had in June.

And just this past month, we had five candidates forums where all the five commissions participated in both of those.

And it turned out wonderful and great.

And they all participated and did a lot of work on these.

And so I wanted to make sure that you all knew how much work they're doing before they've even been put forward to be appointed to the commission.

So the five commissions that I wanted to make sure you all knew they were the Women's Human Rights, LGBTQ, Disability, and the Immigrant and Refugee Commission.

And what I feel just really empowered and happy about is that commissions of all across other departments and the commissions collaborating and doing amazing work together.

So at this time, we've just called the two appointees to be appointed, and I'd like to have those two individuals say a little bit about themselves.

Sophia Lee first, and then Rachel Morowitz.

So if they can Is this the time when they can say a little bit about themselves?

And then you all can ask them some questions.

They're here, so I don't, I mean, I can talk about them, but it's better that they share information about themselves since they're here present.

And that's how we usually do that.

So we'll go on back to you all to have them speak a little bit about themselves and then any questions that you might have of them.

Sophia Lee, are you there?

Yeah, I'm here.

Okay.

Thank you.

Why don't you go ahead and say a little bit about yourself as a new commissioner coming on the Women's Commission and some of the work that you've done for a long time that's on the commission as well.

Yeah.

My name is Sophia Lee.

I have been a Seattle resident for around seven years now.

I have a Throughout most of the time, I have been very much so involved in community, mainly as a board chair of a transgender nonprofit organization, Gender Justice League, and also within the last couple of years within the Women's Commission.

The last year or so, I have also served as one of the co-chairs of the commission.

Yeah, I don't know what exactly if I want to highlight anything, but I am happy to be here and I am happy and thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Sophia.

Rachel, are you there?

Yeah, I'm here.

Thank you, Marta, for that great introduction.

My name is Rachel Morowitz, and I use she her pronouns.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I moved to Seattle via Washington, DC, four years ago.

And I recently moved to the South Park neighborhood.

So I'm just making my rounds around Seattle.

I'm an attorney in a Seattle based law firm, where I represent workers and consumers in litigation against corporate bad actors.

I initially focused my practice on employee benefits, but I've now expanded to consumer protection and environmental justice.

While most of my work focuses on class action and litigation, I think my true passion lies in advising cities and localities on legislation which would help benefit our most vulnerable communities.

So in the past, I've advised cities and localities on legislation that can improve access to health care, but also give our vulnerable populations the tools they need to save for retirement.

I'm a first generation Fijian American, and suffice to say, there's not a lot of Pacific Islanders in the legal profession.

So the importance of intersectionality is very important to me and also real to me.

I'm proud of the work that I've done at my law firm, including co-founding our POC Offending Group, I think it's a good start, but there's a lot of work to be done.

But I am motivated and excited to engage with others on this commission to have more wide-reaching effects and an impact in Seattle.

I'm also excited to be part of the Women's Commission because it's given me the opportunity to interact and learn with some pretty awesome individuals.

We've only had a couple of meetings, but it's such an energetic and motivated group, so I'm excited to work with them going forward.

Thank you for my consideration.

And if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Rachel and Sophia.

I don't have any questions.

I think it's great you both have been willing to be involved already and get active, not just in the community, but in the commission itself.

So thank you for that.

Colleagues, are there any questions for Rachel or Sophia?

Okay.

In that case, I'm going to move that the committee recommends confirmation of appointments 1629 and 1980. Did I get those right?

Yes.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend confirmation.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Lewis?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

And Chair Morales?

Yes.

That's four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The motion carries, and the committee recommendation that the appointments be confirmed will be sent to the August 16th City Council meeting.

Okay, here we go.

Will the clerk please read the short title of items 20 through 30 into the record?

Agenda items 20 through 30, appointments 2004 through 2014, to the Seattle Human Rights Commission, the appointment of Natasha A. Bennett and reappointments of Erica Chen and Jessica C. Boyan for terms to July 22nd, 2022, the appointments of Kaylee Mary Cliva and Claire Aylward-Gilmette as members for a term to January 22nd, 2023, the appointments of Julia Ishmael and Alan Nia Raibo and reappointment of Brian Egger as members for a term to January 22, 2022, the appointment of Gunita Annie Chadha and reappointments of Tyrone Grandison and Erin G. Oroville as members for a term to July 22, 2023, for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Perfect.

So much stars out.

So if I am seeing the piles here.

It looks like the folks being appointed for the first time are here, but the reappointments are not.

Yeah.

Yes, but usually that's how it usually is a new appointment.

I can't are here live and then I will say something about the reappointments.

I'm going to go from my list down because I used from the roster saying 18, 19, 20, 21 like that.

So I'm like at number 24, Natasha Bennett.

She's a new appointment.

And Natasha, if you're there, I'd like you to come on and talk about your work and say a little bit about you and why you want to be a commissioner and all that kind of stuff.

That would be helpful.

Thank you.

Thanks, Marta.

And thank you, everyone, for having me.

My name is Natasha Bennett.

I use she, her pronouns.

I work in the city of Seattle at Seattle Jobs Initiative, which is a nonprofit whose mission is to help connect individuals and communities from underinvested communities to employment and training opportunities so they can secure living wage careers.

and economic mobility to support themselves and their families.

As part of that work, I'm a consultant and I work with community and technical colleges.

And in that work, we partner with colleges, administrators, faculty, staff, and students to help them redesign programs, policies, and opportunities to better serve and be more responsive to the needs of low-income adults and other members from under-invested communities.

But before my work at Seattle Jobs Initiative, I worked as an academic, I'm a political scientist by training with a strong emphasis in human rights.

So I was a human rights scholar working on global human rights, but in through much of my work with that research, it all began to focus on the impact of city level and municipal level impacts, because that's the way that individuals connect and access human rights institutions and policies and protections.

So previous to my work at Seattle Jobs Initiative, I was an assistant visiting professor at the University of Puget Sound and also taught human rights undergraduate courses at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

So my desire to be on the Human Rights Commission really stems from a strong passion in human rights and particularly bringing about awareness knowledge and information about the impact and power that human rights can have for communities who particularly, you know, have the most to gain.

One of my central kind of themes is, you know, those who have the most to gain from an entire system around human rights are often those who have the most difficulty accessing them.

So in my work with the commission, I would hope to bring that knowledge and background to the city of Seattle and its communities so that we can identify ways to improve human rights protection, access and fulfillment for members of individuals and communities that have the most to gain from human rights protections.

So thank you for considering my candidacy.

Oh, thank you so much.

And now go on to Gunita Anichada.

Can you go ahead and speak about your work and say a little bit about yourself for everyone, please?

I apologize for my voice.

It's a little gone, so I'm going to make it as quick as I can.

But my name is Gunita Anichada.

My pronouns are she, her.

I'm a first generation child of incarcerated parents, and I've experienced very difficult situations in my life, such as being homeless, being a school-to-prison pipeline child, and more.

I didn't have access to a lot of different resources growing up to navigate those experiences.

So I'm here today because I want to give those opportunities to children and family that have been impacted by incarceration and various other human rights as well.

Right now, currently, I'm a policy coordinator with Youth Development Executives of King County, where I serve family and youth serving organizations.

I'm a policy and advocacy coordinator, so I'm really giving back to those communities and families that have been impacted by incarceration currently.

And I'm really excited to be here.

I'll be going back for my master's at the University of Washington to the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance in September.

And yeah, I look forward to being a part of this commission and also uplifting and elevating the voices of the families that have been impacted by various different issues related to mass incarceration like myself.

Thank you for having me here today.

I appreciate it.

Oh, thank you, Bonita.

Now we'll go on to the reappointment of Erica Chan.

And I'll just say a few things about Erica and her work.

Erica has worked with the following things.

She's part of the leadership team of the commission where they prepare the agenda for the monthly meetings and take care of all the high level confidential things that might happen if they have to be a part of with our office and different things like that.

She's also a chair of the appeals committee and most of her time on the commission.

She has been the chair of the committee and reviewing and making decisions on the appeals that is part of the work of the commissions.

So she has so many parts to what she does and we appreciate her so much.

She also facilitated the 2020 retreat where the commission prepared their yearly work plan.

And Erica just continues to be a great contributor to the work of the commission.

And she looks forward to doing more.

She continues through to the end of her term.

And so that's what I wanted to say about her that she's great contributor, and she does a lot of work on the commission, and she'll be, you know, hopefully she'll be able to be reappointed today, and I just ask for that today on her behalf.

And then I'll go on and move on to the reappointment of Brian Edgar, a member of the Seattle Human Rights Commission, and this is just a few things that I wanted to say about Brian.

is since being appointed to the Seattle Human Rights Commission, Brian serves as a member of the Homelessness and Appeals Subcommittee and works to support the Seattle Human Rights Commission Annual Human Rights Day.

As a member of the Homelessness Subcommittee, he worked to help facilitate the reforms related to the Human Services Department and the Navigation Team.

In addition to organizing meetings with various stakeholders, he also analyzed city audited reports and public statements regarding the state of the homeless in the city.

As a member of the appeals subcommittee, he heard appeals after the Seattle Office for Civil Rights has received and investigated charges of discrimination that have been filed.

Most recently, he served as chair for overseeing one of those related appeals.

Finally, he volunteered to help support the Seattle Human Rights Day, annual Human Rights Day event by providing logistical support during the event and working to help provide communications that help promote the event.

So I just wanna, I just have kudos to say to all these reappointments, they've all done amazing work.

And so now we'll move on to the reappointment of Tyrone Grandison as a member of the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

So Tyrone's personal mission is to serve and help improve the community that he is living in with whatever skills he can bring to contribute.

Giving back is very important to him and he looks forward to continuing his work with the commission and the ways he can help and continue to work with the commission and giving back.

So some of the things that Tyrone has helped the commission on is the commission be more responsible to community through heightened communication, help the Human Trafficking Task Force be more effective in helping policymakers understanding problem fundamentals, helped the events team execute on Human Rights Day 2020, and it also helped recenter the commission on its mission and responsibility to community.

And I don't know if you all know or saw the Black Experience in Seattle event for Human Rights Day last year, 2020 event.

It was amazing and brought the community in to talk about their lived experience and the things that they see that is needed in the community and that the city really needs to take an active look at.

And so he's been amazing.

So I just wanted to also move him forward as well.

And then the reappointment of Aaron Orovillo as a member of the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

Aaron has been working towards a goal he set for himself, not just to be an active participant in his community, but to help others.

He has been acquiring experience to further social justice by recruiting project members, facilitating giving projects, and raising money for community organizing.

He came across the Human Rights Commission through social media and a meeting commissioner at an event where he felt that the Human Rights Commission would be the best place for him to further focus his time, energy, and efforts to affect positive change for the issues he cares most about in the city where he lives and spent most of his childhood.

The commission's mission is to promote human rights for the residents of Seattle and facilitate the prevention and elimination of discrimination and directly in line with his personal values.

He looks forward to the opportunity to continue to learn and work with the Human Rights Commission.

And so I'd also like to move Aaron forward as well.

And then the next person is Jessica Jessica Bullion reappointment to the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

Jessica is a devoted social changemaker and peace builder.

She has nearly 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, serving as executive director for World Without Hate.

Jessica is dedicated to preventing and disrupting the cycles of hate and violence through storytelling and empathy.

She believes that if we are together, we can ensure safe, accepting and peaceful communities for all.

As a commissioner for the Seattle Human Rights Commission, Jessica serves on the events committee, having most recently co-chaired the 2020 Human Rights Day event.

In addition, Jessica has contributed to the commission's annual retreat coordination and curriculum and participates on the Criminal Legal System Task Force as a commissioner, and Jessica is most proud to serve as a voice to the community, passionate about, excuse me, ensuring Seattle upholds its commitment to, commitment as a designated human rights city.

Jessica loves the Pacific Northwest, and after 20 years of dreaming about living here, She is incredibly happy now to call Seattle her home.

So I'm moving to move her forward for her reappointment.

And then the next person for a new appointment is Julia Izmiel.

And are you there?

I am, yes, Ms. Martin.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I suppose it's my time.

I have to just, it is definitely my time.

It has been a long time coming through generations.

And I feel like this is not just my time, it's our time.

And to be, to pause just long enough to introduce myself in this space is an honor.

My name is Julia Ismael.

I am the daughter of Janet Watson, a white woman from Kansas.

Jewel Wayne Watson, a black man from South Carolina, and I've called Seattle my home since 1979. I have all three of my children born here, and I consider this place my home.

And in the vein of my version of a land acknowledgement, being a black Muslim woman in a land that I have been brought to, it has this very special meaning for me.

And in this time to just remember to pause long enough to just remember that we are part of something that is greater than ourselves and the land being the most obvious and most tangible and visible manifestation of that change.

For me, it is about recognizing my own power and our own power and the ability to invoke our imagination.

And so with this very deep delicate and new experiment between institution and community, we have these commissions.

And I have sat here for over an hour just in awe of all of the amazing humans, the humanity that has come forth just at the call.

We have been here, out here doing this kind of work for generations.

just waiting for the invitation to be heard in such institutional places.

And so when I heard the call for the Human Rights Commission, I was immediately drawn to it.

Not as I would have been 10 years ago or 20 years ago, but because of this time that we are in and the people that are in those seats, you all are ready to listen.

you're excited because the opportunity for change is now given to all of us.

And so what I'm most excited about, should my nomination be accepted, is to invoke the imagination and anticipate the work.

And what I mean by this is that in my future, in my best future, in my best imagination where I am a liberated black Muslim woman, I can wake up my whole full self every day, I have to also imagine the work and the institutionalizing that equity is going to require.

So through this work, this last year I have founded the Equity Consortium.

It is now over 130 equity advocates from all over the country.

who have come together to design a very unique organizational assessment tool.

It is the only one of its kind that has been created by so many multiple voices.

Over three dozen voices have created this document.

And it's not only created by, but it is evaluated by the community.

So this is my contribution to our future society to say, I am willing now to design processes that are born in equity.

So what my experiment is, and it's this great rebalancing of power by acknowledging the authenticity and the genuineness and value of lived experience, of story, but not only that, but being able to quantify all of that qualitative information how to take what equity feels like and be able to translate and understand that and communicate that very explicitly the same way that we communicate and manipulate and share all of the data that we're using now to build this reality.

I want to institutionalize equity.

That's my mission.

Two words.

Institutionalize equity.

And when I say equity, I mean for all peoples.

For all peoples.

I have my own experience.

I'm black.

I'm Muslim, I'm a woman, I'm a parent, I'm cisgendered, able-bodied, right?

Heterosexual.

I have these identities, but the focus is on equity as the center.

Because like I said, I'm not only this one thing.

I'm this thing and that thing and the other thing.

In my future, there's room for all of those things to exist and be welcomed.

And so what I'm anticipating, what I'm hoping for in these next couple of years of doing this, this work that even in this last hour has been so appreciated, the effort it takes to lay the groundwork.

The effort it takes to lay the groundwork.

My grandmother, she said, plant the garden even though you might not be there to see it grow.

And this is what I am so loving about this time I have spent this afternoon with you all and those who have come and gone from this call is because I have again been inspired by not just the act of planting, but now I'm actually being able to see certain things grow.

And that is beyond, I got goosebumps right now.

I'm thrilled because the ask is there and we have so many answers.

If you take one side, the institution, you take the community, neither one of us can do it by ourselves.

So it's just a matter of time before we have these in-between places, these commissions that focus solely on music, to focus solely on arts venues, like this is the future.

And I am now a part of it.

So with this, I'm deeply honored to have the ability to listen to all those who came before me.

I'm going to stay and listen to the end because I'm just enthralled with the work that's being done, with the amount of bravery that it has taken to take these risks, to solve these generations-long persistent problems, to say, hey, you know what?

We're going to try something different this time.

and we're gonna put the resources behind it.

Wow, just wow.

So Ms. Martha, thank you for making all of the arrangements.

We've been emailing like you ease my heart this morning.

So I look very much forward to being creative and to be technical, to take risks and to keep learning and growing because this is the work and I couldn't have found a better place.

So thank you again for your consideration.

And I'll pass it on.

Oh, thank you so much, Julia.

Now I'll move on to the new appointment of Kaylee Mary Cleaver.

If you could come on and say a little bit about yourself and what you hope to do on the commission and things like that.

Yeah.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Kaylee Klaiva, and I use she her pronouns.

I grew up in Kitsap County, and I've lived in Seattle on and off for over a decade.

I studied at Seattle Central College and University of Washington, and I earned a Master of Arts in International Human Rights Law from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

While I was studying there, shortly after I arrived, Trump was elected and that kind of emboldened a lot of political tension between the government and the university that I was attending.

So that presented a really interesting environment to be studying human rights law.

I volunteered with various environmental and social justice and international groups locally and globally.

And I'm really excited to work with the Seattle Human Rights Commission to help Seattle realize full protection and enforcement of human rights for all.

Having studied the limitations of international human rights law, I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to work with the city to promote human rights at a local level.

So thank you so much.

Oh, thank you, Kaylee.

OK, then we'll move on to the new appointment of Allen Yaribo.

Are you there and can you talk about yourself and your work on the commission and a little bit about your background, please?

Yes, I'm here.

Hello, everybody.

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Alan Yaribo.

I go by he, him pronouns.

I am an immigrant to the United States, 10 years in right now.

I have had a rich experience being in the United States of America and I'm currently in school doing my MSW, a master's in social work, and what I hope to achieve in the commission is to model for other immigrants that in this life you can be successful in America despite everything that has happened.

regarding the previous administration coming in uh...

a lot of immigrants felt really put down by all that now while all that was happening i really didn't know what was calling to me but does this this deep staring at that within me that i had to get out there make my voice heard and uh...

i joined the non-profit sector uh...

doing a lot of mental health uh...

work and advocacy.

I currently advocate for people on a one-on-one basis.

My focus is usually on micro-advocacy for individuals who I know are stuck in a system that they really don't understand.

And I use my professional learning in mental health and learning the institutional systems and barriers that a lot of people face when just trying to live their ordinary lives.

And that's the kind of experience and work I want to bring to the commission.

I want to model for immigrants like myself that we can get beyond this.

I want to model for everybody that we can get beyond this, no matter what your color is, whether you're white, black.

My calling to the commission was deeper than that.

And then when I took part in one of the events in 2017, that kind of sealed the deal for me.

I felt part of a larger community who understood that humanity uh...

and human rights are really intrinsic to everybody and we should all be viewed as equal uh...

it just strengthened my resolve to continue on this journey i am on it is a deep calling i feel within me and i'm so excited to be part of the commission uh...

i really want to give back to the commission as much as i can uh...

using all resources that i have at my disposal to make this work possible thank you

Oh, thank you so much, Alan.

And last but not least, we have a new appointment, Claire Allwood-Bullneck, if you can come on and talk about your work and say a little bit about yourself and work on the commission because you've been working away.

Are you there?

Martha, I don't think we have Claire.

Let me see.

Oh, she didn't come on.

Yeah, I don't see her on.

If you have any couple of things you might want to say about her, that would be great.

Oh, I sure will.

Well, as you know, well, for me, I know she is a proud Seattleite and a social justice advocate.

Claire is inspired by the opportunity to serve on a city board, to serve on a city board and or commission and eager to meet new Seattle residents and curious to learn more about their experience of living in the city and ideas and making Seattle an incredible place to live.

She looks forward to the opportunity to offer her research and analytical skills and knowledge of civic issues and assisting the Human Rights Commission in making recommendations and, well, recommendations to city decision makers at the city level.

And Claire has a background and honors in social studies from Westland University, Middletown, Connecticut, and a MPA as well from Evans School of Public Policy and Governance from the University of Washington.

And I don't know why she wasn't able to be here, but she's been excited and wanting to get appointed.

And she's been working on the commission for quite a while.

She missed some, because of COVID, we couldn't get a lot of people in for a whole year.

So it kind of didn't, she was kind of a little discouraged, but excited when I was talking about them all being appointed this time around, so I'm not sure what happened, but could she be able to be...

Yeah, that's fine.

It's fine.

We just wanted to make sure we had a little bit of information about her, so that's great.

I really want to thank all of you.

Thank you, Marta, for helping coordinate and organize all of this.

I think You know, the interesting thing about human rights, and especially of Seattle declaring itself a human rights city, is that the United States is actually not part of several of the international conventions, particularly what I always think about is the economic rights.

So there is the covenant that says we all have a right to earn a living.

We have a right to be able to organize.

And that particular one, the US hasn't signed on to.

I think it's really important that as a human rights city, self-declared human rights city, we still try to hold ourselves to those principles.

So I really appreciate, you know, those of you who are bringing your different experiences, whether it's human rights law or workforce development or immigration, criminal legal system experience, all of that organizational assessments that are rooted in equity.

I think all of those perspectives and experiences are going to be really helpful.

And all of you helping guide us as a council.

In what it means for Seattle to be a human rights city and to use that framing, you know, I think we use the racial equity framing, we are trying to use a racial equity framing.

much more consistently now in our policymaking and our decision making.

And I think that the human rights framing is equally important because they are so connected.

And so I just want to thank all of you for your willingness to serve on this commission and bring your background and your perspectives to the work that you have in front of you.

Colleagues, are there any questions for our MPs?

I don't see anybody raising their hand.

So I will go ahead and move that the committee recommends confirmation of appointments 2004 through 2014. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, it's been moved and seconded.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

I just wanted to state for the record that Council Member Peterson had to leave earlier.

And with that, Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Lewis?

Aye.

And Chair Morales?

Aye.

That's three in favor, none opposed.

Thank you for the notice Darzell.

We do still have quorum with three people so we can continue and wrap this up.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation that appointments be sent to the August 16th city council meeting for confirmation.

I do want to move to suspend the council rule.

If there's no objection, the council rule relating to referring legislation to a city council meeting when the committee meeting is after Thursday at noon, which ours has been, will be suspended, allow referral of agenda items one through 30 this Monday's August 16th city council meeting.

Hearing no objection, the rule is suspended.

And these agenda items one through 30 will be referred to Monday's city council meeting for final consideration.

I also do wanna note that we end this by the council president just to confirm that this was okay and she did concur with this request.

So that rule is suspended, which means that all of the recommendations today will be moved to the Monday's August 16th city council meeting.

Okay, it was another marathon appointment meeting, but we are done.

I want to congratulate all of you.

You do not have to be present at Monday's meeting.

If you would like to listen in, you're welcome to do that, but you don't have to be present.

Thank you all for being here today.

If there are no other questions, This concludes the August 12, 2021 special meeting of the Community Economic Development Committee.

Thank you all for being here.

It is 3.36 and we are adjourned.