Seattle City Council Briefing 11/22/21

Good morning, everyone.

The November 22nd, 2021 Council briefing meeting will come to order.

The time is 9 30 a.m.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Salant.

Present.

Strauss.

Present.

Herbal.

Juarez.

Lewis.

Present.

Morales.

Here.

Mosqueda.

Present.

Peterson.

Present.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Here.

Seven present.

Thank you so much.

Approval of the minutes.

If there's no objection, the minutes of November 15th, 2021 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

President's report really quickly.

Colleagues, this morning's council briefing is intended to be very, very brief.

We are planning to convene as the select budget committee as close to 10 a.m.

as possible.

So please be mindful of your reports this morning.

Again, we're trying to start our Select Budget Committee as close to 10 o'clock a.m.

this morning.

So my hope is that we spend 30 to, at most, 45 minutes this morning at Council Briefings so that we can dig into the last remaining budget-related work.

So if you intended on making comments about the budget, I'd ask for you to hold those comments until we convene as a Select Budget Committee, which will happen as soon as we adjourn here.

So with that being said, let's move to today's City Council Action Council and Regional Committee previews.

We'll begin this portion with the usual roll call.

The roll call rotation for this week begins with Council Member Szilagyi, followed by Strauss.

If we are joined by Councilmembers Herbold and Juarez, they will go next.

Then Councilmember Lewis, Morales, Usteda, Peterson, and then I will conclude this discussion.

So I'm going to go ahead and hand it over to Councilmember Salant and then Councilmember Strauss.

Good morning, Councilmember Salant.

Good morning.

The next meeting of the Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee is scheduled for November 30th at 2 p.m.

Last Friday, my office sent two budget amendments to council members for consideration in today's budget committee meeting.

I know we'll be talking about more there, but I just wanted to let council members know that I was unable to move or speak to those two things on Thursday when I was unfortunately out sick.

The first amendment on behalf of the people's budget and the solidarity budget would increase the funding for affordable housing to 635 million in 2022 and the funding for the Green New Deal building carbonization by decarbonization by $85 million per year.

And then the other amendment that I will move at today's budget committee meeting is to rescind the statement of legislative intent and ask the Seattle Department of Construction Inspections to create a landlord stakeholder group because it's not clear what the purpose of this stakeholder group is other than attempting to push back against the renter organizing because any landlord that does not gouge their tenants has nothing to worry about in terms of the victories that renters have won through their organizing alongside our office.

And of course, renters need rent control, which is still illegal after 40 years from the state legislature.

On December 14 of last year, this Council passed a resolution opposing the exploitative farm bills in India that the right-wing reactionary Modi regime passed as part of a brutal program of anti-worker, anti-farmer privatization.

The resolution from this city council was one small part of an international movement involving tens of millions of courageous poor farmers, workers, and labor unions in India who organized general strike after general strike and risked their lives and brutal repression to organize demonstrations lasting almost a year.

This struggle was supported by solidarity around the world, by working people, including the resolution that was pushed forward by this council.

Last Friday, Modi's right-wing regime was forced to back down and repeal all three neoliberal farm bills.

This is a monumental victory for the workers' movement in India.

and for the workers movement internationally.

It can and will be an inspiration to the ongoing struggle against Modi's anti-Muslim citizenship laws, the Citizenship Amendment Act, which is also something that this council passed a resolution against when my office brought it forward on behalf of the South Asian and working class community in the Seattle area, and it will inspire further labor struggles against the attempts at privatization and attacks on workers in India.

It also demonstrates that the right wing can be defeated, even when they hold power in government, in the courts, in the media, as the BJP does in India.

They can still be defeated when there's a united struggle of working class and oppressed people.

Last Friday in Wisconsin Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after fatally shooting to justice for George Floyd protesters and injuring a third this sickening travesty of justice is a gift to the far right and will embolden right wing vigilantes to.

violently attacked future protests.

The question should not be whether Rittenhouse had any reason to believe his safety was in danger, but rather why was he there in the first place with an assault rifle?

Who sent him on this mission?

Who instigated this vigilante violence?

This shows the courts under capitalism cannot be relied on to deliver justice.

All of capitalism's institutions are complicit in this racist system that's exploitative of the vast majority.

Trump, Fox News, and the rest should also be held responsible for the deaths of Joseph Rosenblum and Anthony Huber.

There are fully 81 laws criminalizing peaceful protests currently being discussed or passed in Republican-run states.

This is a reaction to the nationwide black lives matter movement last year, and it's nothing new ruling classes have used violence of the right wing to suppress working class movements of, you know, many times over before the trial even began.

Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled that the protesters Brittenhouse shot cannot be referred to as victims and should instead be referred to as looters and rioters.

Judge Schroeder also refused to allow jurors to see a photograph of Brittenhouse drinking beer with so-called Proud Boys, a dangerous white supremacist organization.

Even the prosecution led by Kenosha District Attorney Thomas Binger was a major barrier to achieving justice to the court system.

In this case, Binger has a close relationship with the Kenosha Police Department and has historically safeguarded Kenosha police from accountability for police brutality.

Not only did Binger's office argue that police were justified in shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, but following the execution of Michael Ball in 2004 by four Kenosha police officers, the Kenosha district attorney's office refused to take the case to court.

After allowing the police department to change the story 19 times, the case was settled out of court.

We will not beat back the growing far right through relying on the courts and the police, both of whom act on the behalf of the capitalist class.

Instead, we need to rapidly develop the forces and authority of the left by building movements of workers and young people.

Not only can far right terror cause disarray and trauma amongst organized protests, but it also demobilizes people who would otherwise politically participate.

With this in mind, working people should organize their communities to enact safety measures to ensure that future peaceful protests cannot go without a call by the broader working class, including and especially the labor movement, for a new workers party whose elected leaders are directly accountable to its constituents.

And of course, the Justice for George Floyd movement, street protest movement itself has shown that a mass movement centered on the working class, on the demands of oppressed communities, can be capable of forcing reforms to the broken criminal justice system.

However, we have to remember that racially just policing as a whole is impossible under a social system like capitalism, which is based on exploitation and systemic racism.

And that is why ultimately I am a socialist because I believe that we need a new system based on human need and genuine justice for the oppressed, which cannot be delivered in this context.

And last but not least, My office alongside Rainier Code tenants and other renters, including organizations like the Tenants Union and also speakers from the CHC of Seattle Renters Commission held an energized rally at Rainier Code in Mount Baker for rent control and also for continuing the struggle for their ongoing demands.

And it was really exciting and energized, as I said, because the tenants are understanding that it is actually possible for them to push back against exploitative landlords and win.

Their struggle is far from over.

And of course, they are also rallying for rent control.

We were also joined by the tenants of Terrace Crest Apartments, which is an apartment building on First Hill, with whom I held a press conference on Wednesday last week.

They are speaking out against our landlord for this really deplorable situation that they've been in, where they have not had heating or hot water for over two months now.

And the landlord has still not responded to repeated complaints, repeated also reports to the Seattle Department of Construction Inspections.

And they have signed a petition, a majority of them have signed a petition demanding that the situation be corrected, but also that the landlord owes them rent for each day that they were forced to spend without heating or hot water.

Among the tenants is an 80-year-old woman who was forced to come back from hospital from her treatment for her conditions, come back to an ice-cold apartment, and to this day, she is being forced to boil water in her kitchen in order to have access to hot water.

This situation cannot continue.

Council members have heard from the tenants themselves, and from other community members who are speaking up, demanding that the landlord correct the situation and give the tenants background.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Salon.

Are there any comments or questions on that report?

Hearing none, we'll go ahead and go down the line.

Next up is Council Member Strauss, and then after Council Member Strauss is Council Member Rebold.

Good morning.

Morning Council President colleagues here in District six last week I met with 14 D six residents during office hours for from Ballard three from Finney Finney Ridge, three from Green Lake, one from Loyal Heights, one from Whittier Heights, someone from tangle town and upper Fremont.

We discussed placement of crosswalks, homelessness at Woodland Park, Green Lake, Ballard Commons, reversing climate change and addressing the climate crisis, spoke about law enforcement and alternatives to public safety, homelessness data collection, the budget process and budget priorities, and affordable housing.

Last week, I was also able to meet with Captain Grossman of the North Precinct and the Ballard Alliance to discuss the recent break-ins in downtown Ballard.

On Wednesday, I met with the Woodland Park Zoo and the Parks Department to discuss my amendments to the zoo operating agreement that I may bring by November 30th.

As I've heard many times repeated to me, any of our amendments for the zoo agreement need to be in by November 30th.

Also, I continue to hold operational coordination meetings with community leaders, government entities, and non-government entities to make meaningful interventions and impacts in homelessness in D6 in specific places.

These meetings will continue multiple times a week until the transfer to the Regional Homelessness Authority is complete.

And last Wednesday afternoon, I attended the Regional Transportation Committee, where we took the final vote to adopt updates to the King County Metro Strategic Plan for public transportation, King County Metro Service Guidelines, and Metro Connects, King County Metro's long-range plan.

The rest of last week, as you know, colleagues, we spent in council budget meetings.

This coming week is a rare week that I do not have district office hours scheduled due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

I look forward to hosting these six office hours next week.

There are no items from the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on today's full council agenda.

or introduction and referral calendar.

The next meeting of the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee will be next Friday, December 3rd, starting at 9.30 a.m.

We will also hold the regularly scheduled Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on Wednesday, December 8th, also starting at 9.30 a.m.

Thank you, Council President and colleagues.

That is my report.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Are there any comments or questions on that report?

And thanks, everyone, for endeavoring to keep your remarks short.

As I mentioned, we're hoping to get done as close to 10 a.m.

as possible since we have budget committee right after this.

So I know Councilmember Herbold and Juarez joined us a little late after I made those comments just for the benefit of Councilmember Herbold and Juarez.

If you have comments related to the budget, if we could save those for budget committee, that would be appreciated.

All right, here we go.

Next up is Council Member Herbold and then Council Member Juarez.

Good morning.

Good morning.

So starting off with an item that be deemed by some as being a budget item.

So you tell me, Madam Chair, if I can address it.

It is a piece of legislation that We have taken up within the confines of budget, but it is not purely a budget issue.

It's the resolution modifying the mayor's civil emergency order.

I think it's on this afternoon's agenda.

So I think council agenda.

So that that's that's and I don't think we're discussing it anymore in the select budget committee.

So I think you're you're good to go.

All right.

Thank you so much.

So there are no items coming directly from the public safety and human services committee since the committee hasn't been meeting.

Um, and the meeting that would be scheduled for, um, uh, this week, um, is being canceled, but there is an item on the full council agenda this afternoon.

Um, and that is the resolution modifying the mayor's, uh, civil emergency order, uh, related to hiring incentives for public safety, uh, emergency response.

The resolution was approved in Budget Committee by a 4-2 vote with two abstentions.

The item itself amends the Mayor's Executive Order regarding hiring bonuses for police officer and 911 dispatch hires.

The related CBA also is in the balancing package, requests a report from the city budget office to the council on a potential citywide hiring incentive for frontline workers.

And the resolution itself The changes it makes to the mayor's emergency order on hiring incentives limits the duration of the order through the end of 2021 and limits expenditures pursuant to the order to $500,000, which is the amount that the mayor's office estimates would be needed in um 2021 um just as a bit of a background uh note funding for two million dollars for a citywide bonus program that would go into effect in 2022 did not pass at the budget committee um and um it's you know of course uh a given that an incoming mayor um since this This emergency order under this resolution would end with the outgoing mayor.

The incoming mayor could, of course, issue an executive order for 2022. But again, there's the question of the funding in the 2022 budget to support it.

So that's sort of the background on that.

I hope if folks have questions between now and two o'clock, they let me know and look forward to passing this out of full council today.

Other items coming up, the Human Services Department asked that I share an update on the work of the new Safe and Thriving Communities Division so far this year.

Um, so so far this year, they have hired their first division director.

They've acquired to Seattle Police Department services.

That's the crime victims advocates and the victim support team.

They've completed $10 million, $10.4 million in community safety capacity building.

Um, uh, R.

F. P. consisting of 33 contracts.

17 of those contracts are new providers to HSD.

They also invested $500,000 in the regional Peacekeepers Collective and invested $300,000 to combat Asian Pacific Islander hate crimes.

They've invested an additional $600,000 to mitigate increasing gender-based violence.

And they've also launched a $1.4 million supportive reentry RFP in October.

They're working on transferring the lead contract from the Homelessness Strategies Division in quarter four.

And just wanting to thank them for all of the work that they're doing this year.

This one small division is fulfilling a lot of the council's policy objectives as it relates to community safety efforts and really appreciative of their efforts in 2021. Just a quick update on public health issues.

Know everybody is well aware that the federal government announced that COVID vaccine booster shots are now authorized for anyone over 18 years of age.

No matter what vaccine you received initially, if enough time has passed, you can get your booster.

You can learn more about when you become eligible and how to get your booster at COVID.gov.

I'm sorry, KingCounty.gov forward slash COVID.

If you're traveling to visit loved ones for the holiday or hosting people from outside your household, there are simple precautions that you should take to make the day safer for everyone.

Know the vaccination status of people that you're seeing.

Consider asking guests to take rapid tests in the morning.

Improve the ventilation in the room that you're gathering in and plan the event around the needs of the most vulnerable person in the room.

Yesterday, the Seattle Times carried a really helpful article with some great for a safe holiday gathering.

Consider checking it out if you plan to host.

That's all I have for today.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Herbold.

Any comments or questions on that report?

Hearing none, we'll go ahead and go down the line next up is Council Member Juarez.

And then after Council Member Juarez will be Council Member Williams.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council President.

I apologize for my tardiness.

Let me turn this up.

I apologize.

I couldn't hear it all.

Let's see.

I will be brief.

As you know, today we have the governing Metropolitan Park District Board at 2.30 or after budget.

It's the third and final meeting, which is scheduled for, as I shared, after today's council meeting.

We have one presentation followed by four pieces of legislation up for discussion and vote regarding the 2022 proposed budget.

I will go into more detail for each bill this afternoon.

We discussed and had public hearing on these matters on Monday, October 18th.

That's with the Seattle Park District.

As far as there are no items of the Public Assets and Native Communities Committee on this afternoon's agenda.

My understanding is that the mayor has transmitted legislation that would transfer property from the city of Seattle, City Hall Park, to King County in exchange for 0.56 acre, that's the City Hall Park, located just south of the King County Courthouse and the city's agreement to vacate the roads surrounding the property.

And King County would transfer approximately 13 parcels of land totaling 1.35 acres.

Many of the parcels in the transfer are located adjacent to natural areas and their acquisition will increase green space protection, enlarge the environmental canvas for future restoration projects as announced by the county exec.

Of the parcels, it will benefit South Park and West Seattle and AP Patch in East Ballard.

And Superintendent Aguirre and the executive have relayed their support for this endeavor.

I understand they're working with Council President to consider sending this straight to full council, given my committee schedule for December includes two major pieces of legislation.

I wanted to flag this incoming legislation for my colleagues.

Given the geographic locations of the parcels, the public benefit, which I'm happy about, and the operational needs of City Hall Park.

This is, I believe, an advantageous partnership.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Casey Sixkiller in the mayor's office.

I've had an opportunity to, I've received and had an opportunity to review the summary and fiscal note, the proposed ordinance, map of the 13 properties, and the intergovernmental land transfer between King County and the city of Seattle.

Next, our next Public Assets and Native Communities Committee meeting is December 7th at 2. We will consider three pieces of legislation, as I've been sharing.

One is the Woodland Park Zoo, that is the operations agreement renewal, that's up for discussion and vote.

This is an updated contract between the zoo and the parks.

So any proposed amendments will need to be reviewed and agreed upon by all parties, including the law department.

Also, we will look, be discussing and hopefully vote on our bill.

Finally, for the indigenous advisory council, this bill will create the indigenous advisory council, and we will have a briefing discussion and vote on this bill.

Finally, the third bill is regarding the recreation and conservation office grant application process for the parks department.

Parks, Seattle Parks and Recreation has completed a report summarizing the accomplishments and lessons learned from the first six year cycle of the Seattle Park District from 2015 through 2020. The report spotlights the department's 2020 response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It includes a map of the park district-funded projects to show the citywide impact of this funding source.

It includes a city council district breakdown, which I'm really happy to share.

I'll have a little bit more information in a moment.

To review and read this report, you can visit seattle.gov's Seattle slash Park District Projects.

Colleagues, we did receive on November 15th from Mr. David Takami with parks, a 17 page, the report actually, and I had a chance to go through it and just briefly, I'll be very brief, Madam President.

It does highlight the accomplishments in the four investment areas that we agreed on, that the voters agreed on, that we agreed on, the fix it first, the maintaining parks and facilities, programs for people and building for the future.

What's particularly worth noting, I would draw your attention to, because I'm very happy and proud of this, is page 15 to 17, Seattle Park District, the investment map.

It's broken down by districts, which is great.

So you can see the whole city.

You can see where the money went in the six-year cycle and how we're going to start in 2022 for the next six-year cycle.

And so what it will show is projects that have been activated, capital projects that are complete, that are underway, capital projects that are being studied, and operational enhancements.

And again, for me anyway, I appreciate that it's broken down by districts and that it's color-coded, so you can see each project and where they're at in the scheme from beginning to completion, which a lot of it was interrupted, as you all know, from COVID-19.

Seattle Public Library.

The library continues to increase staffing levels as we close in on returning to pre-pandemic hours of operation on December 6th.

This week the Seattle Public Library conducted the board of trustees meeting where they provided an update on the chief librarian search, the third quarter levy report and discussed the 2022 operations plan.

The Seattle Public Library also wanted to highlight the unique work by one of the branch librarians to reach out to the community in new ways as we continue to slog through the ongoing pandemic.

Since March 2021, the South Park branch has been on the air with Amigos, the Seattle's community radio station.

Radio, and I might have to have the council president help me here with this word, I'm sorry.

Radio comitaria?

No?

Comunitaria.

Thank you.

I knew I was going to get it wrong.

I was waiting for you and Council Member Esqueda to help a sister out.

Okay, thank you.

Librarian, which is really exciting because no one's been doing this.

So thank you, South Park.

Librarian Lupine Miller hosted a weekly show called the South Park Presents in English and Spanish reporting on library updates and services that affected the community and interviewing staff such as Emily Perez on your next job, Jay Lyman on library to business and there's a lot there.

We had a chance to go ahead and look at or listen to that.

The program has recently gone through some changes Instead of going to the studio, Lupine is recording the show remotely, which is live-streamed every other Monday at noon.

Watch the most recent edition in Spanish.

Lupine Miller shares the latest on library hours and services such as tutor.com, access to consumer reports, the Discover Pass, job consulting, and more.

So check back to see the South Park Presents live on Monday, November 22nd at noon.

That would be today.

Finally, Native communities, whatever your political persuasion is, I would ask you, I know you can't do it today because we're going to be in budget, but today the DNC Native Caucus, starting at 6 o'clock Eastern Time, which would be 3 o'clock Pacific Time, join the DNC Native Caucus Chair Ryan Ramirez from here, Washington State, Seattle, Ryan, in celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Secretary Deb Haaland, who will highlight the important work of the Biden-Harris administration in doing to protect the right to vote and more.

So we hope, my understanding is that it will be posted so you can watch it at a different time as well.

That's probably what I'll be doing.

In other great news, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland last Friday formally established a process to review and replace derogatory names of the nation's geographic features.

I want to give a big shout out to former Council Member Bagshaw because we started this in our great city almost three years ago through parks.

With the federal government, it's the Board of Geographic Names.

That's the federal body tasked with naming geographic places.

They will begin implementation procedures to remove offensive terms from federal usage.

Now, if we can only get professional sports to do the same.

Finally, Sound Transit, West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions.

Staff continue to prepare for the Federal Transit Administration's, FDA, publication of the draft EIS, which is expected early next year.

As you know, this has been going on for a while.

Last week, the FTA announced that the comment period had been extended for another 90 days based on the scope of the document and request from community.

And again, I would really hope you guys, before today, I know we're really busy with budget.

When we got this report, we should have it color coded.

That's it, President.

Great.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Any other comments or questions on that report?

And just for the benefit of the viewing public and colleagues, we are in active conversations between our council central staff and the mayor's office related to that aforementioned legislation related to City Hall Park.

We're trying to both make sure we have our due diligence in place as a city council while also respecting the need to do things like note with appropriate notice a public hearing that will need to take place before we can take final action on the legislation.

So bear with us and extend us a little grace as we work through the timeline that is relevant to allowing us as a council to do our due diligence while also complying with the public hearing requirements that exist as it relates to this real estate transaction.

So look forward to sharing more with you all very soon so that you are prepared and ready to engage.

Okay, let's keep going down the line here.

Next up is Council Member Lewis, and then after Council Member Lewis, Council Member Morales.

Thank you, Madam President.

Given the advanced hour, I will go ahead and defer briefing this week.

I don't really have anything that is not budget-related to report, so I will save my comments for the budget hearing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis, appreciate that.

Next up is Council Member Morales, and then after Council Member Morales, Council Member Mosqueda.

Okay, good thing I'm ready, Council Member Lewis.

Good morning, everyone.

Briefly, the next meeting of the Community Economic Development Committee will be on Friday, December 10th at 9.30.

We do have a few appointments, but we also have two pieces of legislation.

One is regarding anti-discrimination changes that we need to make to mirror state law.

And the other will be to bring us into compliance with federal law regarding service animals.

So more on that later, but we do have a couple pieces of legislation to deal with in committee in, I think that's two weeks.

I just have two things I wanted to talk about.

The first is that last night there was another shooting at the Mount Baker light rail station.

This is the second shooting and there was one fatality, which is the fourth in six months in that neighborhood.

Over the weekend, the art space building was also broken into.

And just weeks ago, people broke into several small businesses in the area.

So neighbors there are really frustrated.

understandably scared and really looking to us as a city to figure out how we're going to keep that neighborhood safe and really start to address some of the issues that are happening there.

Things have really escalated during the pandemic.

So I do want to say that the Office of Housing has been very communicative.

The Crime Prevention Coordinator, Mark Solomon, has been in, I think, every meeting with community.

My office has been meeting with them regularly, though admittedly not so much during budget.

And Council Member Zahalai's office is now meeting with them as well.

So I am hoping that we can really start to see some action here.

I have reached out to Mayor-elect Harrell to request that he meet with me and community members early next week.

They have requested that the two of us go together, so I'm hoping that we are able to set something up soon.

And I am eager to work with the next mayor to ensure that people are heard and that there is collaboration with community to make sure that they are safe in their neighborhoods.

And then finally, colleagues, I do want to let you know from December 3rd to December 11th, I was hoping to talk about this last week, but I didn't get a second on my social housing amendment, so I'm telling you now, I will be traveling to our sister city of Nantes, where I'll spend time with officials from Nantes Métropole, which is an urban planning and housing organization in the city doing a deep dive on their social housing program and their anti-displacement efforts.

During the visit, I will look forward to seeing what's possible and how we work on housing as an essential piece of city infrastructure.

and look at possible future actions that the city can take.

I am really proud of the momentum that our office built with community over these issues in the last year around anti-displacement, around social housing and tenants' rights and the tenant opportunity to purchase.

These are things that we hope to continue working on.

But I do want to give a shout out to the organizations that we worked with this year and that we plan to keep building with this year.

And those include El Centro de la Raza, Tenants Union, Transit Riders Union, Washington Can, Real Change, Solid Ground, Share the Cities, Be Seattle, the LGBTQ Allyship, UFCW Local 21, local 4121, Puget Sound SAGE, the Housing Justice Project, Chief Seattle Club, People's Economy Lab, House Our Neighbors, the Stay House, Stay Healthy Coalition, Dr. Zachary Wood from the Institute of Public Service at Seattle University.

We are beginning to work more closely with him.

the solidarity budget.

And I also want to thank Black Action Coalition, Seattle DSA, Creative Justice, Decriminalize Seattle, and 350 Seattle for expressing their support for social housing.

And I look forward to organizing with them in 2022 as well.

This is important work.

I think it's important for us to start looking at new models for how we provide more affordable housing options for our community.

And I'm thrilled with the investments that we've made.

And I think it's worth considering something that can add to the options for our neighbors.

So I will have plenty to report back after that trip.

And that is my report this morning.

Thank you so much Council Member Morales.

Any comments or questions?

Okay, thanks everyone for moving through this really quickly.

I appreciate it and appreciate you being mindful about the length of your report.

Next up is Councilmember Mosqueda, who we are endeavoring to wrap up quickly on behalf of, so she can shepherd us through the last final pieces of the Budget Committee.

And then after Councilmember Mosqueda will be Councilmember Peterson, and then I will go last.

Councilmember Mosqueda, good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thanks again for all of the work you've done over the last eight weeks.

We are now in our final day.

Your engagement in crafting this final budget package has meant that we are able to bring forward to you a budget that is balanced for this morning after our consideration of the amendments in the Select Budget Committee here momentarily.

We want to thank central staff for all of the work they've done over the weekend and on Friday following the votes that took place on Thursday.

Thanks to Patty Worgen and Ali Panucci who have again circulated this morning updated materials for your consideration in our Select Budget Committee that will happen momentarily.

I wanted to flag these items for you as these are changes that we will consider that include 10 technical amendments and complete the necessary legislative changes to ensure that we can take the final vote this afternoon on the 2022 balancing package.

Thank you for all of your work to review these final amendments.

Please note that these are several technical changes that are necessary to adopt the balance package.

If there's any concern or any delay in the final action today, then we will not be able to meet our goal of trying to move this out of the.

Council by November 22nd today.

So thank you for your deliberations that we've done over the last eight weeks and all of the hard work that has happened to get us to this day.

I appreciate your consideration of these 10 actions that help to make sure that we have the changes necessary to take the final vote.

After today, we get to talk about non-budget related items and I'm happy to have a meeting that will be coming up in December.

That will be our first housing and labor, excuse me, that will be our first finance and housing related item, but we will be able to discuss housing and labor topics.

That meeting will occur on December 7th at 9.30 a.m.

The finance and housing committee meeting will include an update on the annual action plan, the 2021 annual action plan, a street vacation legislation that you've heard me refer to, as being discussed first in Councilmember Peterson's committee and then a vote and action in my committee on the 7th.

And there will be two appointments to the Domestic Workers Standards Board along with the race and social justice presentation from Finance and Administrative Services.

Finally, colleagues, I want to let you know I'm excited and I'm honored to have been appointed to the Board of Directors National League of Cities body.

I am very excited about the work that we've done here in the City of Seattle and we know that especially right now in the wake of COVID, Cities are providing an impactful place for residents to be able to see immediate change, immediate change on issues related to affordable housing, inclusionary zoning, protecting workers, making sure that we're providing relief in the wake of this pandemic.

I'm honored to now be serving on the Board of Directors and had previously served as the Affordable Housing Task Force member and Human Development Committee member.

I want to thank and congratulate Mayor Vince Williams of Union City, Georgia, who is the new National League of Cities president, and our region's own Mayor Victoria Woodards of Tacoma, who will serve as the first vice president.

I look forward to more conversations with you all, colleagues, as it relates to the National League of Cities priorities and federal agenda as well.

Thanks so much.

Thank you so much.

Any comments or questions?

Hearing none, we'll go ahead and go down the line.

Next up is Councilmember Peterson and then I will go last.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council President.

Good morning, colleagues.

Our Transportation and Utilities Committee will meet next on Wednesday, December 1st, and we'll have another meeting on December 15th.

and I'll withhold my budget comments until later.

One item I wanted to point out yesterday, Sunday, November 21st, was the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

This solemn event was recognized by U.S.

Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, and throughout the nation.

Here in Seattle, there were 26 traffic fatalities in 2019, 25 traffic fatalities in 2020 and already 31 traffic fatalities in 2021. By far the largest percentage of traffic fatalities are not those who are driving but rather those who are walking.

In 2020, 14 of the 25 fatalities were pedestrians and in 2021, 20 of the 31 fatalities were pedestrians.

Our Seattle Department of Transportation points out that in 2021, nearly 30% of people killed in a traffic crash were likely to be experiencing homelessness, which is a sharp increase as compared to only 12% in 2019 and 8% in 2020. In Seattle, we continue to pursue the goal of Vision Zero, which is to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by the year 2030. Despite increased efforts on a number of fronts by SDOT to increase safety infrastructure and other safety measures, these statistics are grim.

Each fatality is a tragedy.

The budget we approved today will add to the safety infrastructure for all modes of travel with a focus on pedestrians who are most at risk.

That concludes my report.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Any comments or questions?

All right, hearing none, I will go ahead and give my very brief report as well.

I have two pieces of legislation on this afternoon's introduction referral calendar.

The first is Council Bill 120231. which relates to a labor agreement between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Firefighters, Local 2898. And the second is Council Bill 120232, which authorizes the execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Seattle and Protech 17 Office of Emergency Management bargaining unit.

Both of these bills went through the Labor Relations Policy Committee process, and both will be referred directly to the City Council Colleagues, if you have any questions about either of these bills, please reach out to my office or you can contact Karina Bull from our Council Central staff.

I also want to take a quick moment to congratulate and recognize our very own Legislative HR Finance Director, Karen Jackson, for being selected to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association.

Director Jackson has served several terms on the board of directors for the state version of this board.

So I know that she is very thrilled to have been selected to the national board and I want to thank her for her work on behalf of the city of Seattle and especially the legislative department.

Lastly, my office will be closed on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

I do hope that everyone gets an opportunity to have a restful and safe holiday break this week, and we'll look forward to seeing you all on the 29th of November when we reconvene as a full council.

Colleagues, anything else for the good of the order related to council briefing?

All right, it is 10, 14 a.m.

I'm going to ask our budget chair to advise when we should reconvene as a select budget committee.

Again, as a reminder, colleagues, you will use the same Zoom credentials that you are currently logged into.

if you just want to mute and stop your video and walk away for a quick break, totally fine.

That'll save IT the time of having to readmit you into the Zoom room.

So, Chair Mosqueda, when would you like us to get started?

Thank you very much, Council President.

Let's do a five-minute break, and we can start at 10 If you want to just stay on as the Council President suggested, that would be wonderful.

And we will start with 20 minutes of public comment this morning and then move right into it.

Great.

So 1020 AM, we've got about five minutes.

You all are free to mute and stop your video and we'll see you at 1020 as the Select Budget Committee.

We are adjourned.