Seattle City Council Meeting 722024

Good afternoon, everyone.

The July 9th, 2024 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2 0 1 p.m..

I'm Sarah Nelson, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Councilmember Kettle here.

Councilmember Moore present.

Councilmember Morales here.

Councilmember Rivera.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Wu.

Present.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Eight council members are present.

Thank you.

There is not a presentation today, so colleagues at this time will open the hybrid public comment period.

Madam Clerk, how many people are signed up to speak?

We have two remote and 10 in person so far.

Thank you very much.

We will go ahead and give folks a minute each and we'll start with the speakers in council chambers first.

And I will note that council member Hollingsworth joining us.

Public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

Public comment period is at 20 minutes.

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

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

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

Public comment period is now open, and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

The first in-person speaker is Kathleen Brose, followed by Kelly Rula and Alex Zimmerman.

GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCIL MEMBERS.

MY NAME IS KATHLEEN BROSE.

I LIVE IN DISTRICT 6. AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT COST SAVINGS YOU HAVE COME UP WITH FROM THE BUDGET.

YOU'RE GOOD AT SPENDING MONEY, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW as you've gone through the budget, what programs maybe can be ended that are not cost effective.

But in a future meeting or in your newsletters, I'd like to know where money is being saved and not spent.

Thank you for your time.

Hello, President Nelson and members of the Council.

My name is Kelly Rula, and I'm a board member at Transportation Choices Coalition.

Our nonprofit supports safe, equitable, and sustainable transportation for all Washingtonians.

We're thrilled with where the levy is at today.

Thank you to the Council's leadership, especially Chair Saka, for your work over the past few months.

We are glad you've ushered in a levy with even more investments in sidewalks, safe routes to schools, and Vision Zero projects than initially proposed.

These are investments in safety that the people of Seattle need and deserve.

This will be the largest levy ever put forward before voters, representing a generational investment into the nuts and bolts of our transportation system.

Over the past year, both the mayor's office and council have had conversations with a diverse set of stakeholders, and this levy shows those communities were heard.

No matter how you get around Seattle, you'll benefit from the infrastructure that's safer, better maintained, and designed with equity in mind.

We urge the council to vote for this levy package.

We look forward to...

the finish line with you today and working with you to get this levy approved by the voters thank you following alex zimmerman will be lars erickson and ariana reilly hi hi yeah um last time i promised joy collinger so i bring nine circle decision about nazi salute yeah i forgot about in tomorrow It's not important for today.

Tomorrow I will bring you everything because you two may look very primitive, I told you before, ignorance and very stupid.

You don't know Constitution, you don't know decision of Ninth Circle.

Is this Ninth Circle decision staying for many years?

Guys, before you don't understand, so you're freaking idiot, nothing will be changed.

I talked to 750,000 Jews.

We need open better room.

One minute is an idiotic situation.

Open better room in One day per week, you give people chance to speak for three minutes from nine to nine.

This will be different opinion.

What is you doing?

That's a Gestapo principle.

You control this poor chicken.

Look, they all quiet.

No one support this idea.

We need freedom of speech.

Lars Ericsson, Arianna Riley, and Hao Shen.

Good afternoon.

My name is Lars Erickson.

I'm the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at the Seattle Metro Chamber.

I'm here testifying on behalf of our nearly 2,500 members.

The Chamber came to the table during the development of the proposed transportation levy because a thriving, equitable, and inclusive regional economy, which is our mission, is predicated on Seattleites being able to safely and reliably travel within the city and surrounding area.

Thank you to Council Member Saka for chairing the committee that considered Mayor Harrell's proposal over the last two months and to the entire council for your efforts to strengthen the levy's accountability measures.

I ask that you vote yes today to approve the levy ordinance which strikes the right balance in meeting our pressing transportation needs and keeping in mind the voters' concerns about affordability.

The Chamber and its members look forward to continuing to work with you, Mayor Harrell, and the Oversight Committee to implement the levy if voters approve it this fall.

Thank you for your time.

Hello, my name is Arianna Riley.

I'm a delivery driver and resident in District 1. Many customers today are paying less in overall delivery costs than they used to.

Before, the customer shouldered the entire cost of paying our wages.

Now the app companies are responsible for paying our wages.

In order to get their food picked up while it was still hot, most customers were expected to tip $2 a mile.

Most regular customers understood this.

There were some complaints about cold food and drivers not bringing food to apartment doors before because for people that did not tip enough, drivers declined the order while DoorDash boosted the pay by 25 cents per decline.

For an order from Georgetown to Skyway, which is common for my lunchtime, seven to nine miles in distance, previously customers would have had to tip $14 to $16 in order to get hot food.

If they did not tip after an hour or more when 25 cents per decline added up to $2 a mile and their food was cold, it would finally be picked up.

Now, if a customer orders from Georgetown to Skyway, their fees all in are around $10 and they are not required to tip in order to get hot food.

Thank you.

Excuse me, Hao Shen, then followed by Jason Aguilink and Alex Kim.

Hi, I'm .

Remind you this about exactly six months after the payout when infected.

Recently I took two weeks break in the delivery business and I hope everything will turn better after I come back.

The sad fact is everything is still the same.

Fact, I still made about the same level of income, about $500 a week.

This is not a livable wage.

Fact, the reason why I can keep doing this is because I work a full-time job at the same time.

I have known people who make over $60,000 before this law doing delivery full-time and support their families.

Now their income has been halved.

Their lives have been destroyed.

This law has reduced a full-time earning opportunity into unsurvivable part-time wages.

Fact, when the payout was written, there is not sufficient proof to support this new pricing structure will work now that the entire market is destroyed.

I'm not sure you want to do an experiment to reduce your wages into half for six months.

Last Wednesday, I had an accident while working.

I separated my right shoulder.

My injury isn't severe enough to require surgery, but any physician will tell you to wait two weeks before returning to normal activities.

At-base couriers no longer have the luxury of waiting two weeks because we make far less money than we did six months ago.

I had to force myself to take three days off and I'm back at work prematurely because if I don't take the risk, I know it would be impossible to catch up on my bills.

Across the board of restaurants will tell you they need pay up revised.

The profits have taken a giant cut.

The vast majority of couriers are taking the same hit.

Alex Kim and then after Alex Kim will be Alberto Alvarez and then Steven Rubenstelo.

Hi, my name is Alex Kim.

I'm a gig worker and District 2 resident here in support of the pay up ordinance.

A mysterious organization called Washington Alliance for Innovation and Independent Work has been running various social media ads, the latest calling out council members Hollingsworth and more for refusing to roll back gig worker rights with the proposed drive forward revision.

Thanks to some awesome Twitter detectives, I found out the person behind these ads is named Kiera Pfeiffer.

I looked her up on LinkedIn and big surprise, she's a public engagement manager at DoorDash.

Some of these ads say the council members are quote, failing delivery drivers who are hurting from the delivery pay ordinance.

As a delivery driver myself, I would like to thank council members Hollingsworth and Moore because I am indeed thriving from the increased pay and rights that PayUp has secured for us, not hurting.

The amount of orders continues to increase, and I would honestly say it is busier for me now than it was in 2023. I'm making more money and I'm also spending more at local businesses, including restaurants.

In so many ways, PayUp is a victory for the city of Seattle.

Hello, my name is Alberto.

I'm a driver here in Seattle.

Yes, thank you, CM Hollingsworth and Moore and Morales and anyone else who is supporting pay up because it's working.

It's giving us a living wage for six months.

It's been proven that it's been working for six months.

It's working.

It gives us dignity.

It lets us drive safely.

We don't have to be rushing.

We can go by the way it should be, driving safely.

and it gives a level playing field.

So thank you for holding the line on living wages and protections.

That is all.

Support pay up.

Steven's our last in-person speaker.

I'm probably the only one who's going to put some cold water on the levee.

The problem that I still see is closing down the arterials.

And of course, the next thing will be a tax on congestion in the city.

Highway 99 and Aurora, I think to try to reduce the lanes there is a travesty.

It's going to push a lot of traffic on the streets nearby.

And I see this as a really big problem.

Now, you also have credibility because remember the bridges?

That was supposed to be handled in the last levy, and sometimes things don't happen, and there are some people a little unhappy about that.

Now, the other thing that I would like to talk very quickly on is storefronts.

With the change coming from the Land Use Committee, we don't object to conversion from office to residential, but the storefronts in the

We'll now move to remote speakers.

Remote speakers, please press star six when you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted.

First remote speaker is Akira Ohiso.

Good day, City Council members.

My name is Akira Ohiso.

As a social worker of the Ballard Senior Center in District 6, a Ballard resident, and a member of SDOT's Transportation Equity Workgroup, I'm here today to thank Council Members Hollingsworth, Wu, and Moore for adopting Council Member Morales' amendment.

The adoption of this amendment demonstrates the commitment to the City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Ordinance for BIPOC, immigrants, disabled, and aging communities.

Equity work is critical across all departments.

We want to emphasize that allocating funds to the Neighborhood Initiated Safety Partnership Program allows intentional initiatives that address needs identified by the community.

The Transportation Equity Workgroup looks forward to continue serving in a collaborative capacity with all departments of FSGT.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our only remote speaker.

The last two in-person speakers will be Jesse Cervantes and Mariana Heike.

I think it takes us a minute just to walk up here.

Hi, good afternoon.

I'm Mariana Huyck and this is Jesse Cervantes and we wanted to talk in regards to the Land Use Committee.

So one of the big things that we just wanna have some support and having some strong labor standards.

One of the big things that we do in partnership with the City of Seattle is we sit on the Priority Hire Advisory Committee where we get to help provide opportunities for our local residents.

Most importantly, because of the great work the City of Seattle has done, has provided a lot of opportunity for programs to have pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeship training.

We want to see that we have good, strong, responsible contractors that come in, do the work, hire our local communities, give them opportunities for access to strong wages, good careers, and good benefits.

It also helps reduce recidivism.

It helps to get career access to those coming out of high school.

It provides opportunities to grow and develop.

And I don't know if Jesse, you want to add anything in support?

No, we're just a big proponent of community health.

And like my partner Mariana mentioned, we want to get good contractors that are going to be able to help their community.

Yes, and our WMBs and our minority-owned businesses as well play an integral piece of this as well.

Thank you.

Those were the last registered speakers.

Thank you very much.

We've reached the end of our public comment period.

It's now officially closed and we'll move on.

So I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Are there any comments?

Well, I have one.

I move to amend the introduction and referral calendar to add appointments 2908 through 2914 for referral to the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee.

The appointments are entitled reappointments of Danielle Alvarado and Tom Lambro as members Labor Standards Advisory Commission for a term to April 30th, 2026. Appointments and reappointments of Billy Hetherington, Samuel Hilbert, and Amanda Pauter as members.

of the Labor Standards Advisory Commission for a term to April 30th, 2025. Appointment of Bobby Forch as member Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission for a term to December 31st, 2026. And appointment of Jonathan Shermer as member to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission for a term to December 31st, 2025. I note colleagues that this was an administrative error on my office's part, on my part, and so I ask for your indulgence in amending the referral calendar to include these items which will be before my committee on Thursday.

All right.

Hearing no objections, I'm not seeing any comments, but we do have to take a roll call.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the amendment to adopt appointments, to add appointments 2908 through 2914 with a referral to the Government's Accountability and Economic Development Committee?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The motion carries and the appointments are added to the IRC.

Are there any further comments on the amended introduction and referral calendar?

Okay, if there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted as amended.

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

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

Seeing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar, and the items on it include the minutes of July 2nd, 2024, Council Bill 1200809, which is the payment of the bills, and three appointments from the Land Use Committee.

Are there any items that council members would like to remove from the consent calendar?

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

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

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

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

Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Wu?

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

Will the clerk please fix my signature to the minutes in legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf.

All right, folks, we're moving right along here to our items.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

The report of the select committee on 2024 is transportation levy agenda item one, council bill 120788 relating to transportation providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the city at an election to be held on November 5th, 2024. A proposition authorizing the city to levy regular property taxes for up to eight years in excess of limitations on levies in chapter 84.55 RCW for the purpose of providing city facilities and services, including transportation improvements, both capital and operating, and possible debt financing, creating a new oversight committee, applying RCW 84.36381, senior citizens and disabled persons, exceptions, or ratifying conforming search and fire acts.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended, with Councilmember Saka, Hollingsworth, Kettle, Moore, Morales, Nelson, Rivera, and Wu in favor, and with Councilmember Strauss in absentia.

Thank you very much for that run-through.

Councilmember Saka, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, for the very...

I might enlist you to read my talking points in the speed reading there.

That was excellent.

So, colleagues, here we are.

Today.

Today is the day.

After weeks, really months, of dedicated, focused review and engagement by all, Today, we are here to take a vote on one of the most consequential pieces of legislation that will come before any of us during our time on council.

Might be.

We are here to take a final vote on a $1.55 billion levy proposal that will shape the future of our city if passed.

Not just for the eight years it will be in effect, but for generations to come.

My kids, your kids, our grandkids.

It's an investment in our community.

Not just in a safer, more reliable transportation system, which yes it does, make no mistake, but in thousands of living wage jobs for people in our city.

Since day one, I've said we need a levy that delivers on the everyday basics in an extraordinary way.

And I'm proud to say before you today, colleagues, that this package accomplishes exactly that by making critical investments in our city moving forward.

From filling potholes to ensuring that our bridges don't fail or fall into disrepair or fail, this levy invests $423 million in street maintenance and modernization, $221 million in bridge infrastructure and safety, $151 million in improving transit corridors and connections, and $100 million to install and maintain traffic signals and improve mobility throughout the city.

This is a levy that will also work to address the public safety challenges playing out on our streets and across our city.

The number of people dying because of traffic collisions is unacceptable.

Just over a month ago, six people died in traffic incidents in Seattle in just one week's period.

You heard our colleague, Council Member Morales, recite the names.

This levy makes some of the biggest investments in safety in Seattle's history, which specifically includes additional $192 million for pedestrian safety, $160.5 million for Vision Zero and school and neighborhood safety initiatives.

Oh, and by the way, $113.5 million for bicycle safety.

That's not all.

It invests $45 million for improvements to our freight transportation system that will keep our economy humming and growing and safeguard our supply chains, our critical ingress and egress routes.

I know Councilmember Kettle and Strauss love those freight investments.

It invests $66.5 million to activate public spaces, neighborhoods and businesses and business districts that keep our city vibrant and welcoming for all.

And it makes sure Seattle is serious about achieving its climate goals by specifically investing $69 million to better address climate change, protect the environment, broader sustainability initiatives, and importantly, increase our tree canopy.

It does all of this, colleagues, while being mindful of the cost.

One of my highest priorities throughout this whole process has been to ensure that we have strict oversight and accountability of every single dollar being spent and invested under this proposal.

Because of that, this levy will have unparalleled levels of accountability and oversight and controls, mechanisms baked in, in place to make sure that whether it's $1 on a particular program or $1.55 billion in terms of the broader total package, every last dollar and cent is being wisely invested.

And again, that includes detailed spending requirements a stronger levy oversight board and better auditing capability explicitly baked in.

This levy will also work to mitigate the non-trivial tax impacts and affordability concerns on our city's most vulnerable.

It will create a new program for community outreach and education about property tax exemptions and exceptions for qualified seniors, people with disabilities and disabled veterans.

Make no mistake, This is a big investment.

But I feel confident, and I think we can all agree, and our community agrees, that Seattle is worth it.

We have heard loud and clear from the community throughout this process, end to end, that the community is willing to make this type of investment as long as it delivers on the basics, as long as it helps save people's lives, keeps people safe, and as long as we spend our money responsibly.

To that end, I am proud to be with you all today and cast my vote in favor of this proposal that does exactly that.

Colleagues, I appreciate your partnership throughout this whole journey.

Learned a lot personally about the legislative sausage-making process, and learned about myself, and learned how we can all best work together.

Appreciate the partnership and collaboration.

Also, a special shout-out and kudos to some members of my team, Elaine Okomako, my chief of staff, Leila Ghasar, stepped up in big ways, and, of course, Calvin Chow, our analyst, who we've all worked with, and every last one of you all, and members of the community.

Rita Holzman, I see, is in the audience today.

Rita, I want to thank you again for showing up almost every single day to every last one of our meetings, engaging directly with me in my office, behind the scenes, offline, pushing us and challenging us all to be better in terms of keeping our roads safer for all.

So this is what a community-led effort looks like, and I appreciate the collaboration by all, and I ask for your support today.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Are there any comments from my colleagues?

Chair, is this where you'd like me to?

Yes, Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

I would like to move Amendment A to Council Bill 120788.

Great, is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 120788 as presented on Amendment A. Council Member Strauss is sponsored.

You're recognized in order to address it.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues, for letting me bring this back to you again and giving me the opportunity to discuss some of the details and nuance of this amendment with you over the holiday weekend.

As you know, completing the missing link is incredibly important to me, and for the first time in 30 years, We heard both the industrial groups and the bicycle supporters on the same page about the Burke-Gilman Trail.

And I know that that might not sound like a really big deal, but it has never been done before.

I will also bring up that we, again, must make this a safe piece of infrastructure for the senior residents living along the path.

Since the last meeting of our council last week, SDOT has added to the website the work that they have completed with the residents.

And so it shows the difference between their front door and a five-foot sidewalk, which is now 19 feet between the front door and the trail.

So there's an eight foot sidewalk and 11 foot driveway so that residents don't need to cross the trail to enter or leave a car or van.

And there's still more work to do because I do want to see this as the safest piece of infrastructure for seniors, bicyclists and everyone else.

I will mention that I did look into using bicycle funding to fund this project.

There were three project readiness line items within the bicycle funds.

There's one within the paving.

The three within bicycles added up to $19 million.

The project readiness in the paving section was 26. So to have used all of the bicycle money would have zeroed it out and still not met the funding needs.

While using this line item as the funding source, we retain the flexibility because there's still dollars left in the line account.

I have also committed to each of you last week at the last week's meeting and with the chair since then that when REIT comes back, I will be sure to look at this fund and if the paving grants match and project readiness line item is low or has been used where they need replenishment, I commit that I will do that.

As Director Spatz said last week, he wanted to retain this funding in this line item because it allows him to use dollars without checking in with the council.

Two things that are equally important, SDOT's ability to match grants to double or triple the value of Seattleites tax dollars and accountability within the levy so that dollars are spent with council's input My input is that I will monitor this fund and add dollars back as REIT returns.

I'll just say really briefly and again, this is an opportunity to put a 30-year argument to rest, a three-decade generational argument to rest.

And there's great consensus and there's been a lot of work towards this.

I really hope to earn your support today.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you very much.

Are there any comments from my colleagues?

Okay.

Chair.

Yes.

I would just like to thank you, Madam President.

As stated at the last meeting that we had, I'm in support of the project in concept, and my concern was where the funding is from.

those pieces still hold for me.

And I would look to work, if this fails, I would look to work with Council Member Strauss in terms of how to address it going forward.

And I will also check in with Mr. Chau and others and then also on the budget side to ensure that is possible moving forward.

But for the same reasons I did in the committee, the select committee, I will be voting the same.

Thank you.

If there's no—okay.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Chair Nelson, and thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

I will say that I support the completion of the missing link.

However, I don't think that we need to have an earmark for doing so.

There's still a lot of work to be done on the design and implementation plans for the current proposals to fix the missing link.

including, as we heard from constituents last week, related to safety for residents with mobility challenges that live across from the latest proposed route.

I'm glad to hear that some of this has been addressed since last week, but there's more work to be done.

Once SDOT and the Levy Oversight Committee work together to find a solution, there's an opportunity already within the levy to pay for it.

For instance, the levy has 11 categories, as we know.

One is entirely devoted to bike infrastructure.

As we know, attachment A was not meant to be an exhaustive list of projects that will be funded in the levy.

SDOT, like I said, will work with the Levy Oversight Committee to create an implementation plan once the levy is passed.

The missing link should be addressed in that implementation plan.

And levy funding can be identified and proposed at that time.

And those proposals will come before council as part of SDOT's budget during the budget process every year.

And we'll have an opportunity to make decisions as we go as some of these solutions happen.

are addressed and these proposals are made.

So for this reason, like last week, I'm not going to be voting on this amendment today.

I appreciate your efforts, Council Member Strauss.

And like I said, I do support the missing link, but I think there's already opportunity within the levy to fund this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member.

Let's see who was next.

Council Member Moore.

Thank you very much, Chair.

So I had an opportunity to speak after the last vote, an opportunity to speak further with Councilmember Strauss.

I had a number of questions relating both to the feasibility of all the concerns that we heard from the assisted living residents, and those appeared to have been addressed.

I additionally had some questions about the funding and also about the litigation.

And those have all been addressed to my satisfaction.

It's not perfect.

And I would prefer if it were a different funding source, but I think it is an opportunity to finally resolve something that has been a thorn in the side of our city for a long period of time.

And so I will be changing my vote today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Seeing no other hands up, I'll just note that I'm going to be voting against this amendment today for the same reason that I did last week, and that is just its funding source.

I don't want to spend almost all, well, 20 of $26 million of a funding source that is used to leverage millions of dollars for other projects all over the city.

And it's my understanding that the funding source doesn't need to be set in stone right now.

Every year during the budget process, Council has to approve levy spending.

And I have talked to, and I appreciate the sponsors looking into different funding sources.

And I have voiced that I think that there are more directly...

There are other funding sources within the levy, such as the bike program or the bicycle infrastructure.

There are several different line items in there that would be more appropriate as sources than this particular fund.

Again...

We can change the funding source going forward, but I am just going to be voting against this, not because I do not appreciate the importance of this project, but because I'm concerned about projects that could come up in the very near term that could benefit from these matches that we will be jeopardizing by moving this money toward this purpose.

So thank you for your understanding.

All right.

Seeing no other comments, will the clerk please call the roll on Amendment 1. Amendment A, excuse me.

Unless you would like to have some, sorry, I should not have done that.

Would you like the last word?

Totally, Council President.

I think I've already said a lot on this.

Just appreciate everyone's openness in their consideration regarding this, putting this 30-year program to rest.

And we still need to do more for the residents along Leary.

And I have some ideas about how we do that.

So there's more work to be done.

Okay.

All right.

Will the clerk please call the roll on Amendment A?

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

No.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

No.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Wu?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

No.

Six in favor, three opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment A is adopted.

Are there further comments on the bill as amended?

Council President, is this when we talk about the whole package?

I do believe it is.

Yes, in fact, it is.

I am just going to hog the mic for a second and say thank you.

Also, congratulations to Chair Saka.

I'm incredibly impressed with the work that you've done.

In your first six months in office, you led an incredibly inclusive process that is going to result in generational change.

What I have done in the last week is reflecting about the growth that we've done in the last 10 years, last 15 years.

It's just been incredible.

And it felt like our teenage years when the body is growing so quickly, you don't know how long your limbs are.

You haven't completely filled in and you're not quite a full grown adult.

And here we are transitioning into our 20s where we are now a large city.

18th largest city in the nation.

And we have a lot of things and we don't have sidewalks in much of our city.

We need to make sure as we're growing that we're still able to get the freight and the goods to every neighborhood so that we can have 15 minute cities, so that we can have our buses running on time and reliably.

I'm not going to go into much more other than to say I think you and I over the last weekend chatting more, I just really appreciate how you come to this process and giving me constructive feedback.

And I've just been so impressed with your work and with all of the stakeholders out there for getting this all set up.

For SDOT's team, looking at you guys, Megan Shepherd, good work.

With that, I look forward to voting yes, and thank you very much for all of your leadership.

Council Member Morales.

Thank you.

Let's see.

Well, I will also begin by thanking the chair, Sokka, for shepherding us through this process.

This is really important work, and it's a reflection of the council's shared safety priorities for all modes of transit in the city.

I will admit I'm disappointed that a larger levy package didn't pass, but I think it's important to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights and some of the real wins in this package.

So we reinstated the Neighborhood Initiated Safety Partnership Program.

This program puts power back in the people's hands for how they want to see their tax money being spent.

And I'm proud of the amendment that I passed to almost fully fund the program.

We have new sidewalks and sidewalk alternatives, and I want to thank Councilmember Moore for your amendment to prioritize District 2 new sidewalks.

Seventeen percent of new sidewalks in the city will be focused in District 2. We added language to ensure comprehensive bicycle connections throughout District 2 and added language to ensure coordination with our regional transit partners.

We added language to support community-based planning and improvements around the future Graham Light Rail Station and the Chinatown International District Light Rail Stations.

And we added Rainier Avenue as a priority project for Vision Zero.

I really want to thank all of the community members and advocates who have been calling and emailing and showing up here in chambers over the last few months.

It's really important that we hear directly from the people that we represent about what's important to you.

And I think this package really reflects those priorities.

So I want to thank everybody who has attended.

And I look forward to supporting this bill and sending the levy to the voters.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

Like others, I want to say thank you to Chair Saka for your work on this, but also to the varying circles of support that you have for your immediate team, for the central staff team, Mr. Chau, but then also those of you who spoke in public comment.

Many organizations and individuals came to my office, met with them, talking about the issues and the challenges that they were facing.

And so I really appreciate all of that input because all that input is needed to make what we have today, which is something that we can all get behind ahead of November.

So thank you to everyone involved.

Also, thank you from my perspective, the focus on traffic and pedestrian safety, you know, the Vision Zero, but not just Vision Zero.

This will show up in other programs like what Council Member Morales was talking about.

WITH THE COMMUNITIES.

THAT'S SO IMPORTANT AND WILL BE FOREVER KNOWN AS THE SIDEWALKS LEVY.

THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE.

But that's important because that is pedestrian safety, and that is important, particularly those in our disabled community.

Improving roads for our city.

We should not forget that the king of potholes is delivering on this front, and this is important.

And this is important in so many ways.

You know, people can say, oh, we shouldn't be focusing on roads.

But yes, we need to because of, you know, this is where our public transportation rides on.

You know, many of us know the problems that we have with our public transportation system, and this goes a long way.

And I do like the focus on freight and logistical needs.

And, you know, this shows our commitment as a city to our port, to being a port city.

And this is important because in the long run, this is what, you know, ensures that we have the economic diversity and that we can press forward and adapt as we move forward through the decades.

And so I really appreciate the focus on the freight and logistical requirements that we have as a city.

And two last points.

First, bridges, again, We're a city of bridges, and these ensure that our city is linked together.

If we didn't have these bridges, we would fall apart into our various neighborhoods, and that would be a problem.

And this is something that we need to be mindful, particularly because of our emergency preparedness considerations.

If the big earthquake does come, we want to have that work done on our bridges, like what's happening right now on Queen Anne on West McGraw Street.

And lastly, it's all about good governance.

So I appreciate the oversight committee strengthening and pieces.

And I'm sure SDOT's going to learn to love it.

I can see Director Spatz smiling right now.

So he's giving me the thumbs up.

So we're all good on good governance for this levy.

So thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Council Member Wu.

I want to echo my colleague's statements and also want to thank Councilmember Saka for your collaboration and your leadership on this package.

I'm really excited as to where it's landed.

I'm also excited that there is a bucket for Outreach engagement, especially for, I know there's a lot of concern expressed from those who are on fixed income, people who make less than 80% AMI, that that outreach engagement will be done to let them know that there are tax exemptions due to Tax Assessor's Office to help mitigate any concerns regarding cost to individuals who may be concerned about that.

But other than that, I want to thank you and I'm excited to be able to have this appear before voters.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to echo my colleague's gratitude to Council Member Saca for his collaboration.

This truly is a compromise package.

Council Member Saca worked with each and every one of us to make sure that the interests of our particular districts were represented in this package.

It was not an easy task.

For myself, I know in my district, the safe routes to schools and pedestrian safety, and also even sidewalks, there are areas of the d4 that needs sidewalks as well and Councilmember Saka worked it diligently to make sure that all our interests were represented It is a compromise.

It's not going to be everything everybody wanted, but I knew it was important to him He communicated that to us and like I said he worked very diligently to make sure that all our interests were represented and And the process itself, it's a big levy.

I know we're asking a lot of voters.

So I really appreciate everyone who came to council to give their input as well, because this is not for us up here.

This is for all of our constituency across the city.

And I appreciate the engagement and hearing from folks.

particularly in my district, but from all across the city.

And so, I look forward to this passing in the fall.

And again, just really thank all of my colleagues up here for the sidebar conversations on some of these things that got included in the package.

And it really is a reflection of how we can all come together.

And like I always say, agree to disagree on some things, but really, put together a package that we can all, we will all vote on and stand behind, that we all had a hand in affecting, and that we all worked really hard together to make happen.

And I am very proud of that.

So thank you, Council Member Saka, for your leadership on that.

Thank you.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President Nelson.

I definitely want to thank Chair Saka for his leadership in this, and thank you.

I don't see anybody from Central staff here, but thank you, Central staff.

You're probably watching.

the five people on the Seattle channel right now.

So thank you, central staff and my mother.

And I also would like to thank Estat, who's here for your leadership and support and collaboration during this process.

I think the next eight years are incredibly important for our city and what we are.

what we're gonna be sending to the voters in November and what we're asking them to do and that we are delivering.

We're a first class city that should have first class services, should have first class roads, first class sidewalks, first class transit, all these different things in our city that people come and visit and we're so proud of, we should have first class of that.

And I know that we will deliver, we talk about the bold basics, the fundamentals, in our district, you know, maintenance, Vision Zero, sidewalk repairs, the transit investments that are incredibly important.

Safe routes to schools, also incredibly important.

I see the improvements that have been made.

And a lot of people that I talk to, a lot of them just want simple, basic things that are repaired from potholes to their sidewalk being repaired to the roads, the maintenance, light signals, just basic stuff, just for them to move a lot better in our city.

Just the cleanliness.

I've had people...

contact our office that they were so excited that their streets got swept and how just those little things make our city better and the cleanliness of it and everything.

So just want to thank everyone.

I'm looking forward to voting on this levy.

And the other thing that I know that ESSAT really cares about is that neighborhoods, we talk about it in particularly for in design, we say the word corridors, but talking to SDOT that they know that those are neighborhoods.

It's not just a line that goes through a community.

We could talk about them in design elements as corridors, but they're more than that.

And I know that there are gonna be some new construction projects going around.

And I know that SDOT really has an interest of our communities and wants to take what we've learned on the G line and implement that in the J line and also, um, ensure that when we're not just checking boxes, that we are really, um, we are really listening to the communities and, and, and making sure that neighborhoods can stay in place and, and continue to thrive.

So thank you.

I'll let you have the last word and simply say for my part, I've already spoken to the content of the and voted on the content of this levy when we voted on Amendment 1. So today I'll be just simply voting to send this to the voters and perhaps maybe the pothole king might be put out of the job at some point because we do have to get some more money because this will be allocating some money for maintenance and keeping our streets in better condition going forward.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Madam Council President and colleagues.

Thank you all for your very kind words and of appreciation and gratitude directed towards me.

Again, I will pass through all of that and share that praise and sense of gratitude and appreciation directly with my staff.

Elaine.

leila our central staff experts uh cal including yolanda there's a lot of people behind the scenes that you know we worked with every last one of us in our respective offices worked with um directly or in some cases indirectly we we might not even know they had a hand in this thing and i'm over here looking like a collar all out it's just weird to look but uh IN ANY EVENT, A LOT OF PEOPLE INVOLVED, SO I WANT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, KUDOS AND PRAISE TO OUR STAFF, ALL OF OUR STAFF.

YOU KNOW, WE ALL PUT IN THE WORK, NO DOUBT.

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, COLLEAGUES, A $1.55 BILLION LEVY PACKAGE PROPOSAL WOULD BE THE BALANCED COMPROMISE THING THAT WE LANDED ON?

BUT HERE WE ARE.

You know, again, I do think this is the consensus collaborative compromise final package, and I'm proud to be able to vote on it in favor of it today.

And again, thank you all for your tremendous partnership, every last one of you all.

We were able to hold and stay true to our deeply held values, excuse me, values and principles some cases getting certain underlying concerns addressed in other areas, but still hold tight to our underlying values and principles and not getting everything that we wanted, but I think we can all be satisfied with where we landed.

And at the end of the day, as you all alluded to it, voters are gonna decide.

We're putting forth a piece of legislation that voters are gonna have the final say on.

I'm confident that this is something that we can all be excited about, but voters are gonna have the final say.

And we, I mentioned, I heard a couple nods to pothole king or prince or baron or royalty, whatever it is.

That's all of us.

We are all pothole royalty.

And I think this makes that clear.

And we should all be proud of this work to date.

And this is the first time.

The final thing I'll say is like, What made this so challenging, I think, from my perspective, is the size, the scope, the scale, the complexity, the technical complexity, including the technical complexity of something like this.

It's very rare that brand new, year one council member, newly elected, here you go, oversee this thing.

But the biggest layer of complexity, I think, from my perspective, was this is the first time ever.

All that was going to be the case regardless, but this is the first time ever that we had to do all that in a district-based system, which I will emphasize that that did.

We saw some of that play out.

you know, publicly here, but that did add a whole new layer.

But here we are.

We're in a good position to put an exciting package before voters.

You know, pleasing 100% of the people all the time was never a goal or outcome, like, or intended outcome.

That's a fool's errand.

But we put together something exciting enough that, again, tee it up for voters.

And I feel great.

So thank you again for your partnership, collaboration.

I do think we, as I mentioned yesterday at council briefing, I do think we created a good playbook to replicate on a going forward basis, whether it's for budget or any number of other complex technical pieces of legislation that we consider.

But again, thank you all.

I'll shut up, Madam Council President.

Thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 120788 as amended?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Yes.

Sorry.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore.

Enthusiastically, yes.

Councilmember Morales.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Let's go.

Yes.

Councilmember Wu.

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

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

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

And will you please read the title of item two into the record?

Agenda item two, resolution 32137 relating to transportation and company and ordinance requesting the 2024 transportation levy for citywide transportation maintenance and improvements and providing further direction regarding reporting and implementation of the programs to be funded by the levy.

The committee recommends a resolution be adopted as amended.

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

Pardon me, just gathering myself.

Okay.

So we passed the underlying levy legislation just now.

And that is the basis that's gonna go directly before voters in November.

What we are considering now is the companion resolution.

So colleagues, our select committee presented this companion resolution for full council adoption.

We adopted it unanimously last week.

The companion resolution is an essential part of the broader levy package.

And again, I want to thank each and every last one of you all for your strong input, engagement, and thoughtful amendments to make it even better, some of which we've seen publicly and some of which we just shoehorned it into the main package and it was less visible to members of the public.

I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S GOING TO BE AN AUTHOR, THAT KIND OF THING, companion resolution, again, includes some of those strong accountability, oversight, and control mechanisms to ensure that the levy, if approved by voters, is able to, our city is able to successfully deliver on its promises and we're held to the highest possible standards of transparency, excellence, and accountability, and importantly, reporting.

to the public and our taxpayers.

And while I'm here, I do want to thank SDOT for your partnership throughout this process as well.

I see a few members still lingering here.

I also want to thank the mayor and the executive side for thoughtful collaboration.

But I ask for your support as we did last week in the Select Committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any comments?

Okay.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right.

The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving on to a different topic.

Will the clerk please read Item 3 into the record?

The report of the Land Use Committee, Agenda Item 3, Council Bill 120761, related to conversions of existing non-residential structures to residential use, adding a new Section 23.40.080 to the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Okay, thank you very much.

Council Member Morales is chair of the committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I'll walk you quickly through the legislation and then through some of the amendments.

We had five amendments in committee.

As I've said before, bringing more housing downtown is one of the best ways that we can reinvigorate our downtown core.

This legislation is part of the mayor's downtown activation plan.

If adopted, it would amend the land use code to allow the conversion of buildings from any non-residential to a residential use in commercial downtown Seattle mixed high-rise or mid-rise zone under specific conditions.

The intent is to streamline the conversion process.

We know that not all office buildings are necessarily adaptable to residential use due to their layout, and any conversion would need to add plumbing and other amenities per bedroom or per unit, which, of course, could be costly.

So without incentives, these conversions wouldn't be possible.

because they are a uniquely expensive type of product to build.

So the bill before you includes recitals that would encourage developers to consider building units in converted projects that meet universal design standards.

And the reason for this is really to encourage conversions to consider applying the ADA considerations.

We know, and we've heard, especially throughout the transportation levy discussion, that people have mobility needs and accessibility needs, and that includes housing.

I want to thank Council Member Moore for bringing amendments to allow MHA on some of these projects and to ensure that the department reports to, SDCI, reports to Council in 2028 on the number of projects that are converted.

So we know that MHA is one way that the city is able to fund affordable housing, and these amendments would remove the MHA exemption from high-rise and mid-rise zones and allow council to review the use of MHA on these projects and decide whether exemptions should be expanded or lifted in the future.

The legislation allows applicants for conversion projects to apply for building permits before the effective date of this legislation.

And the reason for that is to save a few months of review time and help permit the projects faster.

And it provides exemptions from some design review and development standards and MHA when an existing structure or structure that is already permitted is converted to housing from another use.

It restores the applicability of regulations for the Shoreline Master Program.

This was a technical amendment that was inadvertently left out by OPCD, and the amendment is needed in order for the proposal to continue to comply with SEPA regulations.

And lastly, the summary and fiscal note have been updated recently to reflect the amended language and will be posted to the record just for everyone's information.

What is there right now does not reflect the amendments that were made in committee last week.

I do want to thank Asha and Ketel on our Council Central staff, Director Kirondongo from OPCD.

They've been working closely with the mayor's office to get this work done, and the committee recommended unanimously that the bill pass.

Thank you very much for that report.

Are there any comments from my colleagues?

Council Member Wu.

Thank you.

So thank you, Chair Morales, for your leadership on this.

renovated and done a similar conversion from a 1909 hotel into workforce housing.

And I know how expensive it is.

It's about 30 times more than building new.

And I'm excited to see this go through, excited about the mayor's focus on this because I believe it will help reactivate downtown.

We desperately need housing.

This will help with that.

And this will also help developers be able to convert their buildings.

Right now they're sitting empty and we could fill these buildings with people.

And so I'm excited about this and I hope that you are as well, thank you.

Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to thank Chair Morales for the amendments that she proposed.

I think they made them particularly the universal design amendment was really enhanced the bill and also to thank you for your support of my amendments.

Thank you.

Are there any further comments?

Seeing none, unless that is, yeah, okay.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Excellent.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

All right, we've gotten to the end of our agenda.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar and there is not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any other further business to come before council?

Yes, Council President, I ask to be excused on council meeting July 27th, because I'll be attending the King County Regional Homelessness Authority retreat.

Right.

I might be getting back to folks.

All right, is there any objection to...

Yes, Amelia?

Yes.

Or the 23rd, beg your pardon, the 23rd.

I hope that resolved the confusion.

Okay, July 23rd.

If there's no objection, Council Member will be excused on July 23rd.

Council Member Morales.

Thank you.

I am also asking to be excused for July 22nd and 23rd.

All right, I don't see any objection to Council Member Morales being excused from those dates either.

So, moving on, Council Member Strauss.

Council President, in the opposite direction, I had at one point requested to be excused today, and I am in person, and so I believe that I have to be unexcused.

Is that correct, Amanda?

All right, anybody else here?

Okay.

Seeing no further business, this meeting on July 9th is adjourned at 3.07.

Thanks, everyone.