Council Meeting 10/11/2026

Well, good afternoon, everyone.

The November 10th, 2026 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.04 p.m.

I am Joy Hollingsworth, your council president.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Strauss?

Here.

Council Member Foster?

Here.

Council Member Juarez?

Here.

Council Member Juarez?

I said here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Kettle?

Here.

Council Member Lynn?

Council Member Rink?

Here.

Council Member Rivera?

Present.

Council Member Saka?

Here.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you, Phil.

Our Clerk, Council Member Juarez has a proclamation today for signature, recognizing November 10th as Justice Raquel Montoya Lewis Day.

Council Member Juarez, you are recognized to lead the discussion on the proclamation, and then Council Members may comment on the proclamation before fixing signatures and presenting the proclamation.

Council Member Juarez, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm going to do this the traditional way.

I'm going to stand.

Before we begin, I would like a few quick words from, since this is the People's House, for Council President to say a few quick words and Council Member Strauss, who chairs the Indigenous Advisory Council, and then we will come back to my statement and the proclamation.

I will, the first thing I will say, and thank you, Council Member Juarez, just welcoming everyone to chambers.

This is a historic day.

We are so honored as a council to honor you, Justice.

And I will just say thank you for all the work that you've done.

Looking forward to this proclamation.

It's very special.

And just thank you for being in our presence today.

to serve on any Supreme Court in the nation.

It is your accomplishments without putting yourself in the center, it is your accomplishments uplifting our entire world that make this so incredibly important.

With Senator Peggy Flanagan and Governor Deb Haaland, this is a moment where, and I say this about Council President Emeritus Juarez, is it takes a group of strong Indigenous women to change the world.

That would not be possible without you.

We wouldn't have the Indigenous Advisory Council.

We wouldn't have so much, so many of the good things in our world.

And so thank you to you.

Thank you for your leadership.

And thank you, Council President Emeritus.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

And with that, I'd like to start my comments.

And you just keep smiling at me, Justice.

I love it.

I can't tell you what an honor it is for me, the city, the Seattle City Council, Mayor Wilson, and the good people of Seattle to honor and recognize you today, former Justice Raquel Matoya Lewis, who I've known for many years.

At this point, I'm going to read the proclamation, and I understand after I read it that Council President will ask my colleagues if they have any words.

I normally don't read the whole proclamation, but I'm gonna do that because we have some folks in the audience that helped us write it, inspire it, and capture your spirit, your kindness, your humanity, and more importantly for us, your razor sharp intellect.

Justice Raquel Matoya-Lewis is an enrolled member of the Puerto Isleta and descended of Pueblo Laguna, two federally recognized tribes in New Mexico and is also of Jewish descent.

Justice, I'm gonna say Justice Raquel, was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court in 2019, as Councilmember Strauss said, making her the first Native American justice in that court's history and second Native American to serve on any state Supreme Court in the nation.

Justice Montoya Lewis previously served as Chief Judge for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, the Lummi Nation, and as an Associate Professor at Western Washington University Fairhaven, my alumni, of Interdisciplinary Studies where she taught law-related cultural development courses.

Justice Montoya Lewis also served as a Whatcom County Superior Court judge, where she presided over therapeutic drug court.

Justice Montoya Lewis earned her bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and her law degree and master of social work from the University of Washington.

Whereas, federal boarding schools' broken treaties and policies of forced assimilation sought to erase indigenous traditions and harm generations of native families.

I wasn't saying the whereas's before, but now I gotta do it.

Whereas, Justice Montoya Lewis carries the stories and lessons of her ancestors to preserve indigenous families, tribal traditions and tribal sovereignty.

And through her opinions on the Washington State Supreme Court has upheld and strengthened the protections of the federal Child Indian Welfare Act, also known as ICWA, that was passed in 1978. and the Washington State Indian Child Welfare Act.

Whereas Justice Montoya Lewis wrote for unanimous court, which we read, in the dependency of CJZ 2020, holding that if a court has reason to know a child is an Indian child, it must apply the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Washington State Indian Welfare Act.

And again, in regarding dependency of GJA 2021, holding that the state must provide active efforts to prevent the separation of native families.

I'm getting a little emotional there, thank you.

Whereas Justice Montoya Lewis, in partnership with the affiliated tribes of Northwest Indians, proclaims the legal and judicial systems must address the historical and persistent harm to indigenous peoples in Washington State through timely, consistent, thorough, and culturally appropriate efforts.

whereas Justice Montoya Lewis remains committed to teaching judges, social workers, lawyers, and advocates how bias affects decisions in Indian child welfare cases, on best practices for the welfare of indigenous children, and on domestic violence cases.

Her work there is unherald, not only for missing murdered indigenous women and girls, or Native American children, and domestic violence and gender-based violence.

whereas Justice Montoya Lewis is recognized for her remarkable work to keep Native families bonded, protect the connection of Native children to their culture and identity.

It is an honor and honored tribal sovereignty.

Now, therefore, the mayor and the Seattle City Council proclaim November 10th, 2026 to be Justice Raquel Montoya Lewis Day.

Yay.

I'll do closing remarks after you open the floor.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

Colleagues, at this time, I will pause to see if there are any comments people would like before I ask for the affixing of signatures, and I pass it back to Councilmember Juarez.

Councilmember Cattle.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to say, well, thank you everyone for being here, but I also wanted to say, since today's the day before Veterans Day, and there's a tradition with veterans of saying thank you for your service, but as I often say, it's not just for veterans, it's for all those that have served, and Justice, your service truly deserves a very strong, heartfelt thank you for your service, so thank you.

Awesome, thank you Council Member Kettle.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you Madam Council President Justice Montoya Lewis.

I just want to say a heartfelt and sincere thank you for your many years of distinguished service to our state, our region, indeed the City of Seattle by extension as well.

I really appreciate you in being such a fierce advocate of fairness and justice in our esteemed profession.

and distinguishing yourself in such a profound and impactful and lasting way as a jurist on the bench, setting a great example for younger lawyers like myself.

and thousands and thousands of others, whether in the legal profession or otherwise.

So, Your Honor, just want to say thank you.

Excited to be able to affix my signature in a moment, but I'm forever grateful for your service.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I, too, just want to join my colleagues in the gratitude to you Justice for all the work that you've done over the years.

The service has been invaluable and what I particularly noted that I really appreciate is that along with your law degree you have a social work degree and for the work and community both are so advantageous together.

because I know that in the legal world sometimes we don't understand what the social work world is doing and vice versa and being able to work together and for you to hold both of those was really, I know, an invaluable experience that you brought to the work.

So I really want to thank you for your many years of service.

to our state and our region and our city, as my colleague said.

And I'm really looking forward to celebrating today your day.

And I really do think it's really important to celebrate our community members for all the hard work that they do, particularly our community members who've been first in community to provide the service.

So I think that's important.

It's important to celebrate you today and community members like you.

So thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

You're all good.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Rank.

Thank you, Council President.

Justice Montoya Lewis, it has been so exciting to learn about your career and inspiring to read through the proclamation and learn more about the incredible service that you've provided to our community.

And also, I feel just so much gratitude for the expertise that you have brought to the courts.

And I feel so much gratitude, too, as was stated about you being the first in so many ways and how much that means to the next generation of leaders, too.

So I want to thank you from my whole heart for the opportunities you've and the doors you've opened for so many.

Thank you.

And I'm so glad we get to celebrate you today.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Rank.

Before I pass it back to Council Member Juarez, I do wanna recognize we do have some people in the audience.

I have a list here, there might be some, but I know that we're gonna celebrate downstairs as well.

So we have Chief Justice Deborah Stevens.

We also have, welcome, is Justice Stevens here?

They, no, maybe, they will, okay, potentially.

Justice Teo Angelis, Justice Salvador Munga.

We also have a presiding judge, Avril Rothrock, King County Prosecuting Attorney.

I know Lisa Mannion is here, welcome.

We also have potentially Judge Anita Crawford and then City Attorney Erica Evans as well.

And then I know they will be joining us downstairs.

So before I ask for signatures, I'm gonna have Councilmember Juarez do her closing, and then we will ask for signatures.

Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you, Council President.

In my excitement, I forgot something in my script, which we do traditionally.

My name is , which means Holy Mountain Woman.

And we also want to say welcome to the People's House, and we raise our hands to you.

So I'll move on.

It's really emotional for me today because I want to recognize you, Judge, in a good way, in the way we do in Indian Country.

That justice is bravery, it's leadership, it's kindness, and it's intellect.

And the judicial branch of government reminds us that we are a nation of laws.

And sometimes those laws need to be dismantled to uphold true justice.

And you have been a warrior on that front line, and thank you.

What hasn't lost the irony on me today is that in 2018 and 2019, and I believe you and I were still, well, we've always been speaking, then Council President Harrell, we gathered in this same room to pass a resolution and an ordinance and fund a position and discuss the Indian Child Welfare Act.

and its effects.

It took an act of Congress to protect our babies.

It took the act of Congress under missing murdered indigenous women and girls to protect our women and girls and of course our other relatives.

and it isn't just our women and girls, it's our babies, and it's our future.

And so here, we're all back here again with some of the same faces.

I see the CEO from Celia and Health Board, Esther Lucero.

I see Gabe Galanda from Round Valley.

Gabe's everywhere, as you all know.

I don't have time to holler out everybody.

But I want to say that we are all raising our hands to you, but also a big thank you to the folks that help us make this happen.

We want to raise our hands to Sofia Suarez.

Where's Sofia?

Sofia, stand up, raise your hands.

Come on now, girl.

Sofia, who did all the work and put everything together.

We have Kimi King, who reached out and put the work together, Kimi.

Kelly Brown, our Chief of Staff, who worked well, and of course Paul, who's now at Deal, but also worked with us.

And a special thank you to Sophia and Kimi, because we don't see this a lot in city government.

reached out to Indian Country, to elders, to leaders, to judges, to community, to elected officials, to bring us all together to recognize this day.

Because to us, this isn't just a proclamation.

It means something.

I'm going to remember this day like I remembered when we did missing, murdered indigenous women and girls.

And I also want to thank central staff, Eddin, are you here?

Eddin Sesik, who wrote it, who worked with us on the resolution.

And a huge thank you to Gabe Glanda, who helped our office draft and inspired us to capture the true spirit and essence of you, Judge.

I've seen your work, but it's one thing to try to put it all down on paper.

Thank you, Gabe.

and I shared some of these comments a few times up on this dais is that we don't want to be performative.

We want people to know that you do the work and you come from us and you've never used our trauma you've never used the worst day in our lives and other people's lives to make yourself shine brighter.

You've always, with graciousness, and I love this about you, and patience, have always stepped aside to let other people shine while today's your day to shine.

And so that, we're gonna do our blanketing.

So could I have our council member, or how are we gonna do this?

Are we going to have you come up to the microphone?

Before we do that, can we ask for signatures?

Oh, I thought we did.

We had not.

Oh, I'm sorry.

We were letting you do your closing.

I'm being a little bit ahead of myself with the blanket ceremony.

Sorry.

You're all good.

Okay.

No, no, no.

So hearing no further discussion, did you close, Council Member Morris?

Oh, well, then I got to do kind of, but I'll still do some commentary with the blanketing.

But go ahead.

Let's do the signatures.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay.

So hearing no further discussion on the proclamation, will the clerk please call the roll to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed to the proclamation, recognizing November 10th as Justice Raquel Montoya Lewis Day.

Council Member Strauss Council Member Foster Council Member Weires Council Member Kettle Council Member Lynn Council Member Rink Council Member Rivera Council Member Sokka Council President Hollingsworth Council President Hollingsworth Council President Hollingsworth Council President Hollingsworth

Congratulations.

It is now official.

And I will pass it back to Councilmember Juarez so you can do the blanketing ceremony.

Yes.

But before we do that, Council President, do we want to see if anyone wants to speak ahead of time before we invite the judge up to the microphone?

Yeah, absolutely.

The microphone is open.

I don't know if there are folks that would like to speak.

Absolutely, please.

Thank you.

Counsel, the way that we always address the court is, may it please the courts.

I'm going to say, may it please the counsel, if you will.

I'll feel a little more at home.

I'm Sal Munjia, Justice Sal Munjia.

I'm on the state Supreme Court.

And I'm going to say just a few words about one of our dear colleagues on behalf of all of us on the court.

And there's just three things I want to say.

One, I think everybody brings a unique perspective to the court.

Some people bring even a more unique perspective to the court, though, than others.

And Justice Montoya Lewis has done that for the last seven years.

She knows what it's like to be marginalized.

She knows what it's like to be put aside.

She knows what it's like not to be listened to simply because of who she is.

And she brings that voice to our bench, to our colleagues, to our discussions constantly, so that our opinions, our decisions, are rooted in a sense of humanity.

And that comes from her soul, and that comes from her very essence.

Two.

Justice Montoya Lewis, I think someone just said that, doesn't like the spotlight on herself.

And in fact, insists on always acknowledging those who have really done the work.

Much so, and I will just say this, there's been some internal battles over that.

But that is who she is.

That is so important for her.

to give credit for those who have really allowed her to shine the way she has.

And I will say this, that she makes sure, even though she's the first on our court not to be the last, who is representing Native Americans.

I was just at an event last week.

A number of us for law students up here.

And she has done so much for Native American law students so that they can have clerkships and become lawyers and then follow her path on the court.

The third thing is more personal.

And not of the court, but I'm still speaking on the court, but it's going to be personal.

This is one thing.

among many things that I'll miss from Justice Montoya Lewis.

Anybody who is a fan of The Office knows the look that Jim Halpert always gives, right, with the wide eyes when something unusual happens.

She will be sitting across from me.

Somebody will be saying something, and she'll look at me and just give me that wide eye, which I love.

It brings, again, the sense of joy, happiness, and bonding.

which is so important on our bench.

So on behalf of the court, Justice Montoya Lewis, I'm just going to say one thing, maybe two things.

We love you, and we will miss you.

Thank you.

That's beautiful.

Is there anyone else who would like to share a few words?

Ms. Mannion, welcome.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Lisa Mannion, King County Prosecuting Attorney.

Justice Montoya Lewis, on behalf of everyone and all of us at the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, thank you for serving such an important and esteemed justice on our Washington State Supreme Court.

Thank you for your commitment to fairness and equity.

Thank you for your keen legal analysis and your respect for the rule of law.

And thank you for serving as such an important and inspiring role model for everyone who hopes to follow in your footsteps.

Thank you so much.

It's an honor to celebrate you.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Gabe Galanda.

We know.

You know.

I belong to Round Valley, and I'm honored to be here in your presence, Justice Montoya Lewis.

I simply want to thank you and show my love and pride to you and for you for giving voice to our voiceless and giving visible to our most invisible.

And by that, I mean our neglected and our abused and our incarcerated and our excluded and our disenrolled relatives.

You've given them, again, voice and visibility in all of your work, and especially from the Washington State Supreme Court.

And I just want to thank you so much, tell you how proud I am of you, and tell you how much I love you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Gabe.

Now we'll kick it back to Councilmember Juarez for the blanketing ceremony.

Thank you.

So with that, I'm going to have Justice, our Judge.

Judge, would you mind stepping up to the microphone?

And then I think after this, we can do a quick picture.

Yes.

All right.

So in our culture, what we do is we honor with a blanket.

And while I am letting my Kimi and Sophia blanket, I'm going to say something quick about the artist because I see Jackie's here from Rise Above and she is Nez Perce.

Mikaela Thompson is a passionate entrepreneur and owner of beadwork by Mikaela, an indigenous creative.

As an Afro-Indigenous Nez Perce artist, Makaya has built a strong presence in both the art and media institutions.

Through her work, she highlights the beauty of indigenous artistry while creating opportunities for other creatives to thrive.

And as you know, this blanket comes from our friend Louis Gong at Eighth Generation.

And so with that, again, the honoring is, for those of you who are not familiar with our practices, it's basically that we hold you, we honor you, and now you are wearing from what would what I guess what the translation would be is a warm hug from us.

And with that, we hope to hear from you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Justice, please.

Thank you.

They're going to work.

OK.

To lower it way down.

Well, I am humbled and honored to be here today and so appreciative of this recognition.

And Council Member Juarez, I would not be here without you being where you've been in the course of your career.

So as the first native person on the Washington State judiciary at any level, I owe you a debt of gratitude for forging that path, because I wouldn't have had the courage to do it if I couldn't point to at least one person who had done it before me.

So I'm grateful for that and for your leadership throughout your career.

This is sort of a bittersweet moment, because at the same time really feeling the warmth and love and respect and honor that you're all giving me.

I'm also walking away from a career that has been fulfilling and exciting and more than I could have ever imagined.

So the feelings are complicated.

But one of the things that's been true over the course of the last couple of months, as I've been at different events and talked to judges, students, one of the consistent things that I hear from people is that it's really important to let communities celebrate the wins.

And I've really resisted being celebrated.

You're right, this is hard for me.

But it's been impressed upon me recently that it's also really important to allow yourself to be wrapped in the love of your community.

And it's been a long road to get to that point.

And I mean that at multiple levels, as some of you I'm sure know.

So I'm very grateful to be able to have that moment and be present for it in all ways.

I couldn't be here without my incredible Chambers team, my law clerks, who are the people that I'm doing it.

You just said I was doing that, Justice Mejia, and I'm doing it again.

But I wouldn't be here without my law clerks, who have helped me write every opinion I've issued, who have been there for me throughout the course of my time on the court.

My entire team has just been extraordinary.

When I decided to apply for the appointment for this position, I was fairly skeptical that I wanted to do it, to be honest.

I don't know if that's OK to say, but I'm going to say it.

And so my husband, Colin, and I spent a lot of time talking about whether or not I should do it.

And he really said, you know, even if it means picking up our family and moving, even if it's disruptive, even if it's not everything you hope it to be, it's still worth trying to do it.

So I wouldn't be here without him in all capacities, but certainly the support of your family and your partner is critical to being able to do this kind of work.

And then lastly, I just want to say how appreciative I am that that, in particular, the proclamation focuses on the importance of protecting Native children and Native families.

Over the course of the last several years, I've developed a speech that I'm hoping will become a book that talks about the impact of generations of removal and what that has looked like in my own family and the impact that that's had on me.

In the course of learning some of the stories of my relatives who went to boarding school and who were sent there, and in the course of being able to visit one of those boarding schools recently, I really appreciated something that my dad always said to me.

He wasn't very interested in me complaining about things being hard.

because he knew what hard was, and the generations before us knew what hard was.

But he also talked about the importance of doing those hard things anyway and continuing to tell our stories and to do that in a way that is public and celebrates not just the people who survived in order for me to be here, but the people who also didn't make it.

So over the summer, I was able to visit the gravesite of one of my relatives who didn't survive boarding school.

and that's a moment where everything in my life before and after that are different.

I'm fully changed by that experience.

One of the things that I've learned from this event and others like it over the course of leaving this position is that people want to hear those stories and those stories need to be told.

So I appreciate being honored, but it's not the last you'll hear from me.

So thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Well-deserved justice.

We are going to now suspend the rules, and if there's no objection, we'll have you come up here.

We'll take a photo.

And I know that we have Deanna Lee will direct us as well.

Counsel, you all know what to do.

So we'll do a photo.

We'll invite you up here on the dais, Justice, up here.

Yep, you'll just come right here.

And then if you're watching after this, we have another proclamation celebrating Diwali, and then we will jump right into public comment.

Okay, let's get you under the seal.

Thank you.

Perfect.

You're right here.

It's going to stand like this.

Yep.

Put the microphone down.

And Deanna Lee, count us down.

We'll squeeze in.

Scooch.

Scooch.

Scooch.

Scooch.

I'm going to take a couple.

I should probably take my hands off you at some point.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Sorry, I've been patting people on the back.

I do too.

All right, awesome, thank you.

I know there's a reception downstairs, and so thank you, colleagues.

For that, we're gonna transition into our second proclamation.

Today, I am presenting a proclamation.

We are the council.

I brought it forward, recognizing November 8th as Diwali, the festival of lights for signature and presentation.

I will share some comments, and then council members may comment on the proclamation before fixing signatures, and we do the presentation.

First, I want to thank our Consul General Gupta for joining us here today.

It's an honor to have you here for joining us and thank you to the community members who help us celebrate Diwali as well.

We're so grateful to have you all here.

It is an honor to present this proclamation and recognizing the Festival of Lights and the many people who make this celebration such a meaningful part of our city, our fabric of Seattle and our region.

Diwali's a time for gathering with loved ones, sharing food, renewing friendships, and looking ahead with hope.

That is the key word, hope.

Across many traditions, it's the message of light.

And in this world, we know we need a lot of light.

We need a lot of light, we need a lot of knowledge, and we need a lot of good.

That's what I've learned from you, Consul General Gupta.

The first time I met you, you were light, you were knowledge, and you were good.

You had good energy.

You were good people.

and just an honor.

And I'm gonna read a little bit of the proclamation here as well, and then colleagues, I will look to you all for comments.

Whereas Diwali, known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most significant and cherished celebrations for millions of people around the world, including the residents here in Seattle.

Whereas the observance of Diwali brings families, communities together through traditions, that include lighting of the lamps, sharing meals, exchanging of goodwill, and participating in acts of service and reflection.

Whereas Seattle, to include the South Lake Union and Belltown neighborhoods, is home to vibrant and rapidly growing Indian and Hindu communities, whereas cultural heritage enriches the social, economic, and civic fabric of our country and our city.

Whereas formally recognizing Diwali reflects Seattle's ongoing commitment to honoring the diverse communities that strengthen our country and contribute to the spirit of inclusion, understanding and mutual respect.

And whereas the Consulate General of India, which recently established its presence in Seattle, and we are very grateful for that.

Colleagues, if you have not gone and seen the consult, headquarters, please go, continues to foster people-to-people ties between India and the United States, strengthening cultural bonds celebrated through shared traditions such as Diwali.

Now and therefore, the mayor and city council proclaim November 8th to be Diwali, the Festival of Lights Day.

and so congratulations.

I also wanna share really quick, I know, and I don't wanna end on a sour note, but I know that we had some events here in Seattle, at the Seattle Center, and I wanna acknowledge that, you know, that hateful speech has no place in Seattle.

You hear that a lot, but I really mean that when I say that, It has no place here in Seattle, and to the families, performers, organizers, and everyone affected, I'm deeply sorry, and I know my colleagues, we're deeply sorry, because that gathering is meant to bring joy, and racism and bigotry is not welcome here in Seattle as well.

And so I am very grateful that it was met with love, it was met with compassion, it was met with, hey, not today, okay?

That was what I saw when people said, not today.

So, colleagues, before we suspend the rules and present the wonderful proclamation that we have today, I will stop here to see if anyone has any comments today before we suspend the rules.

I know a lot of us have.

Thank you, Council President, Council General Gupta, Daesh and the whole team.

Welcome here to Chambers.

It's an honor to have you here and to speak to Diwali.

I wanted to say as someone who represents District 7 and all those from India and from those that support and celebrate Diwali, that it is an honor for me to do so.

And it goes from my meetings with you, Council General or Dash, but also down in South Lake Union, in my community.

And I met with Dipali Jamwal from Live to Dance.

and she is a representative of the community with so much.

You talk about energy, Council President.

Nobody has more energy than she does.

And Live to Dance is just about building community.

And she does that.

And I think that's really emblematic of the difference and the impact that the community is making here in Seattle.

I mean, you see it definitely in South Lake Union.

You see it in Belltown.

But you see it across the city of Seattle and in the region, of course, as well.

and so I just wanted to say thank you and thank you for all the engagement that's happened on behalf of the community here with the council and city hall and city government overall as well.

So thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

Are there other colleagues who- Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

I just want to say happy Diwali and thank you for being here in chambers and Council President, thank you to you for bringing this proclamation forward.

As I've always said, we need to celebrate our communities in Seattle.

We have many diverse communities in Seattle and they make this city the amazing city that it is.

And we need to take the time always to recognize that, and today is such a day.

So I just want to say thank you for being here, and I'm really excited to be able to sign on to this proclamation.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Are there any other comments before we suspend the rules?

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you for the proclamation today.

I had the highlight of my week this entire last week.

It's been an exciting week, I'll tell you, but the best part of my week was standing in line for the meal provided in the armory to celebrate Diwali.

I got to go and I was dressed down.

I was like painting a hat on, trying not to be and then of course Seattle Center staff come up and chat with me. it created turbulence because everyone in line thought that they were cutting.

And that is how excited everyone was for this, to get to participate through eating together, to participate by listening to music together, to participate by everyone sitting in that very busy armory hall with 3,000 things going on all at once and a performance on stage.

to go upstairs and to, I didn't understand how you, how folks got cows into the armory this weekend, but the cuddle the cow on the second floor, I was glad to see that they were still young and that's how they got in.

And then to step into the artist galleries that were in the exhibition halls where it was so much different than the armory hall where it was quiet, where there were intimate moments of tranquility, where artists were able to display the works that they had worked on.

This is what creating community is.

This is what a healthy democracy is.

I was stunned, shocked, horrified, disturbed to see the videos of what happened just shortly after I left.

I can tell you from firsthand experience, standing in line for that shared meal and eating that with a good friend was the highlight of my week.

Thank you for sharing with us.

Thank you for letting us participate with you.

Thank you Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you Councilmember Strauss.

We have Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President and Consul General Gupta.

I just want to say welcome to Seattle City Hall.

Happy Diwali.

I'm incredibly excited in a moment to be able to affix my name and signature to this honorary proclamation because Diwali is such a beautiful celebration and cultural event.

The event itself is obviously a moment of pride for people who practice the Hindu faith and part of Hindu culture and the broader country of India.

But because, as Councilmember Rivera mentioned a moment ago, our community is tremendously enriched, strengthened, and helps and is thriving because of the tremendous diversity that we have, especially including from our Indian friends, Indian Americans, local Indian diaspora.

So shout out to Happy Diwali.

Happy Diwali.

Beautiful celebration.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you council member Saka.

Are there any more comments on the floor before I ask for signatures to be affixed to the proclamation?

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed to the proclamation proclaiming November 8th as Diwali, the Festival of Lights Day.

Council member Strauss?

Aye.

Council member Foster?

Yes.

Council member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Cattle.

Aye.

Council Member Lynn.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council President Hawkesworth.

Yes.

Nine signatures will be fixed.

Awesome.

Congratulations.

We are so, so welcome to honor Dwali and then have you all here.

I believe that we're going to suspend the rules because we do have a presentation.

So, Consul General Gupta, more than welcome, would love for you to come forward if you have some words to say as well.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, namaste, greetings from the consulate.

I want to begin by thanking the entire Seattle City Council, particularly Council President Joy Hollingsworth for making this so special for the entire Indian American community, for all the Indians who call Seattle their second home.

Look, Diwali essentially brings Joy, your first name, here into this chair.

So thank you for piloting this and bringing this together.

In the last one month, we have seen perhaps the largest scale of Diwali celebrations across the US Pacific Northwest.

Since the middle of October till today, we've done it in six states that we cover from the consulate region.

We started in Nebraska.

We went to Montana, North Dakota.

Today it's going to be in Oregon.

We were earlier in Montana, and now we last week had Washington State Capitol in Olympia doing these celebrations.

In addition, I'm also very happy to let you know that within the King County, 22 cities have issued official proclamations so far honoring the festival of Diwali and celebrating the contributions of the Indian American community to their respective cities, homes, and geographies where they live in.

Diwali in Indian tradition is the day when Lord Rama was welcomed back after 14 years of exile into Ayodhya, and the entire city lit up to welcome their own king back after 14 years of exile.

So to us, it's not just about light eliminating darkness, or hope over despair.

It's more importantly about how families connect, how families bond, and the essential messages.

Can we embrace ourselves together as children of the same God by overcoming our own differences and making sure we send positivity and light out.

That's the central message.

So I'm very, very delighted that today, irrespective of what happened over the weekend at the Seattle Center, we are all united in giving one message.

that the entire world is one family.

That's the message that comes out from India as .

Thank you so much, again, for making this special, and a very happy Diwali to all of you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you.

So maybe we've got a picture, if that's OK.

So we're going to suspend the rules and do a picture.

Yeah?

I saw Dash say mouth with the word picture.

Hey, Dash.

Yep.

You just come out here on the side.

Yep.

And we're gonna be right here in the middle.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for doing this.

Good to see you man.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your words.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you once again.

Absolutely.

Perfect.

Thank you my friend.

Thank you.

Yeah, it's good to see you.

I'll get this signed for you as well.

Thank you, CDG.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'd like to thank the Council General for a wonderful presentation.

And just for you all, we have suites as well.

It's under $25 for the public, so just letting you guys know.

We're not breaking any rules.

Thank you all so much for being here.

Were we gonna light something as well, or?

No.

Yeah, absolutely.

Were we gonna light something as well?

Absolutely.

Please.

I was told we were gonna light.

Yes.

Pardon me?

Do we need a lighter?

Okay.

Okay, I will come down.

We were supposed to light.

Okay, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, please.

Let's go.

That's a nice picture.

Is this what you told me about Friday?

That was one of the most important piece for us, the light, the candle.

And I said, we can leave the light to provide light for council.

All right.

Thank you, colleagues, for that.

We also are going to now transition right into our hybrid public comment period.

Will the clerk please read the rules on public?

Oh, excuse me.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction referral calendar, and the council's work plan.

The council cannot accept comments on quasi-judicial items or campaign-related matters.

How many speakers do we have signed up today?

We have five remote and seven in person.

Okay, everyone's going to get two minutes.

Will the clerk please read the instructions?

Public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

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

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

Speakers' microphones 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'll begin with the first speaker on the list.

And if there's no objections, Council Member Juarez will be excused.

No objections, Council Member Juarez is excused for the rest of the meeting.

All right, we will call up our first speaker.

Our first in-person speaker is Brooks Kolb and then Merlin Fish.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, everybody.

I'm Brooks Kolb with the Allied Arts Foundation and Allied Arts of Seattle.

And I apologize for being the one to bring the mood back down from the sublime to the bonnet.

But I'm here to comment on a bill that I thought was going to be discussed this afternoon, the Traffic Bill 121296. Allied Arts Foundation is very concerned about Amendment 16 to that bill.

Our concerns are twofold.

One is existential, and one is procedural.

The existential concern is that we're concerned that It would erode the power of the Market Historic Commission such that the Pike Place Market would go from being what it has always been, which is a genuine, authentic farmer's market, to a glorified food court.

And that's because we're worried that the farmers would not have adequate time to get their deliveries and to do their loadout at the end of the day if the Pike Place was closed to traffic in an impermanent way.

Our second concern is procedural.

We're concerned that the procedures that were set up by the Citizens Initiative of 1971 empowering the Market Historic Commission and also subsequent actions that empowered the Landmark Preservation Board for the other historic districts that those authorities would be eroded.

They have worked fine for 55 years in the case of the Pike Place Market, and we don't see the need to overturn that.

In fact, very recently, there was a consensus built around street closure at Pike Place Market between SDOT, the Market Historical Commission, and the constituency, and we see no reason why that should be overruled.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Brooks.

Next we have Merlin, followed by Billy, then we have Heather Bennett, David Haynes, and Miss Yvette Dynash.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Merlin Fish.

The skilled tradespeople who keep Seattle running need your support.

The members of IAM Local 79 are responsible for maintaining and repairing the equipment that generates our electricity and treats our drinking and wastewater.

Despite our contract expiring on January 1st, our members continue showing up, doing their jobs, and serving this city with professionalism and dedication.

We've done our part at the bargaining table.

We've presented a reasonable proposal that reflects the skill, responsibility, and market value of the work we perform.

We have come prepared, negotiated in good faith, and made every effort to reach a fair agreement.

City negotiators have canceled meetings with little or no notice.

They have arrived without authority or willingness to make meaningful progress.

We have filed unfair labor practice charges over the city's failure to bargain in good faith.

Our members have even been threatened with termination for exercising their legally protected rights as workers.

Seattle has historically been a leader in valuing skilled tradespeople.

That tradition is worth preserving.

Seattle residents depend on our expertise, often without ever having to think about it.

Our members aren't asking for special treatment.

We're asking for fairness, respect, and a contract that recognizes the essential work we do.

We ask you to stand with the people who keep this city running.

Please call on the leadership of Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to return to the bargaining table in good faith to work toward a fair and collaborative agreement.

We take care of Seattle every day.

We're simply asking Seattle to take care of its workers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Merlin.

Next we have Billy, followed by Heather Bennett David Yvette.

Welcome, Billy.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

The skilled tradespeople who keep Seattle running need your support.

The members of IAM Local 79 are responsible for maintaining and repairing the equipment that generates our electricity and treats our drinking and wastewater.

Despite our contract expiring on January 1st, our members continue showing up, doing their jobs, and serving this city with professionalism and dedication.

We've done our part at the bargaining table.

We've presented a reasonable proposal that reflects the skill, responsibility, and market value of the work we perform.

We have come prepared, negotiated in good faith, and made every effort to reach a fair agreement.

City negotiators have canceled meetings with little or no notice.

They have arrived without authority or willingness to make meaningful progress.

We have filed unfair labor practice charges over the city's failure to bargain in good faith.

Our members have even been threatened with termination for exercising their legally protected rights as workers.

Seattle has historically been a leader in valuing skilled tradespeople.

That tradition is worth preserving.

Seattle residents depend on our expertise, often without ever having to think about it.

Our members aren't asking for special treatment.

We are asking for fairness, respect, and a contract that recognizes the essential work that we do.

We are asking you to stand with the people who keep this city running, Please call on the leadership of Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to return to the bargaining table in good faith to work toward a fair, collaborative agreement.

We take care of Seattle every day.

We are simply asking Seattle to take care of its workers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Billy.

Next we have Heather.

Hi, council members.

Heather Peel, president, Friends of the Market.

And I want to say first, I really appreciated both those proclamations today.

The protocol and the ceremony is so important, keeping us grounded in what matters here in the city.

And so with that, I'm here to talk about Pike Place Market.

and Amendment 16 to Council Bill 121296. And on behalf of Friends of the Market, I'm here to request that the City Council remove language from Council Bill 121296 that could give the city's traffic engineer the final say over traffic control devices in the Market Historical District.

That would remove the requirements for a certificate of approval from the Market Historical Commission.

The amendment to take away the Commission's authority is not necessary to make sure to improve safety in the historic district.

And on top of that, it really is insulting to the integrity and the judgment of the Market Historical Commission, the members of which are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council for their expertise.

Requiring SDOT to obtain a certificate of approval from the commission is not burdensome.

The commission has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate that it collaborates with SDOT on finding appropriate solutions that meet preservation of the character of the district.

The Commission's role and its authority were created by a Voters Initiative in 1971 to make decisions that are in the best interest of preserving the market.

Please remove the language that affects the historical district.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Heather.

Next, we have Bennett, followed by David, and then Yvette, and then we will go straight to online.

Good afternoon, Council.

So I'd recently talked about the long-lived October 7th rally in Cal Anderson, where I remember the sign saying, please stop cheering for October 7th.

Would love to be better.

I should have clarified, by the way, this is a smaller reproduction of the sign.

The original was three foot by four foot.

It was not mincing around holding this tiny little thing.

So yes, there is an ugly streak of anti-Semitism in the protest movement.

I wanted to emphasize one thing.

In an apples-to-apples comparison, I think that anti-Muslim, anti-Arab bigotry mainstreamed, even in Seattle, is much worse.

You all know who Jonathan Cho is.

He wrote about the first pro-Palestine protests back in 2023. He always called them pro-Hamas rallies.

Now, this is a different group of people back then.

They were not cheering for Hamas until October 7th, but apparently because they were pro-Palestine Arabs, he just called them Hamas.

Ari Hoffman, you all know who he is, radio host in Seattle.

He has tweeted out multiple times that he thinks we should drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza, presumably killing two innocent people.

Whenever he refers to Pramila Jayapal, he calls her D.

Hamas, as a representative from Hamas, because she's POC apparently, and he has joked about a million times that Ilhan Omar married her brother.

And by the way, UW president Robert Jones has co-hosted multiple events with him.

And a bunch of us, we email every time and say, do you know what this guy has said?

And we get this boilerplate response back saying, you know, agreeing to participate is not an endorsement.

And OK, but it's still legitimizing it by co-hosting things with him.

And because you all know that if a radio host, even in Seattle, said drop a nuclear bomb on Israel, they would be off the air the next day.

They would be escorted out of the building.

They wouldn't be able to finish out the show.

So yes, the point stands that I think anti-Arab, anti-Muslim bigotry is mainstreamed in a way that even the fringe anti-Semitism is not.

Change it up a bit, a bit late, but I want to thank you for passing the fair pricing bill.

I guess because it was a progressive bill, a lot of commenters thanked council members Foster and Rink and forgot to thank Rob.

I kind of did with the whole advocating tirelessly and tirelessly and nobody got it.

And Dan even said to me outside, you heard a troll us again.

Guys, I don't drive all the way down here to troll you, okay?

It's just you usually don't see Sokka going to the left.

Because there's that curb in the middle of Delray.

Thank you, Bennett.

Surprise, we're all to the left.

All right, will David Haynes please come?

Just whatever your definition is in Seattle.

Definitions in Seattle are different.

Welcome, David Haynes.

Then we have a Miss Yvette.

What?

Welcome.

I request a special hearing during normal business hours for those who didn't get a chance to sign up for the public hearing for the budget last week.

There was extreme amount of violations that took place, and I hate to say it, but during the session, the presiding officer systematically failed to uphold the council's own rules of procedure and Washington state law, effectively stripping everyday Seattle residents of their right to participate in the democratic process.

Specifically, I'm lodging a complaint against following actions.

Council Rule 11-D permitting disruptive non-germane testimony.

Shama Sawant was allowed to write campaign rhetoric and then send her paid lackeys from the Socialist Workers' Party to show up in four and a half minute increments and personally attack the mayor and promote Shama Sawant's socialist party.

And this entire council never objected once.

And the rest of us are sitting out here waiting for the belligerence to end.

And for over an hour, it continued to delay to the point where people had to leave because the parking garage was closed down, it was too late for them, or when they show up, the front doors are closed, locked.

You can't even get in the city hall.

But you all are rushing through the budget without ever allowing the people who came down here to participate to participate.

So what I'm suggesting and almost demanding to the point where I probably have to sue if you guys can't just realize that you need to give us a small amount of time for those who signed up to still participate because the abuse from the Socialist Workers Party that comes down here in the council chambers seems to have been allowed because the council, I hate to say it, is pouting over the mayor's veto of the RV ordinance, and if the council's public safety committee could just be a little tougher on crime, and at the same time compassionate for those who are not committing the crimes to write better laws so that we don't have to keep dealing with the same public safety crisis, that you all are still baked into the budget that won't allow people to participate and point out there's a better policy and priority that you all keep censoring, and you all need to have a special hearing for those who signed up for the budget hearing last week.

Thank you, Mr. Haynes.

Next, we have Miss Yvette Dynish, and then we will go online.

Our first person online is Brian Koopsin.

Welcome, Miss Yvette.

Good afternoon.

I was a hot mess last week.

I just had to get out of the way.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And thank you all for watching and listening and for voting last week.

I very much appreciate it.

On tomorrow's Veterans Day, and FYI, Evergreenwell Shelley had a flag placing event where you stick little flags all over.

And I've been doing this for about 10 years now.

It's very humbling and rewarding.

event, even when it's rainy and cold and all that kind of stuff.

I know you all technically have tomorrow, so if you get a chance, the ceremony starts at 11. Just saying.

And also, sad to say that many of our veterans are homeless and unhoused.

And a couple of suggestions for affordable housing is new RVs.

They start from $13,000 including a bathroom and whatnot to $35,000 which is family size, four or five people and beyond.

And they just need to locate there.

I did some research and there are RV lots for sale, a couple of acres.

So just kind of plant that seed.

That's one other way to do it.

ADUs as well.

which will help not only the unhoused but the homeowner.

They can get an extra income to afford the house they purchased and people have nice home to live in that are affordable.

And then also in Wisconsin, what they did is they converted an unused warehouse into housing for 100 tiny villages, something else just to explore.

And that's all I got for the day.

I hear there's food downstairs.

Thank you, Ms. Yvette.

Yes, there is food.

All right, now we're gonna go online.

Brian Koopsin, star six, unmute yourself, followed by Mr. Alvarez, star six, to unmute yourself.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Brian Koopsin.

The skilled tradespeople who keep Seattle running need your support.

The members of IAM Local 79 are responsible for maintaining and repairing the equipment that generates our electricity and treats our drinking and wastewater.

Despite our contract expiring on January 1st, our members continue showing up, doing their jobs, and serving this city with professionalism and dedication.

We've done our part at the bargaining table.

We've presented a reasonable proposal that reflects the skill, responsibility, and market value of the work we perform.

We have come prepared, negotiated in good faith, and made every effort to reach a fair agreement.

Trading negotiators have canceled meetings with little or no notice.

They have arrived without authority or willingness to make meaningful progress.

We have filed unfair labor practice charges over the city's failure to bargain in good faith.

Our members have even been threatened with termination for exercising their legally protected rights as workers.

Seattle has historically been a leader in valuing skilled tradespeople.

That tradition is worth preserving.

Seattle residents depend on our expertise, often without ever having to think about it.

Our members aren't asking for special treatment.

We're asking for fairness, respect, and a contract that recognizes the essential work we do.

We ask you to stand with the people who keep this city running.

Please call on the leadership of Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to return to the bargaining table in good faith to work towards a fair collaborative agreement.

We take care of Seattle every day.

We're simply asking Seattle to take care of its workers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brian.

Next we have Mr. Alvarez followed by Rose, star six.

Thank you.

Victory to council member elect Milu Jenks.

Victory to the district five working class who voted against wealthy politicians, bankers, and landlords for the parasites of leadership within our city.

Such as in the cruel desire to take the last refuge many people have before sleeping on muddy hills or cold concrete.

The RV ban will push more people onto the streets and it ignores the human suffering of our unhoused neighbors and friends.

Council fails with the core problem which is a lack of family shelters, tiny homes and affordable housing.

People choose RV living to maintain at least some level of dignity and stability.

Taking away this last resort will push people directly on the path of a mental or health crisis.

This is a shameful move for our city.

Stop the RV van and find a different way to ensure that we build more tiny homes, open more shelters for families, and get social housing expanded quickly.

Thank you all and have a great day.

Thank you, Mr. Alvarez.

Next we have Rose followed by Nathan Wall.

Star 6, unmute yourself.

Hello, Council.

This last week, these last two days, I have received three inquiries from individuals who have been trying to find housing for themselves, being trans in Seattle.

All of these individuals are refugees.

One person arrived in Cal Anderson 11 p.m.

at Sunday night and people were desperately trying to find housing for them.

Yesterday I received two as there was the resource fair on Saturday and two people reached out to me trying to find resources in order to have housing and stability within the city.

This is just a small snapshot of all the help that different organizations are asked to provide every single day and right now we just do not have the resources to help.

I know that there was funding passed.

It has been taking way too long and individuals are suffering.

We have individuals outside.

I have had someone literally underneath my kitchen table for the last four days trying to find them housing.

I am doing the work of what a city employee should be doing to make sure that people are getting inside.

But instead, it is falling on us and our community members to absorb the costs of what the city should have been doing in the first place.

This on top of the fact that a lot of the funding that has been allocated has not been allocated to the refugee organizations that have been doing things.

We have individuals with proven track records that have been helping individuals in this city that have been escaping for their lives and have for months and they have been left out to dry.

I know so many organizers that are pulling every dollar out of their pockets to the point where they are putting themselves at risk for our community and yet we are still waiting.

and waiting and waiting and hoping that someday in the near future we might have the city look out for us like we look out for our fellow siblings, our trans siblings that came and had nowhere else to go.

We need you all to be looking out for us too because we can't do this alone and we're drowning here.

Thank you, Rose.

Next we have Nathan Wall followed by Hannah Ziff.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

Before I say my piece, I want to take a moment to thank everybody who took part in the election last week.

I'm really proud that we elected Caleb Tuelde in District 37. I'm really proud that we elected Jalen Scott, the first transgender person in the state legislature, and I'm really proud that Chipolo Street was elevated to the state Senate.

I also want to thank Tatiana Brown, Sharon Smeco Santos, especially given her 30 years of service and Evan McCorkle all for running.

Thank you to Julie Wise and Steve Hobbs as well.

Last week was a really great election and I just want to be really clear that this is not the end of the process of accountability.

This is just the beginning.

So I would advise any Republican congressman, any ICE agent, anyone working in this administration I highly encourage you to seek legal counsel because you will be held accountable for the illegal actions you did during the past two years and the remaining two years of this administration.

So Kyle Stein, 8647, and thank you for voting.

Have a good day.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nathan.

Next we have Josh, or excuse me, Hannah Ziff.

Sorry, Hannah, and then followed by Josh Sand.

Star six on mute yourself.

Hi, my name's Hannah Ziff.

I'm from Pioneer Square and I'm keeping up with the City Council to make sure the lots are constructed upon downtown.

I noticed on the agenda in the minute It says you're approving the minutes about adding heavy utility onto trucks for safety measures.

Some people talked about if that's going to negatively impact Pike Place Market.

I'm mostly following up on impacts to the local economy.

So if we can have an eye on any way that could positively benefit the economy locally, so if we can make sure that they're buying this equipment from Seattle retailers.

Also in the agenda today are regulations about multifamily homes, if they can get deregulated upon to match zones outside of residential areas.

And I think that's great, anything that we could do to benefit construction projects so the downtown is not empty.

And I noticed in the paperwork it says that there's no impact to the economy.

And I just ask that city council and central staff be more creative about how, you know, Seattle is on such a great scale that pretty much any policy is going to impact the economy.

on every single level.

And we just had a lot of budget meetings, and there's going to be more biannual budget meetings coming up.

And there's just a lot of different opportunities to meet revenue along the way, and we can be a lot more efficient with the policy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Hannah.

Next we have Josh, our last online speaker.

Josh Sand.

Hello.

The Jewish community has been shocked, but unfortunately not surprised to hear the deafness of the Seattle City Council when it comes to the issue of anti-Semitism in Seattle.

Hate has been directed to the Jewish community on a regular basis, from an Israeli restaurant being repeatedly vandalized with threats, the graffiti in Cal Anderson Park on the anniversary of the October 7th attacks, which said, quote, dead Zionists slash dead settlers make me wet.

as in the idea of the killing of Jews brings them sexual excitement.

Jews have reported in Seattle being told to, quote, go back to the gas chambers.

The evening of the so-called ceasefire resolution voted for by Strauss and Juarez who gave into a crazy mob, that very evening a synagogue was vandalized and the city council has been silent.

It feels in the city that all hate speech is roundly conduct until it's about anti-Semitism.

Then they say it's complicated.

It is not mentioned and barely condemned.

A couple meetings ago, Dan Strauss was able to condemn it, but not before watering it down by adding that all hate is bad, including Islamophobia and et cetera.

Citizens in the city are scared and we are tired of being blamed for the Middle East conflict.

We just want to live like every other citizen.

We are tired of council members abstaining from calling out the constant hate crimes against Jews in the city in fear of those who come and scream at them in the city council chambers.

This mob are politically fringe people who are the loudest and scold others for trying to define discrimination or hate for other groups.

And actually, they are correct.

But when it comes to the Jews, it becomes complicated.

They clutch their pearls and pompously try to explain what is and isn't anti-Semitic.

Then they hold up token members of the Jewish community and say, I can't be racist, I have Jewish friends.

Now where have we heard that before?

Please call out anti-Semitism and above all do something about it.

Thank you.

Thank you Josh.

Are there any, there's no more speakers online that I don't see and then there's none in person so we're gonna have our public comment or public comment period come to a close.

I do want to recognize and thanks Brooks Merlin and Brian for coming and voicing your concerns and thank you for your work that you do for the city.

And I'll be the first person to call on Seattle City Light and SPU to come back to the table for you all as well.

So whatever I can do to help and use my voice, I will do that.

So thank you all for all the work that you all do.

and then thank you Miss Yvette for that.

Now we're gonna transition right off.

So thank you all for the public comment period and people online as well.

I know you all waited while we did our two proclamations.

So just wanna thank you all for that.

We're now gonna transition into our agenda items.

And if there's no objection, the agenda, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

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

If there's no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

We're now gonna consider the consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar include minutes of October 20th, 26th, 2026, and council bills 121330 through 121332, payment of the bills.

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

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved, thank you, it's been moved and second to adopt the consent calendar.

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

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Council Member Rick?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

That's President Oxford.

Yes.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Awesome.

The consent calendar are adopted.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf?

Will the clerk please read item number one into the record?

They report the Land Use and Sustainability Committee, June 1, Council Bill 121-276 relating to land use and zoning, amending sections 23.45, .506, .570, and 23.51A.004 of the Seattle Municipal Code to modify development standards for institutions in multi-family zones.

The committee recommends that we'll pass this amended.

Councilmember Lin, Chair of the Committee, you are recognized in order to present the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, yeah, this came to committee.

This is an update to institutions in multifamily zones.

This was largely meant to make these requirements similar to updates that were made last year for institutions in our neighborhood residential zone.

and we just wanted to have similar requirements for our multifamily zones.

During the public process, we got some feedback and we did make some amendments to increase tree requirements for parking lots and would encourage your support.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin and for all your work on that.

Colleagues, are there any comments before us on Council Bell 121276?

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Just thank you, Councilmember Lin for your efforts and support of the tree aspect of the legislation.

So really appreciate you working with community and with the folks that are constituents who very much care about trees in the city.

to make that amendment to the legislation.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Are there any other comments?

Councilmember Lin, any closing comments before we call the roll?

Nope.

Thank you.

All right.

Awesome.

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

Councilmember Strauss?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rank?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sacca?

Aye.

Council President Hawkesworth?

Yes.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passes, the Chair will sign and will the Clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Colleagues, there were no items removed from the consent calendar and there's not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

I do want to take a moment and recognize, I know tomorrow is Veterans Day, we have two veterans on the Council, Council Member Rob Sacca and Council Member

Bob Kettle, I'm just fine.

And so just really grateful to serve side by side with you all.

I know we had three veterans when we had Council Member Solomon as well.

We have two, but that's still a lot and just really appreciate serving side by side with you all.

And obviously the sacrifice that you and your families made to serve our country for us to experience our freedoms that we have today to live in the greatest country in the world.

I didn't know if you all wanted to say anything as well.

I'll pause here.

Councilmember Kettle?

No?

All right, awesome.

Thank you.

I'm surprised you never pass a chance to speak.

So thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Okay.

So there's no resolution.

There's nothing else to come before the Council.

Oh, I do see Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

As we are in the second to last week of budget, I wanted to provide colleagues a budget update since we, I think, just finalized the consent calendar for this upcoming Friday's voting.

And so even with Veterans Day tomorrow, our staff are set up to be able to publish the agenda for Friday's meeting tomorrow so that the public has 48 hours notice and the ability to read through all of these proposed changes, all of these amendments.

Colleagues, I'm actually quite humbled by everyone's engagement over this last week.

We have put almost every single item into the consent package at this point.

This is good news because this means that we can likely finish.

There's actually no reason we shouldn't finish on Friday.

with everything being in consent package.

There are a number of items, I'm just going to clearly state for the record now, that will not be in the consent package based on policy decisions that I'm making.

The OED provisos, we are waiting to hear back from Office of Economic Development, and so those are going to be held to the side.

We have five Seattle Police Department items that will all be held for individual vote.

We have three items regarding the Federal Reserve, which will be held to a separate vote.

We have three or four items regarding the Unified Care Team that will be held for a separate vote.

and then we have two others that council members have polled.

And so with this understanding, that is also not inclusive of the 37 pieces of legislation that we have, that we have reviewed, albeit we have reviewed it briefly in council, but it's been reviewed a number of times.

We have seven plus amendments to those bills.

And so we also have public comment, verbal public comment available to us on Friday.

And this all starts at 9.30 a.m.

Because there While there are a number of individual items and there are a number of individual bills, with so much being in the consent package, there really is no reason we should not be able to finish on Friday.

I have started telling folks and I'm telling the whole body now, please be ready to stay until 8 p.m.

We may go later than that.

I will be making a judgment call around 5 p.m.

as to how far through the agenda we've made it.

If we haven't made it far at all, then we'll come back on Monday.

But if we have accomplished the majority of what we've needed to do, I will ask that we stay to finish the voting because it is a more seamless process to get it all done in one day than spend the weekend and then come back.

And so I just wanted to provide you all that update.

I just wanted to say thank you for Thank you for all of the work that you've done.

This process over this last week was easier than it has been in the past because everyone has been paying quite good attention to the process aspects of this.

And I just appreciate it.

So I just wanted to say thank you and give you that awareness that Friday the 13th, we might be here until 8 p.m.

or later.

Thank you, colleagues.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I just want to make some remarks since Budget Chair Strauss just gave us an update.

I will say that these accompanying pieces of legislation, we didn't really have the opportunity through chambers to have a robust conversation.

Some of those have provisions in them that I think would have benefited from healthy conversation.

I will say that we have Monday set aside.

It's a working day and we have it set aside and it was part of the budget calendar.

So, I...

am in favor of not rushing through the process on Friday.

So if there's conversation about some of these items, that we have the ability to do so.

And then if we have to go into Monday, we've already reserved that date on Monday and not make staff stay till 8 p.m.

on a Friday when we already have that Monday date reserved.

So for the record, I just wanted to state that it's my hope that we're able to have the conversations on Friday that we were unable to have in chambers if we need that and then use Monday, which is already on the schedule to continue doing those votes because I think it's important.

This is really our only opportunity since we're both having to take the votes and maybe have conversation on the same day on Friday that we have the opportunity as I said earlier to have that conversation.

It's budget's a big deal as everybody knows and I just wanna make sure that we all have the opportunity to not rush through these 37 pieces of legislation and also not have to ask staff who's been working and thank you to all our LA's and central staff for their hard work during this time.

Budget is always very long days in general.

And so I really want to thank everyone from central staff to the LA's to our admin support staff for all the work that has gone into this thus far and that we, you know, utilize Monday rather than have to stay late on a Friday and more importantly for staff, not for me, but for the staff who've been working so hard.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome, thank you Councilmember Rivera.

Colleagues, are there any more questions or anything?

Councilmember Strauss-Yoni?

Awesome, thank you for that update.

I know staff has been working really hard.

Everyone's staff has been working really hard and it's been a long process.

Let me just say that, okay?

I'm feeling it right now.

I think we all are.

Oh, Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Sorry for the late hand there.

I was going to send Councilmember Rivera a message and say I agree and thank her.

So instead I figured I would come and say it out loud.

So thank you for that.

I think there's a lot of items that we want to make sure we do our diligence on and have the discussion that we need to.

So thank you for that statement, Councilmember Rivera.

I agree with you.

All right, CP, I'll jump right back.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you.

Just because we're having now further discussion, further discussion, I will state that this is intended to allow us to have breaks throughout the day so that we are maintaining good stamina throughout the conversation.

The reason that I'm making this decision at this time to say that we should be preparing to stay late is If we all speak to the items which are important to us, we will be able to get out by 5 p.m.

If we all speak to every single item, we will not.

And I have never seen a consent package include so many of our proposals.

This compared to last year, which we were able to do in one day, is even more consensus built at this time.

And so I have every I have the faith of the world that we will be able to be completed by 5 p.m.

I'm just simply stating that an extra three hours on Friday is something that we should prepare to reserve because in my conversations regarding this process, it will be less impactful than coming back on Monday.

and this is intended to, I'm going to be chairing Friday's process in a way that allows us to have breaks so that we are able to not get all the way drained of energy while we get through this final step in the process.

So I appreciate, appreciate concerns from colleagues.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, any more comments for further business?

Just a heads up, we do have a special meeting on Thursday, excuse me, Thursday, it's not my notes, November the 12th at 9.30 a.m.

We also have scheduled a city council meeting tentatively for November 17th.

If there's no business, we will cancel that meeting.

So just a heads up, but it is on the calendar tentatively.

And then following that, we have a meeting November the 20th at 1 PM special council meeting as well.

So we have a lot of special council meetings coming up in addition to budget stuff.

So just really appreciate your attention to that.

And after that hearing no, are there any more questions about that?

Awesome, so hearing no further business, guess what colleagues, we are adjourned.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.