Good afternoon, everybody.
The February 27th, 2024 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.
It is 2.05 p.m.
I'm Sarah Nelson, president of the council.
Please note that Councilmember Strauss is excused today.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Councilmember Hollingsworth.
Present.
Councilmember Kettle.
Here.
Councilmember Moore.
Council Member Morales?
Here.
Council Member Rivera?
Present.
Council Member Saka?
Here.
Council Member Wu?
Present.
Council President Nelson?
Present.
Eight present.
Thank you very much, everybody.
We've got three pieces of legislation on our agenda today, and I am not aware of any presentations.
So, before we go into public comment, I do want to talk about what's going on today.
Communities across the country are witnessing the human tragedy of people fleeing their home countries to the U.S. looking for better lives for themselves and their families.
And we see that happening in Tukwila, other parts of King County here close to home.
And then, on the other hand, activist organizations are exploiting vulnerable people for their own political ends.
How do I know?
Well, when refugees primarily from Venezuela came to chambers on January 30th, that event was organized, at least, or promoted by Stop the Sweeps, and that organization has been primarily involved in homelessness policy here in Seattle.
And the group that organized today's event posted on their Instagram Seattle promised housing solutions but didn't deliver.
Make a public comment to amplify the request and the needs of Tukwila refugees.
We're calling on accomplices to join us at one for the march and then go to the city council meeting at two.
We are uplifting the demands to stop spending on the police surveillance technology.
That's what gives me this idea that this goes beyond the vulnerabilities and the immediate needs of the people that that are really struggling for shelter and et cetera.
So leaving aside what I consider to be craven political opportunism, here's the current state of play.
When people came to chambers on January 30th, the mayor, kind of on the fly, offered shelter in a hotel or extended the stay in a hotel for another 30 days, or I think it was 28 days.
Anyway, that ended yesterday.
There was going to be a philanthropist that came forward to extend that stay, but that is not happening, I've now learned.
And this is all very much kind of at play right now.
Earlier today, the city of Tukwila put out a press release saying that they will be funding a temporary large tent at Riverton Park encampment.
Quote, the city of Tukwila announced Tuesday that it will install and fund a temporary large tent at the Riverton Park United Methodist Church.
The 3,030 square foot heated tent, which can accommodate up to 100 people, is aimed at improving health and safety conditions for asylees temporarily staying on the site.
Setup and installation are expected to be complete by the end of the week.
And then it goes on and gives a bunch of detail.
Also today, King County announced $1 million in additional support for asylees and refugees in Tukwila.
I believe that will be in the form of a million dollar grant, and I suppose it will go to a provider that can operate maybe one of the empty hotels down there.
I think that there was one that was purchased recently for $36.2 million.
I'm not quite sure what the other capacity is of hotel rooms to help with this human crisis, but that's happening at the county.
And then at the same time, in Olympia, the state is wrapping up its budget.
And I do know that also Mayor Harrell has called on Governor Inslee to release emergency funding to deal with the crisis that we've been talking about.
Now, I'm saying all of this because those are the appropriate places for resources and activity to provide relief to the people that we see in chambers today.
We here at the Dyess, our responsibility is to the people of Seattle.
We spend millions of dollars from our general fund for homelessness services and housing.
At the same time, we also provide the lion's share of resources for King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
So we are also doing our part for the region to help toward a regional solution.
Unfortunately, our...
If you walk downtown from 3rd Avenue to the CID to Ballard, all over the city, we've got people that very much need resources right now.
And so that is the tension that we're all experiencing when we're being asked to deliver on housing solutions, which we promised to our people in the city of Seattle.
It's I to the people here who showed up because you I I think that I speak for my colleagues to say that we are extremely mindful of the the plight of that brought people here to the United States.
And I am also.
also paying attention to some of the underlying politics that are going on.
And so we've got a public comment period coming up, and I don't really want to participate in a conversation that should be had with county leaders, state leaders, federal leaders.
So today I will have to limit the public comment period to 20 minutes, providing one minute each to the people that have signed up either remotely or in person.
So with that, we are now ready to begin public comment.
Madam Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?
We have four remote and about 12 in person.
Thank you.
We will start with the in-person speakers with one minute.
Thank you.
And we will need to cut it off in 20 minutes, which is 2.32.
The public comment period is for 20 minutes, and speakers will be called in the order in which they're registered.
We'll begin with the in-person speakers and move to the remote speakers.
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.
The public comment period is now open.
Our first in-person speaker is Sharon Lee, followed by Nate Miles.
Good afternoon, I'm Sharon Lee, director of the Low Income Housing Institute.
And I wanna thank the entire council, in particular council member Tammy Morales and also council member Osaka for honoring the family of George Fleming.
The city provided financing, capital investment for George Fleming Place right by Othello Station.
And we have an opportunity to name the street, the entire street in front of George Fleming Place after Senator George Fleming.
And he was responsible for originating the housing trust fund, the state housing trust fund, which just about every major housing development in Seattle has received funding from this.
So we are really delighted to have the family here and we wanna thank you for your support for affordable housing.
And subsequent speakers, when you hear the chime, that means you have 10 seconds left.
Good afternoon, Madam Chair, and to the rest of the esteemed council.
My name is Nate Miles, and I, too, want to join Mr. Lee and vehemently give honor to Senator George Fleming, who, were it not for him, would not stand here before you, who took a chance on a guy from a housing project in East Pasco, Washington, and said we could do better than this.
gave me a chance to become his chief of staff.
And 30 years later, I was able to retire.
And I just can't thank him enough for the opportunity that he gave me at a chance when there was not a lot of room for African-American in the political realm.
And in this field, he gave me this opportunity.
And I would like to think that in the bills that we helped...
passed, we did some good.
And so I think with what you guys are doing today, please keep up the good, because there's a lot of people out there who could benefit from what you're doing.
Thank you so much.
Our next speaker is Bailey, followed by John and Gary.
Hello, council members.
My name is Bailey Medillo, and I'm a resident of District 2. I am a frequent customer of food delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, and I'm here to voice my strong support for app-based worker minimum pay law that went into effect last month.
Recently, we as a community have come to notice that corporations like DoorDash are tacking on a regulatory response fee in direct response to the minimum wage pay law, which protects workers.
However, it's quite clear that this response is not regulatory in nature, it is in fact retaliatory.
When corporations take steps to protect their bottom line over worker compensation, our services suffer.
We are not out of the pandemic and accessible food services are more important than ever.
Even more so for people with chronic mobility issues like myself.
Food delivery goes from being an issue of access to a lifeline.
Minimum wage is good and necessary.
These corporations fees are backwards and harmful.
Do something about that instead.
And also all of our issues are intimately connected.
We can care about this and care about immigrants and refugees and everything that's going on in the world.
John, followed by Gary.
I am here because the payout bill is not only not working, but is causing harm.
Hold on.
Is that on?
I did not want to change the payment.
We knew this bill would fail.
Under the pay-up bill, we are paid 44 cents per active minute, which means the slower we work, the more we get paid.
This is terrible for customers.
Last week, I worked 72 hours and made $477.
That's $7 an hour.
That is a hardship for me, but I am super fortunate because I have options.
There's a significant number of delivery workers who don't have the agency to come here and speak for themselves.
They are not conventionally employable and this type of work keeps them from being housing insecure.
The communications director at Working Washington posted last week that it would be poor policy making to repeal the pay up bill.
I ask you, how many workers need to become homeless before it is good policy making to repeal?
The longer you wait, the more people will be harmed.
Timeline matters.
Corporations that have never made a profit do not volunteer to pay workers more.
It is irresponsible to think that they would.
Following John was Gary, followed by Justin Captus.
Good afternoon.
I trust in your consideration for repealing this gig ordinance again.
There were several passionate moments concerning the gig ordinance last week on the local news.
Restaurants I go to every day still express their concern.
Some have no idea what is going on, just that they're down 50% or whatever percent throughout our number.
To me, the numbers I see as a boot on the ground, everyone is down.
We simply need volume back.
And drivers, couriers, restaurants, the well-off Amazon workers not ordering anymore, we are all affected with a capital A.
This is not pretense of, will there be an effect?
That E is definitely lowercase.
Why not move on?
People say, well, like the restaurants, we love this craft and we are very passionate about it.
If there's a mechanism to trigger this, I hope the accounting is done expeditiously.
And again, I trust in your consideration for repealing this gig ordinance.
Next, we have Justin Keptis and then followed by Lauren Kay and Jonathan.
Okay.
No, Justin.
Okay.
Oh, sorry.
Out of my view.
Followed by Justin would be Lauren Kay.
Lauren would like to also come up.
Repealing the gig work, the gig walking law, is the only path forward right now just because one person or a few people are benefiting slightly from the newer law does not make up for the 99% who are severely suffering weeks away from homelessness.
Our skill set is valuable and employable, a skill set that we don't deserve to have our lives experimented upon for legislation.
It was poorly written, researched, and discussed and implemented.
I dare you to do our job.
I dare you to navigate the city as fast as we do.
as efficiently as we do, and do our deliveries as well as we do.
I dare you to lower yourselves to the point of begging for dollars.
We don't get tips anymore, we don't get anything.
No one is taking responsibility enough of pointing a finger.
Washington WorkSource is pointing a finger at Uber, Uber is pointing a finger at you guys, Seattle City Council, and you guys are pointing a finger right back at WorkSource.
So there's no connection there.
If you aren't a part of the solution, then you're part of the problem.
Do the right thing and repeal this law.
Thank you.
We'll have this and then we'll move to the first three public remote speakers.
Hi, my name's Lauren.
I appreciate the outside agitator trope thrown out by a certain council member.
The fact is the issues of refugee housing and police surveillance are related.
More money for police surveillance and ineffective and racist technologies like SpotShotter means less money for asylum seekers and other low-income people who desperately need housing.
The money you are spending on such surveillance technologies could go toward asylum seekers, and that shows your true priorities and that you are the opportunist, not us.
You are allied with the police and the state, not us.
I cede the rest of my time to any interested asylum seekers who'd like to speak.
We will now move on to the remote speakers.
Our first remote speaker will be Celine Russo.
And as a reminder for remote speakers, please press star six when you hear the prompt that you have been unmuted.
Following Celine Russo will be Joe Kunzler.
Go ahead, Celine.
My name is Celine Russo.
I'm a District 1 constituent, and I'm calling in to uplift the demands of the refugees who just marched to this council meeting.
Seattle was built and made rich by companies such as Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon, companies whose products exploit the people and land these refugees come from.
We owe our new neighbors shelter and assistance to start their lives here in our community.
I'm also calling to register my outrage that Seattle is once again fighting the mayor and council on shot fodder, aka sound thinking and other surveillance tech.
We said no and we meant it.
This technology is at best a useless waste of funds.
And at worst, it enables racist patterns of policing and enables civil rights violations.
I'm also hugely offended that my call was labeled a, quote, craven political stamp.
Our budget in Seattle is in trouble because they're being proposed.
And all these things, affordable housing, homelessness, surveillance tech, gig workers, refugees, all of this is connected.
Let's not be obtuse.
The money we're being spent on homelessness also includes suites which are cruel and useless.
It's not all on outreach.
All of these things are connected.
This is not political.
I'm also especially calling on my D1 rep, Council Member Saka.
You can paint on common sense and a full budget audit.
You have to see that this tech is a waste of money and will not help public safety in Seattle.
Please use our resources wisely.
You're speaking next and you'll be followed by David Haynes.
Hi, this is Joe Kuntzler.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
All right, thank you.
I time it so perfectly.
I just spoke to the King County Council about Alex Zimmerman telling him I was going to have to come here and appeal his appeal.
I know it sounds funny, but Mr. Zimmerman does not have the right to create a disruptive environment uh anywhere and i appreciate president nelson's courage and valor as well as customer dance process courage and valor and standing up to aid law simmerman um who is a nazi and someone who wants to destroy our commons so we can't hear from diverse voices when i lobbied hard for house builders in 29 and 2022 and remote testimony I didn't lobby for mobs to come to City Council.
I didn't lobby MOBF.
I didn't lobby for Zimmerman.
I lobbied so that disabled people and working families could come to their elected officials with their concerns.
Excluding someone who is maliciously disruptive after many more than ample warnings is the only right thing to do.
Please deny this amendment's appeal.
Thank you for your public service and good to speak to you, Council Member Nelson again.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our last remote speaker signed up is David Haynes.
Hi, David Haynes.
We need better laws now.
We have a public safety crisis and a homeless crisis caused by progressives that exempted low-level drug pushers from jail and prioritize repeat offenders.
And quite frankly, we need an independent voice in leadership within King County Regional Homeless Authority to keep all these politically connected nonprofits who are embellishing data and causing unnecessary subhuman mistreating suffering and hopefully council will like get through all the like ridiculousness and solve and find some better leaders because it's gotten out of hand we have a societal implosion and it's like we're almost in the odds of march and i think that the The emergency shelters from the Human Services Department don't even want to do the work.
I don't even think they opened up an emergency shelter last night.
I know they didn't open one on Friday during the Christmas holiday weekend.
They'd rather have...
Okay, we'll go back into in-person public comment.
Our next commenter is Jonathan, followed by Lidlis Perez.
Is there a Jonathan with the last name starting with a D?
I believe it's Doyler or Doycer?
Diker.
Hello, Council.
I would like to address you today on the topic of supporting the refugee crisis that you say is in Tukwila, that is Tukwila's problem, that is King County's problem, but it is truly Seattle's problem as well.
These people, this is an arbitrary rule.
If they're outside of a certain line, in my region that I don't have to help them.
And I really think that it's shameful to just pass the buck because look at all these people here today.
Like these are people that are wonderful, caring people with families.
They deserve housing.
They deserve support.
And you're really just, you see them, but you're not showing that you care.
And that's really disappointing because these are members of our community as well.
So I call you to financially support in the short term, the housing need that is very immediate until the funding that you mentioned.
In a month, it'll take a month for that to happen.
We need immediate funding.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Lilius Perez and then followed by Kathleen Ambrose.
We've got five minutes left.
Hi, Yolanda.
We need interpretation.
Jodi, can you please put two minutes on there for the interpretation?
We can't hear you.
Can you speak into a better microphone?
We're making sure that we can hear the interpreter.
Interpreter is ready.
Yolanda, can you ask her to start over, please?
My name is Ladies Perez.
I am from the frontier, from the border.
Many of us know the problems that we have been facing.
We do not have a solution for our, for to live.
We are 220 people, between adults and children as well.
We know that there is a fund, but we have not been informed to be able to accommodate that fund for other families.
We are hoping that you can assist us and help these families who we are representing represented by us at this time, we would like to solve the problems that the people who are here as refugees or looking asylum are facing.
If you could please support
our needs to those families, families that are seeking a better future for their families and their children.
If you could support us with housing on the long run, because there are many families that depend upon you at this time.
Thank you.
And I hope that you will consider what we have said in benefit of the families and the children who are hereby represented.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Kathleen Brose, followed by Aidan Carroll.
May I hear the interpreter's name again, please?
Good afternoon.
I'm not sure that the next speaker needs interpretation.
Sorry.
Is this a Spanish speaker, ma'am?
It is not.
No.
Perfect.
Thank you.
I'll stand by.
Good afternoon, my name is Kathleen Brose and I live in District 6. I regularly attend these Tuesday council meetings and often observe various groups stepping up to the microphone to request funds from the city coffers.
Every week it is a new group requesting financial assistance.
The funds in the city coffers come from citizens and businesses in the form of taxes and fees.
It is time for you to go through the city budget with a fine tooth comb and stop funding groups, programs and organizations that are not delivering measurable results.
Most of you were recently elected to address the budget woes and improve public safety.
Seattle citizens need you to focus on these two issues and lead Seattle back to good financial health.
Thank you.
We'll have one more speaker.
Our last speaker will be Aiden Carroll.
Hi, I'm Aiden.
I'm on the board of the 46th District Democrats and with Stop the Sweeps and others.
Many of you who are newly elected or appointed and all campaigned on making Seattle safer and not wasting money.
The surveillance technologies would do the complete opposite.
Not helping refugees, we do the complete opposite.
We know how much more expensive it is in taxes to let people be outside or be desperate than to give them what they need.
There's evidence for all of these things.
But also, we caused them to need to be here with funding some of the same kind of stuff as in Palestine.
Like, as they said last week in Tucson, blockading the CEOs...
of insurance for stop cop city this is not a local struggle surveillance city will never be built and if you build it some people are saying we will burn
Okay, that we have reached the end of our public comment period.
Just for information for people who weren't here during last year's budget, the surveillance that's being referred to is, I believe, paid for, is anticipated to be paid for by savings for unfilled SPD positions.
The funding that paid for the month in the, or the 28 days or so in the hotel was budgeted by Councilmember or Budget Chair Theresa Mosqueda for emergency relief for asylum seekers.
Okay, we've now reached the end of our public comment period.
We'll move on to the next item of our agenda.
I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.
We will now go into a five-minute recess.
We're back.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
you
Can we confirm the Seattle Channel is back online?
Thank you.
Seattle Channel, we are now out of recess.
It is 2.42.
Will there be, please be quiet in the chambers.
Seattle Channel, we will go into another five minute recess.
That means 2.47, thank you.
Thank you.
We're on.
Okay, the meeting is now out of recess.
It is 2.54 p.m.
The audience will come to order.
The President.
The president has asked the meeting to come to order and order has not been restored.
And once cleared, the meeting will continue in session.
Only members of the media are allowed to remain in the room and those who did not participate in the disturbance.
Security, would you please clear the room?
It is 2.55, we will go into recess until 3.10.
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Hello, everybody.
The meeting of the February 27th, 2024 Seattle City Council will come to order.
It is 4.01.
We apologize for the delay.
We are back in session, however, doing the work of the people.
So, members of the media and members of the public that were not involved in the disturbance are invited to be present.
I see some of the folks that are going to speak to one of the resolutions sitting down.
and they've been readmitted.
Media, please contact council comms if you are having difficulty.
Okay, if there is no objection, we'll consider agenda item one first, which is resolution 32126, out of order, and is our next item.
Seeing no objection, that's what we'll do.
Will the clerk please read the item into the record?
Agenda item one, resolution 32126, providing an honorary designation of 43rd Avenue South between South Othello Street and South Webster Street as Senator George Fleming Wade.
The committee recommends that the council adopt the resolution.
Thank you very much.
Will the sponsor of this resolution like to speak to it, please?
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, colleagues.
I want to welcome the family of Senator George Fleming.
Nice to see you all, as well as Director Sharon Lee from Lehigh.
So this resolution, as the clerk mentioned, is about naming a portion of the road in front of George Fleming Place.
after Senator Fleming, who was Washington's first African-American state senator.
He was elected in 1971 and represented the 37th District of Southeast Seattle and the Rainier Valley.
He was also the prime sponsor in the Senate for creating the Washington State Housing Trust Fund in 1986, which has grown to be a nationally recognized program for supporting affordable housing programs.
In 2022, Lehigh opened George Fleming Place Apartments at Othello and 43rd.
The building includes a hundred-
point of personal privilege and request that we have police response.
Our physical safety is being threatened by the actions of the demonstrators outside banging on the windows, which could easily get broken, and we will have a mob scene.
I'm asking for police presence to arrest those individuals.
Very much.
Our security is in motion, and we know that there are several steps that have to happen before an actual removal can take place.
But thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
It is very loud.
It's more than loud.
It is a physical threat to the safety of each of us on this council, and it is a threat to the operation of our civic institution.
And I want the record to be clear that I physically feel threatened.
I don't know about my colleagues.
The business of this council has been unnecessarily interrupted.
It continues to be interrupted.
It is not appropriate and this action needs to be recognized.
And we need to make sure that this does not happen going forward.
We are shutting down the operations of our democracy because of a mob action and it is not to be tolerated.
And the fact that they're still out there shouting also makes it impossible for the business to be conducted.
I cannot hear the words of my colleague, Council Member Morales, who is attempting to talk about a designation of a street to somebody that has dedicated their life to the provision of affordable housing.
It is a huge disrespect to this family and to the legacy of their father.
that I cannot hear the words that are being said by my colleagues.
So something needs to be done out there in public space.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
And we have now we've been in recess for since I think it was 255. And I am very concerned about the family that's been waiting for a really long time.
to be able to respond to this resolution.
So I am feeling a sense of responsibility to the sponsor of the legislation and to the family that's been here because we took very good care of going through every necessary step to make sure that the chambers was empty.
And so that would likely take a much longer time to do the same thing outside of chambers.
So I would like to continue with this item.
Council President, I just want to say I concur with my colleague, Council Member Moore, but I also agree that we should, out of respect for the family, that we need to move forward.
But I do think that it was right to preserve, as part of the record, the threats that we feel currently and the disruption made and the disrespect to the family.
So thank you for being here and thank you for your patience.
And one more thing.
This certainly does represent disruptive behavior, which gives us the authority to clear the premises.
But thank you very much for making sure the record reflects that.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
As I was saying, in 2022, Lehigh opened the George Fleming Place Apartments at Othello and 43rd.
The building includes 106 affordable apartments that are serving families with children, veterans, low-wage workers, and people living with disabilities.
At the time that the apartments were opened, Senator Fleming was there and said, I'm honored and wish to thank Lehigh for naming their new apartment building after me.
Setting up the State Housing Trust Fund was a top priority and achievement for me.
I'm pleased to know that George Fleming Place will continue to serve the 37th District and the community in perpetuity.
Affordable housing is closest to my heart.
There is no nobler work and there is no clearer sign that a society is working than when our neighbors have a place to call home.
So today we are voting to honor the late senator again by naming the street on which the apartments sit after him as well.
And I'm honored to have been able to bring forth this resolution and street renaming to commemorate Senator Fleming and his numerous contributions to the 37th and to Washington State.
And I want to thank the family again for being here.
I believe they will be offered a few moments to speak in just a moment.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Council Member Saka, this is a transportation resolution, would you care to provide some words as well?
Thank you, Madam President.
So, first and foremost, I sincerely apologize to each and every one of you today.
This was intended to be a celebration and honor the legacy of the late Senator George Fleming.
And we're working to Make sure it's not fully ruined, but you all deserve better.
And I'm so sorry on behalf of this myself.
And I think the sentiment is shared by many of my council colleagues.
I'm sorry.
And I echo the sentiment that was expressed by my colleagues, council members Moore and Rivera.
and call out, you know, we need to move away from this egregious and divisive rhetoric and conduct.
We have certain standards of human decency and decorum and civility that we need to live up to.
And that might have played before in that last council.
Not today.
Doesn't work with this council.
People need to understand.
So I'm here to create an environment where people's voices are heard and people are able to freely speak their truths without being disrespectful and disrupting the order of what's going on here and really important council business.
So I'm sorry again to the family.
That said, I want to thank Yemi Jackson, Yemi Fleming Jackson, Augustine Fleming, the late senator's wife, Sonia Fleming Schnett, one of the senator's daughters.
And of course, Nate Miles, who was here earlier, who worked for Senator Fleming and was one of his mentees, of his many mentees.
And I've said this before at previous conferences, I think last week when we originally considered this as a council member who happens to be black.
I recognize that I'm sitting at this dais today because I'm standing on the shoulders of giants of people like Senator Fleming.
And but for Senator Fleming, there would be no council member Rob Saka.
And it's not just Senator Fleming.
It's people like Mayor Norm Rice and Sam Smith, Councilmember Sam Smith and others.
The list of...
Elected leaders who happen to be black who have made my journey and my life easier, you know, is long, including Mayor Bruce Harrell.
And I'm grateful for that.
And they've made my my path easier in life and have have led and serve with distinction and honor.
And and my goal is in part by service, making it easier for someone else coming up behind me.
So I honor and respect and appreciate the legacy of Senator Fleming.
And I'm grateful as the chair of the Transportation Committee that this unanimously passed my committee, thanks to the leadership of my esteemed colleague here, Council Member Morales.
And so I can't sing enough praise about the legacy of your father and your husband.
But I am honored that this small gesture, we're able to keep his legacy alive long and well here in the city of Seattle and beyond.
So thank you.
And Madam President, can I just say?
Yes, I was going to offer the opportunity to.
Awesome, thank you, Madam President.
And I'll be super quick.
Your father and your husband was an amazing person.
And a lot of times, we know him to be the first state senator, but he also reached behind him to make other people walk through that door, especially representing the 37th District, which is our most diverse district in the state.
And so very grateful for, he's a towering spirit.
He will be remembered throughout our community.
We will not let his legacy die.
And I would be remissed if I also did not give a shout out to former Representative Miss Peggy Maxey, who passed away a week ago, who came right after Senator Fleming when he transitioned from representative over to the senator.
So definitely want to give her a shout out because I know that they did a lot of policies together at our state for our community and and represented us very well.
So thank you all for being here.
I did not know or meet ever Senator Fleming, but I'm wondering if he would have witnessed the events today and thought that he had been through worse and his community had been through worse.
And so this is what I want to, when we're talking about struggle here, this is a local struggle that your presence here reminds us is only very recent in our memory as a civic body.
So things have to be put in perspective.
And again, thank you very much for your patience.
And are there any other comments?
No other comments.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Council Member Hollingsworth.
Present.
No, that's an aye or nay.
Oh, I'm sorry.
My apologies.
You said roll call.
Sorry.
My apologies.
Aye.
Thank you.
Council Member Kettle.
Aye.
Council Member Moore.
Aye.
Council Member Morales.
Yes.
Council Member Rivera.
Aye.
Council Member Saka.
Council Member Wu.
Yes.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
Thank you very much.
The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Okay, if there is no objection, the rules will be suspended to allow family members of Senator Fleming to address the council.
Seeing no objection, come on up and you're welcome to provide a few words and if the resolution is going to be presented, okay, go ahead with that too.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm not really good at doing this.
So I might not be able to do it as well as I can.
I just want to say good afternoon to Seattle City Council members.
Help me.
Okay.
Tamara L. Ellis.
Distinguished.
Huh?
Distinguished.
Oh, Distinguished City Council members.
Seattle, my eyeglasses are not working and I can't hear you.
That's okay, Maureen.
So anyways.
Okay.
Department of Transportation and our...
Friends exclusive.
Here, mom.
No, let me just, okay, go ahead.
So, go ahead, you really read it for me.
I'm gonna help my mom out.
Go ahead.
And this is on behalf of the entire family, but really from my mom's heart.
And good afternoon, Seattle City Council Member Tammy Morales, distinguished city council members, Seattle Department of Transportation, the committee led by Rob Sacca and our friend, Executive Director of the Low Income Housing Institute, Sharon Lee.
And this is on behalf of my mom.
My mom, my name is Tina Fleming, and my daughters, Sonia and Yemi, and son-in-law, Rodney Jackson and Nate Miles, who was previously here.
are honored about today's proclamation announcing the naming of, and it's the resolution announcing the name of 43rd Avenue South between Othello and South Webster as Senator George Fleming Way.
George worked hard for the 37th District and the people of Washington State for over 22 years.
He loved this community.
This honor will ensure his legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of all.
Thank you again for your thoughtfulness and consideration.
We thank you.
Thank you everyone.
Are there any other speakers who would like to make some comments?
I'll just say, On behalf of my family, I mean, today was a wonderful day, but also a difficult day.
And I wish that the many protesters that were here actually knew why we were here.
Because my father did so much to fight and advocate for the underrepresented his entire life.
And he advocated for many of the people that were in this room today.
And so I wish I could have just had the moment to say, do you understand that we're here to recognize someone that would have been in your corner and to advocate for you.
So I agree with everything that you said earlier, there's a lot of work that still needs to be done, but we appreciate the work that you all are doing to try and bring everyone together and to, you know, do the work of the people, for all people.
So thank you.
Mr. Thank you.
Ms.
You want me to open or close?
Ms. You're welcome.
Mr. I'm going to go, too.
All right, right here.
One, two, three.
All right, right here.
Three, two, one.
Perfect.
All right, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And Madam President, point of privilege, I would just like to call out and express appreciation at Miss Augustine Fleming's beautiful hairdo.
Love it, ma'am.
Looks great.
All right.
So heading back on up to the top of the agenda, I don't believe that we have even adopted the agenda.
First, you have to handle the IRC.
We are on item...
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Okay.
Item E. I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.
Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.
Are there any comments?
Council President, I move to amend the introduction and referral calendar by removing items 3 to 12.
I second that.
It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction and referral calendar by removing items 3 through 12. Council Member Rivera, would you like to address the motion?
Yes, thank you, Council President.
I'm amending the IRC to allow me and my staff the time to review additional information related to these legislative items.
Thank you very much for that explanation.
Are there any comments?
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the amendment to remove items three through 12 from the introduction and referral calendar?
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 Wu.
Yes.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
All right, the motion carries and the introduction and referral calendar is amended.
Are there any further comments on the amended introduction and referral calendar before voting on it?
Okay, now we actually have to vote on it.
Okay, if there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar as amended will be adopted.
Hearing none, the introduction and referral calendar as amended is adopted.
Okay, if there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.
Now remember, we did amend the agenda by putting that item at the top of the agenda, so I don't have any other additional changes to the agenda.
Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.
Okay.
We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar.
Items on the consent calendar include the minutes of February 20th, 2024, and Council Bill 120745, which is the payment of the bills.
Are there any items that council members wish to be removed?
Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.
Is there a second?
Second.
Okay.
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?
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 Wu?
Yes.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
The consent calendar items are adopted.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf?
All right, we are now proceeding to item two on the agenda.
Will the clerk please read the item into the record?
Yes.
Agenda item two, resolution 32127 relating to participation for 2024 and 2025 on King County committees, regional committees, state committees, and city of Seattle committees and superseding resolution 32125.
Thank you very much.
I move to adopt resolution 32127. Is there a second?
Second.
Thank you very much.
It's been moved and seconded to adopt the resolution.
As sponsor, I will address it first and then open the floor to comments.
As you'll remember, on January 9th, we passed Resolution 32125 to establish Council's participation on King County, Regional, State, and City of Seattle committees.
And this new resolution will supersede that resolution to make the following changes.
Number one, insert council member Wu's name in place of position eight council member.
Two, reassign a few committees to address scheduling conflicts.
And three, correct the number of council members assigned to the region's watershed forums.
The work to establish both internal and external committees has been ongoing for months.
And with these changes, all scheduling conflicts have been addressed and council members can move forward with their assigned external committees.
I'd like to thank Central Staff Deputy Director Ali Panucci for her continued work on establishing our committee structure and also my staff who worked with her and other offices.
Thank you, Jeremy.
So essentially, there was an email that was sent out on Wednesday explaining these changes.
Are there any comments?
All right.
Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll?
Council Member Hollingsworth?
Yes.
Council Member Kettle?
Aye.
Aye.
Council Member Moore.
Aye.
Council Member Morales.
Yes.
Council Member Rivera.
Aye.
Council Member Saka.
Aye.
Council Member Wu.
Yes.
Council President Nelson.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
Thank you very much.
The motion carries and the resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.
Thank you.
All right.
Our last item is a consideration of an administrative appeal of exclusion issued to Alex Zimmerman on February 13th, 2024 pursuant to council rule 11 D five.
All right.
The city council will now consider an administrative appeal to an exclusion issued to Alex Zimmerman on February 13th, 2024. The question is, shall the decision to exclude this individual from attending city council and standing committee meetings through March 11th, 2024 be sustained?
Are there any comments?
That is the question before us.
Seeing no comments, we'll have a roll call.
Now during roll call, council members will either vote aye to sustain the exclusion through March 11th, 2024 or vote no to grant the appeal and remove the exclusion.
All right.
Is everybody clear on the procedure here?
All right.
A simple majority vote is needed.
Will the clerk please call the roll on if the council should sustain the decision to exclude this individual from attending council and standing committee meetings through March 11th, 2024.
Council Member Hollingsworth.
Aye.
Council Member Kettle.
Aye.
Council Member Moore.
Aye.
Council Member Morales.
Yes.
Council Member Rivera?
Aye.
Council Member Saka?
Aye.
Council Member Wu?
Yes.
Council President Nelson?
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
The motion carries and the exclusion remains in effect.
Okay, is there any other business to come before council?
Are we good to the order?
Yes.
Thank you, Council President.
Colleagues, I want to say thank you to my staff who are here, Alexis Turla and Devin Silvernail, who are leaving my office after four years and probably the most tumultuous first year city council term.
Alexis and Devin have been dedicated public servants, fielding calls from thousands of constituents, drafting policy in response to very critical community needs, and really sharing their love of district too with our colleagues here and with the city.
I've been humbled by their wisdom, by their passion and dedication to public service.
And they've really been here in order to serve our neighbors and to serve our city.
So thank you very much.
Thank you.
Two years ago, two long years ago, each of them let me know independently that they were making plans to transition their families to Europe.
Alexis is going to Spain and Devin is going to France.
I'm very jealous.
So today is the last day for both of them.
I'm really sad to see them go, but I'm thrilled for both of you for the adventures that you have coming up next and look forward to hearing about your lives abroad.
So I want to wish you well and wish your families well.
And thank you for your service to the people of Seattle.
The last thing I'll say is that tomorrow, my new chief of staff begins.
Andra Kranzler will be starting.
So I hope you'll take some time over the next several days to come say hello and visit and welcome her.
And we will make sure that she gets to know each of your staff as well.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
And I have to say that for warriors, today was a fitting last day on the job, I have to say, right?
For sure.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Seeing no other business, we've reached the end of today's agenda, and our next regularly scheduled City Council meeting will be held on March 5th at 2 p.m.
It is now 4.30 p.m., and we are adjourned.
Thank you.