Select Committee on the Library Levy 4/8/2026

Good morning, everyone.

The April 8th, 2026 meeting of the select committee on the library levy will come to order.

It's 934 AM.

I'm Maritza Rivera, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council member Strauss?

Here.

Council member Foster?

Present.

Here.

Council member Juarez?

Here.

Council member Lynn?

Here.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Present.

Chair Rivera.

Present.

Seven Council Members are present.

All right.

Thank you, Clerk.

Please note for the record that Council Members Kettle and Saka are excused from today's meeting.

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

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

We will now open our hybrid public comment period.

Public comment should relate to items on the agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

We currently have 10 in-person speakers and seven remote speakers signed up.

Okay, that's 17 people.

So given that each speaker will have two minutes.

Clerk, will you please read the public comment instructions?

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 60 minutes.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

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

We will start with in-person speakers first and then remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

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

The public comment period is now open.

We will begin with the first speaker on the list, Jessica Lucas.

Welcome, Jessica.

Hello.

Thank you for having me.

I'm Jessica Lucas.

I'm the president of AFSCMEK Local 2083 Seattle Public Libraries.

Library Employees Union, and I am here to represent our members.

We would like to thank the Mayor and the City Council for working so diligently to put forth and improve the proposed 2027 to 2033 levy.

We know that 30% of our salaries are funded through the current levy, and if this levy does not pass, it will mean layoffs and deep cuts to the services that we provide.

We are happy to see so much potential for additional staff to support future programs that are part of this package, which we hope will include support staff as well as librarians.

As a teen services librarian myself, I can tell you that we need additional library associate staff who provide processing, shelving, customer service, and information referrals so that librarians have time to listen to our communities and create and provide equitable programs that serve their needs.

We need more security officers who are trained in de-escalation, honestly more than the three proposed, to keep us and our patrons safe.

We need working door locks that actually respond to the buttons we push to lock them in an emergency.

We need buildings that will not fall on our heads in an earthquake and that can provide refuge in both the hottest and coldest days of the year.

We need additional support for our social services team who provide resources to our most vulnerable patrons.

Thank you for including these things in the original levy proposal and in these amendments.

I look forward to the library fulfilling all of these promises to staff and patrons and to all the folks living in Seattle.

Whether they enter our buildings or not, they benefit from the services we provide to those who do.

The library contributes to a well-informed, educated, and connected society.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica.

Next is, and I should say that, can you please use jazz hands so that we're able to move quickly and hear everyone?

All mics are on, so when I call you up, you can feel free to walk up to one of the mics if you'd like.

Brian Lawrence, Peter Hasegawa, Betsy Clark Kiel, and then Pepe Montero.

Brian, welcome.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Brian Lawrence, the CEO of the Seattle Public Library Foundation.

I appreciate the conversations that we've had leading through this process.

It's worth stating again that the foundation is the nonprofit partner of the library.

We are fundraisers and advocates on behalf of the library we love.

While we are proud of the funding we provide to the library, thanks to our thousands of donors, we also know that private philanthropy is always changing and can never match the impact of public funding for a chartered city institution, nor should it.

The amendments before you today are small in relation to the city's total budget or the overall share of the property taxes dedicated to the city's various levies.

But they offer significant public benefit, and they'll position the foundation to make even further enhancements through private support.

Think about it this way.

These amendments represent about 10 years of fundraising efforts.

You have the opportunity at this moment to make it decades' worth of difference for the countless library patrons who rely on it.

The time to invest in the library is now.

The library is ready to implement important expansions to vital services to achieve its strategic vision, and the foundation is ready to boost our fundraising to leverage the public support.

And the residents of Seattle, I feel, are ready to show their support for the decisions you make.

So I urge you to seize this moment and be visionary.

Please don't shortchange a public institution that touches every neighborhood, serves people of every age, and all backgrounds.

Thank you for taking bold action together to make our beloved library even stronger.

Please pass the amendments today and let's get to work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brian.

Peter Hasegawa, Betsy Klaquil, and Pepe Montero.

Good morning, council members.

Hi.

Go ahead.

Thanks.

I'm Peter Hasegawa.

I'm here today on behalf of IBW Local 46 and our 6,000 electrical worker members.

In 2021, over 400 people died in a heat dome in our state.

And that revealed that we are not ready for climate change.

I'm proud that over the last several years, our union has worked in coalition with groups like 350 Seattle and the Green New Deal Oversight Board to advocate for adequate cooling in public buildings and to help get our buildings here in Seattle to stop emitting climate pollution.

We are really enthusiastic about amendments that have been proposed from Council Members Foster, Lynn, and Rink, which we believe would all help us achieve these goals, and we ask for the full Council's support for these amendments.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Peter.

Betsy Cluck-Keel, Pepe Montero, and Ann Repas.

Thank you, Council Members.

My name is Betsy Cluck-Kyle, and I live in District 6. I'm also a former children's staff for the Seattle Public Library.

Until recently, I did work in the children's area on Level 1, the teen area on Level 3, and on the Bookmobile.

This is a very well-used and well-loved space.

Specifically in the children's area, parents and caregivers stop through all day long, check out books, entertain kids, and just hang out.

I was working at the Central Library when it was built 22 years ago, and I witnessed the entire process.

And at that point, it was the architect's vision of how the space should work.

And now we have the opportunity for frontline staff and building managers to be able to create the space that will actually help our staff function for the people we serve.

I'm here today because I so appreciate the proposed amendment for the Council Member Foster to dedicate $10 million to the renovation of the Central Library.

The amendment could make this huge difference for the children in the area.

I'm looking at my time.

And the Central Library is showing its age.

It's 22 years old and a state of the art at 2004 is not the same as 2026. Think about how it would revitalize this area with the benefit of the Seattle families as a whole.

My former colleagues could host more programs, offer more books, welcome more people throughout the building.

and think about what it would mean to our downtown core.

When we invite more kids and more teens into our downtown destinations, like the library, it shows people in the city that we are vibrant, safe, and a positive area.

Think about the Global Reading Challenge that just happened, and it was in the Seattle Times article on April 1st.

We had hundreds of families that came.

and I also just want to say that we are the last truly democratic institution where families can come, people can come, no matter who they are, where they are, and we are the only free place to hang in the downtown core.

Thank you, Betsy.

Thank you very much.

And I have a visual aid because I work with children.

All right.

Yes.

True.

Thank you, Betsy.

Thank you for your service in the libraries.

Pepe Montero and Repaz and then Shira Rosen.

Buenos dias, good morning council members.

Buenos dias.

Buenos dias, my name is Pepe Montero and I am the Executive Director of Hugo House, a nonprofit literary arts organization based in District 3. Over the years, I have also served as poetry editor for Narrative Magazine, as president of Seattle Escribe, and as board president of Seattle City of Literature, which manages our city's designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature.

I share all this to say that I believe I'm qualified to speak to how deeply the library impacts Seattle's literary community.

Seattle is a city of readers and writers.

Our region has a literary tradition that goes back to its original inhabitants, the Coast Salish people.

Regardless of background or belief, we Seattleites share a common bond through the power of storytelling.

Our library is absolutely essential to this identity.

to the books it circulates, the writers it brings in for free programs, and the communities it builds around reading and writing.

It is no exaggeration to say that it would not be a UNESCO City of Literature, one of only two in the US and 53 worldwide, without a strong Seattle Public Library.

At a time when democracy feels fragile and misinformation spreads faster than the truth, literature matters.

Reading slows us down in an attention economy that profits from outrage.

Reading creates space for reflection, combats isolation, and builds empathy by allowing us to step into lives we might not otherwise understand.

In a way, reading is not just a private act.

It is a civic one.

So supporting a literate culture is really an act of democracy.

That is why I'm grateful to council members for prioritizing library collections in the levy.

We must keep pace with the costs and demands for library books.

Every new library book is an investment in curiosity, imagination, and an informed, engaged public.

For all these reasons, I urge you to please support this amendment.

Thank you for your attention and for all the work you did.

All right, and Repaz, Shira Rosen, and then Lily Shi.

Hi there.

I'm Ann Repass, and I'm a lifelong lover of libraries.

I have served on a variety of foundation boards, and I'm currently the emeritus chair for the foundation board supporting the library.

I've given tours of our central library and talked to people and promoted the library all of my time.

here in Seattle, which is my adult life.

And I just want to thank you for your support and encourage you to give as much as possible to this funded library, particularly around the collection.

When I go to my library, I see people walking out with armloads of books.

So I know they're really utilizing all our resources.

It makes a big difference.

It makes us a better educated, more aware, and smarter community.

So keep it going.

Give us the best money you can to keep the library strong.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Anne.

Shira Rosen, excuse me, Lily Shi, and Christiana Della Russo.

Shira?

Hi, I appreciate the short microphone.

Thank you, Chair Rivera and council members.

My name is Shira Rosen.

I'm the co-executive director at Literacy Source, based in District 5. And we're an adult education organization in literacy.

I'm here to thank Council Members Foster and Juarez for their amendment to expand multilingual programming at the library.

Literacy Source is a longtime partner of the library on programs that serve immigrants and refugees.

For example, we run the English language conversation classes and have lots of people coming in regularly who are adults working on their English.

They currently take place at the Central Library, Beacon Hill, Lake City, High Point, New Holly, Northgate, and South Park branches, and also virtually.

We're able to offer so many options this year because of the two-year grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York secured by the Seattle Public Library Foundation last year.

The funding nearly doubled the number of free library programs that are serving English language learners, and we know there's a huge need out there.

we expanded one-on-one adult education tutoring, digital skills classes, and introduced level English classes for the first time at the library.

The grant came at a time when demand for free and low-cost English classes is very high, as we know at Literacy Source because we're regularly turning away students because we just don't have space.

So we know that at this time, many immigrants and refugees also feel that they're at great risk.

And learning English is a wonderful benefit, and we want to help them.

The funding for that grant expires in July of 2027, and there's no guarantee that it's actually going to be renewed.

So the amendment that Council Members Foster and Juarez will provide resources to continue serving English language learners the levy, and expanding the play and learn programs is really important.

Thank you, council members, for recognizing the vital role of the library in serving our immigrant neighbors, and I urge you all to support the amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Shira.

Next, Lily Shee, Christiana De La Russo, and Monish Shah.

Welcome, Lily.

Thank you, council members.

My name is Lily Shi, and I'm a resident of District 1. I want to thank my council members of Rincon Saka, especially for their amendment to provide funding for additional seismic retrofit for the library, prioritizing our beautiful West Seattle branch.

This branch is even more historic than many realize.

It opened in July 1910 as the first permanent library branch in Seattle and is still the oldest operating library building in the city.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a landmarked building.

When I first moved to West Seattle, no joke, it was the first place I brought my mom.

She's a retired librarian and a library branch manager from New Jersey, and I want to show her what kind of neighborhood and community I just moved into.

There's no better place to show that from the wonderful, welcoming reading area and the children's area to the incredible staff that hosts programs from story time to a local club's classical music concerts.

It's truly a hub of the Admiral neighborhood and beyond.

However, it'll be 124 years old by the end of this levee cycle.

It does not have the reinforced masonry to protect the building during an earthquake, nor the climate and accessibility features of most modern libraries.

My grandmother, who is only 24 years younger than that building, she turns 101 this year, would certainly benefit from those additions.

As we all know, Seattle is overdue for the big one.

To paraphrase Council Member Rink last week, the best time for a seismic safety upgrade is before the big one hits.

Funding the West Seattle Retrofit Now will also help make sure that our neighbors in Queen Anne and Fremont benefit from similar projects in the next levy cycle.

We can't afford to wait too long to preserve these historic buildings.

So please vote yes for this amendment, and it benefits everyone who comes through the doors of our beloved branches.

Thank you, Lily.

Next, Christiana Della Russo and Monish Shah and then we'll go to our online.

Thank you, Christiana.

My name is Christiana Della Russo, and I live in District 6. When my kids were little, we'd go to the Greenwood Library in our neighborhood often.

When we'd ride the elevator, as it creaked and crawled, there would be that moment between myself, my kids, and other patrons, that look that says, are we going to get stuck?

Those kids are young adults now.

One of them is here with me today.

And the elevator at the Greenwood Library and others in our district continue to creak and crawl ever so slowly up and down between floors.

Thus, I am here to thank my council member, Dan Strauss, for his proposed amendment to fund ADA accessibility and maintenance needs at our libraries.

These funds are critically needed, especially for elevator and escalator replacements.

If you'd been down the street to the Central Library this week, you'd have seen that an elevator and an escalator are currently down, as is unfortunately often the case in that amazing and aging building.

As our libraries age, elevators and escalators are often the first things to break, leading to safety risks and inaccessibility.

And as anyone who has lived or worked in a high-rise building knows, elevators aren't cheap or quick to replace.

That's why the time to fund these replacements is right now with the once every seven years opportunity in front of you before costs get even higher or a serious issue occurs.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss, for proposing funds to adequately address ADA accessibility and maintenance needs across the library system.

Without this funding, we will fall dangerously behind on making sure our libraries are safe and accessible for everyone.

I ask the Council to vote yes on this amendment.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Christiana.

Next, Monish Shah, and then we'll go to our online speakers.

Welcome.

Hey.

Hey, council members.

My name is Monique Shaw, and I live in District 4 and frequently visit the Fremont Library.

I also serve on the board of the Friends of the Seattle Public Library.

Throughout this process, you've engaged with many of my fellow board members as we seek to fulfill our mission to elevate the library and inspire a love of reading in our community.

and thanks for listening and I want to especially thank Council Member Rink, not just for your fantastic reel, the other day with my board colleague Jennifer, but also for sponsoring the amendment to expand PeekPix into digital books.

As you've repeatedly heard, both the digital books and PeekPix are extremely popular among Seattle readers.

It makes perfect sense to take one of the most popular things the library does and combine it with the most popular current format requested by the public that the library offers.

Peak Picks offers no-wait access to most in-demand new releases from well-known authors.

And right now, for example, Peak Picks features the latest works from Maria Semple and Patrick Roddenkeith.

It also highlights local writers and new voices.

And current Peak Picks include a Pacific Northwest travel guide, a manual on growing vegetables in Washington, and a mystery set on Whidbey Island.

Peak Picks provides a beloved service for library patrons and an invaluable platform for emerging and diverse writers at the front of every library and hopefully soon on the front page of the Libby app.

Please vote yes to expand access to PeekPix and to digital books.

Thank you.

Thank you, Monish.

All right, we'll go to our online speakers.

We have Brian Callanan, Roberta McMichael, and Kathleen Southwick.

Brian, press star six and you may begin.

This is Brian Callanan.

I'm a host on the Seattle channel.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I've talked with all of you at Seattle Channel Studios before, but this is a little different.

I'm speaking to you in support of Councilmember Strauss's amendment to the library levy, amendment number eight on page 16 of your amendments packet.

This measure would expand library programming on the Seattle Channel at a relatively low cost of $300,000 per year, $2.1 million over the life of the levy.

The Seattle Channel has broadcast monthly library board meetings for the past 15 years, and there's an opportunity now to build on this partnership and leverage the channel's growing online presence with 5.5 million annual video views to promote library content.

Book talks, lectures, and other library presentations could be featured on Seattle Channel's multiple video platforms, connecting with the channel's 156,000 followers on social media, including 82,000 subscribers on YouTube alone.

This amendment is not a large increase in the levy, but it would create a significant funding source for the Seattle Channel.

As many council members know, The channel faced major funding cuts in 2024 that would have resulted in the loss of shows like the ones I host with you and other guests, plus other popular programs like Art Zone with Nancy Guppy and Booklust with Nancy Pearl.

I'm thankful to the council that funding for the channel was restored then, but decreasing revenue from cable fees remains a concern.

That's why this idea of adding a little bit of levy money to the channel, creating a braided approach with multiple funding sources for the channel, presents itself as a practical and sustainable path forward.

As a journalist covering City Hall, it is not comfortable for me to speak out about the city dollars that affect my job as I was not comfortable two years ago, but I'm going to say with all the humility I can that I see the work of the Seattle Channel as a critical part of the fabric of this city and it needs to survive and flourish.

This is a very small increase to the levy that I see as a fiscally responsible move to promote Seattle's libraries and help the Seattle Channel thrive into the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brian.

Next, Roberta McMichael.

Roberta, if you press star six, you may begin.

Thank you, Chair Rivera and council members.

My name is Roberta McMichael and I live in Maple Leaf District 5. My first time ever calling in to make public comment on an issue.

I've been a lifelong supporter of the public library since childhood when I frequented the Northeast Library.

and I'm currently an avid audiobook user as an adult.

The library is a place that I and so many others have always called home.

I'm also an active viewer of the Emmy Award-winning Seattle Channel, such a great existing free resource that the city should be proud of.

This is why I'm so pleased to see the amendment from Councilmember Strauss to grow the Seattle Channel's coverage of the library program.

What a great collaboration that will be.

Library programs are such a huge win for the city, engaging, educational, and free of charge.

A broad range of programs offer something for everyone, truly a common ground for all.

These must be accessible to everyone, including people who face barriers presented by disability, transportation, job care, and more, and who may not be able to attend library programs in person.

The Seattle Channel is another essential free educational public service.

They do such an amazing job of covering city politics and so much more.

They already offer award-winning original content, creative and cultural programs, vital election information in Seattle history, just to name a few.

I'm excited that Council Member Strauss' amendment would provide more opportunities for people to experience library programs remotely via the Seattle Channel.

I urge you to vote yes on this amendment and support more access to two of our essential public services, the library and the Seattle Channel.

Thank you.

Thank you, Roberta.

Kathleen Southwick, please press star six and you may begin.

Thank you, council members.

My name is Kathleen Southwick and I live in District 7. I'm speaking in support of the library levy with an emphasis on additional funding for the Community Resource Specialist position.

For 19 years, I was the Executive Director of Crisis Clinic, now Crisis Connections, which provides telephone-based information referral to Health and Human Services and a broad array of behavioral health crisis diversion services, including 988, the Suicide and Crisis Line.

I was a co-founder of Washington State's 211 service, a three-digit dialing code that made it easier for people to connect to health and human services.

So I know the importance of the ease of access as a first step in connection.

But there needs to be a network of on-the-ground, in-the-moment specialists to help people face-to-face when they need it.

The library's community resource specialists are a dedicated staff who have the capacity, expertise, and empathy to work with vulnerable library patrons.

Expanding these positions and working with the CARE team to better integrate service connections from library locations will strengthen our city safety net.

This will benefit patrons at the Central Library, Ballard, and Capitol Hill.

I would like to thank Council Members Foster, Strauss, and Hollingsworth for recognizing this reality.

their important amendment would address the crisis needs of library patrons.

I encourage all council members to support this amendment and expand the library's role in addressing the needs of vulnerable members of our city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kathleen.

Colleen McAleer, please press star six and you may begin.

Good morning, City Council Colleen McAleer.

Our neighborhood of 3,200 residents 100% supports that $410 million library levy.

And as you know, it's a whopping 50% increase inflation-adjusted replacement levy, which covers everything from operations, maintenance, books, materials, infrastructure, e-books, and its wonderful outreach services.

There are some real concerns among constituents that the levy requires the city to exceed the levy limits in the state.

And neighbors, especially seniors and several veterans on Fixed incomes do not support additional amendments, which puts Seattle even at a dangerously high tax limit, at the maximum and the highest in the state.

Adding more millions in amendments leaves nothing for the city for real emergencies.

Yesterday, as we stood at the Met Market, neighbors were contemplating their carts, whether they should stuff their carts full of everything, or should something be left on the shelf for others for an emergency.

And this is the same as saving a small amount of taxing capacity for contingency for our city's future and emergency needs.

All Seattle residents have wonderful affiliations with Seattle's libraries and great memories, but we can't afford more than the $410 million, which is a 50% increase.

Landowners have already been taxed heavily to fund parks and rec levy, children and families, and free preschool, which also provides many of these resources and safe places for children to be after school.

So please pass the $410 million CB121-181 as is with no amendments.

Let's keep Seattle's land more affordable for landowners, renters, homeowners, and save something for a rainy day.

Thank you so much for your work on this.

Thank you, Colleen.

Margaret Butler, please press star six and you may begin.

Hi.

Thank you, council members, for your time.

I'm Margaret Butler.

I am an artist, graphic designer, and small business owner in Seattle, and I live in Fremont in District 6. I also rent an art studio in Ballard, And I'm here to tell you that I support the library levy in full and specifically council members Rank and Struth's amendment to add to our collections and council member Rank's amendment for digital peak picks.

When I first moved to Seattle, one of the first things I did was get a library card.

I'll never forget the first time I went to Central Library.

I walked in and I looked up and I was taking in the beauty of the building while a cellist was playing and it brought tears to my eyes because I was so excited and happy that this was my new home.

I love that Seattle invests in its libraries and creates third spaces for its citizens.

I use the library every day, reading digital books and audiobooks on Libby, renting physical books, and I'm old school so I also like to rent some DVDs from time to time.

The library supports my small business needs with printing, computer and Wi-Fi access, reference material for my art, personal hotspots for my art studio,

and I even got an affidavit notarized to the library so that I could use my partner's workplace health insurance, which is huge for a small business owner like me.

One thing I've noticed is that the wait times at the library are too long.

Since we are top ten in the nation in Seattle with digital book rentals, I find myself waiting several weeks for the materials that I want and need.

For example, I placed a hold on the personal hotspot at the end of last year and I finally got it last week so that I could use it in my art studio.

and I ended up actually purchasing a book for a book club that I'm in because the physical, digital, and audio book copies of Project Hail Mary were all on hold until long after our book club was scheduled to meet to discuss the book.

So in conclusion, I support the Library Levy because it's an important community resource for small business owners and reading enthusiasts like me.

We need access to educational material and age of misinformation so please support this library levy in full.

Thank you.

Thank you, Margaret.

David Haynes, press star six and you may begin.

Hi, is there any way we can increase the dollar amount and build some new libraries?

Every time you gotta do a seismic retrofit, it's a telltale sign that you have a building code violation and unstable walls.

The thing is, we need to improve the services that have to respond to the societal impulsion that we keep dealing with when people think that the library is a free place to hang out and bother other people.

And a perfect effort would be Council Member Foster's amendment that is going to spend $10 million to remodel the central library.

If you all would allow for a participatory effort to remodel it would be great because you have to create personal space for somebody like me to go in there write my speech and not be bothered by other people's problems that passive-aggressively bother other people at the same computer table at the same reading area and it's frustrating to the point where I've pretty much given up on going there and knowing full well within five minutes I'm going to be stressed out and it's not fair and part of the problem is and I hate to say this, but the service providers who are supposed to provide a shower and laundry, they don't show up and pick somebody up who gets a ticket that gives them a guarantee that they get a shower and a laundry right away.

And a lot of times I've asked some of the librarians, why don't you call the service provider?

And they say, well, we've already done that.

We know this person, they got problems, they'll be back.

And it's like, well, sometimes you just gotta call so that they can go take a shower and a laundry.

and they say, well, we're not gonna judge, we're all inclusive.

And it's almost like a passive aggressive allowance for a disgruntled attitude to take it out on somebody else, an innocent patron who cannot enjoy the library because it's too noisy and there's too many bothersome people.

You gotta have a remodel to get the people.

Thank you, David.

Chair, that was our last registered speaker.

Thank you, clerk.

There are no additional registered speakers.

The public comment period is now closed, so we'll now proceed to our items of business.

And I just want to thank everyone for coming down here and giving your testimony, and thank you for doing jazz hands and snaps.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda Item 1, Council Bill 121-181, an ordinance relating to regular property taxes, providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the city at an election to be held on August 4th, 2026, of a proposition authorizing the city to levy regular property taxes for up to seven years in excess of the limitation on levies and chapter 8455 RCW for the purpose of sustaining investments in library operating hours, collections, technology, programming, and maintenance while expanding access to opportunity through library materials, technology, and undertaking a seismic retrofit of one library facility and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.

For briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, clerk.

This item has been read into the record.

All right, colleagues, we're here.

And members of the public who are here in person or watching on the Seattle Channel, thank you for being present for these really important votes.

As part of this levy renewal process, we have all spoken about our love for the Seattle Libraries.

We have strong affection for our local branches and we're aligned in our shared conviction that we have one of the best library systems in the world.

One built to serve a city of avid readers and learners.

The mayor sent down a good package because she loves libraries and I love libraries as much as we all do.

That's why I supported it.

It is 50% more than the last levy even after accounting for inflation.

It increases investments in collections, access and programming, and capital projects.

As we discussed at the last meeting, we're facing a very real levy cap.

With the proposed package, we would have $310 million left for future levies, including the housing, FEP and transportation levies.

If all the amendments pass today then we will only have 230 million left.

The additions from the amendments today while worthy are increasing items that are already in the Mayor's package at a time when we can't afford more.

We know there are other needs that are coming.

Let's face it, we're only in year two of this madman in the president's seat, who knows what else we will have to deal with.

And of course, everyone keeps talking about affordability in Seattle.

These days, that seems more real than ever.

If I felt that we could add this levy without jeopardizing future levies or adding to our affordability crisis, I too would add more.

We don't have a crystal ball to predict what will happen in the future.

We're operating with the knowledge that we have today.

There is no judgment here.

This is not about who loves the libraries more.

This is about fiscal responsibility and our ability to pay for all our needs.

No matter what is decided today, we will have a levy to send to the voters and the voters can decide.

With that, colleagues, we're going to move forward with our meeting.

I move that the committee recommends passage of Council Bill 121-181.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It is moved and seconded to recommend passage of the bill.

I'd like to invite Eric McConaughey, our central staffer, to come to the table.

Thank you for being here, Eric.

Colleagues, let me share the process for voting for the amendments because we have a number of them.

So what we will do is this.

I will recognize the sponsor of each amendment in numerical order.

The sponsor will make the motion to move their amendment.

We will wait for it to be seconded and then I will recognize Eric to briefly present it and then I will recognize that sponsor to address the amendment.

I will turn to the rest of us colleagues for questions or comments and then we'll vote on that amendment and then we'll repeat the process for subsequent amendments.

All right, with that, Council Member Foster, you're recognized to move your first amendment.

Fantastic, I'd like to move amendment number one.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121-181 as presented on amendment one.

Central staff, Eric, would you please provide a brief overview of the amendment?

Yes, good morning.

This is Eric McConaughey and the Council of Central Staff.

Amendment 1 is sponsored by Council Member Foster.

With this amendment, Council would intend that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by this amendment to the amount of $10 million would be authorized to support completing major renovation at the Central Library.

Thank you, Eric.

Council Member Foster has sponsored this amendment you recognize in order to address it.

Thank you so much chair and thank you Eric from central staff and to the team from libraries.

I wanna also extend my appreciation to our public commenters today and thank you for speaking on behalf of this amendment.

I do wanna say I was not in cahoots with the escalator and the elevator at the central library to have them break down this week.

However, I do think it is exemplary of part of the reason that I'm bringing this amendment forward.

Our central library is an incredibly special place.

It's a special place for families and children.

I know that I've spent a lot of time in the children's library there myself, taking a break from busy downtown when my kid was younger.

And it's really important that we maintain that building and that we invest in it now.

As we know, at the end of this levy, that building is going to be almost 30 years old.

and we're already seeing the wear and tear in the central library building.

In addition to that, as the former librarian already spoke to today, we are now, with 22 years under our belt, we understand more about the needs of the building and what renovations could do for the users.

So with that, this is an amendment intended to ensure the central library remains safe, welcoming, and built for how today's families use it.

And colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, any comments or questions?

Seeing none, Clerk, will you please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment 1?

Councilmember Strauss?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Chair Rivera?

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

All right, the motion carries and amendment one is adopted.

Council Member Foster, you're recognized to move your next amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

I'd like to move amendment number two.

Second.

As presented- There you go, got it in there.

1-2-1-1-8-1.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 1-2-1-1-8-1 as presented on Amendment 2. Councilmember Foster has sponsored this amendment.

You're recognized in order to address it.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And I'll be brief, and Councilmember Juarez, I know I spoke to this amendment last week.

If you'd like to share any words, I'll be brief in case you'd like to share any.

These are amendments to ensure that we have targeted investments to multilingual programs so that families can access services in the languages that they speak at home.

It's incredibly important for our play and learn programs that families can access them.

And this amendment would allow us to expand those critical programs across the city and to ensure that we have more multilingual services in a time where we so need them.

Chair, is it okay if we go to Council Member Juarez to see if she'd like to add any comments as co-sponsor?

Yes, Council Member Juarez, you are recognized to speak.

Thank you Madam Chair and thank you Councilmember Foster for inviting me to look at this and co-sponsor it with you.

I think this is the first time you and I got to work on an amendment together so thank you.

Colleagues I'm asking you to support Councilmember Foster's amendment of which I'm a co-sponsor to support the expansion of the Kaleidoscope Play and Learn program.

District 5 has three libraries Lake City, Northgate, Broadview that's Bitter Lake however The classical program is only offered at the Lake City branch and only offered in English.

Let me just share this before I kind of lay out the three libraries.

The connective tissue for all of this and why I was so intrigued with Council Member Foster's amendment is that when we look at libraries, for us anyway, and I think across the district, is I like to look at the public asset of a library in conjunction with housing density and of course all the money that we have done, thank you Madam Chair as well, on the pre-K issue for the FEP and where the money went and how we, my point is to dedicate public access to public assets.

And this is a prime example of that.

At the Lake City Library, next door, the soon-to-be-built community center will have 113 units of family housing with preschool and program on site.

We also have the Lehigh Tony Lee Apartments, which is one block away with 69 units of housing and a RIWA, as you've heard today from the Little Resource people as well, preschool on the first floor.

And there are seven other preschools in the area, including a bilingual English Mandarin preschool.

That's just down the street from my house.

At the Northgate Library, just two blocks away from the library, we now have the new Nook.

at the North Haven.

It has 89 units of intergenerational living with a Rewa preschool on the first floor, which the city, thank you voters and city council for supporting Rewa and the pre-K schools.

And next door to the library, we have the East African Elders Community Lunch at the Northgate Community Center, and that's where it's held and I've attended that.

And then at the Broadview Library, is one blog from Broadview Thompson K8, where there are 140 students enrolled in the English in the ELL program at the school and our students speak 32 different languages there.

So we welcome the opportunity to work with city departments such as DEAL and the Seattle Preschool Program and REWA and as you heard Literacy Source today, which is ND5 and North Helpline.

And I think what I'm just trying to share with you today is having three libraries, having housing density, affordable housing, and more importantly, having the pre-K assets that we have in all of our districts that we all contributed through our budget to make sure that they get built.

So kids have a head start before they actually go to public school, the pre-K app at onsite connected to public libraries, I think is just an incredible investment in our city.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Eric, apologies, I didn't get to you, but I think we're good on this one.

Okay, well, I'll make sure to go to you in the future ones.

All right, colleagues, any questions or comments from any of our colleagues?

And again, I'll say colleagues, I support the intent behind this amendment.

These programs are really important.

We do have them at the libraries.

They should be prioritized for the north end.

And I know there are dollars in here that could go toward that purpose already.

And so I would have loved to have seen this expansion into the north end.

But nevertheless, here we are.

So let's take a vote on amendment Number two.

Council Member Foster.

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Aye.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Howlingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

Motion carries and amendment two is adopted.

All right, Council Member Foster, you are recognized to move amendment number three.

Thank you, Chair.

I ask to move amendment number three.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second.

Thank you.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on amendment number three.

Eric, would you please give a brief description and then I'll go to you, Council Member Foster, as sponsor.

Yeah, this amendment would, through the recital would communicate counsel's intention to, let me start all over again.

Okay, no problem.

Things on my mind that are not about this, so I'm gonna put this aside, take a deep breath.

Through this amendment, council would communicate their intention to increase the library levy funding amount by $4.06 million.

This would be to support operating hours and access by expanding resource navigation with four additional full-time equivalent community resource specialists and upgrading security badge access at the central branch.

And thank you for your indulgence for that.

No problem, Eric.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, as sponsor, you are recognized to speak to this amendment and I know there are two other co-sponsors and we can go to them after.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you, Eric.

You got this.

You're doing great.

Colleagues, I'm excited to bring this amendment forward, and I want to thank Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Strauss for their co-sponsorship of this amendment.

The intent behind this is really to ensure that our libraries remain open and accessible and available to all residents.

As I was engaging with the library staff, you know, we heard from folks who said, we have folks who spend eight or ten hours in our libraries.

it's an excellent point to make sure that we're able to connect them with resources.

We also heard fantastic information about how these navigators have helped the libraries to to reduce the number of bans that are happening at our libraries so that they truly are third places and that they are places where we can have safety and access for all of our residents.

So I'm excited to bring this forward.

We know that the library will be prioritizing downtown Capitol Hill and Ballard for these navigators.

And I think that's an important and a well done way to spend these resources.

So colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Council President Hollingsworth, did you wanna speak to this amendment?

Thank you, Chair Rivera.

Just appreciation for Council Member Foster and her leadership on this and collaboration regarding this amendment.

She said everything that I would say, so I won't repeat.

I know we have to get through a bunch of amendments.

Just very grateful for that, so thank you.

Thank you, Council President Hollingsworth.

Council Member Schaus, as the other co-sponsor, would you like to address this amendment?

Yes, thank you to Councilmember Foster for your leadership in this and thank you to the libraries for your agreement to partner with our existing service providers in these areas.

What I've noticed is that the current service provision that is occurring at libraries is not integrated with the fabric that we have created in the last six years and so I'm excited to be able to support this amendment to support your work in doing it a little bit better and making sure that that collaboration occurs.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Any questions or comments from our other colleagues?

All right.

Then let's go to our vote clerk, please.

Councilmember Strauss.

Aye.

Councilmember Foster.

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Councilmember Lynn.

Yes.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The motion carries and the amendment three is adopted.

Council Member Lynn, you are recognized to move amendment number four, your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

I moved to adopt amendment number four.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right, it is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121-181 as presented on Amendment 4. Council Member Lynn has sponsored this amendment.

I'm going to go to you after I go to Eric.

Fantastic.

Eric, would you like to give us a brief description of Amendment 4?

Sure thing.

This amendment would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the Mayor and increased by $15 million by the Council should be authorized for investments to support maintenance by 1. completing the repair, replacement, or upgrades of cooling systems for all library branches and 2. addressing deferred maintenance and branch electrification.

Thank you Eric.

Councilmember Lin has sponsored this amendment.

You're recognized in order to address it.

Thank you, Chair.

This amendment, as just described, would cover a number of different matters.

One, it would include the HVAC systems at five branches.

That mostly has been funded through the FEMA grant, which is wonderful, which covers most of that cost.

There are some other costs that are already budgeted for, but this would would help to ensure that those projects can be completed in case there are any cost overruns or also for ongoing maintenance and repairs.

It would also help to address deferred maintenance.

We know that the proposal does not fully fund all the deferred maintenance.

And as we heard, deferred maintenance pops up.

unexpectedly quite often in our branches.

As well as branch electrification, we have a number of branches that are not electrified yet.

And current events, it is crystal clear that we need to move rapidly to transition away from fossil fuels, both in terms of costs and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as what we see with our things like our current snowpack, which are greatly below average.

And we are unfortunately nowhere near, we are making progress, but nowhere near our 2030 Climate Action Plan goals.

Transportation is the number one emission, around 58%.

Buildings is our second largest emission of greenhouse gas, and that's around 40%.

and so we need to be moving much more rapidly.

Many of those buildings are privately owned, but we need to do what we can and show our leadership of transitioning publicly owned buildings through electrification.

15 million is not nearly enough to cover the entire needs of deferred maintenance and branch electrification.

but hopefully it will get us part of the way there.

And Chair, this is to your point of, You know, we have this difficult balance.

We do have the levy cap.

We have affordability concerns.

And, you know, voters, this is not about, again, who loves libraries more.

I think we all love our libraries.

And, you know, we have this delicate balance of putting something before the voters.

And voters only get to say yes or no to what we put before them.

They don't get to say, go bigger.

They don't get to go say, no, this is too big.

they just get to vote yes, kind of up or down on what we put for them.

And so that's where we are, we have this balance.

And so that's where even though 15 is not enough to cover all the deferred maintenance and branch electrification needs, again, hopefully it gets us part of the way there.

So with that, I would appreciate your support colleagues.

Thank you, Council Member Lin.

Council Member Rink, you're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, I wanted to take a moment to speak in support of this amendment today.

I understand that there are those who suggested that we don't need to add funding to complete cooling projects at all of our branches because we were awarded FEMA grants, but I would note that trusting our library's future to Donald Trump's FEMA is irresponsible.

Just ask Seattle City Light our reimbursements for the 2024 bomb cyclone.

This amendment addresses our long overdue electrification efforts.

And to reiterate the points just made by Councilmember Lin, our last greenhouse gas emissions inventory found that buildings are the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 40% of Seattle's emissions, really contributing to climate pollution.

And this body committed years ago to decarbonizing and getting all of our buildings aligned with the building emissions performance standards.

Northeast Branch is still in the queue for electrification.

How long should those families wait, and at what cost to the city if we delay further?

So whether we're talking about cooling, electrification, or deferred maintenance, every dollar we spend in this levy will go much farther than any hypothetical dollar we could allocate to the next levy period in 2034 or beyond.

So any pennies we pinch now will cost us dollars seven years from now.

And pinning our hopes onto the Trump administration and following through on FEMA commitments to Seattle is not something I would advise.

So for these reasons, I will be proudly voting yes to this amendment to assure that we can responsibly care for our community.

Thank you, and thank you, Councilmember Lin, for bringing this forward.

Thank you, Council Member Rank.

Anyone else?

I don't see any hands up.

I will address something here and that is, as I said earlier, this isn't about the fact that the libraries don't have more needs.

The buildings are old and they're gonna have needs into the future.

This library's not gonna, levy's gonna is not going to cover all the needs and we will be back here again but we also have other needs and if we put all of the money into this need we will have less to cover future needs including the next levy which is the housing levy in 2030. So I will say that no one is saying that the libraries don't have more needs.

The needs are actually endless because the buildings will always need more work.

They are old buildings and we are grappling with how to pay for all the things.

So I think In terms of the voters and putting this on the levy, yes, absolutely, they get to decide whether they're gonna vote for it or not.

I will say voters don't always have the benefit of our finance advisors who tell us where we are with levy caps, what even a levy cap is and how much we would have for future levies.

that's a level of in the weeds I don't expect voters to know but we know that and all of that goes into our calculation and should go into our calculation and that's important because again we all love our libraries and we up here are struggling with more than just the libraries and that is the struggle.

So I really it is important to recognize that Council Member Juarez I see your hand go ahead.

Thank you.

I apologize.

I probably could have got the hand up quicker, Madam Chair.

I will not be supporting this and I'll share why.

And I do agree with the Chair, though I do appreciate the passion that Council Member Lynn and Rink bring to this amendment, notwithstanding Trump.

That's another thing.

But anyway, so I went back and pulled up and again, I'm taking it from the perspective of this is 50% more than the last levy, which I was around for.

concern about jeopardizing future levies or fiscal responsibility, but also the levy cap.

So, and I'll tell you why I'm saying this.

I'm not, I'm not anti, I mean, if there was, if we could afford all of this, then I say the Delta between what the mayor sent down and what, if we passed all the amendments, what, what that total would be.

And I think the Delta is like 70 million if we added, if we added every amendment in here.

79.

So when, when, So when we look at the City of Seattle taxes via levy, and you mentioned this Madam Chair, we have the library levy that's now, we have a transportation levy coming, we have the housing levy that's coming in 2030, we just passed the FEP levy in 2025 to the tune of $1.3 billion.

And then if we look at the annual taxes of Seattle, those are the ones, those are the fives that just keep rolling over.

The sweetened beverage tax, the jump tax, jump start tax, which I was there for, and the social housing tax.

which went to the voters, which a lot of these I was around for.

And then the more recent that was passed in November, the B&O tax.

And then of course we had the public safety tax under Mayor Harrell, which went through budget.

So I'm setting the table on that without even going into the county taxes.

And I'm not even talking about what's anticipated, possibly two more levies out of this next cycle coming up, which we'll hear from the mayor at some point, I'm guessing.

I think it's important when people are talking about levies and when you're the chair of a levy, it's a little bit different than being the chair of the budget.

Because right now, as you pointed out, Madam Chair, we all love the libraries, but we also have a fiscal responsibility.

and what I think and what I'm seeing in Amendment 4 and 5, those are operation and maintenance and brick and mortar repairs that have to be done.

And that doesn't mean that if it doesn't get funded here, it's not going to get funded ever anywhere else.

I believe it will and it should.

And for that reason, and again, I understand the passion and the concern, but I don't like to make decisions out of fear or being reactive to what I think is happening politically, globally, on a national level, at least for this specific matter.

And that's not throwing shade at anyone.

It's just how I look at analysis and making decisions.

So we know that the original packet from the mayor was 410 million.

and if we added all the amendments together, it would come out to like 480, correct me if I'm wrong, Eric, with a $70 million Delta difference there.

So I'm looking at it that way.

I'm supportive of many of the other amendments.

So I'm just laying it out now that I will not be supporting this amendment, Amendment 4, and I will not be supporting Amendment No. 5 as well for the very same reason so I don't have to speak again.

So thank you.

Thank you, council member Juarez.

Any other comments?

All right, let's take a vote on amendment number four.

Council member Strauss.

Aye.

Council member Foster.

Yes.

Council member Juarez.

No.

Council member Lynn.

Yes.

Council member Rink.

Yes.

Vice chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

No.

5 in favor, 2 opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment 4 is adopted.

Council Member Rink, you are recognized to move Amendment 5.

Thank you, Chair.

I move to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 5. It is...

A second?

Second.

Okay, thank you.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 5. Eric, would you please briefly talk about Amendment 5 and then I'll go to you, sponsor, Council Member.

Go ahead, Eric.

Sure.

Amendment 5 would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $15 million by the Council should be authorized for investments.

to support maintenance for renovating a historic library branch to improve seismic safety, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and upgrade publicly available space.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Rink, you're recognized to speak to your amendment, and then also I'll recognize you, Councilmember Strauss, after as co-sponsor if you'd like.

Councilmember Rink, go ahead.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, I'll speak here to my Amendment 5 and then, yes.

Sorry, sponsor, it's Saka who's co-sponsoring this one.

Sorry, Council Member Rank, go ahead.

Thank you.

Colleagues, I'll speak here to Amendment 5 and then more broadly to Amendments 1 and 4 and 9 as well, since these are the four amendments that represent important investments in Seattle Public Library's physical infrastructure and the people that we serve.

We know that libraries are a critical part of our community safety infrastructure.

and the next year we face a very real threat of global economic crisis caused by the president's foolish trade policies and now massively accelerated by our nation's reckless war with Iran.

I expect hard times ahead.

We're certainly already feeling it.

Hard times ahead for Seattle's economy.

and so this levy presents us with an opportunity and, to my mind, a responsibility to increase our investments to ensure safe community spaces are in every neighborhood in our city.

And our decisions today will determine how many of our public facilities will be strengthened against earthquakes, having HVAC systems ready for the extreme cold and heat brought to us by climate change, and be ready to provide refuge from the dangerous air that may come with our next fire season.

Seismic retrofits, HVAC upgrades to allow every neighborhood branch to have AC and getting all of our branches to be ADA compliant and the capacity to do just regular old routine maintenance is a timely and cost-effective way to ensure that we have safer spaces in every neighborhood.

And investing in capital projects and deferred maintenance now means that we can pay for expensive repairs and retrofits before prices go even higher.

Investing in local union labor to build our civic infrastructure means recirculating our dollars locally.

Most dollars invested in our local trades, women and men, are gonna be spent and re-spent locally, adding benefit not just to a Seattle Public Library branch, but to the local economy as a whole.

And so, colleagues, for all these reasons, I consider this amendment and the other capital maintenance amendments before us today as essential ones.

and if you feel the same, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Colleagues, any other questions or comments?

Then let's go to a vote.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

No.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth?

Abstain.

Chair Rivera?

No.

Four in favor, two opposed, one abstention.

The motion carries and Amendment 5 is adopted.

Let's go to Amendment 6. Council Member Rink, you are recognized to move your Amendment 6.

Thank you, Chair.

I move to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 6.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 6. Eric, would you please give a brief description?

Thank you.

Yes, please.

This is sponsored by Council Member Rink and co-sponsored by Council Member Strauss.

This amendment would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $8.4 million by the Council should be authorized for investments to support collections by expanding the electronic and physical materials collections and increasing collections staffing.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Rink, you're recognized to speak, and then I'll go to Councilmember Strauss as co-sponsor.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, we've heard through public comment and the public hearings from the Seattle Public Libraries Foundation and the Friends of Seattle Public Library that We are a city of readers.

This city loves books of every flavor and format.

Demand on our physical and digital collections is high.

It's far outpacing our beloved library's ability to keep up.

And this amendment would give the library the financial and the human resources needed to keep our collections up to meet this moment and better serve our readers across the city.

And I ask for your support.

Thank you also to, pardon me, thank you also to Council Member Strauss for signing on as co-sponsor for this.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member.

And Council Member Strauss, you're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, this represents, I brought four amendments to our committee meeting last time, and I have reduced that to two, in part by partnering with colleagues.

This helps us be fiscally responsible and continue to push the envelope of this library levy as far as is responsibly possible.

so this is another moment of without books, without e-books, it's just a building.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Any comments?

Councilmember Lin, you're recognized.

I just want to speak in favor and just more generally talk again about the critical importance of our libraries in this time as we see democracy crumbling.

Our libraries are essential bulwarks against that.

Defending our democracy, whether it's our buildings, whether it's our staffing, or our collections, they are all critically essential social infrastructure that are needed more now than ever.

and so I am excited to support this.

Thank you, Council Member Rink and Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council Member Lynn.

Colleagues, any other comments, questions?

All right, let's vote on amendment number six.

Council Member Strauss.

Aye.

Council Member Foster.

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Yes.

Council Member Lynn.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Howlingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment 6 is adopted.

Council Member Rink, you're recognized to move Amendment 7.

Thank you, Chair.

I move to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 7.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121. Second.

I thought I heard a second.

Apologies.

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 7. Eric?

Yeah, this amendment would communicate council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $2.5 million by the council should be authorized for investments to support collections by expanding the peak pick titles in the library's e-book collection.

Thank you, Eric.

Council Member Rink, you are recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, this amendment is a smaller, more targeted collections investment.

The Peak Picks table is the first thing you see when you walk into just about any library branch.

Currently, Peak Picks is limited to physical books, despite the fact that Seattle Public Library is in the top 10 worldwide in digital book checkouts.

this amendment would expand that incredible and responsive program to e-books.

And I'll note, I was at the Wallingford Library branch this weekend when I was there.

I picked up Virginia Giffray's book, Nobody's Girl from the Peek Picks Shelf.

And for those who don't know, Virginia is a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and passed away last year.

But her book documenting her story of survivorship and daylighting the abuses of the ultra-rich and powerful was recently published and is now featured as a Peek Pick.

So supporting this amendment means that more people will not face a financial barrier to participating in a national dialogue.

And that more of us can connect on ideas at a time where we need it now more than ever.

And colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Any comments or questions?

All right, colleagues, then let's vote on amendment number seven.

Councilmember Strauss.

Aye.

Councilmember Foster.

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Councilmember Lin.

Yes.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Aye.

Rivera.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment 7 is adopted.

All right.

We're almost there, colleagues.

Four more.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to move Amendment number 8.

Thank you, I move amendment number eight to Council Bill 121181. Is there a second?

It is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on amendment eight.

This amendment would communicate council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $2.1 million by the council should be authorized for investments to support operating hours and access by expanding library programming made available live and recorded via the Seattle channel.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to speak to your amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

This entire package of amendments really does balance our needs to remain fiscally responsible and ensure our fear does not drive us to fund our libraries at a level below what we can actually afford.

While we are in fact near our levy lid and we must keep a buffer for economic changes as well as future levies, as your budget chair, I can say that in fact we can adopt these amendments and remain fiscally responsible.

I say this because choosing our funding levels can either be a one-way door or a two-way door.

If we bet against ourselves and adopt the levy as transmitted, this is a one-way door because we cannot in the future increase the library levy.

If we adopt these amendments and our worst fears become reality that the economic factors lower the levy cap, again, the levy cap right now is based on a 3% growth assumption.

Some of the analysis has been for 5% growth assumption.

but what they didn't show you is the 2% growth assumption, which is still us growing, just us growing much more slowly.

If in fact we have only 2% of area land value growth, we are already in a place where we're gonna have to start refunding these levies, right?

And that's across all levies, so it's not just this.

But again, if we adopt these amendments and our worst fears become reality that there's only 2% growth, those economic factors would lower the levy cap, we will have to look holistically at all of our levies and where we must reduce funding across our entire city.

So by adopting these amendments, this is a two-way door.

We can increase the library's funding today, and if our worst case scenario occurs, we will have to make those reductions based on known information rather than speculation.

Even with a two-way door, we know that this levy was planned to be larger, to serve Seattleites even more than what is before us today.

And the reality of the levy cap came into the conversation, and that meant that we had to right-size or reduce or modify this library levy to work.

I say that because even like with the ADA amendment that will come up, with the collections or circulation, I can't ever get that straight, or with unreinforced masonry, we know that these needs are greater than what's in the library levy that's greater than what's in the amendments.

If we were to truly right size for Seattleites, this would be a huge levy.

but we didn't do that and that's where we are being fiscally responsible and that's why I say these amendments before us are fiscally responsible because they balance the future unknowns, chooses the two-way door rather than the one-way door and it chooses Seattleites over the fear of the unknown and unknown speculation.

So with that, we come to the Seattle Channel amendment that I have before us The intent of this amendment is to extend the impact and audience for Seattle Public Library programs, such as reading, speakers, special events.

And we do this by providing the libraries live and available to stream on the Seattle Channel.

When I worked at a library front desk, I was amazed at how much one book or one computer or one newspaper was used.

that the library is able to provide us true, pure public goods.

These goods are non-rivalrous and they are non-excludable.

A library is a very special place.

Carnegie understood this.

He said, I'll build you the building, you fill it with books, right?

And so the amendment before us turns the programming that the library creates, that they already create, that's already in this budget, from a rivalrous good, I'll argue that the rivalry here is room capacity capacity.

If we reach room capacity then no more people can get in for the program.

So it turns the rivalrous room capacity into a non-rivalrous good because you can watch it from home or maybe even out in the lobby.

And it turns it from an excludable good and I'll say this by time or access.

You aren't available at that time of day or you can't access it because the elevator's broken.

I mean because it's not near your home.

And it turns that into a non-excludable good by allowing you to view it at your leisure and even sharing it with other people in other states and other places who might not have access to our beautiful and wonderful Seattle.

Looking out the windows, today is a beautiful Seattle day.

And even on its darkest days, that's where the light shines bright inside the library in their programming.

This amendment also begins to address the underlying funding issues at the Seattle Channel because right now every department who benefits from the award-winning Seattle Channel does so without a fee.

This is unlike any other central service in our city.

for executive departments, IT, HR, FAS, these are all backbone aspects of our city's central services and every department is charged a fee by the internal department.

Seattle Channel is not in that situation because In the past, when the disturbing movie The Cable Guy came out in theaters, people had cable and were using our cable, and we were benefiting from the cable franchise fee.

Thankfully, it's been a long time since that disturbing movie came out in theaters, but folks have cut their cables in the meantime.

And so it is incumbent upon departments, not just the library, but all city departments, who benefit from the award-winning Seattle Channel to start paying for the services that they receive.

Colleagues, I hope to earn your support in turning an excludable rivalrous good into a non-excludable, non-rivalrous good and help start paying Seattle Channels, start paying their fair share for the use of the Seattle Channel.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

Alright, then I actually have a couple comments.

So, Councilmember Strauss, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here, but we get an economic forecast three times a year in April, August and November.

They are projections from our finance office on how the economy is doing and how all our fiscal decisions are doing.

And that is where we get all this information about the levy caps.

So when you call it speculation, governments rely on these economic forecasts by which to make budget decisions including levy decisions.

So these are not done willy-nilly.

They're experts who come up with this economic forecast that we rely on through every year when we do the budget and also when we're doing considering putting levies on the ballot.

So I just want to make it very clear to the public who might be hearing that these are not just speculations out of nowhere.

This is actually an economic forecast that we get three times a year from our finance office.

The other thing I will say is that what we know today is that we have at least $150 million budget deficit that we are going to have to manage for later this year.

and I will say that that 3% is a prudent factor.

It's based on past performance on how property values, assessment of property values.

We're in the middle of a war, so it is very possible that next year the assessment will go down.

So while I appreciate your passion for the libraries, again, I have equal passion.

I also have to rely on the expert advice that we're getting from our finance advisors and these economic forecasts which are available online for, I believe they're available online for the public to see on what our financial picture truly is.

And so this levy cap issue is very real and you are correct if we might be in a situation where whatever we pass today in terms of a library levy we might be butting up against the cap faster if assessed values go down which very well could be again given we're in the middle of a war.

So I say that all to say that as much as we love our libraries sure we can all make decisions today and that is perfectly fine and within our right.

But I do want to make sure that we are being very clear and transparent with the public and I don't want to minimize the advice that we get from these economic forecasts because we rely on them not just for this today but for our budget in general and I think those of us who are not just us here on this day is there are many folks that also rely on economic forecasts when they're doing budgets, but all cities do this.

So this is not something that we are just doing and things are not looking good and they haven't been looking good for the city of Seattle for quite some time.

We're in a constant budget deficit and there will be needs later on.

We do have, we're in the middle of a high housing crisis.

We will in 2030 have a housing levy.

What will be left from the levy cap to give toward that?

And I am looking forward to hearing how we're going to deal with the budget deficit in the fall because there is a deficit.

So are we going to turn to more taxing, property taxes?

Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the country.

and our folks are feeling the heat of that.

So this is all really important and again this is not who loves the libraries more and we all have to make our own decisions but we do need to be transparent and we cannot paint a fiscal picture that is better than what it really is.

We have to make these decisions eyes wide open and if we decide this is where we want to put our money that's our decision and ultimately it's the voters who will vote.

but we need to be transparent and honest about that financial situation that we're in.

So thank you and unless there are any comments or questions, we'll go to a vote.

Council Member Strauss.

Aye.

Council Member Foster.

Yes.

Council Member Walras.

Aye.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera?

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

Motion carries and Amendment 8 is adopted.

We're going to go to Amendment 9. Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized to move your amendment.

Thank you.

I move Amendment 9 to Council Bill 121181.

Second.

All right, it has been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121-181 as presented on Amendment 9. Councilmember Strauss, to sponsor this amendment, you'll recognize in order to address it.

Actually say, Councilmember Strauss, Eric, can you please brief us first?

And then I'll go to you, Councilmember Strauss.

Amendment 9 would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor and increased by $8.2 million by the Council should be authorized for investments to support maintenance by improving physical accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act and by repairing or replacing elevators and escalators.

Thank you, Eric.

Now Councilmember Strauss to sponsor your recognized to address your amendment.

Thank you.

Just to say, continuing the conversation, we are in this moment where we are having to reduce this library levy because of Washington State's tax code.

Understanding that we do have a structural budget deficit that took 10 years to create, and we are taking a multi-year approach.

Granted, there are gonna be some hard decisions this year.

But we can't increase property tax, again, because of the upside down tax code at the state, which is what is boxing us into this entire situation.

And so economic forecasts do inform our annual and biannual budgeting processes.

But we are working on a multi-year levy and that's where I think we have a difference of opinion, Chair, that for me that we are speculating, we are receiving forecasts for this year and next year, but it is hard that our office is not providing us a decade-long forecast.

And so that's where I'm saying we are in speculation.

But back to this amendment right here, Christiana, I couldn't, you took my talking points.

I don't know if you were reading off my sheet, but the number of times that I have gone to the Greenwood Public Library and that elevator has been broken.

I thought it was broken the entire time in between my visits, but apparently it has been fixed.

And I use this example really importantly because the Greenwood Public Library, the Greenwood Branch Public Library is on Greenwood Avenue, which is quite busy.

And parking is not really easy at their front door.

And so if you have a different ability and you need to use assistance to get in the door, whether it's you have a sprained ankle or you have a lifelong ability, you have to use the elevator.

There's no other way into the building.

And if the elevator's not working, then you can't get inside.

You can't access all of the books that we're talking about.

I made the joke last time, and it's serious, that the only way into the library is over the internet, and if you don't have the internet, you have to go to the library to get your hotspot, right?

And so without the ability to get in our doors, we're not providing the service that Seattleites deserve and this is another budget amendment that if we were truly rightsizing what the needs are for our public library system, it would be tenfold what we have before us today.

I hope to earn your support, colleagues.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

All right, let's take a vote.

Amendment nine.

Council member Strauss.

Aye.

Council member Foster.

Yes.

Council member Juarez.

Aye.

Council member Lin.

Yes.

Council member Rink.

Yes.

Vice chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment 9 is adopted.

Council Member Foster, on behalf of Council Member Saka, you will move.

Sorry, it's out of sequence because some were removed, so we're going to 12 now.

And Council Member Foster, you are, excuse me, Council Member Foster, you're recognized to speak on behalf of Amendment 12, which is being brought by Council Member Saka.

Thank you.

I believe I need to move it in first.

Okay, thank you.

I'd like to move that Amendment 12 into the record.

Second.

All right, it's been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121-181 as presented on Amendment 12. Eric?

Yeah, Amendment 12 would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor should be authorized for investments to support technology services by providing digital skilling programs for teens offered at the South Park and High Point branch libraries.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you chair and as the chair mentioned I'm speaking on behalf of Councilmember Saka for these two amendments.

So this first amendment extends an existing Seattle Public Library program into two neighborhoods with lower home internet access and fewer devices compared to more affluent Seattle areas.

These gaps limit access to essential digital resources such as online learning, job applications, government services, and telehealth.

Therefore, digital skills training is needed in these communities.

The levy ordinance sets no limits by operating our capital or spending category, and this amendment signals the Council's intent that part of the 410 million support digital skilling initiatives.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

and then just to confirm, this isn't, oh, someone, Council Member Juarez, do you have a comment, question?

I apologize.

I don't know if it happened to other folks, but my Zoom just cut out, so I want to make sure it was back online.

We see you and we hear you.

Okay, great.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

This particular amendment and the second one don't have actual money adds.

They're just an intent for how to use the current money.

That's correct.

Okay, great.

And at the end of the day, I also want to confirm that no matter what we intend, it's the library board who gets to decide what to do with all of this money that now we've added via these amendments, correct?

Excuse me, that's also correct.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thanks for confirming, Eric.

All right.

Unless there are any questions and I don't see any hands raised, let's go to a vote.

Councilmember Strauss.

Aye.

Councilmember Foster.

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Councilmember Lin.

Yes.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

Yes.

Seven in favor, zero opposed.

The motion carries and amendment 12 is adopted.

All right, now we're gonna go to amendment number 13. It's also a council member Saka add.

Council member Foster, you're recognized to move.

Council member Saka's amendment number 13. Thank you, I'd like to move amendment number 13.

Do I have a second?

All right, it is moved and seconded to amend Council Bill 121181 as presented on Amendment 13. Eric?

Amendment 13 would communicate Council's intention that a portion of the library levy funding amount as transmitted by the mayor should be authorized for investments to support hours and access and collections by contracting with the Washington State Black Legacy Institute for Programming and Local History, excuse me, Local history curation that celebrates and preserves the rich history of Washington's black community and offers a powerful tribute to black resilience, leadership, and cultural contributions.

Thank you, Eric.

Councilmember Foster, you're recognized to speak on behalf of Councilmember Saka.

Thank you so much, Chair, and once again sharing words on behalf of Councilmember Sacca.

This amendment formalizes Council intent to use levy funds to contract with the Washington State Black Legacy Institute for Programming.

WSBLI works to curate and disseminate the legacy of Black Washingtonians grounded in the belief that honoring the past strengthens the future.

Like Amendment 12, it expresses the Council intent that a portion of the 410 million be used for this purpose.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, any questions?

Councilmember Hollingsworth, I'm sorry, Council President Hollingsworth, you are recognized to speak.

No, no, no, no worries.

You're all good.

And thank you.

I know Councilmember Saka is not here.

And so thanking him for this amendment.

This is my and look, I'm black.

I support everything.

So you all know where I'm coming from.

But the one thing that concerns me about this is calling out specifically the provider in in in with our intentions.

And, you know, that was that was my only discomfort.

And so I'll be abstaining from this just because I, just on that principle of calling out the specific provider outside of the library levy, if it was a specific library and that's who we were, you know, targeting or that piece, but it's something outside of the system.

And so that was one of my only concerns with this.

So thank you, colleagues.

Council President Hollingsworth, colleagues, any other questions or comments?

I too will be abstaining from this just because we don't normally select a provider.

We have usually an RFP process and I'm not familiar with why it was being done this way, but I do support obviously the curation aspect of this.

especially for black legacy, but I will abstain just based on similar position as council president.

All right, let's take a vote on amendment number 13.

Council member Strauss.

Abstain.

Council member Foster.

Yes.

Council member Juarez.

Yes.

Councilmember Lin.

Yes.

Councilmember Rink.

Abstain.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Abstain.

Chair Rivera.

Abstain.

Three in favor, four abstentions.

Okay, so hang on one sec.

The amendment fails and amendment 13 is not adopted.

Point of information.

Oh, sorry.

Point of information.

I believe that two in favor and the rest abstentions does pass.

Does pass.

Oh, sorry.

Apologies.

I was missing my place on my script.

Okay.

The motion carries and amendment 13 is adopted.

All right.

One second.

All right, sorry colleagues, my script is incomplete, but the amendment passes and that was the last amendment before us.

Madam Chair.

Yes, Council Member Juarez.

I'm a bit confused from the clerk.

We had, my count was different.

We had four abstentions and three yeses.

What was the count again?

What was the count?

Three in favor and four abstentions.

Three in favor, four abstentions.

Okay, so it was.

So, okay, so

I thought that when you had, okay well.

That's, you know what Council Member Juarez, what we're gonna do is confer with our clerk to make sure that we have that right.

So hang tight everybody for a minute.

Charity Vetta and council members, this is Amelia Sanchez.

Just providing clarification, the vote was four in favor, none oppose, sorry, three in favor, none oppose, and four abstentions.

Therefore, the motion does carry, the amendment is adopted.

Abstentions do not count towards the tally.

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I mean, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Amelia.

And thank you, Council Member Juarez.

And I've already said the amendment is adopted.

All right.

So that was our last amendment.

Thank you, Eric.

Thank you, colleagues.

All right.

Give me one second to find next steps here.

Madam Chair, are you going to give us an opportunity after you speak to just...

Yes.

Okay, just checking.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

One second.

No, thank you.

Just trying to get my paper straight here.

All right colleagues, we're about to take the vote on the full bill as amended by these amendments that we passed today.

So at this point, if anyone would like to make comments before we take the final vote, I'll give you an opportunity to do that and then we'll take our final vote on the full bill.

Council Member Juarez, you're recognized.

Thank you.

I'll be very brief.

I want to thank you, Madam Chair, for walking us through this levy.

And I know that you also walked us through the FEP levy as well.

And I really appreciate your comments that, yes, we all love the library.

And Council Member Lynn, I do appreciate your comments.

And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, but I do appreciate your comments about democracy and libraries.

and I do appreciate you and Council Member, well actually everybody's passion for what we want to do and thank you Council Member Strauss for recognizing the ADA capabilities of people who needed someone like me.

As you all know, I have MS, so I'm always a supporter of that.

And again, going back to the ones that I voted no on for, it doesn't mean that I don't support putting money aside for the cooling and deferred and the seismic retrofit.

Again, I was just going back to what the Madam Chair was cautioning us about the cap, our fiscal responsibility.

And I guess my concern about the six taxes that we already have in front of us as the City of Seattle, the potential for two more and the annual taxes we have, which are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, the county taxes that we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and another one possibly coming down the pike.

So I say that only because I'm not against these things.

It's more that I want to make sure that we fund what we can, being fiscally responsible and being mindful that when we do these taxes on the property, these are property taxes and these are excise taxes and these are taxes that happen when sales taxes.

And at some point, we have to be responsible for what we put out to the voters and what we pay for.

And that's it.

I don't think anyone is against...

I mean, if we could in a perfect world, as you know, Madam Chair, we would fund everything.

But the world doesn't work that way.

I think, and again, Council Member Rank, I didn't mean to belittle your comments when you talked about the Trump regime, and I didn't mean to belittle Council Member Lynn's comments when he talked about democracy and libraries.

I understand what you're saying, but on the ground in the real world, on the everyday stuff, That's what concerns me as a legislator, as a leader on this branch of government.

And I do appreciate the mayor sending down the package that she did.

And so that's why you saw that of the 13 amendments or 12 or whatever they were, I only voted no on two.

I don't think I've ever abstained in my history of being on council because I might have a position that you should either vote yes or no.

But that's me.

That's no shade to anyone else.

That's just me.

So with that, I want to thank you, Madam Chair, for your leadership.

It's not easy having to say no, especially to the public when people get angry or they think that you're not supporting them.

And they sometimes people take it personally and I don't think they should.

I think we're just trying to do our job and doing the best we can with what we have.

So thank you.

And thank you, colleagues, for for listening to me.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez, Council Member Lynn and then Council President Hollingsworth.

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

I just wanna give a shout out to Seattle Public Library's staff, to the board, to the friends of Seattle Public Libraries, to everybody who came and spoke and testified, to all the advocacy that did lead, support many of the amendments.

Definitely Councilmember Juarez, I appreciate your perspectives, Chair.

I appreciate your perspectives.

I think it's good for us to have some hard discussions and debate.

I think that's good for us.

I think it's good for the public and for our city.

So I appreciate you shepherding this.

It's a lot of work.

I am excited about the package that we have and ultimately Now it will be up for the voters to decide.

We do have some real hard decisions around our budget, around taxes, around other needs.

So this is not easy.

So again, appreciate the debate.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Sorry, thank you.

I think Councilmember Foster had her hand raised before me.

I don't want to cut.

I'm sorry, Chair.

I didn't see Councilmember Foster's hand.

Councilmember Foster, you're recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And I'll be brief with my remarks.

I just wanted to express my appreciation to you, Chair Rivera.

I know that managing a levy process is not an easy thing, especially with nine members who have nine different opinions on a good day.

We might have 18 different opinions on a bad day amongst the nine of us.

So I want to express my appreciation to you for managing this process.

And I also want to express my appreciation, I think it was in one of our early meetings where you were incredibly transparent about what your position was going to be on amendments.

And so I appreciate that early transparency from you as well, Chair.

and lastly, I just want to thank Eric and central staff.

We really appreciate you and the work that you do to make sure that our amendments come through and are sensical and are well put together and well thought out, and so our work is not possible without you, and express my appreciation to members of the public and the libraries who've been here and shown up and testified, so thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Council President.

Thank you, Chair.

I'm jumping on the appreciation train.

One-way ticket.

Thank you, Chair, for your leadership on this and stewardship.

I know it's not easy to lead two years in a row of levies from the family education's levy to this levy as well.

No matter what positions, how people vote, the reality is, is someone still has to do the work to shepherd that work.

And so just really grateful for your leadership on this and collaboration.

And then also too, I want to highlight, and I think Council Member Warren said it better than I'm probably going to articulate it, is too, and Council Member Lynn mentioned it, the hard conversations and the stuff that these are things that we actually have to discuss openly and it's okay and not be demonized for our concern about taxes and our concern about the cost of living for people.

And there is not one person on this council that does not support the libraries, does not love reading books, does not want to fund the services and those things.

Just wanted to highlight that as well, because I think that's really important for us to say out loud.

And also too, wanting to have, you know, these good outcomes as well and good services for people, world-class city, world-class services.

So just wanted to highlight that.

Thank you to my colleagues for putting together some amendments that I thought were really great for an addition to the levy as well and very thoughtful as well.

So just wanted to say that.

Thank you, Chair, again for your leadership.

Thank you, Council President Hollingsworth.

Anyone else?

then really I'll just say, oh you didn't have your hand up but you can go of course.

Also member Strauss you're recognized.

I'm not very good at technology which is why I wanted the amendment for the physical books.

I just want to thank you for leading us through this process.

I also want to just recognize that Washington State's upside down tax code is what is limiting us today from actually funding the real needs of the Seattle library system.

Because of all of the cost of living challenges that have been addressed, that is coming from Washington State's upside down tax code.

Because of their limit on our ability to raise levies or have our property tax, our general property tax levy up to 3%.

This is how Washington state is limiting us in the city of Seattle.

And we've had workarounds for the last decade plus.

We've had workarounds bypassing voter approved levies.

This is the first levy that is facing the challenge, the overall challenge that the state is putting down on us.

And so it's really unfortunate because of our state's policies, libraries and Seattle families are the first to lose out.

So in a positive news, I am glad that we have been able to balance our fiscal responsibility with pushing as far as we can to meet the needs of our Seattle library system and Seattle families.

And I just thank you chair and thank you colleagues for this process.

Thank you, council member Strauss.

Anyone else?

Just wanna make sure going once, going twice.

And I will say this was my second levy in two years and by far the hardest one because it is not easy for me to say no to adds to something I care so deeply about.

and I wouldn't be here today without libraries.

And everybody knows I am very, we didn't have a lot growing up.

So my dad really taught us we had to be fiscally responsible.

And there were a lot of times my dad said no when I know he really wanted to say yes.

So in the spirit of that, I want you to know and I want everyone watching that I don't take it lightly when I go to the voters, first of all, to increase their property taxes for this, including renters, because nobody ever thinks that renters pay for these things too, they do.

these costs do get passed on to renters and we are living in a really expensive city.

And I feel for that because my family, I grew up, my family were renting, they were renters.

So that is meaningful to me.

I'm not a renter today, thankfully, but I used to be for many years even on my own when I was a young person, so freshly out of college as a first generation college student.

and these are really tough choices.

So that's why I led with, look, and the other thing is we do need to be realistic and also honest and transparent with the public.

You may not have liked the votes I took today, but I am transparent.

What I'm telling you is true.

because my dad taught me we don't have anything but we have our word.

So it's important to me that we are painting the proper financial fiscal picture.

I had someone question me about that as if somehow I wasn't telling the truth because I don't wanna give the libraries more.

I have no motivation for not giving the libraries more when I love the libraries so deeply as we all do in Seattle.

I have not met one person in Seattle that truly does not care or has not utilized the library in some way or another.

And my family continues to utilize libraries.

So this is really important to me and it is hard for me.

This one was really hard.

So I am, however, happy that we're gonna be putting a levy on the ballot before voters and then the voters get to decide.

But as I said earlier, voters don't have the benefit that we have of the fiscal picture.

And so that's why it is incumbent upon us to be the stewards of the funds.

That's why we signed up to do these jobs and I'm doing the job to the best of my ability as transparently, as honestly as I can.

And then at the end of the day, what we pass here today will go on to the voters.

And without the funds in this levy, we cannot continue our libraries, period.

so I want you all to know that you here in chambers and members of the public because I don't want to malign each other that's not where we are it is not you know who loves the libraries more because who voted for what we all love the libraries we want a levy to go for the voters and we're all grappling with how to pay for other things too because there are a lot of needs like housing and transportation, education, these levees cycle.

In seven years, we're gonna be back here again talking about the next library's levy.

So please know that.

No one loves the libraries more than I do.

And sometimes I have to be that parent like my dad that had to say no because we just don't have it.

So council member Juarez, I see your hand up.

I'm just, I normally don't do this, but I'm going to do this really quickly.

Madam Chair, I just want to vouch and just say as former Chair of the Libraries, I understand, but I just want to say it for the poet, because sometimes just in the fog of politics and virtue signaling and some of the BS, I'm just going to say this.

I have always appreciated your integrity, your honesty, you're a straight shooter.

You've always been clear.

There are times that we've agreed to disagree, but you've always been kind and straightforward.

And while we don't always agree on everything, I always appreciate that we always have some meeting of the minds on the things that we do agree with.

And I think we're going to have the same conversations when the transportation levy comes around.

and I'm hoping as someone who went through a couple other councils that we can continue this feeling of that we are a team and we can agree but still be a team and I think that's what this and I'm going to do kind of what Council Member Rank was doing what we're not seeing nationally I'm really proud of this City Council that we're trying to do locally and that is work together We don't have an aisle of reaching across the aisle, but just being able to talk and be honest and be straightforward without worrying about getting more threats or being demonized or whatever, because people think the posturing sometimes just gets ridiculous, but that's just me saying that.

With that, I just wanted to end on I really thank you for your leadership because I know that you really struggled to do the right thing when this levy came down from the mayor's office.

And behind the scenes folks don't know that.

I think they need to know that we do talk to each other and we do try to represent the needs of our district, honor the needs of our district, but represent the city as a whole.

and representing the city as a whole is having that fiscal responsibility and taking it seriously, even if people disagree with us or get angry with us.

So for your leadership on this levy, well over $400 million, thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

I appreciate that, and I do appreciate having- we do have, as Councilmember Lynn said earlier, too, as you also said, Councilmember Juarez, we have to have the tough conversations.

That's part of the job.

I mean, anyone who wants to do this job, just know that, you know, you have to have the tough conversations, but I said it during this levy process, I said it during the FEP, things work better when we work together.

We have better outcomes when we work together.

And that is absolutely missing in this country.

And in some parts of our city even, I'll say it, but we work really hard on this council to work together, especially when we disagree.

I think that's even more important to work together when we disagree because we do need to get somewhere.

and that's not gonna happen if we don't talk and talk our differences out.

We all represent different constituencies, different parts of the city.

And if you're at large, you're representing all those different constituencies across the city.

So anyway, thank you.

All right, let's get to our vote and get this to the voters.

All right, will the clerk please call the roll on, hang on a second, the recommendation that Council Bill 121-181 as amended by all of the amendments that we went through today, pass.

Let's vote on that passage of the bill, the underlying bill.

Council Member Strauss.

Aye.

Council Member Foster.

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Aye.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hallingsworth.

Yes.

Chair Rivera.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The recommend bill passes.

Now you can clap, yes.

It's hard during public comment because you're trying to shepherd people through.

All right.

The recommendation that the bill passes amended will be sent to the April 14, 2026 City Council meeting for final consideration.

Colleagues, any further questions or comments?

Then if you'll indulge me in two more minutes, I know it's 11.31.

I will say, seeing no further questions, this concludes the April 8, 2026 Select Committee on the Library Levy.

This is our final select committee of the library levy.

Before we adjourn, I wanna thank the folks who've really been so helpful and instrumental during this process.

I wanna thank Eric McConaughey, our trustee central staffer who helped with all the amendments and helped shepherd this through.

I wanna thank our amazing, all of our deputy clerks, but in particular, Amelia and Jody who worked on this levy process.

I want to thank the volunteers who showed up for public hearing earlier in the week.

Cameron Yonan, Patty Wingren, and Kimmy King.

Thank you.

Super appreciate you.

And of course, my own staff, Wendy Sykes, Nick Duda, and Jacob Evinger for all their hard work.

Council Member Juarez, you said nobody knows what goes on behind the scenes.

so much work and we rely on all the people that we thanked.

I want to thank the libraries, the library team under the leadership of Chief Fay for all their work and all the back and forth.

I need this information and that information and these figures, etc.

I want to thank the foundation for their advocacy.

I want to thank more importantly the members of the public that came multiple times to chambers to advocate on behalf of the libraries and anyone who had a hand in the passage of this bill.

And I wanna thank the mayor's office again and Deputy Mayor Surratt and our CBO Director Panucci, everyone worked together to put this package together.

And again, when we work together, we have better outcomes.

and I know that the mayor very much loves libraries.

She's a high utilizer of the library so I want to acknowledge that too.

We all have to acknowledge each other here.

This isn't posturing for one person or another to get the credit.

This is a team effort and a partnership and I super appreciate everybody who was involved and Let's get this thing to the levy.

We have one final vote in order to make that happen and that is on Tuesday and I look forward to that vote.

Thank you everyone for sticking with us.

It is 11.33 p.m.

and our meeting is adjourned.