Seattle City Council 5/18/2020

of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.03 p.m.

I'm Lorena Gonzalez, president of the Seattle City Council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Herbold?

Here.

Councilmember Juarez?

Councilmember Lewis?

Present.

Councilmember Morales?

Here.

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Here.

Council Member Peterson.

Here.

Council Member Sawant.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council President Gonzales.

Here.

Ates present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Let's move on to presentations.

I am not aware of any presentations, so we'll go ahead and move to the approval of the minutes.

There are no minutes for approval today, so we will swiftly move to the adoption of the referral calendar.

If there is no objection, the proposed introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

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

So I will move now to adopt the proposed agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the proposed agenda.

Colleagues, as I mentioned this morning, I do have one amendment to the proposed agenda by adding resolution 31946 entitled a resolution related to the response to the COVID-19 public health emergency requesting that Governor Inslee create a Washington worker relief fund to provide economic assistance to undocumented Washingtonians during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by placing it under the adoption of other resolutions on the agenda.

Second.

Thank you so much.

Are there any comments on the amendment to the introduction and referral calendar?

Hearing and seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the amendment?

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Morales.

Aye.

Mesqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

DeWan.

Aye.

Rouse.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries and the agenda is adopted as amended.

Colleagues, at this time, we'll move into public comment.

As we have been doing, we will open this remote public comment period for items on the City Council agenda, introduction and referral calendar.

and the Council's 2020 Work Program.

Before we begin, I want to start by reminding colleagues and the viewing public that this is still a pilot and we are continually testing this process and working to improve it.

I ask that everyone please be patient as we learn to operate this new system in real time and navigate through its inevitable growing pains.

While it reminds our strong intent to have public comment regularly included on meeting agendas, the City Council does reserve the right to end or eliminate these public comment periods at any point if we deem that the system is being abused or is no longer suitable for allowing our meetings to be conducted efficiently.

and in a manner that enables us to conduct our necessary business.

I will, as usual, moderate the public comment period in the following way.

Our public comment period for this meeting is ordinarily 20 minutes.

And each speaker is generally given two minutes.

However, today we have a rather robust sign-up of public commenters.

And in order to advance the interest of hearing from as many people as possible, we do have about 68 pre-registered individuals.

Not everybody is present, but we do have a significant volume of folks who have pre-registered to give public comment.

So today we will allot one minute of public comment to everyone in order to maximize the opportunity to hear from as many folks as we can.

We do have one exception to that rule, and that is for our non-English proficient speakers who have pre-registered.

For those individuals of which we, one, two, three, I think we have three of those non-English proficient speakers, they will have a translation available to them.

And so in order to accommodate both the public comment and the translation services, we're going to allow a total of four minutes for those non-English proficient speakers in order to, again, make sure that we are maximizing language access to our public comment period here.

So I appreciate the indulgence on that particular issue to make sure that we remain accessible to non-English speakers who wish to provide the city council with public testimony on matters of important to our agenda.

So with that being said, we're going to go ahead and, oops, where did that go?

Sorry about that.

Give me just a moment, colleagues.

Just a moment here.

My apologies.

Okay.

So I'll call on each speaker by name in the order in which they registered on the council's website.

And if you have not yet registered to speak but would like to, you can sign up before the end of public comment by going to the council's website.

That's at Seattle.gov forward slash council, C-O-U-N-C-I-L.

The public comment link is also listed on today's agenda.

Once I call a speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone, and an automatic prompt of, you have been unmuted, will be the speaker's cue that it is their turn to speak.

Please begin speaking by stating your name and the item which you are addressing.

Public comment, again, should relate to an item on today's agenda, the Introduction and Referral Calendar, or the Council's 2020 Work Program.

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

Once the speaker hears the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comments.

If speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time provided, the speaker's microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Once you've completed your public comment, we ask that you please disconnect from the line.

And if you plan to continue following this meeting, we ask that you do so by watching on Seattle Channel.

or any one of the listening options listed on the agenda.

So the public comment will now be opened, and I'll proceed to calling the first person on the list.

It's 1226, I apologize, it is 210 p.m., and so we will hear public comment until 230 p.m., at which time we will likely extend.

So the first speaker is Ikram Abdi.

Hello, my name is Ikram Abdi.

I am a Lyft driver.

I've been driving for Lyft for almost two years now.

What I want to say is, since this pandemic started, it's been very difficult to earn a living driving for Lyft or any other ride share.

And a lot of times when I'm doing this, when I'm driving, I'm picking up people from the hospital and dropping off people to the hospital.

And when I'm doing those kinds of rides, I have to be extra conscious and I have to be very careful because I have a family that I go home to that are very high risk to this virus.

I live with my grandma who is 78 years old.

I live with my mom who's very sick.

So it's very hard for me to drive at this time while dropping off people.

And when I am dropping off people to the hospital, I have to clean my car every time I give those rides because I want to protect my customers and my next ride.

So a lot of times I have to cancel my next ride to clean my car.

Um, and even though cleaning is coming out of my expenses, but mostly I'm worried a lot of times from my family that I go home to.

And my health, because if I don't, if I don't drive, if I don't go out there and make money, I, there's no way I'll be able to pay my bills.

Nobody else is going to be able to pay my bills because I'm the only one that takes care of my family.

Um, and it's very risky for me to put my life at this time and drive like this.

Thank you for that.

My apologies, colleagues, and to those on the line, for those of you that were keeping track of time, that was definitely longer than a minute.

And it took me a minute to realize that the timer had not been started.

So I've messaged the IT department, and they are now on it and are going to remember to hit the button to start the time before the next speaker speaks.

So the next speaker is Tiffany McCoy.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Tiffany McCoy.

I'm the lead organizer at Real Change, calling in favor of Morales's ordinance on the sweep.

Last week, we held a protest against the sweep that took place at the Ballard Commons We were really concerned about the sweep and how it didn't fall under CDC guidelines to not sweep encampments unless enough individual housing units are available.

And from what I understand, that was not met.

So why are we moving folks around the city?

There were concerns about Hepatitis A being moved.

I mean, that's the same issue with COVID potentially being moved by folks.

So we're potentially moving Hep A around the city as well.

We need to intervene with a public health lens at all times.

It's time also to reevaluate the police presence on the navigation team.

Pictures of fully armed police circled around vulnerable populations is disturbing, and I want to know what triggers the amount of police on the navigation team.

We need to stop the subjective nature of police overall, so please support this ordinance.

Thank you, Tiffany.

Our next speaker is William Doe.

Hi, my name is William, and I appreciate this opportunity.

I'll keep it brief.

I'm a Lyft driver.

I do this full-time.

I don't have health insurance.

I have a 78-year-old father who just beat lung cancer and pneumonia, and I have a wife at home who has epilepsy and hypertension, both high-risk.

I'm spending about $100 a week right now on disinfectant and protective equipment.

about the sick day.

Unemployment will run out.

Their little programs will run out.

And if I get sick during the next spike, we'll be in trouble.

Please help us.

And just looking forward to some changes.

Thank you.

Thank you, William, for calling in today.

Our next speaker is Sue Hodes.

Hi.

Hi, my name is Sue Hodes.

I'm part of the Housing for All Coalition.

I'm also part of the Ferdinand Block 3900 that supplies some food to a couple of shelters.

This neighborhood's doing that.

And I'm also part of the Intergenerational Lesbian Activist Group.

I mean, I almost don't have much to say.

It just seems so obvious about this legislation needing to be passed.

I mean, it's just human to not displace people when this Recommendation is that no sweeps until people have a place to go.

It's already disrupting fragile people's lives who are in fragile communities to nothingness.

So really, it's the right thing to do.

I can't believe anybody would object to this, including the mayor.

And please support Tammy Morales' legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in today.

Our next speaker is Jake Lindsey.

Hi, my name is Jake Lindsey.

I'm an Uber and Lyft driver for five years.

I wanted to share my experience trying to qualify for Uber and Lyft sick pay.

I have a suppressed immune system and a history of respiratory illness.

And Uber's first sick pay didn't cover people with pre-existing conditions.

So I wasn't qualified.

But then when they changed it on April 10th, that they would cover people with pre-existing conditions, they said that you have to have driven in the last 30 days, which was March 10th, and people were already dying from this disease.

So because I was spending those 30 days in self-isolation, a doctor's note with self-isolation, I was deemed ineligible, as thousands of other drivers were.

So I think the lawmakers need to step in here because let's not forget how many billions Uber can afford to pay on their executives, all their workers who are the backbone of the industry are asked to sacrifice themselves to the pandemic to be.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Camila Walter.

Hi my name is Camilla Walter and I'm a Ballard resident.

I have spent a lot of time at meals programs and at the camps in Ballard and I urge you to support Morales's ordinances to stop sweeping people.

Be a part of a better solution that takes into account the experiences of all of us.

As a resident who lives just blocks from the park that was swept earlier this month I can tell you that this encampment posed no threat at all to my safety.

All it did was put my neighbors at risk of losing everything.

and falsely showed them that Ballard is an unwelcome and inhospitable neighborhood.

If we truly want better living conditions for all Seattleites the answer is more housing services and care and not armed officers moving people away from their communities.

The original intent of these sweeps were to get people out of dangerous living conditions and into shelters or housing but that is not what is happening.

Instead people who are living safely in tents keeping social distance during a global pandemic finding support from their neighborhood communities are approached by armed police officers in full uniform with guns.

When you've experienced a significant trauma like losing housing, being approached by an armed uniformed officer is not helpful and inviting.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, this is a little unorthodox, but I have some folks who have called in CCCCO, Rm 630 – Jack Scott Conference Room 101 speak sooner.

And Council Member Sawant, I want to thank you for flagging this for me.

They're currently showing here is not present.

So I have, I'm unable to confirm that they're actually on the line.

We're going to work on that.

But if we can confirm that they're online, I'd be happy to to make a special accommodation for a group of speakers who are unsheltered, who are sheltered at tiny villages, who are having some technology limitations.

And I certainly don't want to exclude them based on that.

So if we get confirmation that they're on the line, I'd be happy to do that.

But currently, they're showing as not present.

So we'll go ahead and move through the list, and then Council Member Salon, if you can help me in figuring out if you're present or not, or can be offline, I'd appreciate that.

Okay, next, thank you.

Next up is Peggy Hotz.

Good afternoon, Council Members.

My name is Peggy Hotz, and I'm a Nicholsville founder and a volunteer.

I want to report that most of the people living at Nicholsville North Lake Tiny House Village were tested for the coronavirus last week and all were negative.

Unfortunately, the city has yet to commit to allowing the village to stay in the same spot until the end of the state of emergency.

I'm in support of Council Member Gonzalez's ordinance that would create a moratorium on sweeps during the state of emergency and really ought to continue on the way through forever.

Another item on your agenda is HSD's budget increase that would fund de-intensifying existing shelters with expensive motel rooms and a small amount for the existing tiny house village operator monopoly that exists.

The sanctioned encampment ordinance that the council passed several months ago needs to be implemented and the 40 new tiny house villages opened.

Most importantly, grassroots and faith-based organizations should have an opportunity to operate those tiny house villages.

In fact, it's physically irresponsible to not explore how cost-effective other operators could be.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for calling in.

And just for sake of clarity, it's Council Member Morales' legislation, not mine.

Just want to make sure that credit is given where credit is due.

The next speaker is Daniel McGraw.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Daniel McCraw, and I'm a participant in SHARE as well.

And in addition to supporting this draft ordinance, I want to ask that the budget changes the city council is doing today be amended and improved.

SHARE, for example, has offered up new efforts to improve homeless service, particularly shelters in Seattle, that just aren't being done by the institutional mass shelter system.

For example, our testing has been done recently on all the tent cities.

And we came out with zero positives.

Meanwhile, we're putting all this money into programs that just plain haven't worked, and they're not going to work in the future.

And we really don't want to go back to that.

The shift in operations for us to 24-7, which we've done with the support of the hosts at our shelters, has been pretty much all-consuming.

It's pretty much, you know, a matter of survival.

Share regrets, you know, not having been able to focus more on our friends' struggles.

And I just want to say I support totally.

Thank you for calling in.

Our next speaker is Ed Kane.

Yes, my name is Ed.

I've worked in the service industry since 2018. During 2018-2019, I worked side-by-side with several undocumented workers.

Currently, the restaurants are cut back to takeout only.

Prior to the concern for COVID-19, I worked side-by-side with each of them.

We were all paying on the same scale, regardless of our race or creed.

They all worked hard, diligently, were excellent workers.

Whether U.S. citizen undocumented works side by side with each of them, they completed their jobs, they were appreciated by their employer, by their customers.

Now solely because they're undocumented and unlike myself who can apply for unemployment benefits, they're unable to do so.

This is unfair.

Although my answers came from elsewhere, theirs came from Mexico and South American countries to escape oppression similar to mine and similar to yours.

I surely hope

Okay, thank you for calling in.

Just a reminder to those folks who are waiting to give public comment, you in total have about a minute to speak.

You're going to hear a little chime at 10 seconds.

You can feel free to wrap up.

You don't have to just completely stop speaking.

So I know it's a little awkward, but I appreciate us working together to to work through this.

So we're now going to move to the next speaker.

Consistent with what I indicated at the top of our meeting, for non-English proficient speakers and their translators, we are allotting a total of four minutes to hear both the public testimony and the translation.

So I appreciate everybody's cooperation in that.

And next up is Diana Gonzalez.

Hola a todos.

Muchas gracias por el espacio.

Mi nombre es Diana González.

Soy líder de One America.

Soy madre de tres hijos y estoy aquí porque apoyo a que se prevé un alivio económico para nosotros, la comunidad indocumentada en el estado de Washington.

Mi familia, al igual que muchas otras, estamos en una vez más siendo vulnerables e impactadas negativamente en estos tiempos difíciles debido al COVID-19.

Mi esposo perdió su empleo siendo el único sustento en nuestro hogar.

Esto ha generado un gran estrés a nivel emocional para todos.

Pues no contamos con ningún tipo de recurso para un alivio en nuestra situación.

Ni siquiera podemos pagar nuestros gastos más básicos como renta, seguranza, teléfonos, el internet para que mis hijos hagan sus tareas.

Es muy triste tener que decirles a mis hijos Que tenemos que racionar más nuestras porciones de alimentos para que nos alcance la comida para más días.

Y que mis hijos de 2 y 13 años nos pregunten a su papá y a mí si es que ellos ya pueden trabajar para ayudarnos en los gastos y no quedarnos sin vivienda.

Es una pena ver cómo el sistema de este país está roto, lleno de desesperanza y desigualdad.

Que como nuestras familias de bajos recursos, pagamos más impuestos y que solo ven con igualdad a la hora de pagar y no recibir lo justo.

Somos una familia que siempre hemos aportado en este país con trabajo duro y pagando nuestros impuestos.

Creo que no estamos pidiendo nada que no nos hayamos ganado.

Pues estos fondos que se generan y Hi, my name is Diana Gonzalez and I am a One America leader.

I have three children and I'm here because I support the approval of economic relief from the undocumented community in Washington state.

My family, like many others, are once again being vulnerable and negatively impacted in these difficult times by COVID-19.

My husband lost his job, being the sole supporter of our home.

This has generated great emotional stress for all of us because we do not have any type of safe resources to alleviate our situation.

We cannot even pay our most basic expenses, such as rent insurance, telephones, and the Internet for my children to do their homework.

It is very sad to tell my children that we have to ration our food portions more so that the food is enough for the days, and that my 12- and 13-year-old children ask their dad and myself if they can already start working to help with the expenses, if not being left homeless.

It's a shame to see how the system in this country is broken, full of hopelessness and inequality, that as low-income families, we pay more taxes, and that we — and that they only see us as equal when it comes to paying and not receiving what is fair.

We have always contributed to this country with the hard work and paying our taxes.

I think we are not asking for anything that we have not earned because these funds that are delivered to us leave us out.

That is why I asked for your support to support the Washington Worker Relief Fund for Undocumented People.

Thank you so much for calling in today.

Señora Diana, gracias por llamar esta tarde para dar su testimonio que fue bastante importante y muy muy fuerte.

Es importante que la gente escuche que nosotros apoyamos los inmigrantes sin importar el estatus migratorio.

Así que gracias por tomar el tiempo Next speaker is going to be Jamal Jama.

All right, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity and coming forward to listen our concert.

My name is Jamal Jarrah.

I've been driving for Uber and Lyft since May 2014. Especially in this challenging time, during coronavirus exponentially spreading, I did not stop working for Uber and Lyft.

Like first responder of our healthcare provider, by taking this healthcare provider, like nurses, doctors, to their workplaces, which is hospital and back to their home, not only health care providers but also essential workers to the restaurants and groceries.

Why do I work in this challenging period of time?

Number one, to pay my expenses like paying my rent to feed my child who is six years old and also to pay my child support.

We need our city councillor to address Uber and Lyft to pay us sick days immediately.

Thank you for listening.

Have a good day.

Sorry about that, folks.

I was muted and didn't realize it.

So our next speaker is going to be allotted four minutes.

Thank you so much to our tech department for changing that.

La siguiente comentario va a ser de cuatro minutos.

Así es que voy a introducir, I'm going to introduce, Sofia Aleman.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sofia and I'm a leader of One America.

I'm a single mom of three kids.

My house was being impacted just like tons of immigrants' families are impacted because of COVID-19.

That's the reason why I'm here talking to you about the Washington Work Relief Fund for immigrants.

If it's okay, I'm approach you in Spanish because that's the community that I represent.

So voy a empezar con compartirle lo difícil que es la situación para una familia como la mía.

And why is it so important to have the economic relief program for the undocumented community?

And having lost my job and not being able to apply or receive any kind of help is devastating.

I arrived in this country 14 years ago and I have always worked.

I have never received any kind of help, so it is very important for me and it has been to work hard and give this example to my children.

Pero nunca vi llegar la situación que estamos viviendo el día de hoy, donde no podríamos trabajar y quedarme en casa por el bienestar de mis hijos y tener que decidir entre nuestra salud o nuestra necesidad.

Es por eso que pido apoyo para un fondo de emergencia permanente para la comunidad indocumentada en el estado de Washington.

Yo soy solo un ejemplo de cómo puede afectar o beneficiar a una familia al tener un programa y ser incluidos en esto.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sophia and I'm a leader with One America.

I'm a single mom of three kids.

My household is being impacted just like tons of immigrant families are being impacted due to COVID-19.

That's the reason why I'm here to talk to you about Washington Worker Relief Fund for Undocumented Immigrants.

If it is okay, I will approach you in Spanish because that is the community that I represent.

I'm going to start by sharing how difficult the situation has been for a family like mine and why it is so important to have the economic relief program for undocumented communities.

To have lost my job and not be able to apply or receive any kind of help has been devastating.

I came to this country 14 years ago and I've always worked hard and long hours.

I have never received any kind of help because it was important for me to set an example, a hard work example of my children.

But I never saw the situation that we are expecting, experiencing today arrive where I could not work and stay home for the well-being of my children and have to decide between our health and our need.

This is why I ask you to support permanent emergency fund for the undocumented community in Washington State.

I am just an example of how having and being included in a program can affect or benefit our family.

because like many immigrant families, we contribute to our communities and we deserve the dignity and support that anyone else in this country has.

Thank you.

Thank you, Amanda, for the translation.

Just a quick note, Amanda, you broke up just a little bit on us towards the end, so just want to make sure you're aware of that for the next translation that is coming up in a few speakers.

Okay, the next speaker is Mariah Mitchell.

My name is Mariah Mitchell.

I'm with Working Washington for the Pay Up Campaign and I'm here today because I'm a single mother of three and I drive for Lyft and I do Uber Eats and Postmates.

And I feel that I am being forced to return to work after the quarantine issued by Governor Jay Inslee.

And I am not receiving hazard pay.

And if I get sick or my children get sick, then I will need a family paid leave, which I do not get as a gig worker who is an essential worker on the front line.

And because my unemployment has been tied up, I am unable to provide for my family and I am being forced to return to work and risk getting sick and getting my children sick.

So I'm here today to have you vote on whether or not we can get hazard pay and sick leave.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in today, Mariah.

Our next speaker is going to be Anitra Freeman.

Thank you.

My name is Anitra Freeman, a member of Wheel and Share Homeless Organizing Efforts, speaking here in favor of the Morales Sweep Ordinance.

But first, close the loophole in this ordinance.

Require that individual housing or shelter be provided to each camper in accordance with CDC guidelines or no sweep.

Real solutions for Seattle's homeless emergency start with creating a progressive revenue source that will fund real solutions.

then support the democratic, self-managed, grassroots homeless organizations that are already the largest shelter provider in King County and help us do more.

We'll need to continue providing 24-7 women's shelter.

Chair asked for city funding for 10-City-3, we must have much, much more shelter.

Thank you so much for calling in, Anitra.

Our next speaker is Colleen Knirk.

Hi, my name is Colleen Knirk and I'm with Working Washington's Pay Up Campaign.

My main job is part-time adjunct faculty at North Seattle College.

Due to this part-time status, I rely on my side gig income through Shipt and Instacart, literally for groceries and gas.

I need this income.

When the pandemic hit, I got incredibly sick and stayed home for three or four weeks, not delivering because it was right for my health and the health of the community.

However, that choice came at the detriment of my finances and therefore my stress level when I was supposed to be recuperating.

It isn't right that people have to choose between themselves or doing right for their community.

I got zero dollars during that time for gig work as there is no sick pay.

We are doing crucial work in these times.

We are keeping immunocompromised people out of the stores and safe at home.

We are keeping the number of unique visitors to the stores down considerably.

We are taking great care of our communities.

It's only right that the companies we are creating great amounts of profits for to take care of us in turn.

We need sick pay so we can take care of ourselves and thereby take care of the communities we serve both now in this time of crisis and after.

Thank you.

Thank you, Colleen, for calling in.

We're going to move to our next speaker at four minutes.

Vamos a movernos a la próxima persona por un total de cuatro minutos.

Gracias al Departamento de Tecnología.

Thank you so much to the Department of Technology for modifying the timer.

Next up is Wendy Salazar.

Ahora vamos a escuchar de Wendy Salazar.

Sí, buenas tardes.

Mi nombre es Wendy Salazar.

Soy trabajadora de limpieza de casas y mamá de tres hijos.

Mi esposo trabaja en la construcción.

A causa del COVID dejamos de trabajar por casi dos meses.

La compañía para la que mi esposo trabaja cerró temporalmente por las reglas que puso el gobernador.

Por la misma razón yo también dejé de trabajar.

En estos dos meses las deudas se acumularon y lamentablemente tenemos que pagarlas porque no nos las van a perdonar.

Y me da mucha tristeza y coraje que por el hecho de ser inmigrantes indocumentados no tenemos ningún beneficio ni ayuda como cualquier otro ciudadano americano.

Y creo que es injusto porque al igual que ellos, todos nosotros los inmigrantes indocumentados pagamos impuestos.

Lo más injusto y triste que nuestros hijos son ciudadanos y salen perjudicados por el hecho de que sus padres somos inmigrantes.

Conozco mucha gente indocumentada que le está pasando muy mal.

a causa de esta situación.

Hay ayudas de organizaciones, pero no todas las personas alcanzan a solicitarlo.

Por eso yo creo que es muy importante que esta ley de estímulo económico pase en el estado de Washington para poder ayudar a la comunidad inmigrante, ya que esta comunidad es una de las más perjudicadas por los trabajos que tenemos, como la construcción, el campo y también limpieza.

Tenemos que entender

My name is Wendy Salazar, and I am a One America leader.

I am a housekeeper, and I am a mother of three children.

My husband works in construction.

Because of COVID, we both stopped working almost two months.

The company my husband worked for temporarily closed because of rules the governor put in.

And for the same reason, I also had to stop working.

In those two months, the debts accumulated, and unfortunately, we have to pay them because they are not going to forgive us.

And it gives me a lot of sadness and anger that, due to the fact that we are undocumented immigrants, we do not have any benefits or financial assistance like any American citizen.

And I think it's unfair, because, like them, all of us undocumented immigrants pay taxes.

One of the most unfair and sad things is that our children, who are U.S. citizens, are harmed and jeopardized by being children of undocumented immigrants.

I know many undocumented people who are struggling a lot due to the situation.

There is help and assistance for undocumented people from organizations, but not all people are able to access them due to the high volume of applicants.

This is why I think it's important that the economic stimulus law passes in Washington state to include the undocumented community.

The undocumented and immigrant community is harmed by the jobs we have, such as construction, farm workers working in the fields and janitors.

understand that this is an important, understand that it is important that a permanent solution and sustainable solution for the immigrant community that is keeping this country alive and safe.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, as I mentioned earlier, we had quite a bit of people signed up for public comment today.

We still have quite a few on the list, so I'm going to go ahead and extend public comment if there's no objection until 3 o'clock p.m.

Hearing and seeing no objection, we'll go ahead and extend public comment until 3 PM.

I also mentioned that we have some folks on the line who signed up at about 12. I'm going to go ahead and close out the meeting.

I know it's 1220, 1225 p.m.

today.

They're having some battery issues related to the cell phone that they're using to call in.

And they are folks who are living in one of the tent cities.

So if there's no objection from my colleagues, I'd like to go ahead and have them go ahead and speak now out of order.

I would like to give them an opportunity to speak now.

Is there any objection?

Seeing and hearing no objection, I would ask that the technology department go to speaker number 43. And so I will now call on Teddy Morris.

Hello, my name is Aisha Meade.

I live at Sherrillville, 1033. My current location is 12914 Martin Luther King Jr.

Way in South Seattle.

Before I came here, I was wandering around the streets of Seattle getting turned down by indoor shelters that were full or had specific requirements I did not qualify for.

Here at 1033, each person or couple gets their own tent.

So when social distancing was implemented in America, no one at 1033 had to leave because we were already socially distanced.

Thousands of people are living outdoors in unflinching camps.

They don't have a chance to live in a place like PC3, which is a water, traffic app, porta-potties, and a clean food area with regular blanket washing.

If there were more places like Penn City, the sweeping of unflinching camps wouldn't be necessary.

Our COVID test results are back and no one is sick.

I ask that the budget changes include support for Penn City 3. They're cost-effective, empowering, democratic, and self-managed.

This is the most humane way to end the sweep.

which only encourages the spread of COVID-19, and it's much more fiscally sound than sending people to a hotel with indoor showers.

Thank you so much for calling in today.

We are going to go ahead and move to the next speaker, who is Abderrazak El-Habassi.

Hello, my name is Zack El-Habassi.

I started working with Postmates in March.

I just moved to Seattle about three months ago.

And I got a great job with Mercedes.

Sadly, I got laid off when the crisis hit.

I kept on getting denied for unemployment.

My last option was to work for Postmates to be able to feed myself.

I've been working every day.

I get $3 to $5 per delivery.

I get $1.50 for pickups and 7 cents a minute for my time, so it's not really worth it.

That barely covers the expenses to even run the car.

And so, I mean, I'm really struggling.

I got $106 in my bank account, and I blew out my knee about a week ago.

So it's been really hard to work.

So I just want to say that I feel like we should all be, you know, gig workers should be cared about in a certain sense.

So thank you so much for your time.

Thank you so much for calling in today.

Next up is Ulysses Galvez.

Yes, hi, my name is Ulysses Galvez.

I'm a combat veteran and I'm also an Instacart worker.

I have been working on and off with Instacart for about two years, also Postmates.

Since the COVID has hit, I had a job with the county doing elections, but that's on hold.

And so I've fallen back on Instacart to help me through this time.

I'm asking the council to support CB 119793 and I'm with Working Washington.

They're helping us to help us because we deserve to be to get paid sick pay if we get sick and we deserve sick leave.

We are putting a lot of a line for a lot of people.

We're the backbone for people to stay home.

And I thank you and we're we're hurting.

We need your help.

and you as legislators can do that since the company's one.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much for calling in today.

Next up is Johnny Arenas.

Hola, buenas tardes.

I'm with the City Council of Seattle.

My name is Johnny Arenas.

I have been a proud domestic worker since 2006. And when this virus hit us completely from the overnight, I don't have completely no clients.

And that made it difficult just to be living in this crisis.

And plus, my husband is an American citizen.

But just for my status, we aren't allowed to receive the stimulus.

And plus, We've been passing through a lot of problems.

And plus, I'm being concerned about him.

And, you know, and I'm finding out just a little job that is not considered for what I'm used to be doing.

And the only, I'm asking to all of you that you can be supportive because we are being, we're being hurt a lot.

Thank you.

Thank you, Johnny, for calling in today.

Next up is Laura Lowe Bernstein.

Hello, I'm a renter living just south of the Ballard Bridge.

And a few years back, I met folks at Tent City 3. And at that time, I became more committed to advocating for self-sufficiency models of addressing homelessness, and we need to fund more of those.

I signed up today to support CB 119796. I sent a letter to each of your offices and the mayor.

And what I really want to ask today is that you just want a group of housed homeowners who selfishly use Find It Fix It to report encampments and dehumanize people who are living outside.

If you could educate them about the Boise decision as well as the current CDC guidelines for sweeps.

And if you could encourage them to not at this time focus on what they see out their window to address root causes.

And if they want to help people that are outside not to use Find It Fix It app and ask for police.

Thank you for the time today.

Thank you for calling in.

Our next speaker is Phoenix DeCorvo.

Hi, my name is Phoenix.

I'm active in Working Washington's Pay Up campaign.

I'm addressing the importance of sick and hazard pay for gig workers.

I've done grocery delivery on Shipt and Instacart.

I have a toddler and someone close to me with a heart condition.

And since people started dying from COVID-19, I decided that the less than $10 an hour I was making was not a good trade-off for my or their lives.

Many Seattle citizens rely on these services.

Personally, the majority of my customers are elderly or otherwise high risk.

It's irresponsible to have any essential worker doing their job while sick.

Without sick leave, gig workers are given this impossible choice between caring for their family or spreading the virus.

This is a public health issue as well as a workers' rights issue.

It's become too easy for these companies to make money while taking advantage of us.

Passing sick leave for workers is one way to make life better and working conditions more fair.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Kimberly Wolfe.

Kimberly Wolfe, both lift and delivery gig worker in Seattle and participant in the pay up campaign.

I'm here because I want Seattle to do the right thing and make sure gig workers get sick leave and hazard pay for the health of both the workers and our community.

During this crisis, gig workers are taking on real risk for less pay.

Apps don't pay enough for us to afford even the basic protective equipment.

We've been pinched into a tiny stressful space between decreasing income, rising expenses, and now increased physical hazard.

We're extremely vulnerable in this space where any small thing that goes wrong, like getting sick, could cause catastrophe in our lives.

Something has got to give, and I'm afraid it's going to be us.

It is simple.

We get sick.

If we get sick, we don't work.

If we don't work, we don't eat.

And no money for housing means you may end up in a tent on a hill on the side of the highway like I did.

We gig workers don't get the same protections as every other worker in this state.

And it is time to bring this new sector of workers up to the same level of protection.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in today.

Our next speaker is James Thomas.

I started doing gig work before working in Washington.

I started doing gig work in October 2016. I've been out there for about 15,000 trips, people and food.

When I first started on Postmates, I was telling everybody about it because I was getting a $4.50 minimum.

Now it's down to no minimum.

They were paying $1.17 a mile, now they're paying $0.93 a mile.

They were paying $0.15 a minute, now they're paying $0.07 a minute.

They keep changing the terms of agreement.

But the pay has gone down so much, I even asked you to do a delivery for $2.

What am I, an eight-year-old child?

People leave me very positive reviews, but I rely on tips.

And it's been well documented that customers often tip based on gender, age, and race.

So too often, I, the big black guy, get a smile and a thank you instead of a tip for doing a great job.

I was still out there working during the pandemic up until about a month ago.

But I have three daughters who told me to stay home.

One minute is not enough, and thank you for your time, but make something happen.

Thank you so much for calling in, James.

I know a minute goes by very, very quickly.

Of course, this legislation is just being introduced today, but we'll have plenty of opportunity for public commenters to call in in the future and speak some more as to this particular item.

Next up is Jason Reeves.

Well, I'm Jason Rees.

I'm volunteering with Working Washington's Pay Up campaign.

I am a Dasher.

I have been for three years.

right now there's a record amount of people signing up for door dash uh...

and other good companies and putting a strain on everybody that means more competition longer wait more scams and lower pay we're really at a race to the bottom of the six feet of being broken everywhere sink of the mile i not only lost fifteen dollars and under half an hour but i was also exposed to an entire restaurant filled with people who then denied their orders because we're get companies get companies to be held accountable we have no real support coming across and we need to leave I urge Seattle City Council to stand with gig workers and independent contractors.

Hold gig companies accountable for providing sick leave and other basic pay standards like the pay that accounts for our time and the risk we are taking.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Paul Vegars.

Hi, my name's Paul Vegars.

I've been a courier with Uber Eats for about a year and a half.

And since the pandemic has started, I've definitely found myself in a lot of situations that feel very high risk.

I deliver on University Way in the U District on a regular basis, and I find myself on a regular basis being in spaces with only two or three feet of distance between me and other people.

And since the pandemic has started as well, I've noticed that there's been extremely inconsistent pay where one week we'll be having large bonuses and then the next week it'll drop down to half that pay and I'll only be pulling in five or ten dollars an hour in terms of base pay.

I'm very very fortunate in that I don't, I have enough in savings that if I end up having to take several weeks off I can afford to but I worry a lot about other people that cannot and because of that I think it's very important to have sick leave insured for everybody.

Thank you so much for calling in.

Our next speaker is Aiden Nardone.

Good afternoon.

I want to talk about some housing options.

About five years ago, we started with the 90 day temporary stay in a tent in a sanctioned encampment.

We then stepped up to tiny home villages.

Now I hear opposition to this arrangement because even though the clients have private sleeping quarters, They are still sharing bathroom, showers, and kitchens.

We are reconfiguring some of our existing shelters, facilities, and providing modular units.

These models offer a safe, more distant sleeping arrangement, but they still require sharing bathrooms, showers, and utilizing food areas.

Now the next plan is to move on to private rooms with private baths and a meal delivery program.

Tell me, what do you propose to do next if this plan doesn't work?

Will we still have thousands of people still living in tents on our sidewalks and green belts and parks?

Thank you for calling in.

Our next speaker is Maria A. Hi, can you guys hear me?

We can hear you.

Okay, I'm sorry.

That's okay.

Hi, my name is Maria and I'm from the tiny house village Nicholsville.

I've been homeless for a long time and I was given the opportunity to live there and it has been a value for me.

I also work and so I'm calling in to say that we need to stay there during the COVID-19 and going on Since everything else is closed down, it's going to be a burden and very hard to find another place right now.

So I'm putting in to have a stay there at least the end of the year or longer just to keep everyone safe instead of us moving and trying to find a place during everything being shut down.

And we may not be having finding a place in time and keeping our hygiene center and everything else intact.

Thank you, and thank you for your time.

Thank you for calling in, Maria.

Our next speaker is Francis Githambo.

Hi, my name is Francis Githambo.

I'm a gig worker in Seattle.

I'm here with the Working Washington Pay Up campaign.

I've been working over three years with Lyft, full-time.

We are asking the city council to make sure gig workers get sick leave because we need to have some hope that if we get sick, we can pay our bills, feed our families without getting into debt like I'm now in debt.

I have to keep working during this crisis because my family depends fully on me.

My wife stays at home with the kids.

I'm working even more hours, getting less.

even less than $500 a week, working 12-hour shift.

Every day, I worry.

I take passengers to hospitals who are even coughing, some are sneezing.

If we get sick, it could be tough for me and for many others.

This affects a lot of people, not just for me.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in.

Our next speaker is Jake Miller.

Hello, my name is Jake Miller, and I'm here with the Working Washington Pay Up campaign in support of CB 119793. I started doing gig work in 2018. Since then, I have worked for Postmates, DoorDash, and Amazon Flex.

It was my primary source of income until I got my current job as a teaching assistant for adults with special needs at Aaron's Place Seattle.

Since the crisis hit, my employer obtained a PVP loan to cover my payroll, and that means I don't have to depend on gig work the way I did in the past.

I'm very thankful that this is the case, because I cannot imagine what I would have done if I would have gotten sick while gig work was my only source of income.

Since we gig workers are independent contractors, we don't get sick leave.

This puts gig workers in a tight spot where they may be forced to work while sick in order to pay basic living expenses.

I hope that by passing this bill, we gig workers will no longer have to be put in this situation.

Thank you for allowing me to speak on this issue that is so much important to so many vulnerable workers in this city at this time.

Thanks.

Thank you for taking the time to call in today.

Our next speaker is Sean Smith.

Good afternoon, County Council.

My name is Sean Smith.

I am the elected external affairs coordinator for Nicholsville, Tiny House Village, and North Lake.

Today, I'm speaking to you from the heart of that Tiny House Village, a healthy village, one that is unsupported by the city.

At present, you have an amendment on the books that would ask for extended funding for a Tiny House Village.

We urge you to include Nicholsville in that budget.

We also urge you to stop the sweeps at present.

Our unhoused neighbors aren't as lucky as we are here.

It is unprecedented during this time of health crisis to be moving people around the city and endangering the rest of the public.

Thank you for your time and I urge you to act quickly.

Thank you for taking the time to call in.

Our next speaker is John Stovall.

Thank you, council members.

My name is John Stovall.

I'm testifying on behalf of the Washington Low-Income Housing Alliance in support of Council Bill 119796. Prior to COVID-19, sweeps were an ineffective response at best and a deeply harmful response at worst to addressing homelessness.

Under a global pandemic, sweeps are even more dangerous.

Losing your property in a sweep can mean losing your masks or losing your tent and being exposed to coronavirus.

It may also mean not having access to one of the city's few hygiene stations or access to food, primarily since public transit is severely reduced right now.

The CDC guidance on encampment removals is quite clear.

Here's a quote from it.

Clearing encampments can cause people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers.

This increases the potential for infectious disease spread.

Statewide, since COVID-19 started, we've seen a 30% reduction in shelter capacity.

We've seen a serious slowdown in affordable housing lease-ups and completion of projects.

and coordinated entry is understaffed.

So it's inconscionable right now to be doing sweeps.

And we also need to invest in.

Thank you so much for calling in.

Our next speaker is speaker number 44, Cody Scott.

Hello?

Hello?

Hi, we can hear you.

My name is Cody Scott.

I live in Tensity 3 on 12914 MLK Junior Way South.

Before living at TC3, I lived with my father-in-law, placed at a motel in Lakewood, Pierce County.

Since I lived at TC3, it seems to be a better situation inside a shelter where you are two foot away from someone while the COVID-19 is spreading.

When you can be far away from someone, if you need to be outside, We don't share tents unless you are a couple.

You need more help with gas for generator, garbage needs taken out more often, funds for the honey bucket, porta-potties, more tents.

There's many people that can't get into CC3 because we don't have many availabilities.

Please support CC3.

Thank you so much for calling in today.

Our next speaker is, and colleagues, I know we're at 3.01 p.m.

I had indicated that we were going to go until 3. We have four speakers left, so that's approximately four minutes.

So I'm going to go ahead, if there's no objection, finish going through the list, which would put us at about 3.06 p.m.

Hearing and seeing no objection, we'll go ahead and do that.

Next speaker is Matthew Lang.

Hi there, Council.

My name is Matthew Lang.

I'm the Lead Organizer of the Transit Riders Union, and I'm on the Planning Committee of the Ballard Community Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger.

And I'm speaking today in favor of Council Bill 119791. Just a quick report back from the Ballard Commons eviction that happened a couple weeks ago.

Of the 50 or so folks that were there, about 25 or 26 were sheltered.

There were 25 folks, though, that we've almost completely lost contact with.

One worker from the Bridge Care Center has said that of those 25 folks, they're in touch with now four, and they were their primary case manager.

So had we waited for COLEAD to be on the ground and doing their work, then I imagine we could have had better success.

We must follow CDC guidelines not to evict folks.

and we must increase the amount of hotel space that we are providing for unsheltered folks, as well as remove police from the navigation team.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in.

Our next speaker is Teresa Homan.

Teresa Homan, and I am the program manager of the Tiny Health Villages for Lehigh, which, by the way, have also been tested with no positive COVID-19 cases.

And this is because we're following a very intense protocol for sanitization.

Regarding sweeps, as you know, in response to COVID-19, Lehigh very quickly opened Lakefront Community House, T.C. Spirit Village, and we doubled the size of Lake Union.

As the city continues its sweeps, we're hoping that a portion of the shelter funds from the supplemental state budget can be appropriated for more tiny house villages.

They are an immediate response to homelessness.

We know that there are not enough shelter beds and the problems exist in the traditional shelters.

And our villages feel like we give people a place to heal forward.

Thank you for your past support.

Please continue to support our tiny house villages.

A lot of good comes from them.

Thanks.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Hattie Rhodes.

Hello, I am Hattie Rhodes, formerly of the Georgetown Tiny House Village.

I'm speaking on CB 119791. The shelter-in-place mandate has shed light on the city's most vulnerable population, those that have no shelter.

I have seen that not only do tiny house villages provide a safe and dignified place for those experiencing homelessness, but it has also been an invaluable program during the COVID-19 crisis.

Villagers still have access to restrooms, showers, and laundry.

Case management is still available.

Seattle Public Library provides villagers Wi-Fi access, so villagers can stay connected to friends and family, as well as be informed about this public health crisis.

Operation Sac Lunch now provides a meal a day.

Surrounding neighbors have reached out, donated, and made us feel a part of this community.

In the villages, people are able to self-isolate without feeling isolated.

When we look back on this time, what will we have to show for all of our efforts?

Tiny House Villages are adaptable, community-driven models that will help us weather many storms together.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Our last speaker is Brittany Bollet.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Brittany Bush Bollet.

I am a resident of District 7. I'm calling to support the halting of sweeps during the COVID crisis and, frankly, in perpetuity.

Our unhoused neighbors are not helped by further destabilization.

They are not helped by further criminalization of poverty.

What they are helped by is housing.

We need to find and create more housing, lots of it, all different kinds.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for calling in today.

Colleagues, that is the last speaker signed up for public comment, so we will go ahead and close out the public comment period and move into items of business on our agenda.

First up, this payment of the bills.

Will the clerk please read the title?

Council Bill 119792, appropriate in mind to pay certain audited claims for the week of May 4th, 2020 through May 8th, 2020 and ordering the payment zero.

I move to pass Council Bill 119792. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded that the bill pass.

Are there any comments?

Hearing no comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Sawant.

Strauss.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

And I ask that the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Committee reports of the city council.

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

Agenda item one, council bill 119791, relating to the city's response to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis.

Amending ordinance 126,000, which adopted the 2020 budget, changing appropriations to various departments.

and budget control levels and from various funds in the budget.

Declaring an emergency and establishing an immediate effective date all by three-fourths vote of the city council.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to pass Council Bill 119791. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

Council Member Mosqueda, you are the sponsor of the bill, and we'll hand it over to you to address this particular bill.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Colleagues.

As you have heard from me over the last week or so, we have worked to put some language together in Council Bill 119783 as a follow-up to legislation that we passed.

I'm sorry, as a follow-up to legislation that we passed on May 4th, which was Council Bill 119783. The bill in front of us, Council Bill 119791, make sure that we move forward on accepting and appropriating federal and state funding related to COVID-19 pandemic crisis and response, including CARES Act funding.

This allows for us to allocate the remaining $1.4 million of CDBG funds through this substitute.

This allows for us to make sure that the CDBG funds are being spent ideally on policies that help with de-densification and redistribution of individuals who are currently in our shelter system, among a number of other strategies to help make sure that people have appropriate housing and shelter to respond to the COVID crisis.

We know that $1.4 million is not a ton of money.

Our hope is that this is a down payment on de-densification and redistribution efforts to initiate future policy discussions and funding to come from future conversations with the departments and the mayor's office so that we can all work towards reducing even further congregate shelter setting numbers.

We know that the congregate shelters are not really considered a safe space, especially given the high risk of individuals in those shelters due to underlying health conditions and their age, which we know is critical for people to have the appropriate public health response.

While the 1.4 that we're allocating today to de-densification and redistribution doesn't specifically talk about individual rooms or hotels, I think that this will be a nice complement to future conversations and future investments that we hope to see over the next week or two when we look at additional federal dollars.

Again, our hope is that this 1.4 million in combination with future dollars from the executive and CBO that they're evaluating right now will help us identify additional funds that can be used for frontline homeless service providers.

We've talked a lot about mounting costs to support COVID-related response, including the need for additional pay for staff, PPE, cleaning, food services, and other services as we try to serve this very vulnerable population.

The good news is that in addition to the funding that we already approved in the last bill, we have learned that $130 million from the Corona Relief Fund.

can also be used for a comprehensive strategy to meet both the needs for de-densification and can be used for rental assistance.

So it's really important for us to look at the holistic picture as these dollars come forward over the next week and make sure that we're doing both and.

Both rental assistance to prevent folks from falling into homelessness and also to respond to the public health crisis and to move towards additional de-densification and redistribution strategies.

To date, we are aware that there's conversations happening between homeless service providers and departments and the mayor's office, so we appreciate that.

We look forward to future conversations about PPE, additional staff, cleaning, food services, and housing options.

And today, again, while this is not a ton of money, the $1.4 million I think does signal our interest in adding additional support to de-densification, redistribution, Even if we're not directing it towards individual rooms, we have, I think, a joint interest and expressed a shared interest in moving forward on that public health strategy and hoping to have future conversations about this with the next round of funding.

Very happy to have learned that the $130 million from the CRF, or Corona Release Fund, can also be used for rental assistance.

So colleagues, I know that was a question earlier, and we will have more opportunities to allocate additional funding as well as efforts around de-densification and redistribution in our future funds.

Thank you all for hopefully your support as we get $1.4 million out the door to quickly deploys as much funding as we possibly can for this critical population.

It's not a ton of money, as we talked about, but it will make an important down payment and signal our interest in future conversations.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, for those remarks.

Are there any other comments on the bill?

Council Member Herbold, the floor is yours.

You're right.

Did you recognize me?

I did.

I did recognize you.

You broke up this time for me.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry.

You're up.

I appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

I just want to, again, as I did this morning, flag my concern.

I'm going to vote in favor of this legislation, although to be very honest.

I'm not sure I understand it.

We originally signaled by amending the previous bill and taking this money out of the rent assistance use as a way to try to leverage some discussions with the mayor's office to ensure that they would embrace a different model of de-intensification of shelters, a model that does not rely on a congregate care model, but instead moves to individual rooms.

These are the safest settings for both staff and clients.

This legislation does not make that distinction, and I understand why.

It's because the executive hasn't embraced this as a priority for its intensification goals.

Nevertheless, without having accomplished that, I'm not sure why we are moving this money away from rent assistance to address the increased cost of shelter providers for providing service and for their staffing needs.

I recognize that there are those increased costs.

We have future pieces of legislation that can help fund the increased costs associated with shelter, as well as the increased needs of rent assistance.

And I appreciate that Budget Director Noble has proposed a path forward where we can swap some funds in a future piece of legislation.

But it seems very unnecessary to do that.

given the fact that we could have just voted to put this money where it was originally proposed to be put, and then subsequently fund the needs associated with de-intensification of shelter and their increased costs.

I want to recognize that Just in general, I have concerns about putting off rental assistance relief.

There were 9,000 applications received by United Way of King County over a period of 48 hours, and only 2,000 households received assistance.

And it's really important to note that United Way of King County is able to provide rental assistance regardless of documentation of immigration status.

So it's a very rare source of support for this population.

I do recognize that we are going to hopefully be able to make what were the proposed efforts to fully fund the rental assistance needs in the previous legislation, that there is a commitment to make those whole in a subsequent piece of legislation, but just am puzzled as to why we are taking this action given the fact that there is more flexible funds available in the next week or two to address the shelter needs.

So I'm going to provide Councilmember Mosqueda, as sponsor of the bill, an opportunity to respond.

So Councilmember Mosqueda, I'll hand it over to you.

Thank you, Council President.

And I want to underscore and share Councilmember Herbold's frustration that we have not received confirmation that de-densification will include individual rooms.

Obviously, this is a policy difference of opinion that we have with the executive right now.

I will say this.

The reason that I think it's important that we are putting forward the legislation and held back the 1.4 is that some leverage has already been accomplished.

We know that there has been conversations over the last week and a half that have led to us having, that have led to the executive and the departments having conversations directly with homeless service providers.

Prior to when this bill was originally sent down, there were new conversations that had been reported to us.

We had heard from a number of homeless service providers that they had, serious concerns about policies being advanced without sort of checking in to see what the lay of the land was on the ground.

Those conversations have happened.

You're correct that there is still a policy difference of opinion on individual rooms, which I think you and I and the CDC would argue is a good public health strategy.

However, I think that when we look at the language in front of us, it does not preclude individual rooms.

It offers it as part of the solution.

And we know that in conversations with the CBO and others, they're considering an array of ways to de-densify.

I wish that it was all going into individual rooms, but here's, I think, the reality that we're faced with.

We know that there's 130 million from the Corona Relief Fund that we have now identified can also be used for rental assistance.

Because that wasn't the case when the bill was introduced and there was a real fear that there wouldn't be those flexible dollars to be used for rental assistance in the future, we had a lot of pressure to get all the money out the door for rental assistance.

We held back the $1.4 million, though, with the desire for A, leverage, but B, to make sure that the folks who are currently in shelters do see some form of de-densification or de-intensification.

that could include hotel rooms, but it could also include a number of other strategies that they say that they're working on.

Right now, we know that there's about 500 people who are currently in congregate shelters who need de-densification strategies.

I think by putting forward this piece of legislation, continuing to work to amplify our call for individual rooms, and I definitely want to underscore my support for that as a longtime proponent of that strategy.

Part of the reason that we had gone down this path was to try to urge the 1.4 million to be used for hotel rooms.

It is still not a ton of money, but I think putting it forward does signal our interest in that policy discussion, and it also doesn't necessarily hold back that funds that could be used for helping the 500 people that are currently in shelters who need some level of de-densification.

Also, I'll say that the rental assistance and small businesses piece were included in the initial policy that passed.

So there was funding that went out.

We understand that there is going to be additional funding from the dollars that do come from the executive's office here soon.

And we'll have the opportunity to ask whether or not that's enough rental assistance or whether it's enough assistance for folks to get out of congregate shelter services in the future.

But I think the answer to the why now is we have 1.4 million.

We also know that that's a drop in the bucket of what's needed for both rental assistance and for what is needed for de-intensification since we already put money forward in this last bill for rental assistance and we know now that there's more money coming.

from the Corona Relief Fund that we can use for rental assistance.

My hope was to put the 1.4 million forward to allocate it for an array of de-intensification services to really signal our interest, the council's interest in seeing those funds go into place now to help with whomever we can with the 500 individuals who need assistance immediately and that we complement those funds with future dollars.

I don't think the leverage has necessarily been I think it's definitely initiated conversations that hadn't happened prior, and I appreciate, I think, our joint interest in both de-incentivization and rental assistance.

This effort, I think, allows for both those policies to move forward in a complementary way.

Thank you for that.

Any other comments on the bill, colleagues?

Okay, seeing no other comments on the bill, I'm going to go ahead and ask that the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Lazcara?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

DeWolf?

Aye.

Stroud?

Aye.

President Gonzales?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it and I ask that the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

We're now going to move to agenda items two and three and I ask that the clerk please read both items two and three into the record.

Agenda item 2, clerk file 314426, full unit lot subdivision of Pinehurst 1 LP to subdivide one parcel into 31 unit lots at 12522 15th Avenue Northeast.

Item 3, Council Bill 119790, approving and confirming the flats of Northline Townhomes and the portions of Southwest Quarter of Southwest Quarter of Section 21 Township 26 North, Range 4 East, WM, and King County, Washington.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Stross, both items two and three were read into the record.

We will take separate votes on each item, and before we move each item, would you like to address items two and three?

Yes, thank you, Council President.

The clerk file and associated council bill will grant a final approval for the Northline Townhomes lot at 12522 15th Avenue Northeast and Pinehurst neighborhood, as described by the council clerk.

The plat will divide one parcel into 31 units to facilitate the sale of these townhomes.

Last year, the SDCI director and hearing examiner recommended approval of the preliminary subdivision.

Council's role now is to determine if the applicant has met all of the requirements for the final approval.

And SDCI, SDOT, and Council Central staff have all confirmed for me that those requirements have been met and recommend approval today.

Thank you so much, and I want to make sure that you address both items.

I use those comments to address both items.

The item three is the associated council bill for the north line townhomes plot approval.

And all of the information I've just presented is consistent with both files.

Great.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate that.

Are there any additional comments on items two or three?

Okay, hearing none, I will move that clerk file 314426 be placed on file.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to place the clerk file on file.

Are there any additional comments on the clerk file?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the placing of the clerk file on file?

Herbold?

Aye.

Flores?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales.

Aye.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

DeWolf.

Aye.

Strauss.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the court of file is placed on file.

I will now move to pass Council Bill 119790. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

And are there any additional comments on the bill?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Herbold?

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Let's get a.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

DeWan.

Aye.

Strouse.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor.

None opposed.

The bill passes, and the chair will sign it.

And I'd ask that the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

We will now move to adoption of other resolutions.

New item number four.

Will the clerk please read item four into the record?

Agenda item four, resolution 31946, relating to the response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Requesting that Governor Inslee create a Washington Worker Relief Fund to provide economic assistance to undocumented Washingtonians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I move to adopt Resolution 31946. Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt Resolution 31946. And colleagues, as the lead sponsor of this legislation, I'll just make some quick intro to hopefully some quick remarks about this particular bill.

So COVID-19 relief granted by the federal government has not been accessible for many in the immigrant community, as we have often heard.

Unemployment insurance, as currently run by our state, also requires a social security number, which means many are left without the benefits they have paid into.

We are hearing from many households who have been left without income or any resources for months now, immigrant workers were among the first wave to be laid off when this pandemic hit.

Immigrant leaders and communities from across the state have been organizing and are calling for quick action by state leadership.

There are two calls to action.

First on this list calls on Governor Inslee to create a Washington Worker Relief Fund.

Leaders are calling for $100 million to be allocated to community-based organizations to deliver emergency assistance to undocumented Washingtonians.

Second, our immigrant community is asking for Governor Inslee to work with the four corners of our state legislature to address the systemic failure of unemployment to provide wage replacement for undocumented workers who, again, pay taxes and pay into a system they cannot benefit from when they need it most.

These are important state interventions that will help many households not fall into abject poverty or have to make decisions that exponentially increase their exposure to infection of the coronavirus.

We are seeing massive racial disparities of how this virus is impacting different communities.

It is heartbreaking to read in the Seattle Times the disproportionality of population to coronavirus infection.

and COVID-19 mortality rates.

Earlier this month, Seattle Times reported that Washington State's Black, Latinx, and Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian communities have been hit at significantly higher rates in King County.

Latinx communities are seeing infection hospitalization rates at four times the rate of white people for COVID-19.

even though they are only 10% of Pink County's population.

The trend is bearing out as well in Illinois, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the Bay Area, as well as New York City, where it is Black and Latinx communities who have been hit the hardest.

Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander communities have also been severely impacted.

They are also seeing infection rates at four times that of white populations in King County.

These infection rates are impacting the same communities and zip codes that have many barriers to economic opportunity and stability.

This resolution today is one way to stand with immigrant communities.

This call to action by Community for a Statewide Washington Worker Relief Fund must be part of our state's COVID-19 response and recovery.

Earlier this month, I transmitted a letter to Governor Inslee asking for consideration of this fund in addition to a number of other strategies to meet the needs of our immigrant friends, family, and neighbors, including those that are undocumented.

There is perhaps no more important time, colleagues, than now to really step up on behalf of immigrants and refugees, but in particular of those who are undocumented.

These folks have been deemed pretty much by every single declaration and proclamation as being essential workers.

They don't seem to be essential enough to access basic benefits when needed.

And now is the time for us to make sure that we are giving voice to these needs, voice to many individuals who cannot use their own voice for fear of retaliation as a result of their undocumented status.

So I hope that you all will support me today.

I know that you will and that you have in the past.

And I wanna give a special thank you to One America, The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, the Latino Community Fund, and Termanos, and so many others who are leading this work and have always led on this work by centering voices of those who are undocumented in the struggle for ongoing relief for this community.

with that being said, I am happy to advance this resolution and look forward to your support on it as well.

And we'll end my comments there and see if anyone else has any comments on the resolution before we call it to a vote.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you for your leadership on this.

We're pleased to partner with you to advance this.

Really want to underscore the importance of how the crisis is disproportionately impacting communities of color, especially the refugee and immigrant community.

We know the consequences of the immigrant and refugee community and people of color being left out historically from national policy and state policy, and often that's where the city of Seattle has stepped in to provide immediate relief.

Given the crisis and the magnitude of the COVID public health crisis and the economic consequences it's created for immigrants and refugees, I think that this is a critically important fund that's been requested And we join with you and the community in demanding that there be solutions for the population that's yet again been left out from these federal assistance dollars.

You heard the public comment today largely focused on both the relief fund and the need for sick and safe leave, especially for populations that may be working in sort of the gray economy or the gig economy, which is no longer a segment of the economy, it's just the economy.

As we think about relief that needs to be provided, I think the same is true for the emergency fund.

These are workers that are in every sector of our economy who've been historically left out and have yet again been left out of these essential funds as we not just respond, but try to survive the initial impact of the crisis.

So I thank the community for the work that they have done and really appreciate the work that you've done to bring forward this resolution to council to show that we are a welcoming state, we are a welcoming city.

We advocate to fill the gaps that have been created from the state and the federal level and really appreciate the community's courageous efforts to call attention to the need for this fund and all of their public testimony today.

Thank you so much.

Any other comments from my colleagues?

Okay, seeing and hearing none, we will go ahead and vote on the resolution.

So actually, I have an amendment first.

So I will move to amend Resolution 31946 as presented on Amendment 1 that was recently distributed.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded to amend the resolution.

Colleagues, Amendment 1 is very simple.

It just adds the words state legislature to make sure that we acknowledge that this should be a collaborative effort amongst our state legislature and the governor in establishing a worker relief fund.

very simple resolution and, excuse me, very simple amendment that I see is sort of technical in a lot of ways.

So I'm happy to answer any questions on that particular amendment, but it's pretty straightforward.

So are there any comments on amendment one?

Okay, seeing and hearing none, I'd ask that the clerk call the roll on amendment one.

Herbold?

Aye.

Aye.

Juarez aye.

Lewis aye.

Morales aye.

Misketa aye.

Peterson aye.

DeWant aye.

Strouse aye.

President Gonzalez aye.

Nine in favor none opposed.

The motion carries, and the amendment is adopted.

Are there any further comments on the resolution as amended?

Okay, hearing none, I'd ask that the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution as amended.

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Lisketa?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

The one I stress.

All right.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor.

None opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended and the chair will sign it.

And it has that the clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation.

Thank you everyone for your support of that resolution.

It will mean a lot to the immigrant and refugee population who is so desperately seeking assistance in this space.

I just want to thank you all for your unanimous support in that regard.

other business.

There is, I believe, two letters for consideration for signature this afternoon.

The first one is from Councilmember Juarez, who described her letter regarding the South Dakota restrictions on tribal lands.

So, Councilmember Juarez, would you like to add anything to your comments from this morning?

Madam President, I do have two items.

Would this be the time to request my to be excused on Tuesday, May 26th?

Yeah, I was going to do the letters first and then you move to be excused.

Okay, I'll be brief.

As I shared this morning, this is regarding the Cheyenne River, Oglala, Lakota and Rosebud Sioux Nations.

And as I shared last week, the governor of North Dakota, I'm sorry, South Dakota issued a demand that the Lakota tribal nation folks remove their security checkpoints that were set up to prevent the spread of COVID-19 onto the reservations.

The chairs of all three tribes have issued statements declaring security checkpoints were established in response to a growing concern over the fast-paced nature of the novel coronavirus and how they have no plans to take them down.

I do want to add on a side note, I'm sure some of you have seen this in the news, that it breaks my heart and it's unfortunate to share that we have Doctors Without Borders, an international organization currently on the Navajo reservation, as they attempt to save the lives of their people and their residents and their citizens.

So we know how closely Native folk live with each other and extended families.

We know how quickly this disease spreads.

And we also know that we have a population that is poised, as the other council member shared earlier, that it particularly affects at a disproportionate rate people of color, low income, people with pre-existing conditions, elders, children, schools, And so these are the type of issues that we are facing and that combined with the lack of Indian health services to not get out the appropriate money that was designated well over a month ago that still has not reached Indian country.

I cannot stress how important this letter is.

And also again I heard from tribal leadership that they are thankful and they're very touched that the Seattle City Council and the mayor of Seattle to be joining them and supporting them in their allyship.

So I ask and thank all of you to please sign this letter of support.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez, for that description.

Are there any additional comments on the letter as described by Councilmember Juarez?

Hearing and seeing none, I would ask that the clerk please call the roll on the signature to Councilmember Juarez's proposed letter.

Councilmember Herbold.

Aye.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Councilmember Lewis.

Aye.

Councilmember Morales.

Aye.

Councilmember Mosqueda.

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson.

Aye.

Councilmember Sawant.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Aye.

And Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

9 in favor.

I thank you so much.

Council member Juarez, would you like to move now to be excused?

Yes, I would like to request to be excused on Tuesday, May 26.

Council member Juarez has moved to be excused from the May 26 City Council meetings.

Are there any objections?

hearing no objections, Councilmember Juarez will be excused from the May 26th City Council meeting.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Juarez.

Next up is Councilmember Herbold, who also has a proposed letter in support of a build grant for the East Marginal Way Corridor Improvement Project.

Councilmember Herbold, the floor is yours.

Thank you.

So last Thursday, my office circulated this letter.

This letter mirrors a similar request letter that the council signed in February for a separate federal grant.

The city has a longstanding interest in this project, and I do as well because it is critical for bike communities in West Seattle to ensure that they are separated from traffic with the closure of the West Seattle Bridge through at least the end of 2021 this quarter.

will become increasingly important as freight uses the lower level bridge to West Seattle as well.

The project itself will improve safety and reliability in the movement of people and goods in this industrial and maritime area.

The project will support freight loads by rebuilding the roadway.

It will support improved efficiency through signal modifications and intelligent transportation systems.

And again, it will improve safety by better separating non-motorized modes from freight traffic.

The grant application itself is for $20 million.

The SDOT CIP project lists that SDOT was considering approaches for full funding.

Our earlier grant application was for $13 million.

The Port of Seattle is also contributing $5 million for this project.

The funding gap listed in the CIP at this point is $38 million.

So if we are successful in getting this grant, it will help us close that funding gap.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you so much, Council Member Herbold.

Any comments or questions for Council Member Herbold?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Council President.

I just want to say I appreciate the letter coming forward.

I did have the chance to check in with our brothers and sisters at ILWU, International Longshore Workers Union, and they are supportive of the project and the letter.

So I'm going to be happily signing on.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Any other comments or questions?

Hearing and seeing none, I would ask that the clerk please call the roll on the letter proposed by Councilmember Herbold.

Herbold?

Aye.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Dawant?

Aye.

Strauss?

Aye.

President Gonzales?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

That is the last item that I'm aware of on other business.

Is there any other further business to come before the council?

Council Member Muscata.

Thank you, Madam President.

economically and we will be hearing from those folks 11 to 1 p.m.

looking forward to having you all join us and for the viewing public you can submit questions until right up before them with the forum there is a link on all of our social media pages and the information should be in your inbox council colleagues we invite you all to join and participate if you can or to watch via the YouTube link and we will be streaming or sending you a link to watch it from all of our social media pieces Again, this is the Economic Forum on the Realities of Inequities Created and Worsened by COVID, including folks from the University of Massachusetts, Economic Policy Institute in the Public Interest, Front and Center, Budget Policy Center, Washington Low-Income Housing Alliance, ProTax17, Chief Seattle Club Ventures, and I really appreciate the time.

Hope you can join or tune in.

And of course, Council Member Mosqueda, consistent with your remarks this morning, this is not a formal committee meeting.

It's not a public meeting.

This is just a town hall, if you will, to have a conversation about this.

So when you extend an invitation to council members, you're not intending to achieve a quorum of this council.

Is that correct?

Thank you so much, yes.

We talked about that this morning.

Important to make sure that it is four or less people.

So do let us know if you plan to join as a council member.

But hoping folks can push out the information to your networks It is a community forum.

That's the title of the event.

And we do hope that you share that with your networks.

Thank you so much for the reminder on that.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you so much.

I just didn't want to leave people with the impression that there was going to be a majority of council members there.

OK, folks, that is that's it, I think.

Is there any other business to come before we got one more council member Strauss?

Thank you for the time, Council President.

Just want to say congratulations to my friends, Angie and Elliot, who gave birth to their first child this morning during Council briefing.

Welcome to the world, Avery, and we look forward to everything that you accomplish.

Thanks, Council President.

Of course.

Any other business to come before the Council?

Hey, Dean, and hearing none, that is the last item of business on our agenda.

The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Just a reminder that Monday is a recognized holiday.

It is Memorial Day, so that means that our schedule will shift accordingly, and we will be having our Monday on a Tuesday.

So our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 2 p.m.

That's it, folks.

We are adjourned.

Thank you so much, and have a good afternoon.