Governance, Native Communities & Tribal Governments Committee Special Meeting 7/28/22

Are we ready it.

We are.

Okay.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

This is the special meeting of the governance native communities and tribal governments committee.

The date is Thursday, July 28, and the time is 930. I'm Debra Juarez, chair of the committee.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll.

Council Member Peterson.

Present.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Hold up, hold up.

Council Member Mosqueda and Council Member Sawant are excused today.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council President Juarez.

Here.

Three present.

Great.

We are, I think, I don't know who else, but we have two people that are excused today.

Okay, let's move on to our agenda to approval of the agenda.

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

not hearing or seeing any objection, the agenda is indeed adopted.

I would move on to the chair's report.

Agenda item one is a presentation on the formation of the Indigenous Advisory Council, including the process and the history that brings us here today.

From the Department of Neighborhoods, we will hear from Interim Director Greg Wong and Indigenous Advisory Council Liaison Francesca Murnan, a member of the Cherokee Nation.

We are also joined by Tribal Relations Director Tim Raynon from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations and a member of the Puyallup Nation, and Asha Venkatraman.

Did I say it right?

Yes.

From the Council Central staff.

Agenda item two to 10 will be the presentation and joint consideration of the nine inaugural appointees to the Indigenous Advisory Council.

And they are, and I'm going to list them off because I'm really proud of this group.

We have Cece Hoffman from the Umatilla Nation, Esther Lucero from Diné, Donnie Stevenson from the Muckleshoot Nation, also an elected tribal leader, Asia Tale from the Cherokee Nation, Derek Leonard-Belgard from the Siletz and Chippewa Cree Nation, Jackie McCormick from the Nez Perce Nation.

Luther Mills from the Suquamish Nation, also an elected tribal leader.

Susana Salido, Suquamish, and also an elected tribal leader.

And Jeremy, tell me if I get your name right, Jeremy Takala from the Yakima Nation.

It's Jeremy here.

Jeremy is also an elected leader from the Yakama Nation.

So we have nine members.

Four are currently sitting as tribal council members duly elected by their folks, by their people.

Agenda item 11 is the appointment of Billy Hetherington to serve on the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.

Mr. Hetherington will be introduced by Karim Levitas.

So from that, let's see, that's the end of my report, a brief report.

I'll have more to say later.

With that, Madam Clerk, let's and colleagues, let's move to public comment.

At this time, we will go to public comment.

And Madam Clerk has shared with me that we have two folks who have called in and we have six people in chambers.

So thank you for you folks that have called in and also showed up today.

I appreciate that.

Today, each speaker will have two minutes.

And Madam Clerk, I will now hand over to you to present the instructions on how we will do the public comment or how to.

I know you're going to turn on the public comment recording.

Thank you.

And please call on the speakers as well after the recording.

the city of flowers and the city of goodwill, built on indigenous land, the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples.

The Seattle City Council welcomes remote public comment and is eager to hear from residents of our city.

If you would like to be a speaker and provide a verbal public comment, you may register two hours prior to the meeting via the Seattle City Council website.

Here's some information about the public comment proceedings.

Speakers are called upon in the order in which they registered on the Council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number provided when they registered online and used the meeting ID and passcode that was emailed upon confirmation.

If you did not receive an email confirmation, please check your spam or junk mail folders.

A reminder, the speaker meeting ID is different from the general listen line meeting ID provided on the agenda.

Once a speaker's name is called, the speaker's microphone will be unmuted and an automatic prompt will say, the host would like you to unmute your microphone.

That is your cue that it's your turn to speak.

At that time, you must press star six.

You will then hear a prompt of, you are unmuted.

Be sure your phone is unmuted on your end so that you will be heard.

As a speaker, you should begin by stating your name and the item that you are addressing.

A chime will sound when 10 seconds are left in your allotted time as a gentle reminder to wrap up your public comments.

At the end of the allotted time, your microphone will be muted.

and the next speaker registered will be called.

Once speakers have completed providing public comment, please disconnect from the public comment line and join us by following the meeting via Seattle Channel Broadcast or through the listening line option listed on the agenda.

The council reserves the right to eliminate public comment if the system is being abused or if the process impedes the council's ability to conduct its business on behalf of residents of the city.

Any offensive language that is disruptive to these proceedings or that is not focused on an appropriate topic as specified in Council rules may lead to the speaker being muted by the presiding officer.

Our hope is to provide an opportunity for productive discussions that will assist our orderly consideration of issues before the Council.

The public comment period is now open.

and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

Please remember to press star six after you hear the prompt of, you have been unmuted.

Thank you, Seattle.

Yes, our first remote speaker will be Marcy Johnson.

Marcy, press star six.

Hello.

Hello, Marcy.

Thank you, Madam.

Hi, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the City Council for this opportunity to speak today regarding the appointees of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

Again, my name is Marcy Johnson.

I'm a lifelong resident of Seattle and the surrounding area.

I was raised on Alki and as an adult, I moved away and around the area and moved back to Alki about five years ago, this very spiritual place.

I'm concerned that the committee appointees do not include a member of the direct descendants of the Duwamish tribe, a member of the Duwamish tribe who have been residents of this area for millennia and named our city named after chief Seattle, such a prominent and welcoming native to the settlers in this area.

He and his people promptly disregarded.

pushed out of the city and freeze unhonored.

So I am urging the committee to reconsider nominations for this committee, for this advisory council.

While I have read all of the applicants and they are no doubt all worthy, but at least one position could have been reserved and looked at for a nomination from the Duwamish, particularly Kenneth Workman, who has worked tirelessly and honorably to preserve not only the Duwamish tradition, but to honor the traditions of all tribes in the area.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

Our next remote commenter will be Deb Barker.

Hello.

My name is Deb Barker.

Hello.

Yes, you're on.

I'm guessing you can hear.

We can hear you.

Great.

Thank you.

Council President Juarez and member of the governance native community.

and Tribal Governments Committee, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today.

My name is Deb Barker.

I'm a West Seattle resident.

I am voicing my concern that...

Oh, we lost you, Deb.

Can you hear me now?

Yeah, we can hear you now.

Go ahead.

Can you start over, please?

Great.

Go ahead.

I'm voicing my concern that a member of the Duwamish tribe has not been included in the newly formed Indigenous Advisory Council or the IAC.

When I read about the formation of the IAC, I was truly grateful that the city council leaders showed wisdom in creating this so important council.

But the omission of a member of the Duwamish tribe from this formation of the Indigenous Council is frankly outrageous.

If it weren't for the Duwamish tribe and the humanity exemplified by the Duwamish tribe's leader, Chief Seattle, we would not be the city of Seattle that we are today.

I am even more upset that the benevolent Ken Workman, the direct descendant and fifth generation grandson of that same Chief Seattle has not been included as an IAC nominee.

For history's sake, please do the honorable thing and include the Duwamish tribe, Ken Workman, in the formation of the IAC.

Thank you for your time.

Our first in-person commenter will be Kat Randolph.

Thank you for hearing my voice today.

Council Member Juarez and members of this committee.

My name is Kat Randolph.

I'm a longtime resident of Seattle in the Mount Baker neighborhood.

I'm here speaking to you today as a neighbor, but also in my role as board member of the Boy Scouts local council named the Chief Seattle Council, which has been in operation for almost 100 years in this area.

instilling values and citizenship in youth.

We serve 10,000 youth across King County and the Olympic Peninsula.

I'm the vice president of diversity, a newly found position on the council, and it is our mandate to create an inclusive culture for youth as they learn citizenship and the values to become honorable adults.

One of our values is to listen to the voices of indigenous people in this area and to build authentic relationship so we can be better allies and advocates.

In that effort, we've been working with the Duwamish tribe on a variety of issues with youth, including habitat restoration, cleanup, and other things that I think would make us all proud.

We also bring the youth to hear the city council and learn what it means to participate in government.

I think the foundation of this council is an admirable thing, but I would strongly urge the council to include representation from the Duwamish tribe, specifically Ken Workman.

Mr. Workman is an honorable and exemplary role model for the youth in our area.

He consistently goes out to the community to work on representing civic issues, cultural institutions, and educating people on how to honor the land and get involved.

He most recently spoke to more than a hundred youth at an event in West Seattle, which was our inaugural event for a new citizenship and society merit badge, which advocates inclusion and understanding.

I cannot in good conscious go back to my council and tell them that this agency has been founded and excluded the Duwamish tribe and Mr. Workman.

It would be a terrible blow.

And in this time in our country, when things are so divided, we are working towards harmony and constructive partnership.

And I would like to see Mr. Workman and the Duwamish represented.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

They hire my dirty damn Nazi fascist bandit and psychopath who speak to us from the heaven.

Yeah, it's a very good idea, open something for protecting indigenous people who have problem for 500 years.

Yeah, I support this by 120%.

But one question what is I have that totally make me sick.

Jewish people have problem for a few thousand years.

In Seattle, it's a pure Nazi-Gestapo-Anti-Semite city.

Why we cannot establish a committee who will protect our Jewish people in stopping massive anti-Semitism, what they see in this city for 35 years?

I don't understand why one nation have more privilege than another nation.

We're all equal under law and constitution.

Is this a little bit confusing to you, President Wallace, you know what I mean?

Why you cannot present here?

I never see you for four months here.

Never.

So it's totally confusing.

You pretend and you come to this position like a president because you befall to dangerous people, to Mexicans too.

That's not the point.

Why I cannot see you here?

I'm totally confused.

We have one president of of United States, Mr. Biden, who are mentally sick men.

So what is right now?

I can think about you.

Are you mentally sick too?

So you have people, your people, your people, you not present here?

Never?

Never today?

How is this possible?

Who are you?

Are you same like a President Biden because you belong to Democrat?

And all Democrat right now are mentally sick, a psychopath, anti-Semite and Nazi, what has killed people every day?

My question right now to everybody, stand up America, we're all equal under law and constitution.

We have right for protection to all minority, indigenous, Jewish, Black, Latina, poor.

Stand up.

Our next speaker is Michelle Lessard.

Good morning, esteemed council members.

I'm here as a resident of district four, a descendant of settlers who came to Seattle in the 1880s and a supporter of the Duwamish tribe.

First, thank you for establishing the IAC as a positive step toward including diverse indigenous voices in Seattle.

I also acknowledge the esteemed nominees present who have given so much to their communities and to the broader society.

But I was disappointed to learn that a representative of Seattle's Duwamish tribe was not included among the inaugural IAC finalists.

The Duwamish tribe has an indisputable historical relationship to our city, has made significant contributions to present day Seattle.

The Duwamish Longhouse has been open for more than a decade, providing cultural and educational programs for people from the city and all over the world.

And for years, Duwamish leaders have been invited to be part of innumerable community events, city events, and the tribe has business relationships with the city.

The growing Real Rent movement is a testament to the tribe's future at the head of a diverse, local, indigenous-led community network that will increase our city's cultural vibrancy, as well as our economic and environmental resilience.

How can the City Council exclude its only local tribe from this advisory body?

Our system has punished those who resisted colonization by staying in Seattle and intermarrying with settlers.

These Duwamish descendants have persisted and have never left.

Not including the Duwamish tribe on the IAC is a profound reminder of the injustice of Ordinance 5 back in 1865, proclamation that expelled all natives from the city.

Given the historic injustices endured by the Duwamish tribe, I am asking you to reconsider by including a representative of the tribe on the inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Megan Murphy.

Thanks for letting me speak.

Just a quick note.

I called in on Tuesday about the hazard pay and other working people might call in and not, they might call in late and not know that you have to press star six.

So she called on me twice.

And then after she called on me twice, she mentioned that you have to press star six to be unmuted.

And I would hate for other working people calling in to not express that hazard pay needs to remain and be enforced.

And in fact, if somebody is called an essential worker, then they need to make enough money to have housing, preferably by where they work.

And I read the book by David Graeber called The Dawn of Everything.

And on several occasions, he mentioned that the Native Americans have advanced views about how we treat the environment, their estuaries, the forests.

They thought that we're left pristine and in perfect condition when we got here.

There were no dams, everything was perfect as far as the environment went.

They had no homeless problem because everybody was expected to take care of each other.

And they had no prisons.

And so when we came over, they thought we were crazy.

And in a way, I think that they're right.

Because we have a culture of exploiting the environment to the point where when the degrees are raising globally, we still won't stop.

And our prisons are still horribly unethical and barbaric.

And the homeless problem is skyrocketing.

And they had none of these problems.

So the least we can do is mete out a tiny reform.

of letting one of them on the council, when in reality, their thought processes should shape our whole society.

I guess in January 19, 2001, Hillary Clinton finally recognized the Duwamish as a tribe, and then a few days later, I'm sure she didn't know that Bush was going to turn it over, and they wouldn't be recognized, as if to get their hopes up and then crush them, like that's a European trait.

I just, I think that we need to treat the environment as they kept it, have no homelessness as they envisioned and no prisons as they envisioned.

Thanks.

Cynthia Tatau.

What was that name again?

Council and advisory committee.

I am Cynthia Jatul, and I am a supporter of real renters.

And I am here to urge inclusion of a representative of the Duwamish tribe to the Indigenous Advisory Council.

I applaud the creation of the council by the city of Seattle, and I have no contention with the nine nominees.

It is a welcome advancement of our city's relationship with regional tribes to seek official counsel.

As a Seattle Public School teacher, I am expected to teach in an inclusive manner and to ensure that all voices are heard and respected.

How is it that the city would take it in action that excludes the voice of the Duwamish?

Aren't the Duwamish the original inhabitants of this land?

Aren't the Duwamish a tribe whose land was wrongfully taken and then who were banned from the city, yet the Duwamish are still here and the city benefits from the work and contributions of a tribe that works to preserve their culture and the Duwamish River.

Does the fact that other regional tribes argue against recognition of the Duwamish mean that the Seattle city government should intentionally or unintentionally take a side?

This follows the trend of white supremacy in the facilitation of conflict between historically oppressed groups of people.

I ask why instead of acting in an exclusionary manner, the city of Seattle isn't providing more room at the table in the formation of the critically necessary Indigenous Advisory Council.

I support the Duwamish and their desire for recognition on the IAC.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members for hearing public comments about the City of Seattle's inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council.

My name is Nate Proudhon.

I'm a Seattle resident in District Two and a member of the Duwamish Solidarity Group, which facilitates Real Rent Duwamish.

I'm here today because this committee seems to be considering an Indigenous Advisory Council without anyone from the only Indigenous tribe in Seattle, the Duwamish tribe, Quoting from Seattle.gov, the Indigenous Advisory Council builds and strengthens Indigenous representation and Indigenous knowledge and public policy processes by promoting and advancing priorities and solutions identified by and for Indigenous communities.

The Indigenous Advisory Council will advise city government on policies, budgets, programs, services, and projects directly affecting Indigenous populations.

unquote.

How can we as a city promote and advance priorities by and for indigenous communities when Seattle's own indigenous community is excluded from the process from the very foundation of the council?

The decision not to include the Duwamish tribe must be reconsidered and remedied by including a representative of the Duwamish tribe on the IAC.

I support the inclusion of Duwamish tribal council member Ken Workman as the representative of the Duwamish on the IAC.

Mr. Workman is the direct descendant and fifth generation grandson of chief Seattle.

Mr. Workman is eligible, qualified and applied for several positions on the IAC.

He's a tribal representative and indigenous elder and active in both tribal affairs and the Duwamish tribe nonprofit organization.

His contributions to the city of Seattle are significant and merit a position at the inaugural IAC.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

I have a few seconds left.

So I do want to say that there's no problem with any of these nominees.

Maybe we could add a 10th spot for the Duwamish.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, and thank you, speakers that called in and came into chambers today.

So we've reached the end of our public comment and the public comment period is now closed.

Let's go to our next item of business.

Madam Clerk, will you please read item one into the record?

Item one, Department of Neighborhoods presentation on the formation of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

Thank you.

First, I would like to welcome the Department of Neighborhoods interim director, Greg Wong.

and our Indigenous Advisory Council liaison, Francesca Murnan, both from Department of Neighborhoods.

They'll be walking us through and taking us through the process and the history that led to the formation of the Indigenous Advisory Council and the selection of this very impressive group.

And we're also joined by Director Tim Raynon from Office of Intergovernmental Relations and Asha Venkatrana Venkatrama Man, I got it right the first time.

Asha, from Council Central staff, who's one of our great policy advisors and works with us closely and all council members, not just myself, but the other eight council members as well.

I understand that D.O.N. has a 13 page PowerPoint presentation that they're going to walk us through.

So at this point, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Greg Wong.

Greg, you're up.

Thank you.

Good morning Council President and Council Members.

As Council President Juarez indicated, my name is Greg Wong.

I'm the Interim Director for the Department of Neighborhoods.

We very much appreciate the opportunity to come to the committee today because we're excited about an important milestone in the multiple year journey to create Indigenous Advisory Council.

With me as indicated from the Department of Neighborhood Staff is Francesca Murnon, the city's Indigenous Advisory Council liaison.

Also as indicated, Tim Raynon from the city's Tribal Relations Director from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations is in the meeting as well.

We are very honored and very excited to present you with nine outstanding recommended appointees to the inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council.

But before you hear a little bit about them and meet each of them, however, we'd like to give you an overview of the robust process that led up to where we are today.

As indicated, we have a short PowerPoint.

It'll probably work better because it kind of goes through chronologically the sequence of the process.

If you have any questions, please hold them until the end of the presentation.

So with that, can we get the PowerPoint up?

Thank you.

Let me, let me add something quick start.

So the lineup folks is we're going to do the department to do the presentation will have questions to the panel and central staff, and then we'll go through introduction of the nominees, and then we'll go to a vote.

So go ahead.

Great.

Great, thank you.

And we can go ahead and go to slide two on that.

So staffing for the Indigenous Advisory Council is housed in the Department of Neighborhoods per the legislation.

As you know, the overall goal at the Department of Neighborhoods is to create thriving communities.

And just as background, our North Stars that guide that are centering race and equity and investing in community solutions.

We carry out our work by focusing on five buckets and I'm not sure if the PowerPoint's advancing, it's not on my screen.

Not advancing.

I'm not sure who's driving it right now.

Is it Francesca?

That's me.

One moment.

Let me see what I've got going on.

There you go.

So this is an overview slide of just the department and see our five buckets for how we approach the work of creating a strong thriving community in Seattle, we focus on community relationships community investments.

community equity initiatives, community places, and community stories.

And so I give you that background just so you know the overall framework for where the Indigenous Advisory Council will be housed.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Francesca, who will lead us through most of the rest of the PowerPoint.

Okay, quick confirmation that you see the slide advance.

Yeah, we do see Francesca.

I just want to make a note that Mr. Jeremy Takala from Yakima has joined us.

Welcome, Jeremy.

Great, because I didn't know if you were on.

I see him there now.

Great.

Thank you.

Okay, great, thank you.

Quick introduction to myself.

My name is Francesca Murnan.

I am Shawnee and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

I've been a member of Seattle's Urban Native Community for coming up on 15 years.

And I'm really excited to be on the Department of Neighborhoods team supporting the implementation of our Indigenous Advisory Council.

And I will be the staff liaison for this work moving forward.

So today we're gonna share an overview of our implementation efforts and then very excited to introduce you to the nine candidates that are recommended for appointment.

So in summary, the Indigenous Advisory Council is an historic effort that builds on and strengthens Indigenous representation and Indigenous knowledge in our local public policymaking processes.

The nine members will promote and advance priorities and solutions that are identified by and for Indigenous communities.

With the recent development of the Indigenous Advisory Council, the City now has two primary avenues of engagement with Indigenous communities.

The Office of Intergovernmental Relations has held the government-to-government relationship with local tribal nations since 2004, and they will continue to carry this essential function.

In 2022, Tim Raynon of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians joined the City of Seattle as our Tribal Relations Director, and Tim brings decades of experience working in tribal government and for tribal communities.

Tim now fulfills and leads the work to address trust and treaty issues with federally recognized tribes.

We're incredibly grateful for Tim's collaboration and the approach that he brings to our collective work serving indigenous communities.

Hey, Francesca, did you mean to be on page two?

Because your PowerPoint's not moving.

I am.

So I'm sorry to keep interrupting.

I think you mean to be on the next slide, right?

Yeah, I do.

Okay.

I have zero tech technology skills.

Are we seeing it on this screen?

Yeah, that's the one.

Good job.

There we are.

screens everywhere so we'll go with this one and I'll move it from here.

Okay, okay.

So the Indigenous Advisory Council is housed in the Department of Neighborhoods and it fulfills a long standing gap in our ability to engage with the diverse range of indigenous people that reside in Seattle.

It's designed to be a supplementary avenue that strengthens the city's ongoing and unique relationship with tribal nations, and it works to fulfill the legal, political, and racial equity obligations to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people that reside in the city and the region.

This effort better positions us to advance the health and well-being of all Native people, regardless of where they reside.

To give you a quick look at our timeline of the formation of the IAC, here's the high-level overview.

We'll be going into some more detail on some of the work that's been happening over the last six months and the slides to come.

But to start us out and as a refresher, the effort formally launched in late 2020 with the budget authority to support the Indigenous Advisory Council liaison role and then the 2021 passage of the authorizing ordinance that creates the council and outlines its structure and general goals and features.

Since December 2022, the Department of Neighborhoods has led an extensive engagement process with dozens of Indigenous-led and Indigenous-serving entities to bring forward our nine candidates for recommended appointment today.

To recap the structure that's outlined in ordinance 126512, we have these nine membership roles.

We know that nine roles will never fully represent the diversity of our indigenous communities in this area.

Yet over time, we feel that the structure is flexible enough and allows us to seek a wide range of representation.

The next slide will show us the structure of these positions and their respective appointing authorities.

in more detail, but as you can see there are three positions held for folks that are nominated by tribal councils.

We have an Indigenous youth position, an Indigenous elder, and four seats held for representatives of urban Native organizations nominated by the Board of Directors of those organizations.

Beginning in December of 2021, the Department of Neighborhoods launched an outreach and engagement process for all nine open roles.

We characterize our efforts.

Oops, sorry, I'm on the wrong one.

So the appointing authorities here are seen in this slide, and you can see that positions one, two, five, six, and seven are appointed by the Seattle City Council.

Positions three, four, eight, and nine are appointed by the mayor's office.

To ensure that we have an offset membership rotation over time, positions one, four, six, and eight will serve an initial term of one year, and all future terms will be noted as two years.

So those are indicated by the asterisk in the table.

Otherwise, all positions are two-year terms.

Nomination letters from a tribal council are required for positions one, two, and three.

Nomination letters from the board of directors of an urban native organization are required for positions six, seven, eight, and nine.

and age restrictions apply for positions four and five.

Since we begin our outreach efforts, we characterize those into three general buckets.

So we have our general public outreach efforts, things like press release, social media and newsletters, and then deeper engagements, which happen through presentations, email communications, and we characterize our relationship building as being those one-to-one meetings and presentations before councils.

We engaged with, we had the open application period from January 4th, March 21st of 2022, which was a nearly 11 week application period.

John staff outreached 78 indigenous lead or indigenous serving entities.

This included tribes, intertribal and urban native organizations, community groups and civic clubs, academic and research institutions, tribal enterprises and nonprofit organizations and non tribal government entities that serve indigenous people.

35 groups sought additional engagement through presentations, extended program conversations, or email correspondence.

Here at the Department of Neighborhoods, we sought to provide information and resources to groups in a format, time, and preference, and place that they preferred.

So whether that was in-person presentations to tribal council committees or responding to email questions, each engagement was tailored to the specific needs of the group we're working with.

30 of the engagement sessions were one-to-one meetings or presentations to groups.

We had 41 individuals initiate applications and 30 folks completing the application process.

In addition, folks were able to apply for more than one position if they were eligible.

All 30 completed applications were provided to the city council and the mayoral selection committee for review, and 15 finalists were selected for interviews with those selection committees.

Using the authorizing legislation as a guide, the Department of Neighborhoods identified a set of principles that aided in the selection committee review of individual candidates as well as the group as a whole.

These principles included a range of diverse perspectives and experience, including public and private sector experiences that reflect the variety of Indigenous communities in and around Seattle.

broad geographic representation from neighborhoods and indigenous communities and then around the region, an ability to serve as liaisons to a variety of indigenous networks and groups, and an ability to engage in collaborative policy and advocacy.

In addition to these guiding principles, the selection committee members have the ability to exercise discretion in making their final candidate selections to achieve the broader intents and goals of the authorizing legislation.

From April to June of 2022, the city council and the mayor's office convened selection committees for the positions under their respective authority.

Because candidates were able to apply for multiple positions, there were times where the selection committees considered candidates jointly as depicted in the graphic.

So the city council selection committee was staffed by representatives of council member offices and with support from central staff.

at City Council.

The Mayoral Selection Committee was led by the Mayor's Legal Affairs Liaison, who sought additional support from the Mayor's Office and Office of Intergovernmental Relations as needed.

The Selection Committees reviewed all application materials, including nomination letters, resumes, and application questions.

They conducted interviews with a portion of applicants.

When candidates were under consideration for both City Council and Mayoral positions, those interviews were done jointly.

and each committee met to deliberate and propose recommended appointments under their respective authority.

Then one member of each committee met to finalize the full composition to ensure that we did not have overlap among the appointing authorities.

This process resulted in the nine candidates recommended for appointment today.

Each of these folks brings these principles to life in their service to Indigenous communities, and we're really thrilled to bring them forward as leaders in this conversation.

For next steps, we'd like to close out with a short preview of the months ahead.

Pending confirmation by a full vote of the City Council, we'll begin gathering the Indigenous Advisory Council for monthly meetings to determine their governance structure, identify common priorities, and begin strategic planning processes.

By the end of the year, we will return to this committee to present a 2023 work plan.

And next summer, we anticipate that positions one and six will reopen as well as four and eight.

So with that, we are incredibly grateful for your partnership and work, and we're excited about the opportunity to support our thriving Native communities here in the Seattle area.

I think we'll turn it back to the chair from here, and our team will remain on the line.

Great.

And we have just about everybody here today.

So with that, Interim Director Greg Wong, I don't have to say all that.

Greg, is there anything you want to say before I hand it over to my colleagues who may have questions to wrap this up?

No, I just like to, I guess simply reiterate that what Francesca went over in the PowerPoint which was that this was a very long, thoughtful and deep process.

And certainly as you can tell from the numbers, we had a large number of people apply.

many, many highly qualified people.

And as you know, from the legislation, there's nine positions.

And so that's a limitation on how many people can serve.

So, and we are very proud, very excited about the nine members you'll hear about, who we're forwarding for your consideration.

Great, thank you.

With that, colleagues, are there any questions that you would like to ask of our panel before we move into the introduction of the nominees and a vote?

I've not seen any.

Council Member Peterson and Strauss are unusually quiet.

So yeah, I can't tell you how nice it is to see all these brown people looking back at me in Indian country.

It just you have no idea what this feels like.

This is historic.

I've never had this feeling in this job.

So thank you.

So I'll let that go.

So with that, so I do not see any questions or anything.

So what we're going to do now is I'm going to hand it back over to Francesca and thank, of course, our team, Asha, Tim, Francesca, and Director Wong.

And let's go ahead with your introduction of our, I understand one person isn't here, but if you wanna, however you wanna do that, Francesca, however you wanna tee that up.

Yes, I am happy to go through them in the order that they're listed on your agenda.

Our first person- Mr. President?

Yes.

I'll read the agenda items now.

Oh, we're not ready to vote yet.

I need to read the agenda items into the record.

Okay.

Agenda items two through 10, the appointments of Cece Hoffman, Esther Lucero, Donny Stevenson, and Aja Tale as members of the Indigenous Advisory Council for terms to July 31st, 2023. And Derek Leonard-Bellegarde, Jackie S. McCormack, Luther F. Mills Jr., Suzanne Salto, and Jeremy Takala for terms to July 31st, 2024.

Thank you, sir.

I apologize.

You're right.

I had that wrong.

And as usual, you were right with that.

Francesca, you want to go ahead and introduce our appointees?

Yes, and I will start with C.C.

Hoffman, who was not able to join us today, so I'll be sharing their bio and then for other appointees when we'll be going following the agenda and I'll share a little bit about you and then I'll hand it over to you to share some words with our committee members.

So in position four, an Indigenous youth age 18 to 29, we're pleased to present the recommended appointment of Cece Hoffman.

Cece is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation with ancestry amongst the Nimiipuu and Ojibwe peoples.

They graduated from the University of Washington in 2020 with a degree in education, communities, and organizations.

Since moving to Coast Salish lands from the Umatilla Indian Reservation, they've been involved with ISTEM, the Indigenous Science Technologies Engineering Arts and Mathematics Summer Camp for Native Youth.

the First Nations at University of Washington, WashaBalt, Intellectual House, Got Green, and the Sabelaba Rising Tides Indigenous Planning Group.

Cece currently works for Naha Ilihi Fund as the Environmental Justice Coordinator.

And then I'm going to move on to position six, which we have Esther Lucero as a representative nominated by an urban Indian organization.

Esther Lucero is Diné and Latina and a third generation urban Indian from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Esther is the President and CEO of Seattle Indian Health Board, where she has amplified the organization's longstanding dedication to the urban Indian community and health and human services, workforce development, public policy, and research.

Esther currently serves as the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA Advisory Committee for Women's Services and the SAMHSA Region 10 Opioid Task Force.

In Washington State, she serves on the Governor's Behavioral Health Task Force and is a delegate to the American Indian Health Commission and a delegate to the Governor's Indian Health Advisory Council.

Locally, Esther serves as co-chair of the King County Accountable Community Health Healthier Here's Governing Board.

With this Esther, I'd like to turn over to you to share any additional words with our committee members today.

Thank you, Francesca and Councilmember President Juarez, I do feel really overwhelmed by this amazing array of people in this group.

I'm also feeling really inspired and hopeful about the ways that we can model for the rest of the country.

how city governments should work with indigenous peoples.

To me, that's a really incredible opportunity to transform Indian country.

And quite frankly, the work that we do at the Seattle Indian Health Board is really dedicated to that, to improving the lives of all indigenous people.

And so, yeah, so I just feel really honored to be part of this inaugural committee and to serve with all these amazing people.

Thank you.

Thank you, Esther.

And in position one, a representative nominated by a tribe located in Washington, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Donny Stevenson.

Vice Chairman Stevenson is an elected member of the Muckleshoot Tribal Council and brings 25 years of experience as an executive level leader in Indian country, serving his tribe and native people.

Donny is passionate about accessing the traditional teachings and wisdom of the ancestors and elders to build a sustainable and successful future for all, but particularly for his tribal people and community.

I believe this is accomplished through a lens of collaborative spirit towards unity while searching tribal identity, self-governance, and sovereignty.

This approach ultimately builds pathways of creativity, healing, persistence, reclamation, and opportunity through the strength and legacy provided by tribal culture and tradition.

Vice Chairman Stevenson attended the Evergreen State College, where he earned his formal education through a bachelor's degree in liberal arts focused on Native American studies.

Vice Chairman Stevenson, I'd like to turn this over to you to share any additional words with the committee.

Thank you.

My name is Donnie Stevenson and I'm a proudly enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian tribe and a living representative of the amazing legacy and leadership of our Muckleshoot people.

I'm humbled by the opportunity to be here this morning as I am by the proud lineage and legacy that I'm honored to act in our people's way as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a student, a teacher, and a leader.

I honor my ancestors in each capacity and I work to serve them.

with a good heart and a good mind and in a good way.

Just as important, I think it is to acknowledge the rich and powerful tradition and culture that we're all blessed to carry in this legacy.

It's also vital that we always remember the profound sense of responsibility and our duty to the seventh generation and beyond to all those yet to come, really, to the next.

And I think that is what we have an opportunity to represent through a spirit of collaboration and work as a part of this team.

Thank you, the Haudenosaunee, for the opportunity to be here this morning and in moving forward.

Yeah.

Have a good morning.

Thank you.

And positioning representative nominated by an urban Indian organization.

We're pleased to present the recommended appointment of Asia tale.

Asia is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, born and raised on Coastal territories.

Asia is an artist and community organizer based in Tukwila, Washington.

She attended the Cooper Union School of Art in New York and graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in 2014. In 2018, Asia co-founded Yahout Indigenous Creatives Collaborative, an urban Native women-led arts nonprofit based in Seattle.

He now works with hundreds of interdisciplinary artists across the region and is acquiring an undeveloped site for transformative land-based cultural programming.

Asia has also served as a freelance consultant for local organizations, including the Washington State Convention Center, Nia Tero, Johnson Ramirez Consulting, Seattle Aquarium, Chief Seattle Club, the City of Tacoma, Spaceworks Tacoma, City of Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Potlatch Fund, Seattle Office of the Waterfront, and ArtsWa, among others.

Asia currently works as a program officer at Seattle Foundation.

Asia, I'd like to turn this over to you to share any additional words with the committee.

Thank you, Francesca.

Osiyo, Konawi, hello, friends.

My name is Asia Tale.

I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a second generation urban, born and raised on beautiful Coast Salish territories.

It's an honor to be recommended as a member of the newly formed Indigenous Advisory Council.

I want to thank the Seattle City Council and President Deborah Juarez for this opportunity to bring meaningful visibility to our interconnected communities.

I look forward to learning from each of my esteemed colleagues in this advisory group and come to this work with humility and an intention to do my best.

I join you today as a proud representative of the Yahout Indigenous Creatives Collective, a local nonprofit led by urban Indigenous women.

Since our founding in 2017, YAHAUT has supported over 400 intergenerational and multi-tribal Native artists, working with more than 50 partners on nearly 100 events and projects.

We will soon be purchasing an undeveloped site in South Seattle to host transformative arts programming rooted in indigenous methodologies and land-based protocols.

True to the values of my ancestors, I believe that arts and culture are at the heart of all healthy and just societies.

For Indigenous populations specifically, we know that roughly 40% of Native people make at least some income from creative practices.

We also know that arts access not only benefits our people economically, but provides a pathway for ancestral reconnection and healing, especially when combined with culturally informed healthcare, equitable access to green space, positive representations in media and public office, and protections for tribal sovereignty, as well as our individual civil rights.

I hope the Indigenous Advisory Council can collectively advocate for our creative communities and drive more authentic recognition of Native cultures across Seattle's urban landscape, particularly for our Coast Salish kin, whose homelands we live and work on as grateful guests.

In turn, the well-being of Seattle's Indigenous communities will enhance the cultural landscape for all Seattle citizens and visitors.

In the words of Niswali activist and fishing rights leader Billy Frank Jr., What's good for Native people is good for everyone.

Wado, thank you.

Actually, I think I said that, not Uncle Billy, but I'll let that go.

In position seven, a representative nominated by an urban Indian organization, we're pleased to recommend appointment of Derek Belgard.

Derek is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Slates Indians in Oregon and is Chippewa Cree from Rocky Boy, Montana.

Derek has worked and served in the field of housing affordability and has fought for the rights of those suffering from housing insecurity for many years.

He currently serves on the board of Community Roots Housing, the Downtown Emergency Services Center and the Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness and the Housing Development Consortium.

and is leading the Chief Seattle Club.

Derek completed his undergraduate in public affairs, magna cum laude, and went on to obtain a master's in public administration, both at Seattle University.

Derek, I'll turn this over to you.

Thank you, Francesca.

Bonjour, everybody.

It's an honor to be here.

I'm very humbled to actually be part of this group.

Like Esther said, it's very inspiring being amongst such great minds.

As we all know, a lot of issues, a lot of barriers facing our Native relatives out there.

A lot of work we got to do.

I take this appointment very serious and just really look forward to working with everybody, working with all these great minds and doing our part and coming up with solutions to all these issues that we're facing.

Yeah, just truly an honor.

Raise my hands to all the Council President Morris and all the council members here and the ones who aren't here for actually getting this through.

This is something obviously we've needed for a very long time.

And I definitely ditto that, that we can take this as a model and bring to other cities, because I know urban native issues are a problem throughout all the metropolitan cities throughout the country, not just here in Seattle.

So I think there's a lot of opportunity here.

So thank you all.

Thank you, Derek.

In position nine, a representative nominated by an urban Indian organization, we're pleased to present the recommended appointment of Jackie McCormick.

Jackie grew up on the Nez Perce reservation outside of Lewiston, Idaho.

She fell in love with basketball early on and earned a scholarship to play for Illinois State University, where she earned her degree in sociology.

After her college career, Jackie was inspired to return home and give back to her community, where she served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Nez Perce Tribe, as well as the Youth Prevention Director.

In 2015, Jackie founded Rise Above, a nonprofit organization that gives Native youth the skills and resilience to overcome their circumstances and write their own futures.

As CEO of Rise Above, Jackie leads the organization and its mission to empower youth through a variety of programs and services that spark change in people's lives.

Jackie, I will turn this over to you.

Thank you, Francesca.

So I am so excited to be here.

First of all, I just want to thank the Seattle City Council for pushing this forward.

But for me personally, thank you, Council President Juarez, continued advocacy to advance Indigenous voices.

And she is truly an inspiration to me and all of the Native community.

I am sure of that.

I'm just excited to be here.

I'm excited to learn from all of the other members on the council and really be a voice.

My passion is kids.

I feel like we as a country don't invest enough in our kids.

And I'm here to really be that voice for the importance of our Native youth.

So I think this council has the ability to really help streamline some of those systemic challenges that our Native kids are facing.

And I'm just really grateful to be here and excited to get to work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jackie.

In position.

He's leading me to the raising the hand.

He's like, we're having a race here.

And I'll, and Jay too.

The Seattle Channel is following the hands.

Okay.

In position two, representative nominated by a tribe located in Washington state.

We're pleased to present the recommended appointment of loser Jay Mills.

Councilmember mills is a Squamish tribal member and has served more than 25 years on tribal council has been employed in several capacities at the tribes economic agency Port Madison enterprises for more than 45 years, where you currently serves as a Port Madison enterprises ambassador.

Councilmember Mills brings more than 25 years of experience in tribal government and governmental operations, and has been a commercial fisherman for over 50 years.

In addition to these roles, Councilmember Mills holds leadership roles in regional boards and committees, including the Kitsap Economic Development Board, the Washington Economic Development Association, Bremerton Chamber Board Member, Visit Kitsap Peninsula Board Member, Suquamish Foundation, Chief Kitsap Academy School Board, and is a former Leadership Kitsap Board Member.

And with that, Council Member Earls, I'll hand this over to you.

Well, thank you.

And it truly is an honor to be here, being nominated for this position on the Advisory Indigenous Advisory Council.

You know, I am an Erosoquamish tribal member, but I my blood lineage is Duwamish.

So I don't want people to think that, you know, they don't have some representation.

You know, I'm hoping that we all have the same concerns about trying to find solutions to this homeless population here in the city of Seattle.

I, for one, have never seen it, you know, in a condition that is, and I'm just hoping that, you know, I can be guided by my ancestors to, you know, do the right things and make the right decisions with this group of individuals.

And I couldn't be more honored to be able to to sit on this board.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Mills.

In position five, an indigenous elder, we are pleased to present the recommended appointment of Suzanne Seltow.

Council member Seltow is a Snoqualmie tribal member and elected tribal official.

She's had the opportunity to live and travel the world with her father who served 20 plus years in the military, as well as through her current capacity as a leader and member of the Snoqualmie Indian tribe.

Council member Seltow participates in the affiliated tribes of Northwest Indians and the National Congress of American Indians in addition to her service on numerous boards, including the Snoqualmie Ridge YMCA, Encompass in Snoqualmie, the Elder Council for Chief Seattle Club, and serves as a seaboard member of the Snoqualmie Casino.

As an elected tribal leader, she's been fortunate to be a part of the major accomplishments of her tribe, such as acquiring the Salish Lodge, purchasing eighth generation, and a land purchase of Snoqualmie ancestral lands for use by tribal members.

Council Member, I will hand this over to you.

Hello, my name is Suzanne Salto, and I am from the Suquamish people.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank our creator that he gifted us all of us with willingness in our heart to help.

serve our indigenous people.

It's truly is a gift to be able to serve and have the willingness to serve people.

Secondly, I'd like to thank Mayor Bruce Harrell, President Deborah Juarez, council and committee for creating the pathway for us to be able to be in the room and have a seat at the table.

to share our knowledge and our values of our Indigenous people.

I believe this creation of this Indigenous Advisory Council to be an excellent opportunity to problem solve issues and be a part of greater solution.

I appreciate the appointment I'm excited, I'm honored to meet each and every one of you, and I look forward to work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Salto.

And finally, in position three, a representative nominated by a tribe, we are pleased to represent the recommended appointment of Jeremy Takala.

Council Member Takala is of the Kamilpa Band or the Rock Creek of the Yakama Nation located on the Columbia River and is a proud descendant of Hopi.

He was nominated in 2020 to serve as a tribal councilman for the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and serves on the Fish and Wildlife and Law and Order Committees as well as serves as the Secretary of the Legislative Committee, and is a member of the Health, Employment, and Welfare Committee.

Prior to his time in office, he worked for 12 years for the Yakima-Klickitat Fisheries Project as a fisheries technician.

His hands-on training and Washout upbringing has contributed to his role on the Columbia River Intertribal Fisheries Commission, working alongside the Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Warm Spring tribes.

He is passionate about upholding his tribe's treaty rights with the federal government and protecting resources for those yet unborn.

Council Member T'Pol was raised in Goldendale, Washington, and is a proud member of the Rock Creeks Longhouse.

Learning to drum and provide for the Longhouse at an early age is a tribute to his elders who have passed on their traditional educations.

And with that, I will hand this over to you, Council Member.

Thank you, council members and President Juarez, you know, and fellow leaders and guests, just want to thank you for this opportunity to join you all here and, you know, being nominated for the IAC and appreciate all the words that were spoken earlier.

And just to echo some of those, you know, Francesca, you mentioned, I just recently just got selected to serve on our HEW committee.

So as Jackie mentioned, you know, we deal with a lot of our youth activities program and I know some of you are familiar, we just actually launched our I was in the boys and girls club over here on the Yakima reservation last Saturday.

So, there's a lot of boots on the ground right now and majority of my.

time is on the fish and wildlife issues and also a law and order, but I think, you know, and hopeful, you know, that the HEW committee here will, you know, address some of the homeless issues that we are seeing here on our reservation as well, and, you know, in different urban areas.

But, you know, we all share the same concerns.

We all share the same ideas to resolve some of these issues.

And I look forward to working with each and every one of you on this IAC.

um you know I know a lot of the tribes on the west side you know and throughout the region deal with a lot of fishing uh related issues as well as climate climate change so um I think we have a good uh group going here and this is my actually my second appointment here as I'm also selected on the Portland uh Indigenous board as well so uh appreciate this opportunity here and I thank you all for your words and I look forward to working with you all.

And it's great to see some familiar faces on here.

So thank you.

Thank you, Jeremy.

And as we all know, the Yakima's UNA is everywhere, right down to California and to Montana.

So that's usually in the custom areas.

I'm actually down here in Portland right now for another meeting.

And I just want to mention that we are doing some lamprey harvest at this time at Willamette Falls.

So I'm hoping to jump on a boat with some crew, but I think many of my fellow council members know how busy it can get.

And we rarely, rarely ever have time to do those kind of things.

So thank you.

I'm glad you made time to be here today.

So with that, I'm going to open up the floor to my colleagues to see if they have any questions or comments before we go to a vote and then I will say a few closing comments.

Colleagues?

Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, and thank you everyone who's here volunteering your time to help us govern in a better way.

Council President joked with me earlier about not speaking up earlier and it's because she hears me talk enough.

So I wanted to provide space to listen first.

Even as I'm a member of this committee, I consider myself your guest.

I can't tell you how much it means to me to have you here sharing your knowledge to make our city a better place.

I've met and worked with some of you, and I look forward to receiving your collective guidance on how to do our work better.

As we move forward.

We've got a lot of work to do.

I'll say that I've already benefited from Tim right on being here at the city I think we've had.

I've been out and out in the world with Tim three times in the last three months.

And his perspective has helped me become a better leader here in our city and I know that that's just going to extend tenfold with everyone else here.

I'll stop talking.

Council President, you hear me enough?

I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for letting me be your guest.

Thank you for sharing your collective wisdom.

We've got so much to do and I'm looking forward to doing it with you.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Is there any other comments?

No, I agree with the comments and I'm ready to vote.

OK, I'm going to say a few words and I just want to kind of give an overall and I will be brief because we're on a time issue here.

The nine people that we have before us today, and Francesca went through this as well as Director Wong, you know, we had 48 applications, and 30 of them were completed, and we had numerous interviews, which our office, I did not, was involved in, but staff were.

And before I get to the thank yous, and again, nine people on this Indigenous Advisory Council, and knowing that we're gonna hopefully look at some more appointments next year.

It is historic that of the nine, four are sitting elected tribal council members.

I cannot tell you how historic, that's never happened in the city's history.

And also having Tim Reyna, who is a formal tribal council member at Puyallup and a very good lawyer.

The star power here is amazing.

I also work with Donny on sound transit issues, tri-county board.

All of you bring these more than just gifts, but you bring your intellect, your passion and your love for our relations.

And I want to respect the people that called in that had concerns because we are, this is a continuing process.

Nobody was, no one started out with any intentionality.

It was always trying to be inclusive.

And in Indian country, we look at our relatives and relations and how we look at the world is relationality.

And what that means is we get away from the colonial settler mentality.

We try to practice and instill ways of our knowing, our ways of leadership, not mimicking the hierarchical standard that if someone's far away, they're distant and cold.

And that means they're powerful and has authority.

That's not how I look at the world.

I know most of you who I know personally don't.

I know that's not how you look at the world.

It's all of our relatives.

And we continue to love our people no matter what.

As Uncle Billy did say is we don't throw our people away.

So I believe that we understand our history.

We understand our culture.

We understand our leadership and yes, we have disagreements amongst ourselves sometimes, but we still love each other and we still work for the love of our people.

And with that, I also want to just add one more emotional note.

Not only is this historic, it's powerful, it's authentic, it's organic.

And I want to thank Council Member Strauss and Council Member Peterson, because they've been with me working on, as well as the rest of the staff, that this goes beyond a land acknowledgement.

It goes to land back and recreation and what we do and co-management, all the principles that tribes have been doing before U.S. v. Washington was even decided.

They were the original stewards of this land and this resource.

And I'm very proud of that.

The Indigenous Advisory Council will embrace the relationship, all of our relatives mentality and getting away from these hierarchical expectations, because that's just not how we operate.

There is no space between us.

There is no distance between us and our relatives.

If they hurt, we hurt.

If they're unhoused, we're unhoused.

And that's just how I was raised and how I look at the world and how I try to be a good leader.

With that, I need to say a few thank yous.

And I'm just going to start with the search committee on the legislative side.

Malik Davis from Councilmember Peterson's office.

Kate Hoffman from Councilmember Strauss's office.

And my wonderful Sarah Mays from our office just did a phenomenal job.

Sejal Parikh from Councilmember Mosqueda's office.

And Asha.

And I'm not going to get her.

Amazing Asha.

Where is she?

Central staff.

Department of Neighborhoods, you heard from Greg.

Thank you, Greg, so much for your leadership.

I can't say enough about Francesca Murnam.

Francesca, amazing.

I watched your work at San Leon Health Board, and I'm so glad you're here with the city and had shepherded us through this process.

And two other special thank yous.

I want to thank Mayor Jenny Durkan, because this started under Mayor Durkan, and she pushed it forward, and we made sure it got in the budget.

We made sure it got funded.

We made sure that it landed in the Department of Neighborhoods.

And also, we made sure that we hired somebody, Francesca, to come in and work this and bring it through the process in a good way.

And I also want to thank Mayor Harrell, who also continued the legacy of understanding sovereignty, government to government, and how having tribes with sovereignty and how that leverages and only makes our city and our region and our state and our country better.

So that was the whole thinking with our hearts and minds when we came up with this idea.

We were looking at other cities literally almost four years ago.

A very, very big thank you to Nagin Kamkar, who's moved on, but started this.

You guys all know Nagin.

I hope she's watching.

Did so much hard work with Francesca and I appreciate that.

And also want to thank Chase Monroe from the mayor's office.

And also, and I think I got them all.

Did I miss anyone?

Let me look at my list now.

So good.

I got everybody.

So, um, I know that I could sit here with all nine of you and I have stories with each of you.

Um, you know, all of you are with my sisters and my brothers.

I grew up on the Puyallup reservation.

I was raised by a Yakima family, my stepfather.

Um, I'm an enrolled member of the Blackfeet nation and I've been around a while.

Um, I have nothing but love for my people.

I have nothing but love for the city.

And I cannot say much more about how historic and how happy I am that this day has come.

And hopefully I'm looking at Tim, he's gonna raise his hands in a minute.

So before we go, I just want to know, Tim, did you wanna say a few words before we go to the vote?

Because I know that this has been a project near and dear to your heart as well.

Sure, thank you, Council President.

This is a historic day.

This is an amazing council.

hearing from each one of you and knowing your history, your background, the skills and abilities that you bring.

I'm just so excited to be able to work with you, learn from you, and help wherever I can to help bring Indigenous problem solving to the city.

Because we know we've been doing that for since time immemorial.

And so just grateful that each of you are willing to serve with us and looking forward to working with you.

I raise my hands to you, to the committee, and to everyone that has made this possible.

Thank you.

All right, it's not seeing any more, then we will move.

If I can hold on a minute, let me get this right.

I move to recommend confirmation of appointments 02289 through 02297 to be sent to the August 2, 2022 City Council meeting for confirmation by the Seattle City Council.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

The motion has been moved and seconded.

If there's no further discussion, will the clerk please call the roll on the committee recommendations?

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council member Strauss.

Yes.

Council president Morris.

Hi.

Thank you.

The motion carries and obviously means it passed and the committee recommends we'll recommend to the city council that we confirm appointments 0 2, 2, 8, 9 through 0 2, 2, 9, 7. Congratulations.

Thank you all so much.

And, um, I cannot tell you, I hope you all, um, celebrate in some way.

I think Jeremy will send me a salmon.

And what am I expecting from other folks?

Suquamish will give me something.

Susanna will give me some earrings.

Asia will do what I say.

Let's see.

Thank you guys all so much.

And so we can say, if you want to hang around, you can.

And we're going to move on in our calendar.

Thank you, everyone.

Wait.

All right.

Let's go on into our calendar.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item number 11 into the record?

Item 11, appointment 02304, the appointment of Billy Hetherington as member of the Labor Standards Advisory Commission for a term to April 30th, 2023.

Great.

Is Billy?

Oh, there's Billy.

Billy, you've been here the whole time.

Thank you.

So thank you, Sarah.

And with that, I'd like to welcome Karim Levitas.

There you are, Karim.

Great crim would you please introduce the appointee and welcome, Billy, is I'm gonna say that correct heather heatherington.

Yes.

Is that right.

Okay, go ahead.

Office of Labor Standards, and commission liaison to the Labor Standards Advisory Commission, or LSAC.

LSAC serves a very valuable advisory function to our office, to the executive, more generally, and to city council as well.

And LSAC is unique in that it brings together business owners, worker advocates, labor, and community members to provide insight on advancing labor standards.

Elzack has advised city policymakers on the recent independent contractor protections ordinance, as well as providing guidance on outreach and policy priorities for Seattle labor standards more broadly.

And as this committee knows well, frequently Seattle's not merely advancing best practices for labor standards, but creating them.

Commissioners represent a wide range of community worker and business tools to comply with the labor standards we're creating.

I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the appointee before the committee today, Billy Heatherington.

He'll say a few more words about himself, but by way of brief introduction, Billy has decades of experience in labor and labor standards, both as a member and staff for Laborers Local.

And if I have the timeline right, I believe a member for 17 years.

And that experience is what inspired him to work to find ways to get back to the union.

He joined the training school as an apprentice coordinator in 2017 and discovered a passion for mentoring the next generation of laborers.

in the industry while looking to expand opportunities for his members.

So with that, I'll turn it over to you, Billy, to say more.

But I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with you going forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Karim, for that introduction.

And Council President Warris, thanks for having me, everybody.

Again, Billy Hetherington here.

I have been sitting on since the beginning.

I've been, you know, it's great to be a part of that historic moment.

And, you know, kudos to all your great work on that Council President.

You know, this is really a humbling nomination.

You know, I kind of look back at, you know, when I was putting my resume together and kind of a lot of the work that I've done.

You know, I'm a second generation laborer.

My dad's a 43 year member of my local.

And just kind of growing up, you know, you don't really get to see all the benefits of living under a union household.

until you actually kind of put yourself in that position later on down the road.

And, you know, always having a roof over my head, always being able to have food at the table, you know, medical benefits provided through my parents, you know, place of employment.

And now, you know, being in the role that I am now being out there and being able to advocate for our members and getting better working conditions and better wages.

I mean, it's just You know, like you said, Karim, I thought that after 17 years of doing the work out in the field, I wanted to do something to give back to the members.

And that's, this is kind of the pathway I've chosen.

And, you know, serving on a commission like this is just been, is hopefully will be a dream of mine.

Thank you.

Thank you, Billy.

Are there any questions from my colleagues before I make a few comments and then we move on?

Okay, not seeing a, hey, Billy, thank you for sitting through and I'm glad that you were part of our historic moment that actually I was kind of smiling to myself when I kept seeing your tile up there.

I had, we've all had a chance to go through your appointment application and packet and obviously it's quite impressive.

You've been at local 242 for, like you said, 22 years, 20 years.

Yeah, or yeah, since 2000.

17 years out of the field and about six years now.

So we have 22, 23 years.

Yeah.

And it's, I would, and I know all of us here from local two 42. So we know, we know who you are.

So thank you for that.

And again, incredibly impressive resume and the work, but more importantly, I think what I like to hear is that you have this lived experience and personal experience about what a union household does.

And right now, you know, how important that is, particularly with the, um, what we're dealing with in the economy and where.

labor stands now and where unions stand now and how they can leverage that for better working conditions.

So thank you for agreeing to serve.

I really appreciate it.

Are there is there anything else for my colleagues before I move on into the agenda?

OK, I'm not seeing any.

So with that, I move to recommend confirmation of appointment zero to three zero four to be sent to the August 2nd City Council meeting for confirmation by the Seattle City Council.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

The motion has been moved and seconded.

If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Three in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the committee will recommend you, Billy Heather Hetherington, to the Seattle City Council to confirm the appointment of zero two three zero four.

And thank you for being here today.

And with that, I before I say anything else, I'm good on that.

Let me move forward on the agenda.

So that concludes our items of business.

All items passed out of committee here today will be heard next Tuesday, August 2nd.

for the final action.

Our next committee meeting is scheduled to be held September 15th.

And is there anything else from my colleagues for the good of the order before I adjourn?

Okay, I think we are done.

And thank you all very much.

Have a great afternoon or morning.

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