Select Budget Committee Meeting Session II 10-27-26

Good afternoon.

The Select Budget Committee meeting on October 27th.

We'll come back to order.

It is 1255 PM.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Foster?

Here.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Here.

Council Member Juarez?

Here.

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Lin.

Here.

Councilmember Rink.

Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Salka.

Here.

Sheriff Strauss.

Present.

Seven present.

Thank you.

If you could please read items seven through 17 into the record.

Agenda Item 7, Office of Housing.

Agenda Item 8, Office of Planning and Community Development.

Agenda Item 9, Finance General.

Agenda Item 10, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections.

Agenda Item 11, Office of Sustainability and Environment.

Agenda Item 12, Department of Education and Early Learning.

Agenda Item 13, Department of Neighborhoods.

Agenda Item 14, Seattle City Light.

Agenda Item 15, Seattle Public Utilities.

Agenda Item 16, Seattle Information Technology Department.

And Agenda Item 17, Department of Finance and Administrative Services.

All for briefing and discussion.

Thank you, and we also have Councilmember Rink present with us now.

We are going to move right on into these items, colleagues.

If we spend 10 minutes per item, we will get out at about 4.18 p.m.

I'm really hoping that we can stick on that schedule.

With that, over to central staff for OH1SA.

And we're joined...

Okay.

Yeah.

Hey, Jen.

Jennifer.

Thank you, Mish.

Hello.

Hello.

All right, so we'll start with OH1SA.

Sponsors are Councilmember Foster, and this would request that OH provide information related to changes to jumpstart appropriations and potential carry-forward practices.

And again, prime sponsor is Councilmember Foster.

Co-sponsors are Councilmembers Lynn and Hollingsworth.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, sponsor of the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to Jen for your work on this, as well as appreciation to my co-sponsors, Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Lin.

This slide is intended to ensure that the Office of Housing provides information related to changes to jumpstart appropriations and potential carry forward practices.

I think a lot of us know and we've discussed on this diet the difficult decisions that were made this year to help close the budget deficit and the mayor's proposed budget makes a one-time reduction in carrying forward jumpstart appropriations by $65 million in the 2026 year-end supplemental.

From my perspective, because housing projects take multiple years to secure funding, this change will take some time to understand the full impacts of this change for existing projects.

The Office of Housing may choose to make awards for housing projects based on future years appropriations.

to allow the city to continue awarding funds at the scale we've been doing so.

However, with this change in approach, it's critical that the executive demonstrates how they will be able to continue to invest in new affordable housing projects and respond nimbly to the needs of affordable housing providers as they emerge.

Taking that into account, this slide asks the executive to report on information on how actual Jumpstart revenue compares to projections as it comes in each quarter in order to demonstrate if OH has sufficient Jumpstart revenue to meet projected expenditures.

It requests information on how much JumpStart revenue will be used in the 2027 NOFA and for what purposes, information on how the Office of Housing is able to respond to the needs of affordable housing providers given this change in appropriation approach, and how the Office of Housing will balance the risks and benefits of awarding funds based on future year appropriations if they do take that tactic.

Colleagues, I ask for your support.

I think this is a slide that helps us make sure we have appropriate information to respond to what is proposed right now as a one-time change and something that could have really significant implications for our affordable housing sector depending on future decisions made by the mayor and the council.

So I ask for your support.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, discussion?

Colleagues, discussion?

Seeing no further discussions, if you would like to co-sponsor OH1SA, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have Council Member Juarez.

Adding Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Moving on to OH3A1.

Jennifer, over to you.

OH3A1.

would increase OH by $10 million general fund in 2027 one time for affordable rental and home ownership projects.

Prime sponsor is Councilmember Foster, co-sponsors are Councilmembers Rink and Lynn.

Thank you Councilmember Foster sponsor the proposal you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair.

So colleagues, I don't take it lightly to bring forward a proposal requesting $10 million in a year where we are coming out of a $175 million budget deficit.

But the reason that I bring this forward is not just because of my belief in affordable housing, and our need to support the sector.

But it's also because when we look across the budget and we look at the decisions that were made and the difficult decisions that were made, it's true that the single most significant thing that the mayor did to balance the budget was the $65 million reduction in jumpstart appropriations in the 2026 year-end supplemental.

And so as I look at that change and the potential impact, I believe it's our responsibility and we have an opportunity if we have additional resources to reinvest those back into our affordable housing community.

We know that the challenges that our residents face, some of which we heard about today, are ongoing when it comes to housing affordability.

And that's why I'm putting this proposal forward.

Within this proposal, we are specifying that the funds are directed specifically for affordable rental and home ownership projects.

and that the money would be used for the production of new units, as well as the preservation of existing housing.

The Council Budget Act also directs OH to distribute the funds directly to affordable housing providers through NOFAs that would be issued next year.

I believe that as we craft a budget that reflects our shared values and our most pressing needs, if we have the opportunity to invest more in affordable housing, it is one of our most urgent priorities.

With that, I ask for your support.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, discussion.

Discussion?

Councilmember Lin.

I just want to thank Councilmember Foster, and I just want to point out a couple things.

One is, as we received additional funds, a lot of those were jumpstart funds, and traditionally a certain percentage does go to affordable housing, given the forward commitments I do believe this is critical additional investment and if we for the shelter push to really work we need places for people to go leaving shelter and so also critical for that work as well thank you thank you further discussion colleagues further discussion

I will just end and pass back to Councilmember Foster stating that I am glad to receive this amendment.

I don't know how much we will be able to fund in this amendment and I appreciate that you recognize the need of an additional $10 million.

Thank you.

Over to you Councilmember Foster to close this out.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I don't know that I have too much more to close out with.

I think I've already said it.

I think this is a really big priority for me as Housing Chair, and I know it's a priority that is shared amongst the Council.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Colleagues, if you would like to co-sponsor OH 3A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing no hands, so I'm going to check to see that there are no hands.

We have no additional co-sponsors, so we will move on to OH Amendment Budget Adoption Ordinance 1. Jennifer, over to you.

Amendment 1 to the 2026 Year End Supplemental Ordinance would require that any unspent 2026 Jumpstart Appropriations in OH be automatically carried forward into future years until spent down.

The prime sponsor is Councilmember Foster and the co-sponsors are Councilmembers Rink and Lind.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

You were recognized.

Thank you so much.

And I think I'm going to speak to these.

Jen, are we speaking to both of these items simultaneously?

I am not sure.

Council Member or Chair Strauss, would you like me to just cover them both at the same time?

Yes, please.

Okay, I'll speak to the second amendment.

So Amendment 1 to the 2027 Budget Adoption Ordinance would do something very similar.

It would require that any unspent 2027 jumpstart appropriations in OH automatically carry forward to future years until spent.

Again, the prime sponsor is Council Member Foster and the co-sponsors are Council Members Rink and Lynn.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And thanks for letting us brief these at the same time.

These are the same amendment, just directed towards different budget years, so I'll speak to them together.

These two amendments require that any unspent JumpStart dollars appropriated to the Office of Housing at the end of 2026 and again at the end of 2027 are automatically carried forward into subsequent fiscal years.

These amendments would not impact the reduction of OH's JumpStart appropriation by 65 million that is contained in the proposed budget.

Instead, what these two amendments do is acknowledge that we are making this one-time use of funds at the Office of Housing in order to help address our budget deficit, and that this should, in fact, be a one-time change, not an ongoing practice to use unspent dollars at the Office of Housing that have already been awarded for future projects.

This amendment provides time for the Office of Housing to assess their ability to make awards for housing projects, based on future year appropriations, as outlined in the slide that we just discussed, without diverting any remaining unspent funds from housing.

Colleagues, I ask for your support for these amendments to ensure that we protect the stability and success of providers and the success of residents who defend on affordable housing in our city.

The final comment that I'll just make here about these two amendments is as we make this change for the $65 million, it's my perspective that we We hold that this is a one-time change, particularly as we need more time to evaluate the impact of this change in our approach for the Office of Housing.

We've heard discussion previously through budget about various decisions that the Office of Housing will need to make, and I believe it's appropriate to ensure that we do not repeat this practice until we have the opportunity to evaluate this change, and colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Discussion?

Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you.

So quickly, I will be supporting both amendments and I just wanted to add on the last one regarding the 10 million, Council Member Foster, I understand your intent and your commitment and I just want to say that I will not be here after November 20th, but I applaud your efforts and laying down a marker, if you will, about what your intentions will be for this City Council in the future.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Not seeing further discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor these two budget amendments, budget adoption ordinance and year-end supplemental, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have Council President Hollingsworth and Council President Emeritus Juarez.

Council Members Hollingsworth and Juarez.

Thank you.

We're now moving into the next department, OPCD 1A1.

OPCD 1A would increase OPCD by 250,000 general fund in 2027 and 250,000 general fund in 2028 and add 1.0 FTE planning and development specialist two for North Aurora planning work.

It's sponsored by council member Juarez and co-sponsored by council members Lynn and Strauss.

Thank you.

Council member Juarez, as sponsor of the proposal, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First of all, thank you, Mr. Chair, for your support.

And thank you, Councilmember Lynn, for your support as well.

As you know, this is regarding North Aurora.

North Aurora Initiative is an effort to redefine Aurora Avenue corridor.

with specific focus between 85th and 145th, where, as you know, since January to October, we have experienced well over 20 shootings.

It was launched internally in the fall of 2025 to coordinate utilities, transportation, investments, and community visioning to shape and prepare for transformative changes on the corridor, including public safety.

The work was funded in the 2026 budget, and this amendment would continue to fund the critical work as a city program led by OPCD, big shout out to Kate at OPCD, modeled after the success of the Duwamish Valley Program.

This funding will allow OPCD to add one FTE to manage work on the ground with community members and across multiple departments working on the long range planning for the corridor.

This position will have a two year sunset.

The long range planning will help with coordination of multi-departmental approach to align infrastructure with land use, community vision, including, again, public safety.

OPCD has been working with SDOT, SPU, SPD, Seattle Police Department, and the arts to build up a holistic approach to address priority issues, both with near-term actions and a long-term vision for the corridor and the neighborhoods along it to grow great places for people to live, love, and play and work.

North Aurora has been underfunded and overlooked part of the city, going as far back as the 1960s, partly because it's a state highway, with increasing gun violence, drug trafficking, and commercial sexual exploitation.

We've been hearing from the community a lot that they are feeling forgotten and left behind, as well as experiencing a tremendous amount of gun violence, as you heard me share and speak about earlier this morning.

This investment ensures the city's work in these neighborhoods is not surface level, but for a continued and sustained investment that will work to target the root causes of community challenges, build partnerships across private and public sectors, work alongside community organizations, businesses, neighbors to build durable, lasting change for the residents, the businesses, the children that go to school that call this place home.

And again, I'm sharing this again because I've lived in this neighborhood for almost 40 years, and I have to say the last 10 years, especially since post-2020, I've never seen such an explosion of the gun violence and the information that we've been receiving.

And as you all know, we still have those seven streets that are closed and no public safety plans.

no enhanced patrol and certainly no bike ops.

So with that, I am asking for your support for this program that will sunset in two years.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Council President Emeritus.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

This is an item that we could discuss all day and what we need today is action.

So I will save my words for when we see action taken in North Aurora and combating gun violence.

Seeing as we have no further discussion, colleagues, if you'd like to co-sponsor this, is that a conversation?

Nope.

If you'd like to co-sponsor this item, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have council member Rink, Rivera, Saka, Hollingsworth, Foster, Kettle.

Council member, all council members are our co-sponsors.

Thank you.

With that, if we can move on to the next agenda item, we have OPCD 3A1 and council member Lynn, I forgot to call on you as chair of the committee.

Anything?

just said, committed to doing the work.

Thank you.

Fantastic.

With that, if we are gonna move on to OPCD 3A1.

Rebecca Maskin, Council Central Staff.

The next item is OPCD 3A, which would increase the appropriation to the Office of Planning and Community Development by $200,000 general fund on a one-time basis in 2027. And this is for a purpose of continuing sub-area planning for the Ballard Regional Center.

I want to make a small correction to the Central Staff summary in the CBA that I'm just going to breeze through really quickly.

One sub-area plan was adopted as a part of the comprehensive plan update while planning for the six remaining centers is still ongoing.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Rink and Lynn.

Thank you, sponsor of the proposal.

I'll speak to it, which is last year we had to add funding to the budget, or maybe it was the year before, to ensure that OPCD had the funding to complete the regional center planning work for the Ballard Regional Center.

We are still confirming whether or not they have these funds at this time, and so if they are fully funded, we will not move this forward.

If they need the funds, then I will likely be moving this item forward.

With that, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor OPCD 3A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

See Council Member Juarez.

Adding Council Member Juarez.

And Council Member Saka.

Colleagues, we'll be moving quickly today.

With that, if we could move on to...

And Council Member Lynn, I did it again.

Same.

Committed to doing the work.

Thank you, sir.

Let's move on to OPCD 4S1, please.

All right.

OPCD 4SA would be a statement of legislative intent that would request that OPCD scope a body of work for a feasibility study for Lidding Interstate 5 at Sound Transit to Pinehurst Light Rail Station area.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Juarez and Rank.

Thank you.

Colleagues, when you go to the Pinehurst station, you will see that the highway level is below the grade of the neighborhood, which makes it a perfect opportunity for a lid over the freeway.

Fun fact, Roosevelt Way starts at 145th and Aurora Avenue and ends in the U District along the Ship Canal.

It used to be a contiguous roadway until I-5 cut across it at the Pinehurst Station.

We've seen in Washington D.C.

lids like this be funded completely by private funding with lidding over 390, Interstate 395. that leading project created more public space, reconnected the grid, it created more buildings, that's how they funded it privately, and $40 million of annual property tax revenue for Washington, D.C. I hope that this is something that we can do to reconnect the Pinehurst neighborhood.

Colleagues, Councilmember Lin is chair of the committee overseeing the department.

I just want to state my support and just like the Aurora, you know, we have these highways that have these significant impacts that go through our city.

Things like Lidding, I-5, super excited to move that forward.

Thank you.

Further discussion, Council Member Waters.

Thank you.

First of all, thank you, Mr. Chair, for bringing this forward.

I know that I'm a co-sponsor, but I have to hand it to you.

You've been talking about this since you were in LA for Councilmember Bagshaw, and so have the urbanists about a lid.

And for once, I guess I'm getting it.

I'm on board.

I want to say that.

And as Councilmember Lynn would say, I'm committed to doing the work.

And just as a side note, I know you and I have talked about this, especially with me being on sound transit, now you are on sound transit, the neighborhoods north of 985th after incorporation, that's why they're at weird angles because of I-5.

So having Pinehurst for that, now that we have the light rail station, and I hope some folks are listening, the Pinehurst station will, as you know, Well, service is in between Northgate and 145th, and then you're going to have Pinehurst, and then the hard work and the fun work begins in planning for that type of density.

So I want to thank you for being a decade-long champion of this, and I want to thank the co-sponsors, Councilmember Lynn, for also recognizing how, because he is the chair of this and is committed to the work, how difficult these decisions are, but at least let's get really busy on the conversation about these lids.

Thank you.

Amen.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

I'll close out by saying, if you look at the walk shed of the current Pinehurst station, it is limited because of I-5 and a lid over I-5 would help make that walk shed better.

With that, if you would like to co-sponsor OPCD 4SA1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

Set, I'm seeing Council Member Hollingsworth, Saka Lynn Foster.

Council members, Hollingsworth, Foster, Lynn, Saka.

No, sorry.

Did I have it right?

I'm gonna- You got it.

Thank you.

Hollingsworth, Lynn, Foster, Saka on OPCD 4SA1.

Thank you.

Moving on to OPCD 5A1.

OPCD 5A would increase OPCD by 3 million general fund on a one-time basis in 2027 to increase funding for a public market project such as African Community and Housing Development.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Rink and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Saka and Foster.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rink has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you so much, and thank you to central staff for helping us prepare this amendment.

Colleagues, we heard a little bit about this project during the public comment earlier today, and there is a lot to be excited about with this project with African Community Housing and Development Organization.

So this amendment would provide funding for the development of the international public market.

This would be a permanent hub for small business, food access, and cultural connection in Delridge, and would be led by African Community Housing and Development.

If you're not familiar with this organization, they launched the Delridge Farmers Market, and over the past five years, they have provided over 25,000 pounds of free food annually and facilitated sales and business growth for over 100 Black, Indigenous, and people of color-owned small businesses.

This project has it all.

Food access, support for small businesses, economic development, equitable development.

So there's a lot to be excited about here, and I believe that this would bring incredible public benefit to our city and to District 1 in particular.

So proud to be lead sponsor on this, and huge thank you to the co-sponsors here on this, our District 1 Councilmember, Councilmember Saka, and our other citywide Councilmember, Councilmember Foster.

Thank you both for your support on this, and colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lynn is committee chair.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to state my support.

ACHD has been a strong partner, including in the housing space, and public markets like this are critical for our local small businesses.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Discussion?

Council Member Salko.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to thank Council Member Rink for putting this forward.

Exciting investment to support District 1, but frankly, the entire City of Seattle and our entire region.

It's intended to be a regional asset and would bring a lot of economic opportunity and and food access to a vibrant neighborhood of Highland Park along the Delridge corridor, which is itself a food desert.

And I think this would complement, there are more established grocery stores once you start venturing to the South Delridge side, which is where this particular site is located.

But I also think it would perfectly complement another slide and another conversation we have to look at grocery store options in North Delridge.

I'll also just say that the specific siting of this location, I think there's some, in addition to economic development and food access, I think there's some important public safety and potential opportunities to activate a neighborhood, a particular section of a neighborhood that has a lot of problematic RV encampments.

And so bringing something like this to that particular neighborhood could help activate it.

So proud and honored to support it.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink, for being the prime sponsor.

And I hope more colleagues would join us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor OPCD 581, please raise your hand at this time.

Leverset.

Adding Council Member Lynn to OPCD 5A1.

Adding Council Member Lynn.

Thank you.

Let's move on to the next department, Finance General, Finance General 1A1.

FG1A would increase finance general by 200,000 in 2027 on a one-time basis general fund to support a community center dedicated to promoting social, cultural, economic, and community service for Seattle area residents.

The prime sponsor is Chair Strauss and additional sponsors are Council Members Lynn and Foster.

Thank you as sponsor of the amendment.

I will state that this is regarding the Martin Luther King Fame Community Center, which is a non, this is where the request has come from.

Clearly we have to go through our legal obligations to distribute those funds in the appropriate ways.

But this is a nonprofit community center that houses community programming and is in dire need of capital fund improvements at this time.

They are an organization that can receive equitable development initiative funding and to date have not.

And that is part of why I am not engaging in the EDI conversation regarding this, simply stating if they have capital needs to serve their community, I want to bring this forward.

So that is the nature of this amendment.

Colleagues, discussion, Council Member Warris.

Oh, hold on.

Thank you.

Yeah, go for it, because I'm also chair of the committee overseeing it.

Oh, do you want me to wait?

Nope.

I'm good?

Yes.

Well, you know how I feel about this.

Brick and mortar, steel and wheels.

Let's do it.

I'm with you.

Brick and mortar, steel and wheels.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Council President.

Councilmember, Chair, excuse me, Chair, just want to thank you for bringing this forward.

This community center, when it was transferred over from Seattle Public Schools, could have went to three things, development, could have went to a private school, but it went to a community nonprofit that now houses over 20 different organizations and runs incredible programs in the Madison Valley, so it is in District 3, and it serves the community greatly, and it used to be the MLK school, which a lot of community members used to go to, and now it's a community center.

So really grateful for you bringing this forward.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor FG1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

We have Council President, Council Member Juarez, Rivera, Kettle, Rink, Saka.

I believe that's all nine.

All Council Members.

Thank you.

Thank you for your support, colleagues.

Moving on to FG901A1.

This is kind of just technical if you just want to brief it and we're not going to have discussion.

Council Members, this is a CBA just to recognize the October revenue forecast.

It does not require co-sponsorships.

Thank you.

Moving on to SDCI.

SDCI 1SA1.

All right.

SDCI 1SA is a request for a report from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections on Options for Maintaining Core Staffing.

At a minimum, the report would identify core staffing levels by line of business at SDCI, identify current surpluses and deficits for each of those lines of business, recommend policies for maintaining core staffing through fee increases as opposed to a use of more fungible resource, Recommend similar policies for maintaining core staffing through a fundable resource, like the general fund, and then specify the types of activities by cost center that could be susceptible to a general fund subsidy.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Rink and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Foster.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink.

As a sponsor of the proposal, you are recognized.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, we know that our permitting timeline is in crisis, and the fees associated with those permits keep SDCI solvent, so without urgent action, additional layoffs at SDCI will be inevitable.

So it's clear to me that if the economy isn't going to rapidly improve.

We need to act to keep SDCI afloat.

So this SLI would request SDCI present us with options to maintain staff, protect their core staffing reserve, and find opportunities for flexibility in economically difficult times.

And I ask for your support, and I thank, again, co-sponsors on this SLI.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin is chair of the committee, if you'd like to say anything.

No further comments.

Thank you.

I have Councilmember Rivera for discussion.

I have Councilmember Rivera, Councilmember Rink, is that an old hand?

Both are old hands?

Further discussion, colleagues?

Further discussion?

Councilmember Rink, your hand is still up.

If you would like to co-sponsor SDCI 1SA1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have Council Member Juarez as a co-sponsor to- Adding Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

We're going to move on to SDCI 2A1.

SDCI 2A, sponsored by Council Member Lynn and co-sponsored by Council Member Saka and Chair Strauss, would increase proposed appropriation to SDCI by 210,000 in 2027 and 210,000 in 2028 and restore one FTE strategic advisor for code development work.

This is a position that's proposed to be aggregated in the 2027-2028 proposed budget.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin is sponsor of the proposal and of the committee.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

This position that we're proposing to fund focuses on housing and affordability.

In the past, a position has played an integral role in numerous pieces of council supported legislation, including increasing availability of transitional encampment locations and connecting unhoused community members to these housing options, accelerate housing development through the housing opportunities legislation.

crafting a data center moratorium response to community concerns and infrastructure needs and improving our Seattle Stormwater Code, including how it interplays with middle housing.

It's an important part of ensuring housing and affordable legislation meets interdepartmental needs, and I'm hoping that we can get permitting going again to better fund SDCI.

In the meantime, this position would help in those efforts.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor SDCI 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have Council Member Juarez and Foster adding to SDCI 2A1.

Council Member Juarez and Foster.

Thank you.

Moving on to SDCI 3A1.

SDCI 3A would increase SDCI by 500,000 general fund in 2027 on a one-time basis for tenant services and impose a proviso so that the funds could be used for no other purpose.

Its prime sponsor is Council President Hollingsworth and is additionally sponsored by Council Members Foster and Lynn.

Thank you.

Council Member Hollingsworth has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

And I hate to break rules.

Can I be added to SDCI 001 as a co-sponsor?

Gosh darn it.

I said I wasn't doing any more exceptions.

Okay.

Nevermind.

Okay, for the record, I would like to be a co-sponsor.

You don't have to add me, but I'm showing my support, and I'll let you know behind the scenes.

Thank you.

I missed that.

My apologies.

Colleagues, there's a high demand.

So first of all, thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster and Councilmember Lynn for your co-sponsorship on this.

There is a high demand for tenant legal services, renter support and advocacy, and renter rights educations.

is at a historic high.

It was recorded that there was over a thousand King County evictions in a single month, which is nearly double the average.

In 2023, we invested 2.57 million for tenant services.

This year, it's 2.48 million.

The ask here is for $500,000 for tenant services.

in addition to what has been proposed by the mayor's office, I also consider these investments a homelessness prevention strategy.

Colleagues, a couple years ago when we invested $3 million for home ownership, one of the biggest pieces and keys in that when we were trying to address gentrification and displacement was to try to keep people in their homes.

And that was a huge investment that we made in the city because there were people that were at risk for reverse mortgages, taxes, understanding what probate was, predatory lending, all these pieces.

If we're looking at it on the renter's side, this is the same type of investment to be able to make sure that people can be able to stay in their homes.

And so with the mayor's proposal of the $37 million for shelter, trying to keep people out of those shelters is something that I'm very passionate about.

So colleagues would love your support on this as well.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you for your understanding.

Councilmember Lin is chair of the committee.

Council President Hollingsworth said it all.

Thank you.

Fantastic colleagues.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Thank you.

If you would like to co-sponsor SDCI 381, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

And when I say are we set, if you haven't, can't get to the computer, just shake your hand at me.

With that, for SDCI 3A1, we have Council Member Rink and Saka adding co-sponsorship.

Council Member Rink and Saka.

Thank you.

Moving on to another bill amendment, SDCI Amendment 1 to Council Bill 121-310.

Amendment 1 to Council Bill 121310 would update one of the fees in the SDCI Permit Fee Ordinance to offset an exemption.

So the rental agreement regulations that Council passed in August, the enforcement and administration of that program is funded through this fee update ordinance that charges $11 every two years to all rental units in the RIO database.

That's the Rental Registration Inspection Ordinance database.

This amendment would exempt buildings that are funded by the Office of Housing from that fee and raise the fee from $11 to $12 every two years to make up that difference.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Foster and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Rink and Lynn.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, sponsor the proposal.

You were recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you so much to central staff.

And I know I mentioned the budget legislation earlier.

This is an amendment of a piece of legislation that was sent down from the mayor's office with the budget package.

And as we just heard from HB, the intent here was to ensure that our affordable housing providers are not paying into the fee for the enforcement.

So my office worked really closely with several of the affordable housing providers here to look at their needs, to understand that, and also to make sure that we were balancing this with a desire that I have to ensure that this piece of legislation is enforceable.

So the approach that we took was to exempt the OH-funded units from this regulation, but in order to ensure that the enforcement is kept whole, we're adding an additional 50 cents per year, so that makes it a dollar increased over the two years, which is what you see in the legislation, to ensure that we are meeting the two goals that I had, which are keeping the affordable housing community well balanced and also keeping the implementation whole.

So I want to thank my co-sponsors, Councilmember Lin and Councilmember Juarez for your support.

And colleagues, I ask for your support.

I think this is just a common sense change in how we implement this.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin as chair of the committee, you're recognized.

No further comments.

Thank you.

Colleagues discussion, Councilmember Juarez.

I'm just going to add the correction, but Councilmember Foster fixed it.

I think she said Foster, Lin, and Rink when it was me.

So just wanted to make sure we had that correct.

Thank you.

I've got Juarez on my paper.

Me too, but I heard Rink, so nothing wrong with that, but I'm just saying.

Thank you.

My mistake.

No problem at all.

Colleagues, and this is the example of why we have time dedicated in our budget process to do quality assurance, which is why we can't take amendments at our final meeting.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor this amendment to Council Bill 121310, please raise your hand at this time.

Seeing no further co-sponsors, we will move on to the next item.

Next committee or department is OSE 281.

The first item is OSE 2A, which would increase appropriations to the Office of Sustainability and Environment for a $50,000 general fund on a one-time basis in 2027 to support the Georgetown Farmers Market's continued operation.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Foster and is co-sponsored by Council Members Saka and Lynn.

Thank you.

Council Member Foster sponsored the amendment.

You are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I appreciate that.

Thank you to my co-sponsors, Councilmember Saka and Councilmember Lynn.

I know Councilmember Saka, I believe you brought this amendment forward last year.

This is to ensure that we are supporting the Georgetown farmers' market.

And as we all know, food access continues to be a concern for so many of our residents.

And the farmers' market has the benefit of providing food access to the neighborhood while also supporting our local farmers at the same time.

And I think there's a lot of benefit to be had here for the Georgetown community.

but also for the surrounding communities.

And I appreciate Council Member Lynn for recognizing that and joining as a co-sponsor, given this is a neighboring district.

So colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Council Member Lynn is chair of the committee overseeing the department.

No further comment.

Thank you.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you'd like to co-sponsor OSC 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I have Council Members Juarez, Hollingsworth, and Rink.

Council Members, Warriors, Hollingsworth, and Ring.

Thank you.

We will now move on to OSE 3A1.

Great, the next item is OSE 3A, which would increase appropriations to the Office of Sustainability and Environment by $250,000 journal fund on a one-time basis in 2007 for a pilot program to plant micro-forests inspired by a Milwaukee forest or pocket forest principles at up to five Seattle Public School locations.

This funding could also be used for exploring development of floating wetlands in Lake Union.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Lin and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Strauss and Kettle.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin is a sponsor of the amendment.

You're recognized.

Colleagues, This amendment, we shared some pretty photos with you that I distributed earlier on paper.

This is working in partnership with Tree Action Seattle.

You probably read the news a while ago where they have a pocket forest, Miyawaki Forest, and Robert Eagle Staff.

I think about, I was meeting with students down in Rainier Beach, and we were talking about the difficulties of gun violence.

And when I asked these students what would they like, they said they would like more trees and nature in their neighborhood.

This is critical for our students as there's more and more pressure for kids to be online, that we connect them with trees and nature and with each other.

And so I see this as a mental health, as an ecological education opportunity, and would love your support, including both for these microforest pilot programs.

There's a strong partnership with SPS, as well as excited about the floating wetlands opportunity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin, for putting this in.

I know that, writ large, the folks that support our urban forestry plans support this particular ad.

We need more tree canopy and growth across the city.

I don't necessarily think this is going to result in those huge trees, but I do think that more green spaces is really important, particularly in neighborhoods that lack green spaces.

So thank you for putting this in and I'll be supporting this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Just wanna thank Council Member Lynn for bringing this forward.

We arm wrestled for who would be prime sponsor.

I just love your passion for this and thank you for including the floating wetlands.

I'll make one amendment to central staff is just anywhere in Seattle doesn't necessarily need to be in South Lake Union for clarity there why this is important for me.

Two reasons.

Number one, climate change, climate crisis is real.

The fastest way to address it is more green space, both on land and on water.

Our water temperatures are rising rapidly and it's killing salmon, it's killing other species, it's bad for the entire environment.

The reason that these pocket forests work so well is everything is planted at once rather than waiting for each stage of the canopy to grow.

And so we're able to do more quickly.

Really appreciate you bringing this forward.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Seeing none, if you would like to co-sponsor OSE 3A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have council member Rivera, Rink and Foster co-sponsoring OSE 3A1.

Council members Rivera, Rink and Foster.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department, Department of Education and Early Learning.

Wow, we are clipping.

Thank you.

Let's not slow down.

Deal 2SA1.

Yes.

Good afternoon, Council Central Staff.

My name is Jasmine Aroha, Council Central Staff, presenting DL2SA.

It would be a statement of legislative intent requesting that the Department of Education and Early Learning report on the impact of changes to the Child Care Assistance Program and the Seattle Preschool Program on the larger child care ecosystem, including but not limited to the impact on enrollment and wait lists, costs for families, and program quality.

This lie is sponsored by Councilmember Rivera and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Saka and Hollingsworth.

Thank you.

And Councilmember Rivera, sponsor the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

And thank you, Jasmine.

Jasmine's report out on this says it all.

This is a statement of legislative intent to see how are we doing after we all collectively, as part of the FEP levy implementation plan, and the levy itself made some changes and expansions to the programs just to make sure that we're monitoring and we're seeing how those impacts on those changes have on both the childcare and preschool programs and on the ecosystem as a whole, including impacts to providers that may be part of the childcare program, but not the SPP program and vice versa.

So anyway, like I said, just a sly.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Further discussion, colleagues?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor Deal 2 SA-1, please raise your hand at this time.

I have Council Member Juarez adding her name to deal 2 SA1.

Adding Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department.

Department of Neighborhoods, 1A1.

Hello, Councilmembers.

Good afternoon.

Eric McConaughey and Council Central staff.

This first one is Don 1A1.

The CBA would increase appropriations in the Department of Neighborhoods by $2.5 million from the Central District and Southeast Seattle Reinvestment Fund in 2027, and by the same amount, in the same fund in 2028. It would also add two FTE and establish and support the Central District and Southeast Seattle Reinvestment Program.

These appropriations would be supported by General Fund Resources.

The sponsor is Council President Hollingsworth, and it's co-sponsored by Council Members Saka and Foster.

Thank you.

Council Member Hollingsworth has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, last year, you helped establish the Central District South End Fund, and you did that after we saw over 70 organizations show up to council meeting asking for investments within their community.

This year, those funds will be distributed to over 20-plus organizations in efforts to help preserve communities that have been displaced and continue to sustain community, culture, and commerce, the three Cs.

This was executed in the mid-supplemental budget of this year, and thank you to the chair.

That was included in the chair's package last year, and this idea came from their office as well two years ago when they asked what was really important to me.

This year, thank you to the co-sponsors Councilmember Saka and Councilmember Foster for your support, seeing the importance of this investment.

My ask this year is kind of simple, for us to double down on that investment and it to be a sustainable fund year after year.

This fund would be ongoing, distributed by the Department of Neighborhoods with two FTEs to administer those funds.

There was a comment regarding today, the CD, Central District and South End receiving more funding in the city, and I will respectfully with the biggest R in front of that word would disagree.

South of I-90, just look at the sidewalks, tree canopy, household incomes, food access, infrastructure, the light rail, is above ground.

In northern neighborhoods, it's below ground.

Look at the electrical wires that are in those neighborhoods that are above ground and some of the neighborhoods that are north end, underground ones north of I-90.

In 1968, the federal government granted Seattle $5.2 million.

That money was invested in the Central District, CID in Pioneer Square.

It was called the Model Cities Program.

Seattle was the first city to receive funding.

It was implemented by the late, great Walter Hunley, and his deputy director, not to brag, was my grandma.

But from this program, she talked about how stuff was birthed, El Centro de la Raza, Odessa Brown Clinic, Camp, which is now Bird Bar, Langston Hughes, Hing He Park, Powell Barnett Park, youth job training, recreational programs.

The federal grant was written because those areas had 10% of the city's population, but it held 61% of the total people of color in those neighborhoods as well, and also 85% of the black population.

The CD South End Fund is intended to do the same to focus on communities who have been impacted by divestment.

Now, some people have asked why Department of They are the neighborhood liaison and a connector to so many organizations and communities.

They do the best outreach and can carry out this work, especially with the people who work within that department.

Standing up a sustainable fund that will continue to help direct funding to those communities with programming, cultural events, neighborhood events, building communities, and stimulating the economy is what we need in Seattle.

So colleagues, when we redirected some of the participatory budget funding for communities who have been most impacted by historical underinvestment, we saw the results.

We saw home ownership, we saw a Moja Fest, we saw cultural events, arts, small business support, youth programming, and the impact has been rewarding to see in the last two years.

OPCD, Office of Planning and Community Development, has equitable development initiative which funds capital projects and capacity initiatives within our community.

This fund would help support the programming, cultural events, and neighborhood events with that same focus.

So I sincerely appreciate everyone's support on this and would love your co-sponsorship.

Thank you, colleagues.

Well said, colleagues.

And Councilmember Rivera is chair of the committee overseeing this department.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Council President, for your passion.

You know, you're not just talking the talk, you're walking the walk, and I really respect you and appreciate you for it.

So that's what I'll say about this ad.

Obviously $5 million is a big add and so we'll see where that can come from but I really appreciate and support the underlying intent and so I'll be co-sponsoring today and then we'll see where we can land with it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Well said.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Colleagues, further discussion?

I just have to thank Council President for the words that you just shared.

Couldn't have said it better, so I'm not gonna say anything further.

Colleagues, if you would like to co-sponsor Don 1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Looks as if we have unanimous, so I'm just gonna state that.

All council members.

Thank you, well done.

Moving on to Don 2A1.

This, excuse me, this CBA would increase appropriations in the Department of Neighborhoods by $100,000 general fund in 2027 and $100,000 general fund in 2028 to support neighborhood councils and groups in their local neighborhood projects.

This is sponsored by the Council President, Joy Hollingsworth, in case we forgot, and Councilmembers Juarez and Kettle.

Thank you, Councilmember Hollingsworth, as sponsor of the proposal you're recognized.

I am back.

Thank you, colleagues.

Sorry.

Thank you, Chair.

I want to recognize the citywide neighborhood councils for this moment because there are neighbors who keep our parks clean, our neighborhoods clean, they activate spaces.

And colleagues, if you didn't know, there's a group called Seattle Neighborhood Alliance, which is a citywide alliance that meets with all of our neighborhood councils, once a month and they've created this program where it's all of the neighborhood, all the neighborhood alliance folks that are in our districts.

So it's not necessarily one district, it's everyone.

And I know in my district, we have 13 community councils, at least seven park groups.

I know if you can go through any neighborhood, you all have a bunch, 10, 15 different type of community councils.

And so that this group is primarily They're all volunteers.

They meet at least monthly and together they help activate different places in their communities.

They do small business support.

They do garbage pickup.

They do different things in our neighborhood.

And I think it's really important that we can continue to support our neighborhood council.

So this is something that would support the Seattle Neighborhood Alliance and different neighborhood councils all across the city.

And I think it's a great investment and would love your support.

And thank you to Council Member Juarez and Council Member Kettle for their co-sponsorship on this as well.

Thank you.

And Council Member Rivera, Chair of the Committee overseeing the department, you are recognized.

Thank you Chair and thank you Council President Hollingsworth for putting this in.

I know D4 has many community councils left over for a time where the community councils actually lived in the Department of Neighborhoods and then the changes were made and then the community councils lost their support from the city that way.

So I appreciate you recognizing that and adding this what I consider to be a very modest amount of money to help support those community councils across the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion, Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Chair.

I want to thank Council President for bringing this proposal because it's really important as what Council Member Rivera was talking about.

I'm harking back to when I was on the Queen Anne Neighborhood Community Council when Mayor Murray killed the District Council and to be frank, everything went sideways at that point related to what we have in the neighborhoods in terms of councils and that kind of coordination and communication between City Hall and the neighborhoods.

And it's important because, as I say within District 7, we need them to keep our feet to the fire.

And that's why I stood up at the beginning of my term, the District 7 Neighborhood Council, which is a council of councils, which brings them all together quarterly to talk about issues and to learn from each other and level up.

and I take, it's beautiful when I see, like in last week in Seattle Times, there was an article about Lake City.

Council Member Juarez I'm sure saw it and how Lake City created a community council.

They give themselves a voice.

greater voice and to keep, like I said, CD Hall's feet to the fire.

Because obviously in Lake City and other parts of the north, as we've seen in other parts of the city as well, when it comes to public safety, there's some major challenges.

And I really love how communities come together in terms of creating these neighborhood councils.

So again, thank you, Council President and Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor Don 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

Last time, are we set?

We have, I think council member Kettle's already on it.

So adding council member Rivera and Saka.

Council members Rivera and Saka.

Thank you.

Staying in department of neighborhoods, Don 3A1.

This CBA would impose a proviso on $50,000 general fund in the Department of Neighborhoods for local government 101 grants through Don's Small Sparks Fund grant program.

Thank you.

Councilman Rivera, as sponsor of the proposal and chair of the committee, you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Council members, You may recall last year I did an ad for $100,000 to do a fund where really to encourage civic engagement amongst residents across the city.

The department, took a very long time.

It was under the Small Sparks program, and they took a very long time to implement it.

So of the 100,000, 26 was spent.

I believe it was five contracts.

And I'm really happy that there were different organizations, including community councils, who use some of this funding to put together civic engagement, opportunities for their neighbors.

This is for anyone who wants to do a civic engagement opportunity with their neighbors, a less formal program, but it's really as a way to get folks understanding a civic engagement and why to get involved and just it's not related to any particular action.

It's just really talking about how government works and how all the various partners within local government works or even at the state level.

So really that's what this is meant to do.

because they didn't use the full 100 last year, but because they've had at least 26K that they've used this year, I went ahead and added 50 for next year.

And some of those funds can come from the underspend, actually, that was not utilized this year since, like I said, they had about 73 leftover from last year's investment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Council Member Saka.

I just wanted to, this is for 3A1, correct?

That's correct.

All right, yeah, I just want to thank the the prime sponsor here, Councilmember Rivera, for putting this forward again and allowing me to co-sponsor it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Councilmember Holland.

Council President Hollingsworth.

I'll just be really quick thanking Councilmember Rivera for her leadership on this.

I know how important these grants are to the community, to be able to understand local government, and so looking forward to supporting this as well.

So thank you for letting me to co-sponsor this.

Thank you.

Thank you to both co-sponsors.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor Don 3A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I have Council President Emeritus Juarez adding to Don 3A1.

Adding Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Staying within Department of Neighborhoods, Don 4A1.

4A1 is sponsored by Council Member Saka with co-sponsors Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Kettle.

This Council budget action would increase appropriations to Don by $115,000 general fund in 2027 and $115,000 general fund in 2028 for contracting for community safety coordination in the Soto neighborhood with an organization such as Soto Business Improvement Association.

Thank you.

Council Member Saka, sponsor of the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Colleagues, today I'm proposing an amendment to invest $115,000 in 27 and 28 for a dedicated community safety coordinator in SOTO.

And this, we all bring our various budget proposals and amendments directly on behalf of community.

This one came directly on behalf of the SOTO BIA.

to address the neighborhood's unique safety challenges through consistent community-based coordination.

It originally came from the Soto BIA, but I have since heard multiple requests from various individual businesses in Soto and organizations in Soto, kind of amplifying the need for this particular investment.

Soto, of course, is a huge part of our city's economy, broader economy.

The Port of Seattle has substantial operations, in Soto.

So it's a huge part of our port maritime industrial economy.

And a lot of small, medium-sized business activity happens in and around Soto.

It's important that we partner together to keep it safe.

Let's see, this coordinator again would serve as a reliable point of contact for businesses, connect them with city departments and outreach partners, identify recurring safety issues and help resolve concerns before they require police intervention.

This model has proven effective in other neighborhoods.

Approving this amendment strengthens the Department of Neighborhood's capacity to support one of Seattle's most complex and heavily used districts for, again, port, maritime, industrial activity, warehousing activity, and of course, big events, concerts, sporting events, and the like.

So I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

And Councilmember Rivera is chair of the committee overseeing the department you recognized.

Thank you chair and thank you council member Saka for putting this board on behalf of the BIA that you represent.

I know I have a BIA that I'm so lucky to actually have in the U district and they have an outreach person that helps connect folks to services that the city supports.

So I understand this ask.

from the BIA and I'm familiar with the BIA in SOTO.

So appreciate all the things that all the BIAs do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

I just have to say through the Seattle neighborhood impact framework that we have worked to create over the last number of years, the coordinator is the first step to many other steps and it's a very important position to start expanding that neighborhood impact framework that we have seen successful in Chinatown International District, Ballard, U District, a little bit downtown.

There's a lot more work to do for the CID.

I'm not saying that it's mission accomplished.

I'm saying that there's a lot more work to be done and coordination between these different neighborhoods that are adjacent is important.

With that, Council Member Rivera, is that a new hand?

Oh, no, sorry.

Thank you colleagues for further discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor Don 4A1, please raise your hand at this time.

We set.

I have adding to Don 4A1 Council Member Rivera and Lynn.

Council Members Rivera and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to the last proposal in Department of Neighborhoods, Don 5SA1.

This statement of legislative intent would request that the Department of Neighborhoods explore opportunities to better coordinate and streamline community engagement, outreach, and language access work across city departments, including staffing and contracting practices.

The sponsor of this statement of legislative intent is Councilmember Foster with co-sponsors Councilmember Lynn and Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster has sponsored the amendment, proposal.

I keep slipping up.

You are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to Councilmember Lynn and Councilmember Juarez for co-sponsoring this statement of legislative intent, so not a budget add here.

I want to add a little bit of clarity.

This is not just about language access.

It's about better understanding all of our outreach and coordination efforts around the city.

I want to better understand how the Department of Neighborhoods works alongside other departments.

where our responsibilities intersect, and to ensure that coordination is happening.

I wanna be clear, my intent with this lie is not to prescribe specific changes, but to get a clearer picture of how this work is taking place across the city.

For example, when multiple departments are engaging the same communities on different city initiatives, how are those efforts being coordinated?

What role does Don play in supporting the engagement?

And how do departments draw on shared expertise, relationships, and resources?

I believe it's important that we have a strong understanding of how our existing resources are being used, particularly when it comes to interdepartmental work and the coordination needed to engage our residents.

So that is what this slide is seeking to get a better picture of for us at Council and colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rivera, as chair of the committee overseeing the department, you're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

I know that Don has some of the community engagement and outreach and language access, but not all.

I really do appreciate the department for everything they do on the outreach and language access side.

And I know for years now we've had a lot of conversation with the department on all the work that they do, so did want to recognize their work.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor DAWN 5SA1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I've got Council Member Kettle and Rink adding their co-sponsor.

Council Member Kettle and Rink.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department, Seattle City Light SCL 1A1.

This CBA would increase appropriations to Seattle City Light by $40,000 general fund in 2027 and $40,000 general fund in 2028 to support leasing costs for the former Market Street substation site at 2826 Market Street.

This lease would be used with an existing community group for a garden.

The sponsor of this CBA is Council Member Dan Strauss and Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Marez are the co-sponsors.

Thank you.

I'll tell you a story about the Ship Canal Water Quality Project, which is one of the largest capital projects that we have going on right now.

It unfortunately displaced a community gardening project that occurs in the parking strip along 56th in Ballard.

And unfortunately there was no accommodation that could be made.

This was actually, I think the first request that we'd made to SPU in this entire mega project.

that could not be met because of site constraints.

Working with this nonprofit that does essentially pee patches in the parking strip.

Recording in progress.

Well, I sure hope we've been recording this whole time.

Well, with that, we worked to identify places nearby to where the P patch was displaced, and we identified the City Light parcel there on Market Street being in a similar proximate location and similar size.

With that, this nonprofit has in-kind donations of soil delivery.

They have in-kind donations of some material and they have already received a grant to cover the other material expenses because for any City Light property, gardening has to be done above ground.

That said, their grant does not cover rent.

and because City Light property has to use ratepayer dollars, we cannot use their ratepayer dollars to help them in this way.

This $40,000 is per year so that we can have community gardening in this area.

I think that the nearest pea patch to this is two miles away at best.

With that, Council Member Juarez, as chair of the committee overseeing the department, would you like to say anything?

Well, I love a good P patch, so thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

And P stands for Ricardo, not for P.

Councilmember Kettle, followed by Rivera.

Yes, Chair, I do have one correction for this proposal, and that it's the 2826 Northwest Market Street has listed.

It doesn't have the Northwest.

Just pointing that out.

I know this because right next door is my Ballard Eagleson VFW post 3063, of which I'm a lifetime member, so I know the area very well.

In fact, at one point it was a tiny home village that the post was supporting on a regular basis with food and so forth.

And I suspect that there will be more than a few veterans that could be participating in this p-patch given the co-location essentially with my own VFW post, so I just wanted to note that, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle, District 67, right there on Market Street.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Further discussion?

If you'd like to co-sponsor SCL 1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

Adding to SCL 1A1, Council Member Kettle and Lynn.

Council Members Kettle and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department.

One of the most responsive departments in our city.

SPU working for you.

SPU 1SA1.

Thank you.

Again, Brian Goodnight with Council Central Staff.

So the next item is SPU 1SA, which is a statement of legislative intent that would request Seattle Public Utilities to provide a report by June 30th of next year on utility-related planning and process steps and other future uses and possible development of the Yesler Creek property, which is in Northeast Seattle and was formerly known as the Telera site.

So this item is sponsored by Councilmember Rink and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Foster.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rink has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair Strausen.

Thank you, Brian, for working with my office on this.

Colleagues, I'll be super brief because this is very straightforward.

This slide requests that Seattle Public Utilities report on the utility-related planning and process steps for future uses and possible development of the Tolera site.

SPU is currently gearing up for work on fish passage improvements on Yesler Creek, so the goal is to assess the site for future work now to start planning on next steps for the property when those opportunities arise.

And I ask for your support.

Thank you.

And council member Hollingsworth is chair of the committee overseeing the department.

Do you have anything to add?

Yeah, I have nothing to add.

I believe this was a property that we purchased last year.

Yeah.

December.

December.

Okay.

December right before.

Yeah.

I remember this last year and this was in council member Rivera's district.

So yeah, looking forward to it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council discussion council member Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, this is property that the state has required city light to daylight for fish passage.

However, it's going to take a number of years before any of that work gets done.

I'm not sure that the department would be able to say now or within the next biennium exactly what can happen to any surplus of that property.

So I think it is a bit premature, but I did want to recognize that that is why the land, why we bought the land from Teleris and what will be going there and then it's gonna be TBD, but in a number of years what can happen with the property there, so thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

last chance for further discussion.

Council Member Rivera, your hand is up and I'm about to ask for co-sponsors on SPU 1SA1.

Last call.

We are adding Council Member Juarez to SPU 1SA1.

Adding Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department, Information Technology Department, ITD 1SA1.

Thank you.

So the next item is also a statement of legislative intent, and as you said, ITD1SA, which would request Seattle Information Technology to provide quarterly reports on the usage of artificial intelligence, or AI, across city departments, including pilot projects and integrations into existing technologies.

This would be a continuation of a series of reports that Seattle IT currently provides in response to a slide from last fall's budget process.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Rink and is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Saka and Juarez.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rink has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair Strauss, and thank you again, Brian, for your work with my office on this.

Colleagues, if this looks familiar, it's because it is.

We approved this slide last year, and throughout this year we've been receiving quarterly reports from Seattle IT about AI implementation across the city.

I have personally found these reports very helpful.

We know AI is quickly taking over many different sectors.

There are a lot of questions people have about AI integration, about work at the city, and I have found these reports as a helpful transparency measure and something to be able to answer constituent questions and concerns about this.

So I believe that the value that this regular reporting from IT has brought to all of us would be helpful to continue.

So I'm bringing forward this slide request again to continue that reporting through next year.

And I ask for your support.

Oh, and huge thank you to co-sponsors on this, Council Member Saka and Council Member Juarez.

Thank you for your support on this slide.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Council Member Hollingsworth, Council President Hollingsworth is chair of the committee overseeing the department you recognize.

No, just grateful Council Member Rink for bringing this.

I will be supporting and co-sponsorship of this.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion, Council Member Kettle.

Yes, Chair, thank you, and thank you, Councilmember Rink, for this.

I don't know if it's part of the previous one, but I've had discussions with Seattle IT Actual, whether the old director or the current.

And because it's important, particularly in the area of public safety, it's almost public safety should have a specific call out because of the unique and the crucial aspects of that.

So it's important, and it'll definitely be an area of follow-up, whether this was passed or not.

between the Public Safety Committee and the elements within the public safety world and their use of AI, because it's really important for a host of very important reasons to include surveillance.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor IDT1S81, please raise your hand at this time.

Joy, sorry, Council President, would you want to add your name?

You said that you wanted to, but we're doing the answer.

Thank you, Council Member Schauss.

Thank you, Council Member Foster for the connect right there.

Reading the co-sponsors on ITD1SA1, we have Council Members Kettle, Lynn Foster, and Hollingsworth.

Council Members Kettle, Lynn Foster, and Hollingsworth.

Moving on to the last item of the day, and don't jump out of your seats because we've got a fair amount of housekeeping just to clean out from today, FAS1SA1.

Good afternoon, Ed and Assistant, Council Center staff.

I have the honor of describing the last item, which is FAS 1-S-A.

And this is a statement legislative intent that would request that the Department of Finance and Administrative Services complete a needs assessment for the Seattle Animal Shelter to support future planning for a potential capital replacement project and associated debt service.

Thank you.

As sponsor of the amendment and chair of the committee, I'll speak to this.

I'm grateful and thank you to Director Panucci and the proposed budget does include some initial planning money for a new animal shelter at my request this year.

As the new administration entered office, I made it clear that this is my one of my top priorities because if anyone has been to the animal shelter recently, you can know that we have too many things in one small building.

We have animal control, we have the spray neuter clinic, We have dog kennels, cat kennels.

We have even mice there.

We have adoption services.

We have behavioral health services.

We have even if, and maybe many people don't know this, you can drop off pet items for donation or free pickup, the free bench.

There are so many things in this small location and in addition, when the property down the street was built, was developed, the street had to be rectified because the street was built outside of the right of way and this was just a few years ago and so the animal shelter actually lost half of their parking lot which is not necessarily used for parking because yes, they have portables.

All of this to say we need to be doing better and that means a new building.

It does not mean expanding capacity.

It means making sure that the capacity we have for the animals is well taken care of.

So if you heard all of those different functions, it is all taking place in a building about the size of council chambers and the Bertha Knightlandis room.

And Kitty Hall takes up the entire Bertha Knightlandis room.

so that is what this is about.

Colleagues, any discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor FAS 1SA1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I've got for FAS 1SA1, Council Member Foster, Kettle and Lynn.

Council Members Foster, Kettle and Lynn.

Thank you.

Gosh darn it, we made good time.

Everyone exceeded my expectations and I'm eternally grateful for you.

Let's hope we keep it up tomorrow.

I wanna do a little bit of check-in from this morning's conversation with Director Whitson and Deputy Director Chow.

I heard the number 6060 proposals that we are taking up tomorrow, followed by another 45 the following day.

I'm doing this off the top of my head, so please correct me if those numbers are incorrect.

59 tomorrow, 68 on Thursday.

Holy smokes.

Colleagues, we did 36 today.

So that means we have to do double in both the next days and the topics are not as fun as this one as today.

We took the easy stuff first so that we could get our sea legs, so we could get into the routine and the habit of how we administer council.

And so I am eternally grateful that we did double time today.

We did spend an average of about five minutes per item.

In the next two days, that is gonna be even more critical because we cannot, if, I had all of the permissions in the world.

I would have moved tomorrow morning's items to this afternoon because we're running early, but that's not the way that publishing agendas work.

So we are going to take up 59 proposals tomorrow.

And then you said 68 the following day.

Holy smokes.

So we've got a lot of work cut out for us over these next two days.

I'm really grateful for everyone staying focused today and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow.

I do wanna just take a moment to take questions if folks do have questions because we jumped right into it and we took off with steam.

Council Member Kettle, I see you've got a hand.

Old hand.

Great.

Colleagues, any further discussion today?

Tomorrow we are taking up Office of Economic Development, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Fire Department, the Arts and Culture Department, and Seattle Parks and Recreation.

I heard that Seattle Center has been bumped.

Is that correct?

Great.

Colleagues, any final words?

This does conclude the October 27, 2026 Select Budget Committee.

We'll start again tomorrow promptly at 9.30 a.m.

with those departments I just listed.

Thank you for attending.

If there's no further business, we will be adjourned.

Hearing no further business, we are adjourned.