Seattle City Council 7/19/21

On the July 19th, 2021 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It's 2.01 PM.

I'm Lorena Gonzalez, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Strauss?

Present.

Herbold?

Here.

Juarez?

Here.

Lewis?

Present.

Morales?

Here.

Mosqueda?

Present.

Peterson?

Here.

Sawant?

Present.

and Council President Gonzalez.

Here.

Nine present.

Thank you so much.

We'll move to presentations.

I'm not aware of any presentations this afternoon, so we will move to approval of the minutes.

The minutes of the City Council meeting of July 12th, 2021 have been reviewed.

If there is no objection, the minutes will be signed.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are being signed.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes?

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

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

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Colleagues, at this time, we will open the remote public comment period for items on the City Council agenda introduction and referral calendar and the Council's work program.

I thank everyone for their ongoing patience and cooperation as we continue to operate this remote public comment system.

It remains the strong intent of the City Council to have remote public comment regularly included on meeting agendas.

However, as a reminder, the City Council reserves the right to end or eliminate these public comment periods at any point if we deem that the system is being abused or is no longer suitable for allowing our meetings to be conducted efficiently and effectively.

I will moderate the public comment period and I will do so in the following manner.

The public comment period is slated to last a total of 20 minutes with each speaker originally being provided two minutes to speak.

We do have quite a volume of individuals signed up for public comment today.

In order to effectuate the intent of hearing from as many people as possible today, I am going to ask if I can extend the public comment period from 20 minutes to a total of 30 minutes with the understanding that each speaker will have one minute to address the council.

For those public commenters who have called in, there is a chance we may not get to you as a result of even this extension.

So if we do not get to you, there's still a way for you to submit your public comment to the city council In advance, you can email us, all nine of us, at councilatseattle.gov with your public comments if we do not get to you.

So if you find yourself with a number that is beyond the number 30, I would strongly encourage you to email those public comments to us right now at council, that's C-O-U-N-C-I-L, at Seattle.gov.

So colleagues, if there is no objection, the public comment period will be extended to 30 minutes.

Hearing no objection, today's public comment period is extended to a total of 30 minutes.

Speakers, you will be called upon in the order in which you registered to provide public comment on the council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number used for this registration and using the meeting phone number, ID, and passcode that was emailed to them upon confirmation.

This is different than the general meeting listen line call-in information.

So again, callers, if you are calling in to get public comment, make sure you double check right now the number you are using is the number that you used to register and that you are calling into the meeting phone number and ID with the ID and the passcode provided to you upon confirmation.

If you've called into the general meeting listen line call-in information, you may show up on my end as not present.

If you do show up as not present, I will nonetheless call your name in the hopes that you are listening and are able to correct that error and call into the appropriate information, again, with the number that you used to pre-register.

I'll call on you by name and in the order in which you registered on the council's website.

If you haven't registered yet, but would like to, you can sign up before the end of public comment by going to our website.

You can also email the council at council at Seattle.gov, as I mentioned previously.

Once I call your name, staff will unmute your microphone and you are going to hear the automatic prompt of you have been unmuted.

This will be your cue that it is your turn to press star six and then begin speaking.

Again, after you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted, press star six and then begin speaking.

Please start by stating your name, the item that you are addressing, and as a reminder, your comment needs to relate to an item on today's agenda, on the introduction referral calendar, or the council's work program.

At about 10 seconds, you're going to hear a chime.

That chime is your cue that you have exactly 10 seconds left of your allotted time.

And once you hear that chime, I'd ask that you please begin to wrap up your public comment.

If you do not end your comments at the end of your one minute provided today, your microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Once you've completed your comment, please disconnect from the line and you can continue following this meeting on Seattle Channel or one of the listening options listed on the agenda.

Public comment period is now open.

Again, we'll start with the first speaker on the list.

Remember to press star six.

That's star six after you hear the prompt if you have been unmuted.

It is 2.07 p.m.

We will go until approximately 2. 37 PM with public comment.

The first two speakers I have on my list are Peter Condit, followed by Howard Gale.

Peter, welcome.

Hello, thank you.

This is Peter Condit and I'm a resident of Seattle District 6. I'm calling to ask you to support legislation to prohibit the Seattle Police Department from training with countries that are committing human rights abuses.

SPD has well documented patterns of violence and racism.

They are under court supervision for excessive force and racially biased policing, commonly referred to as the consent decree.

I have no faith in the consent decree's ability to address the root causes of police violence.

Our community is rising around a vision of real safety.

Last year, 12,000 community members demanded that city council defund the police by 50% and invest in black communities.

A bill should support that demand by reducing SPD's budget by the amount that the trainings cost and making the trainings illegal.

Those trainings have resulted in real harm to our residents and enable human rights violators to be perceived as legitimate international actors.

Racist and militarized policing does not make us safe.

Investing in communities makes us safe.

Thank you for supporting the human rights of all people in Seattle and throughout the world.

Defund SVD.

Next speaker is Howard Gale followed by Katie Garrow.

Howard, welcome.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale.

Council has failed to defund SPD at anything approaching 50 or even 25%.

The council has failed to consider improving police accountability while witnessing a police force that beats and injures dozens with near complete impunity.

The council has failed to demand accountability for the repeated murders of people in mental health crisis.

The council has failed to ban less lethal weapons that are consistently abused by police.

Amid all these failures, at last week's Public Safety Committee meeting, Council President Gonzalez, along with Council Members Lewis and Herbold, voted to undercut a protester's right to sue the city when they are harmed by the very weapons the council refuses to outright ban, by allowing the SPD to potentially avoid responsibility by claiming the protester was engaged in criminal activity.

Even worse, at that meeting, Council President Gonzalez egregiously misinformed the public concerning the importance of a longstanding need for a separate right of action to be provided for in city law.

We need full community control over the police, misconduct investigations, and discipline.

Go to.

Next up is Katie Garrow, followed by Shamir Tana.

Katie, welcome.

Thank you, Council President.

My name is Katie Garrow.

I'm the Deputy Director at MLK Labor, and I'm here today to express our support for the Jump Start Fund legislation by Councilmember Mosqueda.

The Jump Start legislation was a deal that was negotiated between business, labor, environmental, and community leaders.

It was an economic stimulus program funded by progressive revenue.

In unions we negotiate contracts for workers and in my time in labor I've been a part of many contract negotiations.

These contracts are the foundation for how we work together and they ensure fairness.

This legislation today simply ensures that the Bill of Goods that Council Member Mosqueda and the Seattle City Council promised to people with the Jump Start legislation is in fact what we're getting.

To do anything else in my line of work would be considering bargaining in bad faith.

Thank you.

Thank you, Katie, for calling in.

Next up is Shamir Tana, followed by Jared Brown.

Shamir, welcome.

Hi, my name is Shamir Tana.

I'm a resident of District 7. I'm calling in strong support for the legislation to make it illegal for SBD to train with any other country that violates human rights according to international law.

We know SBD has a documented pattern of violence, racism, and excessive force.

Trainings with Israel, specifically Trainings with Israel specifically will maintain 73 years of illegal military occupation, and just this May, conducted violent attacks which killed hundreds of Palestinians, including so many children, is the absolute last thing that should ever be considered.

Last year, 12,000 community members demanded City Council defund SPD by 50% and invest in Black communities.

This bill supports those demands by cutting back on military training, putting people in danger.

Thank you for introducing this legislation, and I ask you for without delay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Jared Brown, followed by Yael Chudson.

Jared, welcome.

Hi.

Hi, thanks.

I'm Jared.

I live in Seattle and I'm calling to discuss the NW exchange legislation proposal.

I'm progressive, liberal, and I agree that police violence often happens too easily and often goes too far.

However, this proposal is not the answer.

On the contrary, it gives cover to some of the world's worst human rights abusers, while depriving the SPD from training that can help de-escalate tense situations such that we have fewer tragedies.

The proposed legislation states that any country for which a United Nations body deems to have committed violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention is prohibited from working with the SPD.

In 2018 the U.S. withdrew membership from the U.N.

Human Rights Council due to its corruption and the perversion of its purpose.

Now Seattle wants to relinquish its own moral authority to this corrupt abusive and morally abhorrent organization.

Current U.N. Human Rights Council membership includes China Russia and Venezuela.

the U.S.

State Department's 2020 Human Rights Reports reveal the following.

Oppression of the Uyghur Muslim population in China, extrajudicial killings in Russia, forced disappearances by the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

This ordinance grants the world's top human rights abusers to decide who the SPD is.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Yao, followed by David Jett.

Yael Toten, reject the end deadly exchange legislation.

It will not accomplish those goals and instead will deprive the SPD from tools and resources it needs to improve and reduce police violence.

The proposed legislation states that any country for which a United Nations body deems to have committed violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention is prohibited from working with the SPD.

The UN Human Rights Council has a standing agenda item against Israel.

Israel is the only country specifically targeted at every meeting.

Not even major human rights abusers like China, Cuba, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Syria are subjected to such treatment.

Israeli police and Israeli defense forces deal with incredibly high-stress situations and are very successful at de-escalating and avoiding violence.

Israel can help the SPD reduce violence while fighting crime.

To single out Israel not only deprives the SPD of valuable tools but is also anti-Semitic and hateful.

I strongly urge you to reject this proposal.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is David Jett, followed by Isabel Halaka.

David, welcome.

Hi, my name is David and I'm a resident of Seattle.

I am a constituent of District 5 and I'm calling to ask for your support to support the legislation to prohibit the Seattle Police Department from training with countries that are committing human rights abuses.

We know that a safe and healthy Seattle must be grounded in our city's respect for human rights and dignity of all people.

SPD has shown documented patterns of violence and racism and are under court supervision for excessive force and racially biased policing.

We need to be focused on making Seattle safer and we should not be spending money to train with other countries who are violating human rights.

Investing in communities makes us safe, not racist, militarized policing.

It must be illegal for SPD to train with any military and police force that violates human rights.

After the brutal killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter uprising, further militarizing our police is anti-Black and hurts our community.

I am urging all city council members, especially Lisa Herbold, to support this legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Isabel Halaka, followed by Aisha Mansoor.

Isabel, welcome.

Hi, my name is Isabel Halaka, and I'm a District 3 resident and proud Palestinian.

I'm calling to support my to voice my support for the bill being introduced that will end the deadly exchange between the Seattle Police Department and police and military forces in countries with documented abuses of human rights.

It should be a no-brainer for any council member that supports the human rights of all people throughout the world to support this bill as there is no reason that Seattle should be spending city resources to support violations of international law.

Israel is the second most frequent destination where the Seattle Police Department has visited for training.

Under the guise of counter-terrorism, Israel is training SPD with its tactics from 73 years of military occupation and oppression of Palestinians.

Numerous human rights organizations, including the UN, B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch, have named Israel as an apartheid state, and its crimes include forceful transfer, racial profiling and persecution, segregation, violent protests, massive surveillance, and more.

There's no way to justify sending the Seattle Police Department to countries such as Israel, and I hope that the Council will vote.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Aisha Mansour, followed by Carolyn Hathaway.

Aisha, welcome.

Hello, my name is Aisha Mansour.

I'm a Palestinian and a resident of District 5 in Seattle.

I'm calling to urge city council members to support legislation to stop and prohibit the Seattle Police Department from training exchanges with countries that are committing human rights abuses.

After the brutal killing of George Floyd and witnessing the BLM uprising, Any further militarization of our police force should be considered anti-Black and we can clearly see how this hurts our community.

We know that a safe and healthy Seattle must be grounded in our city's respect for the human rights and dignity of all people.

SPD has already shown documented patterns of violence and racism and under court supervision for excessive force and racially biased policing.

We need to be focusing on making Seattle more safe and should be spending money to and should not be spending money to train with other countries who are violating human rights.

I am urging all city council members especially Lisa Herbold to support this legislation.

We must reallocate this funding to community and services like mental health and education.

Thank you for supporting the human rights of all people in Seattle and throughout the world.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Carolyn Hathaway followed by Ab Denour.

Carolyn welcome.

Thank you.

This is Carolyn Hathaway and I.

The SPD training proposal is dangerous here in Seattle, in our community.

While it ostensibly supports human rights, this is actually an attempt to blame Israel for hundreds of thousands of decisions that the SPD has made over many years.

When leaders target Israel, extremists target Jews.

Men wearing kippahs, women and girls wearing Star of David necklaces are facing increasing attacks by anti-Semitic extremists.

Synagogues have been vandalized and Jewish day schools hire police to escort small children into their classrooms.

Extremists feel justified in their hateful attacks when leaders like you empower them.

Rightly or wrongly Israel and Jews are synonymous to some people.

That is what leads to shootings and the murders of five women at the Seattle Jewish Federation.

Please do not add fuel to this ancient very frightening hatred that is growing in Seattle.

Thank you for calling in and next is AB.

Followed by Katie Wilson, who is currently showing up as not present.

So, Katie, if you're listening, please double check that number.

Next up is.

Hi, my name is.

I am here to thank council members for creating a jumpstart on data transparency accountable and equitable.

We believe that making deep investments in BIPOC communities and supporting transformative solutions for a cleaner environment and equitable development is how you show your commitment to an equitable recovery.

This is why we advocated for Jumpstart Funds to win new progressive funding that supports a Green New Deal and equitable development initiatives with a combined $40 million per year.

We teamed together with a broad coalition of organizations to endorse a Jumpstart Fund that centers those most impacted by the crisis.

The pandemic intensified the need for community care and solutions.

We are eager to see Seattle leaders follow the lead of the community.

As we align our focus to meet our most immediate needs, we must also think about the future.

The Jump Start Fund, dedicated to GMD and EDI, gives us something beyond recovery.

It also gives us a future that will sustain us and keep us rooted in place.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Sean Van Eyck, followed by Joshua Simpson.

Sean, welcome.

Hi, thank you very much, Council Member Gonzalez.

This is Sean Van Eyck.

I am calling in my capacity as the resident of the City of Seattle in Council Member Straus' district, as well as the co-chair of the Coalition of City Unions and a union rep for ProTec 17, the largest union of city employees.

I'm calling today in strong support of the Jump Start Seattle spend plan.

I believe it is the right thing to do.

It represents equitable recovery.

It represents accountability and transparency to the public.

And I urge you all to vote in support of it.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for calling in today.

Next up is Katie Wilson, followed by Joshua Simpson.

Katie, welcome.

Hi, this is Katie Wilson speaking, representing the Transit Riders Union.

We strongly support creating a dedicated jumpstart funds to make sure that revenues from Seattle's new big business tax actually go to fund the priorities that council promised when the tax was passed.

A broad coalition came together around jumpstart because we agreed on what's most needed.

COVID relief affordable housing and Green New Deal investments.

TRU supports a dedicated fund because we think it's important to follow through on these commitments to tackle two of the biggest challenges facing our city.

The housing crisis and the climate crisis.

Thanks for your time, and I hope you'll support the protection of these funds.

Thank you for calling in, Katie.

Next up is Joshua Simpson, followed by Blair Perelman.

Joshua, welcome.

Hi, my name is Joshua Simpson, and I'm a resident of Seattle District 4 and a member of the Seattle Education Association.

I am asking City Council to support legislation to prohibit the Seattle Police Department from training with countries that are committing human rights abuses.

We know that a safe and healthy Seattle must be honored with respect for human rights and the dignity of all people.

SPD has already shown a documented pattern of violence and racism, and under court supervision of our sets of force and racially biased policing.

As an Iraq war veteran who has been in Palestine myself, there is nothing SPD needs to learn from an army that is waging a 73-year-long military occupation.

We need to be focusing on making Seattle safer, and we should not be spending money to train with other countries or violating human rights.

Investing in the community makes it safe, not racist, militarized policing like you see in apartheid Israel.

It must be illegal for STDs to train with any military and police force that violates human rights, infringes on human rights of all people in Israel and throughout the world.

Thank you.

Next is Blair Perelman, followed by Mary Cyphers.

Blair, welcome.

And Blair, if you're with us, just remember to hit star 6 to unmute yourself.

There you go.

Hi, I'm unmuted.

This is Blair.

Thank you so much.

I'm calling to open West Green Lake Way North.

We have a petition circulating with over 3500 residents in the area that want to see this road open.

Having it closed has caused incredible amounts of traffic.

Prior to this road closing, 11,000 plus cars road on this road per day and sometimes more depending on traffic patterns.

At this point the road has caused incredible hardship for people that wanted to get to the lake.

It's closed off cities, communities like Sallard, Finney, Green Lake from accessing businesses on 45th street and other businesses on Greenland Avenue causing a lot of stress for those businesses.

They've already had hardship from going Uh, you know, from covet, so I'm urging the city council to please.

It's kind of hard to drive.

I'm dragging something.

Thanks for calling in Blair.

Next up is Mary Cypress followed by Ben Malik.

Very welcome.

As a regional director for the Anti-Decimation League, we oppose the ordinance introduced by Council Member Sawant regarding SPD's work with law enforcement from other countries.

We would also like to set the record straight on our ADL's past trips that brought U.S. law enforcement to Israel.

This ordinance has serious implications for public safety.

According to the provisions in the bill, there are dozens of countries that would be restricted from partnering with Seattle PD, including Britain, France, Italy, China, and even the U.S.

By preventing Seattle PD from partnering with law enforcement from foreign countries and even our own country, how can our police department share intelligence, thwart public safety risks, and do its day-to-day business?

In the wake of 9-11, U.S. law enforcement sought educational opportunities to learn best practices responding to terror attacks and building community resilience.

Since 2004, ADL has brought small groups of senior law enforcement to Israel for a week-long consisting of presentations with Israeli and Palestinian law enforcement and visits to Israel's Holocaust Museum.

Concerns about the programs are based on falsehoods.

Thank you, Mary, for calling in.

Next up is Ben Mullick, followed by Robert Amkraut.

Ben, welcome.

Hi, my name is Ben and I'm a resident of Seattle.

I'm calling today for the agenda item and the agenda exchange.

But first I'd like to apologize everyone because of the last speaker because of their utter lies here today.

But but basically by allowing Seattle PD to train at Israel or allowing them to train with one of the biggest human rights abusers in the world.

And it's been said before but we do not need a more militarized militarized police here in Seattle but rather reinvestment into the community and that the safety of Seattle residents should be paramount rather than continued racist police exchanges.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Robert Amkraut followed by Guy Arone.

Robert, welcome.

Good afternoon.

This is Robert Amkraut.

I'm a longtime Seattle resident and I'm calling to urge the council to reject the anti-Israel resolution.

This resolution is designed to further divide our community and its ultimate effect is to increase anti-Semitism.

It will do nothing for social justice.

It's part of a national anti-Israel campaign that wrongfully seeks to tie Israel to United States police actions against minorities.

Let's be clear.

Israel trains police in responding to terror emergencies.

It has nothing to do with American policing of minorities.

And unfortunately, Israel has remarkable expertise, given all the terror incidents directed at it.

I urge the council to reject this hateful, divisive resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Guy Oron, followed by Eric Blustein.

Hello there.

My name is Guy Oron.

I'm a local District 5 resident and member of the End the Deadly Exchange campaign.

I'm also Jewish and Israeli, and that is why I support the End the Deadly Exchange legislation.

We really need to move away from militarized policing, and it doesn't make any sense that the Seattle Police Department should trade with any foreign country, especially countries that violate human rights.

There is no logical common sense that the Seattle PD should be engaging in any of these trainings, especially Israel, which has repeatedly violated human rights, Palestinians, and is not anti-Semitic to push back against violations of human rights This bill targets any country and is not specific to any one country.

And so it should be a no brainer.

And we invite all the council members to please sign on to this bill and pass it because as we've, yeah, thank you.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Eric Blustein followed by Jeremy Voss.

Eric, welcome.

Eric, if you can hear me, just press star 6 so we can hear you.

We are still not able to hear you, Eric, so you might want to check that your actual phone isn't also muted.

So one more time, star 6. Okay, I am still not able to hear Eric.

Oh, there you go.

Go ahead, Eric.

Thank you.

My name is Eric Lusine.

I'm a resident of Seattle near Green Lake, and I'm asking for your support in getting West Green Lake Way reopened to traffic, ASAP, which has overwhelming support and over 3,500 residents signing a recent Change.org petition.

I want to especially thank Councilman Strauss for meeting with our community last week and trying to get this road reopened.

He indicated he's reached out to SDOT multiple times, and he's gotten the brush off.

They've ignored him and ignored his calls.

They're ignoring this committee's authority and hurting your constituents.

So please support him in getting this road reopened.

This road was closed during COVID, conditions which have mostly passed, but now they're keeping it closed for different reasons.

And it's making the park less accessible to those of us with limited mobility, to parents with children, and to people who can't afford to live near the park.

By closing the road, you're making it less accessible to cars and denying them access to this great city resource.

So I'd really beg you all to please help us in getting this reopened.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in, Eric.

Next up is Jeremy Voss, followed by Jess Wallach.

Jeremy, welcome.

Hi, my name is Jeremy Voss.

You see it in pronouns.

I'm a Jewish resident of District 2. I grew up in the Seward Park community.

I'm speaking in favor of the legislation banning SPD from doing trainings.

with foreign military and police forces responsible for grave human rights abuses.

SPD's trainings with Canada and Israel not only imply that our government supports and looks up to the way that these forces treat First Nations and other indigenous people, such as Palestinians, it's also a waste of city resources at a time when we should be transferring funds from SPD.

And it also enables even more unsafe and militarized environments for Seattle BIPOC.

It's very common sense, very common sense broad legislation.

I'm asking you all to support it.

Also, equating Israeli cops and military with my Jewish friends and family as opponents of this legislation keep doing is pretty offensive.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Jess Wallach, followed by Shelby Handler.

Jess, welcome.

Thank you.

Good afternoon Council.

My name is Jess and I'm an organizer with 350 Seattle and also a resident of D6.

I'm speaking today in support of the proposed Jumpstart Fund Council Bill 120118. As you heard from many of my colleagues earlier on this call Jumpstart Seattle is really important for Seattle's well-being.

It paves the way for Seattle's green deals with transformative investments in affordable housing clean energy and workforce development.

all things which reduce our climate pollution while creating thousands of good green jobs and healthier neighborhoods.

Creating a dedicated Jumpstart Revenue Fund will keep Seattle on track.

By aligning spending with the community defined priorities in the 2020 legislation and ensuring that investments are accountable to local communities who are most impacted by climate chaos we can take concrete steps towards a healthy climate future for all.

Please vote yes to establish the Jumpstart Fund.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Shelby Handler, followed by Hamza Abu Amo.

Shelby, welcome.

Hi there.

Thanks for having me.

My name is Shelby Handler, and I'm a Jewish resident calling from District 2, and I'm here today calling on all of City Council to support the legislation to prohibit STD from training with countries that are committing grave ongoing human rights violations.

As others have said, our city should stop spending resources to support violations of international law.

This is just common sense.

Instead, our city should invest in Black communities and in community-led solutions for safety.

And as a Jewish resident of Seattle, I know that investing in communities most impacted is what really makes all of us more safe.

Not investing in racist and militarized policing, not exchanging worst practices, When we resist white supremacy, we resist anti-Semitism.

It's just that simple.

This legislation would not harm local Jewish communities or Jewish communities anywhere.

It would protect human rights of all people in Seattle and throughout the world.

Thank you so much for prohibiting SPD from doing this training.

Thank you for calling in today, Shelby.

Next up is Hamza, followed by Brittany Bishbele.

Hamza, welcome.

Hello my name is Hamza Bamo and I'm a resident of Seattle and a constituent of District 3. I want to ask you to support legislation to prohibit the Seattle Police Department from training with countries that are committing human rights abuses.

Know that a safe and healthy Seattle must be grounded in our city's respect for the human rights and dignity of all people.

SPD has already shown documented patterns of violence and racism under and are under court supervision of excessive force and racially biased policing.

We need to be focusing on making Seattle more safe and should be spending more money to train with other countries who are violating human rights.

Investing in community makes us safe, not racist and militarized policing.

It must be illegal for SPD to train with any military and police force that violates human rights.

Respect for human rights means every Seattleite should be free to live without daily fear of violent and discriminatory policing.

Free to protest without military force, repression, free to go about our lives without invasive and unconstitutional surveillance.

Thank you for supporting the human rights of all people in Seattle and throughout the world.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Brittany Bush-Bolay, followed by John Grant.

Brittany, welcome.

Hi, good afternoon, Council.

My name is Brittany Bush-Bolay.

I'm calling on behalf of the Sierra Club, and I just want to speak briefly in support of the Jump Start Fund legislation.

I'd like to thank Council for their work on this, for getting it passed today.

It demonstrates the commitment to progressive revenue, transparency around the spending of this revenue, and follows through on accountability to the communities that have been involved in this work and these conversations for a long time.

I'm really glad to see it cross the finish line, and I thank you again.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is John Grant, followed by Matt Remley.

John, welcome.

Good afternoon, Council President Gonzalez and council members.

My name is John Grant.

I'm with the Low Income Housing Institute.

I'm here to speak in favor of Council Bill 120118, the Jumpstart Fund.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, for your leadership on this crucial funding source.

Lehigh wants to express our support for the Jumpstart Spending Plan that was meticulously researched and vetted by a broad group of stakeholders.

I also want to thank Council Member Sawant for organizing to build community support for a big business tax.

This proposal is nothing short of historic.

For many of us who have been advocating for affordable housing for years, the creation of a local funding source from a progressive tax to bring affordable housing to scale has been nothing short of a dream, but today we can make it a reality.

The need is even more highlighted by the Office of Housing's upcoming housing capital, NOFA, where there is only $20 million made available for new housing projects, but over $122 million in application requests.

Using funds such as Jumpstart, ARPA, and others, We need to increase the NOFA by at least $50 million for a total of $70 million.

If the city doesn't act, we risk.

Thanks for calling in today.

Next up is Matt Remley, followed by Andrea Paz.

Good afternoon and thank you, Council President Gonzalez.

My name is Matt Remley.

I'm co-founder of Muscox Talks and one of the constituents that worked with Council Member Mosqueda on Jumpstart PAC.

So I'm calling in today in support of Council Bill 120118 and the dedicated funds for Jump Start.

And we very much view this bill as a form of accountability and transparency that the funds generated from the Jump Start tax will in fact be used for goals such as the Green New Deal, housing and other COVID relief.

I look forward to the council's vote in passing this legislation.

Thanks and have a good day.

Thanks Matt for calling in.

Next up is Andrea Paz followed by Aiden Carroll.

Hi dear council members.

My name is Andrea Paz and I am a constituent of District 7. I am someone who really, really, really wants to say that I am in support of ending the deadly exchange of Seattle and other military countries that are committing human rights.

The people who are bringing up, like, the double standard in Israel.

Okay, why are you winning by this?

Because this way, other countries also will be banned from it.

Think about why you're doing this.

It's not anti-Semitic to ask to hold the rights of people here and in Palestine, not to mention that SPD has shown they are not our friends.

They are going to go to the capital and use that military training.

What about that?

That speaks for our safety.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

It looks like Aiden Carroll is no longer present.

Again, for those of you who I have not called on yet, we are at the end of our public comment period.

I extended it from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, and we've heard from almost 35 folks today.

I think it's about 30 individuals.

So I am going to go ahead and close out the period of public comment for today.

Again, for those of you who I was not able to reach, I strongly encourage you to send your comments to the City Council at council at Seattle dot G.

O. V. for those there are some individuals who still want to speak on this proposed draft legislation that is not up for final action today and has not yet gone through the committee process.

So there is still time to submit your comments on that legislation.

as proposed, so please feel free to do that.

So with that being said, we're gonna go ahead and close out the period of public comment and move into other items of business on today's agenda.

First up is payment of the bills.

Will the clerk please read the title?

Council Bill 120125, appropriating money to pay certain audited claims for the week of July 5th, 2021 through July 9th, 2021 and ordering the payment thereof.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to pass Council Bill 120125. Is there a second?

Second.

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

Are there any comments?

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

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, council bill 120123. relating to taxation, delaying the effective date of the heating oil tax on heating oil service providers under chapter 5.47 of the Seattle Municipal Code, and delaying the date of the Office of Sustainability and Environment's first annual heating oil tax program status report.

Thank you so much.

I move to pass Council Bill 120123. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you so much.

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

I'm going to hand it over to Council Member Morales, who is the sponsor of this bill, to address the item.

Thank you, Council President.

So this bill would delay the effective date of the heating oil tax on heating oil service providers.

Colleagues may remember that in response to community concerns about the impact of this tax, particularly on low and middle income households during COVID, we delayed implementation last August, delayed through September 1st, 2021. Another reason for the delay was related to Washington's Pollution Liability Insurance Agency's new heating oil loan and grant program.

What had been discussed as a grant program last year now sounds like it might be going to a loan program.

And so replacing these oil tanks can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

And for low-income families, this is a real challenge, no matter how eager they may be to participate in a conversion.

So June 1st of this year, the Office of Sustainability and the Environment provided an update to the heating oil loan program.

And based on feedback from customers and others, and because those final rules have not yet been put in place, OAC is proposing that we delay another six months.

before this tax becomes in effect.

So that is the bill that's before you.

I do want to thank members of Teamsters 174 and other labor partners who've contacted me about this bill.

Many of their members would themselves be subject to this and are frankly nervous about the impacts of having to you know, pay the tax that would be passed on to them and also just bear the cost of making these kinds of conversions right now without assurance about the kind of support that they would be willing to get.

So they're supportive of this delay while we assess other funding streams and while we wait for the final rule changes from PLEA.

So that is what's before us today and recommending passage.

Thank you, Council Member Morales for that description.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Council Member Sawant, please.

Thank you.

I will be voting yes on this legislation to delay the implementation of the heating oil tax that Mayor Durkan first proposed a year and a half ago.

The climate emergency is an existential threat to all of humanity, and we must have a serious and internationalist approach to ending greenhouse gas emissions and In this case, unfortunately, the heating oil tax is not a serious approach.

Yes, heating oil is a terrible fuel, but the reality is people in Seattle do not need a tax to motivate them to switch away from heating oil.

Heating oil is expensive, dirty, and inconvenient, and the main reason people still use oil-burning heaters in Seattle is when they are simply unable to afford to switch to something better, ideally electricity.

My office discussed with 350 Seattle and they confirmed that from their outreach, they found that it is overwhelmingly poor and working class households that have oil heaters and people are switching to other types of heaters whenever they have the means to do so.

Ultimately, that means that Mayor Durkan's proposed climate solution is yet another regressive tax, which is not a surprise.

This is very dangerous.

Not only does that tax have a very small potential impact on the climate, positive impact, to deal with the climate crisis.

It also adds to the false narrative of blaming consumers and ordinary people for the climate emergency, which lets the big businesses responsible for 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions off the hook.

We need the opposite.

We need measures that will actually change the way corporations are functioning, and ultimately what we need is a militant climate justice movement nationwide and internationally that can take fossil fuel companies into democratic public ownership.

We also need to fight for policies on the way to achieving all of those larger goals, which are frankly urgently needed.

That is why the Amazon tax movement fought to tax big businesses to fund the Green New Deal for Seattle, to make funding available for people to retrofit their homes for weatherization and to get away from fossil fuels.

And the big business taxes we won include a substantial 20 million climate infrastructure investment paid for by taxes on polluting big businesses, not on working people.

Of course, $20 million is far less than is needed because the Amazon tax was significantly reduced when it was rebranded as Jumpstart in an attempt to minimize the essential impact of the grassroots movement.

If climate organizers are motivated to fight to increase the Amazon tax next year to expand the investments for dealing with the climate crisis, and we should absolutely be fighting for that, my office will obviously be standing with them.

The city also needs to support the Stop the Money pipeline movement's demand to boycott the financial institutions and insurance companies that fund fossil fuel infrastructure like tar sands pipeline.

This is an excellent example of policies that we need to do in the here and now.

My office as chair of the sustainability and renters rights committee is preparing legislation to empower the green new deal oversight board to review and rank financial institutions and insurance companies applying for City of Seattle grants.

It is big business and the super rich that control the infrastructure of our society under capitalism, and we must build the movement to make them pay for the infrastructure to end this crisis.

I'll be voting yes on this bill.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Okay, I don't see any other hands raised.

Council Member Morales, anything else to add before we call the roll?

Nope.

Thank you so much, appreciate it.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

So want?

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and HR will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item two into the record.

The report of the Finance and Housing Committee, agenda item two, council bill 120113, relating to the multifamily housing property tax exemption program The committee recommends that the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Council Member Mosqueda.

You are the chair of this committee, and I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Apologies, colleagues.

My internet is unstable, so I am using my phone.

Can you hear me OK, Council President?

We can hear you, go ahead.

Excellent, thank you.

Colleagues, this item number two, Council Bill 120113, is the MFT COVID expansion legislation that narrowly relates to projects whose timelines have been impacted by the pandemic.

The Multifamily Tax Exemption Program, which provides tax exemptions in exchange for the creation of units affordable up to 80% of the area median income, is to be included in the new family rental housing development.

This last legislative session, the state legislature made several changes to the MFT program to address a range of program issues.

This legislation follows up on the state changes with a narrow focus on projects that have been impacted by COVID.

We will be considering another round of MFT legislation in August to respond to other state legislative changes and programmatic updates, including considering authorizing extension for MFT units that are expiring in the next couple of years to keep those units affordable.

This legislation today, though, is narrowly focused on a small handful of projects that have been impacted by COVID and therefore need an additional timeline to be completed.

Thank you so much, Council Member Skater.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Nine in favor, nine opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Item three, will the clerk please read item three into the record?

Agenda item three, council bill 120118, related to creating a fund for payroll expense tax revenues, adding a new section 5.38.055 to the Seattle Municipal Code and providing additional guidelines for expending proceeds.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk, Council Member Esqueda.

This one is also out of your committee, so I'm going to hand it back over to you.

And I know you're having some technical challenges right now, but we can hear you and see you loud and clear.

So feel free to take it away.

Thank you very much, Council President.

Colleagues, I am excited about the legislation and want to thank everybody for calling in today to express their support as well for Council Bill 120118, which creates the Jump Start Seattle Fund.

This is a commitment of the Jumpstart Seattle legislation that we passed last year, and it has been widely acknowledged that the Jumpstart Progressive Tax meant that this year there was no budgetary layoffs, no deep cuts to city services, and we were able to continue for services, especially for our most vulnerable during COVID.

We were also able to invest in economic resiliency, direct investments into hardworking families and small businesses.

And this follows on the court victory for Seattle's Jumpstart Fund to have received a notable ruling that meant that Seattle's Jumpstart legislation was on solid legal ground.

In 2022, as you council passed our spend plan, is focused on permanent funding strategies for affordable housing, equitable development, Green New Deal investments, and economic resilience.

Subsequent budgets have centered on, all subsequent budgets have centered on what we landed on, housing, homelessness, economic resilience, direct aid, many of the important investments that we're making in the upcoming years Since the beginning of COVID have really helped center our policy investments on how we create a more equitable recovery, how we house more Seattleites, and how we look forward to creating a greener local economy.

Importantly, we took advancements in this legislative document in front of you to accomplish two goals.

Number one, create more transparency around the jumpstart revenues by creating a fund to track exactly how the projected revenue aligns with the actual revenue.

Again, the estimates on the conservative side are expected to bring in over $214 million each year, which is like receiving a American Rescue Plan Act fund twice each year for the next 20 years.

This is important legislation that created the fund, but we also want to make sure that those projections are aligning with what the actual revenue is so that we can have a strong spend plan that mirrors those investments.

The second thing that this legislation does is it makes good on the large coalition promises that stood behind this proposal who worked together to create a strong spend plan.

And we want to make sure that those investments are additive, additive to other core investments that our city council and our city community will be making in this upcoming budget, especially in our BIPOC communities.

It's in alignment with our transparency and our commitments to serving the most vulnerable.

We're intending to make sure that this jumpstart dollars go to exactly what we said they would.

As an important reminder, the categories in our spend plan include 62% of the funds going into affordable housing.

This is affordable housing going for families at 30% AMI and below, 9% going into equitable development initiatives, 9% going into Green New Deal priorities, 15% going into economic revitalization, and the remaining 5% is going into the general fund for administration of the program.

I have more to say on those investments after we consider the bill, but I just want to say thank you, colleagues, for your unanimous passage of the spend plan last July.

And this codifies that important step as we prepare for 2022. Madam President, I do have an amendment, as I discussed this morning, when you are ready for that.

Yeah, why don't we go ahead and take up the amendment now?

And then if others want to make comments about the bill as amended, they will be able to do that all in one fell swoop.

So why don't we go ahead and take up the amendment?

You did spend some time on it this morning, so I think folks are going to be pretty ready to go.

But let's talk about Amendment 1, and then we'll have a discussion and take

Thank you, Madam President.

I move to amend Council Bill 120118 as presented on Amendment No. 1 and dispense this morning.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded that the bill be amended as presented on Amendment 1. Council Member Musquade, I'm going to hand it back over to you to walk us through that amendment.

Thank you very much, Vice Chair Herbold, and Chair of Land Use, Council Member Strauss, for the support for the amendment, and Council President.

Colleagues, as I mentioned this morning, this amendment accomplishes two things, and I wanna thank Ali Panucci for sending around a memo that summarized it.

First is it adds a recital expressing the council's intent to consider committing additional funding this year to the NOFA, the Notice for Funding Opportunities for Affordable Housing.

We have various rounds of BILFA funds, and we want to make sure that dollars are appropriated to affordable housing acquisition and development in the 2022 budget, recognizing there are additional opportunities, thanks to JumpStart, to ramp up our acquisition development of affordable housing in the current market that we should be acting on now.

It was also noted in the public commenters notes as well.

So thank you for your support on that.

More work to come and thank you Council Member Lewis, Council Member Sawant, Council President Gonzalez for all of your interest in working with our office on that.

The second thing that this amendment does, further request of FAS and the city budget's office, is that it clarifies that the 2021 jumpstart revenue will be deposited into the general fund and not into the jumpstart Seattle fund that is being created with this legislation.

FAS requested this additional clarification just to make sure that our legislative intent was clear.

And colleagues, this is very much in alignment with what we had already agreed to last year when we passed it, recognizing that 2020 and 2021 dollars were going into investments for COVID relief and for poor government services to make sure that our most vulnerable have the services they need.

So just want to reiterate that this is in alignment with what our original intent was and happy to make this notification for our team at Finance and Administrative Services.

Thanks again to Director Glenn Lee who's been leading the community engagement on rulemaking and thanks as well to city budget director Ben Noble and his team as well for helping to work with us on the second amendment.

Happy to have it included.

Thank you so much Council Member Esqueda.

Looks like we have one hand raised so I'm going to call on Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Chair Mosqueda, for putting forward this amendment on the intent language for adding money to affordable housing production and acquisition.

I know the new whereas recital does not have a lot of details in it, which is good.

I just want to signal my interest in having any additional funding go to the extent possible, those who are experiencing homelessness, so those on the lower end of the AMI scale, the zero to 30% AMI, since we're in this crisis now, wanted to make sure that money is targeted to the lowest income possible, extremely low income.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

Any other additional comments on Amendment 1?

Hearing no additional comments on Amendment 1, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment 1.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Signed in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries.

The amendment is adopted and the amended bill is before the council.

Are there any additional comments on the amended bill?

Okay, I'm not seeing it.

I'm not seeing any hands raised.

So customer mosquito, you get the last word and then we will call the role on the passage of the bill as amended.

Thank you colleagues.

I'm excited for this legislation to pass.

And I just have two summary comments to make about where the dollars go.

And thank you again for the unanimous support last year for the spend plan.

I'll build on Council Member Peterson's comment as well, just as a reiteration of this council's commitment to serving our most vulnerable with these jumpstart funds.

As a reminder, colleagues and members of the community, 62% of the jumpstart fund goes to affordable housing, including housing serving households at or below 30% of the area median income.

A portion of the funding is set aside specifically for community focused acquisition and housing to address past discriminatory practices.

policies such as redlining and racial restrictive covenants and making sure that there's more first-time home ownership options especially for those who are at highest risk of displacement and have faced barriers due to past discriminatory practices.

This is going to have a disproportionately positive impact for our BIPOC communities who are impacted by the lack of access to affordable housing and homelessness and and higher rates of homelessness in Seattle.

These funds are designed to benefit those who've been historically marginalized.

Specifically, black adults represent 28% homeless household population receiving services in our city services right now.

That's more than quadruple the percentage in King County's population.

And in King County, black adults are evicted at 5.5 times more often than white adults.

Roughly 51% of white households in Seattle own their homes, while 25% of Hispanic households and 24% of Black households are towing their homes.

We see these disproportionate rates of home ownership and who is being affected by housing instability and possible evictions to come.

And we know that these disparities have only been exacerbated by COVID and that's why I'm so excited to work with you as we implement the housing component of Jumpstart.

9% of the funding goes to equitable development initiatives.

That means for projects that advancing economic opport meaning our community nee things like housing and c for small businesses, cult spaces as well.

9% goes priorities to transition f fuels in their homes so t are able to stay in plac just talked about with the invest in job training op with specific emphasis on outreach to BIPOC communities to create pathways for good green union jobs for our local community.

And this again has a disproportionate positive impact for our BIPOC community, simply because we are experiencing highest rates of environmental injustice in our BIPOC communities.

We've seen that those who've been impacted by heat waves show that our BIPOC communities are in neighborhoods that have been previously redlined and are disproportionately exposed to all types of air pollution.

We can make investments by Green New Deal investments that are outlined here in the Jump Start Seattle proposal.

And I'm really excited to see this legislation move forward with such a heavy emphasis on Green New Deal investments.

And finally, 15% of the funds go to economic revitalization.

This is focused on local economic recovery and resiliency, workforce stability, labor training, and looking at opportunities for greater diversity among our local economies so that we improve the overall stability of Seattle.

And there's two important components in this legislation that we're passing today.

One is that it includes a valve that we can look at the Jump Start Seattle funds if there is incredible shortfalls in our projected COVID baseline projections for revenues in 2022 and beyond.

That's a smart thing to do budgetarily and I think helps set us up for both success with our spend plan and in the case that we have to the ability to be flexible.

And we've also built in this legislation the exact language that our council passed last year, which was a desire to set up an oversight board with the inclusion of community at the table as specified in the legislation we passed so that there is year-to-year updates to council and a direct community oversight component to make sure that these dollars are being spent the way that we have said.

Thank you for your consideration of this bill in front of us that sets up the system so that we have greater equity and access to these jumpstart dollars.

Thanks so much, Council Member Mosqueda.

That closes out debate and discussion on the bill as amended.

So I'm going to ask that the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the amended bill.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Will the clerk please read item four into the record?

The report of the Governance and Education Committee, agenda item four.

Council Bill 120120 relating to city employment of public records officers returning positions to civil service system and amending section 4.13.010 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

As chair of the committee, I'll go ahead and provide the committee report and ask if there are any additional comments on the bill before we call it to a roll.

Colleagues, as I've mentioned previously, this council bill would give civil service status to the five public disclosure officers who process the public records requests of elected officials for the city of Seattle, including the mayor's office, the legislative department, and the city attorney's office.

This legislation was developed in partnership with city attorney Pete Holmes after engagement with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, Seattle Information Technology Department, and public disclosure officers.

And it is intended to ensure that the City of Seattle employees are shielded from undue political influence while carrying out their duties to respond to Public Records Act requests on behalf of elected officials.

The legislation is an important step towards protecting the transparency and effectiveness of our public disclosure process, especially when the request is directed at an elected official.

The Governance and Education Committee considered this bill and her presentations from our Council Central staff and unanimously recommended that the council bill be adopted by the City Council.

And I'd like to encourage all of my colleagues to join us in voting to adopt this legislation.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Oh, Council Member Esqueda, please.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just wanted to say thank you for your leadership on this legislation.

I think that this is a really important aspect of creating greater transparency and accountability.

It's an easy yes for me.

I think that it's exciting to see how this bill helps put us in alignment with what King County and Washington State have done and provides the public with a greater sense of trust about how we both make policy decisions based on those budgetary reports that we receive.

I appreciate all the work that has been put into this legislation to create greater confidence in our forecasting capabilities at the city and help us create stronger financial positions going forward.

I appreciate the work that you have done and thanks to your team and especially Cody Ryder as well and I want to thank Sejal and Ali and Tom for their work As you've considered this legislation, I think it makes a lot of sense and look forward to working with you to implement.

Thank you, customers.

I think you're talking about agenda item 5. We're on agenda item 4 right now, which is on the civil service bill, but sorry, that's OK.

Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

OK, so any additional comments on the bill?

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

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Nine in favor, nine opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item five into the record.

Agenda item five, council bill 120124, relating to the organization of city government, creating an office of economic and revenue forecasts.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

As chair of the committee, again, I'll provide the committee report and then happy to open it up to any additional comments on the bill.

Colleagues, I'm excited to be voting on this legislation today after nearly nine months of collaborative negotiations with the executive to develop this legislation.

I believe that establishing the Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts will create a more open, transparent, and robust forecasting process that will enhance both the councils and the public's access to and understanding of the city's budgetary forecast.

The implementation of this office should also improve the dynamic between future councils and future mayors by building a stronger foundation of trust and balance between the branches as it relates to the development of the city's budget priorities.

There are two prominent events during 2020 forecasting process that highlighted for me and many others how important it is to level the playing field between the council and the mayor's office with regard to our access to information related to the city's forecasting process.

Those events prompted me, my staff, and central staff to look at alternative models for how governmental bodies develop their budget forecasts.

And indeed, both Washington State and King County utilize independent forecasting offices that are outside of the legislative and executive branches.

King County went so far as to pursue a voter approved charter amendment in 2008 in order to create their office of economic and financial analysis.

Fortunately, based on my and central staff's review of the analysis conducted by our city attorney's office, we at the city council are able to establish our own independent office in a manner consistent with our city charter and the legislation we're voting on today is reflective of all of the feedback that we received from the city attorney's review and their legal advice.

Upon its creation, the Economic Revenue Forecast Office would provide independent forecasts and economic analysis fulfilling the policy intent of the council budget action that this council previously took and that was included in the 2021 budget that was adopted.

It would also consist of three and a half full-time equivalents through a combination of newly created positions and transferred positions from our City Budget Office and Finance and Administrative Services.

This new office would be headed by a director who would be hired by and report to a new forecast council comprised of the mayor, the city finance director, the council president, and the council budget chair or their respective designees.

The forecast council would be responsible for providing oversight of the new office and for approving the forecast.

The Governance and Education Committee did have a conversation and presentation on this particular proposed piece of legislation and unanimously recommended that the council bill be passed and adopted by the full council.

And I'd like to encourage my colleagues to join us in voting to adopt this legislation.

Are there any comments on the bill?

Council Member Strauss, please.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll be supporting this legislation today.

I think this is a smart choice to remove city budget or to create a forecast office that is not tied to either the executive or the council.

I'm just going to take this moment to really share kudos of the city budget office last year during the recession and reopening of our economy because as compared to the state level, the city budget office really did an amazing job of making accurate predictions that we could work off of as compared to the state that did a little bit, had a bigger drop and a bigger rebound.

So I know that we have the tools and I know that our city budget office is doing great work and I think that this, your legislation today is the next great step.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss, really appreciate that.

Any other comments?

Council Member Hermold, please.

Thank you.

Just really quickly.

I also want to thank you, Council President Gonzalez, for moving forward the intent that the Council expressed, again, under your leadership during the budget discussions last year.

to create this independent office.

This is, I think, considered a best practice and really appreciate knowing that moving forward, whether or not it's at times when there are increased revenue forecasts or potential reductions in revenue, that the council will have access to that information.

as opposed to sort of the current practice where often we find it out at the same time when there are budget proposals to cut or add.

So it will allow us as the body that is most responsive and engaged with the public to give input to those budget discussions and decisions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Council Member Peterson, please.

Thank you, Council President.

I wanted to also explain my support for this new office.

There were some articles written about this proposal recently that delved into legal issues and looking at the city charter, and I think that was healthy to raise these issues.

I did some additional research, got additional comfort with that aspect of it.

From a practical standpoint, having worked for a budget chair many years ago, The timing of these revenue forecasts has also been a source of frustration, and so I think it's important to have both branches collaborating on this data about what the revenues are going to be, how we're predicting them, and having that information at the same time.

So that we're so that the legislative branches and sitting around waiting.

When is this information going to come so that we can then figure out how to make decisions, since we ultimately have to adopt the budget and decide whether to amend it so I was really pleased when you brought this proposal up and then the more.

diligence I've done, it seems like it's going to be good for the city that we have this information at the same time, both the executive and legislative branches.

So thank you for bringing that forward.

Thank you, Councilmember Peterson.

Appreciate that.

Any additional comments on the bill?

I'm not seeing any other hands raised.

So I'll go ahead and close this out.

I think Council Member Peterson stole the words right out of my mouth.

And that's the note that I wanted to end on is that I think that as the Budget Appropriation Authority, it has seemed odd to me in the six years that I have served on the council to oftentimes feel like we are caught on the back of our heels when we're receiving revenue forecast changes in the middle of and sometimes towards the end of our budgeting processes.

So I think that this bill will allow for more equitable access to information and to more timely access to relevant information in a way that will really allow and facilitate for the co-equal branches of government at the City of Seattle to really function like co-equal branches of government and to make sure that both of us have an opportunity to really fulfill our duty and obligation as both the budget proposer and the budget adopters for the city government.

So I'm excited about an opportunity to advance this bill and appreciate the ongoing support of my colleagues in the effort to advance this important piece of legislation.

Did wanna thank Cody Ryder in my office for all of his hard work over the last nine months as well as Allie Panucci and Tom Mikesell and also, of course, appreciate the collaborative opportunity that we had with the city budget office and with other members of the executive to come up with a shared plan and vision on how this can be achieved in a way that fulfills both the executive's desire and ours as well.

So with that being said, I'm going to go ahead and close that debate and ask that the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Rouse?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Flattis?

Aye.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Is there any further business to come before the council?

Right, hearing none, colleagues, this does conclude the items of business on today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 26th, 2021 at two o'clock p.m.

I hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.