Seattle Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers’ Rights Committee 5219

Well, good morning, everyone.

Today is Thursday, May 2nd, 2019. The Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee will come to order.

It is 934. Thank you so much for joining me, Councilmember Bagshaw.

We'll soon be joined by Vice Chair Juarez, and I'm Teresa Mosqueda, Chair of the Committee.

Today, we have six items on the agenda, three council appointments to the Labor Standards Advisory Commission, the appointment of Dr. Amara Khan as the Director of the Office of the Employee Ombud, so the Ombud, and a hearing from the hotel industry, the individuals who work in the hotel industry as hoteliers are going to be here, and our first briefing of the Fort Lawton redevelopment plan.

So it's a packed agenda.

Also very excited to see a packed audience today.

Thank you all so much for being here.

Before we go on to public comment, I'd like to take a quick moment to recognize that yesterday was International Workers' Day.

May Day, as many folks know, is celebrated here, but more importantly, around the world with workers uniting around solidarity.

I would like to have a quick second to invite up Walter Boden.

Thank you, Walter, for being here, and you can correct my pronunciation of your last name.

He's going to share a few words with us because there's an exhibit that we're sharing right outside of City Hall here.

You can see the pillars over there.

The exhibit talks about labor unions, and it's displayed right here in city chambers for the next month, called Solidarity Forever.

The union makes us stronger.

Walter is an active member of the California Teachers Association, NEA.

He participated in the months-long strike by members of CTA against the Compton Unified School District.

And after retiring from teaching, Walter's lifelong interest in photography intensified.

He started Youth in Focus, a Seattle after-school photography program.

And the mission of this nonprofit is to work with and to empower urban youth through photography and to experience their world in new ways and to focus on positive choices.

He was awarded the Coming Up Taller Award from the President Clinton's Department of Arts and Humanities.

And Walter is here with us to talk a little bit about the display.

And I think that it's so exciting we're going to have this display up there for the full month of May in honor of workers this month.

Thank you, Walzer, for being with us.

And if you'd like to do a short presentation, we'd be very interested in what you have to say.

Good morning.

Thank you.

And just speak right into the microphone for the TV audience.

Like this?

Double checking to make sure it's on.

All right.

Oh, great.

You sound good.

Thank you.

Yes, yesterday when people were celebrating the International Workers' Day, we were installing the exhibit that is here in the lobby that you passed coming in.

And it's just a great honor to have this exhibit here at City Hall.

The idea of the project came about last fall near Labor Day when some bad court decisions were coming in for labor.

And then also there was talk about celebrating the centennial of the general strike in Seattle.

And there were several other things that came about.

that my stepson, Demetria Glitzen, that some of you know, Demetria and I were talking about the great history of labor situations in this part of the country.

So we thought it'd be a good project to maybe take portraits of today's workers and union members and just show the diversity and the dignity and the strength of those people that we sometimes just kind of walk by and don't notice.

So we started a project of taking portraits of them and The result, a small portion of the portraits are now on display right outside this room and we're just very proud to have that exhibit here.

What we hope to show was the diversity and strength and of the working person and especially the union member.

And that's what we found, and we found a lot more.

We found a 70-year-old woman at the University of Washington who was a plumber keeping the toilets going.

And we found mechanics assembling airplanes for Boeing.

And we found longshoremen unloading ships of cargo and items that were destined for Costco.

And we found truck drivers that were delivering items for the benefit of Amazon customers.

And when Lineman, leaving the electricity and power on, making sure that we were able to charge our phones and that Microsoft software would work, that all of these things were here.

And especially we had, delivery people and like letter carriers and UPS drivers that agreed to be part of this program.

So it was wonderful finding them and I hope that you'll have a chance to take a look at the portraits.

We found a great deal of power in the labor movement and very proud to have this opportunity and thank you for helping us get the exhibit up and to the Arts and Cultures Department for their support and help.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you.

Thank you for your longstanding activism as a labor activist and for the youth for their labor as well.

Thanks for lifting up the voices of workers, something we try to do in this committee every time we meet and very excited to have the feature right outside the halls over the next month here in May.

So thank you so much and a round of applause for the youth who helped put these photographs together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And welcome, Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you so much for being here.

No, that's fine.

I just want to take a quick second before we do public comment to say happy birthday to my dad as well yesterday on May.

Oh, what's your birthday?

Oh, okay.

Happy birthday to my dad yesterday.

He turned 70 and his birthday is on International Workers' Day and he is a longstanding activist and Chicano fighter, educator, and he is in Havana, Cuba right now, and he marched yesterday in the streets with thousands of workers there.

So I hope they're having a great time, and happy 70th to my dad, Larry Mosqueda.

Okay, at this time, let's go ahead and take public comment.

There are two people signed up for public comment today.

We welcome Andrew to the desk.

Orlobeck?

Orla Beck.

Yes, I knew that.

Hi, Andrew.

Good to see you.

Hi, good to see you.

Good morning, council members.

Thank you for holding this hearing.

My name is Andrew, and I am representing the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County.

Seattle is growing and changing, and we urge the council to move the Fort Lawton redevelopment forward with all the urgency that this moment entails.

The almost 250 affordable homes set to be built at Fort Lawton will keep us on the path towards ensuring that Seattle is affordable and inclusive to all who live here.

Turning underutilized land into homes for everyone, from extremely low-income seniors to lower-income homeowners, will also demonstrate that keeping Seattle affordable for people across the income spectrum is a civic priority.

The time to demonstrate that priority is now.

Please act quickly and move this proposal forward.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Andrew.

The next person that we have to speak is Tom Hanlon.

Hi.

Welcome.

And that's all the folks that I have signed up to speak.

In case anybody's interested in speaking and you didn't get a chance to sign up, there's another sign-up sheet up at the front if you did want to speak.

Welcome, Tom.

Thank you.

I'm not very good at hearing with the echoes.

I can hear you great.

OK, but can you hear me?

I can hear you.

OK.

And before I get into my main thing, I just want to comment about where I come from.

Of one of the three main things I did in my life before getting old was as a lawyer on the North Oregon coast.

representing people who were injured in canneries or in the woods.

I probably represented, over the course of 20 years, 2,000 to 3,000 IWA members.

So I have deep labor roots.

My purpose here today is self-centered, and for that I apologize.

living situation.

I've been in Magnolia since the mid-90s, and a couple years ago I got notice that my rent was going to go up.

Oh, let me preface this.

I'm 73. A couple of years ago I got notice my rent was going to go up 95%.

So I had to find another place and I did.

And I also in October of 2016 applied to the Seattle Housing Authority and I'm on the short list as of December of 2018 for the Fort Lawton Senior Housing Facility under the SHA and another unit.

And I sent an email yesterday about speaking today, and I thought that we were going to get, well, that I was going to get a notice to vacate in my current situation, and that came of fruition later in the day yesterday, 30-day notice.

I'm, my income, is $1,197 plus $57 EBT.

And let me think about this for a second.

I've done everything at the Seattle Housing Authority that I could do, and I'm on the list.

They tell me that's fine, but there are people ahead of me. the other kicker with me, and I'd go anywhere in the system, but the other kicker with me, and I understand this is on TV and for the public, but nonetheless, you should know that I'm gravely ill.

When I say that, I talked to my oncologist, Dr. Michael Schweitzer, last week, and he's writing a letter that may do some good with the Housing Authority, may not.

But I don't know exactly what it said.

The letter is written.

I don't know exactly what it said, but his comment to me was that my medical condition is life-threatening.

In any case, in any case, it's an issue and I think It's self-centered, but I don't think it's just me in my age group.

That's right.

Given my income, so.

I'm gonna offer that we have our friend Erin House who's here.

She's from my office, and she can actually work with you to see if there's anything else that we can do in the interim.

I think that what you've underscored is not selfish at all.

What you've actually outlined is the situation that many families and individuals are in.

especially folks who are on limited income.

And this is exactly the urgency that I think the previous speaker spoke about with Fort Lawton and the need to create this housing.

So we'll make sure that Erin follows up with you.

She's right here in the back with the purple scarf.

And we also have hearing devices if you're interested as well in that.

I want to say thank you for sharing your story, not self-centered at all.

We appreciate you being here.

Thank you.

And if there isn't anybody else here to sign up for public testimony today, we want to thank Mr. Hanlon and Mr. Orlbeck for testifying today.

I appreciate you doing that.

And we'll move on to the first item of business.

Buddy, do you mind reading into the record the first item of business?

And as we do that, if we could also be joined at the table by Director Garfinkel and Kareem from the Office of Labor Standards and give us a quick update on the Office of Labor Standards activities.

We will also soon be joined by Will Pitts, Gay Gilmore, and Marilyn Watkins.

If you are also here, you are welcome to join us at the table at this time.

Council Member, can I read items 1, 2, 3, all the appropriate items?

Please do.

Items 1 through 3 would be great.

Thank you, Farideh.

Agenda item 1, 2, 3. Appointments of Gay Gilmore, William Pitts, and Marilyn Watkins for members of the Labor Standards Advisory Commission for term to April 30, 2021. For briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Well, welcome.

Good to see you guys.

Happy Labor Day to you at the Office of Labor Standards.

We do have three great appointments that we're going to talk about today.

Before we get into that, I would love the chance to hear from both of you about what the Labor Standards Advisory Commission has been up to.

If you can give us a quick update and then I'll give a little background on the individuals that I know by way of introduction.

I have to pause on International Workers' Day.

As many of you know, it started 143 years ago in Chicago in support of a labor standard, the eight-hour day.

And of course, Seattle has followed quickly afterwards with its own labor standards.

And in recognition of that day, just so you know, our office emptied out for a day of outreach and education.

because we recognize that the vast majority of businesses want to comply and they sometimes need help in complying in understanding the laws.

So everyone in our office went out to all corners of Seattle, knocked on businesses, distributed literature, made sure they had our phone number.

I spent a wonderful day in D5.

And it was, we considered that our first annual OLS International Workers' Day.

But I'm really here to introduce Karim Levitas.

And due to the funding that you all provided last year, we were able to hire another policy analyst.

And Karim Levitas is that policy analyst.

And one of his jobs is going to be to staff the LSAC.

In the past, we were, staffing it with various people who pitched in, and now we have the capacity to have a dedicated person, which is really helpful to us.

Karim has actually been with OLS for almost three years, playing different roles.

mostly as an engagement and policy specialist, and has at times worked with LSAC, so he has some background with them.

Before he became an employee at OLS, he worked as an attorney for both workers and businesses, providing advice on wage and hour and discrimination and other employment laws.

So we're very lucky to have him, and he's a great person to be in that role.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Karen.

Thank you.

Thanks, Marty, for that introduction.

Just a few quick words.

As Marty mentioned, I've worked with LSAC on and off in different forms for many years, so I'm excited to have that role evolve and move into a more formal policy and programmatic support role.

And, you know, just briefly on LSAC, we're very appreciative at OLS for the expertise that the commissioners lend in terms of the realities of implementing labor standards for both businesses and workers.

They provided extremely valuable support in policy development, strategic enforcement and enforcement efforts, and our outreach efforts.

And they really serve as our sort of initial stakeholder group when we're talking about new policies and programs.

One LSAC initiative that I'll be working on in the near term is the, a subcommittee on misclassification, looking at the problem of misclassification and advising OLS on approaches.

And that's in direct response to the resolution that council passed a couple months ago calling on LSAC and OLS to look into that.

And thanks to Council Member Herbold for her work on that effort.

So I look forward to partnering with the new commissioners.

I'll be reaching out to set up meetings with both of you and to all of LSEC, and thanks for the time.

Well, thank you, and I'm very excited about your new role.

Thanks.

I'm so glad we did this the day after Labor Day.

It's really exciting to talk about the momentum in the city, as always.

So today we have the honor of putting forward three nominees for the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.

These three individuals will be replacing three commissioners, two of whom have termed out and one who took a new job.

So first I'd like to thank Rebecca Smith, if anybody has had the chance to work with Becky Smith at NELP.

Carino Barragan, formerly with Casa Latina, and Kellis Bork of ArchBright, and he was the co-chair of the commission.

I want to thank the three of them, Kellis, Carino, and Rebecca, for their service for the city and helping to launch the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.

And today we have three great individuals.

I'll start with the individual who's not here yet, and that's Will Pitts.

He will be aiming to serve in position nine.

I had the chance to work with Will when he was the former executive director at Washington Community Action Network.

We worked a lot on health care for all, always bringing up the labor priorities and worker perspective in those conversations.

He currently works at Teamsters Local 117 and brings a long history of working with unions, non-profits, and community organizations.

I know my staff, Chief of Staff Sejal Parikh worked with him on the $15 an hour fast food strikes in 2013. And I'm really excited about the work that Will is currently engaged in in ride sharing and TNCs as we consider how labor protections impact independent contractors and address issues of misclassification.

So since Will's not here, you may have more to share, but I just wanted to provide that background.

Really excited to see Gay Gilmore again, who's seeking position 11. Gay is the co-founder of Optimism Brewing Company up on Capitol Hill.

Huge Unapologetic plug for optimism.

Thank you for all of the work that you did, especially in 2017 when we had the chance to work with you when I was running.

And you were very welcoming, not just in terms of a space, but sharing ideas about how we could lift up workers and small business owners at the same time and make it workable for small business owners, including things like how do we improve zoning and permitting, which is something that we know many small businesses deal with.

So I want to thank you for your leadership with helping to be a high road employer, paying workers $20 an hour, making sure they have 100% medical leave and dental vision paid for, medical and dental paid for.

So thank you for that.

And for your leadership in how we continue to improve labor standards, we always talk about the law is only as good as the paper it's written on if it can't be implemented by our smallest businesses.

So thank you for helping to make that possible.

And Marilyn Watkins, I had the chance to work with Marilyn over the last, I don't know, 10 years or so.

She's seeking the position for number 13. And Marilyn is the policy director at the Economic Opportunity Institute.

I've had the chance to work with Marilyn for, well, eight of the ten years that it took us to get paid family medical leave passed.

Minimum wage and sick leave passed through initiative 1433. Thanks for your leadership and expertise on that.

And then in past work on passing the equal pay legislation, Marilyn is truly a walking dictionary and thesaurus and legal resource when it comes to labor standards implementation.

I have to say this because, again, Chief of Staff Parikh wrote this in.

She, Marilyn, graduated from the greatest university in the country, University of Michigan.

Go blue.

That's what it says.

Uh-oh, uh-oh, I started something.

So just want to say thanks both to Marilyn, to Gay, and to Will for their interest in serving.

And maybe I could turn it over to the nominees for their comments.

And Gay and Marilyn, if you guys would like to share more about what interests you, what your background is, and why you are looking forward to serving on LSAC.

Thank you, Teresa.

I'm not used to mics.

Do you have to push a little closer?

There we go.

Oh, thank you.

Thanks so much for that lovely introduction.

I think I was asked, as you mentioned, to be on the committee because I am one of those small business owners.

And we do try to lead by example, paying $20 an hour, giving health, dental, vision.

We practice secure scheduling, even though we are a small business and are not required to, and we provide vacation and sick leave to our workers as well.

It's all very rare in our industry, which is really that hospitality and service industry, as well as manufacturing.

But the real reason why I accepted this is not just because I want to spread what we do to other small businesses.

I do believe that we can spread them not just by example, but by having the right economic incentives and the right structural or legislative ones.

And so I want to help influence that.

I care more about labor standards now that I'm an actual employer.

It's what small businesses, one of their great prides is employing people and knowing that they are giving, making families happen, allowing people to survive and live.

It's a great pride.

something I never really considered until I was the one cutting the checks for those individuals.

I've lived in Seattle for more than 30 years, and I started working in the technology sector.

So I also know and care a lot about what's happening in the city.

So it's not just what happens to the lowest level workers, but to also the workers who are the highest paid.

And there's different things that we can do for both sorts of businesses.

And I really just want to thank Teresa, and I really look forward to giving back to this city that I've lived in for a long time, and hope my kids will grow up and stay in, too.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Gay.

Hi, Marilyn.

Hi.

Just push this little button.

There you go.

There you go.

Thank you so much for the introduction and it's great to be here and it has been wonderful to work with Councilmember Mosqueda over so many years on so many fronts as well as Councilmember Bagshaw.

And I really appreciate being nominated to this position.

I've worked in advancing high road labor standards for about 20 years now.

And I just wanted to highlight two of the things that I've really learned during that time.

And the first one is how important it is to really involve a wide variety of voices in crafting policy, including small business owners at the table.

including the lowest wage workers and workers up and down the economic ladder at the table, as well as starting to work from the very beginning of policy development with the implementing agency.

both of those things are really critically important to developing really good policy that's going to be effective and well implemented and also following through after a policy is passed through the whole implementation process and beyond and evaluating are also critically important elements.

And I think That is what helped make the Seattle paid sick and safe leave policy successful and really a national model.

Seattle's first big foray into labor standards back in 2011. And it was also what was really made our ability to pass paid family and medical leave through the state legislature in a really bipartisan fashion.

And it looks like we're already a model nationally on that as well, even though that program isn't even fully implemented yet.

So I'm really excited about being able to work again more closely with the city and on developing labor standards.

I've lived here for 40 years now.

really want to help continue to make Seattle, maintain Seattle and its leadership in terms of making this really a city that everyone can live and work in and thrive in.

Wonderful.

Questions for the nominees?

Actually, it's not a question, two comments.

First of all, I really do acknowledge the amount of work both of you have done and I want to just start, Marilyn, and tell you something.

How grateful I've been for your leadership in this arena.

2011 paid sick leave here in council chambers.

I talked to you the night before the vote and at that time I was still thinking this has to be a statewide effort.

We can't do it alone.

We kept hearing from businesses but also thinking about what Bellevue would do and what the reaction was.

You were the one that convinced me and you said, if Seattle doesn't do it, the state will never do it.

So I just want to acknowledge how much I've appreciated you and your voice.

So thank you for being willing to serve on this board and just how much you've meant.

And Gay, so since we're shamelessly plugging your beautiful place, it was interesting that I have a next door neighbor who has two small kids and I believe you open it up on Sunday morning and allow families to come up and that they do that and just say, it is so great and your people are so gracious to the families and they can do a birthday party or have a brunch and have a place where they can be.

So thank you for optimism.

Thank you for what you're doing.

And I really think that it's, and then just the fact that you're caring so much for your workers, it's really a model that we all acknowledge and thank and know that that's not easy, but I'd appreciate the work you're doing.

And thank you for being willing to serve on this board.

Thank you so much.

If there's no more questions, are there any other comments that you would like to make or OLS?

Okay.

We know that the LSAC committee has had both a lot on its plate and also, you know, that has meant that the work plan is never ending.

If there's things that come up in your conversations, if there's additional assistance that you all need, please make sure to reach out to us and let us know how things are going.

We want to make sure that this is both a productive body for your time and that it results in additional policy changes and consideration.

Every piece of legislation is not flawless.

We have to continue to update it.

So as you think about implementation, as you hear real-life experience, please continue to let us know what we can do to advance some of the policy changes that will be needed.

And just thank you again for your interest in serving.

At this time, I would like to move the committee recommend the confirmation of Will Pitts, Gay Gilmore, and Marilyn Watkins to serve on the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.

Second.

Any other comments?

All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

None?

No abstentions?

You guys unanimously are moving on to the full council meeting on May 6th.

We will see you and you are not required.

You are not required to be on there on May 6. We always welcome you if you would like to be there, but just and we know you're so incredibly busy too.

So we will look forward to passing your final confirmation on May 6 at full committee.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Wonderful.

So let's move on to the fourth item of business.

Farideh, thanks for reading into the record the fourth item of business.

And while you do that, if we can have Dr. Khan join us at the table along with anybody else who's interested in being here for that.

Agenda item number four, appointment of Amara Khan as Director of the Office of Employee Ombud for a briefing discussion and possible vote.

Wonderful.

Thank you, Farideh.

And welcome, Dr. Khan.

So good to see you.

Thank you so much for being here, Deputy Mayor.

If we could have folks maybe introduce themselves for the record.

Deputy Mayor, maybe we can start with you and then come this way.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Shefali Ranganathan with the mayor's office.

Good morning.

Hi, my name is Amara Han.

Excellent.

And Farideh, do you want to introduce yourself as well as a member of the IDT?

Farideh Cuevas in Councilor Mosqueda's office and also part of the IDT.

So thank you so much for being here.

Very excited to have you in front of us today.

And as you were walking up, our colleagues were commenting on the impressive portfolio that was submitted along with your name for this nomination.

I want to take a quick second to acknowledge the path in which it took for us to get here.

After many months, over four months, the Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Interdepartmental Team, or the IDT as Farideh said, was formed to identify and address areas for improvement to make recommendations to establish an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for all city employees.

It was with the input from folks directly on the ground level, and I know Dr. Kahn and you and I have had a chance to talk about the a very impressive product that came from that conversation, 34 recommendations, 126 strategies, carefully deliberated, informed by lived experience with the intent to truly create policies and practices that respond and help actually prevent harassment, intimidation, discrimination in the workplace.

The recommendations, I think, embody our effort to truly move forward with a more transparent, accountable, and committed workplace so that everybody can feel safe when they come to work, especially in the City of Seattle.

One of those key recommendations, just one of the 34 recommendations, was the creation of a central hub that should be independent and used as a resource for employees to receive assistance in understanding and assessing their options, to have an advocate and a resource to address any personnel issues that have come up, any cultures of intimidation or harassment, and making sure that we're creating this central hub that could be accessed by all employees, being the Office of the Employee Ombud.

I'm really, really pleased by what I've heard so far from folks who participated in the Interdepartmental Task Force in their interview with you.

I think all of us on Council really take the recommendations of frontline workers, silence breakers, change team makers and the folks who've been living this day in and day out to heart when recommendations come forward.

And the recommendation that I've heard from you was overwhelming support.

So you come highly recommended from members of the IDT, silence breakers, key stakeholders, including our friends in labor.

And I've really enjoyed our conversations, very quick conversations, but in your vision that you've talked about.

So welcome to the table, and happy to have you here.

Did you have other comments as well?

Just a quick introduction.

Okay, go ahead.

Good morning, Council Member Mosqueda, Juarez, and Bagshaw.

It is my great pleasure to submit for your consideration the nomination of Dr. Amara Khan to be the very first director of our newly minted Office of the Employee Ombud.

As you referenced, this is the culmination of more than a year's work to make sure that we have a independent, neutral place for employees to bring their concerns and share those with the Office of the Ombud.

Dr. Mara Khan's you know, her decades of experience in this work, particularly in the space of conflict management.

She is a trained expert in race and social justice, and she has a deep understanding of how the intersectionality impacts harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

I echo what you said, Council Member.

I had the opportunity to be on the interview panel and the recommendation was unanimous for Dr. Khan's name for consideration.

Just a quick brief update on the process.

We conducted a national search, received about 127 applicants, and forwarded three for further consideration.

Members of the IDT interviewed those applicants, our friends from labor, as well as someone from your staff was on that panel.

The mayor also consulted with folks from the change teams and other affinity groups before she made her final decision.

And, you know, we're pleased that Amara emerged as the top contender for that search.

So thank you for all your effort, Council Member Musqueda, as we stand up this office and continue to advance a more equitable workplace.

Thank you so much.

I'll also note for the viewing audience and for our colleagues here at the table, Dr. Khan has provided comprehensive answers to the various questions that we submitted.

Thank you so much for including those.

and for your very thoughtful answers, especially around trauma-informed service.

So we will turn it over to you.

If you could just give us a little bit of background on who you are, the perspective that you carry into this work, and really what you're looking forward to in serving in this position.

Thank you again.

You know, every time you hear other people introduce you, it's such a humbling moment.

But I want to share with the respective panel here.

I'm an anthropologist by training.

I study culture.

And I didn't realize until literally embracing this role and presenting myself for how important that core training and understanding is. organizational and people's culture is to who I am today.

Because so much of this work is going to be informed by who we are as people, and not just working for the city, but as a community.

I want to be a student of that culture.

I want to study it.

I want to be informed by it.

I want to respond to it.

And that's going to be the core of my service to this city.

I will respond to the needs of the community members on a daily basis.

I've worn a lot of hats in my career.

I've been an international aid worker.

I have served higher ed.

I've been a teacher.

I write curriculum.

I was with the Renton School District as their chief equity officer.

And the one thing that's been consistent in my work is the ability to introduce humanity and grace into conflict.

Conflict is natural.

It happens.

We cannot avoid it.

In fact, organizations suffer more when there's a culture of conflict avoidance.

But how do we engage in conflict from a place of acknowledging people's humanity, knowing that we are imperfect beings, but also holding each other accountable for a very high standard of service and commitment to each other.

So that's really my philosophy and that's what I'm hoping to serve the city with.

So, one important thing that I think the mayor's office and deputy mayor and the council would all agree on is when we were crafting this position, one important thing that we heard was it's important to have independence.

So, while you're sitting with city council members and members of the executive team, can you talk a little bit more about how you'll help to ensure that the workers across the city understand that, you know, this is not going to be overseen by any sort of political influence.

This is truly a body that you will have direction on what's your vision for how you both run that and communicate that?

Yeah, I think communicating how the office is going to function and what kind of services we can and cannot offer is going to be a critical part of launching the office.

I shared in my answers, I intend to spend six to eight weeks in just making myself available through listening sessions.

I have no problem spending an entire day with folks learning what their needs are and also communicating what this office would do, how it would serve.

There are legal and function-related parameters that people need to understand.

And independence is a critical part of it.

So one of the things that I learned very quick is that there are clearly gaps in the way people are being served right now.

So the creation of the office in itself is testament to the fact that people need something new, reliable, and obstacle-free.

So independence is kind of built into the DNA of this office.

And a lot, so honoring that need is going to be my job.

And I am very comfortable sharing that for me independence is as much a function as it is a personal principle for me in my duty as the ombuds for the city.

So one of the things that I've shared with community members is that perhaps if people understand what our threshold for care is, they would understand that independence is somewhat guaranteed through that.

So we are not adjudicators.

We are not judge or jury.

My office would not be determining so much right versus wrong, but our job is to, when someone walks in, that's enough evidence for us to know that a harm has occurred.

Very few people just walk around complaining because they have nothing else to do.

So our threshold for care is literally very accessible.

You walk in, you state what's been on your mind, what has harmed you, that's enough for us to know and we will try to engage both parties in order to remedy that harm.

It is not in our interest to find out who the villain is.

It's more important that we just acknowledge that people every day are carrying a lot of hurt, disrespect in their heart, and they need a forum where that's acknowledged, affirmed, addressed, and if possible, through discourse, remedied.

Questions from our colleagues.

Quick comment.

Thank you for coming and spending so much time with me on Tuesday.

So she was, I think, planning to come and talk to me for about 15 or 20 minutes, and I think I kept you for long over an hour.

I was just stunned by your sense of compassion towards this job and really appreciated the fact that you talked so deeply and honestly about the respect that you quickly can garner from people.

There was no doubt in my mind that you've had tons of experience in that and that you'll provide a safe place for people.

And like you just said, you're not there to look for villains, but that you can hear from whether it's just both sides or all sides.

And I am delighted that you are going to be our first director in this position.

So thank you so much.

And I think my office has already reached out to schedule some more time with you.

Thank you.

I really appreciate your comment.

Dr. Kahn, thank you.

We had a chance to, first of all, your confirmation packet is very impressive, and you look so young.

It's a compliment.

You answered the 13 questions that we put forward to you, and I want to say that all the time that I've been looking at confirmation packets, and sometimes we present a lot of questions to candidates on all kinds of things, it was really refreshing to read your responses because they weren't just technical technocrat, you actually, I actually could read through what you were talking about building trust and having grace.

And as Council Member Bagshaw and I, as former lawyers, know that conflict is just a natural human condition.

You can't please everybody, but what you were saying about injecting, you know, humanity and grace into that and consensus and having an open door.

And most of all, what struck me is, wonderful, which we don't hear a lot at this table.

It's just the humanity piece, but also about building trust, that there's a place people can go to talk about, like you said, you're not judge, jury, and executioner.

You're here to say, I need to know, kind of almost a healing aspect, and I really appreciate that.

So I'll be in your office next week.

So one of the things I'm interested in, in your conversations with workers, with folks who are in management, with us, with the folks in the executive team, what sort of, are there a few themes that have come up, interesting anecdotes or issues that you're hoping to tackle in the first six months?

You talked a little bit about what the first six months looks like, but are there any things that have risen up from the conversations that you've had that you think are important to shed light on?

I think, again, you know, like I shared my background in anthropology, I study people, I study culture, and even during all the various stages of interview, my sense was that there's a pattern to what kind of conflicts exist in this community, and I'm a newcomer.

I might be terribly wrong about this, but this is an observation from a professional standpoint.

And I could, in my heart, I could sense that there is a certain kind of disrespect that's at the heart of some of what people are carrying in their heart.

And it's usually disrespect towards a certain kind of body, a certain shade of body, perhaps accent, a lot of stuff related to power and status.

And those are consistent with all big organizations, big or small actually.

And perhaps that's why it is so much more of a mission than just a job for me to invite people to understand that power and influence and privilege does impact certain kind of people and certain kind of bodies.

in that much more deeper way because they have been deprived of opportunity and privilege for a sustained amount of time.

So what I observed is actually no different from my observation in other places.

It's just that my awareness of what people have shared and what they will likely share only solidifies my perspective that when there are so many people voicing their hurt and it's already, it's a movement, it has momentum, it's only fair that we multiply the number of resources that exist to honor and remedy that hurt.

I'm just going to be one of that resource, and I will make sure that I work as a collaborator with all the other people who are holding this container.

But really, you can't just keep asking people to speak up and not provide avenues for them to be heard.

So I'm honored that I'll be one of those safe places.

Yeah.

Thank you for that.

One of the things that we talked about in the consideration of the ombud office as a whole is not just how we provide assistance to the individual, but how we look at exactly what you just said, the patterns, and identify what those patterns really say in terms of what policy changes need to be put into place and what trainings need to be put into place to prevent that type of behavior on the front end and to prevent, you know, maybe inappropriate comments from escalating to inappropriate action.

So really looking forward to hearing from you about the policy recommendations, the training recommendations, and the retraining so that it's this continual education cycle that we're going through.

Because as we know, people learn things and then they need to relearn them and times change and our expectations and norms.

And and behavior should change as well So looking forward to hearing more from you.

I think we will hear from you at the end of the summer from policy recommendations Lastly for anyone who is watching out there who happens to work in the city and is excited about this office excited about you excited about the recommendations from the IDT and Can you talk a little bit about confidentiality and some of the strategies you may be thinking of so that there's not a hesitation?

They could be excited but still fearful to come forward.

Can you talk a little bit about what you'd like to consider or to put in place to address confidentiality?

I think it is precisely for that reason to build trust, not just about the institution of the Ombuds, but also who I am and who my team would be.

That's why I want to spend time going to people, having them come to me prior to even opening the gates and inviting people and starting case management.

It's a very intentional effort on my part to let people know what the process would be and how confidentiality could or couldn't be ensured.

So there is the question of what is our intent.

Our intent is offering people absolute safety, trust, and affirmation, but there are legal limitations.

So the only time we would ever reveal someone coming to us if we are compelled by the law.

But other than that, I am already working with various stakeholders and colleagues around the city on brainstorming ideas on how to make sure that people who come to me come with confidence, they leave with confidence, their information is secure.

And so within the parameters of the law, I have, I can give people my commitment that they, we would do everything legally possible to ensure that their information.

But that said, I'm also very committed to, you know, supporting the city in its reform and growth effort.

So what people share with us would be part of our data in the sense that we would read trends, we would read what kind of patterns of behavior are toxic, we would And I will be, I'm a very transparent person, I'm a very transparent leader.

You'll have to hold me back from sharing what I'm seeing so we can change our practice, we can change policy.

And so far I feel so encouraged by all colleagues, all different levels of leadership, People want to know what's going on and how we correct it.

So I'm going to balance the confidentiality piece with data analysis and learning so that people's stories don't come to die in that data.

They live and we learn from them.

Yeah.

Well, if there's no other questions, I want to thank you for your interest in doing this.

I know that you had a very great job as well before this, and to take on both this challenge and opportunity is something that we really appreciate.

So thank you for putting your name forward.

I want to thank the mayor and the mayor's office for your extensive search.

We were really excited about the process that you went through and an inclusion of the IDT folks at the table.

And the result is very impressive, so thank you very much.

I want to thank members of the IDT, including Federica Cuevas from our office, who was part of the interdepartmental task force.

And to reiterate something that you said when we met with Dr. Khan, the work of the IDT is not over.

This was one of the recommendations, and it's really important that we continue to lift up and give voice and opportunity for those recommendations to come to full fruition, so really thankful for their ongoing work.

We know we have your biggest supporter in the audience as well, but I know that there's more people out there who are supporting you in this effort.

So I would like to go ahead and move that the committee recommends the confirmation of Dr. Amara Khan as the Director of the Office of the Employee Ombud.

Second.

Any other comments?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Opposed?

None.

No abstentions.

It's unanimous.

We will bring forward your recommendation for full confirmation to the full council committee meeting on May 6. Would love to have you there.

You would get a chance to say a few words if you're able and interested.

And really thank you again for your intense work.

We know we will see you often.

Thank you so much for being here.

Okay.

Let's move on to the fifth item of business.

Thank you, Shefali.

Thank you guys.

All right.

Agenda item five, hotel workers and industry standards for briefing and discussion.

Very excited.

People are still reeling from how exciting that was.

Thank you.

Okay.

So we have the opportunity to now have our second hearing of many on the issue of hotel worker safety and standards.

We have the opportunity to hear today from Anna Boone from the Seattle Hotel Association, Shannon Sharon from Hotel Sorrento, Catherine Barajas from Hyatt, Marcus Trepauer from Fairmont Olympic Hotel, and Masab Elhimir from Seattle Marriott Waterfront.

I would love to have you guys join me at the table and for you all to introduce yourselves as well because I am sure I did not say some of those names correctly and I apologize for that.

Being on the receiving end of having my name mispronounced all the time, I apologize for any mispronunciations.

Hi, Anna.

Welcome.

So, we're really excited to have you all here.

Thank you so much.

As the council colleagues know, this item is on our agenda for pretty much the next three months or so as we work through policy considerations.

Very, very excited to have you all join us at the table today.

And Anna, we'll probably go ahead and start with you by way of introduction and then go down to the table and then I have a few comments before you get started.

Just one more time, Anna.

My name is Shannon Sharon, and I am the president of the Seattle Hotel Association, as well as the managing director of Hotel Sorrento.

Thank you.

I'm Catherine Barajas, and I'm the area director of colleague culture for Hyatt.

I'm Asad Bilhimri, director of operations, Seattle Marriott Waterfront.

Good morning, I'm Marcus Trepenhaar, the general manager at the Olympic.

Great.

Well, thank you all for being here.

And this is really exciting.

Four weeks ago, we did have a chance to have a hearing as well with some of the workers in the hotel industry.

They sat at the table and talked about some of their experiences, the desire to have stronger worksite protections.

And today, we're really excited to hear from you, leaders in the industry, to talk about your experiences so far with implementation of Initiative 124 and your recommendations for how we can continue to make improvements.

As I said earlier with our friends from the Office of Labor Standards, at the table.

We know that any piece of legislation, and this applies to initiatives as well, there's always the need to look at how it's implemented in real life and what strategies could be implemented to make it better for workers and those who are making the implementation happen as the employers.

So excited to hear from you.

Excited that after the initiative was passed, the Seattle Restaurant Alliance and the Hotel Association advocated for the panic buttons at the state level.

Basic worker protection makes a lot of sense and very, very excited to see that advocacy happen in our state capitol.

So thank you for being here with us today and for sharing your experiences.

Anna, if you want to maybe kick us off with a little overview and then we'll go down the line.

Yes, absolutely.

And actually, I asked our So I'm going to turn it over to one of the panelists here today to share a little bit about their backgrounds and how they got into the industry, because I think that provides some great context for the conversation we're having.

So if you don't mind, I'll pass it over to Shannon.

Great.

Thank you.

And thank you very much for this opportunity to meet, to discuss this very urgent and important topic.

Out of the Marine Corps, I needed a job that would allow me to work flexible hours, mostly evenings.

And not knowing much about it, I took a job and was grateful to have a job that worked with my school schedule.

And I started as a, at the time it was referred to as a bus boy, but bus person.

I have done almost every job in the industry.

Really with the exception of engineering.

So started as a food server, worked my way through the rooms department, sales, and just really have a well-versed understanding of almost every classification of job in our industry.

Thank you.

I actually started, my interest in hospitality actually first started growing up.

I grew up on a wheat farm in eastern Washington.

I grew up driving crombine and eventually became head cook for our harvest crew, and that really kind of sparked my interest in serving and being in this industry.

So my first position was actually as a PBX operator.

I then worked through college as a restaurant hostess, a breakfast bar attendant, so to speak, getting up very early before classes, and really helped put me through college as well.

Out of college, I actually was able to join Hyatt in our management training program, which was a fantastic opportunity.

What I most appreciated is we rotated throughout every department, and I had the opportunity to work side by side in every position within the hotel.

So some great exposure before I went into my HR field that I'm in now.

Hello.

So, I'm going to take you back a little bit.

Let's get a little closer.

There you go.

So, I'm going to go back a little bit further than when I started in the industry.

Again, my name is Misable Henry.

I was born in the Middle East, and unfortunately due to conflicts in the Middle East, I did have to leave.

Traveled between countries in the Middle East, and then I was lucky enough to come to this state as an undocumented immigrant.

Upon arrival, we got help from the local community.

It was, you know, great to see the community pull together, something that was very new to us as we learned the culture and learned the language.

And unfortunately, in early 2000s, my parents were deported.

I was, as an undocumented immigrant, I didn't have anywhere to be deported to, so they couldn't really kick me out.

They were stuck with me here.

Of course.

Yeah.

Yeah, and so I was in high school at this time when my parents were deported, so I was here on my own.

And, you know, a lot of mixed emotions during that time, going from having a family here with now siblings that were born in Seattle, that were raised in Seattle, that had to leave all of a sudden.

They had to leave due to their age.

They weren't forced to leave, obviously, but I was the one that couldn't leave at that time.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see my parents for almost 10 years until I got a refugee travel document and was finally able to see them, was able to go and visit them.

So that was great.

But during that time, when I was in high school, I did have the opportunity to intern in exchange for some credit, for some school credit, Highline High School.

And that was my first exposure to the hotel industry.

And it was great exposure.

I fell in love with it right away.

Had the opportunity to work in many different roles, which I really enjoyed.

And luckily, that summer, I did get a work authorization permit, which allowed me to work.

So that summer, I did apply and got my first job as a dishwasher.

From there, I moved on to housekeeping, worked in various roles, security and valet, shuttle driver.

Started off primarily in the SeaTac area, but made my way into the downtown area, where I worked at the Westin Seattle, was a union member for quite some time, and continued to go into community college, Highline Community College.

Spent six years getting my two-year degree.

And then I was lucky to get into the University of Washington, where I continued working in the industry, moving my way up, and graduated finally in 2013 with my bachelor's.

During that time, just kept on working in multiple roles.

Didn't know that I wanted to be in the hotel industry, but really enjoyed it.

And yeah, working with people, that's really what got me to stay in the industry.

And now I'm the Director of Operations, again, at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront.

Good morning.

Yeah, similar to many of the panelists, I'm also not American.

I'm German.

I grew up in Europe.

And I've worked in four different countries until I came to Seattle four years ago.

I think similar to everybody on the panel, I've taken great pride throughout my 25-year career to have really worked in every position in the hotel.

I think this is what makes hotels so unique, that you have to have the hands-on experience to be a better manager.

I've been a housekeeper, I've been a room attendant, I've worked in the kitchen.

I've worked in stewarding, so I've done the work and I think the pride I take and I think it's so meaningful for this conversation is that managers have a good understanding of what those employees go through really on a day-to-day.

I think if you haven't done it, it's very difficult to judge, I think, what an everyday looks like for an employee at the hotel.

So, but I think all that experience helps us to provide input.

Thank you.

And before we dive into 124 specific, I'd ask Shannon to lead us through a conversation about who we are, what Seattle Hotel Association is.

And then we'll ask all of the panelists to chime in on a conversation around some opportunities we see with improvements to the law.

Excuse me.

And leave plenty of time for questions from you all.

Sounds good.

So thank you.

So we are here representing the Seattle Hotel Association.

That is a collection of over 80 hotels in the downtown or Seattle area.

So what we represent is really the promotion of a healthy and vibrant workforce.

We obviously have an economic tax benefits to our community.

We also provide training.

Training is a really pretty significant part of what we do and who we are.

So training individual brands and best practice, and also the promotion of upward mobility.

So everyone sitting at this table started at an entry level.

We started in hourly, we started in the dishwashing areas at the front desk.

in housekeeping and in these very, very entry-level positions.

So that is what we represent and what we've learned, and we'll go through that shortly.

And really this initiative is really we are here to promote the highest and best standards for our industry, both city and beyond.

So there is also a state and national association that we have some best practice sharing.

And so really we're eager and excited to talk through this initiative and let you know that we represent the over 80 hotels attending to and complying with the ordinance.

Excellent.

Thank you.

So over 80 hotels you said are represented?

That's correct.

And currently complying with the initiative.

Okay.

Excellent.

Go ahead, Anna.

Sure, I think we'll go ahead.

And you mentioned our support for the state bill, so thank you for recognizing that.

And for those in the audience who don't know, in this legislative session, there was a bill that was passed that extends the panic button requirement to hotel workers statewide, but also some other industries.

But I will let Shannon and Catherine expand a bit on our commitment to employee safety and touch on panic buttons further.

And was that passed on a bipartisan basis?

I believe so.

So I think, you know, when we look at this ordinance, we really start with safety.

Safety is sort of the centerpiece of what was intended and what we've all adopted.

I think that we have been out front really at the inception of this law that we are in support of panic buttons, we are in support of safety, safety in all of the realms that's ongoing training as well.

So you can have some equipment, you can have some process, but if you're not refocusing and retraining your associates, for those very unusually needed periods, then it cannot be, it's not top of mind.

So there are some best practices.

Catherine really leads a large organization and I'm gonna let her sort of dive into some of the spirit that we've all adopted and best practice.

Thank you.

As one of the larger employers here in the city, it was of utmost importance that we implemented the safety buttons, and we were actually proud to start that process before I-124 came along.

Hyatt is one of the many employers who's part of the AHLA Five Star Promise to implement panic buttons across the country.

So this is something that's been important to us for a long time, and ensuring that our employees had those buttons available to them and continue to is really of the utmost importance.

Regardless of the law, even with the Senate bill being passed, this is something that's critical to us as an organization, and I think together with the Seattle Hotel Association really feel strongly and 100% support the use of panic buttons for our employees working in guest rooms alone, whether that's a room attendant, it could be an in-room dining server.

There's multiple positions that this could impact, and we truly hope that they never have to press that button.

That's the goal, is that that never happens, but that we provide the training and the support and the ongoing education to ensure that they do know what they need to do and that it stays top of mind if and when a button ever needs to be pressed.

So we're proud to be part of that.

I think in addition to that, this is just one element of our safety programs.

So there is some ongoing training related to other hazards and lifts and certainly chemical, which is included in there as well.

So panic buttons are truly just one element of the areas that we consistently train all of our associates on.

Thank you, Shannon.

Do you want to use this as an opportunity to talk about the best training as well?

Yeah, so I think, you know, another element that is, and again, this isn't really to self promote, it's just simply factual.

Seattle Hotel Association has reached out where there is a need in our community and attempted and endeavored and had success in strengthening through our community outreach.

So currently, We have, we are partnered with Stolen Youth, Stolen Youth Endeavors.

They're an umbrella organization that endeavors to end human trafficking.

And so for about a decade, we have been involved with BESS, which is Businesses to End Human Trafficking.

And it's a training that was created really for hotels.

but it's now been adopted by the port and other agencies.

It really helps identify risk symptoms and signs of those being held under duress and without their consent.

particularly focused on youth.

And so Stolen Youth, it was a great partner.

We raised just under $600,000 this year and continue to be a broad support to them.

Through the years, other charities that we have raised millions for include Mary's Place.

And again, I think that We are so very proud of the work that they do and the partnership that we have created with them.

Pike Place Foundation, we have also supported other agencies, but really this training that BEST did, we just recently did it a couple of weeks ago at the Silver Cloud.

What we've been able to create through the relationship is no cost, no fee for these hotels to voluntarily have their associates trained and their leaders trained on these really important identification components.

And so that is something that didn't start yesterday.

We've really been in direct partnership and alignment for over a decade.

Just a quick question on the Stolen Youth effort.

So I used to be on the Human Trafficking Task Force that is run at the University of Washington Women's Center.

Dr. Sutapa Basu is the auntie of one of our staff members.

And one of the things that we talked a lot about was the prime locations where individuals may have the opportunity to intervene when somebody has been human trafficked.

And we focused a lot on the medical industry, the doctors, the providers, nurses.

So did you say that your team, your staff, is trained in identifying potential individuals who have been victims of human trafficking?

That have and are currently being victimized.

Okay.

Okay, great.

Thank you for that.

I wasn't aware.

Certainly.

Thank you.

So, as I mentioned at the outset, we're really interested in finding solutions on some of the challenges as we spent the last two and a half years implementing I-124 and really seeing how that works in terms of operations.

And so, you know, as you know from their introductions, we have subject matter experts here.

So, I think we're going to focus right now on the medical coverage piece and then speak a little bit about the room cleaning piece.

Happy to take questions or discuss anything else of interest to you all.

So I will pass it over to Catherine to speak to medical coverage.

Thank you.

As an employer implementing the medical coverage portion of I-124, I think one of the things that we learned as part of that implementation and the way that the rule process implemented the law is there was an unfortunate circumstance of having a cash incentive to opt out of the medical coverage.

So our employers within the association offering high-quality, low-cost coverage if someone were to opt out, they had a cash incentive to do so.

And those amounts were often a significant portion, oftentimes providing them as much, if not more, of their normal compensation for the cash payout that would be the equivalent for their medical coverage.

So part of our recommendation and part of what we would like to see is if an employee is offered that coverage, that there is not an option to then decline it and still be additionally compensated.

We have employees who receive coverage from other places, whether they're still covered from their parents' plan, their spouse, domestic partner.

We have employees who receive coverage through the military.

There's a variety of sources where, or another employer for that matter, they do have medical coverage that an employer then who offers it and they decline should then not be obligated to provide that additional compensation.

So quick question.

And I had the chance to have a healthcare background and sit on the exchange board and implement the Affordable Care Act here in Washington State.

And one of the things that I think is not well understood is that when an employer offers health coverage, there is not, in theory, at this point, you never know what's happening in D.C., but there is not, and there is not supposed to be, according to the law, there are supposed to be firewalls.

And I think it's just really important that we're making sure that, you know, there's no misperceptions out there about people thinking, oh, gosh, should I decline this coverage?

Because I might, you know, I might not be able to do it.

And I think it's just really important that we're making sure that, you know, there's no misperceptions out there about people thinking, oh, gosh, should I decline this coverage?

be again subject to some other scrutiny whether it's verification of documentation or just even if they are documented or citizens people get very nervous about being on government lists and things like that.

Is there anything that you've heard either anecdotally about people being concerned about that or are you guys doing anything to help make sure that people know that people shouldn't fear signing up for healthcare if that is a concern?

That is not something that I specifically have heard.

I'll defer to my other people here if they've heard of that, but it's definitely not part of the process that they have to declare citizenship status, and it's definitely not a concern that I've heard within my hotels.

No, and I could echo that for us.

I mean, I think generally I would say that this is a great part of the law and the implementation.

I think it's been incredibly well received, but I think there is this gap of this cash incentive or the gap that we in fact pay a subsidy for somebody that have a spouse working for us and is hence covered.

So I think there is that minor gap.

I think other than that, no, I have not heard that particular piece either.

I think one of the things that I just wanted to add to is intimately knowing that calculation and how it works, which it is a complicated calculation, it unfortunately also incents people to declare themselves as smokers.

The calculation does provide greater compensation.

if you are a smoker because the cost of your coverage is more substantial.

So there's some other unfortunate, again, just side effects of the way it's written and how it's calculated if you are also a smoker.

Thank you.

And just so I'm clear, that was sort of something that got hashed out in rulemaking, correct?

It wasn't part of the initiative per se?

How to make the calculation.

Yes, although I believe the initiative requires it to be reflective of the cost to receive health insurance on the market and smoking is a consideration for that.

Okay, thank you for the reminder.

Other questions on the health care piece?

your employees have access to that.

Because it's been an issue, as you all well know, and to have high quality health care at a reasonable cost is something that matters a lot, particularly for people who are struggling just, I mean, to pay rent and to do all the things that this high cost of living city requires.

So I'm glad to hear that it's moving forward well.

Thank you.

If there are no other questions on that section, on room cleaning, I think we've acknowledged that every hotel is very different and it's hard to have a one-size-fits-all.

However, understanding the interest from this council in looking at regulating room cleaning in this legislation.

I think we have some suggestions on how to make that current process work better and some things that were maybe not considered in that initial draft that we've realized through implementation.

So I'm going to ask Mr. Saab if he'll speak a bit to some of those suggestions and impacts.

Thank you.

So the square footage at our property, I can't speak.

A little closer again, sorry.

The square footage, the rule around the square footage at our property really hasn't changed the number of rooms that the associates are cleaning.

Some of the challenges that we are facing is that some of our associates did like to work together where they would team up on a room.

If a room is 400 square feet, now it's not 200 for each, but it would be 400 for each.

So that really has limited their ability to work together to, you know, just for, you know, the sake of having somebody else inside the room with them and just to clean the room a little bit faster.

And the other, of course.

So I didn't quite understand what you were saying.

200 square feet and you can have one person, 400 square feet, you get two people.

No, so if one of our rooms is currently 400 square feet, prior to this initiative, our associates would just help each other clean rooms.

So we would have two housekeeping associates, which we were perfectly fine with.

We didn't have an issue with that.

and they would help each other clean the rooms.

In the current state, they're unable to do that because if two associates clean that room, it goes towards 400 square feet per associate.

That square footage is not divided amongst the two, so they're unable to do that anymore just in order to stay within their square footage that's allotted for the day.

I can maybe put that in different words.

So the way the law is written, it defines Well, you have to, if an employee cleans the guest room, the square footage of that guest room is part of that calculation and the maximum is 5,000 square feet in an eight-hour day.

And there's no mechanism if two employees clean that guest room to divide that square footage proportionally.

So you'd be allocating the full square footage of the room to each employee who cleaned it rather than splitting it.

a flaw in the law because I'm going to argue, and I think we've mentioned this before at this table, the two people can clean something and make a bed far faster than one person can.

So what would your recommendation be so that it's fair to both parties, whether you are an employer or an employee?

Yeah, I think there's a way to amend the language that just says if the guest room is serviced by more than one employee, then the square footage is divided proportionally for those employees.

And so that leaves the option without the unintended consequence of the additional square footage.

The language need to be changed?

Yeah, it'd be the underlying ordinance.

And we have some language we can share as a follow-up.

And the second item was that at our hotel specifically, we used to allow our associates to leave early.

If they finish their board, let's say in six or seven hours, we would pay them for the entire day because if they're finishing their board and their inspections are good and they're doing a great job, why not allow them to leave early?

Again, with the I-124, we're unable to do that as of right now because they do need to make sure that they meet those eight hours within the square footage.

And so now associates are cleaning the same amount of rooms, but they are making it stretch so that way they are there for the entire duration of the eight hours.

And that's one of the items that our associates have voiced that they're not necessarily in favor of.

Thank you.

What questions do you all have?

So what are the next steps for all of you?

So we have been providing this feedback to council, and we've met with Council Member Mosqueda, and I know there are a few offices looking right now, and maybe you can explain the process too, but at drafting and, you know, we're really hopeful that there's opportunity to provide, well, not only for us to provide these solutions, but to have those written into any new legislation that's considered by this council.

Great.

Council Member Muscatine, you may have missed something that I felt that Ms. Saab just brought up that I thought is a very good thing for us to pay attention to, that in their hotel, if the people who are cleaning the rooms get done faster than the eight hours, that they pay them for the full eight hours.

And they have in the past allowed them to leave early.

So if the standards are met and the rooms are done, that they get paid for the full eight hours, but they can leave.

Now under this rule, they can't.

And so some of the employees are saying that's an unintended consequence that isn't helping them.

And clearly, it's your goodwill that you're willing to do.

is extinguished by a law that's been passed that isn't meeting the needs of either employer or employee.

So I'd like to look into that.

That'd be great.

And just to add to some of the context here, so over the next few weeks slash two months, we're going to have the opportunity to have conversations with hoteliers, with the hotel workers, and the folks have been engaged in looking through various sections of the initiative to basically get at these questions.

What was the goal?

Are we able to accomplish it with the existing legislation?

And what if not, then how do we get to that?

So thank you for that addition.

I also want to note that that's the same for the healthcare piece that you mentioned.

I appreciate you sharing that.

And I was just going to add our appreciation that we are able to be at the table through this process.

And I think we're in a unique situation where we do have two years, two plus years of actually implementing this to understand what is working, what's not.

So we are very excited to help come up with solutions on the pieces that aren't.

I appreciate that too, the fact that you are here talking to us about it in a very collegial way so we can hear what your concerns are and that we can work together to move forward.

So I have a question for the five of you, anyone want to answer?

Are you seeing behaviors change?

Are people, I'm not talking employees here, I'm talking about our guests, are they acting better?

Are you having the problems?

I would, I don't know.

And I think that, and I'm sometimes not sure you can refer that back to the law.

I think we've always been focused on making sure our employees are safe.

So if there is behavior with our guests that is unsafe, we would have addressed this before.

I mean, this law addresses this, but you know, unfortunately or fortunately we have incidents of guests misbehaving and I think that has always happened.

and we've always addressed it.

So we've evicted people or, I mean, we have processes in place to address the safety of our colleagues at all times.

So I don't know if I, specifically for my hotel, I would not have seen a change in behavior.

I think to echo that is a lot of our guests are international.

They're traveling from other states.

They're not very familiar with the law.

So it is hard to pinpoint to say that, you know, this is making the behavior better or worse.

Kind of like my colleague mentioned, we do have systems in place, we do have trainings in place in order to handle any of those situations that arise.

people believed that the law was necessary.

If you have systems in place that you were addressing, let's just say the misbehaving guest behavior, that there must be other places that don't have systems in place because we heard a lot from people that were saying, you know, we feel vulnerable or people are not listening to us.

And so thank you for having systems in place.

Maybe you'll be the you know, that high standard that we're asking others to reach as well.

So I look forward to hearing if others come forward and say, yeah, we think that it's made a change.

So that, of course, is what the objective is, is people to be safe, feel safe, that your hotel is full and thriving.

And I'll just, oh, excuse me.

Go ahead.

I was just going to add that, you know, our commitment to panic buttons as a component of, you know, greater commitment to employee safety, that is not just, you know, the hoteliers represented here today, but that's on behalf of our entire association, so which represents hotels throughout the city.

So I think when you look at the industry in Seattle, that commitment to employee safety really And I think that's what holds true.

Thank you.

I appreciate Council Member Baggio, you lifting up those stories, because we've definitely heard stories in community settings and also at the table last month.

So thank you for acknowledging that.

And I do think there is something interesting, right?

Behavior might not have changed from the perspective of the owners of the hotel.

And you mentioned international guests and people coming in from other states.

I think one of the things that I heard from the workers was there is a sense of relief that they now know that if something does happen, there is a fallback for them, right?

They can come to you all and say, this happened and we really need action to take place.

I don't, you know, I don't pretend that any of our workplaces are free from harassment and intimidation.

Clearly, we have incidences here in City Hall where we feel like there's threats of either violence and I have not yet had the incident of being sexually harassed here at City Hall.

But we also have panic buttons right there under our desk, right here.

You know, it's a situation in which We want everyone to feel safe.

And if I don't feel safe, I've been able to go to our council president and say, I don't feel safe.

I feel like we need additional protocols.

And to know that that backing is there is really great.

And we have our friends from the security.

Thank you for being here.

So I think one take on that question is, something that we'll want to take forward in future conversations, knowing that there is that safety net for workers to have as a backstop so that if something does happen to them, they have a policy to rely on is really helpful.

And I like what you said about doing the trainings that you have, the panic buttons in place, and that you are doing everything you can to help your staff feel like they have the protocols, but that we can't really protect from inappropriate behavior from others.

And when that does happen, that they have someone and a policy to rely on is what's going to be critical, I think, for us going forward to ensure that those policies stay in place and that they're workable.

Council Member Juarez, you will have the final question here for us.

Thank you.

Just I'll be brief.

So someone who's been working on this and looking at this since the spring of 2016 to when we actually crafted it and it was passed to get on the November ballot.

I know you talked a lot, we've talked a lot offline, but just to be candid, what parts of it, I mean, the intent of the law was to protect the workers.

That was one of the main safety features.

And I know that you challenged the law, and you guys, it's obviously pending, and the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor, and so that'll be another discussion.

And I'll just be candid and straightforward with you, because I don't really want to waste a lot of time.

So what do you see is this is?

Where are you offended where you feel like it's not working for the industry?

I can understand about the registry.

I get that.

It sounds like we're in agreement on, obviously, safety and panic buttons.

There may be some other issues about the chemical piece or medical.

without just being around the bush, just tell me what it is actually that you think we can meet from our Dr. Khan, who was just in here about conflict, where we can interject grace and humility and humanity and resolve this, because the ultimate goal is the same as what you want, because you want patrons and you want employees that are safe.

So without going around and around and beating around the bush, what is it that you find that would work that we can start talking about that to me makes sense?

Otherwise, I think we're wasting our time.

You're certainly wasting my time.

Sure.

Well, I'll say we agree with the intent to make sure that our employees always are working in a safe and healthy workplace, which is the commitment of our association and our members.

There are, I mean, we laid out some challenges of specific sections, and I'll say kind of throughout there are opportunities to tweak things to make them make more sense operationally.

You mentioned a couple of other challenges around the blacklisting piece.

You know, I'm really interested in continuing to work with council to dig in on, you know, how can we do that in a way that's not violating due process rights of our guests but also, you know, continue to ensure that our employees feel safe.

So I think there are some challenges in that section and then more so just an opportunity to have industry input to make things easier or make more sense operationally with protecting employees and making sure it makes sense for our employees as well.

Follow up, Madam Chair.

So if the employee, if you felt that you had input in the beginning back in spring of 2016, what would you have had input in?

I know it's a little bit maybe a bit too down.

I don't want to put you on the spot.

I'm sorry, but we've both been dealing with this for what, three years now?

We kind of know the issues.

Just one example where if there were more industry input that you could have helped us craft this so it withstood legal scrutiny.

I actually wasn't here in 2016. Well, these guys were here.

So I don't know, and especially given that there's pending litigation, I don't know how much we can dive into that.

But where would you have liked to have had and say, hey, I got something to say about that?

Like the cleaning of the rooms, like that's not going to work.

I mean, I'll say when we look at every section, I think there's an opportunity to improve and make it make it work better, frankly, and work better, when I say work better, I mean work better for our employees, as well as being more streamlined for implementation.

So I wouldn't say there's a one big thing, but I mean, we can go through, and I think we've gone through with, you know, certainly with Council Member Mosqueda and her staff, but, you know, section by section to understand where there are tweaks, where were things not factored in or considered, and just make the entire piece work better.

I think what's really important is that there's not a wholesale space between really the solutions we think are right and the law.

There isn't this significant delta.

And so that's what we're heartened by.

That's what we've been looking at for the same amount of time that you've been looking at it.

And it's one thing when it first comes out when you're like, well, we just don't like this.

Well, we don't like it because we don't like it.

Once you put it in place, once you look at it, once you operationalize it, there's some acceptance, there's some better practice, there's some best practice.

So throughout that process, we've been like, okay, well, if we were to look at it, how would we look at it differently?

Perhaps 5,000 square feet or square footage is an adequate way to look at it.

I think that there's a little bit more conversation and I think that we've shown genuine interest and concern and taking your time and met with you to speak directly about the areas that we think are nuanced or need a little bit greater clarification or need support related to administering it collectively and fairly at every single property, not just at the at the people around the table, but making sure that they are easy to administer.

And I know that Catherine and I were both very engaged throughout the whole process.

Catherine, do you have any thoughts?

Yeah, I was just going to add that to go back to your original question.

I think one of the things that we've discussed at length, and it was part of rulemaking and it's been an ongoing conversation, is if you look at the room cleaning section specifically, It's taken a very general standard and trying to apply it in hotels of different sizes, different service, different parameters, and it's a very complicated thing to apply very simply.

It's been extremely simplified, which for good reason, because I think much like we've agreed, 5,000 may be an agreeable square footage, but what that looks like for each of us and all of our different properties is dramatically different.

What type of service we want to provide at the different levels of hotels is dramatically different.

And as part of the rulemaking process, we discussed that at length.

We talked about select service versus full service.

We've talked about refresh service, which not all hotels provide refresh or turn down.

So it's a very, it's a giant, range of different levels trying to work into a very narrow definition.

Do I have the answer?

No, I don't.

I think collectively, and I think that's the goal of today and moving forward, is collectively, hopefully, in talking not only with employers, employees who have actually lived through the process in the last couple of years, What have you liked?

What have you not liked?

Because I think we've all heard things that they're in favor and things that they're not in favor.

Much like we already shared the examples.

Okay, so my point is this just to be candid.

And I know you have to be careful because this is still pending and I know that there are legal purposes.

So I feel like until we can actually drill down on some specifics that you either find offensive, or they don't work, or it doesn't work in the industry, or you felt like you weren't heard, then I think we're just going around in circles.

The second piece is we passed this legislation with the intent, the Black Letter Law of Intent, to protect workers.

That's our main goal.

So we would be erring on the side of that with understanding the impact to business, right?

We want a practical piece that makes sense for the industry and for the workers and just for society as a whole, that people can go to work and be safe.

So I'm pretty pragmatic about things.

I would be interested if you can give us something in writing, perhaps, where you take apart, I think it's six parts, and I know that your lawyers have done briefing, but it doesn't mean showing your hand on what your legal position would be if this case indeed gets accepted by the Washington State Supreme Court, but it would give me some idea where you have a problem, because I think we're just going around and around without actually saying, this is the problem I have.

I don't think a hotel registry is legal.

We have a problem with that.

I would probably agree with you on that one.

On the other issues, and you use the word tweak, but, you know, I love working with you, but I think we're talking about more than tweaking.

I think we're going to have to be honest about what we're talking about.

If you guys, if you're telling me today that you're on board that there should be a law, but maybe not like this.

But if we know what the end goal is, and that's worker safety and a healthy economy where people can come to our hotels, then I know that we're on board.

But if you're just sitting here today telling me maybe what you think I want to hear, hoping that, you know, your case is upheld and you don't have to deal with it, then you're wasting all of our time.

And then we're just going to take another run at it.

That's what's going to happen.

So, and I'm just being honest with you.

Well, I appreciate that, and I'll just say we're very committed to being part of a conversation on new legislation and making sure that our feedback, right, on every section, some things we agree don't, you know, might not work the way they're framed, like the blacklisting piece, and then other things as we've shared around the medical access and room cleaning, there are simply some updates to make those sections work better for our employees that we're really committed to working through.

I'm going to say thank you.

I'm going to say thank you both for your homework assignment and also for the feedback that you all provided us today.

We will be looking at adding an actual special committee meeting to our calendar to try to come back next month on this issue as well.

So be on the lookout for that.

And in the meantime, thank you so much for all of your feedback and input.

We know that you're sitting at the other tables talking about those details that Council Member Juarez is getting into.

And I have no doubt that there will be follow-up materials coming and follow-up conversations.

So we appreciate your time and we appreciate you sharing your perspective and for all that you've already implemented to help create safer workplaces.

Thanks again and congratulations on the panic buttons in Olympia.

Thank you.

Great.

So we are going to move on to our last item of business, and we have a lot of friends to join us here at the table.

So I'm going to read their names in.

Farideh, if you could get ready to read in our last item of business.

As she does that, Emily Alvarado, Max Jacobs, Fred Podesta, Emily Myers, Brett D'Antino, and Mike Tully, if you could join us at the table, and we'll do formal introductions in a second.

Agenda item six, Fort Lauderdale redevelopment plan for briefing and discussion.

Wonderful.

So thank you so much, everybody, for being here.

And we're really excited to have all of you here to kick off our conversation around Fort Lawton.

As we get ready to do introductions, thank you, Tracy Ratcliffe, Ketel, for being at the table with us, from central staff.

Why don't we, if I didn't call your name, you should definitely introduce yourself because we want to make sure that everybody gets on the record here.

Tracy, why don't you start with introductions, then I'll say a few opening comments.

Tracy Ratzliff, Council of Central Staff.

Kato Freeman, Council of Central Staff.

Mike Tilly, United Indians of All Tribes Foundation.

Emily Alvarado with the Office of Housing.

Fred Podesta, Seattle Public Schools.

Max Jacobs, Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Emily Meyer, Catholic Community Services.

Brett D'Antonio, Habitat for Humanity.

Robert Van Tassel, Catholic Community Services.

Seattle Indian Services Commission.

Excellent.

Well we're really excited you all are here today and this is a really great opportunity for us.

This is a unique opportunity after 12 years in the making I hear.

I've only been here for you know a year and a half and I'm excited about this so I can't you know even imagine your anticipation for this conversation.

This is an opportunity for us to create a variety of affordable housing off options and services for our neighbors who really need them, along with ample open public space, park space, and recreation areas on 60% of the land and obtain much of the land at no cost to the city.

We've been talking about various aspects of the Fort Lawton redevelopment plan for quite a while, including housing for seniors, family-sized rental homes, homeownership opportunities for low-income families, and open space for our public.

This is actually, my notes say 15 years.

Is 15 years more accurate?

Okay, that's sad.

I see nods around the room.

And so I know that I'm very excited about this.

Emily Alvarado from the Office of Housing is going to give us a high-level overview of the legislation and a preview of what's to come.

She gave a previous iteration of this on our April 18th meeting.

So we got a little tiny window into that then.

And today we're going to go deeper into that, hearing from the department, from community partners.

I'm very excited that many of you have been involved in the development of this plan for over this decade and for all of your work We really look forward to making sure that this comes into fruition.

And today we're going to continue to review the local redevelopment authority's application to the federal government for reuse of the decommissioned army base of Fort Lawton.

The application includes the redevelopment plan and homeless assistance submission, which is an appendix to the plan.

Both documents, along with the rezone legislation, are available on the city council and office of housing websites.

We want to be super transparent on where folks can find it, and it is all up there.

And as we've previously heard from city staff, the redevelopment plan builds off the 2008 redevelopment plan and homelessness assistance submission that was previously provided by, previously approved by HUD.

There was significant opportunity for public comment and review of the 2008 plan, homelessness assistance submission, and now the city is updating the plan and the homelessness assistance submission so that we are reflecting current conditions and needs.

And with that, I think I'll turn it over to Tracy and Ketel, if not Emily, to do an overview and kick us off here.

Thank you, and thank you for that really good description of some of the technical pieces of what we're reviewing today.

We, when we talk about our Fort Lawton work, there's a broad legislative package that's included in this body of work.

The first piece is the Fort Lawton redevelopment plan legislation.

That is the redevelopment plan and also includes, as you just mentioned, the homeless assistance submission.

That's appendix H to the plan.

And those documents, if approved by council, comprise the local redevelopment authorities application that we will submit to the federal government, namely to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The second piece of this package, Ketel will describe in more detail, which is the rezone legislation.

And then finally, as I discuss the redevelopment plan, I will also cover with our partners from Seattle Public Schools, the partnership opportunity with the public schools.

Yeah, so not really part of the show today, but looking forward to a public hearing.

You're always part of the show.

Public hearing on the 21st.

And within the legislative package is a rezone bill that would rezone approximately nine acres of the redevelopment area from single family 7200 to low rise two with an M1 mandatory housing affordability suffix.

That rezone bill is a necessary step for future redevelopment of affordable multifamily housing in the redevelopment area.

So the council members are pretty familiar with recent changes to the Low-Rise 2 Zone designation that were implemented through MHA.

The Low-Rise 2 Zone is a multifamily zone that allows walk-up apartments and ground-related housing, such as townhouses and row houses.

The maximum height of the zone is about 40 feet, so it's similar to the maximum height of single-family zoning in the vicinity.

So, again, that's not what you'll be hearing about primarily today, but looking forward to the 21st, there'll be a public hearing, and one of the purposes of that public hearing is to hear testimony about the rezone bill.

We're also, as you can obviously tell, joined by many of our partners who are really the organizations and individuals who help to carry out many of the components of this plan.

As you'll see as we're talking about the plan, many of these partners were identified as early as in 2006 or 2007 when the Notice of Interest was responded to, and I'll walk through those responses.

And they will be, discussing themselves, their organizational strength, their connection to this project and connection to this land as we go through the presentation.

I have talked about, at a high level, the vision for redevelopment at Fort Lawton many times.

This is taking a publicly owned piece of property, and creating an affordable and a livable community.

One thing I wanted to point out today is the extent to which this fits in, this vision, into the framework that's established by the federal government for the purpose of reuse of their land.

And I'm sorry that I'm going to start this sentence by saying, for more than four decades, the U.S.

Department of Defense has closed or realigned military installations and really many communities have already successfully converted.

those former military installations to civilian uses, including affordable housing, transitional housing for homeless people, parks and business centers.

In 1987, Congress enacted the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, and Title V of that act said that serving the homeless was the first priority for use of all surplus federal properties, including military installations.

We've moved forward since then.

In 1994, there was a new act passed, the Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homelessness Assistance Act.

And as part of that act, it was designed to accommodate communities' multiple interests.

benefits in base reuse and to meet also the national priority to assist homeless individuals.

And so that act placed the responsibility on the local redevelopment authority, which in this case is us, the City of Seattle, to really balance the needs of various communities, including homeless assistance, and then submit that balanced proposal to HUD for it to determine its compliance with the statute.

So, really, given that federal framework, I thought it was essential so that we can move forward and seek your review and approval of this, what is really a balanced plan that's balancing at its focus the priority to serve homeless individuals with another interest of our city to expand parks and recreation space and the local priority to expand affordable housing for people with a range of incomes.

In 2006, the city provided notice on the availability of property at Fort Lawton.

In 2007, we received five NOIs, notices of interest.

One was from United Indians of All Tribes, which included a homeless housing, market rate housing, community, and open space component.

One from the Seattle Housing Authority that had a similar mix.

One from DESC, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, and two NOIs that included no homeless component, but one of which talked about park space and one about a Seattle Veterans Museum.

I bring this slide up in part because many of the names of the organizations are the exact organizations that are sitting with us these many years later, and also to show that what we did is take the components of those notices of interest where they were reflecting the strength of the organization and the vision of the public and our city and combined them as they are now reflected in this plan.

We've had, as we said, over a decade of public comment.

I'm going to reflect very briefly on some of the comments we've heard, tell you the instances in which we were able to incorporate that comment, and some cases in which we were not.

There has been a consistent refrain calling for a family-safe environment as we do this redevelopment.

We are proposing to have a range of affordable housing on this site.

People of all incomes want to have Their children live in communities that are safe.

As we bring more households into this neighborhood, I'm sure all new residents have a vested interest in the safety of this community.

Second, we have been asked to find a more suitable or different location for low-income housing.

And I would say, as I've said previously, that our submission for our assessment for fair housing took an approach saying that we need a lot of affordable housing and we can't just pursue one site.

So this is not an either or, this is a both and.

We can both have housing at this site and continue to look for other opportunities.

We've had comments about not wanting us to allow housing for people with addiction or behavioral health challenges.

As we talk later, a portion of this plan is the homeless assistance submission.

That asks us to look at this plan's consistency with our adopted continuum of care for the region.

Our continuum of care prioritizes housing first.

as a vision for serving homeless people, and that is about providing the housing and then providing the services that people need, and I know Catholic Community Services can talk more about that.

We had comments to build even more affordable housing than we've proposed at this site.

There is certainly a need for affordable housing across our city.

Again, we think that this is a balanced approach.

that we've proposed here.

We had comment about building a school at this site, and because of an overwhelming amount of comments on that issue, we did incorporate the opportunity for Seattle Public Schools to acquire a portion of the site to create multipurpose fields, which is a priority educational use for that agency.

We've been asked to incorporate the entire property into Discovery Park.

Again, that doesn't reflect the balancing of interests, but we were able to accommodate a portion, several acres, that would be incorporated into Discovery Park.

We were asked to minimize impervious surface throughout the site.

And we'll talk about how there are additional opportunities, particularly at the maintenance building, to consider ways to right-size the amount of impervious surface that's there.

We've been asked to protect the blue heron habitat, and I would say that our plan does acknowledge that there's a wildlife environmental conservation area that's mapped by the city in the Fort Lawton site, and that includes a Blue Heron management area, and there are strict requirements in place that comes with that kind of protection, and all future development and related construction on the site will be subject to applicable state or local requirements.

And then finally, there's a consistent public comment about reflecting neighborhood character.

I would point out that's a really subjective and individualized assessment of what constitutes neighborhood character, but to the extent that that comment is really about creating high-quality housing or landscaping which is consistent with the neighborhood, the plan reflects both of those outcomes.

Emily, I'm going to ask that maybe we turn to some of our community partners at the table.

We have some great slides here for background and reference on rental options, ownership options, parks related uses, active open spaces, etc.

But if we might turn to each of our community partners in the order that you would prefer.

Perceive?

Perfect, I will turn over the mic.

The first portion of the plan is really about creating 85 units of permanent supportive housing.

We are very lucky to have community partners in Catholic Housing Services and United Indians of all tribes who would lead in the work of providing this permanent supportive housing that would be at a no cost conveyance to the city with a long-term lease to these entities.

to build a three-story apartment building with on-site services in the form of permanent supportive housing designed to meet the population.

All right, I'll go ahead and start.

I'm Rob Van Tassel with Catholic Housing Services.

And we are very proud to be partnering with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation as well.

So thank you for having us here to talk about who we are and a little bit about what we do.

We've been going about this, I tell people, before there was a state of Washington, before there was a city of Seattle.

There were nuns here working with the native community and others going about doing this, taking care of folks.

So this is who we are and this is what we do.

We have approximately nine different properties that do something very similar to this within the city of Seattle.

We've been doing it for about 40 years.

Throughout western Washington, we have about 2,500 units.

of affordable housing that we operate.

In addition to permanent supportive housing, we also do farm worker housing, workforce housing, and some other types.

We decided to go ahead and do this with really the requirement that we work with the native community.

And that's why we have Mike Tooley here with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, as well as Jodi Olney with Seattle Indian Services Commission.

And we feel that that is really critical.

We don't want to go about this without that partnership.

We all know about that kind of relationship that happens when the Catholic Church gets involved with the state and the native communities.

It doesn't always come out well.

So that's why this is really important for us not to just come in here and do it but to really partner with them.

Our opportunity here is to really create wealth within the native community as well as share with them our processes on how we go about development as well as operating buildings and so on.

We would want that to be the eventual owners of this property within a period of time maybe 10 years or so.

But we would work on a plan with them.

We're working on a memo of understanding right now.

So I don't know, maybe now Mike or Jody or both could go ahead and speak to the.

Yes, thank you for your time.

As you know, there's been a rather history that's been not been very conducive for Native existence in this area.

1865, all our Natives are pushed out of this area, all the Indigenous people.

You know, fast forward to 1970, the takeover was kind of the beginning of that reversal of process.

But that being said, Natives have still struggled profusely in the city.

We're doing our part to try to help that process along.

United Indians was struggling profusely.

Even three years ago, our doors almost closed.

I was hired about 26 months ago.

We are surging.

We are getting stronger all the time.

We were up down to 45 employees when we first got here.

Now we're up to 78 full and part-time.

We are down to two structures.

Now we're up to four.

We just found out yesterday we gained funding from the state to finalize our tribal canoe project on Southwest Lake Union.

So actually what that means is we're going to be devising infrastructure down there.

And then we're also going to take over a building at Columbia City.

So now we're, you know, growing numerically, and we're also starting to provide stronger services.

That being said, we are determined to make sure all of our obligations are met.

We're very determined.

We're hiring highly skilled people, have a lot of people who are just really taking attention towards us.

Our board is on board.

They're really very excited about this opportunity, finalizing our MOU with the Catholic Community Services, making sure that everything is accomplished, wraparound services, the physical maintenance of it, security, on-the-job training.

As soon as that condition of tax credits is accomplished, then we're more than glad to take over full ownership of the system.

Jody?

Yes Morning and thank you for the time and opportunity to speak with you So I've been on staff at the Commission for about a year, but the Commission's been around since the 70s so I think we're trying to just figure out how to be of support to other native organizations pursuing development and asset acquisition and just you know, being a resource as much as possible and trying to figure out what's meaningful.

So I think consulting with Rob and his team and being accessible to Mike, as well as Colleen and her efforts, Esther and the health board.

And so I think it's a critical time for Native organizations and a lot of unmet need.

And so just trying to, in a meaningful way, keep us moving forward.

And I would say that just from a technical perspective, the portion of the arrangement of how these groups work together is included as part of the legally binding agreements that's included in Appendix H to the redevelopment plan.

I'm going to also ask Emily Meyer, who's here with us, to speak about the services we provide.

Hi, good morning.

You can adjust this if you need to.

There you go.

All right.

So good morning.

I supervise our supportive housing programs in Seattle that are serving homeless individuals.

And we have several other similar projects to this where we work with homeless individuals who are coming to us, prioritize through the coordinated entry system who have significant mental health, behavioral health, substance abuse, physical aging needs.

And we bring people on site.

We welcome them where we're at.

Housing First is, as Emily mentioned, a priority of our community and also of HUD.

And we are very used to meeting people who have been homeless and living outside for a long period of time.

welcoming them into our buildings and starting to build relationships with people.

We know the importance of community, of meeting people where they're at, learning people's names, hearing their stories, building relationships with people, and we know that that can have a really transformative impact on people's lives.

As we start to talk with people about what are their goals, what is it that they want, what does it mean to be a part of the community in our building and also the community outside of our building.

We have other buildings in the city where residents have eventually gotten really involved in neighborhood groups and cleanup efforts and different neighborhood barbecues.

The Bell Street Park, we have a number of buildings near there where we have residents who are active and participating in the events there.

We have a building in North Fremont where we also have residents who are really involved in helping with different local cleanup efforts or summer barbecues or concerts, and all of that comes with time.

But we're really in it, as Rob said, we've been doing this for a very long time.

We're committed to building that community within our buildings, within our neighbors, outside of our buildings.

We want to be a good partner in whatever neighborhood we're in so that our residents feel welcomed and are also feeling like they're a part of the neighborhood as well.

We know that people go through ups and downs in housing.

All of us go through ups and downs in our lives.

And people in our buildings are just like us in that way.

And so we're committed to supporting people through highs and lows and keeping people in housing is our primary goal.

Thank you.

There have been significant questions throughout the process about the extent to which there are available services in the Magnolia community to serve residents of the housing and I think as you heard Emily say that part of PSH is in fact creating the services on site to support that population.

Yeah, I probably could have said more that we do in these buildings, we do have 24-hour staffing.

And so that is there's someone always available either at the front desk or we have multiple case managers on site who are available to connect people with needed medical or behavioral health services, other services.

Generally, our buildings have a van for transportation so we can help people get to medical appointments or go shopping, things like that.

And then, again, having someone on site 24 hours who is available if someone is having whatever type of situation arise at any time of day or over the weekend, or if a neighbor needs to call because they hear something that they're concerned about, then our staff would be able to respond as well.

Another piece of more technical detail before we hear from more community partners is that the thrust of the arrangement that you just heard discussed is the portion of the plan that's also included and outlined in our homeless assistance submission.

And this, as I mentioned earlier, is a key piece that makes up our application to the federal government.

The Homeless Assistance submission is largely similar to as it was in 2008, with a few notable changes that I wanted to flag for you all and for the general public.

First of all, we updated information about homelessness in Seattle based on current conditions and based on new information provided in the consolidated plan, as you all know.

Since 2008, there hasn't been an increase in the homeless population, including of the unsheltered population.

We included updated information to reflect the fact that this new plan transitions all of the homeless housing to be 85 units for designated for seniors.

The old plan had a component which was serving homeless families.

The homeless assistance submission also updates information on how this plan addresses gaps in the continuum of care.

As I mentioned earlier, that really emphasizes providing housing, affordable housing and permanent supportive housing.

And you'll see an update in that piece about the assessment for the need for 85 units of permanent homeless housing, which of course pales in comparison to what the actual need is.

The second portion of this plan is affordable rental housing.

That's also going to be provided by Catholic Housing Services.

I don't know if there's something additional that you want to say about general affordable housing.

No, I think the PowerPoint speaks to it.

It would be family housing and very similar to housing we operate in other places in Seattle and throughout western Washington.

These are families who have leases and who are long-term tenants of the building in many cases.

This property, just notably as part of a conveyance, this would be a negotiated sale.

Affordable housing is not a A conveyance that's identified by the federal government as no cost, so we would have a negotiated sale.

The purpose of having this housing as part of the community, again, is to represent both a balance of incomes and a balance of community needs and priorities.

With whom are you negotiating the sale?

With the U.S.

Army.

Let's do parks and schools.

The other portion of this plan is permanently affordable homeownership.

This is a piece that has been scaled up since the 2008 plan going from four or five permanently affordable homes to what is now approximately 53 bedroom row houses.

We will be arguing for a full no-cost conveyance for this property.

based on the needs and construction costs.

And we're really happy to have Habitat for Humanity, another identified partner as part of the NOIs, joining us in delivering this piece.

Thank you.

Habitat for Humanity, Seattle, King County, is one of 1,200 North American affiliates of Habitat for Humanity International, with the common goal to provide affordable home ownership opportunities to families earning less than 80% of area median income.

At Fort Lawton, as Emily mentioned, we propose to build around 50 three-bedroom row homes and townhomes.

Similar projects that we've built are roughly 1,200 square feet and will be sold to families of up to six people.

All homes are certified energy efficient by a third party to keep long-term cost of ownership down.

At the completion of a project, we establish a homeowner's association that will be responsible for the long-term upkeep and maintenance of the buildings.

We've had a presence in King County for more than 30 years.

We've built more than 300 homes across the county and repaired or rehabbed more than 150. We handle everything in-house.

All phases of construction are done by our staff, as well as the selection of families and mortgage qualification for those buyers.

Habitat buyers, as I mentioned, all earn less than 80% of area median income, and they must have minimum credit requirements in order to qualify from a mortgage.

Under our model, which is a self-help model, future buyers perform a minimum of 250 hours of sweat equity.

A large portion of those hours are spent building their home and the home of their neighbors.

Additional hours are spent to meet our education requirements.

This includes classes on financial management, home maintenance, mortgage document review, and an introduction to homeowners associations.

All Habitat homes are part of our land trust program, which means they'll never be sold on the open market.

A homeowner earns equity by paying down their mortgage and through a fixed depreciation formula over time.

This ensures that when it's sold to the next buyer, another family earning less than 80% of area median income can afford it.

The program requires Habitat to qualify any future buyers to make sure that they are in need of affordable housing.

And finally, all homes are required to be the permanent residence of the owner, which we verify annually.

Amazing.

Thank you.

Are there HOA fees involved?

They are, and that's factored into the affordability.

Okay, great.

Now I'm going to turn to roughly 60% of the acreage in the plan which will be dedicated to parks and park-related uses.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for kicking off this meeting, Councilmember, by saying this is a unique opportunity because it truly is.

The Parks Department is thrilled to be part of this great collaborative effort because what we're getting is approximately 13 acres of parkland, not counting the athletic fields, for free.

It's an absolutely amazing opportunity.

We're expanding a regional gem of a park.

And we're also having a really great co-location with some other very needed facilities.

So we're thrilled to be part of this effort.

And the 13 acres have, as you can see on the slide, is passive recreation.

It's a combination of existing open fields and also natural areas and portions that will be incorporated into Discovery Park.

So we're thrilled about the basic idea.

As far as the ultimate planning and development of other resources at the park, that's going to be part of a future effort.

Can I ask a quick question?

Oh, sure.

Max, thank you for being part of this.

Madame Bagshaw, do you mind using the microphone?

Madame Bagshaw.

Madame Bagshaw, I love it.

Would you just talk about the red line here?

So it looks to me like we're preserving land that's already there, that was the Army.

So when people say, well, we want 13 more acres of park, The fact of the matter is it's there.

We're preserving it, protecting it.

And I know that we'll hear from Mr. Podesta about athletic fields here in a moment.

But that's 13 acres that's going to be transferred to the city that we will preserve.

Exactly.

Council Member Bagshaw, thank you.

Madam Bagshaw now?

So this is a lot of land.

Our comprehensive plan has some very ambitious goals and requirements for us to add open space to the city in order to serve the increasing density.

In order to have a livable city, we have to have additional open space.

This is a once in a career opportunity for us to take 13 acres of land, as you said, are already existing, mostly forested land, and bring it into permanent public park and recreation use.

Another outcome could have been the federal government could have sold it and it could have been developed into something totally different So this is a huge win for the city and as Emily said comes at no cost which is kind of amazing

Does our chair of parks have anything?

No?

Okay.

One thing that I want to flag that thank you in advance for the work that you're doing with our office.

We had heard in some of the earlier both public testimony and then in partnership with some of the people who came to speak about Fort Lawton with me on the Seattle Channel who had some concerns that they would love to look at what it looks like to right-size the parking lot for the park's new facility.

So thank you for helping to analyze that because part of our goals over the entire city is to reduce underutilized and unused space.

And much of that space is parking lots.

So if we can help create more wildlife habitat areas and reduce the parking lot size, that would be great.

And that's something that I look forward to working into this plan with you.

Thank you so much that we're exactly aligned.

That's one of our big goals everywhere.

And so we're analyzing that as we speak.

And I think we'll be able to come back with some details on what that right sizing really looks like.

Excellent.

Thank you.

And also that portion of the site, which is the maintenance building in the parking associated with the maintenance building.

is in fact in addition to these 13 acres.

So these 13 acres are specifically about passive open space.

There are then an additional approximate six acres, which we'll move into now, for active open space.

And then there is additional site for the maintenance facility that then the parks department will look at right-sizing the impervious surface surrounding that.

So this is three various parks and recreation components as part of this plan.

The second piece that's not passive is this active open space and in our FEIS we studied to have to unlit multipurpose athletic fields.

The opportunity here presents itself with a partnership with Seattle Public Schools.

I think both SPS and the City Parks and Recreation identify a need for more fields in our city to have recreation on.

And so this presents an opportunity to have participation with SPS to meet their educational needs while also ensuring the outcome that's been promised in this plan for recreation uses.

I don't know.

Welcome back to the table, Mr. Podesta.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be here once again.

I want to thank the council and our partners in the Office of Housing and Seattle Parks and Recreation for working with us.

The district is, like everyone else at the table, it has to develop property, is thankful to be able to participate in a potential opportunity like this.

We have needs.

to assemble acreage just like everyone else around the table, and it's getting harder and harder to do in Seattle.

We have potential direct educational needs, but right now we have a shortage of athletic fields.

We're opening a new comprehensive high school, Lincoln High School, the first one in decades that the district has opened, and it has no athletic fields.

And we are joined at the hip with our partners in Seattle Parks, in sharing athletic fields through a joint use agreement.

So however the property gets developed, athletic fields will be good for the city.

The district is welcoming an opportunity to perhaps participate and funded the development funds in the BEX V levy, which the voters generously approved in February.

So we have funding in place to develop two multi-purpose athletic fields.

We'll work in partnership with parks.

as we always do.

So the design of the fields meet recreational needs both for schools and for general recreational purposes for the public.

I think from the standpoint of the context of this project, I think the city's on a path where the same outcome will occur.

There will be athletic fields.

It's how do we get there?

How do we work our relationships with the federal government?

I guess I should put down a marker at this point.

If the district ends up owning the property down the road, it may need to be a school.

We would have to judge, in the future, do we need athletic fields more or do we need a school more?

That would be a separate, again, that would be a redevelopment effort, a change of use, all that, and that would be, you know, let's say a decade down the road.

And in our current world, athletic fields are as much of a pinch point for us as schools are, perhaps more.

So that's not a foregone conclusion either.

But I think that's the main difference in terms of what the community will see if parks develop.

I think it's a park in perpetuity, or it's an athletic field in perpetuity if we develop it.

It may be an athletic field forever, or someday it may be a need to be a school if that's a higher educational need.

It's good to have you back, Fred, but we got a lot of horse trading before that happened.

So I'm just letting you know now, just because you're at school over there now.

Here you go.

We know you.

Yeah.

I want to acknowledge, too, that this is something that the Magnolia neighbors have asked for.

Yes.

I just, I know how hard that this has been, and the fact that there's been years and years in the work, going back 15 years, and I know that you suffered through a number of public meetings, I was there to witness some, that people want something different than what you may be providing, and they want it passionately.

And I just want to really acknowledge, Emily, just how strong you've been throughout this.

Office of Housing has been a fabulous lead.

And the fact that the school district has stepped up.

So, you know, thanks for the alert.

It may be an athletic field.

It could potentially decorate.

Let's be clear.

It'll be an athletic field.

For what?

And it'll be an athletic field for a very long time.

Yep.

You know.

She's really eaten her oats this morning.

But thank you.

I just want to acknowledge.

And we have funding for an athletic field.

We don't have funding for a school yet.

And for the purposes of the plan and for the public, in the event that there was any future use that would have its own environmental work associated with it, the outcome that is covered by our environmental work is the multipurpose fields.

And also the way in which the plan handles this relationship is that it provides an opportunity for Seattle Public Schools to submit for a conveyance, and in the event that they choose not to or are unsuccessful, the Seattle Parks and Recreation would go ahead with the no-cost conveyance for the park uses.

Emily, do you mind wrapping us up with a few concluding comments here?

We mentioned the Parks Maintenance Building and more opportunity to discuss that.

Just very quickly summarizing these conveyances, the only one that we haven't mentioned that also shows up on this is related to the infrastructure that I can mention later.

And that is, remembering this is a federal piece of land, so Texas Way, which is the primary right-of-way in that property, is federally owned and would also need to be conveyed to the city to become a public right-of-way.

I'll mention that as part of the infrastructure, doing a planning effort like this and a redevelopment necessitates significant attention to new and upgraded public infrastructure.

So we are working closely with our friends at SPU and City Light and Puget Sound Energy and Solid Waste to really discuss how we transition this from a private to more public property.

A portion of the costs associated with those new infrastructure pieces will be included in the development budgets, and as with all development, this will be an ongoing process, and all does not need to be completely finalized prior to submission of this plan.

I mentioned the landscaping that we'll keep in a mind to keep moving on the neighborhood character, what is existing in that community.

The development funding, much of the affordable housing would be funded the way we do affordable housing funding on the permanent supportive housing and on the affordable rental housing.

We act as a gap funder.

We anticipate that the projects would also include Low-income housing tax credits may include state money and then also private bond financing.

For the permanently affordable homeownership units, aside from the funding that would come from our Office of Housing's homeownership program, the majority of the leverage comes from individuals down payments and mortgages.

And then there are some other hypothetical partners through the HUD self-help home ownership program and federal home loan bank.

On the park site, the primary development costs would be associated with developing fields.

Otherwise, this would be a no-cost transfer of property.

And then, as Max said, over time, there could be talk about what resources and what planning is needed to further activate the space.

Great.

So before we go to questions, any other comments from the community partners?

This is an impressive group of stakeholders and advocates who've been engaged in this effort.

Any other comments that you didn't get a chance to share?

I will take that as 15 years of comments have already been provided.

Questions from our colleagues?

Okay.

So, again, this is the deeper dive into the plan.

We will have multiple conversations coming up here soon.

By way of reminder, the next committee discussion will look at the legislation on May 16th.

We will look then at having Andy, her committee in the Housing, Health, Energy and Workers' Rights Committee on June 6th, a possible vote after another discussion on June 6th.

So again, May 16th and June 6th.

There will also be a public hearing in the evening that will be right here in council chambers.

on May 21st at 5.30 p.m.

We encourage the public to come and comment on all portions of the plan, including the redevelopment plan, the homeless assistance submission, and the rezone legislation.

That's why we have multiple central staff members here.

We want to let the public know that child care will be provided that evening, so we do hope people turn out and their kiddos will be cared for.

Also, I mentioned you can find the legislation and the plans and the submissions on the Office of Housing website.

The proposed redevelopment plan and companion zoning legislation is also available on this committee's website as well.

Look forward to having the conversation ongoing with Parks about changing the legislation before final passage to include creating more public space out of existing parking lot.

That's such a huge value that we share.

In the future, we look forward to future conversations with the schools as well about the need for additional schools, child care, in addition to our parkland and play fields.

And then the last thing I would say is, when you come next time, could you give us an update on your conversations with the partners you mentioned, SPU, City Light, some of the other city agencies?

And I'd love to have an update as well at that time.

Sorry to spring this on you.

But on how our conversations are going with Metro on increasing potential bus utilization, that's the two things, three things I heard.

People are excited about housing, wish there was more.

They want to have schools, they want to have more parkland, they want to have more buses.

And I think as you see in what we've talked about already, we are doing a lot to address all of those ideas and concerns that Emily outlined at the beginning from public comment.

So look forward to hearing more about that.

You guys are tremendous.

15 years, we're going to actually move forward on this and hopefully we will see some of you on the May 16th date.

Our next committee is May 16th.

As I mentioned, we will have Fort Lawton plan amendments at that time, look at the legislation.

We'll also have an administration and finance plan and housing funding policies, our administration and financial plan.

is at, fondly referred to as the ANF plan.

Thank you, Office of Housing.

We'll also have the Housing Levy Oversight Committee appointments and the Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program appointments.

Oh my gosh, it's housing all day on May 16th.

Okay.

And just a quick announcement, we're going to be hosting a Confronting Harassment and Discrimination Best Practices Work Session.

That will be next week on Wednesday, May 8th, from 5.30 to 7 p.m.

at the University of Washington-University Friends Meeting Place at 4001 9th Avenue.

This will be with the University of Washington postdocs, representatives from the University of Washington as well, and experts from harassment and discrimination policy and legal research that we'll be talking about best practices.

We as public institutions want to lead by example on this issue and to lift up the voices of workers who brought their issues forward.

So we'll be both hearing from workers and it will be great community forums in case anybody wants to join us.

Any other comments for the good of the order?

You guys are tremendous.

Looking forward to getting this over the finish line with all of you and this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.