Parks and City Light Committee 9/16/2026

All right, Mr. Clerk, we are ready to go here, folks.

Good afternoon.

Today is Wednesday, September 16th.

It is 2.03.

I am now calling the Parks and City Light Committee to order.

My name is Deborah Juarez.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Strauss?

Here.

Council Member Saka?

Hello, here.

Council Member Rivera?

Present.

Vice Chair Kettle?

Chair Juarez?

Here.

Chair, there are four members present.

Okay, thank you.

I'm turning my phone off.

Thank you.

Okay, so how many members are present?

Five?

Four.

Okay, we got a quorum.

Great.

Thank you.

Let's move on to approval of the agenda.

There are no objections.

The agenda will be adopted.

Not hearing or seeing an objection, the agenda is adopted.

So let me go to the Chair's report and I'll have a few more comments before the presentation.

There will be the regular public comment period before items on the agenda.

Comments should be related to the items on today's agenda and within the purview of the Committee during public comment.

There is one ordinance on the agenda today from Seattle Parks and Rec.

It is Council Bill 121291. It's an ordinance that gives Seattle Parks and Recreation the ability to enter into necessary agreements associated with the redevelopment, yay, of the Lake City Community Center.

These are commonly referred to as the transactional documents, such as the ground lease, which I understand is 99 years, the term sheet, the conveyance, all these documents in which we are all familiar with when we did the Climate Pledge Arena.

The presentation is nine slides, and my understanding is it will be presented by Michelle Finnegan, Interim Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Lise Ward, who also did the summary and fiscal note and the ordinance, Marie DeWeeves, I'm sorry if I didn't say that correctly, Office of Housing, and of course we have Karina Bull and Tracy Ratcliffe from our own central staff.

And I expect to vote on this one item today.

That being said, we will now open up the public comment.

And Mr. Clerk, how many do we have in person and how many do we have online?

We have two in-person speakers signed up and one remote.

Okay, so let's do the two in person.

Each person, I'll go ahead and read the instructions, but it's gonna be two minutes, but go ahead.

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 60 minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they are registered.

We will begin with in-person speakers, then move to remote.

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

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time.

The public comment period is now open.

For in-person commenters, the first speaker is Colin Morgan Cross, followed by David Haynes.

Mr. Who is it?

I'm sorry.

Colin.

Go ahead, Colin.

Thank you, Chair.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Colin Morgan-Cross.

I'm the Acting President with Mercy Housing Northwest here in Seattle.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of Council Bill 121291. As you all know, this bill is a very important step for advancing our collective effort to reimagine the Lake City Community Center into a new civic hub that connects the community center, affordable homes for families, onsite services, and renewed public space.

I'm going to keep my remarks brief, because I know that you all know a lot about this project and have already approved and heard.

No, go ahead.

People don't need to learn more about Mercy.

OK.

But just as a reminder, Mercy Housing Northwest is a Seattle-based nonprofit affordable housing developer and service provider.

We serve about 1,500 Seattle residents every day.

And we know through that experience that safe, stable, affordable housing is the foundation for children and families to thrive.

When I think about the Lake City Community Center project, there are really three themes that stand out to me.

The first one is creating space for families.

68% of the units in the new project will include two, three, or four-bedroom families to accommodate larger households.

Services on-site offered by Mercy Housing Northwest and Family Works that are really geared towards the whole family system and supporting families' housing success.

And this will really be an anti-displacement tool for families facing economic pressure in Lake City.

We will welcome all families regardless of background and lived experience in creating a really inclusive environment.

The second one is creating space for kids.

not only with the community center and the programming there.

FamilyWorks will have to let us go play and learn groups on site for kids and families in the building.

And then the preschool that will be operated by Seattle Parks and Rec's provider will offer on-site affordable preschool.

The third one is space for community.

We developed this vision for the project really with community voice and really established the goals to create a welcoming, safe, accessible, and diverse community in Lake City.

At the same time, we want to create better physical connections with the park, improvements to the park, improvements connecting the library, the park, and the new community center to create these new public spaces.

So all in all, appreciate your consideration today and urge approval on this council bill.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Colin.

I'm really glad Mercy Housing came today.

Thank you.

The next in-person speaker is David Haynes.

Mr. Haynes.

Hi, thank you.

It'd be great if we could get like two shifts on site that start like an hour after one another when they start the Lake City redevelopment.

But I came down here today to address the waterfront parks and some of the others that have gravel dust and asphalt and concrete.

To improve our newly upgraded waterfront, we must create a soft ground running path needed directly between our 75,000 new native plants.

This addition will protect our runners' joints, keep pedestrians safe, and bring people closer to nature without harming the environment.

but as we celebrate the green milestone, we must ask ourselves, how do we keep our community, allow our community to truly experience this nature while keeping our parks safe and accessible for everyone?

The answer lies between the roots of those 75,000 plants.

We need to build a dedicated soft ground path winding through our new greenery from the north of the, Myrtle Edwards sculpture, Olympic Park, that whole centennial waterfront to the south, the whole way where you're gonna have to move some of those ropes.

Right now, our park paths are a busy highway.

We have fast cyclists, casual walkers, parents pushing strollers, and athletes running on hard pavement.

Asphalt and concrete are tough on the human body and are the major heat islands that make it miserable up there when you're competing already with the train passing through that you can still see, because we still need some greenery on that fence.

But running on hard services sends shockwaves through a runner's knees, ankles and hips.

And I used to run through that park during COVID and it was all soft ground path and you took it away.

And because the pavement only clears, Anyway, it would be great if we either had a civil disobedience or a permitted movie to set some of that wood on fire to protest and make a talking point about how to improve the 21st century.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Haynes.

I want to recognize Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you for joining us, sir.

Thank you.

Apologize for being here.

I was going to bring that up, but I didn't want to embarrass you.

Our remote speaker is Teresa Williams.

Teresa, please press star six after you hear you've been unmuted.

Teresa?

I don't see her.

Teresa?

How come I don't see that tile, Paul?

Is she there?

Please, Teresa, if you're there, please press star six.

I am here.

Great.

We can hear you.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Go ahead, Theresa.

Hi.

Good afternoon, health members.

My name is Theresa Williams, and I'm the Supportive Family Programs Manager over at Family Works.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Council Bill 121291. Family Works is proud to be partnering with Mercy Housing and Seattle Parks and Recs on the Lake City Community Center and Affordable Housing Redevelopment Project.

And I'm here today to express my strong support for this investment in our community.

As part of the redevelopment, Family Works will operate a Family Resource Center, which Colin spoke to, that will be open to the community center visitors, residents of the affordable housing space, and the broader community as well.

Our Family Resource Centers are trusted neighborhood spaces where families can access essential resources to meet their basic needs, connect with one another, and build the support they need to raise their children and thrive.

We offer everything from play and learn groups, parenting education, to free diapers and free children's clothing, as well as peer support groups, cultural events, and resource navigation.

Many families first come to FamilyWorks because they need something, such as help paying a bill or diapers for their child, or assistance with accessing other resources.

What keeps them coming back is the sense of belonging they find.

They build confidence, strengthen their parenting skills, form lasting friendships and develop their own networks of support they can rely on.

So this work is family-centered, stress-based, and preventative.

By helping families access support before challenges escalate, we can reduce stress, increase stability, and help families remain housed.

The Lake City Community Center Redevelopment creates a unique opportunity to bring affordable housing, recreation, and family support services together in one accessible location.

It will make it easier for people to access resources, strengthen connections with their neighbors, and find support close to home.

Just as importantly, this project recognizes that probing communities need more than housing alone.

They need places.

There's no additional registered speakers.

I'm sorry about that.

Does it just cut off?

Like just that's it?

Okay.

Okay.

I'm sorry about that.

I wanted to hear the rest of what she was saying.

What was her name again?

Teresa Williams.

Thank you, Teresa.

Thank you for your comments.

All right.

So Mr. Clerk, anything else?

Thank you.

Oh, good.

You're still there.

Did you want to finish?

Yes.

Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, I could finish.

I just wanted to say that the order before you today is an important step toward making the vision a reality.

We encourage you to move forward with the project to help create stronger, connected Lake City community where everyone has the resources and relationships they need to thrive.

Are you done?

Theresa?

Yes, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling in.

I appreciate that.

Okay, so there are no additional speakers, correct?

Okay, good.

Well, not good.

I meant, okay, we're good.

Okay, so there are no additional speakers.

The public comment period is now closed and we will proceed to our items of business.

Mr. Clerk, please read item number one to the record.

Agenda item number one, council bill 121291, an ordinance relating to Seattle Parks and Rec authorizing the superintendent to execute and record all instruments and agreements concerning the city owned property associated with the redevelopment of the Lake City Community Center.

There will be a briefing discussion and vote.

Thank you.

So what we have here, and I'll let you all introduce yourself again for the record.

We have our representatives from Seattle Parks and Recreation.

My understanding is that you have a nine page PowerPoint presentation.

This is the second ordinance we are hearing in relation to the Lake City Community Center.

The last one passed unanimously at our July 15th committee meeting and at the July 21st full council meeting.

I will have some brief remarks before, after introductions and I'm going to be referring to the summary and fiscal note, the ordinance itself, and of course the PowerPoint.

But at this point, I'm going to ask you all to introduce yourself.

I'm going to make some opening comments and then I'm going to let you go through your PowerPoint.

So go ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Juarez.

I'm Michelle Finnegan, Interim Superintendent with Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Hi, I'm Lee Sward, Property Management, Interagency Advisor, Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Hi there, I'm Maria Deweese with the Policy Team at the Office of Housing.

Karina Bull, Council Central Staff.

And Tracy Brassett, Council Central Staff.

Thank you.

I just wanna make a few comments, because this is my last committee hearing on this project for 10 years, so I just wanna get all this out now.

And we've worked on this, Tracy, we've worked on this, so it's a long time coming.

So I'm just gonna get this on the record.

And I actually had a lot more to add, but I'm not, I'm gonna let you do your, I wanna take, it's still your thunder.

The Lake City has never had a full service community center.

This is a project that I've been working on for over 10 years.

This legislation before us today is the final two pieces of legislation relating to the Lake City Community Center in the Parks and City Light Committee this year.

It should be one piece of legislation.

Today, we are granting authority to Seattle Parks and Recreation to execute the transactional documents for the Lake City Community Center and Affordable Housing Redevelopment Project.

As stated in the summary and fiscal note prepared in the ordinance itself, thank you, Elise Ward.

She's here with us.

Where's Elise?

There she is.

This is a quote-unquote innovative collaborative concept of affordable housing being constructed atop a community center.

Thank you, good job, City of Seattle, Mayor's Office in Seattle Parks and Rec.

The Lake City Community Center and Housing Project is a prime example of the City's race and social justice initiative in action.

From page six of the summary and fiscal note, the housing element helps prevent the displacement of low-income residents, families with children and older adults by expanding affordable housing with by expanding affordable family housing options and providing a new community center that strengthens community stability and neighborhood access to resources and amenities.

The financing package for the $124 million project is as follows.

The community center is $38 million, which includes $10 million from REIT and grants, $28 million from city and bond financing, that is debt financing, I understand, Mercy Housing, their portion is 86 million which includes 33 million from the Office of Housing and of course other public and private sources will make up the remainder of the cost.

A list of the transactional documents can be found on page six of the presentation and that includes the development agreement, the 99 year, ground lease, the land conveyance, etc. and a special shout out and a thank you to King County Executive Grimai Zahale who signed the King County Restricted Covenant and lifted it last week on September 10th, which was a big deal.

I know it sounds kind of nerdy to some folks, but that got done and we're happy.

A few details about the Lake City Community Center before I hand it over to the folks that are actually doing all the hard work.

And we've heard some of this from our folks, our friends from Mercy Housing.

is a full-service community center with 111 new affordable homes on the upper floors, first of its kind in the city.

A large share of the new affordable homes will offer two, three, four bedrooms to serve families.

The community center will feature a gymnasium, multipurpose room, a childcare facility, and a tot room.

and again, five departments working together to make this happen.

Seattle Parks and Rec, Office of Housing, Finance and Administrative Services, also known as FAS, the City Attorney's Office and the Mayor's Office.

And as you heard during public comment, Mercy Housing has partnered with Family Works to provide services for residents of the new development and for community center visitors.

My understanding is the development is expected to break ground in quarter four, which I don't think that's gonna happen, is it okay I'll let you I'll let you do your presentation or somewhere in quarter 2027 and be completed as early as 2029 so I have a few more comments but I want you to I don't want to steal all your thunder but I just wanted to set the table kind of tee you up to walk us through this you know how I like powerpoints and you know like dates laid out and how hard we've been working and I'm just really proud of the city and the mayor's office Seattle Parks and Rec Office of Housing Mercy Housing all the folks that came together so with that I'm gonna let you do your introductions or you did your introductions go ahead and start your PowerPoint Oh, what slide numbers?

Yes.

We need our lovely clerk's help.

Lisa is going to be my co-presenter today, and Mari is here to answer any questions about the housing components, and obviously Tracy and Karina to help in all the ways.

But before we get started, I too, Council Member Juarez, wanted to just share some appreciation A to you.

I think we are all so excited to be here at the table with you here and just It's a real honor to be able to have this be your last committee meeting.

Yeah, I know.

If I could serve alcohol, I would, but I can't.

I would be frowned upon.

All the council members here, I just want to thank you for the good questions that you raised so that we could come here today with the information you need to make this decision.

It's a big deal.

I also want to, similar to you, thank our other city partners, Parks and Recreation.

This is an innovative project for us.

We are learning as we are going, and the Office of Housing has been amazing.

The FAS team, SDCI, the Office of Intergovernmental Relations helped us with the King County stuff, the city budget office is here, the city attorney's office, all the way back to when Councilmember Lynn was on it, the mayor's office, your council central staff, and Councilmember Mars, your team, and the chair's office has been just amazing for us to work with.

And your city clerk who got us off the one yard line to actually be able to upload the actual legislation.

So I want to do a special shout out to that.

And of course our Mercy Housing colleagues.

So it just, this really is a whole city behind a really exciting project and we're honored to be here today.

Did you want to recognize any of your guests that came from in the audience besides who's at the table?

Well, it's a small but mighty crew here today because there's many more people back listening online, but we have our property manager, Jeffrey Bishop, Cara Vallier, who I think you all know is our council liaison here today, Amy Williams, who is overseeing budget and policy for the department right now, and our CBO colleagues with Alex and Owen.

Thank you all for being here.

Of course, your Kelly is here too.

She has to.

Thank you for allowing me that moment.

More specifically, today's legislative package, as you said, is the second of two, and I will be repeating many things you just said because you summarized it very well.

But today's legislative package is the second of two related to Lake City Community Center.

It's providing the superintendent with authority to enter into all necessary agreements and execute documents necessary for the redevelopment of the Lake City Community Center project co-located with affordable housing.

We were here on July 15th presenting our first legislative package in support of this project and at that time we provided a detailed project overview and vision for this redevelopment while also seeking a transfer of jurisdiction for a parking garage on this property.

Today I'll give a brief refresher on the project as context for this legislative package in front of you.

So following previous policy direction, as Chair Juarez shared over the last decade or so, set forth in both the budget and the Park District Cycle 2 plan, SPR and the Office of Housing issued an RFQ for a developer for this project and Mercy Housing was selected.

Earlier this year, SPR and Mercy Housing negotiated and signed a development agreement to guide the partnership in constructing this new building.

including scope of work, budgets, outlining additional documents and agreements needed, much of what we'll be talking about today.

This project is unique in that it will be developed on city-owned property, currently owned parcels by parks, and after a lot boundary adjustment coming from the finance and administrative services, we will have the property reconfigured to align with the development of this project.

Because both of those parcels are city-owned, that LBA doesn't require council approval.

The intent is to provide a 99-year ground lease once the parcel is reconfigured on which the project will be located.

As our colleagues from Mercy Housing Chair, this will include 111 affordable housing units over a 27,000 square foot community center, featuring a gym, childcare spaces, recreation programs, spaces, et cetera, over a below grade parking with separate elevators supporting the separate uses.

The intent is that the two uses will be operated as separate condominiums on the property subject to the ground lease.

A project advisory group has been engaged with and is providing feedback to the design team.

Next slide.

This project is progressing quickly with multiple work streams proceeding concurrently.

The design is substantially complete and the project is in permitting.

Mercy Housing will secure all financing by the end of the year for closing in December.

City bonds will be secured and finalized in Q1, 2027. Construction will begin shortly after financial closing.

And here we have, and as you just shared, the breakdown of the budget.

Let's go.

And we do expect, and Colin nodded, we do expect a groundbreaking in Q4.

Yeah, I was going to say something at the end.

So we will get on all of your calendars.

So you think so?

You'll think by?

I'm going to defer because Mercy's running the construction, but they are sharing.

December 2024?

26?

Well, I'm not feeling confident we'll get there, but I'll let you do the presentation.

A golden shovel.

A golden shovel.

Yeah, I need one.

Thank you.

Okay, today's ordinance, and thank you all again for your feedback on us giving you a presentation that's helping you facilitate your decision.

Today's ordinance will allow the Lake City Community Center redevelopment project to move forward.

More specifically, Section 1 of the ordinance recognizes and adopts the development agreement between the city and Mercy Housing.

As I mentioned, among other things, this agreement sets out mercy requirements as it relates to building the community center, sets our maximum funding share of the construction, establishes certain prerequisites for disbursement of city funds, sets out terms and conditions for which the party will execute future agreements and instruments, and establishes the project timeline.

Section 2 authorizes the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to accept and convey property rights for the Lake City Community Center site and execute and record all instruments, agreements, and amendments necessary to carry out the terms of the development agreements and implement the project.

Lisa will walk you through those details in the next slide.

Section 3 finds and declares that the redevelopment of the Lake City Community Center site to create a new mixed-use development with community center uses on the first two floors and housing above is consistent with the policy goals of Initiative 42 because the park and recreation usage will continue on the entirety of the property after project completion and only the air rights at the property are being converted to non-park use specifically for low-income housing.

Section four supersedes I-42 in the event a court should find that I-42 does apply to the project.

And then there is a section five that ratifies and confirms certain prior acts consistent with the authority of the ordinance.

And now I'll turn it over to Lise.

Thank you.

As mentioned, this ordinance provides the superintendent authority to sign and execute all necessary agreements and instruments to redevelop the Lake City Community Center outlined in the development agreement with Mercy Housing Northwest.

These documents include, but are not limited to, a ground lease.

The city acting through SPR will enter into a ground lease with Mercy Housing Northwest to be used as low income housing with a term up to 99 years and a rent of a dollar per year.

The term sheet for this is complete and included as attachment four.

There's also the release of a King County Covenant.

The King County Council recently passed legislation necessary to lift a restrictive covenant on the property that limited the use of the original large parcel for park and recreation purposes.

It's necessary for Mercy Housing to qualify for financing.

The covenant will be replaced on park property outside of the project area.

There are also documents establishing a multi-use facility for both housing and community center purposes for SPR approval.

These documents will address a range of topics including defined common areas, maintenance obligations, a condo association structure, and other topics for managing the property together.

Mercy Housing will also submit for SPR approval the conveyance documents for the community center unit.

This ordinance authorizes the superintendent to sign and execute these condominium-related documents at or near the completion of the project.

Finally, you will note the legislation includes superintendent authority to sign additional documents related to permitting, underwriting, or otherwise necessary to reach project milestones Examples of these other documents include, but are not limited to, reinstatement of the King County Covenant over non-project parkland agreements to support construction, closing documents related to the conveyance agreement, all within the guidance framework of the development agreement.

The completion and execution of all these documents will lead to a long-awaited new community center with co-located housing, a long-term vision held by the community.

Thank you for your time.

We now welcome your questions.

All right.

Thank you, Lise.

You're being very humble about all the work that you've put into this.

I'm going to open the floor for my colleagues, and then I'll have some closing remarks and a few questions.

Are there any questions from my colleagues?

May I?

Yeah, go ahead, Scott.

Thank you, Chair Juarez.

Excited and glad that you came back to make sure that we got this Lake City Community Center project done, and I'm sad that it's your last day.

Last committee meeting, that is.

I just want to check on slide 6. It notes that you have removed the restrictive covenant and want to just clarify that next box that is not checked is adding in a new covenant to protect our community center space.

Is that a correct understanding?

There's actually two covenants associated with this project, which is, I think, sometimes why we're getting a little confusion.

One relates to the King County parcel.

When we got that property, there was a restricted covenant that will be replaced on the Albert David side.

In addition, We will be, after the ground lease or before the- Before the ground lease, associated with the ground lease, yeah.

Before the ground lease, we will be putting a covenant on the project parcel that ensures the first two floors will be a community center in perpetuity.

Great, and I appreciate the conversation that we had before this meeting.

I realize I don't know that I've received the covenant language that I requested during that meeting.

I only had six pieces of council-generated legislation in committee yesterday, so You know, I got a lot going on, so I might've missed it, but have we received that language?

The restrictive covenant is added as an attachment to the legislation.

So is that the four corners of the restrictive covenant documents?

The King County one.

Yeah, the King County one.

And the city one.

Attachment three, that's what I need to look at.

Yes, to the ordinance.

Thank you very much.

It will be put in place.

Yes, correct.

I'll take a look at that.

And just, I want to thank Chair Juarez for all of her advocacy on this.

I'll show you a picture later, but my first work on this was in January, February of 2014. At that time, Ed Murray was mayor, Tim Burgess was the council president, Sally Clark, Gene Godden, Bruce Harrell, Nick Licata, Mike O'Brien, and Shama Sawant made up the city council.

was the state representative from the 46th.

Jack Smith was a 46th legislative district and a regular e-mailer and he has since passed.

His Majesty King Harold V from Norway was in Seattle rededicating the mural at Bergen Place Park.

He just recently passed and his son King Haakon is now the king.

And the day that we did a walking tour with Mayor Murray at Lake City Community Center was the same day that we did a walking tour at the 145th light rail station.

I thought the community center would come first.

because it was really hard to imagine the light rail station that was there.

Another one of the feathers in your cap, council president, is the Pinehurst station that is set to open in just a couple of weeks.

That would not have happened without you.

I bring all of this up because that's how long this has been waiting.

And then there was a fire that took out the existing building.

And so Mercy, if you can make that groundbreaking happen in December, I think For those of us, and I know Council President Emeritus Juarez has been really waiting for this for a long time, and for some of us like her and me who have worked on this for so long, we sometimes get worried that it's just never going to happen.

despite taking legislative action after legislative action.

So that's my pitch to Mercy.

Please break ground as soon as possible.

And all of this is just said in appreciation and I just wanted to put it in that longer range context of this was a priority before Council President Emeritus even ran for office and when she ran for office, she made this a priority and I'm just so grateful for you, my friend.

Thank you, Councillor Strouds.

Is there anyone?

Councillor Kettle?

Yes.

Thank you, Chair.

And thank you everyone for the presentation, the parks team, all the teams, all the various stakeholders.

for such an important project.

As Councilmember Strauss was saying, by the way, he didn't have any gray hairs back then.

Times change.

These are not one-offs like he's talking about the light rail.

It's part of a combination.

and really bringing community to community.

And I just want to thank everyone for their work and for their leadership, particularly our chair and the leadership she's shown over the years, of which I've only had the last three or so, but I've seen it in those three years.

And it is important to implement.

I usually talk about implementation related to public safety bills, but here it is important for a community to do so.

And what I love about this is that it shows a model of not just a building, is the inside, outside, interior, exterior.

It's the connections that it does surrounding it.

And I think that's really important.

And so this is, in a way, a template circling back.

For a neighborhood and community that didn't have anything, coming back and supporting what is the oldest community center, which is in Queen Anne, in terms of the renovations of that and what we can do in terms of the school street there, because the Queen Anne Community Center is adjacent to McClure Middle School.

And then what we're doing in terms of the street on Crockett, with the Queen Anne Pool, and then next year shovels in for the Big How project, West Queen Anne Greenfield, to create that civic campus.

And that's the feeling that I get when I look at on slide four, the drawing there in terms of creating that kind of civic campus.

and I think that's something that is, in terms of urban design and public policy, I think is a step forward and it's a model for the rest of the city.

And I'll footstomp again since I'm really invested in much like chair is on this one for the Queen Anne Community Council, I mean Queen Anne Community Center renovation.

So thank you, Chair, and congratulations for all the work that you've done, in partnership, of course, with...

He did the work.

I know.

Just a talking head.

I know.

Well, it's more than that.

You're no talking head there, Chair.

So...

You good?

Yes, I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Council Member Kettle.

Oh, Council Member Saka.

Thank you.

Thank you, other clerk.

Back up.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And I just want to thank everyone from the Parks team for being here today and sharing this great presentation.

I'm really, really excited about this project in particular for so many So many reasons.

One, you know, this project restores vital programming and services to a community gathering space after the previous community center was closed in early 2023 after being significantly damaged by fire.

There's a few, there's at least one in my own district, one neighborhood, the Highland Park Improvement Club that was damaged by fire.

So we're working to rebuild right now and the city provided an investment and to do exactly that.

But I know firsthand the impacts of these kind of bold investments can have on neighborhoods.

And it also really furthers our compelling affordable housing goals and demonstrates the city's broader commitment to support those goals by bringing neighbors and housing together in one public space, housing above.

I also know the benefits firsthand of this in my own neighborhood in Delridge and D1 because there was a visionary project that was that ultimately formed the then new Delridge Branch Library building all the way back in 2002 that anchors the first floor of a three-story building that includes 19 affordable apartments on the top two floors.

So investments like these across our city are terrific.

We need more of them.

And finally, Chair, just want to thank you.

I want to thank you for your bold leadership and bringing this to life and seeing it through over the course of over a decade now.

And I've learned many things about effective leadership from you, Chair, and how we can be our best as lawmakers, play our role as lawmakers.

And here's one example that your constituents should understand as well.

And they're lucky to have you.

And I'm lucky to call you a colleague because this is really exciting things.

And I've taken some things out of your playbook with that brick and mortar.

But again, just really, really excited for this.

And congratulations again, Chair.

This is a bold investment.

Thank you, Council Member Sacca.

So with that, I'm going to make a few comments that I've been holding for a long time.

First of all, besides all the thank yous, it's you folks that do all the hard work.

When we started this under Jesus Agare, that's where it all started in the conversations about putting the housing on top of the community center.

and I hope we get invited and the groundbreaking does happen in December, because we're all going to be there.

So you better show up with those troubles.

But I want to go back to just something.

I'm going to be a little bit more dense here, but I want to just touch on something that Council Member Strauss brought up about the unsung heroes in the last decade.

And we were working on this back in 14 and 15. about the north end when we went to a district system and had never had a fully functioning community service or community center.

I think I wanted to shout out, and I was just texting my chief of staff, Kelly Brown, some of the community members, the former Lake City Community Council, those folks from 10 years ago, Sandy and Tim Otzer.

we lost Sandy in 2025 and there's a lot of Sandy and Tim monsters and I hope Tim he hears this and also Kelly Brown who used to be the director for North Helpline who's now my chief of staff was part of that cadre of folks that we need a community center and a lot of folks I could list all the community folks back in the day and also working with the mayor three mayors four mayors on the Rewa in the pre-k the Tony Lee house and the Nook all the brick and mortar stuff that we built together.

And it's important that we honor the good work of former community leaders, former community leaders and elected leaders, because these aren't just campaign slogans.

It is brick and mortar.

It is why we have a representative government as districts to come forward and say, these are the needs of my district.

And how do I work with eight other council members within these particular departments within a budget to get it done?

and so I'm very proud of that.

We did that with the Climate Pledge Arena.

We did that with the Kraken Community Ice Plex at Northgate.

We did that with our light rail at 130th.

We did that with the John Lewis Bridge.

And now we're gonna close another chapter with the Lake City Community Center and the affordable housing and the pre-K.

But getting back to when I was running for office, I didn't know Council Member Strauss back then in 2014, and certainly not in 2015, but one of the things that I've always struck me and worked, particularly when I was in Indian Country, is I know we throw the word community around a lot, and where I grew up and where I came, it really was a tribal community with shared leadership and vision that we all belong to each other.

We didn't have to take light away from other people for us, for someone else to shine, for our own selves or for them to shine, quite frankly.

and I remember reading and I think Harvard did the study, it was highlighted in the Atlantic and I'm not trying to show off that I read these things but I just remember because it was part of my campaign trail, going back and finding that document and working with and looking at what SDCI was doing at the time for land use.

and then also interjecting principles and sensibilities of Indian Country when you build for a community for people who are not going anywhere.

And one of the things that always struck me, and I wish I would've went back and found my notebook for all that, I was trying to find it last night, is that one of the one-liners was, you know, you should not just you have to move and you have to pour things into every zip code because your zip code is an indicator of how well you will do in life.

And it is about economic mobility.

And if you infuse in a zip code and in a community what they were calling in the article, I believe, all the good stuff, libraries, parks, recreation, transportation, a community center, childcare, education, schools.

And if you see it as a garden that you nourish that soil and you make it rich, and as I think you were saying, in amenities, that takes the place and stands in for those things that parents who are working one, two jobs or whatever, that those community groups, those organizations, those, what they say in Latin, parent, oh, I can't remember how to say it in Latin anymore, but basically stepping into the shoes of parents I know the shorthand word is it takes a village, but coming from Indian country, we truly believe that.

We all took care of each other's kids and each other's aunties and grandmas.

And I'm not saying it was like, you know, Camelot.

I'm just saying that some of these sensibilities is what I brought to leadership in Seattle City Council and particularly for D5.

So that being said, it was really important to me and I'm so glad I got a chance to work with some really bright people, really good people, not only at Seattle Parks and Rec, but SDCI and Office of Housing and the City Attorney's Office.

And I wish Jesus was here, Agare, because working with Jesus was just a dream.

Because in the beginning they told us, you can't do that.

You're lucky you're getting a community center.

And you know me.

I'm like, no, no, you should never say that.

I don't want to get a community center, I'm getting affordable housing.

And having Jesus, I also wanted a coffee shop, so I didn't get the coffee shop.

And then it's on city-owned land.

And so the things that we can do with the land that we own, because we have chunks of land everywhere, that go beyond just building tiny house villages.

real brick-and-mortar standing facility that you can touch and point at and say, this is going to be here a 99-year lease to service not just D5, but the City of Seattle, all these folks, people that come down from Shoreline, people that come off Northgate, off Lake City Way, and so it's just been a real, I think I only listed four or five city departments, but I think one time I counted it up and it was eight or nine.

And so for me at the end of the road here, this is one project that I'm really gonna take with me that from beginning to end, all the budget cycles, MPD, God bless the Matsers, and everybody else that either was for or against or wanted more, and what I always say about leadership is that a good leader can admit when they're wrong, can ask for help, can apologize, can change their mind, and always tells the truth.

and it's just been a joy working with not only my colleagues, this city council, but the other city councils, but also all the city departments and all the mayors that had a hand in this, because this doesn't just happen with one person.

I obviously don't take, I take 2% of the credit.

Everything else was, you know, the Tracys of the world.

Tracy, we've been together a long time.

I think longer than my marriage.

and I would love if Tracy would come in and shut the door and say, oh, you're gonna have a problem here.

So just having those people there to be so supportive and I sometimes think the public doesn't see all the good stuff that happens, all the things that we actually build because we care and all the city workers that just grind through it and get it done.

And Lisa, when I was kind of teasing you before we went on camera, thank you for doing the ordinance, thank you for the summary and fiscal note, thank you for the PowerPoint.

People don't know how much time that takes for you to put that together, to come sit here, to bring us up to date.

I read all this stuff, but I don't expect my colleagues to read everything.

So it's really helpful when you have a really good writer Thank you.

It was a team effort.

It wasn't just me.

Okay, Lisa.

Yes, I know you're being humble for everybody.

And as we say in Indian Country, we raise our hands to you and all the whole team.

And that's the kind of leadership I like.

It's shared.

Just because there's a hierarchy, people assume that that means trust.

It doesn't.

It's just a hierarchy.

It just means the buck stops somewhere.

But really, it's you folks that do all the work.

And as I said, I'm just a pretty face.

You're not even listening, are you?

Yeah, you are?

Okay.

So with that, I wanted to say all that on the record.

This is my last time I'll be chairing this.

I'm hoping that this is the end.

Is this the end?

This is our last project that we're getting done, yay.

And then we'll have the, we'll be invited with the shovel for the breaking ground, the whole, and I don't know who's gonna chair this committee when I leave.

And I'm gonna be so excited when we break ground.

I remember we broke ground on the Tony Lee and the Nook and the Crack and Compete Iceplex and the John Lewis and the 130th Street light rail, all of those.

I have four shovels, so I would like five, just so I let you know now.

So with that, is there anything else before we move to adjourn?

Oh, go ahead, Kansma.

Thank you Councilmember Juarez for all the leadership that you've shown.

These types of projects are really important to community and we always want them to happen faster.

You know what?

Perseverance, patience, and it is so nice that you've been able to see this through the end.

So thank you for your leadership and your perseverance and your patience.

and thank you to all the departments, especially parks, who've really shepherded this through and to our partners like Mercy Housing and other community members who also showed a lot of perseverance and patience as, you know, we close these type of projects but these are really great community spaces and you left out D4 residents will come up because we share our border and so, you know, it is and in all honesty, these projects touch a lot of people across our city and our families.

So thank you to you.

I'm so sad this is your last parks meeting.

I just have, I feel so privileged to serve with you and I'll save other remarks for later, but thank you.

After five.

Is there anything from you folks before I close this out?

You good?

Anything?

Oh yeah, we got a vote.

Damn, I forgot about that.

Thank you for inviting me.

Chair, don't worry.

Clerk, Paul had you covered.

I confirmed it.

I thought you were my vice chair.

Okay, so we read it in.

We said all the nice words.

Okay, so what are my magic words, Paul?

Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Oh, I didn't move it?

I thought I did when I entered it.

Oh, oh my god.

Second.

Okay, you know what?

I thought I did.

Well, then Paul screwed up.

As your vice chair, I recommend doing it again.

You've got to read it into the record.

I know, but okay.

Well, somebody didn't give me that piece of paper.

Paul has it.

Okay, well, okay.

Well, I already said read it in, right?

Didn't I say read it into the record?

I've already read it into the record.

You just have to move it.

Okay, so I move that the committee pass Council Bill 121-291.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Okay, that's it.

We got moved and we seconded it.

And now clerk, call the roll.

Council member Strauss.

I'm missing a page.

Council member Saka.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Vice Chair Kettle?

Aye.

Chair Juarez?

Aye.

Chair, there are five votes in favor and zero post.

Okay, that being said, okay, I am missing a page, so I apologize.

Yes, let's clap.

I have no idea what happened to page six.

So that being said, it's been moved and seconded, it passed unanimously.

What do I say now?

I move it, I mean, yeah, okay.

It will now go to full council for full council vote on September 22nd, 2026. Okay, is that it?

Okay, great, it got done.

I'm just gonna say I'm missing page six, Paul.

Is there any other business to come before the committee?

I got that part, okay.

That part to have.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Okay, we've reached the end of today's meeting agenda.

Any other comments?

No.

From committee members.

Yes.

Now that this has been complete, I would like to say thank you for your service.

Coming back when you know what service in the City Council is just reflects even more your dedication to public service, and I just want to thank you for being such an inspiration, which I got my first phone call with you three and a half years ago.

And ever since, you have been such a great leader, not just for your community, but for the whole of the city.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And I remember that phone call.

I called you a girl dad.

You did, actually.

Yeah.

And it was stereotypical.

Everything.

Everything.

And I did find page six.

I just wrote all over it.

Okay.

So the motion carries.

We'll be sent to Council.

Yeah, there we go.

Okay.

So we've reached the end.

Councilman Raquel said what he said.

Okay.

Is there any further business to come before the committee?

Do you want to do the gavel?

Because I never do.

Is there any further business to come before the committee?

You want to adjourn?

No?

Okay.

No further business.

We are adjourned.

He loves doing that.

Thank you.

Great job, Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Rosaka.

Thank you.