Seattle City Council 5923

The meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

The time is 2.01.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Lewis.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Council Member Nelson.

Here in Chambers.

Council Member Peterson.

Here.

Council Member Sawant.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Herbold.

Present.

Council President Juarez.

Present.

Six present.

Thank you.

If there's no objection, Council Members Morales, Council Member Mosqueda, and Council Member Sawant will be excused from today's City Council meeting.

Hearing no objection, Council Members Morales, Mosqueda, and Sawant are indeed excused from today's City Council meeting.

Moving on to presentations, we have two proclamations to present, and we would originally start with Councilmember Mosqueda, but I understand Councilmember Strauss is going to step in for us today.

So, Councilmember Strauss, we are going to hand the floor over to you to discuss and bring forward the presentation for the May 7th to 13th as Affordable Housing Week.

And I understand we have some guests, so I'm going to hand the floor over to you, Councilmember Strauss.

Wonderful.

Thank you, Council President.

And unfortunately, I am having tech issues, so I can't see on Zoom.

We can see you.

That's wonderful.

So not being able to see who else.

I see we have Patience Malaba.

Yeah, you have all three here.

Yeah, you've got Patience, and you have Vanessa and Kate.

I'm sorry, Patience Malaba, Vanessa Trent, and Kate Smith are all present.

Wonderful.

So let me just take a moment to talk about this present this proclamation where we've got a proclamation for affordable housing week, this proclamation recognizes that everyone deserves access to a safe, healthy and affordable housing.

and that it is critical part of our social determination of health.

The proclamation highlights the need for affordable housing in Seattle and King County.

The Department of Commerce projects that by 2044, King County needs nearly 200,000 net new housing units for households at or below 80% area median income.

It also notes the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on low and moderate income households, which have faced even greater financial constraints.

This proclamation emphasizes the benefits of affordable housing for all members of community, including residents, businesses, and employers.

This proclamation is a call to action from the City of Seattle to recommit to ensuring all members of the community have access to safe, healthy, and affordable homes.

It highlights the critical role that affordable housing plays in creating equitable and healthy communities and emphasizes the need for continued efforts to address this important issue.

Just now speaking off script a little bit, I've been very forthright with colleagues and with the public that I grew up in Ballard.

It's no surprise to anyone.

What might be surprising is that the family that I grew up in could not afford to live in Ballard today.

That is how much our city has changed.

And I'm very proud of the investments office of housing is made in the St. Luke's redevelopment, where we will have two and three bedroom units for that are affordable to working families.

I'll read some of the recitals from this proclamation whereas all people should have access to healthy, safe and affordable homes within communities that provide opportunity.

And whereas studies have found that $100 increase in median rent results in a 15% increase in homelessness and metro areas.

And a 39% increase in homelessness in nearby suburbs and rural areas, whereas the CDC recognizes safe healthy and affordable housing within communities of opportunity is key as a key social determinant of health, our city investments into affordable housing are critical.

to building not just units, but homes and community.

Investments in our health, resilience, and community cohesion.

This Affordable Housing Week has particular significance as we consider the 2023 housing levy renewal legislation in the Select Committee on Housing, on the housing levy.

So thank you, colleagues, for your participation in those discussions and for your commitment to providing the resources, policy support, and political will to scale up our investments in affordable housing to meet the needs of our community.

I'm excited to present this proclamation today to our housing development consortium partners, Executive Director Patience Mbaba and board members, Vanessa Tram and Kate Smith.

Council President, I'll pass it back to you or if our guests are able to say a word.

Just hold up.

Yep.

Hand it back to me.

I gotta do one thing before we do that.

Are there any other comments from our colleagues before I move to suspend the rules?

Well, I'm just glad to see patients here.

I see her everywhere.

So let me do this.

Let me do the legal stuff first.

If there's an objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow our guests to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Am I not hearing any objection?

The council rules are suspended and we have with us and I will let patients introduce herself and your titles.

But we are very honored to have you here today.

Welcome.

And you are now recognized and have the floor.

Well, glad to see you, too, Council President.

And thank you, Council Member Strauss, for announcing the proclamation.

And good afternoon to all Seattle City Council members.

For the record, as introduced, I am Patience Malaba, the Executive Director of the Housing Development Consortium.

And first, I want to thank the Seattle City Council for being an incredible partner on affordable housing.

Truly grateful for you declaring this Affordable Housing Week as such today.

I do want to begin with this point, that housing is a human right and truly the cornerstone for a community to thrive.

And as you said, Council Member Strauss, that it is a determinant for life outcomes.

And yet today, as we stand in our great city of Seattle, we know that residents are faced with an unprecedented challenge in finding housing that they can afford and keep within the city of Seattle.

Rents continue to rise and push so many people out of their communities.

And rents continue to rise to push many of our vulnerable neighbors into homelessness.

And we know too well who is disproportionately impacted.

it is the low-income families, it is Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.

So we are first as a city losing our economic and ethnic diversity overall.

And I think the bottom line truly is that the affordable housing need is greater than it's ever been in our city.

and it requires bolder action.

But as daunting as this crisis is, you, we, collectively, as we've worked over the years in partnership, know what truly works.

We need more housing.

And we have been truly impressed by the outstanding work you are doing on the Seattle Housing Levy proposal.

We are thrilled to partner with you on what we characterize as a generational investment, a generational investment in homes that we desperately need.

and an investment in the people who help turn buildings into homes.

And we couldn't be more honored to work alongside you this November to get that levy across the finish line.

So I want to close by just reminding you as council members that you have a a track record of taking strong action on affordable housing, and we're really grateful for all the work you're doing, the impressive work that you're doing on the front lines to get policies and programs across the finish line.

And with that said, I do want to hand over to my distinguished board members who are joining me here today, Vanessa Tran, one of our board of directors, and also representing Kenta Taylor on our board, as well as Kate Smith, our board president, who is also SMR architect principal.

And with that, I'll hand over to Vanessa to talk about the theme for the week, and Kate will wrap us up with how you can engage.

Thank you, patients, and thank you to our Seattle City Council.

I'd like to introduce this year's Affordable Housing Week theme, which is housing equity.

And that's because housing work and equity work are inextricably related from strategies that disrupt unjust systems and practices to ideas and projects that are building what communities need to thrive.

Affordable Housing Week this year is all about housing equity.

Housing affordability impacts all of us, but there are big disparities in who has access to safe, affordable, and stable housing.

This disparity is large in Seattle and the surrounding area where there is a high cost of living and a history of discriminatory housing policies.

So that's why it's so important to have targeted policies that intentionally aim to close these disparities.

So thank you for having us this week, and I'd like to pass it on to Kate.

Thank you, Vanessa.

We appreciate the City of Seattle's partnership and strong support throughout Affordable Housing Week's history.

This is the 8th year that HDC has been coordinating Affordable Housing Week across King County.

The goal of Affordable Housing Week is not only to call attention to the levels of need, but also to highlight the policy solutions and the innovations throughout the sector.

HDC has coordinated 16 events throughout this week.

and they cover many different aspects of affordable housing.

And I welcome all of you to join us at those events.

They're open to the public, and you can find the full calendar events on HDC's Affordable Housing Week's website.

So thank you again, Councilmember Strauss and the entire City of Seattle Council for this population.

Well, thank you.

It's good to see all three of you.

I see your names everywhere.

So thank you for coming here.

Or I'm sorry for showing up in the Zoom.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss, for stepping in for Council Member Mosqueda.

And you heard yesterday we all voted unanimously to affix our names to the proclamation.

And if there's another time we can have you back, let's do that.

So thank you.

Open invitation.

Thank you.

OK, so we are going to move on to our calendar to the next proclamation, and that is sponsored by Councilmember Herbold proclaiming May 2023 to be Mental Health Awareness Month.

So with that, I'm going to hand it over to Councilmember Herbold.

Thank you so much, and thank you to my council colleagues for adding your signatures to the proclamation declaring May to be Mental Health Awareness Month in Seattle.

Throughout the pandemic, I have been calling attention to the crisis in mental health, the shadow pandemic caused by so many years of fear, anxiety, isolation.

In 2021, Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency due to the mental health and behavioral health of Washington's kids.

And later that year, the nation's Surgeon General followed suit.

The White House Proclamation on Mental Health Awareness Month notes, communities of color, frontline workers, health care workers, and individuals with eating disorders have been disproportionately impacted.

And the rate of depression across the country has more than tripled compared to rates in 2019. Emergency department visits.

for attempted suicide among girls in 2021 increased more than 50% compared to 2020. American Indians, Alaska natives, black youth and LGBTQI plus youth also face a disproportionate risk of suicide.

We are feeling the crisis in every community, in every home where someone is struggling.

And I wanna take this opportunity to remind us that anyone can call 988 24 hours a day, seven days a week, connect to a trained volunteer who can talk, refer, and listen.

988 is for anyone experiencing emotional distress or anyone concerned about a loved one.

The council over the past several years has stepped up to provide additional city resources to meet this growing need.

This includes significantly expanding funding for mental health support for Seattle students and residents by at least 5 million over the last three years, continued expansion of the mobile crisis team, funding to create a dual dispatch of civilian staff to respond to 911 calls with a mental or behavioral health nexus, adding behavioral health outreach in specific neighborhoods throughout the city, and a dedicated phone line for first responders to consult a behavioral health expert prior to or when arriving at the scene of a police, fire, or emergency medical event.

I thank my council colleagues who have shared my sense of urgency and provided leadership in this area over the past several years.

This year, NAMI is celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month with the More Than Enough campaign.

It's an opportunity for all of us to come together and remember the inherent value that we each hold.

No matter what our diagnosis, appearance, socioeconomic status, background, or ability, we want every person out there to know that if all you did was wake up today, that's more than enough.

No matter what You are inherently worthy of more than enough life, love, and healing, and showing up just as you are for yourself and the people around you is more than enough.

I'm grateful that joining us today, we have Matthew Cantor, Director of Programs, Education, and Outreach at the National Alliance for Mental Illness of Washington.

Matthew will be accepting our proclamation and sharing thoughts on Mental Health Awareness Month.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any comments from our colleagues before I make a few comments and then move to suspend?

OK, I do not see any, but Council Member Herbold, I want to thank you again for bringing this proclamation forward, because I think, well, I'm going to speak for myself and my age group.

It is nice to live in an era now where mental health and the discussion is no longer taboo.

and that we actually have the mental health work society that we have community-based organizations.

And I'm speaking also of the Native American community where it's culturally based and there's a traditional approach to healing.

But just the fact that we can have that discussion and I think the pandemic brought that out to almost sharper degree.

And I wanna thank you because in the last couple of years, you've not let us forget how important the mental health piece was when we were all being sequestered in our homes all the time.

So thank you for that, Council Member Herboldt.

So with that, if there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow our guest, Mr. Matthew Cantor, to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Hearing no objection, Mr. Cantor, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President Juarez and thank you Council Member Herbold for putting this forward and with all the amazing work you do.

Before I make any other comments, I want to just say for the record, if you or someone you know needs a referral to receive mental health support, you can call or text NAMI Seattle's Helpline at 425-298-5315.

If you or someone you know needs immediate crisis support, you can call 988 or reach out to King County Crisis Connections at 866-427-4747.

If you are looking for a support group, you can go to namiseattle.org, click on Support Resources, and then Support Groups, or namiwa.org, Resources, and then Online Support Groups.

One in five Seattleites is experiencing some form of mental health.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 32% of adults in Washington State reported symptoms of anxiety and or depression alone.

And the reality is these numbers are probably lower than the reality.

No one is alone and we can be together for mental health.

Over the last two years, NAMI Washington and our local affiliates have provided continuous support, both virtually and in person, as our community endures grief, trauma, uncertainty and isolation.

I'd like to encourage everyone to seek the support you need.

Sometimes for many of us, it's gonna be therapy or a mental health counselor.

Maybe it's one of our peer led support groups.

It doesn't have to be ours.

Whatever mental health support you need, you are worth it.

There are resources for everyone available on namiwa.org, nami.org, namiseattle.org, and all over the country.

Whatever you need to feel whole, you're absolutely worth it.

Whether that is a support group, a class, or you wanna download our coloring book and talk about emotional well-being.

It's made for children, but it's okay if you wanna color yourself.

We're really appreciative of everyone's support.

We hope to see many of you at our June 3rd walk to bust the stigma.

And thank you so much for the amazing work we've gotten from this community and from your leadership.

Thank you, Seattle City Council.

Thank you, Mr. Cantor.

very much for your words and Casper Herbold.

I'm going to take a point of personal privilege here.

There is somebody today that is watching someone in my family and some few other family members that are dealing with the issues of mental health and your words today that you are worthy, that you are loved and that this is and, you know, I don't always like to use this these kind of words, but it's a safe space.

So thank you.

Thank you so much.

I think he knows I'm talking to him.

All right.

Customer Herbal's anything else before we move on?

No, thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, folks, I'm going to have another take in another moment of personal privilege.

Some of you know that Elizabeth Atkinson, our clerk, our interim clerk, is leaving us and I want to take this moment to acknowledge the great and fine work of Elizabeth Atkinson who's been who's been working with us.

Liz has worked with us first as a deputy city clerk But then as our interim city clerk following Monica Simpson's retirement, Liz has done an outstanding job in a position that demanded leadership expertise and a deep commitment to the legislative process and to all of us.

I thoroughly enjoy working with Elizabeth.

I'm really sorry she's leaving.

She is currently serving as president of the Washington State Clerks Association.

And we have been very lucky to have her.

And again, I wish she could stay.

However, she has accepted a new job to be closer to family.

Today is her last day.

And Elizabeth, you're doing the right thing, family first.

And I would like to recognize her work, invite all of you to join me to wish her well.

And Liz, we appreciate your dedication and your work.

but I also really, really appreciate your kindness, your sense of humor.

And let me tell you, I wish you weren't going, but I understand and you will be missed very much.

So with that, are there any words from my colleagues if they have any thoughts or comments regarding our interim clerk, Elizabeth Atkinson, in which this is her last day here at Seattle.

Oh, Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Just want to echo what you just said is we really been served well by Elizabeth working here as both a deputy and the city clerk.

It's a sad loss for us and totally understand she's making the right decision to be closer for family and friends.

We really appreciate your service to the city of Seattle, Elizabeth.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Well, Elizabeth, oh wait, Council Member Nelson.

I'll just say that you've been, Elizabeth, you have been the head honcho clerk for the most time since I've been here.

And so you have become the fixture and I will miss you because when I started a year and a quarter ago, it was you who really oriented me and just made sure that all systems were running well and I had absolute full confidence in your ability to take over once Monica left.

So I'm sorry to see you go and happy trails.

Love that, happy trails.

So this is what we're going to do before we oh, I'm sorry, I'm going to close that part out.

Let's go to public comment and we're going to the hybrid public comment period.

But let me let me get something from the clerks before I make another announcement.

Madam Clerk, how many remote speakers do we have and how many in person?

We have 12 remote, nine in person.

OK, this is what we're going to do.

We will I understand Chief Scoggins is here, so I'm going to ask that we do the nine person speakers first and we allow Chief Scoggins of the Seattle Fire Department to speak first because Chief Scoggins, as you know, is a very busy man and he we want to welcome him.

Also, he will be speaking to Council Bill 120549, which is number five on the agenda under committee reports.

If there's anything else anyone wants to share, I would like Chief Scogins to go ahead and have the opportunity to have two minutes to speak.

Whenever you're ready, just let us know.

Is this the right place?

All right.

I'm ready.

You can raise it up.

He's ready.

Make sure the green lights on.

If it's not.

So good afternoon members of the City Council, Council President Juarez.

I want to lead with a thank you for all of your support for all the things that you do for the Seattle Fire Department each every day.

Also want to leave with a thank you to Mayor Harrell and Councilmember Herbold and Councilmember Lewis for bringing this legislation forward.

It's Council Bill 120549, number five on the agenda.

This is a very important piece of legislation to the Seattle Fire Department.

As many of you know, we go out the door many times each and every day, almost 300 times every single day to serve the community.

And where we see a gap for our firefighters and their safety is in safety while we're serving others.

So what this bill would do is it would include the firefighters as a public official in obstruction legislation.

Some of the things that you may not know is about 150 times in the last 12 months, we have had to call Seattle Police Department to the scene to help us serve someone who was in need.

That could be a fire, that could be a medical emergency in places all over this city.

And right now, what would happen is a firefighter has to physically be assaulted before SPD can really help them out, make an arrest and remove a person from the scene.

This obstruction legislation would stand in the gap and help SPD create a safe working space for our firefighters.

And that's really important for us because the work that we do is serving others in the community.

Every time we're interrupted, and providing care to a member of the community, that could cost them their lives or a fire could get bigger.

You're gonna hear some testimony from some of our firefighters and the experiences that they have faced out in the field.

This is a very real issue for us each and every day.

Just last month in April alone, we had to call SPD to the scene 16 times to help us serve someone that was in need.

It could be a cardiac issue, it could be a stroke, it could be a fire.

Our firefighters have been transported to the hospital from assaults by way of rocks.

Knives have been pulled on them.

People have tried to attack the person being served.

All of these things are very real situations.

So we view this as standing in the gap to create a safe working space so we can serve community.

That's really important for us.

So I urge the city council to support this legislation.

to help our firefighters continue to serve community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chief Scoggins, and I appreciate in the last eight years working with you and thank Councilor Herboldt for bringing this forward.

But I appreciate you taking the time to come to council chambers.

to share your perspective as our chief of the Seattle Fire Department.

So again, thank you for your words, and we will certainly keep those in mind when we are discussing and debating the council bill that will be before us, which is item number five.

Thank you.

Okay, with that, let's do the in-person speakers, and then we'll do the remote.

And Madam Clerk, can we set the timer for two minutes?

And again, please, folks, please, please, please listen for the bell, the ding.

I hate cutting people off at two minutes, so try to pay attention to that.

So with that, Madam Clerk, I'm gonna hand it over to you to do the instructions, and we'll go from there.

Sorry about that.

Let me get this going.

Are we having technical problems?

Because I can...

We are.

Should we just move on to the public commenters?

That's what I'm thinking.

I'm just going to say what I've been hearing for a long time.

And let's just do that.

Many of you who call in are in person pretty much know what the what the rules are.

And it's basically please speak to the agenda.

You don't need to call people names.

You don't need to be rude.

You don't need to be disrespectful.

We really want to hear from you.

I'm glad that we have people that call in and we have people that actually come to chambers and we genuinely listen to you.

And we want this to be a safe space and we want to be in a space where people feel free to share their comments or concerns, whether you agree or disagree with them.

And again, it's pretty straightforward.

Probably the rules you learn in kindergarten.

Just be kind, say what you have to say and we are listening.

So with that, Madam Clerk, let's start with the in-person speakers and you can start the clock at two minutes.

Our first in-person speaker is Kenny Stewart.

Mr. Stewart.

Well, good morning, President Juarez and honorable city council members.

My name is Kenny Stewart.

I'm a 27-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department.

I currently work as a lieutenant on Ladder 8 in Ballard.

I also serve as President of Seattle Firefighters Union, IFF Local 27. I'm speaking today in favor of Council Bill 120549. I want to thank Public Safety Chair Herbold and Council Member Lewis for bringing this bill forward.

I have personal experience with this issue and it's something that's very important to my members.

This ordinance will provide much needed support to Seattle firefighters so we can perform our jobs safely and effectively to serve the people of Seattle in emergency situations, especially when lives are at stake.

We need help with these incident scenes and this law will provide an additional tool to protect and control these scenes.

Violence and the threat of violence at incident scenes, which is our workplace, has increased significantly over the last few years.

This is not anecdotal.

Local 27 has worked with our department to create and implement a formal electronic assault and threatening behavior tracking system.

These incidents are actually instances of workplace violence and they are unacceptable.

The city of Seattle has a workplace violence policy that states that the city of Seattle will not tolerate workplace violence by or against its employees and further that such reports will be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately.

Firefighters have experienced more than 50 instances of this workplace violence in just the last six months.

Under this ordinance, a person would have to be interfering with our ability to perform our duties, that is fire suppression or emergency medical services.

It is not directed at patients who've overdosed, become conscious, or become combative, or experiencing other medical emergencies.

It's intended to help just those people.

This amended ordinance would be a much needed step forward There's some examples that my members are going to share with you.

But second, when seconds and minutes count, it is distracting and aggressive violent acts delay our actions and hinder our care.

I strongly urge you to pass this ordinance.

Thank you for allowing me to speak today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Liam Roney.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, city council members for putting this bill forward.

My name is Liam Roney.

I've been a Seattle firefighter for 16 years, I serve on ladder three in the central district.

I'm also serve as Vice President of Seattle firefighters local 27. I'm here to speak important in support of Council Bill 120549. This closes a gap, a significant gap in our response model.

Sometime over the last several years, police on scene were no longer able to establish an effective perimeter.

And it was an unintended byproduct of other changes that were going on.

And we didn't know, we found out individually through the types of instances that are recorded in the assault threatening behavior.

I can speak to how I found out.

We were called, I was on engine two, and we were called to somebody who was reportedly not breathing.

He'd been assaulted, we showed up, his face was covered in blood, and there were two men in between us and the patient, and there was police on scene.

And I immediately went to the patient to see if he had an airway, if he was breathing, if he had circulation, what had to be done.

with police on scene, I was yelled at and shoved out of the way.

And it was astonishing.

The aggressors focused on me and my partners were able to get the patient into the back of the medic unit and apply care, but it was chaotic.

And we've seen that chaos repeated time and time again.

And I believe this is the law we need to close that gap.

And with that, I thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Roger Weber.

Good afternoon, council members.

Everybody hear me okay?

So Roger Weber, I've worked in Pioneer Square for 23 years.

I've been on probably 20,000 runs.

I'm also on Health One, and I know I've met a lot of council members there.

To speak to one anecdote, if you will, at the fountain, we got dispatched to a person down.

In route, we heard that they weren't breathing.

And my partner and I on the aid car popped out, work mode.

I remember all this very clearly because I was breathing for this patient.

There was, I think, seven or eight police officers on scene and some very, very upset bystanders.

They weren't necessarily angry, they were just upset.

And they walked around every single police officer and came up and screamed in my face and shoved my partner who's trying to get the life pack on her.

And it was, she lived and I was amazed when the medics got back to us because I couldn't wait for more firefighters to show up because I knew they could protect me.

I could not believe watching someone, multiple people walk around police officers like they weren't there.

But it's like Liam said, that was my, awareness of that things have changed.

I don't want anyone to get in trouble.

I just wanna be able to work.

And there's no one more vulnerable in this city than a person laying on the ground, not breathing.

I just wanna help them.

And all the firefighters know, we don't want anyone to get in trouble.

We would just like the police officers to keep people away so we can work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ray Simon.

Good afternoon, City Council.

Thank you.

My name is Raymond Simon.

I've worked for City of Seattle 26 years, 25 years at Station 6 down in the Central District, 20 years as a driver there.

And on more than one occasion, I heard my crew, my people that I have lived with for 20 years, call for expedited response for Seattle Police Department various incidents, one incident in particular, when they called for an expedited response, I'm standing by on the engine on the fire response.

My job is to man the scene and make sure I provide water for whomever, for the crews on the scene.

But when my crew asked for help, I left my seat to go and assist them, which took me away from my, my job.

I was the first person on the scene.

My fellow co workers had been threatened by a gentleman wielding a three foot steel pipe swinging at a fire door.

His attention chain turned from them to me, he threatened to kill us all, and especially with.

I'm going to kill you nigger I'm going to kill you nigger, more than once, the police did come and detain this gentleman detained him for about 10 minutes or so then he released them back to the scene while we were still there.

They did provide a safe working place for us.

And that was necessary for me to go back to do my job or our firefighters to go and finish doing the job that they're supposed to do.

Without that assistance, without them being on the scene, we are unable to assist those who need us the most.

Like my colleague said, we don't want anyone to get in trouble.

Our job is to help people in need.

We cannot do that if we don't have the protection to provide service to those.

I thank you for this time.

Thank you for bringing this ordinance to the floor and wish you a good day.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Latonya Sevier.

Hello, my name is Latanya Sevier.

I'm a renter in D2.

I'm also a firefighter in Pierce County, and I have a PhD and about 15 years of experience doing research in social areas such as homelessness and the criminal legal system.

I'm here to tell you to vote no on this bill.

This bill will not only fail to protect firefighters, it will make things worse for them and the communities they serve, particularly the black community members who face disproportionate arrests and prosecutions under the existing obstruction statute.

If your goal is to improve the work environment for firefighters, there are many things that you can do.

such as training, more staffing, better schedules, addressing systemic failures such as our housing failure, our mental health failure, our drug situation.

Those are systems failures.

Criminalizing people who are going through these situations is not going to help firefighters or these people and it's also not going to help these systemic problems.

You also should vote no and demand that a racial equity toolkit be completed immediately.

These toolkits is something that the City of Seattle, who you all work for, put in place many years ago to make sure that the things you decide on don't have impacts that you're not thinking about right now.

Now I know that you wanna do one after you vote on it, but the actual toolkit says you should do it early.

And the reason you do that is you apply it early for alignment with the departmental racial equity goals and desired outcomes.

It's still early.

You presented this bill about two weeks ago.

So why the rush?

To expand the criminal code that you're doing right now, which will result in more black and brown folks in our deadly jail, might I remind you, King County Jail has had the highest number of deaths that it's ever had in the last year, and you should shut it down.

So I urge you to vote no.

And I will add, if you care about mental health, as you said earlier, by making May mental health month, I recommend that you stop the sweeps because those are not in alignment with what you said today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Renaissance.

Hello Council.

My name is Renaissance.

I'm the director of campaigns at 350 Seattle, I'm an organizer with who streets are streets.

I am the Secretary of the Seattle Martin Luther King Jr.

Organizing Coalition.

I've been a member of the Solidarity Budget.

I was one of the leaders on the Healthy Through Eating Smoke campaign last summer.

I'm also a part of the Shut Down King County Jail Coalition.

And what I'm here to talk to you about today is to vote no on Council Bill 120549. The arguments that are being made are arguments that we have made before.

Additional criminalization is not going to help our people and provide more safety.

And I'll pause for just a moment and say thank you to all of the firefighters here today for all of your service in our community.

Some of you and your brethren probably saved my mother's life.

And I would love to see safe situations.

And I think that we need our firefighters and we want them to be safe.

But we also need to improve our safety conditions in terms of how we are caring for our public.

And I do not believe that an additional criminalization is going to help us get to that point.

I do not really think that there's very much more that needs to be said other than echoing what the tenure severe had just said.

So with that I'll see my time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

My dirty crooks, a damn Nazi Gestapo bandita.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's it.

We're done.

Shut down the mic.

We are not doing name calling today.

Mr. Zimmerman, you are not allowed to use language to elected officials regarding their race.

So I would like to, I would like it to be muted and can I have security please make sure that Mr. Zimmerman is escorted from chambers and we will follow up with that later.

Who's next, Madam Clerk?

Our next, our last in-person speaker is Gerald Seminatore.

So good afternoon Council and members of the public.

Yes, my name is Gerald Simnotori.

I just wanted to say that this is my first visit in person to Council Chambers as someone that moved to Seattle during the pandemic.

I grew up in rural Vermont and the tradition of town meetings.

So this is a different form of governance.

I just wanted to acknowledge today, I guess, my gratitude for the work of the Office of Civil Rights, in particularly the Seattle LGBTQ Commission.

My name is on the agenda for confirmation of an appointment today.

And I also wanted to greet my colleague re re Armstrong, and also a Jeremy Airdman who I've already had a chance to work with.

And thanks to Janet Stafford and to Meredith Stone in the office there.

Also, this just came up.

Thanks to Mr. Cantor for his work with NAMI, the National Association for Mental Illness.

That was a surprise to me.

My sister is a NAMI educator.

I lost my nephew to suicide about five years ago.

And NAMI programs and educators were essential to help my family through that process of grieving and loss, and also to empower my sister now to work with that organization as a volunteer and as an educator.

So thank you on both counts.

That's all.

Thank you, Gerald.

I see that you're number nine in the attachment packet for the LGBTQ Commission.

So thank you for coming to Chambers and welcome.

Okay, so now we'll move on to remote speakers.

And our first remote speaker is Howard Gale.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale, speaking on police accountability and public comment.

Two weeks ago, I learned there are council members that intentionally do not listen to my public comment.

Democracy is impossible when elected officials refuse to listen to constituents and choose to disregard facts.

In over five years of my making public comment, you will not find a single claim I have publicly made and not supported by documented facts.

Like the fact that the SPD has killed more people in the years after the consent decree than were killed before.

Like the fact that this month it will be six full years that the Community Police Commission has failed to fulfill the legislative requirements mandated by this council in Resolution 31753. Most notably, the CPC has failed to propose mechanisms external to the SPD for investigation of serious and deadly use of force, protections available to every other city in the state except Seattle, and has failed to develop an appeals process for when complaints about police abuse are routinely rejected without proper investigation.

Like the fact that the CPC commissioners just three weeks ago stated they were abandoning any concrete proposals for a complaint and appeals process after doing nothing for six years.

Six years ago, nine days after the SPD murder of Charlene Alliles, Council President Juarez said, quote, we will demand accountability, transparency, and community oversight and not allow this to happen.

More importantly, those of you who hollered out, what are you going to do?

Keep doing that, unquote.

Yet the SPD went on to kill 15 more people.

Over half those people, time to be exact, had either no weapon in their hand when killed or were experiencing a severe behavioral health crisis while wielding a knife.

Facts are hard to hear.

Maybe my problem is that I have not hollered out enough.

What are you doing?

Thank you.

Our next person up is Peter Condit.

And it looks like Peter is not present.

We'll move on to Edwin Bergato.

OK, thank you.

I know.

Are you there?

Yep, you're there.

Perfect.

All right.

Let's say my name's number got a 30 years of experience in emergency services and I'm a lieutenant the Seattle fire department.

I worked most of my career in Capitol Hill and in the central district and I'm speaking in favor of the ordinance regarding obstruction the fire department personnel chances and concerns that I'd heard earlier during the previous meeting.

This ordinance does not serve to prevent anyone from exercising their right to oversee what we're doing it nearly.

would allow us enough space or buffer to effectively do our job and help those that call for help.

It's not to be used in a punitive way against those that call for help.

It simply will not allow individuals who are considered bystanders to interfere with our scene and create a dangerous situation for us and the citizens in need.

It is difficult to do our job effectively when bystanders can yell at our patients, fight us and our patients, and even prevent us from reaching our emergency scene.

These things happen far too often.

Finally, this ordinance will have a hugely positive influence in our mostly disadvantaged community.

Most of our issues do not occur at home.

Usually the safety issues we encounter are in the disadvantaged and marginalized communities we proudly serve.

This ordinance will allow us to provide a safe environment so we can provide effective care for those disadvantaged individuals in their communities and streets that call us for help.

Thank you, and I'll put yes on this ordinance.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Douglas Gray.

Mr. Gray, I do not see.

Yep.

Oh, good.

Hello.

Yeah, you're on.

Oh, yeah.

Hi.

Good afternoon, Council and members of the public.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of amending the Seattle City Council to make the crime of obstructing, what do we call it?

Council Bill 120549. I've worked as a firefighter and an EMT in Seattle for 19 years and I'm currently serving as a lieutenant.

My engine company and I are responsible for protecting the life and the safety of people of Interbay.

I support amending the SMC because I believe this change will make my crew and I able to do our jobs better.

It happens.

Emergency scenes sometimes create, they exasperate crisis.

People like to get involved and they'll interfere with our operations when we're trying to deliver care, protect property, or save lives.

I'm trying to think of one great example that would demonstrate why or how this happens and we could tell the whole story, but maybe somebody else has a better one.

I've been to fires before where somebody tried to keep us from getting inside to put the fire out.

And when that happens, our world gets very small and it gets better when people that are trained to deal with interference or on scene to help us do our jobs.

When I train with my team, we train about working together and how we're going to work together in response to deliver care to the patient in the scene, make the emergency better.

We almost never train on how to stop someone who wants to get in our way.

It's just not what we do or how we can serve them.

If this bill helps the amendment, I support it.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Castille Hightower.

My name is Castille Hightower and I'm the sister of Herbert Hightower Jr. who was murdered by Seattle police while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Similarly to the ways in which SPD has continued to brutally murder Seattle residents while under the consent decree, including a gentleman experiencing a mental health crisis who had his crotch attacked by a SPD canine before being shot to death, and whose name the CPC has never even bothered to utter, and the SPD has never even been held accountable for.

Today, the CPC has added yet another Seattle police officer as a commissioner in charge of force review, no less, continuing the Seattle tradition of cops investigating cops as they, as a commission, continue to bully, silence, and systemically prevent Seattle residents harmed directly by SPD violence to have a voice, including creating a safe enough space within their own commission for an affected person to become a commissioner themselves, blocking the affected persons program for five months, which was created to center the voices of affected people and explore resources such as burial expenses and mental health services and refusing to create an appeals process for victims for six years only to begin talking about it as a way to undermine the affected person's program and then promptly and conveniently giving excuse after excuse as to why there's no reason to even create an appeals process to begin with.

The city wants to call SPD a model department when the reality is we are continuing to be brutalized, murdered, and silenced with zero accountability.

If affected communities are denied access to resources, work groups created to censor our voices are intentionally dismantled and delayed, and work led by affected persons are undermined, how much does the empathy regarding mental health, as you all just talked about how much you care about it, really extend to victims of police violence and their families.

As the sister of someone killed by SPD while he was experiencing a mental health crisis, I say none.

I say same.

Our next speaker is BJ Last.

Hello, my name is BJ Last.

I'm a Ballard resident.

I'm calling against CD 120549. Council should reject this legislation, especially when council hasn't actually used the race and social justice toolkit that was built to evaluate legislation.

The city set this up for a reason, to avoid an impact it was not expecting.

This is especially important for new legislation like this, when the city's own analysis has shown how obstruction charges have historically been used to suppress and penalize people of color.

The RSGI toolkit was designed to evaluate legislation ahead of time, not after it was already passed.

Council should not be rushing forward going from initial presentation to final vote in two weeks.

Council would be stopping at the bare minimum to apply the RSGI toolkit.

This meeting started with proclamations about disproportionate impacts in housing, affordability, and mental health awareness.

Now Council is going to vote disproportionately impact those same groups.

And again, that's based off of the city's own analysis so far of this bill.

And Council is going to go and vote to disproportionately impact those groups, disproportionately criminalize them without even bothering to take the time to apply the RSGI toolkit.

If Council really did care about mental health and disproportionate impacts of affordable housing, they'd reject this bill and they would stop the sweeps.

I yield my time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is John Goins.

Hi, I'm looking.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is John Goins.

I'm a Seattle resident, and I'm speaking in favor of Council Bill 120549. I'm a captain in the Seattle Fire Department.

I grew up here in Seattle.

I went to high school here and I've spent 19 years with the Seattle Fire Department the majority of which I worked in downtown Seattle.

Our job is to take care of those that are injured whoever they are and to put out what's on fire whatever that is.

I can tell you in my time in Seattle Fire Department that people used to give us space no matter what the situation.

There was a there was an unwritten agreement that we all had that once we showed up and someone was hurt or something was on fire, that we would be allowed to do our jobs.

And to be honest with you, it just doesn't happen as much as it used to.

As a matter of fact, a lot of times it doesn't.

It makes it very hard for us to treat patients when we're afraid for our own safety.

It also makes the situation more uncomfortable for the patient and lessens their privacy.

I have an example.

I had an elderly woman struck by a vehicle.

an elderly black woman.

I'm a black man myself.

An angry group of people surrounded us and the patient.

The patient had minor injuries and just wanted us to help her get to the store where she was walking to and to get back to her apartment.

That's the kind of service we provide all the time for folks.

We examined her.

She refused treatment and wanted to just go to the store and get her groceries and have us help her back to her apartment.

The angry group insisted that we force this woman to accept treatment.

We explained that she didn't want treatment and that it's actually illegal for us to force it on someone who is of sound mind.

They angrily accused our multicultural crew of racism and delayed this woman from reaching her destination, all while she expressed a desire that they leave her alone.

In that instance, it would have been better for the patient if there was a reasonable perimeter around her so she could receive the treatment she needed and get the counsel from us that she was asking for.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alice Lockhart.

Alice, star six.

There you are.

Oh, council.

I appreciate it.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm speaking to the same bill as everyone else.

Council Bill 120549. And with many of the same concerns that others have with this bill, my initial concern when reading this, and it still exists, is that this bill will be used to squelch protests, you know, and have an excuse to form a perimeter in situations where you otherwise might not have one.

But this initial concern is after speaking to friends whom I respect, not the primary concern.

The primary concern is the lack of an RSGI toolkit and the effect of this bill on people who are subject to it, particularly people of color.

The bill states a full charge of the destruction of a public officer has historically been used to suppress and penalize people of color.

That seems like that seems like an absolute, we should do the toolkit first.

And otherwise, you know, if it's not a sole charge, then the bill is redundant.

If it is a sole charge, we need to do the toolkit.

And moreover, I appreciate the friendly amendments that came from the mitigating amendments that came from Council Member Muscata, I believe.

If we'd done RSGI, would those be the only amendments or would there be others?

We don't know.

Therefore, I'd really appreciate it if council could just take a breath, hold on a minute, do the toolkit and come back to this more fully informed in order to deep fix this bill or

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Aiden Carroll.

Hi.

If this bill would not be at all about criminalizing patients when they're escalated or forcing treatment on them, this bill would be amended to specify that it does not include people in need of medical aid or that it cannot be used when another charge is present.

But that doesn't matter because firefighters can create a safety perimeter without the need for criminal punishment for breaching that perimeter.

And the city can help them do that.

And while this is being rewritten, the race and equity analysis needs to happen first.

The most fundamental problem here is the criminal punishment introduced.

A lot of people can't be kept out of an area.

This could result in someone going to jail.

At a time when we're working to decrease, not increase, the number of problems that we respond to with jail, this bill would do the opposite.

The fact that many patients are marginalized people doesn't change the fact that people that go criminalized are also.

Even if we believe the dubious claim the law would never be used on patients, the people would be used on and the patients are drawn from the same population experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and addiction, and punishment does not solve any of those things ever.

Firefighters deserve more training on how to deal with their situations they commonly experience without police.

We all do, but especially helpful services like firefighters.

It's critical we reduce and eliminate the role of police whenever possible, because the only tools that they have are punishment, and that does not solve problems.

Where is the money for the upstream interventions?

I appreciated the proclamation about suicide awareness.

Since 2016, one of the main things that has kept me the will to live is to be involved in movements for justice.

It's not to say that these things aren't important.

It's part of why you hear my voice so often.

Public safety and Everything we see here, as the legislation admits, is deteriorating in some specific ways because of these social crises and the social services that we need to fund are the solution to that.

Thank you.

Do the race and equality analysis first.

Thank you.

And that's the end of the list, Council President.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, those that came to chambers to give public comment.

And thank you to the callers who called in regarding the items on the agenda.

So that ends our public comments.

So moving on in our agenda, if there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

Not seeing an objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

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

not seen any objection to today's agenda.

The agenda is adopted.

Let's go to the Section G of our agenda, the adoption of the consent calendar on the consent calendar.

This is what we have.

We have the minutes from May 2nd, twenty twenty three.

We have Council Bill one two zero five six one.

That's the payroll bill.

And out of Councilor Morales' committee, which is always busy, we have 12 appointments.

From the Neighborhoods, Education, Civil Rights, and Culture Committee, we have two appointments to the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy Oversight Committee, better known as FEP.

We have two appointments to the Seattle Women's Commission, three appointments to the Seattle LGBTQ Commission.

And I understand there was another individual that was here.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch their name.

Welcome, these are three appointments that went through Casper Morales committee and we have four appointments to the Community Involvement Commission and one appointment to the International Special Review District Board.

All of these were sponsored by Council Member Morales.

Are there any items that any council member would like removed from the consent calendar for us to discuss later in the agenda?

All right.

Hearing none, not seeing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

It has been moved and seconded to adopt a consent calendar.

I'm sorry, we already did that.

I apologize.

I'm trying to keep up here.

The consent calendar is adopted.

Will the clerk please fix my signature to the minutes and the legislation and the appointments on the consent calendar on my behalf.

So we are going to move into committee reports and we have eight today.

So we are going to start with Council Member Ellis' committee, which I understand Council Member Lewis will be stepping in for her, from the Neighborhoods, Education, Civil Rights and Culture Committee.

This is item one.

Madam Clerk, can you please read that into the record?

Report of the Neighborhoods, Education, Civil Rights and Culture Committee, Agenda Item 1, Council Bill 120554, relating to historic preservation, imposing controls upon the Fairfax, a landmark designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board under Chapter 25.12 of Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends that City Council pass the Council Bill.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Lewis, thank you so much for stepping in for Council Member Ellis.

The floor is yours.

Of course, thank you so much Council President and happy to step in for my colleague Councilmember Morales this afternoon.

The first item in front of us as the clerk just read is Council Bill 120554 imposing controls on the Fairfax condos, a landmark that was designated by the Landmark Preservation Board.

The committee recommended adoption of this ordinance.

The landmark designation was nominated by the owners of the building.

The building was constructed in 1903, and it is located in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood in district 3. This ordinance would impose controls and grant incentive to the landmark.

A controls and incentive agreement had been signed by the owner and approved by the landmarks preservation board.

The controls in the agreement apply to the site, the exterior of the building, and the main interior stairway, but do not apply to any in-kind maintenance or repairs of those designated features.

The landmark will preserve the residential units that are currently located on site, and the committee did unanimously recommend the adoption of the ordinance.

I have no further remarks.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Are there any comments from my colleagues before we move forward?

Not seeing any, is there anything you would like to add, Councilmember Lewis, before we go to a vote?

No, Council President, I am ready to vote.

Thank you.

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

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, please fix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number two.

Again, Council Member Lewis will be pitching for Council Member Morales.

Council Member Lewis, the floor is yours.

Just the clerk need to read the items.

Oh, I'm sorry.

You're right.

I'm sorry.

I'm trying.

I don't know why I'm getting ahead of myself today.

You're right.

Thank you.

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

Agenda item two, Council Bill 120555, relating to historic preservation and imposing controls upon the University of Washington Faculty Club, a landmark designated by the Landmark Preservation Board under Chapter 25.12 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends that city council pass the council bill.

All right, now I can say it.

Council Member Lewis, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President.

So Council Bill 120555 is also imposing controls and incentives on a building, in this case, the UW Faculty Club.

a landmark that was designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board.

The committee recommended adoption of this ordinance.

The University of Washington Faculty Club was built in 1960. The property is located on the University of Washington's Montlake campus in District 4. A controls and incentives agreement has been signed by the owner and approved by the Landmarks Preservation Board.

The controls in the agreement apply to the site and the courtyards, the exterior of the building, and the open interior volume and plan layout of the upper floor, but do not apply to any in-kind maintenance or repairs of those designated features.

This landmark will preserve a beloved communal space on the campus that is accessible to students, staff, and faculty.

And with that, there was a unanimous recommendation to approve these controls and incentives, and I have no additional remarks.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Are there any comments from our colleagues regarding item number two?

All right, not seeing any.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

The bill passes.

The Chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

I'm gonna have to slow down a little bit here.

So now we're gonna move over to item number three out of the Public Assets and Homeless Committee.

So Madam Clerk, will you please read item number three into the record?

Report of the Public Assets and Homelessness Committee.

Agenda item three, council bill 120548, relating to the Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services, authorizing the acquisition of real property identified in King County records.

The committee recommends that city council pass the council bill.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, this is your committee.

Floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President.

So the bill that is in front of us that I alluded to during briefing yesterday afternoon authorizes a long pending arrangement between the City of Seattle and the Muckleshoot tribe to acquire and transfer the cocoon building, which is currently owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation to be used as a site by the Muckleshoot Muckleshoot tribe as a cultural learning center.

This is a very exciting opportunity.

It was really great to be joined in chambers by leadership from the Muckleshoot tribe, and to finally be in a position to move this forward with FAS.

and it was unanimously recommended by the full council and look forward to approving it here today or by the committee and look forward to approving it here today at the full council.

With that, I don't have any additional remarks.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, I would only add that thank you for getting over the finish line hopefully.

Second of all, it could not be more timely since we just finished the tribal summit.

and cultural resources and the waterfront were on the agenda.

So thank you so much for your leadership and getting in your committee and getting it out of your committee and getting it in front of us today.

Are there any other comments from my colleagues before we move to a vote?

OK, I do not see any.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

All right, let's move on to item number four again.

This will be coming out of Council Member Lewis's committee.

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

agenda item for Council Bill 120559 relating to current use taxation, approving applications for current use taxation of properties located 4200 Baker Avenue Northwest and 2317 South Norman Street under the King County Public Benefit rating system.

The committee recommends that City Council pass the Council Bill.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis.

Thank you Council President.

We have considered a number of measures this year, like Council Bill 120559, which is legislation under the County Public Benefit Rating System, which offers a special property tax benefit Two properties that are preserving a portion of the property as public open space in essence.

We got the same presentation that we typically get from the agency that vets these applications as well as testimony from the property owner confirming that these parcels qualify under this program.

Council members asked a number of questions to confirm that, and there was a unanimous recommendation that we approve.

For the record, those parcels are 4200 Baker Avenue Northwest and 2317 South Norman Street, that we approve them as qualifying for the King County Public Benefit Rating System, and we do recommend full passage here at full council.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Are there any comments from our colleagues regarding this piece of legislation?

Okay, and I'm guessing customer Lewis here.

You're done speaking to it.

Yes, I'm done.

Okay.

Okay.

Madam Clerk.

Will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Councilmember Lewis.

Yes.

Councilmember Nelson.

I Councilmember Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

So now we're going to move into item number five, which is a piece of legislation out of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee.

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

Report of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, agenda item five, council bill 12549, relating to the city's criminal code amending the crime of obstructing a public officer to include obstructing firefighters and fire department personnel and amending section 12A.16.010 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends that city council pass as amended the council bill.

Thank you, Councilmember herbal, you are the chair of this committee, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much.

This bill has been a long time in the making, as early as July of last year, we received the first letter from Seattle Firefighters Union local 27. writing about the increasing dangerous interactions firefighters have had in the field.

We heard about some of them today in public comment.

The letters that we received last year document, for instance, a firefighter being hit with a large rock, thrown by an assailant while extinguishing a fire at an encampment.

In another incident, firefighters were threatened by two individuals with weapons, one made out of steel rebar, and were forced to retreat to a distant location to wait for police backup before extinguishing the fire.

Once on scene, and not until police were on scene, they were able to find a person yelling for help who had been who was later transported to Harborview to be treated for sexual assault.

A third letter that we received last summer referenced a young firefighter who had been assaulted twice in her first 16 months in the department, being kicked in the genitals on an aid response and slapped in the face on a separate occasion.

These incidents have risen so sharply and have been so alarming that the union has had to develop a tracking tool for assaults and threatened behavior targeting firefighters where one did not exist before.

In January, the Seattle Fire Department shared data that showed That 37% of the reports included physical contact, 11% included weapons.

brandished like the anecdote I shared earlier, and there were 12 times in that report where weapons were used.

In at least 10% of the incidents, the threatening party was known to have prior incidents.

So this was a report that we received in January.

It is not an up-to-date report through May.

After implementing the tracking system, the Seattle Fire Department local 27, the city attorney's office, council member Lewis and I began collaboration on the ordinance, which would change the definition of public officer in the crime of obstructing a public officer in the missile code to include firefighters alongside other city employees that are already protected by this particular part of the law.

Employees like building inspectors, the fire marshal and police officers all are protected by this part of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Firefighters and other fire employees are not.

This ordinance allows the Seattle Fire Department to lawfully create a necessary perimeter at the scene of a response to ensure that they have the ability to deliver the services calling for, and it is actually a de-escalation tactic.

that once employed will reduce the number of incidents like assault that would result in further entanglement with a law enforcement officer, with the police officer needing to detain someone.

That is the intent, is to create this barrier, this perimeter, this safe space to reduce the likelihood of other unlawful activity.

No employee should have to worry about their safety while doing their job, especially as they deliver life saving services in response to a 911 call.

Firefighters are carrying heavy and difficult to manage equipment to put out a fire or they're kneeled over to resuscitate a patient.

And in those in those instances, they are particularly vulnerable, can't be in a defensive posture because they're focused on on the victim or the task at hand.

And that vulnerability, unfortunately, has been exploited and created risks not just to firefighters and other fire department employees, but it has also created risks to the vulnerable populations that are being assisted with life-saving care.

After receiving feedback, we adopted an amendment in committee to track charges of obstructing a firefighter so that we can watch for possible racial disparities and other unintended consequences.

Today, I will be bringing forward three additional amendments on behalf of Council Member Mosqueda, who's excused from today's council meeting with the objective of further mitigating the potential for unintended consequences.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Herbold, thank you, first of all, for stepping in on the amendments.

This is how we're going to do it now.

I'm going to open the floor for people who want to comment.

regarding the base legislation, not the amendments, the base legislation.

And I see that Council Member Lewis, who also worked with you on this matter, has his hand up.

So Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez, Council President Juarez.

I appreciate the opportunity to weigh in on this and thank Chair Herbold for her leadership over several months, working closely with our partners in the fire department, both Chief Scoggins, but also our leadership in the union.

I have very deep gratitude to all the firefighters who turned out today to testify today.

Firefighter Weber, I do remember going on that ride along with you with HealthONE and talking about a lot of these issues years ago when we were riding along in a snowstorm together.

And I got to watch you heroically dig somebody out of a tent that had collapsed in Denny Park.

woman's hand ended up being saved from frostbite because of your intervention.

So I have a very deep appreciation for the firefighters that we work with and what they experience in the field.

I can say as someone who has been following this closely since 2019 when I was a candidate, And these issues around firefighter assaults were campaign issues then that we were discussing as a matter of public discourse because they were occurring more frequently, that what had been happening in 2019 has just skyrocketed by now in terms of being a workplace hazard that firefighters are unacceptably being exposed to.

There is no one thing in front of us that is going to immediately fix this.

Indeed, this ordinance today, while helpful and providing some guidance and some new tools, is not in and of itself going to fix all of these issues that are resulting in these situations that are happening that firefighters are experiencing.

But it does help close a really important loop for a certain subset of these instances.

where firefighters are at the scene, they're at the scene with police, they're being obstructed from administering care to a patient, and the police essentially are just in a position to tell the firefighters, unless you are assaulted, there's really nothing I can do to instruct the person to stop standing between you and the person you need to administer serious injury care or even life-saving care to prevent a fatality or potentially even other use of emergency services like emergency rooms.

Indeed, in many cases, under the current.

Law, we have community members who are assaulting firefighters and then being booked on felony liability for assault 3, assaulting a public officer.

That definition does currently include firefighters while the substruction statute does not.

What this policy would allow at this point is for firefighters to be fully within their right to tell someone who is standing between them and someone they need to give care to let them by and that they have to legally let them by to administer that care.

We heard a number of examples today of firefighters testifying to very specific scenarios where people have willfully declined to move out of the way for a variety of different reasons.

that have resulted in potential serious harm to people in our community.

I want to also express my gratitude at this point for a lot of the feedback we've received from community members who have expressed skepticism and concern about the potential for this power to be abused.

That is something we always have to be vigilant for.

That is something that we always have to be taking into consideration as legislators.

The amendments that Council Member Herbold and myself have worked on with Council Member Mosqueda and that we will be voting on today, go a long way to closing very, very predictable potential loopholes in this legislation that could use it for undesirable outcomes.

That includes potentially criminalizing people in crisis who are trying to access care, which one of the amendments very specifically addresses.

That is totally something that the base legislation could have allowed a scenario for.

we're happy to bring forward a change to make sure that is not something that can happen and to make that clear.

I want to also add that I do think that the sequencing of doing a further assessment of the race and social justice initiative, I do think the sequencing makes sense in that I don't think that the underlying policy is so much the issue, it's the execution and the implementation That is more something that could potentially be concerning.

I think the rule itself saying, you cannot knowingly obstruct a firefighter from giving someone care is a rule that unambiguously is 1 that we should all support the concerns that have been raised by the community that I think are good concerns and that we have an amendment requesting an assessment.

And an implementation plan to address is, how do we make sure that we are implementing this in a way that is accomplishing that goal, but not creating a method for this to be abused or used in a way to stifle speech used in a way to criminalize people who are experiencing poverty or mental health.

That goes into the implementation and coming into the front end, knowing that our partners at the Fire Department, Chief Scoggins, the leadership of the Firefighters Union, stand ready to make sure that an implementation plan is put in place to keep them safe, but also keep the community safe.

No one signed up to be a firefighter to put their hands on someone in anger, and too often now that has been something that firefighters have been put in the conundrum of being faced with situations that they should never be facing.

This legislation helps us move forward on this.

We need to be vigilant about the potential downsides and these amendments help to insulate it.

And I want to give my gratitude to Council Member Mosqueda for working with us to put them forward and really appreciate the work of everybody here and bringing this about.

So with that, Council President, I know I went on for a while there, but I'll hand it back over to you.

Thank you.

So this is what we're going to do right now we're just making comments to the base legislation and everyone will have an opportunity to address.

my understanding, the three amendments that Councilmember Herbold will be presenting on behalf of Councilmember Mosqueda.

I just want to add just to the base legislation before we begin my comments.

First of all, my understanding is that the base legislation passed on a committee unanimously.

And thank you, Councilmember Herbold and Lewis, because we started hearing about this issue back in December and January.

regarding this piece of legislation.

We've had opportunities to also speak to Chief Scoggins and to Kenny Stewart, who you heard today, who's the head of the Firefighters Union Leader.

And we were also very cognizant of the issue that violence has escalated, and we are living in different times.

So I'm going to save my final comments for after we hear the three amendments.

And if we vote on the base legislation with potential amendments, and then everybody will have another opportunity to speak to if it becomes amended legislation.

So thank you, Council Member Lewis, for your words.

So let's move on.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you so much.

I move to amend Council Bill 12-0549 as presented on Amendment A. Is there a second?

Second, thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend council bill as presented on amendment a, which you all got copies of a B and C customer herbal.

You are now recognized to address your amendment a, on behalf of council member.

Thank you so much.

This is a friendly amendment sponsored by Councilmember Mosqueda, alluded to by Councilmember Lewis just a moment ago.

It adds an element to the crime specifying that no one shall be charged or convicted with obstructing their own medical care in response to constituent concerns.

It also requests that SPD add to their own policy manual instructions not to arrest anyone for obstructing their own medical care.

We've received affirmation from SPD that they will update their manual accordingly.

And this amendment basically codifies something already agreed to by the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Fire Department and is in line with best practices to ensure the dignity and agency of individuals who may be the subject of a 911 Medicaid call.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any comments from my colleagues regarding Amendment A?

Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Just to address all three amendments, I appreciate our Public Safety Chair Councilmember Furbold and also Councilmember Lewis sponsoring this important legislation to include firefighters as public officers.

I've also heard repeatedly from firefighters serving people in my district about the challenges they face as city workers trying to do their job safely and effectively.

The three amendments are being brought forward rather late in the process, just about 24 hours ago, but there's nothing in our city charter, city council rules that would prevent amendments at the full city council.

In fact, that's common practice.

I was able to review these.

I'll go ahead and be voting for these amendments because I understand there's no strong objection to the amendments from our firefighters.

The bottom line is that Seattle firefighters should not be obstructed in carrying out their life saving duties for the public, which we know includes protecting people from fires and saving people suffering from medical emergencies.

So I'll be voting yes on all of the above.

Thank you.

So you got them all out now.

Great.

All right.

Council Member Nelson.

I feel like I should just say ditto, but Yeah, I'll be voting yes on this amendment and the other two basically is taking the path of least resistance to get this base legislation through the pipeline.

These are dedicated civil servants that put their lives on the line every day to protect us.

And so I just feel that it's the least we as the legislative body can do to protect them through code.

So that's what I'll be doing.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, everybody in the audience for your service.

Are there any more comments regarding the proposed amendment a or you could go the route of council member council member Peterson and Nelson with the trifecta of yes on all three.

But is there anyone else on a OK?

I do not see anyone else's hands up on the proposed amendment.

So with that, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of Amendment A to Council Bill one two zero five four nine.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries in Council Bill 120549 as amended by Amendment A Is now wait, do we already do that?

Did you guys all vote?

We're good.

OK, so I got ahead of myself in my script.

I apologize, you guys.

Are there any other further comments?

So we're good.

It passed.

Yes.

OK, good.

So we will move on.

So Council Member Herbold, I believe you have something for me.

Thank you so much.

I move to amend Council Bill twelve zero five four nine as presented on Amendment B. Thank you.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill as presented on Amendment B, which we all got copies of.

Councilor Herbold, you are now recognized in order to address Amendment B.

Thank you so much.

This is another friendly amendment from Councilmember Mosqueda.

It requests the Fire Department and the Police Department to create a joint policy whereby SPD remains off-site and on standby until the Seattle Fire Department specifically requests their assistance due to an obstruction and Seattle Police Department to consult with fire personnel before engaging with any people present on a fire or emergency response scene.

In consulting with the fire department, they have indicated this is more or less already the informal existing practice, and they are happy to formalize it.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any comments regarding Amendment B?

Okay, not seeing any.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Amendment B to Council Bill 120549.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and Council Bill 120549 as amended, Amendment B.

has passed.

We have a little problem here.

I apologize in our script today because of the amendments and the language.

Just bear with me, folks.

Let's go on to Amendment C and Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

I move to amend Council Bill 120549 as presented on Amendment C. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend Council Bill as presented on Amendment C and Council Member Herbold will be presenting that as well.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

This amendment requests that the Seattle Police Department and Fire Department work together to complete a racial equity toolkit analysis on the impacts of implementing the bill and to provide the council with regular updates on the progress of this work.

It would also request these departments to report on their current and potential future ability to determine whether those who are arrested for obstruction are or may be experiencing mental or behavioral health crisis.

Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.

Are there any comments on the proposed Amendment C?

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President and Councilmember Herbold.

I believe you'll probably be the right person to ask these questions to.

Is this going to be the Seattle Police Department and Seattle Fire Department doing the RSJI report or is it going to be Office of Civil Rights?

Um, so the amendment itself, I think, focuses on fire and police working together.

I did have a separate communication with Chief Scott Scoggins to not just look at the racial equity.

toolkit analysis on the outcome of the legislation, but to work with SOCR on convening in the next 30 days before the bill becomes effective, convening a conversation with community stakeholders, some of which we've heard from here today, some organizational, to look at how implementation of the ordinance I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

I think that's a great point.

Do they know that they have the capacity to do this in the next 30 days?

I just recall from the budget process list last year that we oftentimes ask SOCR to do more work than we give them staffing for.

And one concern that I have is by putting these reporting dates and times in this legislation that we are, in fact, putting this work ahead of other work that's already in their queue.

I will filibuster here for a moment, but my recollection is the communication that we received from staff in Council Member Mosqueda's office sharing this amendment with us indicated that they had worked with SOCR.

And I am rushing to pull up that email from from the staff in Council Member Mosqueda's office.

Well, if it helps any with you filibustering Council Member Herbold, that was our understanding as well.

Okay.

Thank you.

Let's see.

Reflects a few to the law department.

This is the problem sometimes when you're working to pitch hit for another council member.

Yeah, I'm not finding additional.

I recall there was two emails from Melanie, and I thought one of them referenced working with, oh, here we go.

A meeting with Greg, Anne, and Damon from OCR regarding the obstructing one's own medical care exemption tomorrow.

So that was the other amendment.

So I'm sorry, I don't have specific information about SOCR's involvement in this amendment.

Is there room to amend this amendment regarding these reporting requirements?

I'm concerned about unintended consequences here.

I don't know how we would do that.

Correct.

We don't.

We have what we have in front of us.

Everyone got the amendments.

Those questions should have been answered.

This isn't a committee to for the committee that actually put it forward.

I appreciate your questions, but without more, and we don't have Councilor Mosqueda here, and these were friendly amendments, I think that's as far as we can go with that.

And just reading the amendment itself, it does not mention SOCR in the amendment itself.

Great.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

and I don't know if we need to actually mention it because it's kind of self-explanatory, but I'll leave it at that.

Are there any more comments regarding Amendment C to Council Bill 120549?

Okay, I do not see any comments or anyone raising their hand, so we will do this.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Amendment C?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Okay, the motion carries, which means amendment C has passed.

Now we're going to move on to the Council Bill 120549 as amended.

Correct, Clerk?

All three?

Yes, correct.

Okay, so this would be the time for my colleagues to discuss the base legislation as well as the three amendments that were all passed.

And then Council Member Herbold, please remind me to let you close us out.

Okay.

Good.

Council, is your hand up Councilor Lewis?

No.

Do we have any more comments from our colleagues?

Okay.

The only thing that I want to add to the amended bill with the three amendments, thank you Councilor Herbold so much for stepping in and doing that.

I just want to say I'm glad we got this done, and I want to thank Councilmember Herbold and Councilmember Lewis for getting it done.

We have been having discussions, and as long as I've been around, I have to say this.

Assaults on firefighters, they've become more violent.

They've become more commonplace than I've seen in my life in practicing law.

And I think the way Mr Stewart characterize it as well is about workplace violence and they are out there trying to save lives.

and we try to do what we can, but also balance the needs so no community is impacted more than any other community.

And Council Member Herboldt, you brought up a really good point about the vulnerability of our firefighters when they're out there in these conditions, which are very, to say the least, scary, unsafe, unpredictable, and they're there to do their job and their job is to save lives.

So I am glad that we got these three amendments done.

I think they address some of the issues on whether or not, like we said before, any particular community would be disparately impacted.

And I think we've taken care of that.

I think people were calling it the gap and I think it's done.

And I think then after this point, it'll be up to the Seattle Fire Department and police and the courts to decide whether or not if somebody actually assaults a public officer, which will now include a firefighter.

that that will be up to the court's job to do that.

And also, I saw that we have an affirmative defense to that now as well.

So are there any other comments before we go to the...

All right, yes, Council Member Herbold.

To like close us out.

Thank you so much.

So today during public testimony we heard from a number of people on the bill.

Thank our Seattle firefighters and fire department employees and Chief Scoggins for joining us here in committee, or full council today.

We also heard people who had concerns about the bill.

But we are all asking for the same thing.

We are asking for us to do everything we can to secure the safety and protection of our firefighters in the line of duty and for equitable and just outcomes.

I know that we are all aligned when we say we do not take lightly the decision to expand the criminal code.

Seattle Fire Department's Chief Scoggins and Local 27 do not take lightly this decision either.

And this is just one tool for the use of the department.

One that we would rather not have to use at all, but it is clear that something must be done.

I've supported Councilmember Mosqueda in her amendments to strengthen the bill and mitigate and prevent unintended consequences like potential disparate outcomes.

Today, I sent a letter to Chief Scoggins requesting that he use the 30 days between signature and effective date of the ordinance to join with service providers and should SOCR be available in meaningful engagement to build the internal policies and procedures surrounding this ordinance.

It's true that we have data that shows the use of the obstruction.

Authority does show a racially disparate arrest count, but I really truly believe this tool will be different in the hands of our firefighters.

And we have amended the bill to track that and course correct as needed.

What we don't track, however, is the disparity towards vulnerable community members seeking emergency.

aid that comes in the disparity that could come with us doing nothing.

We don't track the demographic data of patients receiving and requesting services from our firefighters and EMTs.

We do know that people who rely on emergency services typically have less access to preventative care.

We know that this disparity access to healthcare falls along the lines of class and race.

We don't know to what extent, but we do know that delaying and preventing fire department personnel from being able to respond to a call for service delays life-saving care to the most vulnerable people in our city during their most vulnerable moments.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any other comments?

I know you were you were kind of closing this out there, but I thought I saw a hand up just in case.

OK, so everybody, we had the base legislation.

We had the three amendments that passed.

Councilmember Herbold stepped in for Councilmember Mosqueda.

We've had unanimous vote on the amendment.

So now we will go to the vote on the I'll do it this way.

Please call the roll on the passage of the amended bill.

Well, may I just have a council member make the motion to pass it as amended since we've done all three amendments to pass council bill as amended?

Do I do that?

It's not in your script.

I apologize.

Yeah, I'm looking for that part.

Okay.

You know what?

I thought that I was supposed to do that, but I wasn't sure.

Okay.

So with that, So the motion carries, we've amended it.

So do I say- I move to pass Council Bill 120549 as amended.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120549 as amended.

Second.

Second.

Great.

Got it in there, got the second.

Now I will say, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the amended bill?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

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

And Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Okay, with that, we're going to move on to the exciting committee of transportation sale public utilities with Councillor Peterson.

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

Report of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee, Agenda Item Six, Council Bill 120543, granting Seaport Midstream Partners, LLC, permission to maintain and operate a pipeline system in, under, along, and across Southwest Florida Street between 13th Avenue Southwest and 16th Avenue Southwest.

The committee recommends that City Council pass the Council Bill.

Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President, colleagues.

Council Bill 120543 would renew a pipeline term permit, enabling Seaport Midstream Partners LLC to maintain and operate a pipeline system in, under, along, and across Southwest Florida Street between 13th Avenue Southwest and 16th Avenue Southwest on Harbor Island.

Our committee unanimously recommended passage of this council bill.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any comments from my colleagues?

You're okay to go forward, Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

All right.

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

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Moraes?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Let's move on to item number seven.

Will the clerk please read item number seven into the record?

Agenda item seven, council bill 120544, granting Quest Corporation permission to continue maintaining and operating an existing utility tunnel under and across Seneca Street, east of third Avenue, repealing section eight of ordinance 123615, and providing for the acceptance of the permit and conditions.

The committee recommends that city council pass the council bill.

Thank you.

Councilor Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, all that great information in the title of the bill, Council Bill 120544 will renew a utility term permit for Quest Corporation across Seneca Street, east of 3rd Avenue, which is in District 7. Our committee unanimously recommended passage of this council bill.

Thank you.

Okay, good.

Any comments for anybody?

Not seeing any.

I'm guessing you're okay, Councilmember Peterson?

Thank you.

All right.

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

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Moraes?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, please fix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number eight, Madam Clerk, can you please read item number eight into the record?

Agenda item eight, clerk file 314517, request for an extension to the conditional approval of a petition of city investors LLC to vacate a portion of the alley in block 89 DT Denny's, fifth addition to the city of Seattle.

The committee recommends that city council approve the clerk file.

Thank you.

This is the clerk file, Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, due to construction delays, Clerk File 314-517 is needed to extend the conditional approval of a subterranean alley vacation within the so-called Block 89 in District 7. That subterranean alley vacation was originally approved in 2015 as part of Clerk File 313-894.

Our committee unanimously recommended approval of this new clerk file for the extension.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any comments from my colleagues?

Not seeing any, then I will just go right to the vote.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the approval of the clerk file as conditioned?

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, the clerk file is approved as conditioned and the chair will sign it with the conditions and Madam Clerk, please fix my signature to the conditions on my behalf.

All right, so we are done with our committee reports, and my understanding is that we have no items that are removed from the consent calendar.

We have no other resolutions for the introduction and adoption today.

Is there any other business to come before council?

Okay, not seeing that.

So before we adjourn, colleagues, this does conclude our items of business for today and the next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be held next Tuesday, May 16. Thank you all.

We are adjourned.

Recording stopped.