Seattle City Council 2/15/22

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Today is February 15th, a meeting of the Seattle City Council.

It will now come to order.

The time is now 2.01.

I'm Deborah Juarez, President of the Council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Sawant?

Present.

Council Member Strauss?

Present.

Council Member Herbold?

Here.

Council Member Lewis?

Present.

Council Member Morales?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Present.

Council Member Nelson.

Present.

Council Member Peterson.

Here.

And Council President Juarez.

Here.

Nine present.

Great, thank you.

Moving along on the agenda.

So, yeah, we did the roll call.

Let's go to presentations.

Today we have two presentations on the calendar.

And the first one will be a presentation regarding Mayor Harrell, and the second one will be Councilor Herbold.

We will start with the first presentation.

So, Madam Clerk, first of all, good afternoon to everybody.

Today is an exciting day.

Today we welcome Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, our 57th mayor, who was elected in 2021 to serve his first term until 2025. Mayor Harrell will share with us today the traditional state of the city address and his vision for the people of Seattle tribal nations, and the region.

I am honored to work side-by-side with a friend, a former Seattle City Council colleague, a current Sound Transit board member, and now mayor of our great city to tackle the challenges of today.

We are indeed moving forward together and hopefully in the positive.

So with that, friends, please join me in raising our hands and welcoming Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Council President Juarez and members of the Seattle City Council, thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to join you on my first report on the state of the city.

I entered office six weeks ago with a commitment to a new approach to a vision of what I've referred to as One Seattle, defined by a commitment to listen to and to work with one another toward a shared goals rooted in urgency and action.

And I'm pleased to be joined by my by members of my executive committee who I know you are already working closely with every day.

From the mayor's office, you'll never hear me or members of my administration attack your integrity or your commitment to solve the problems that both of our branches of government face.

I hope you'll share this approach and I have heard loudly and clearly that is what the public wants.

our priorities do not have to contradict.

Instead of looking at differing opinions as mutually exclusive, we can look to the politics of and, A and D, the right number of officers and the right kind of officers, more housing and vibrant, unique neighborhoods, climate justice and new jobs, diversity and commonality.

All of us on this call and throughout Seattle have much more in common than we're often told.

Let's build on the spirit of unity that that concept should be our baseline, not the proposition that we are perpetually divided.

Now, that's how we built the Space Needle.

That's how we cleaned up Lake Washington.

That's how we created libraries and parks and how Seattle became one of the most desirable American cities to live in.

One Seattle means a renewed focus on good governance and tangible progress on nuance and conversation.

I believe this group right here, us, that we can and will set a new tone and a new example for what can be achieved when we hit reset and chart a shared agenda for our city together.

Council President Deborah Juarez's historic unanimous election to the council presidency shows that you believe in the spirit of unity the same way that I do.

She is the right person to lead the council.

Her trademark responsiveness and her collaborative nature, even her sense of humor are already making a real difference.

It's my hope, however, that she does not order the clerk to hit the mute button because I have some plans that I'd like to share with you.

We need her leadership because the challenges facing Seattle are difficult, some of the most difficult the city has ever faced.

The truth is that the status quo is unacceptable.

That is one area where we must all agree.

It seems like every day I hear stories of long-time small businesses closing their doors for good or leaving our city of families forever changed because our of senseless tragedy or driven by gun violence or overdose of rising rents and an inability to pay bills or find housing of of climate impacts, of disillusioned youth and residents who don't feel seen or heard.

Now, as we come out of COVID recovery, Seattle can and will be so much more.

This is my core belief and will be the driving principle behind our administration.

It is clear to me that the public deserves to see change and to know that we are acting with the sense of urgency required by this moment.

So in my first six weeks in office, you're seeing us in real time build sustainable systems that will move our city forward.

Now, quite candidly, perhaps because of the pandemic, I did not inherit clear departmental systems to adequately address the conditions of public safety or homelessness.

I'd like to be clear on a point.

I believe in going back to the basics.

That's where good governance begins.

The basics includes efforts like our housing first policy, fixing a pothole, making sure our sidewalks and parks are safe for children and families to use, making sure we enforce our criminal laws against those who are harming others.

Now, we lead with and acknowledge the fact that African Americans have been subject to 400 years of institutional racism, that the exploitation of our indigenous people has been woven into the fabric of this country since its inception, and that in 2022, we've seen anti-Asian hate and anti-Semitism at alarming levels.

Those understandings should be part of our basics as well and just as important.

Going back to the basics means serving the public and the entire public, and it means serving them well.

That's why you heard me two weeks ago talk about my commitment to public safety in the face of a report showing significant increases in violent crime and in over 40% increase in shots fired last year.

I shared results of immediate action to address crime and look at the data to recognize which neighborhoods and communities are most impacted by public safety issues.

Now, this is not rocket science.

I think what is critical and new, however, is that we remain wholly committed to avoiding the mistakes of the past.

My administration is reaching out to members of the criminal defense bar, many of whom are my friends, to let them know that when we make arrests, we will make sure constitutional rights are protected, that alternative forms other than arrest are explored, that treatment plans are in place, and that a militarized or a racialized approach will not be tolerated.

We provided specific arrest numbers and the amounts of stolen goods recovered and describe how dozens of vulnerable people caught up in a web of organized retail theft and other crimes were assisted without incarceration.

This is just one example of how we define progress, not just with law enforcement, but also with community engagement, outreach.

support, social services.

It means not just addressing gun violence, but preventing it through input and solutions from the communities most impacted, along with groundbreaking laws, local and regional collaboration, and innovative technologies.

We've already begun rolling out elements of our public safety plan, and you'll soon hear more details about how integral this holistic approach to public safety is for every Seattle neighborhood.

Now, part of that plan requires more officers.

The depleted staffing we see today does not allow us to react to emergencies and crime with the response times that our residents deserve.

It does not allow us to staff the specialty teams we need for issues like domestic violence or DUI or financial crimes.

Financial crimes that target our elderly.

It does not allow us to conduct the thorough investigations we expect to make sustainable change now.

I recently spoke with Ms. Monica Alexander, the Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Training Commission, about what it will take from the City of Seattle to make sure we have a healthy pipeline of Seattle police officers.

In June of this year, 2022, we'll have a special Seattle-only focused class at the Police Academy.

This will mean the next 36 new officers We need to help us reach our public safety goals will come out of that effort.

We have funding to hire 125 new officers this year.

So in addition to this special training class, we are rolling out a new campaign to recruit the next generation of Seattle police.

But it is important that this will be consistent with the values I expect to see in our officers, the culture of the department, the engagement with community, the understanding that justice requires serving the people.

Even if you're watching today and interested in helping make our city more safe and just and supportive, please reach out.

We are hiring.

You recently heard from Chief Diaz about requiring new recruits as part of their training to dive into and know the communities they'll be working in before they take office.

As I said earlier, the right number of police officers and the right kind of police officers.

We can have safety and we can have reform.

This will be the administration that ends the federal consent decree over the Seattle Police Department.

The administration that guides our police to be more accountable, more innovative, focused and representative.

I've been very pleased with the early priorities.

Public Safety Chair Lisa Herbold and I have aligned on and I look forward to continuing to work with her.

on swift and long-term action, including efforts to improve how we assign and deploy safety resources like the Nurse Navigation 9-1-1 program.

I announced last week that Council Member Herbold was integral in making possible.

To me, public safety means more than just stopping crime.

It means ensuring people get the help they need when they need it, and that our systems are built for the safety of all people.

I'd like to continue my discussions with you about the creation of a third kind of public safety department, staffed by community members who have the training to be culturally competent masters of de-escalation.

We know that every problem cannot be solved with a gun and a badge response.

And I'm intrigued by the creation of the Community Safety and Communications Center, the CSCC, as we explore options to move away from a police-centered approach to public safety and focus more on harm reduction.

Another example of alignment is the launch of the HealthONE Unit 3. that expands beyond downtown Seattle to serve South Seattle neighbors during non-emergency events like substance abuse or behavioral health issues and connecting access to services.

Our willingness to listen to crisis intervention ideas from Seattle firefighters, Local 27, will prove invaluable as we move forward on developing more effective responses to these non-emergency events.

I fully agree with this kind of approach.

This third department will allow fire and police to focus on addressing the emergency emergencies where they're most needed.

We've embarked upon preliminary discussions with Seattle colleges about building out this kind of curriculum and how we can encourage our Seattle Promise students and BIPOC communities to consider a career in helping protect their communities.

The time to build this department is now.

As we get into the budget process, I will share further steps in this regard.

Now, we will also work closely with our new city attorney, Ann Davison, on the issue of public safety and make sure this new approach to public safety is aligned with her office's strategies, and I'm confident that they are.

Together, we recognize the importance of ensuring we hold bad actors accountable and build a criminal legal system that looks comprehensively at delivering fairness and true justice for everybody.

The homelessness crisis must be treated like the crisis that it is.

Later this week, I will share under a major announcement about the future of our efforts to bring people inside with executive with our executive Dow Constantine at the county and the RHA CEO Mark Jones and other philanthropic business and civic leaders consistent with the approach the City Council that you've supported.

We will strongly pursue a regional solution to homelessness.

The Regional Homelessness Authority is now operational and estimates that more than 40,000 people experiencing homelessness across this region are here.

It's time to finally implement real and overdue regional coordination and the urgency of true crisis response to this challenge.

As part of the Governing Committee, I'm working with CEO Mark Dones to ensure the right strategies are in place that will lead to real sustainable change.

I'm also advocating at the state and federal level, working with Governor Inslee before I even took office to advocate for hundreds of millions of dollars to go toward housing and services and improved right-of-way coordination, and with the Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Marsha Fudge, to secure federal support.

But let's be clear, Seattle's efforts will not pause while regional actions ramp up.

In our first six weeks, we've been thoroughly evaluating the city's existing systems for addressing the impacts of homelessness, working to immediately create more efficient and effective solutions.

When we entered office, the city had six different systems in six different departments tracking outreach and services to homelessness and vulnerable neighbors.

Some tracked the number of people.

Some tracked the number of tents.

While individual staff strived to work together, overall systems were not coordinated.

And for the Harold administration, this is not acceptable.

We have since combined these efforts into one system with cross-departmental expectations of coordination that will form the backbone of not only a transparent dashboard to track progress, but also, and more importantly, to better help people off of sidewalks and into shelter and services.

Further, if a person wanted to report their concern about an encampment with the city, the city did not have a centralized system to log their report and act.

Now, for the first time, we're putting the necessary people and processes in place to address the more than 1,500 reports we've received from the public just since we've taken office.

Our new system will allow us to take action, share updates, and provide a more complete picture of what's happening in Seattle.

Now, these are the kinds of systems issues where we must do better.

Now, along with systems reform, we need new units of housing, and I'm aggressively pursuing alternative shelter options, considering a wide array of opportunities, including leasing and buying existing buildings.

Beyond housing, we also urgently need more and better mental health and addiction treatment services, and staffing for the providers and workers who deliver these services, including better wages and benefits to keep people in this demanding profession.

Now, I know this is an area where Councilmember Andrew Lewis is bringing leadership as committee chair, along with a dedication to the details to find housing solutions and to get people off the streets.

I look forward to this collaborative work.

My administration's early work has meant reducing silos locally and regionally, collecting better data, and ensuring departments work together.

Our administration is developing a new interdepartmental team, the Unified Care Team, the UCT.

The UCT will collect and provide streamlined data to the public, coordinate across departments with one voice, and ensure our plan and progress are clear for all.

Because we can help people living unsheltered, and we can restore parks and make sidewalks accessible for all.

Over the last several months, the city has closed some of the largest encampments Seattle has seen, like Green Lake, or Broadview Thompson, and the Ballard Commons, providing over 400 people with shelter and support.

However, no one who looks around our city today would say our work is anywhere near complete.

So we will continue our efforts on top priorities like Woodland Park, where we are working directly alongside Council Member Dan Strauss, the RHA and community groups to support neighbors in connecting those living unhoused with appropriate shelter and services.

Now, Woodland Park is a gem in our city.

And trash and fires and continued inhumane conditions are not acceptable, period.

I want to thank Council Member Strauss for his commitment to community engagement and demonstrable progress in this regard and for neighbors across the city.

Public spaces are for everyone in our city and with many workers across our city returning to the office over the next several months, our focus must also ensure sidewalks are accessible to the public and clear of obstacles and obstructions.

This is an essential obligation of our government.

just like continued work to provide shelter, housing, services, and support for those experiencing homelessness.

We are not yet out of the woods with the pandemic, but the steady decline in positive cases is much needed positive news.

I am confident that Seattle will keep up the best response in the nation as we learn to live with this virus going forward.

As the Omicron wave begins to crest and with over 90% Of Seattle residents having received at least one dose of the vaccine, a renewed focus on return and recovery has become even more essential.

That includes city employees, our own return to the office.

City workers have persevered through incredible challenges during the pandemic.

including the more than 65%.

Now that's over 7,000 employees who have continued to bravely work in the field and in person over the last two years.

This includes our staff who maintain our parks, our crews who keep the power on at city light, or our road workers who fix the roads and clear them when it snows, and our police and firefighters who respond to emergency calls, and crucially, Seattle Fire, who administer vaccines to our most vulnerable.

In mid-March, we will bring back those employees who have been working from home.

Now, I will tell you, it's been invigorating to work to the office and work around my colleagues and friends in person.

Now, I know that this transition will not be easy for everyone, but I am confident that our department directors and our labor partners will lead this return to work effort in a thoughtful, safe, and compassionate manner.

I know they are already deep in the work of ensuring an equitable recovery.

Our COVID recovery must focus on the most impacted and the most vulnerable.

Supporting small businesses, arts, our nightlife, child care, youth, mental health support, and emergency rental assistance.

We must get federal and state resources out in the community as soon as we can.

City employees are up for the task as ambassadors for Seattle, committed to excellence and service for our constituents and neighbors.

They inspire me every day.

In just a short time on the job, I have also been impressed by the work of our city's departments and directors.

The team we've built is strong, and I look forward to sending you a steady stream of permanent appointments over the next several months, starting with our city budget director, officer director, Julie Dingley, just as you have all done, I'm very pleased that these leaders answered the call for public service.

Now, critical to the state of the city is the state of our budget.

I'm grateful that Director Dingley has done the work, the hard work, necessary of alerting all of us to the real and foreseeable issues we're facing in the 2023 budget.

Now at this time, relative to 2023 spending, we will face a significant $150 million gap between our expected general fund expenditures and our general fund revenues.

The result of a combination of factors, some longstanding as well as pandemic uncertainty, and some caused perhaps by the use of one-time budget funding sources like the American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Now, while the budget process may seem months away, We know ensuring a balanced budget is one of our core charter responsibilities.

So yesterday we received some good news.

We learned that revenue from the Jump Start payroll expense tax has come in $31 million higher than expected.

Now that additional revenue must go toward alleviating the budget issues we expect in 2023. So we will need to look at all of our options, deciding between one time and ongoing commitments, adjusting expenditures, revisiting existing funding sources, and looking at options for increasing revenues.

This will be hard work, and it must begin now, which is why I've asked departments immediately to begin looking at opportunities to save.

Now while this is not as drastic as the Great Recession when I was on the council in 2008 and 2009, but we can do this.

We've done this.

It starts with transparency.

It completes with a commitment to the basics, like public safety and human services.

As council pledged during last year's budget process, I, too, commit to addressing this challenge together.

I know working alongside the strong leadership of budget chair, Teresa Mosqueda, we will get to a budget that is financially sound and supports our values.

Another top priority I know Councilmember Mosqueda and Councilmember Herbold are following closely is the West Seattle Bridge.

The bridge remains one of the city's most pressing priorities, and even as I announced last week that the reopening schedule is threatened by the ongoing concrete work stoppage, you may recall so many of our projects involve concrete, from our waterfront Seattle program to our ship canal, water quality control project, and just about every major SDOT priority, including the Madison Rapid Ride Line and the curb ramp and sidewalk installation improvements.

I have been clear that the business and labor, they must return to the bargaining table and reach a fair agreement.

This conflict continues to dangerously escalate in a way that helps no one and hurts everyone.

To make my commitment to a just resolution clear, I offer this room to the workers and businesses any time as a place to come together and resolve their disagreement.

We can do this work.

I want to thank Councilmember Alex Peterson for his close attention to the West Seattle Bridge Project and to so many other critical infrastructure bridge and transportation projects.

His eye for detail and his commitment to effective transportation solutions are outstanding.

Within our transportation planning, we must advance urgently needed Vision Zero enhancements and improvements, working to prevent death and serious injury through streets that prioritize people.

Public safety includes safe streets.

I want to also highlight the importance of of new groundbreakings for our waterfront program as part of the transformative investments to create over 20 acres of public safety, public space that all of the public, all of the public can enjoy.

Access to transit, safe streets, parks, sports, mentorship, those are the things that made a difference in my life.

made a difference in so many other people's lives.

And these are the programs and infrastructure that help make our city welcoming and to families and kids and to connect our communities to our schools.

We are forging a new relationship with our Seattle Public Schools at a time when supporting public education and the 56,000 kids enrolled in our Seattle schools has never been more important.

Working with Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones and the school board, we are going to make sure Seattle students receive the support they need coming out of this pandemic and the educational tools to thrive in a changing economy.

This support must start early.

That's why I'm so excited that our nationally recognized Seattle preschool program will provide more than 2100 seats for our youngest learners this year and increase over 125 from last year.

Most Seattle families qualify for free tuition and over three quarters of preschool program students are students of color.

I look forward to partnering with education chair Tammy Morales on how we can do more for Seattle kids and students including increased access to high quality high quality, affordable preschool and to post-secondary education programs through the Seattle Promise.

Now her passion and her commitment to drive equity through education is a shared principle of ours.

Councilmember Morales' commitment to not only District 2, which is the most important district of the seven districts of the city.

Wait, I thought that sentence was deleted from the speech.

Sorry about that.

What I meant to say was her commitment to all districts of the city and education will be evidenced by our work together in 2022. I want small and local businesses to know that I hear them and that I am working to address their very real concerns.

I am open to your ideas and looking forward to working with BIAs and small business districts on tangible improvements.

That's why one of the first bills I've submitted to council would fund additional resources for tourism with a small increase in the lodging fee, an effort supported by the downtown BIA and hotels and the hospitality industry.

I know Council Member Sarah Nelson shares my passion for helping small businesses.

I am excited to see she is already bringing her dynamic experience in this arena to support her new ideas.

Her background as a small business owner and her platform highlighting the importance that small businesses bring to all communities and communities of color will be instrumental in making sure our COVID recovery plans are successful.

Supporting small businesses is a means to create equity in our city.

Our work together must support businesses owned and operated by women, veterans, LGBTQ plus folks and communities of color by improving contracting and access to capital, cutting red tape and simplifying certification requirements.

20 cents of every dollar spent by the city last year went to women and minority owned businesses and firms.

I'm committing the city to increase that number and be held accountable for it.

We can also do more to support working people, giving them the resources to support.

workforce development opportunities, and living wages, and pushing innovative and nation-leading protections.

Now, many of you heard me mention the formation of a Seattle Job Center, connecting workers and employers to new opportunities, workforce development, and apprenticeships.

As Seattle City Light leads electrification and grid modernization efforts to reduce climate impacts, I want to make sure satellites benefit from new clean energy jobs.

As we approach the budget cycle, I will prepare for the council a white paper on what would we like to build in our job center.

How can we make further support, how can we further support the worker protections we've become known for in the Office of Labor Standards?

We can plot a course, not only to protect workers' rights, but to help them find new jobs and careers, should they so choose.

Now, I know Council Member Shama Sawant cares deeply about addressing inequality.

And in all of our years working together, I've never once doubted her commitment to that end and the commitment of those who believe in her mission.

I look forward to working with her office, including investments in environmental justice and grants in the community, advancing justice priorities and critical climate action initiatives.

To that end, our officer will be fully committed to operationalizing equity.

While training and education within our ranks is important, I am asking our departments to go out in the field and ask, how does our commitment to equity and fighting inequality equate to those outside of City Hall?

Underrepresented communities should not have to fight to be heard.

Are we visiting their community centers, their churches, their mosques, their faith centers, their meeting places?

When have we listened to communities outside of the walls of City Hall?

That is good government.

We are beginning our comprehensive plan update with that very principle in mind, ensuring that we're truly one Seattle by giving all communities, especially communities of color, a voice in shaping the future of our city.

As we work to build a walkable, transit-oriented neighborhood with a housing supply that meets the needs of the future, this will be our approach.

Small business support and workers protections.

home ownership opportunities and displacement protection, more housing and expanded tree canopy.

Improving equity could take many forms.

That's why we're also in the beginning stages of a comprehensive search for both our transportation parks department director.

They will share and understand my vision for how these two major departments can be drivers of equity and opportunity in our city.

Among the major equity initiatives in our office, I'm excited to share with you more details of my Healthy Seattle program in the first quarter of this year, so that health equity is at the center of our work.

Similarly, let's continue to support healthy communities by growing Seattle's Fresh Bucks program, helping over 10,000 residents get access to healthy and local foods.

Finally, while we must make accessing our resources more accessible, that's why I'm excited about the new CIVIFORM tool.

Developed with pro bono support from Google and co-designed with residents and community-based organizations and city staff, this tool is designed to reduce the time and effort needed for our residents to seek and apply for city affordability services.

Back to the basics.

Improving equity work and new technology can all go together.

Truthfully, it's the lived experience we have that informs how we see the world and how we approach the challenges we face.

And that's why I'm really proud of the executive team I've built.

Why I sought to build a diverse, competent, and engaged group of civic leaders.

They are showing early, early on what we can accomplish when we build a representative government.

Clearly, the challenges facing Seattle are bigger than me alone.

The path requires empowering each other, the executive team, our department directors, and you, the city council.

It means engaging our greatest resources, the people in our city.

engaging them in the solutions we want to see.

Next year, I hope to be able to gather in person with you, to deliver a speech to you and to our residents, to celebrate one year of work together in meaningful milestones on the issues I've laid out above.

Together, we can change the narrative in our city and make Seattle a better place for the people who call it home.

To do so, I'll need your help, not tomorrow, today.

Let's go to work.

And thank you very much.

One Seattle.

You are.

OK great.

So that concludes our speech from our state of the city address from the mayor.

I'm guessing we don't have any questions or concerns right now.

So we will go on with the agenda and move on to what's next.

Council member Herbold has a proclamation recognizing the significant cultural and architectural unreinforced masonry buildings proclamation.

Councilmember Herbold, will you please present, my understanding is that Councilmember Herbold will first present the proclamation and then I will open the floor for comments from councilmembers.

After councilmembers comments, we will suspend the rules to allow our guests to accept the proclamation and provide comments.

Councilmember Herbold, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

So an annual tradition on Valentine's Day, National Trust for Historic Preservation in cities across the country works to spread love for historic places through something called the Heart Bomb Campaign.

Heart bombing is an act of showering an older or historic place with tangible expressions of affection and devotion.

The full language of the proclamation can be found on our agenda, but if you don't want to read all of it, here is, I think, some important points to pull out.

So the proclamation recognizes the significant cultural, architectural, unreinforced masonry There are some of Seattle's most beloved community gathering places.

They're the sweethearts and the icons of many neighborhoods.

And on this Valentine's Day, or the day after, the City Council is pledging its adoration for our historic architecture.

architectural and cultural past while reimagining future with seismically upgraded masonry buildings.

Today my office forwarded on some one-pagers from Historic Seattle of the key unreinforced masonry buildings for each district and the city as a whole as well for the two at-large council members.

Today we will have a few of the reinforced masonry stakeholders I'm sorry, I can't remember what the acronym stands for, but I know you'll tell us.

It's a brief presentation, and once we find out whether or not there are comments or questions for councilmembers, we'll then hand it over to Naomi West.

Thanks so much.

Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.

Are there any comments or questions before I move forward to Councilmember Herbold?

All right, not seeing any.

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

Let's see, the rules are now suspended.

So we have, and please forgive me if I don't say these names correct, Lisa Nate Stagen, Eugenia Wu, and Naomi West from Historic Seattle.

Welcome to Seattle City Council.

You are recognized in order to provide remarks to the City Council and the viewing public.

And I apologize if I got your name wrong, Lisa.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I'm Lisa Nitla with NHTSA Stegen and on the Board of Historic Seattle.

And I'm here representing the Alliance for Affordability, Sustainability, and Preservation, or ASAP, a public-private partnership with over 100 stakeholders, including the City of Seattle, Seattle City Council, King County, historic preservationists, community associations, affordable housing groups, building owners, developers, architects, engineers, sustainability and social justice advocates.

We've been working together since 2018 on the critical issue of addressing the need to seismically upgrade Seattle's over 1,100 unreinforced masonry or URM buildings before they collapse in the next major earthquake.

threatening lives, safety, affordable housing stock, and our neighborhood's character and history.

Next slide, please.

We know that there will be major earthquakes within the next 30 years that'll cause URMs to collapse or experience life-threatening damage.

Our URMs house schools, 33,000 residents and small business employees, 2,300 affordable housing units, And 15% of URMs contain women or BIPOC-led small companies.

60% are deemed historically significant to our neighborhoods.

So why haven't they been seismically upgraded?

The primary obstacle's been cost.

So our group focused first on the need to identify funding sources to upgrade the city's URMs.

The CPACER program has now been passed in Washington and King County.

we together developed a proposed seismic upgrade retrofit credit program that has wide support.

And the city and city council have funded a city full-time staff position to develop and run a Seattle seismic upgrade process and program.

We created cross-sector working groups that address potential challenges the program might face and together develop solutions.

Examples are physical and economic displacement during upgrades, defining specific retrofit types and costs, streamlining the regulatory review process to fast track URM retrofits, and facilitating community education and acceptance.

Next slide, please.

We are deeply grateful for the Harrell administration embracing this initiative and moving it forward.

To CM Herbold for leading the charge in helping to bring this issue before the council, to the full Council for adopting a resolution to move this initiative forward in December, and to Council President Deborah Juarez for inviting us here today to speak about the work that's been done and needs to get done.

So what are we working on now?

Supporting uptake for King County's CPACER program, working to vet, develop, and launch the seismic upgrade retrofit credit program for funding seismic upgrades, supporting the city as it fills a position that's been funded to lead the work moving forward, setting up an advisory group that can help the Harrell administration develop and launch the seismic upgrade ordinance and program.

We believe that the collaborative approach of a public-private partnership such as ASAP to critical problem solving for Seattle is the best way to leverage resources and expertise for positive social and economic impact.

Ultimately, our hope is that the results of ASAP's work in Seattle will be a successful URM seismic upgrade model that can be replicated in King County, throughout the state of Washington, and other states facing similar issues on the West Coast.

Thank you, Lisa.

Hi everyone, I'm Eugenia Wu with Historic Seattle, and I'm going to be talking next few minutes about sort of URM basics, and also why retrofits are significant.

URM stands for unreinforced masonry, and typically they were built before 1945. Seismic building codes and building construction was different before the war.

They lacked steel reinforcement and structural connections to stand up to a seismic event.

Brick walls and parapets that aren't secured to roofs and floors can break away.

The city surveyed Seattle and found that there were over 1,100 URM buildings several years ago.

And that doesn't mean every single one of those has not been retrofitted.

Actually, about 40% have been retrofitted to some degree, and about 10% are substantially retrofitted.

And we'd like to see that 10% go up, which would increase safety, definitely.

Next slide, please.

So why require retrofits?

Three main reasons.

Essentially, we want to minimize loss of life and minimize damage to buildings, particularly historic buildings.

And this would support Seattle's resiliency after an earthquake.

And we want to make sure that people aren't displaced from their homes or from businesses.

And so increasing that resiliency is really important.

This is a really good graphic that many of you have probably seen.

It's from the Seattle Times.

It essentially shows that if the buildings retrofitted, like the graphic on the far right, that the floors are tied to the walls and roofs.

That really helps strengthen the building.

Otherwise, you might have the building collapse, maybe, or maybe the parapets might break off.

So we like to sort of minimize that.

So retrofitting is very important for any buildings.

Just one main thing to remember that there is not, there's no such thing as an earthquake proof building.

What we want to do is strengthen them as much as possible in the event of a seismic event.

Next slide.

And so we want to really see the life and safety of URMs extended.

And Historic Seattle actually owns the Cadillac Hotel in Piner Square.

We were not the owner during the earthquake.

We acquired the property afterwards and we saved it.

And we worked closely with the city and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to figure out how to shore it up and to find good tenants and then also to retrofit it.

And so you sort of see it became the poster child for URMs because it was so heavily damaged.

But you can imagine how different that corner of Pioneer Square would be now if the building had been torn down and replaced with something else.

So every community has its URM buildings that people love and appreciate.

They house They're apartment buildings, they provide places for small businesses, and they're really sort of cornerstones for many communities, and we'd like to see many of these survive in the future.

Because it's not a question of if but when, when the big one hits, and so we want to be as ready as possible.

And Historic Seattle has been involved with this URM issue for a while.

I was on the policy committee, URM policy committee, and our executive director was on the technical So we want to thank the city, and I'm going to turn it over to Naomi West to talk about some of these places that are so important in our various communities.

Thank you.

Hi, City Council members.

I'm Naomi West.

I'm the Director of Philanthropy and Engagement for Historic Seattle, and I'm speaking to you today about the public advocacy campaign we've been conducting over the past two weeks called A Heart Bomb.

And as Council Member Herbold referenced at the beginning of this proclamation presentation, a heart bomb is a national preservation advocacy tool that raises awareness about places that are loved in any part of our country.

In the past, Historic Seattle has done individual site heart bombs at places that you recognize, including Key Arena, the Showbox, C&P Coffee, Busch Garden, and other sites.

But this year, as we were thinking about this campaign We recognized that unreinforced masonry is a significant threat to 1,100 places in Seattle.

And rather than target one site with our affection, we wanted people to learn more about the issue of unreinforced masonry and the opportunity that the city has to advance policy for seismic retrofit.

So this year's Heart Bomb focused on all unreinforced masonry buildings around the city of Seattle.

And as we conducted this advocacy campaign, we reached out to our traditional partners who have supported past heart bombs or other initiatives that we work on in landmarking.

Those include the Ballard Historical Society, who submitted this heart bomb of the Golden Gardens Bath House, Friends of Georgetown History, which goes by the loving nickname, Fogie.

They gave us several heart bombs, including Georgetown Steam Plant and the General Offices Building.

Historic South Downtown, which is a new development authority run by the state in focusing on Pioneer Square and the International District, submitted these heart bombs for the MP Hotel and the Hong Kong building, also known as the Mar Hotel.

And historian Wallingford provided this heart bomb for St. Benedict school.

So as council member Herbold referenced, we provided each of you with sheets of key heart bombs in your districts and for the at-large members for the city as a whole.

What you're seeing here is representation of your constituents and your stakeholders reflecting love for places they care about that are threatened by unreinforced masonry in your districts.

The Save the Market Entrance Group has been advocating for landmarking the Hahn Building for several years, and they submitted several heart bombs.

We have many more if you'd like to look at all of them for the Hahn Building, which is right across the street, one of the four corners of Pike Place Market, and a recently designated landmark.

Give me just one second.

We're going to have a very loud siren coming through.

I'm downtown in an unreinforced masonry building myself.

And we also received heart bombs from Friends of Historic Belltown for the Charles Gate Apartments.

Queen Anne Historical Society did a heart bomb for the Queen Anne Library and also partnered with a developer, Fall LLC, for the Queen Anne Exchange heart bomb.

We also then started to receive some heart bombs from constituents who are part of the historic Seattle community or who care about this issue.

The Seattle Procrastinitters knitted hearts and place them on Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market to show their support for retrofitting some of the buildings in the market, which is obviously a Seattle icon.

Daniel's Real Estate submitted a heart bomb and a feature on our blog for the gridiron condos in Pioneer Square, which was formerly the Johnson's Plumbing Building.

And this Instagram user to the right here, she submitted a heart bomb for the Queen Anne High School building, which is now a condominium complex.

And we, as we were seeing all this love for these URMs, we were also starting to hear from people, you know, seeing this as a way to start talking about the issue.

And this particular heart here is showing you a comment that we received from a concerned resident in Capitol Hill in a historic building who is worried what will happen to her in the event of an earthquake.

And I think, you know, human beings can understand, can empathize with this fear.

that you don't know when an earthquake is coming.

And then on top of that, you don't know how the place that you live or work or take your kids to school or spend time in for community gatherings is going to survive.

And you feel the sense of of anxiety.

And so that's what this particular resident was sharing with us.

We've also heard in comments throughout the campaign, some anxiety about businesses and what will happen to a small business if it's displaced because of an earthquake.

So We would like to encourage the city council and city leadership to continue their work of embracing retrofits.

These policies that you're considering, the programs that you're working to develop to help create seismic retrofit policy will save lives and they'll also save meaningful places that foster lively communities.

So we want to thank you for your leadership thus far and ask you to continue the work that you're doing.

Okay, so with that, Council Member Herbold, is this the end of your presentation?

Would you like to make some closing comments before I close this out?

My only closing comment is to thank you, Council President Uras, for this sort of special dispensation and allowing for a little extra time as part of this presentation.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you, and a big thank you to Historic Seattle.

Lisa, Eugenia and Naomi for the wonderful presentation and the buildings.

And I do remember now that Council Member Herbold does this every year.

I just couldn't remember it was a heart bomb.

So I'll remember that next year.

And I think I need to see some more D5 buildings up there.

But anyway, thank you so much.

So with that, I'm gonna close this out on the presentations and move along on our agenda.

So we'll go to the approval of the agenda.

There is no objection.

The agenda will be adopted.

Hearing and seeing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Okay, let's see.

Now we go to approval of the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please read the items that are included on today's consent calendar.

Item one, the February 15th, 2022 introduction and referral calendar.

Thank you.

Would any council members like to remove any items from today's consent calendar?

Hearing none, seeing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

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 Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, nine opposed.

Thank you.

The consent calendar is adopted.

So colleagues at this time, we're going to move into public comments.

And my understanding is that we have three people signed up for public comment.

And again, public comment is remote public comment for items on the city council agenda, introduction or report calendar and the council's work program.

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

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

So with that, Madam Clerk, our city clerk will moderate the general public comment period.

We have three speakers, correct?

And they will each have two minutes, correct, Madam Clerk?

Correct.

All right.

Can you go ahead and start and read the instructions, please?

Thank you.

The public comment period for this meeting is up to 20 minutes and each speaker will be given two minutes to speak.

Speakers are called upon in the order in which they registered to provide public comment on the council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number provided when registered and use the ID and passcode that was emailed upon confirmation.

Please note this is different from the general meeting lesson line ID listed on the agenda.

If you did not receive an email confirmation, please check your spam or junk mail folders.

Once a speaker's name is called, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone and an automatic prompt of you have been unmuted will be the speaker's cue that is their turn to speak.

And then the speaker must press star six to begin speaking.

Please begin speaking by stating your name and the item you're addressing.

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

Once you hear the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comment.

If speakers do not end their comment at the end of the allotted time provided the speaker's microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Once you have completed your public comment we ask that you please disconnect from the line and if you plan to continue following this meeting please do so via Seattle Channel or the listening options listed on the agenda.

The public comment period is now open and we'll begin with the first speaker on the list.

Please remember to press star-6 after you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted.

And our first speaker is Howard Gale, who is followed by Sam James, who is showing as not present.

Mr. Gale?

Mr. Gale, you're showing as unmuted.

You might unmute your phone.

I'm sorry, am I?

Sorry.

You hear me?

Yeah.

OK, sorry.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale, District 7, commenting on our failed police accountability system.

Tomorrow marks a year since the Seattle police murdered Derek Hayden, a man in crisis with our accountability system, determining just two weeks ago that this murder was, quote, lawful and proper, unquote.

Forty one days ago, the SPD murdered another man in crisis, a man who's still 41 days later, remains unnamed and unremarked upon by a heartless police accountability system.

February also marks nine years, nine years, since the SPD killed Jack's son, Kiwa Tinowin, and three years since the murder of Danny Rodriguez, also a people in crisis.

Next week, it will be six years since the murder of Trey Taylor.

Each time a heartless police accountability system that has police policing police has determined that these murders, along with all of the 32 SPD killings since the SPD murder of John T. Williams, to be quote, lawful and proper, unquote.

Still no accountability, still no justice.

What deep disrespect to the memory of John T. Williams, the person whose murder started us on this nearly 12-year failed journey pursuing accountability.

Systems of injustice, while created and run by people we see as ill-intentioned, can only persist and be perpetuated by well-meaning people such as yourselves.

As surely as the SPD created and supported a system to deny Derek Hayden life, This council and the police accountability system you created in support has created and supported a system that has denied Derek Hayden, his family, and his friends any measure of justice or accountability.

You have guaranteed more such murders in the future.

We need to build, through a city initiative, a police accountability system that provides full civilian community control over police policy, police misconduct investigations, and police discipline.

as the people in Newark, New Jersey, Nashville, Tennessee, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Jose, Phoenix, Atlanta, and so many other U.S. cities have done post-George Floyd.

Go to seattlestop.org to find out how.

That's seattlestop.org.

Thank you.

Our next two speakers are Sam James, followed by David Haynes, and we are showing that neither of them are present.

Okay, so we have no one else present.

And so what we'll do then is we'll just go forward.

So we have no more speakers.

So with that, I will now list state that we public comment period is now closed.

And we will go on for the rest of our agenda, which is payment of the bills, which is always controversial.

Payment of the bills clerk, can you please read the title?

Madam Clerk?

Linda, you're on mute.

Apologies, Council Member.

That's okay.

Council Bill 120-269, appropriating money to pay certain audited claims for the week of January 31st, 2022 through February 4th, 2022 at ordering the payment thereof.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to pass Council Bill 120269. Is there a second?

Second.

Great.

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

Are there any comments?

Looking at Council Member Esqueda, she's got nothing.

Okay.

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

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Swant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Aye in favor, none opposed.

Great, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

And will the clerk please affix my signature to the bill on my behalf.

Moving on the agenda to committee reports.

We have the Great Land Use Committee, Council Member Strauss coming from the Great D6.

Thank you.

Wait, hold up buddy.

Will the clerk please the item into the record and then you can have the floor Mr. Strauss.

Committee reports, report of the Land Use Committee.

Item one, Council Bill 120-253, relating to floodplains, second extension of interim regulations established by ordinance 126-113 for an additional six months to allow individuals to rely on updated national flood insurance rate maps to obtain flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency Floods Insurance Program.

and amending section 25.06.110 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends that the council bill pass.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Strauss, you are the chair of the committee.

It's all you.

Thank you, Council President Juarez.

Thank you, colleagues.

Council Bill 120.253, as the clerk mentioned, relates to floodplains.

This is the second extension of interim regulations which will last for six months.

By way of background, in July of 2020, we adopted interim floodplain regulations that reflect FEMA's updated flood insurance rate maps for King County.

These updated regulations are necessary for us to remain in compliance with FEMA policies and with the National Flood Insurance Program.

Last year, we did extend these interim regulations for an additional year to allow SDCI to create permanent regulations Those permanent regulations have now been drafted, but are currently being challenged with the SEPA appeal from the Port of Seattle, and we are working to address those concerns and mediate that appeal, which is going through the hearing examiner, and there's a formal process for this to be resolved.

This legislation will extend the interim regulations for an additional six months to allow us to remain in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Programs while the port's appeal is being resolved again through the hearing examiner.

It also provides one technical correction to a drafting error in the previous interim regulations.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

That is the committee report.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any comments regarding this ordinance?

All right, not seeing any, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

All right, in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving on into the agenda into item number two.

Will the clerk please read item number two into the record.

Adoption of other resolutions, item two, resolution 32042. A resolution calling for a special election to fill a vacancy in the city employee elected position on the civil service commission and directing the city clerk to administer the election.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to adopt resolution 32042. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

As sponsor of this resolution, I will address this item and then open the floor to comments.

As you heard the clerk say, this is regarding the civil service commission and a vacant seat.

Resolution 32042, calls for a special election to fill a vacant city employee elected position on the Civil Service Commission.

Vacancies in the employee elected position must be filled by a special election called by the city council pursuant to Seattle Municipal Code 4.04.150.

This resolution also directs the city clerk to administer the election.

The Civil Service Commission consists of three members, including one member appointed by the mayor, one member appointed by the Seattle City Council, and one member elected by the eligible city employees.

This resolution was sent straight to full council for consideration due to the time constraints or time sensitivity.

Are there any comments regarding this resolution?

Seeing and hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution.

Council member Strauss.

Yes.

Council member Herbold.

Yes.

Council member Lewis.

Yes.

Council member Morales.

Yes.

Council member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council member Nelson.

Aye.

Council member Peterson.

Aye.

Yes.

Council member Sawant.

Yes.

And council president Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, madam clerk.

The resolution is adopted.

The chair will sign it.

And madam clerk, can you please affix my signature to the resolution?

And regarding other business, my understanding is that council member Morales, I think this would be the time.

I forgot what dates you were asking.

Thank you.

Yes, I am asking to be excused next Tuesday, the 21st.

All right, so.

Nope, sorry.

It's Tuesday, the 22nd.

I always run along with you, like we all have that day off.

If there's no objection, Council Member Morales is excused from Seattle City Council next, or Tuesday, February 22nd.

hearing and seeing no objection.

Councilor Morales is excused from Seattle City Council on that date.

Before we adjourn, colleagues, this does conclude items of business on today's calendar.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 2nd, in which Councilor Morales will not be there.

And I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you.