Seattle City Council Briefing 5/12/2025

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today is May 12th, 2025, and the council briefing meeting will come to order.

The time is 2.02.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Strauss?

Present.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Here.

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Moore.

Present.

Councilmember Rink.

Present.

Councilmember Rivera.

Present.

Councilmember Saka.

Here.

Councilmember Solomon.

Here.

And Council President Nelson.

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you very much.

All right.

If there's no objection, the minutes of May 5th, 2025 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

Okay, we've got three proclamations today, and as for tomorrow's City Council meeting, there are five items on the Introduction and Referral Calendar.

Two appointments to the Seattle Women's Commission for a term to July 1, 2026. Council Bill 120982, an ordinance relating to the redevelopment and operation of Seattle Public Schools Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center, and Resolution 32168, a resolution reaffirming the city of Seattle as a welcoming city.

And the consent calendar includes the weekly bill payment ordinance and, let's see, appointment 03130, appointment of Lewis Ernst as a member of Seattle City Light Review Panel for a term to April 11th, 2026. And there are four pieces of legislation from committees.

From the Transportation Committee, we've got Council Bill 120971, an ordinance relating to automated traffic safety cameras.

Council Bill 120945, an ordinance vacating the alley in Block 52. And Council Bill 120972, an ordinance relating to appropriations for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

And then from finance, we've got Council Bill 120970, an ordinance relating to acceptance of funding from non-city sources.

And that's it.

So moving now on to proclamations.

Today we'll have three of them for discussion and signature, and these proclamations will also be presented at tomorrow's City Council meeting and discussed in the same order as today.

So we'll begin with the proclamation from Councilmember Moore proclaiming May 2025 to be Older Americans Month.

Councilmember Moore, please lead the discussion on the proclamation for any additional feedback before I request signatures.

All right, thank you so much, Council President.

Colleagues, as the Council's representative on the region's Aging and Disability Services Advisory Council, I'm honored to bring forward a proclamation honoring Seattle residents aged 50 or older, approximately 27% of the population.

2017, the City of Seattle resolved to become a more age-friendly city, welcoming and including people of all ages in the life of our community, and addressing the unique challenges impacting older adults.

Seattle provides services and supports that help older adults experience stable health and live independently, including programs offered through HSD's Aging and Disability Services and the Parks Department's Sound Steps and Dementia Friendly Recovery Recreation Program.

So, colleagues, I would ask for everyone's support to add your name today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Moore.

Are there any questions or comments from anybody?

Well, thank you very much for bringing this forward.

It wasn't until recently that I learned how much work the Department of Human Services does in this area of policy.

So thank you very much for bringing forward this proclamation because it also highlights some of that work that the city's doing.

All right.

If there are no further comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the signatures for this proclamation?

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

Yes.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon?

Aye.

And Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine signatures will be affixed to the proclamation.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Now we'll move on to our second proclamation.

Councilmember Saka has a proclamation recognizing May Please lead the discussion for additional feedback before I call for signatures.

Excellent.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

And I am pleased to present a proclamation designating the month of May as Seattle Foster Care Month.

And colleagues, as you know, as someone who is a former foster youth, someone who is very privileged to be able to be in a position to have been able to overcome the foster care system.

I know firsthand the benefit, the tremendous benefit and value that various service providers, foster parents and individuals, mentors, et cetera, provide to our foster youth and the impact that that has on our broader community.

And so, Many parents, indeed, many parents, workers, providers, counselors, mentors, etc.

Everyone in this space plays a profoundly impactful role protecting youth and supporting families.

They quite literally change the trajectory of lives.

Hundreds of thousands, to be exact, and hundreds and probably thousands across the city of Seattle alone.

So this proclamation honors those contributions, uplifts the importance of foster care and our foster youth more broadly in the city of Seattle.

And for those reasons, colleagues, I ask for your support in this proclamation.

Thank you.

Are there any questions or comments?

I want to thank you for bringing this forward as a parent and a former child.

I can only, actually still in my mind a little bit, but anyway, not having had your experience, Council Member Saka, I can only imagine how vulnerable and these children are and also how important it is to recognize the service providers that make their lives better, let's just say.

And this is on my mind because I've been following the admonition of the Seattle Times Ed Board talking about the state's cuts to Treehouse and that will impact the the care that foster children in Washington get.

I just wanted to say, let's see, more than a decade ago, the Times, this is an editorial recently, Treehouse began two programs for foster students, education monitoring and coaching for 8th through 12th, greater since then.

Treehouse has expanded its services across the state, etc.

Anyway, graduation rates have gone up from 36 to 51 percent.

And kids that get at least two years of interaction with Treehouse folks have a 70 percent graduation rate.

So I'm just trying to say that we Just recognizing the fact that this is foster care month also helps focus our attention on their needs at a time when so many other federal cuts are happening.

I think it's really important that we think about our most vulnerable.

So thank you.

Thank you, absolutely.

Treehouse does great work.

There are many terrific service providers across the city that do excellent work and impactful and profoundly impactful work for foster youth.

And, you know, among them are CCYJ and, you know, a few others.

They're going to join us tomorrow.

So looking forward to that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on the signatures to be affixed to the proclamation?

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Sokka?

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon?

Aye.

Council President?

Signatures will be affixed.

All right, in our last proclamation for signature today, Council Member Rink, you have one recognizing May 13th, 2025 to be Frank Chop Day of Action.

Council Member Rink, please lead the discussion on the proclamation for any additional feedback before I request signatures to be affixed to it.

Certainly.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, it is a tremendous honor to bring forward this proclamation for former Speaker Frank Chopp.

Where to even begin?

To honor the legacy of such an incredible leader in this community, it's a real honor to bring this forward, and my office has worked alongside the family in preparing the proclamation that is before you.

Notably, this is to declare May 13th, Frank Chop Day of Action.

Anyone who knew Frank knew that he was all about getting things done.

And so marking May 13th, which is actually his birthday, so it feels like special kismet that we'll be actually presenting this to his family on his birthday tomorrow is particularly really special.

Many know that Frank was a mentor to many in this community.

He was a true housing champion and he fought tirelessly for working people.

And certainly his legacy is something to celebrate.

And so again, for those who choose to sign on to this proclamation, we will be presenting tomorrow as a part of the council meeting and we'll be joined by the family.

And we will also have a little celebration at four o'clock tomorrow in Bertha Knight's Landis room alongside the family and any community members who would like to join in celebrating his legacy.

And with that, I urge your signature.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Are there any comments or questions for those comments and also letting us know about the celebration in Bertha Landis?

All right.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the signatures?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Solomon?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine signatures will be affixed.

All right, thank you very much everybody.

Okay, we'll now move on to our next agenda item, which is simply the preview of City Council Actions, Council and Regional Committees.

And today's roll call starts with Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you for sending out the memorandum regarding the fall 2025 Select Budget Committee calendar, as well as the summer dates.

I'll flag for you right now since or I guess I'll flag for all colleagues.

We had set up a calendar for this entire year.

without taking into account that the revenue forecast in April would be such a downturn.

And so with that, we've taken a moment to recalibrate the calendar to reflect the downturn.

In some of that, Council President, I will probably be requesting an additional date to speak simply about revenue options because I've had a couple of colleagues ask me for time in the committee to talk to talk about revenue.

There are also the other The 0.1% sales tax for public safety is another revenue option.

There's also the additional expansion of digital advertisement and sales tax that we would like time in the committee to discuss.

So it's not just new revenue that the council would propose.

It is all revenues, but might need more time for that.

The next Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee will meet not this week, but next Wednesday, May 21st at 9.30 a.m.

We're still finalizing the agenda, but we will begin to talk about some of the budget reform elements that we have engaged in.

We've done a deep dive on our bonds, and so we will start the presentations regarding some bonds that we'll be paying off so that we don't have to continue paying interest and money on them moving forward.

The select budget committees will be currently stood for Wednesday, June 4th, and Wednesday, July 30th, both at 9.30 a.m.

Again, we'll come back to you if we need to request additional times.

At full council this week, we will have a bill coming out of the Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee.

It is the Grant Acceptance and Appropriations Ordinance, which was unanimously recommended by the committee members at our meeting last week, Wednesday, May 7th.

This is the first of three of this flavor.

The other ones we will just be appropriating the grant funding.

I urge a yes vote.

It's very straightforward.

In external committees, this last weekend, we had a wonderful ribbon cutting at the downtown Redmond Link extension for sound transit.

It really is phenomenal, the work that they've done.

If anyone's been to a concert out at Marymoor, you now have a better way to get there.

It was also shared publicly last week by CEO Dow Constantine that the contract work over I-90 has not gone well.

When the agency announced that it could open quarter four of this year, there was no slip in that schedule.

There's been a little bit of slip.

There's nothing wrong.

We're progressing forward, but just being clear and transparent that the opening across Lake Washington will now be in 2026. Just wanted to give you that heads up and sharing colleagues.

I did a pretty in-depth tour just this morning.

or early afternoon with both City Light and Sound Transit looking at the different impacts that will occur in Soto regarding transmission line movement as well when they put in the new guideways to get to West Seattle.

So lots going on there.

In District 6, there are a number of different events going on in District 6. We've got a meeting about the Green Lake Community Center tomorrow night.

I've got office hours on Wednesday night.

And then on Saturday is Sit-Namai, May 17th, Norwegian's Constitution Day.

Norway has the second oldest constitution in the world, only younger, behind us, the United States of America.

There will be activities from 10 a.m.

to 10 p.m.

Sign up for my newsletter if you'd like a play-by-play on what you can do and how to participate.

We're very excited.

Everything from the ambassador to the United States from Norway, being president at Bergen Place and the grand marshal of the parade to – there's even – an art event that takes graffiti artists and livens up a building on 14th and Market Street, the Firestone building next to McDonald's.

So if you'd like to know, sign up for my emails or come ask me.

I keep putting this plug in on Sunday, June 8th.

The Animal Shelter will host their annual 5K fun run and walk.

And hosting office hours said that.

That is my report today, colleagues.

Any questions before I pass it over?

Is there an estimate when in 2026 the cross the lake section will be done?

Happy to follow up with a more firm timeline.

The update that we received from the CEO in public last week simply was that we will not meet the end December 31st of this year.

Well, was there any, what slipped in the schedule?

I'm happy to talk to you offline.

I think our public would probably want to know, but okay, I look forward to understanding more.

Council member Hollingsworth.

Good afternoon, everyone.

The Parks Utilities Technology Committee meeting will be Wednesday, May 14th at 2 p.m.

We will receive a briefing on Memorial Stadium and also SPU legislation and a second time for us here hearing it.

I know some council members are working currently with SPU on amendments so we can get comfortable with some of the legislation that was sent down from our executive.

So we're going to continue to work on that with central staff and SPU as well.

Also the comprehensive plan, the select committee will be meeting for a public hearing on May 19th.

So I know we have a public hearing today for our And the next week we get another one on May 19th at 9.30 online and 4 p.m.

in person.

That will...

be our public hearing regarding the interim legislation for House Bill 1110. Just want to thank my colleagues for all your work on that.

Looking forward to adding more language to our work plan and other amendments people might have, council members might have.

You all are people, but you're council members too as well, so council members might have.

uh, for the interim legislation.

And then on May 21st at 2 PM, we will have a vote on that package as well.

So next week will be a busy week for comprehensive plan and select committee.

Good stuff.

Uh, next, um, we also have a board of health meeting with council member Nelson and council member Kettle, and that is Thursday.

May 15th.

I'm not entirely sure of the agenda just yet because I haven't had a time to read up on that, but looking forward to our Board of Health meetings.

In the community, I wanted to address something super that happened last Sunday at Denny Blaine Park.

Our office put out a statement regarding the interaction that Seattle police department had with some park goers, and I have to preface this by saying that we are, there is a lawsuit that is with the city, not with the city, but with people that have presented a lawsuit, and some people are named in that lawsuit, so I can only say so much, but what I will say is I will continue to protect the rights, and I'm gay, so I always say gay community, but I know there's LGBTQIA plus community, and also being naked at a park is not a crime.

And our police chief has said that publicly as well.

And so ensuring that people can be able to go to the park and be safe, also sunbathe and make sure that we have a safe environment for folks as well.

And looking forward, we have scheduled, our office had been connecting with our mayor's office and have finalized a meeting with friends of Denny Blaine, which are, the group, which is a group that wants the park to make sure that we continue to remain safe for our LGBTQIA community and also Lavender Rights Project as well with our police chief.

And I just want to thank SPD for helping us set that up in our mayor's office and everything.

And I think it's gonna be a phenomenal meeting that we can go over just kinda how we move forward together.

So I just wanted to make sure that I said that because I needed time to get information last week regarding what happened and so forth, and wanted to make sure that I spoke out correctly of the incidents that occurred.

And SPD also put out a statement as well, so I just wanted to highlight that.

Also wanted to highlight, there is a proposed crisis care clinic that is proposed at the Poly Clinic in District 3. And we have heard a number of concerns from folks regarding the implementation and what that looks like.

There is a public hearing this Thursday at the Wyckoff Center at Seattle University.

And that's gonna be at 12.30 to 1.30.

And that is an open public meeting where people can go and talk to the county and hear more about the center.

And I'm not sure of the current setup for that.

I'm getting more information as...

they provide, but I wanted the community to know that that is an open meeting, a public hearing at Seattle University at 12.30 p.m.

at the Wyckoff Center on campus this Thursday, May 15th from 12.30 to 1.30.

So I know that's important that people can continue to email the King County Council.

So not Seattle Council, it is the King County Council that you can email.

And in my last newsletter, I provided a get help section where it shows all of the meetings that happen throughout our region, but most importantly, the King County Council's email addresses and their meeting time so people be able to have public comment about the crisis care clinic that is proposed in District 3. Last but not least, I wanted to give a special shout out to our fire department.

Last night there was a big house fire in Madison Valley and we I heard it at night because it sounded like gunshots, but it wasn't.

It was firecrackers, and it was this big explosion that happened in Madison Valley, and the fire department was there in a heartbeat, and they helped put out that fire, and there was a ton of fire trucks and ambulances, and they were literally the first ones on the scene within seconds, and just sending them a lot of love because I think there was a number of different fire departments from Madison Valley to Capitol Hill to other places that responded to that.

and just wanted to send them a little love because they responded extremely fast and kept everyone safe in the neighborhood.

So anyways, thank you.

And if there's no other questions, I'm going to happily pass it to Councilmember Kettle.

No questions?

No questions?

Okay, well...

Actually, can I just start with a thank you to Councilmember Hollingsworth for your leadership on Denny Blaine Park.

I think you're an important voice on this and a leading voice on this.

So thank you for all the due diligence that you've been doing on it.

And also thank you for giving the shout out to the Seattle Fire Department.

It's really important for them to be acknowledged for the great work that they do day in and day out.

With that transition, Public Safety Committee will be tomorrow, so you'll be there for that.

We have two items on the agenda, the Chief of Police Investigations Ordinance, which will be our first item in the business, and then the second one will be a program called Star Chase.

It's a technology piece that we're looking at.

And so those would be the two main agenda items for tomorrow's Public Safety Committee meeting.

For meetings and the like, internal, external, and all the above, this week, tomorrow, I just want to give a shout out as well and really highlight the Pacific Science Center.

It is a jewel of the city.

It's something that needs our support.

It needs, and when I say our, I mean the big hour from the city, to engage and do what we can from our perspective, but also for the communities, not just the area around Pacific Science Center, but the entire city, and frankly, the county and the region, because schools that they support are from this entire area, and the kids that come to it are coming from the entire area.

And so they're doing their luncheon tomorrow, and Ignite is the theme of it.

And again, I just want to...

you know, give a shout out to Pacific Science Center and, you know, and encourage support across the board for PacSci.

Get to meet up with my colleague on Wednesday, Council Member Saka for council addition.

There you go.

And we noted the com plan, continuing my meetings on the comprehensive plan with OPCD, but also AIA, the architects, and many groups to include groups throughout District 7. Also have a meeting that day with Pike Place Market.

As you know, Pike Place Market, Pike Place itself was pulled out of the Seattle Transportation Plan last year.

And we've, you know, kicked off a couple things.

When I say we, the broader we here too, it's really Pike Place Market, the PDA, and also working with SDOT, but also stakeholders as well in terms of determining the way ahead.

We had a great conference a month ago plus, and now we're We have this opportunity in our course of the summer to get some good lessons learned in terms of Pike Place itself.

And on Wednesday night, the Belltown Community Council will be having its meeting.

Always support our community councils within District 7. Thursdays, the Police Officer Memorial Ceremony and Bertha Knight Landis in the morning.

I just want to highlight FIFA, super important.

Guess what?

We're about a year out.

Um, it's really important.

I, you know, as, as I say, it's, it's, uh, it's crucial for us to be on glide path.

Um, and I'm concerned, um, but also, um, uh, hopeful and confident that we'll be ready, but it really takes to have all those three happening at the same time.

You have to be engaged.

And I, I encourage everyone to be engaged on FIFA because I think there's little things that we could do in each of our, uh, districts.

And obviously, um, along with District 1 where the stadiums are, District 7 is right smack in the middle, but the entire district can participate.

And I saw this when I was in Germany in 06 for the Weltmeisterschaft, as they say in German.

But I just wanted to highlight and also highlight that time is getting short.

Next week is relatively quiet, only one in terms of external meetings.

It's the Puget Sound Regional Council Annual General Assembly.

Looking forward to that.

That was a great event last year.

I think you and Councilmember Sock and I were sitting together for that luncheon.

And then that night also was the Magnolia Community Council monthly meeting.

That is it.

And pending questions, going once, twice.

Just mention of FIFA.

That's why I was asking about the light rail schedule, if there was anything more known, because I think that we're all thinking about A year away.

Mr. Speaking of glide path, Mr. Constantine is going to be on the hot seat.

No pressure.

If I might add some context, council president, I answered that question in the way that I did because there's a lawsuit on behalf of the contractor.

And so you need to be sensitive about what is said, but hoping that that will be completed before World Cup.

Me too.

Accountability.

Let's see.

Next in line.

Who is after?

It's Member Moore.

Yep.

Thank you.

So on tomorrow's full city council agenda, there are no items from Housing and Human Services.

Next committee meeting is this Wednesday.

We have two commission appointments and we will be having an informational briefing from Shulkim Kilmende, the founder and CEO of Housing Connector.

They do marvelous work, proactive work on keeping people housed through rental assistance and tenant services.

So really looking forward to an informative and interesting discussion about, you know, as rental assistance is something that I've championed, particularly in connection with the mayor's office.

So just wanting to make sure that we are providing it in the most efficient way and proactively reaching individuals.

So looking forward to that conversation.

Last week I attended the Stolen Youth Fundraiser.

They are a non-profit that works with trafficked youth.

It's very moving.

They are moving to more of a broad educational approach in creating a curriculum that they're going to share.

with schools throughout the state.

So really to educate young people about the issue and how to protect themselves.

So they do great work as well.

Held office hours on Saturday in Lake City.

Again, had people smoking fentanyl on the steps to the community service center.

And many people not doing very well.

So that continues to remain a challenge for our community as well as other communities.

This week I will be attending the KCRHA Governing Board, and if there are any questions or comments, I'll turn it over to Council Member Rink.

Council Member Kittle.

Councilmember Moore, I just wanted to say thank you.

As chair of the Public Safety Committee, obviously I've been clear what defines harm as it relates to the Public Drug Use and Possession Bill, and what you keep describing is clearly harm to the community, to the neighborhood.

So thank you, just to be clear on that point.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I did have my monthly meeting with Captain Barnes today who also indicated this work with your office.

And again, we'll be doing announced a training for frontline staff to realize that they can be proactive in this regard.

So, and also trying to collaborate with care as well.

So thank you.

Councilmember Rivera.

I, too, want to lend my voice of gratitude to Councilmember Moore for that, and also to Councilmember Moore and Council President Nelson for their participation on KCRHA and all the work that's happening in that space.

It's really important work.

Colleagues, as you know, last year there was a reset, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about that, but it is there is a lot going on in that space.

And so I don't take it lightly the work that you all do in addition to the work that you're doing on the council and for your committees, the work that you do by sitting on the KCRHA board and all the contributions that you're making in that regard.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Council Member Salomon.

Yes, thank you, Madam President.

Can you tell me again the name of the person at Housing Connector that you're going to be meeting with?

My apologies if I mispronounce his name.

Shilkim Kilminde.

So, do you want me to spell it for you?

Kelmendi?

Kelmendi.

K-E-L-M-E-N-D-I.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Wonderful to take it from here, and if I may, Skelcham, he's a wonderful community leader.

I'm really excited to hear about that connection happening.

So for tomorrow at full council, coming from the City Light and Sustainability Committee, we will have the appointment of Louis Ernst to the City Light Review Panel.

Bringing that member on board means we have a fully seated City Light Review Panel, which is very exciting.

As it relates to the Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Change, we will be meeting this upcoming Friday, May 16th at 9.30 a.m.

We have a slight change.

We were intending this session to be focused on transportation.

However, our partners from King County Metro and Sound Transit are unable to attend now.

Moving forward with a little bit of a different approach.

So we'll be having our federal lobbyist comment from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations come in to provide a general update.

So invite you all to please bring your questions as they generally relate to everything happening on the federal front.

A lot is changing day by day, a lot of concerning and deeply troubling news.

I think I say this every day now, these are not normal times, especially when we're looking at things like mayors of major cities being detained for a period of time.

And so I certainly will be bringing a number of questions for our federal lobbyists, and I invite you all to bring your questions as well.

During committee, we will also be taking up the welcoming city resolution that we discussed at previous meetings.

That will be coming up for a vote.

And again, colleagues, what we've been working on, and I know I've conferred with a number of you all on, is the importance of this resolution, particularly signaling support for are immigrant neighbors within the city of Seattle.

This week, the Regional Policy Committee will be meeting on Wednesday, so Council Member Moore and I will be attending that.

And we'll be hearing an update on Cedar Hills, and then also hearing about solid waste rates with King County, and getting an initial briefing on the emergency medical services levy renewal.

And we'll be sure to bring updates back for you all regarding that levy renewal in particular.

And to close it out, I want to name that this week is Affordable Housing Week.

There are a ton of events happening across the city educating about how affordable housing is built and the many ways in which we can be better advocates or just learn more about our affordable housing system at large.

The Housing Development Consortium is the primary convener of that.

There's a calendar of events available online.

There is also, for those who are feeling active for this upcoming weekend, there's an event called the Seattle Super Saunter for any masochist like myself who's going to walk from the northernmost end of Seattle all the way to the southernmost end of Seattle.

Feels like a fun challenge.

The last time I checked, there was about 200 wacky folks like me who were gonna do that challenge.

And so I would invite you all.

It's just a fun way to see the city from a different perspective.

I know I'm excited to see the city from a street level view.

So if anyone wants to join me, Council Member Kettles, volunteering Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

And with that, colleagues, that concludes my updates.

I'm happy to take any questions.

Quick question.

Does anyone know the street that goes from the most northern part of Seattle to the southern part of Seattle?

It's like an artery.

Councilmember Hollingsworth, I thought Councilmember Strauss was the only one allowed to ask questions like that.

Well, this is me asking Councilmember Strauss or Councilmember Ring.

I don't know what street you're watching.

I think you might have stumped me here.

It could be First Avenue.

It could be I-5.

That's cheating, though.

99 stops at it turns into Marginal Way.

Well, maybe it's a question for what route are you going to be walking up?

I don't know.

I'm just going to show up and follow the group.

We are starting at the Shoreline light rail station, by the way.

And you don't have to walk it, by the way.

You can bike it.

You can hop on light rail for a couple of stops.

There's options.

Awesome.

OK, awesome.

Thank you very much for having our federal OIR lobbyist in your committee.

And I don't think I'll be able to attend that.

But reminder to everybody that your chiefs of staff are invited to join a Friday at 9 o'clock conversation to find out the latest information or whatever happens to be going on then.

So just a plug for that.

Okay.

Council Member Solomon.

Sorry.

That's okay.

Thank you.

So last week I had my monthly meeting with Captain Davison, captain of the North Precinct, to talk about the district.

We discussed the activation action plan for Magnuson Park that As I mentioned at one of our prior briefings, starts this Memorial Day weekend.

I want to thank Captain Davison and his officers at the North Precinct for all they do in support of the D4.

I also attended the Wedgwood Community Council meeting, where I heard from constituents who had concerns about tree canopy and removal of trees related to a comp plan.

There's strong support for tree preservation as the city plans for growth.

And as many of us have said, we can both have more housing and more tree preservation.

This week, today, actually at five, we'll be holding the public hearing on the Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy Renewal.

I'm looking forward to hearing what people, what comments people provide about this levy proposal.

Colleagues, several of your staff members have volunteered to get folks signed up and to provide public comment, and I want to publicly thank your staffs who are volunteering their time and for you for being present at tonight's public hearing.

Then this Thursday, the Select Committee on the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy we'll hear from our central staff on policy considerations related to this levy renewal proposal.

This Friday, I'm looking forward to attending my first meeting as a new member of the Association of Washington City's Legislative Priorities Committee.

It is at the same time as the federal committee, so I will not be able to attend that committee.

The outcome of the most recent state legislative session and possible legislative agendas for, excuse me, possible legislative items for 2026 for AWC's legislative priorities.

And then next week, I will be bringing forward colleagues of proclamation and recognition of and honoring UW, University of Washington President Anamari Cauze for her many contributions in leading the university for the past 10 years.

And I'll also be attending an event later that week to honor her for her many contributions to the university, not just as president for the last 10 years, but she also served as provost and as a faculty member for many years, starting in 1986. So happy to answer any questions.

Otherwise, I'll pass it along to our colleague, Councilmember Saka.

All right.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

And so colleagues, from my perspective, I'll share that on the Transportation Committee front, we had a very lively and engaging Transportation Committee last Tuesday.

Thank you, everyone, for joining.

We considered and moved out of committee three items, the automated traffic safety camera legislation, a proviso to lift funding for non-school speed cameras, and an alley vacation ordinance in Councilmember Kettle's district.

And so great discussion there.

More to come at full council tomorrow.

And then our next transportation committee meeting will be next Tuesday, Tuesday, May 20th to be exact.

The agenda for that is still being finalized.

So stay tuned.

With respect to regional committee, my regional committee involvement, I had the pleasure of joining my colleague, Councilmember Kettle, last Thursday at the Puget Town Regional Council Transportation Policy Board Committee.

Among other things, we went over public survey results from safety and that covered safety and transportation.

Got a briefing on the latest and greatest, but we're still discussing our regional transportation plan.

That is still under development.

Colleagues, as you'll recall, last year we passed the Seattle transportation plan.

And so going through a similar effort right now at the regional level through PSRC.

And also I'll note that I too am really much looking forward to the General Assembly meeting through PSRC.

My understanding is that is open to all executive board members, transportation policy board members, and they have a growth planning commission as well.

So all, and excuse me, they have an economic development component commission or board as well.

under their broader umbrella, so that's open to everyone.

I'm really looking forward to that one, and I think there was formally a select committee of some sort on the calendar during the same date on May 22nd, and looks like that one is cleared up so I don't have to make any difficult decisions.

It's a no-brainer for me.

I'm going to the General Assembly meeting through PSRC.

So really excited for that.

Last week, I did office hours, as I do every single week, with very few exceptions, especially during budget.

But another engaging set of office hours.

I have more office hours coming this week.

In the community, I think the only thing, so for a more comprehensive update of what's going and with and our current plans, stay tuned, sign up for our newsletter to get a resource.

And then also check out our social media pages.

But there's one item worth calling out now is, and I mentioned it before, but my office is organizing a community safety town hall and forum for three specific neighborhoods in my district.

The Crown Hill, or excuse me, Crown Hill.

Sorry, sorry, pardon me.

No, North Delrich, Snake Hill, Snake Hill, and High Point.

So those three neighborhoods suffering right now from similar gun violence issues, and these issues have been going on for a long time, if we're being perfectly transparent and honest, before any of us at this table took office.

I think a large reason for that is, at its core, historical underinvestment in these areas, particularly with respect to transportation.

So we made some decent progress on the transportation front.

but more broader infrastructure improvements are needed.

And so looking forward to getting some key decision makers in the room to talk about some solutions to make sure that on a going forward basis, any actions by the city are guided by and directly informed by community.

And so in any event, that is all from my perspective.

And I welcome any questions or comments.

And if not, I will pass it on to whoever's next.

Councilmember Saka?

Go ahead.

Not really a question.

I just want to celebrate for thank you for those those harder updates.

I'm going to transition to something more positive.

that we were joking around before this committee got started about the new USL II league, W, so our women's teams that have entered the Seattle region.

Your home has the West Seattle Roadies.

My home has Salmon Bay FC.

Their first game, their inaugural game, is this weekend against each other.

I'm just so very excited to attend these games, and you'll be seeing me wear the scarves before and after the games.

Thank you.

Just excited that we get to share that together.

We absolutely get to share our love of local, semi-professional sports, women's sports in this case, women's league.

And we share in our excitement for and know that the West Seattle roadies are going to win.

So thank you.

We'll see about that.

Go roadies.

Okay.

Thank you for letting me follow that.

So just in terms of committee updates, the Land News Committee met this morning for a briefing and discussion on the sound terms of three code amendments.

At our next committee meeting, which will be Thursday the 29th at 2 p.m., a special meeting, We intend to have a public hearing regarding the code amendments and hopefully get this voted out of committee so it can come before full council.

Also, you know, looking at to, you know, maybe putting something else on the agenda for the 29th related to crime prevention through environmental design, but stay tuned on that.

Let's see.

I don't have any external committees to discuss at this point, but just this past week was...

A lot of interaction and face-to-face with a number of our city leaders, including Superintendent Jones from Seattle Public Schools, Dr. Cayenne from the Office of Arts and Culture, Dr. Rico, or Director Rico from OPCD, Director APDS from Parks, as well as Dr. Director Chappelle from Department of Education and Early Learning.

Really wanted to get a sense of the work they're doing, how our office can support those efforts in a number of different ways.

I also had an opportunity to attend the bill signing for the ground level use legislation that was passed out of land use.

So I joined Mayor Harrell and other department heads this past Tuesday for that.

I also had a chance this past Thursday to meet with the leadership of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, not the Greater Seattle, the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

So that was good interaction between us.

Looking at different partnership opportunities between the Chamber, our office, community.

Looking forward to things going forward.

Also, you know, And I want to thank Council President Nelson for joining us at the breakfast group meeting on Thursday.

Looking forward to having you back.

Looking forward to having all of you join us at the breakfast group.

Meeting will be the law enforcement appreciation breakfast.

So hopefully we'll be joined by police chiefs.

I know Sheriff Tyndall is always there.

So if any of you want to join us Joining that, again, there will be police chiefs from around the region that will be in attendance there.

Again, giving a shout out to our, you know, to law enforcement who are serving the community as well as to our firefighters.

And, you know, thank you for the shout out to the firefighters earlier.

We wanted to recognize them as well for their contributions.

So I think we can have multiple people attend without violating the Open Public Meeting Act.

So it'll be good.

I also had in-district hours this past Friday as well as at Rainier Community Center.

I try to get around to different parts of the community for office hours.

So we've done Beacon Hill, New Holly, Rainier Beach, Rainier, and again, spreading around, doing different times of the day, different days of the week to accommodate the schedule of people who actually work for a living so they can come out and meet us when they have an opportunity.

As a reminder, I will be conducting CEPTED training in Tumwater.

I'll be heading down there tonight.

However, that being said, I will be remoting in on tomorrow's council meeting.

And I will also be remoting in Thursday morning for the FEP levy meeting.

So while I will physically not be here, I'm going to be here.

And I will physically be here for the meeting on Friday morning.

So just wanted to let you know that.

And just to close out, Councilmember Sokka was talking about the public safety meeting that he's got going on.

I have conferred with the South Precinct And I understand that there will be a South Precinct Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday, May 28th.

People have reached out to our office about having some kind of public forum regarding the gun violence that's been happening in the community.

And my feeling is there's already a forum for that.

It's already set up.

So let's make sure we promote that.

So stay tuned for the exact location of that meeting.

We'll have that in the newsletter.

My understanding is it will be from 6 to 8 on Wednesday the 28th.

Most likely will be at New Holly, the Gathering Hall, because that's where they had it before.

And not just because of the gunshots that happened in Beersheba, but we had an incident this past Friday.

Friday afternoon, 4 o'clock, near the Safeway parking lot in Rainier Beach, 74 shots fired.

Again.

Dismay and disheartening aren't adequate words to talk about the amount of violence we're seeing in our communities.

And coming together to talk about it is one thing, but time for talk is done.

So let's say what we as community can do.

on these issues.

So if you are available to come to that meeting on May 28th, please do so.

Stay tuned.

Look at our newsletter to find out the exact details as to where that meeting will be.

If there are no questions.

I had a question, Council Member Solomon.

Yes.

Where is the meeting for the breakfast club?

Oh, breakfast group is, they meet at First Day Me Church at 1522 14th Avenue.

I knew the answer to that because it's my church.

So I just wanted to highlight that.

It's the oldest black church in the city, or excuse me, in the state.

Yes.

The birth of progressivism in our city.

So I just wanted, I couldn't not pass that over.

So thank you.

Okay.

Yes.

Councilmember Saka.

Can I just say, because it's come up a few times, and I intended to comment on this myself during my own remarks, and I think Councilmember Hollingsworth is the first person to give our Seattle Fire Department heroes a shout-out and plug, but I, too, want to lend my appreciation and gratitude towards single day to keep us safe and it's in it the work is hard and it's tough and it's hazardous and people are stressed out and people are unfortunately dying not not necessarily because of some of the the stuff that they experience when they respond to the day of but it's the lingering lasting impacts that that lasts many many decades unfortunately so it's tough work just want to I appreciate all of our first responders in fact we had a first responder a few months ago celebrating the work of our police, fire, and care department.

But fire department, just want to say thank you.

I met last week with Fire Chief Scroggins, and he let me know some important data around sort of what they're doing and the impact that they're having, including that they have the highest resuscitation rates in the country.

So they put out fires, and they also help save lives by responding to medical emergencies.

My own son, you know, a few years ago, before I became a candidate, was the beneficiary of that when they responded to my own home, personally.

And so...

And then Kenny Stewart from the Firefighters Union also let me know the same thing.

So just wanna say, I see the fire department.

I think we all appreciate them, but I wanted to be intentional about letting my voice to support.

Thank you.

Thank you for doing that, Councilmember Saka, because as you were speaking, I was thinking, oh yeah, I gotta mention that Kenny sent me a link to a story on Cairo 7. I think it was Thursday.

Oh, so I see his game.

He does this to everybody, huh?

And it does, yeah, highest resuscitation rates in the country, perhaps the world, and that was, you know, catch it on, the title of the show is Seattle Fire Department, resuscitation rates are some of the highest in the world, so.

And that does drive home the need to get their staffing numbers up.

I think that in this past budget, we did vote on another budget item that will help with their staffing.

I can't remember precisely what that was.

Perhaps it was somebody at the public safety department Well, no, I think that it would, and then that's a separate issue.

Then there's also the need for more to support training to become paramedics as well.

Anyhow, we are aware of the need.

So thank you for talking about that.

All right, any other comments on what Council Member Saka?

No, just echoing that, that we, you know, they are very much a strong part of our public safety team and we very much, we highly value them.

And I know when I have had my community walks and community, you've heard me say about public safety, Chief Scoggins has joined us along with the police chief and the care chief.

Everyone knows what a big fan I am of Chief Scoggins and all the work that FIRE does.

They are heroes.

And so thank you, Council Member Hollingsworth and Council Member Saka for raising that now and wanted to lend my voice of support and yes, recognition of all the hard work that they do.

Thank you.

May should be Firefighter Appreciation Month.

Just kidding.

Anyway.

I feel a proclamation coming on.

Anyway.

There is nothing from the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee on tomorrow's agenda.

We had our first discussion last week in committee on Resolution 32170, granting conceptual approval to the Downtown Seattle Association to install, maintain, and operate interactive media kiosks in public places.

That was an interesting conversation that will be continued next week on May 23rd.

Let's see, and talking about last week, on the 8th, I believe it was, or last Wednesday, I attended a housing bill signing ceremony.

Governor Ferguson signed a whole bunch of bills that came out of Olympia this past, session and was joined by the legislators who sponsored these bills.

And when you see it all presented in one hour and a half or so, you recognize how much Olympia got done on the housing front this past year.

All right, this coming week, I will be joining Councilmember Kettle and the mayor at the Pacific Science Center Ignite Luncheon.

Thank you very much for mentioning the importance of the Pacific Science Center, not just to our city, but to our region.

And one thing I didn't realize until I went on a tour of the Pacific Science Center was that they actually have mobile services.

They go out and teach science elsewhere.

You don't just go to the museum, they go to community.

All right, I'll be attending and participating in Councilmember Saka's North Delridge Snake Hill High Point Community Center Safety Forum, and you already spoke about this event.

Thank you very much for inviting me out, and I look forward to hearing the community's concerns and also the response from city executives to how, well, what's going on now and what they plan to do in the future, it strikes me that I think that you might be the fourth council member who had a specific public safety committee meeting in your district.

I think Council Member Rivera, Council Member Wu had one, okay, and I remember, I think, going to yours, yep.

Belltown, right, a long time ago.

Really, it's remarkable, I think, how many council members are responding to the needs of their constituents and focusing really in drilling down into the public safety issues going on in their district.

So thank you very much for that.

Let's see, this coming Thursday, I'll be joining a, I'll be giving an interview on Rainier Valley Radio, and then shortly after that, joining the SIF opening night gala.

So the season is now upon us, so it's always a special time of year, lots of things going on in the film community, film industry in Seattle.

And I'll be attending the Northwest Minority Builders Alliance meeting, which is in Burien, I believe, next Thursday as well.

So any questions?

All right.

I don't have anything else to say, so if there's no further business before we adjourn, it is 3.01.

Thank you very much, everyone.

We're adjourned.

Thank you.