Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee 5/27/2026

Great, fantastic.

The May 27th, 2026 meeting of the Housing Arts and Civil Rights Committee will come to order.

It is 2.05 PM and I am Dionne Foster, chair of the Housing Arts and Civil Rights Committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Juarez?

Aye, I mean here.

Council member Rink?

Here.

Chair Foster?

Here.

There are three members present.

Thank you, and I'll let the record reflect that Council President Hollingsworth and Vice Chair Lynn are excused today.

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

We will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on today's agenda or within the purview of the committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

There are no speakers signed up.

Alright, I think this is our first meeting with no public comment.

With that then, we are gonna move right on to our first item of business.

Will the clerk please read items one through three into the record?

Agenda items 1 to 3, appointments 03505 through 03507, the appointments of Kim Guafquiao, J. Queen Adams, and David Isaac as members of Seattle Human Rights Commission for terms to July 22, 2027 for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Fantastic.

Without further ado, I would like to invite up to the committee table, Sebastian Wilson with the Office for Civil Rights, who is going to provide a brief overview of the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

I also want to invite David Isaac and Kim Kofkow, who are joining virtually, to unmute and introduce themselves.

We will start off with Sebastian.

And as he's getting settled, I'll just offer some brief comments.

We do have a short committee today.

We're just doing appointments and I really want to thank our appointees for stepping up and seeking to serve in these roles on the Seattle Human Rights Commission and appreciate the Office for Civil Rights for your work in leading on this appointment process as well as to the mayor's office as we've got one mayoral appointee and two council appointees.

The Human Rights Commission, as we will just hear in a second from Sebastian, advocates for justice and equal opportunity in our city and is a fantastic partner to this council as we seek to make sure that we are making progress on civil and human rights.

With that, I'm going to hand it over to Sebastian to introduce yourself and the commission and then we will hear directly briefly from both Kim and David.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

And a heartfelt appreciation to this committee and the council members here.

Each of you have given time and made yourselves available to our commissioners.

You listen to and incorporate their advice into your decisions, and we really appreciate that.

We recognize some great work has happened already with the collaboration with Council, and so really just want to appreciate each of you and are excited to continue to watch those relationships develop and grow.

I'd also like to thank Councilmember Foster and your team for your diligence in getting today's commission nominees processed and on the agenda.

Nominees cannot fully participate until they're confirmed by Council, so the faster we're able to turn around their appointments, the more quickly the nominee can contribute their skills and talents to making the positive change that they're so passionate about.

My name is Sebastian Wilson, I use he, him pronouns, and I'm a strategic advisor with the Office for Civil Rights.

My work is to focus on increasing capacity, providing learning opportunities, and fostering collaboration between our four advisory commissions.

I'm also the acting staff liaison to the Human Rights Commission.

Before we introduce the nominees, I'll provide a brief overview of the Human Rights Commission and the application process.

The Human Rights Commission was established 63 years ago to advocate for justice and equal opportunity.

It led to the formation of the Office for Civil Rights and has been a driving force of progressive change and city accountability ever since.

The work of the Commission has always been important and is even more pressing now in our current socio-political climate.

The Commission is comprised of 21 seats of volunteer commissioners who live or work in the City of Seattle.

As you may recall from their presentation to this committee on March 25th, the Commission's 2026 priorities are to increase their engagement with the people of Seattle, City Council, and the Mayor's Office, to review policies that may be discriminatory and inform the Office for Civil Rights Director of their findings with proposed solutions, and to partner with other City of Seattle boards and commissions around shared advocacy goals.

In addition to these priorities, their task force's areas of focus are housing and homelessness, criminal legal system reform, human trafficking, and government relations and affairs.

A couple of unique responsibilities that the Commission has is to hear appeals to investigation decisions made by our office on claims of discrimination within Seattle city limits.

And they host the Human Rights Day event series throughout the year, which culminates with a Human Rights Day event in December.

All of those events are open to the public, and each of you are invited to attend, so keep your eyes open to invitations from the Commission throughout the year.

and we know that all of this work is not possible without the tireless commitment of individual volunteers who give their time and energy to improve outcomes for the communities of Seattle.

We are currently working to fill vacant seats on the commission and have been recruiting and interviewing applications on a rolling basis.

Applicants participate in two rounds of interviews before a nomination is made.

The first panel is comprised of current commissioners and OCR staff representatives.

The panel then makes their recommendations to the chair and vice chair who conduct a second round of interviews and put forward their recommendations.

OCR staff then conducts one final review of the candidates' materials, completes the notice of appointment paperwork, and then routes it to the appointing party for signature.

We have a fantastic slate of nominees for consideration today and are excited to have two of them here virtually.

Unfortunately, Queen Adams had a scheduling conflict and could not attend.

I'll introduce Queen now and then pass it over to Kim and David to share about themselves.

Queen Adams, a city council appointee, is a certified human rights consultant and dedicated advocate committed to advancing justice, equity, and the inherent dignity of every individual.

With a passion for protecting the rights of marginalized and underserved communities, she approaches her work with a blend of compassion, strategic insight, and determination to succeed.

She holds a bachelor's degree in communications in Spanish and a combination that strengthens her ability to build bridges across cultures, engage diverse communities, and communicate with clarity and purpose.

Queen also earned a master's degree in Christian Studies, grounding her leadership in ethical conviction and service.

And in addition, she holds a certificate of immigration law to help with vulnerable immigrant communities with human rights issues at local and global levels.

As a human rights commissioner, Queen hopes to champion policies that dismantle systemic inequities, elevate community voices, and create pathways for all people to thrive.

Her vision is a community where every individual, regardless of background, identity, or circumstance, is seen, heard, and protected.

With a deep-rooted commitment to human rights, she brings a bold and compassionate voice to her role as commissioner.

She is committed to expanding access to justice and ensuring that human rights protections are not merely aspirational, but actively upheld.

Queen is honored to be nominated for a seat on the commission and is excited to begin as a confirmed commissioner soon.

Now I'll pass it over to Kim and David for introductions and to share why they're interested in serving on the commission and then answer any questions the committee might have.

Kim, I invite you to please go first.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Kim Kofkwo, a recent graduate from the University of Washington.

I am very excited to be here.

From a young age, I've been very passionate about advocating for equity.

And after graduating, I looked for ways to be able to do this within my community.

I came across the Office of Civil Rights, and I found out that their goals align with the goals that I'm also interested in.

Over the past almost year I've been volunteering with the Housing and Homelessness Task Force and through this I have gained first insight into the challenges facing members of the Seattle community and I have seen the collaborative efforts that people have taken to try to address them.

I am very excited to continue working with the Human Rights Commission and the Homelessness and House and Task Force.

And as I said before, I am excited to be granted this opportunity.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And then we'll go over to you, Isaac.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is David Isaac.

I'm honored to have the chance to share more with the Council about my interest in serving on the Human Rights Commission.

I've spent more than 16 years in public service, primarily as the Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development, working on human rights, democratic governance, anti-corruption, and community resilience in Nepal, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Syria, and also in global human rights-related policy development and implementation.

Part of that work also included supporting efforts to combat human trafficking and protecting vulnerable populations.

And today I work in local government in Bellevue focused on neighborhood engagement and outreach.

I'm a Queen Anne resident.

I have a master's degree in international development and in urban planning.

And I'm interested in serving on the Human Rights Commission because I believe cities really have a unique role to play and opportunity, especially now in protecting dignity, expanding participation, and helping people feel connected to their communities and to their institutions.

I bring years of both international human rights programming and policy work so that pragmatics of project design and implementation but also now local government experience in the Seattle metro area with a focus on building strategies for further engagement with community members I would be interested in collaborating across commissions with community-based organizations and with government and supporting a recognition and strategy for strengthening human rights that requires partnership and a respect for a diversity of viewpoints and approaches.

I'm a husband and a father of two and feel deeply committed to helping the city continue to protect and honour fundamental rights for everybody, especially our children.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

That was really fantastic.

I appreciate you.

Sebastian, excuse me, on behalf of Queen, who couldn't be here, and thank you so much to Kim and David for sharing your experience with us and also sharing your passion and your reason why for serving on the committee.

Colleagues, I will turn to you to see first if there are any questions for our appointees prior to going to a vote.

Madam Chair?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Council Member Juarez.

Sebastian, I just had a quick question.

I was going through when we get the application packets.

Yes.

How come usually we fill in what district people are from?

Every column is empty.

But I know that like Brandon is in D5.

I think Kim is in D5, District 5. So is there a reason you didn't fill that in or you're not doing it anymore?

I'm not sure.

I believe they were on the original notice of appointment packets.

Okay, I can get back to you.

My column is empty, so I don't know if that's just me.

On the mayoral one, it's empty for Kim.

Yeah, I know.

Thank you for that, Council Member Juarez.

I know David is Queen Anne, so is D7.

And Kim, can you remind us which neighborhood or council district you're in?

D7?

Northgate.

Northgate.

Okay.

Fantastic.

So that's D5.

And I don't know if we have Queens here, but we'll make sure that we get that information over to you.

Council Member Juarez.

Well, I see on my sheet, my staff put D7.

I was just confirming, but I was...

Usually we go through the packet and then we try to...

And one reason why is, you know, we went to a district system.

So what we try to do is just kind of have some district parity, you know, across the city.

Basically for me, people north of the Ship Canal.

that we need people up there to understand everything south of the Ship Canal as well.

And I did have a question for you, Sebastian, and we've met before.

It's good to see you again.

So my understanding is that, was it 63 years ago that we put, was it during the civil rights era, the 1964-65 laws?

It was a little bit before that?

It was founded in 63.

That's what I thought, 1963. So that was right in that pocket of error.

A lot of cities were creating Human Rights Commission to enforce Brown B Education, the Voting Rights Act, all that stuff was happening back in the day, which interesting is it's all back.

It's all back.

So if there's ever a time more, and these are great nominees, by the way.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Having these kind of voices is exactly funny how when things change, they always stay the same.

but you still need these voices and these folks.

And the one thing I always liked about the Seattle Human Rights Commission As I always called it, the Gateway Commission.

It's the one that you want to get on because there's so much going on and you can have tentacles everywhere, you know, housing, renters, homelessness, public safety, and you usually get really good folks, because they all volunteer, that have a voice, that care about their community, not just their district, care about the general citywide global issues, national issues, regional issues.

and these packets are wonderful.

So again, thank you.

And thank you, Madam Chair, for your appointments and certainly the Mayor Wilson for her appointment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Councilmember Rake?

Thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the folks who came before us online today.

Thank you for taking the time to apply, and thank you for your willingness to serve on this commission.

I'm really excited to be working with you.

You bring incredible expertise, and I'm just really excited to vote yes on your appointments today.

Thank you.

All right, fantastic.

Thank you so much, colleagues.

I appreciate that.

I will go ahead and move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 035, wait, 03505 through 03507. Is there a second?

Second.

All right, it is moved and seconded to recommend confirmation of the appointments.

Are there any further comments?

All right, seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the recommendation to confirm the appointments?

Council member Juarez.

Aye.

Council member Rink.

Yes.

Chair Foster.

Yes.

Chair there are three votes in favor and none opposed.

All right, fantastic.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation, there's applause happening here in chambers for our guests who are with us online.

We're really excited.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation that the appointments be confirmed will be sent to the June 2nd, 2026 Seattle City Council meeting.

And again, thank you so much to our commissioners and to Sebastian from OCR for joining us.

With that, we will now move on to the next item on the committee agenda.

It is a day of appointments here.

So will the clerk please read item four into the record?

Agenda item four, appointment 03508, appointment of Thomas Geffner as member of the Seattle Social Housing Public Development Authority governing council for term to May 22nd of 2027 for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Okay, fantastic.

Thank you.

I would like to invite up to the table Thomas Geffner, who will introduce himself.

And before he begins, I will just take a brief moment to speak on this item.

I'm really excited to bring forth and consider Thomas for this role and this appointment on the Seattle Social Housing Developer Board as we look to ensure that the social housing developer is successful and delivers on the promise of permanently affordable housing in this city.

As we discussed at our last meeting, we'll be considering a resolution at a future meeting to adopt changes to the social housing charter and we've been working closely with the board to do so.

Leading up to this appointment, my office spoke with over a dozen leaders in the affordable housing provider space including meeting with staff at the social housing developer and members of the board to understand what kind of expertise is needed on the board.

And it was abundantly clear that we should prioritize someone with experience in financing for affordable housing development.

Given the unique model of social housing and how it's funded, our office believes, I believe, it's especially important that this person has an understanding and experience in acquisition and as well as building nonprofit and market rate housing in our city.

Thomas brings experience in acquisitions and development at Great Expectations as well as Community Roots Housing.

And he also has some very exciting professional and academic career experience.

And I'll just say I was impressed in our conversations by how you think about board service and the role on the social housing developer.

So I'm very excited to bring Thomas forward and colleagues, you've received materials.

I think I'm going to hand it over to colleagues to see if there are questions for Thomas.

Thomas, would you like to share a few words about yourself and why you're excited to serve on the board?

Yeah, of course.

And first, thank you so much, Council Member Foster, for the kind words and the rest of the council members for considering me for this appointment.

You know, it's a huge honor.

I've dedicated my career to the furtherance of affordable housing here in Seattle, the city that I grew up in, and that started in the traditional affordable housing development space, so I worked at Community Roots Housing and other groups building here, and I was development manager overseeing the whole phase of development from financing through construction.

And as I did this work, I got the opportunity to advance more than 2,000 affordable homes here in Seattle and the Northwestern United States.

I started to feel like there was a need for new models to help supplement the existing affordable housing stock.

And that led me to take a sabbatical, a sort of seek a global perspective.

So I went to the University of Cambridge where I studied global housing policy and real estate and I looked at the social housing models in Denmark and in Vienna and in the UK and tried to figure out what can we bring back from these models here to Seattle.

Since I returned to the city, I've been with great expectations, and we're a new sort of affordable developer.

We try to answer the question, how can we build affordable housing without public subsidy?

And that looks like bringing in corporate philanthropy, other privately motivated and mission-driven investors, and seeking new partnerships.

So in my role today, I'm primarily responsible for finding and sourcing new acquisition projects for us and leading the capital stack formation, really focused on finance and how finance can be a tool to advance affordable housing solutions.

So tremendously excited about the social housing developer.

I think this is a really once in a generation opportunity to do something great for the city.

and would just love to be part of the board and provide the knowledge and expertise I've built in the affordable housing space to help further the goals of the social housing developer.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that overview and I'm glad that you spoke to your experience and your studies in Europe and congratulations on that degree, which is really exciting.

I'll just ask one question and I'll check with colleagues, see if they have any further questions, but I'd love to just hear you share a little bit about how you think about your role as a new board member to an organization that is in a really exciting and pivotal moment.

Yeah, I mean it truly is an exciting and pivotal moment and I got the opportunity to meet with current CEO Tiffany McCoy recently and learned how she's looking at the organization.

So coming in as a new board member, first and foremost, I think my role is to listen.

The board is tremendously diverse and has a wealth of perspectives, from the Green New Deal and from Organized Labor and from the Renters Commission.

So I wanna make sure that I hear all their voices and understand what they're trying to do with this organization.

And then I really wanna serve as a sounding board, as a person who's really seen development from beginning to end and seeing what can go wrong and also what can go right.

You know, helping people ask the right questions to evaluate the projects that the social housing developer pursues is really important to me.

And really this is, like you said, a pivotal moment.

I think there's a chance to earn the legitimacy of voters by showing what the housing developer can do, and I just want to help make that happen.

Thank you so much, Thomas.

Colleagues, any questions?

Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, I want to thank you, Thomas, and for your work and the appointment process.

I understand this is your appointment, correct, Madam Chair, with the housing experience.

And, you know, we've done a lot of work with community-rich housing.

They're a really good civic housing partner in our family of public housing.

So this is kind of like, this is a higher level for you, it looks like, maybe, with, I won't say higher level, but I'm trying to get a sense of what you anticipate with your great experience in education and voluntarily leaving community roots housing, and then coming back from what you learned, what you anticipate bringing besides just like, because we're not Vienna, So when people do that stuff all the time, and I always have to say we're not Vienna, we're not Portland, we're not LA, we're not, you know, Denmark.

So for Seattle specific and the sensibilities for our city and housing, kind of what your broader perspective is?

Yeah, no, it's a great point, and it's something that we actually talked a lot about when I was studying.

You know, you can't just take a solution that works in City A and assume it's going to work in City B. So I think, for me, the focus is on the fundamentals.

There are ways that you can set up the financing for organizations like this to help ensure long-term durability, and that would be my goal.

The reason that the housing model in Denmark has succeeded is the way that they set up the bond financing for their social housing developer.

and that's something that we could translate to here.

I thought we were doing that.

I thought we were doing debt financing.

We are now, yeah, and it's been a huge...

I think the charter amendment that's advancing now is potentially going to change that.

Right.

And you know, you understand how that finance, obviously, how that piece works.

It's very, very important.

It's incredibly important, and it's an often overlooked detail.

I mean, there's other things you can do the way that...

you can set up reserves so that each project is paying a new fund and that supports if there's any big emergency maintenance that needs to happen.

Like all these little details can be translated to Seattle.

And then as it comes to the specifics of our city and our culture, I think that's where listening to the rest of the board and listening to the current staff members at SSHD comes into play so that we can shape the end product around what our local needs are.

Well, I'm hoping, I have six months left in this job, but one thing I'm hoping to see before I go, and I know that it's, and I'm glad I don't want to get too nerdy here on public financing and tax exempt financing, is making sure that social housing is indeed labeled as a critical or essential governmental function, because that's the only way that a city or a government can issue debt at a low interest rate to pay for these type of structures.

And even though it sounds wonky, like what you were saying, it's incredibly important if you can't go into the marketplace with government-backed bonds to build housing.

And I think we're seeing that with the King County Regional Homeless Authority.

Well, that's another issue, but my point is I'm looking forward to seeing your expertise on this board and the financing piece how we bring all this to fruition and make it a staple within not only our budget, but how we go and fund social housing projects.

Because I don't think the public and the conversation has been as in-depth as I would like.

So I'm really excited about your appointment and the depth of experience that you bring to the financing piece.

So thank you.

No, thank you.

It's wonky and it's hard to understand.

I like it though.

That's why I want to try to help.

to simplify as much as I can.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

I did want to clarify, I know that you were, when you were speaking to Thomas's experiences, you mentioned some volunteer work, but Thomas was the development manager at Community Roots Housing.

So I did just want to clarify that one for the record briefly, Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Yeah, absolutely.

And then we are, in terms of the financing component, we are looking forward to bringing forth a recommended change on the financing, which we expect to have in our next committee meeting.

So you are right on time, Council Member Juarez.

The only other thing I'll add into the conversation that I think is less about your qualifications, Thomas, but more about the moment that we're in, is that the developer has also brought on a number of staff members who have experience in affordable housing development over the last several months.

So we've been excited to see the development of that experience, not just at the board level with your appointment, but also at the staff level with some of the recent hires that have come on and now I'm blanking on their names.

I know Ginger is on and there's another gentleman whose name I will remember as soon as I step off the dais, I'm sure, but a fantastic combination of experience on the staff and then your appointment will add that to the board.

All right, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Chair.

I believe my question is probably going to build off of Councilmember Barres' question related to just some of the financing components.

And I've been thinking and reflecting a lot on the moment that we're in right now in the affordable housing sector and how one thing that's particularly front of mind is just ongoing maintenance and operations and how we're funding that.

And so I'm wondering, with your experience from community roots housing to also with great expectations, I'm wondering how you're thinking about again, the unique financing model of the social housing developer and opportunities to more sustainably address the ongoing maintenance and operations needs.

That's a very wonky question, but I invite you to share any thoughts you may have on that topic.

I mean, it's such a great question, right?

And it gets to the heart of the current moment.

When I was at Community Roots, it was a tough time for the organization for that very reason.

And I think My perspective right now is that times have gotten a little better.

Operating expenses are not spiraling out of control like they used to.

It's something we focus on a lot at my current role.

We have an affiliated property management company that really tries to streamline and make things efficient.

There's a lot that the social housing developer can do as it starts to manage its own properties, but making sure that that SNAP is thinking about the long term because buildings do fall apart and major systems that are new today in 10 or 15 years are gonna need to be replaced.

So we just have to adequately prepare and budget and be conservative enough that we don't get caught holding the bag in the future.

I appreciate those thoughts, and I'm glad that you're thinking about that in that way.

That's really helpful.

And to take us a little bit off course, just the final question, if I may, Chair.

We've been talking a lot about the financing component, but one other element of the social housing developer that I feel like doesn't get talked too much about is just this element of residence governance, and that's something that's included in the Charter, and it's a budding part of the work that's ahead of us now that they have a building coming online and residents coming in.

And so I'm wondering your thoughts as a board member on just kind of tackling that piece because it is a little novel in this way to be bringing in residents' governance for the body.

And so I'm wondering your thoughts on that topic.

I think that I'm somebody who believes in public experimentation, right?

And I think to get it right, it's gonna take learning and growing.

It is a new model for the United States.

Resident governance has worked in some other countries, but other countries that have different cultural makeup than we do.

So, you know, it's something to focus on.

And I think just having the humility to admit that we might have to adapt and change course in order to keep it on track is probably how I would look at it.

I appreciate that flexibility and that thought.

Thank you so much.

Excited to advance your appointment.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Chair.

Yeah.

Thank you so much, council member Rink.

Okay.

What I am loving about the questions coming forward is that many of these will be voting on when we look at the charter changes that we're looking at.

So, uh, there are some changes around residents' governance, uh, that the board has approved in order to make sure that we have a phased in and an appropriate process, as well as some, uh, components there around, uh, rent and operational dollars.

So all of those questions are just right on time.

I'm going to take a quick point of privilege because I couldn't remember the folks' names who've come on board at the staff level.

and I have a fantastic clerk who has helped remind me and say we've also brought on James Maiden as director of acquisitions, who was the former portfolio strategist for Seattle Housing Authority, Mike Eliason on design and policy, who's done some fantastic work on design and climate friendly neighborhoods and I already mentioned Ginger Siegel who is now the Chief Real Estate Development Officer for the Social Housing Developer but was formerly the Housing Director for Lehigh as well as a former Executive Director for the Low Income Housing Network.

So lots of fantastic expertise at the staff level that I just wanted to briefly speak to as we're also looking at the experience that you would bring to the board level.

All right, colleagues, with that, any further questions?

All right, fantastic.

With that, and thank you so much, Thomas, I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointment 03508. Is there a second?

Second.

Okay, it is moved and seconded to recommend confirmation of the appointment.

Are there any further comments?

All right, seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on recommendation to confirm?

Council member Juarez.

Aye.

Council member Rink.

Yes.

Chair Foster.

Yes.

Chair, there are three votes in favor and none opposed.

Fantastic.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation that the appointment be confirmed will be sent to the June 2nd, 2026 Seattle City Council meeting.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Absolutely.

With that, is there any further business to come before the committee today?

Thank you, Thomas.

All right, seeing none, this concludes the May 27th, 2026 meeting of the Housing Arts and Civil Rights Committee.

Our next scheduled meeting is on June 10th.

Thank you so much for attending.

It is 2.36 PM and we are adjourned.

Thank you, Madam Chair.