City Council 5/24/21

Recording in progress.

We are recording.

Thank you so much.

The May 24, 2021 meeting of the Seattle City Council come to order.

It is 2.02 PM.

I'm Lisa Herbold, president pro tem of the council.

Would the clerk please call the roll?

Salant?

Present.

Strauss?

Present.

Lewis?

Present.

Morales.

Mosqueda.

Present.

Peterson.

Present.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Present.

Six present.

Thank you so much.

We'll move into presentations, and I believe we have a couple of presentations today.

The first is a presentation led by Council Member Mosqueda.

She has a proclamation honoring Patty Hayes and her service as director of the Seattle King County Public Health.

Council Member Mosqueda will first present the proclamation.

I will then open the floor for comments from council members.

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

With that, Council Member Mosqueda, you are recognized in order to present the presentation.

thank you very much and council president pro tem herbal council colleagues and director hayes for being here today uh...

it's really an honor to be able to bring forward this proclamation to honor director patty hayes and her incredible work in public health and also nursing over her career i've had the chance to know director hayes for the better part of twenty some years and really and i continue every day to appreciate working with her learning from her and consider her a mentor and a friend.

Colleagues, the proclamation in front of us today recognizes that Director Hayes will be retiring from this incredible legacy of working in public health on May 28th from the Seattle-King County Public Health Department.

After serving the over 1,500 employees and the over 2 million residents of King County for the last seven years, she is going to be earning her retirement with stripes.

She also has led us through this historic crisis, the public health crisis, and this global pandemic that we have faced in the city of Seattle and in King County.

She was on the front lines with officially notifying us about the pandemic spread here in our country as we were one of the first places to have ever seen any of the incidences of COVID.

And prior to that, Patty Hayes has been on the front line, notifying us of the crisis coming in public health if we didn't double down our investments in preventative health services and core services that public health provides.

Since I've known her, she's been raising the alarm bells about the importance of public health, both in terms of public policy and the financing that needs to accompany strong public health policies so that everyone has the access to healthy, quality living.

That means clean air, clean communities, fresh, clean water, and the ability to make sure that people are free from generational poverty.

and toxins in our environments as well as in our workplaces.

Patty Hayes has lived the principles of what it means to be a true public health champion.

And we have seen this in her response to COVID by making sure that she and her department were leading with a racial justice lens.

We have seen this throughout her tenure working in King County.

And I was honored to be able to see it firsthand with one of my first jobs at the State Department of Health working underneath Patty and her division of community and family health services.

Director Hayes has set forth a plan for community vaccinations leading with strong equity values, making sure that our most vulnerable communities and those most impacted by coronavirus continue to get access to the vaccine and that we look at root causes for why there's inequities in our health system.

So while Director Hayes is leaving us as we see light at the end of the tunnel during this pandemic, the work that she's laid the ground for, the seeds that she has planted will continue to grow.

as we seek to become an even more racially just entity, both at Seattle-King County Public Health, but also as individual community members committed to the principles of public health.

Throughout her career, Director Hayes has been an active advocate for social justice in the public health field, starting with the work that she's done with the Executive Constantine, declaring racism as a public health crisis, leading Seattle-King County public health efforts to address systemic institutional racist policies, that have long impacted Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.

It is my great pleasure to be able to have worked with you, Director Hayes, to continue to be able to call you a friend, and I know that I'll be calling upon you to help guide us in the upcoming years and throughout the years to come.

to make sure that we continue to honor the legacy of your work.

And I want to thank you for your 30 plus years of service in public health and in nursing.

And congratulations on your retirement.

This is a proclamation that has been signed by all council members present.

Thank you, Director Haynes.

Thank you so much.

Really appreciate Council Member Mosqueda that you're bringing this forward.

Are there comments from any other council members before we suspend the rules?

Just looking to see if there are any virtual or real raised hands, seeing none.

Madam President, sorry, I had my hand up.

Sorry about that.

The video and the participant panel both at the same time.

Council Member Lewis, you have some comments.

Yeah, thank you.

I just wanted to briefly say I think it is remarkable sometimes how history creates the the right person for the right moment and really being here, you know, knowing Director Hayes only during this time of crisis.

I know Council Member Mosqueda goes away back with Director Hayes.

I've only really known her over the course of this pandemic and just finding her to be an extremely helpful partner, not only in guiding the Board of Health and Um, guiding our covert crisis, but also just being a really effective partner in some of the unique public health challenges that Seattle has based on having a very large proportion of our neighbors without having adequate shelter to live in and experiencing homelessness and the unique public health challenges that poses and having a good partner and expert in Director Hayes to help guide council policy has been really, really helpful.

She's gonna be very sorely missed and I really, really appreciate the opportunity I did get to have my formative experience with the Board of Health be under her leadership and I look forward to her future endeavors and I'm sure she will stay in touch as she develops them.

Thank you so much, Council Member Lewis.

I don't have a lot of remarks, but I just wanted to say real quickly before we hand it over to you, Director Hayes, I just really also appreciate your steady hand and your partnership.

So there's no objection that council rules will be suspended to allow Patty Hayes to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Hearing no objection, the council rules are suspended.

Director Hayes, welcome to the city council meeting and you are recognized in order to provide remarks to the city council and the viewing public.

Well, I want to thank you for this honor and acceptance of the proclamation.

This is indeed very special for me.

As I look back in our work for the last seven years as I've been director, It's been the just really privilege of my career to be with you, to help lead us through so many challenging times and issues.

And really Public Health Seattle King County, I believe is the best health department in the country with the professionals who are so dedicated, who step up and are there for you for you and all the citizens of this county.

I love our place here.

I have cared for this community basically all my career.

I started out doing home visiting in both the hospitals, helping people transition into home care as well as doing rural visits all around the area.

I've had the privilege of really knowing King County very deeply and the city of Seattle in our work together.

I guess a couple of things to say is I really am excited to spend some time with my family, but beyond that, I'm very excited to be working with the University of Washington School of Nursing in the first of the nation establishment of a center for anti-racism and equity in nursing.

And that is something that I can throw my heart into and work and continue to lead forward supporting the school who is going to lead this nation in educating nurses to diversify the pipeline, to create disruptors so that policies in healthcare can actually move to reduce health disparities.

And I'm committed to that work and very excited.

And for those of you that see my odd background, I am a passionate, just low-level student of Cosmology and the Quantum World, and I'm actually going to be taking some classes in that as well.

Not that I'll ever become an astrophysicist, but Neil deGrasse Tyson is my hero and my favorite person.

So all of that is to say thank you so much.

Thank you for the honor you gave me in confirming me.

And I know that the department's in good hands going forward.

So thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Director Hayes.

And it sounds like you have some fun plans for your time after retirement.

So good on you for switching things up and pursuing an interest and a passion.

Really fun.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you so much.

Just wanted to be the first one to say congratulations and happy Patty Hayes Day with the passage of this proclamation.

The mayor and city council are proclaiming Monday today, May 24th, 2021 to be Patty Hayes Day.

Happy Patty Hayes Day.

Thanks so much for all you do, Director Hayes.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.

Next up, we have a proclamation that I'm offering recognizing May 25th, 2021 to be education for all day.

See how we did that?

We made sure that we don't have a conflict between the two days.

I will present the proclamation and I'll open the floor for comments from council members.

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

So really pleased to have this opportunity to present the proclamation signed by council members and the mayor declaring May 25th to be education for all day in Seattle and present that proclamation to Jean Bowes, president and CEO of the Northwest Center.

This acknowledges the 50th anniversary of landmark legislation passed in Washington in 1971, House Bill 90, commonly referred to as the Education for All Act.

Education for All was the first law in the nation to grant kids with disabilities access to public education, and it directly inspired, which became the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, which Congress passed four years later.

I want to thank the Northwest Center for their work on this proclamation and their work every day to promote the independence of people with disabilities.

In particular, thanks to Mary Shealy and to Northwest Center founder Jean Taggart, one of the original authors of Education for All.

I understand Janet is unable to join us today, but I hope she's able to watch this presentation.

Are there any comments from council members on this proclamation.

Let's see.

Not seeing virtual or real raised hands.

Speak up if I'm wrong.

Okay.

No, you will.

All right.

If there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow Jean Bowes, president and CEO of the Northwest Center, to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Hearing no objection, the council rules are suspended.

Gene Bowes, welcome to the city council meeting.

You are recognized in order to provide remarks to the city council and the viewing public.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for the honor that you're bestowing upon Northwest Center and in particular our founding mothers.

For me, it's very humbling to be able to accept this on behalf of the organization.

Just by way of background briefly, the Northwest Center was started by four mothers in Seattle that were told their children didn't belong in school or church or the community.

and that they couldn't learn, and so they should be put in institutions.

And the work of those four founding mothers is what brought us today to this proclamation.

So those four founding mothers have profoundly impacted every zip code in the country, and we have that same aspiration today at Northwest Center.

For us, our North is the world where 100% of kids have equitable access to education, and where the employment rate for people with disabilities is the same as the employment rate for the general population.

Again, on behalf of the organization, it's an honor to receive the proclamation.

Thank you all for your support, and I look forward to see what the next 50 years will bring as we work to create the world we all deserve.

Thank you so much, Gene.

Really appreciate your being here with us today.

as in anticipation of the anniversary, wanna say happy for tomorrow, education for all day.

Okay, thank you so much.

And for anyone that wants more information, you can go to our website, it's northwestcenter.org backslash education for all.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks everyone.

Moving on.

On our agenda, the minutes of the City Council meeting of May 17th have been reviewed.

If there is no objection, the minutes will be signed.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are being signed.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes?

Moving on to the approval of the introduction and referral calendar, I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

Is there a second?

Okay, thank you.

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

Are there any comments?

I understand I need to suspend the council rules to allow council members to want to propose an amendment to the IRC.

If there are no objections, council rule three, A5 relating to circulation of a council bill for introduction by 5 p.m.

on the presiding business day will be suspended to allow consideration of the amendment to the proposed introduction and referral calendar.

I'm hearing no objection to the suspension of the rules, so council rule 3A5 is suspended.

Thank you, Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

I move to amend the introduction and referral calendar to add Council Bill 120-090 titled, quote, an ordinance relating to new residential rental tenancies, giving a tenant a right of first refusal of a new tenancy after the expiration of a tenancy for a specified time, requiring a landlord to have just cause for declining to give a tenant the right of first refusal, requiring notice in advance of asserting just cause, creating a private right of action for the tenant, providing a defense to eviction when a landlord fails to give a tenant a right of first refusal, allowing a tenant to rescind a termination agreement, and amending three sections of the Seattle Municipal Code, and referring it to the Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee.

I have some comments, but I will need a second first.

Do I hear a second?

Second.

Second.

Thank you.

As I mentioned in the city council briefing this morning, this bill is being jointly prime sponsored by my office and Council Member Morales' office as one unified bill.

And as council members know, over the past months, we have both proposed previous drafts of this legislation.

And as you all know, I have repeatedly requested in public meetings Councilmember Morales joined efforts with my office into one united bill and I'm pleased that Councilmember Morales has agreed to do so.

And so this draft of this unified legislation establishes a right of first refusal for renters to sign a new lease so that their landlords cannot kick them out for no reason.

60 to 90 days before the end of the lease, According to this law, a landlord would have to offer a new lease or present a just cause for refusing to do so.

And the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections is empowered to enforce that requirement.

The goal is for renters to resolve these issues and get a new lease far in advance of the end of their old lease.

If this bill is enforced well, tenants should never need to defend themselves in eviction court against an unjust end to their lease.

We hope to have this draft of the legislation introduced today so that it can be available for a vote at tomorrow's Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee meeting on the previously decided schedule.

The committee has been discussing this issue of ensuring full just-cost protections for Seattle's renters for its last three committee meetings since March.

And normally this would be presented as simply an amendment to the legislation already introduced.

However, this draft includes a title change, so it requires new legislation to be introduced, which is what we are proposing today.

I hope council members will support the inclusion of this bill onto the introduction and referral calendar today so that it is available for the committee to discuss tomorrow.

I also appreciate council member Lewis co-sponsoring this bill as he announced at the council briefing this morning.

Also, as I mentioned at briefing, I really appreciate the work of Roger Wynn and Clara Park from the City Attorney's Office, Arsha Venkatraman from City Council Central Staff, and Devin Silvernail and Ted Verdone from Council Member Morales' office and my office, respectively, for working on this legislation last week and through the weekend to make it available for introduction today.

And I, of course, invite Council Member Morales if she would like to add anything as joint prime sponsor of this bill along with my office.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction referral calendar to introduce council bill 120090. And by referring it to the sustainability and renters rights committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll for the adoption of the amendment?

Council president Pro Tem.

I'm sorry, I did see a hand.

Just wanted to flag it for you.

I know it's hard on these screens from council member Morales.

Council member Morales.

I'm sorry.

Thank you, Councilmember Mosqueda.

I'm sorry if your hand was up all that time.

That's okay.

I just wanted to make a couple remarks and appreciate it.

So I do want to thank colleagues for allowing us to amend the IRC and add this time sensitive legislation.

to the calendar.

As we've mentioned, Council Member Sawant and I have been working, had been working on competing legislation to solve this issue.

And this bill, I think, really combines the best of those efforts while also heeding the advice from law and from SDCI.

This will provide a right of first refusal for tenants to sign a new lease or a new month-to-month contract, and also provides a tenant that a tenant can voluntarily leave.

but may not be involuntarily removed unless a just cause exists.

So I do again want to thank Council Member Sawant for your joint sponsorship and Council Member Lewis for sponsoring this morning at briefing.

And just want to say thank you again to everyone who's worked on helping us pull this together, particularly ASHA and central staff, staff members in my office and Council Member Salwan's office, and of course to the community who has been organizing to make sure that we are pushing this legislation forward.

And lastly, I do want to thank colleagues again for allowing us to move this forward.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

I do just want to briefly mention that I support, in this case, the procedural approach of adding it on and suspending the rules given, as the comments of the sponsor, Council Member Salon earlier, I just want to similarly echo that this legislation is very in keeping with the debate and discussion that we have had in the renters rights committee.

So I do think that this is a suitable procedural move to sub this in as a substitute bill to just deal with the reality that when a title change is included, it does need to be a new proposal.

Just in case there's folks out there worried that maybe like we're moving too fast or this is being introduced without much discussion.

I don't have any opposition to the quick turnaround of introducing today and putting it in committee.

I just wanted to vouch for that process as I think being in accordance with the discussion and the

Pro Tem Herbold, just a point of clarification or question.

Is this going to the committee tomorrow afternoon?

That's for a chair.

Yes.

Yes.

OK.

Sorry, I couldn't find my unmute button.

OK, thank you.

We'll see it at committee tomorrow afternoon then.

OK, thank you.

OK, any other?

comments or questions before we move to amend the IRC to move this bill forward, as Council Member Lewis said, sort of subbing out the bill that has been in discussion because of a title change and queuing it up for discussion in committee.

Council Member Peterson, I think you're, are you, did you have another question?

Nope, excellent.

Fantastic.

All right.

Well, with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amended introduction referral calendar?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries.

introduction and referral calendar is adopted as amended.

I move to adopt the agenda.

Is there a second?

Oh, wait, I think I need to, do I need to move the introduction and referral calendar as amended?

Yes, Chair Pro Tem Herbold.

We should take a vote on the amendment itself, and then we'll take a vote on the IRC as amended.

Right.

We just took a vote on the amendment.

So now, will the clerk please call the roll on the amended introduction and referral calendar?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

Moving on to the approval of the agenda.

I move to adopt the agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the agenda.

Are there any comments?

Seeing no comments, I have one.

I move to amend the agenda by moving agenda item number 13, council bill 12-0078, entitled an ordinance related to emergency communications, amending ordinance 12-62-37, which adopted the 2021 budget, modifying a proviso and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts to move it up from agenda item 13 to be listed after agenda item three, council bill 120065. Can I second?

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the agenda to move council bill 120078 for consideration directly after agenda item three.

Are there any comments on the amendment to the agenda?

All right, seeing no comments or questions on the amendment to the agenda, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amendment?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries.

The amended agenda is adopted and Council Bill 12-0078 will be considered after agenda item three, Council Bill 12-0065.

Are there any additional comments on the amended agenda?

Seeing no additional comments on the amended agenda, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amended agenda?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Yes.

Peterson.

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the agenda is amended as adopted.

Colleagues, next we will open the remote public comment period.

And the remote public comment period, I just want to say for those listening in and folks who are planning to speak, it's intended for items on the council agenda, introduction and referral calendar and on the council's work program.

I have noted from the public comment signup sheet that there are many people who are signed up to speak on items that are neither on the council's agenda not on the introduction and referral calendar, and not on the council's work program.

People are signing up to speak about an issue that was resolved in council briefings meeting this morning, and that relates to council members signing a letter sponsored by council member Sawant.

The signatures have already been collected.

And so I ask your cooperation as we move forward into public comment.

Perhaps some of you would like to reserve public comment for other people who might be speaking specifically to the City Council agenda, introduction and referral calendar, and the Council's work program.

with an understanding that if you're asking for council members to sign onto the letter, that action has already been taken by council members, some number of council members who are with us today.

That said, I am going to not disallow anybody from speaking on any topic.

despite the fact that our rules very clearly say that we ask that you cooperate and speak only on items on the agenda, the introduction referral calendar and the council's work program.

So in order to allow as many speakers to speak as possible, I will amend the agenda to allow an additional 10 minutes of public comment for a total of 30 minutes of public comment.

I thank everyone for their ongoing patience and cooperation as we continue to operate this remote public comment system.

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

However, as a reminder, the council deserves the right to end or eliminate 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.

I will moderate the public comment period in the following manner.

The public comment period for this meeting is 30 minutes instead of 20 minutes, which is our normally noticed time for public comment, and each speaker will be given one minute to speak.

Speakers are called upon in the order in which they are registered to provide public comment on the council's website, and each speaker must call in from the phone number used for this registration and using the meeting phone number, ID, and passcode that was emailed to them upon confirmation.

This is different than the general meeting listen line in call-in information.

Again, I will call on each speaker by name and in order, which they registered on the council's website.

If you've not yet registered, but would like to, you can sign up before the end of public comment by going to the council's website.

Once I call a speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone and an automatic prompt of you have been unmuted will be the speaker's cue that it 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 that you are addressing.

As a reminder, public comment, again, should relate to an item on today's agenda or on the introduction referral calendar or on the council's work program.

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

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

Speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time.

The speaker's microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Once you've completed your public comment, we ask that you please disconnect from the line.

If you plan to continue following this meeting, please do so via the Seattle channel or the listening options listed on the agenda.

With that, the public comment period is now open, and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

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

Council President Pro Tem Herbold, if I might just clarify, I mean, to my knowledge, the council rules do not say anything about things, about actions that the council has already taken.

I think in my view, the public has the right to comment on that.

And also in this case, as we know in briefing, only three council members, including me, signed onto the letter.

So I think the members of the public have every right to speak in public comment, still urging council members who did not sign on to sign on.

So in that sense, I don't want members of the public to feel like they are relying on some special beneficence from the council to be able to speak, that it is actually a matter of course for them to be able to speak on this issue.

I appreciate that, Council Member Sawant.

I did refer to the council rules as written, as drafted, and as I understand them.

But again, I think that's a conversation that we could have at a later date, because as I mentioned, I am not limiting speakers from call from from testifying based on their the content of the topic of their testimony.

So with that, we'll start with Brian Gale, followed by Brian Evans.

Right, Howard.

howard gail commenting on the israel palestine letter and jewish with family and friends in israel i care very deeply about their safety and i do that everyone safety and dignity in that region israel has dropped tens of thousands of pounds of u.s. made or paid for munitions on one of the most densely populated regions on earth the same area of seattle with three times the number of people how can one justify the dropping of a two thousand pound bomb on the home of a hamas leader that also kills an entire family in gaza rockets and blockades are both crimes and both must and but you cannot and two crimes by committing a far more terrible third crime when the great rabbi hello was asked to sum up jewish law he said what is hateful to the do not do until i fell on them this is the whole of the law the rest of your commentary only a tribalism that hardens one's heart and blinds one to reality can reconcile judeans from sacred teachings with the death israel has dispensed in gaza every bomb drop falls on all of us.

They ravage the flesh and psyche of those who receive them, and they ravage the morality and innocence of those who drop or those who pay for them.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Brian Evans, followed by Edward Mass.

Brian?

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Brian Evans, and I'm a PDO in the city of Seattle.

I'm calling to support moving the parking enforcement unit to the Community Safety and Communications Center.

Transferring PEOs to the CSCC moves a trained, experienced team of civilian officers to help set the foundation of the new department that is focused on community safety.

The city can use this workforce driven championed by unanimous vote of city council in November of 2020 to continue to answer the communities asking for change.

This is a pragmatic step forward on the road to reimagine policing.

A unique opportunity that I hope the full council still recognizes.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Edward Mass followed by Shamir Tana.

Edward.

edmask uh...

do on this territory now called wallingford calling in to speak again to encourage council members to sign council members so wants a letter on palestine the ceasefire has not stopped ethnic cleansing and state-sponsored racism in israel in the air the areas israel controls israel was founded as a racist state on the explicit principle that one ethnic religious group should dominate all others they've recently doubled down on this and passed legislation to say that only members of that ethnic religious group can ever be considered full citizens of the state of israel that ethnic supremacy leads to ethnic cleansing we have a bad history of ethnic cleansing in this country doubly outrageous that we are enabling and funding ethnic cleansing of palestinians please take this opportunity other council members hotel at all government to defund it israel

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shamir Tana, followed by Logan Swan.

Shamir?

Shamir, if you're still on mute, hit star six, please.

Shamir's not present.

Thank you.

Moving on to Logan Swan.

And then after Logan, we'll have Blythe Serrano.

My name is Logan Swan.

I'm a rank and file union iron worker here in Seattle.

I support Council Member Shama Swan's statement calling for an end to the Biden administration's military aid to the Israeli government.

I want to thank the one Socialist Council Office for her leadership and principled stand for justice internationally.

And I'm glad to hear that Council Members Herbold and Mosqueda have signed on.

But that begs the question regarding our missing in action council members Morales, Lewis and Strauss.

Where are these progressive Democrats while their political party is again complicit in war crimes?

Are you at all critical of a status quo that always has billions on hand for military weapons, but apparently never the money to provide us with affordable housing and health care?

This political cowardice on the part of even the progressive side of the democratic political establishment just underscores what millions are realizing, that if we're ever going to see justice, we're going to have to fight for it, like we did to tax big business for affordable housing last year, and like we'll have to do at the council meeting this time tomorrow for rent control and to stop the evictions of children and teachers during a pandemic.

And to finish, I don't appreciate her bold scolding of regular people taking time out of their day to state our concerns to the council.

The atrocities being committed by the ruling class of Israel are far from resolved, as state forces are, as we speak, arresting hundreds of protesters and participants in the general strike that...

Thank you, Logan.

Our next speaker is Blythe Serrano, followed by Daniel Kavanaugh.

Blythe?

Hi, my name is Blythe.

I'm a renter in the Central District, and I'm calling in to thank Council Members Herbold and Mosqueda for signing on to Council Member Samant's letter, and to urge the rest of the Council to join them in taking a stand against the United States' role in the Israeli state's brutal, racist repression of the Palestinian people.

The ceasefire, which went into effect this past Friday, was won as a result of mass pressure from working people and youth in the region and internationally, and should be celebrated as a victory.

However, we must recognize that it has not put an end to violence against Palestinians.

On Friday, Israeli security forces used stun grenades and rubber bullets against Palestinians outside the Alaskan mosque in Jerusalem.

This bears a striking parallel to SPD's brutality during peaceful BLM protests last summer, which should come as no surprise as US police departments, including SPD, have longstanding relationships with the IDF through what is known as the deadly exchange.

When racist state violence crosses borders, solidarity must too.

And it is really disappointing to see so many self-proclaimed progressive council members refusing to take a stand on this issue.

So again, I urge everyone who has not signed on to the letter yet to please do so.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Daniel Cavanaugh.

Daniel will be followed by Jessica Scalzo.

Daniel?

Hey, my name is Dan.

Uh, I'm a member of socialist alternative and a renter in the CD.

And I want to thank council members who wants office for leading the way on the letter demanding the Biden administration in the military aid and support for the Israeli state atrocities.

Thank you to Muscata for signing on and thank you to Herbold for signing on.

Although I don't appreciate herbal disrespectful finger wagging at community members speaking on this important issue, but to council members, Morales Strauss Lewis, Why have you not signed on to this letter?

This is not an issue where both sides are at fault.

The Israeli state using its incredibly well-funded military to kill, maim, and brutalize the Palestinian people with the help of the U.S. government and Biden administration is not an issue of both sides any more than it is both sides when American cops kill black community members with impunity.

So really unfortunate absence of leadership from Morales, Strauss, and Lewis.

But it really goes to show how unique Council Member Sawant's office is having forced the political establishment to act on so many important issues when they otherwise wouldn't.

And people should also join us tomorrow for the renter's rights committee to fight for rent control, fight to stop.

Your next speaker is Jessica Scalzo followed by Matthew Wilder, Jessica.

Hi, my name is Jessica and I am a community member and renter in district three.

i'm currently i'm volunteering with the top of the solidarity campaign i talked to hundreds of voters uh...

and i attended the vigil on tuesday night in solidarity with the general strike called by the courageous people of palestine um...

power to the people here because without the collective solidarity of people across the world there would be no ceasefire and uh...

that did you think people understand that this is not enough I cannot in good conscience know that my tax dollars are supporting apartheid government and the colonization of Palestine and its people.

I still urge the rest of the council to sign on to this letter because it gives Seattle a voice in a worldwide discussion, and it demands that the Biden administration stop funding arms sales to Israeli apartheid government.

This is really important because we may seem so far away from the issue, but this is a way for us to speak out and be heard and make a difference.

Thank you for the time.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Matthew Wilder, followed by Jake Sisley.

Matthew.

Hi, my name is Matt.

I'm a renter in District 3. I want to thank Council Member Sawant for bringing forward the letter calling on the Biden administration to end military support for Israel during the attacks that are taking place there.

And I also want to thank Council Members Herbold and Mosqueda for signing on.

But at the same time, I think that the movement reserves the right to continue to speak on this, especially when only three other council members have the courage to sign on to this letter.

I think this is an application of leadership from Morales, Lewis, and Strauss.

They need to sign on to this in solidarity with the Palestinian people and put pressure on the establishment to end military support.

International solidarity for this movement is important.

the strike momentum of Palestinian workers forced to cease fire from the Netanyahu government.

But on our end, we need to our movement needs to continue to put pressure on the U.S. government to end military support from our end and fight back and end this occupation.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jake Sisley, followed by Walker Thomas.

Good afternoon.

My name is Jake Sisley and I am a parking enforcement officer with the city.

And I wanted to express my continued support for the council's previous unanimous decision to move the parking enforcement unit to the new community safety and communication center.

In my past career as an EMT, I learned that planning and preparing today contributes to the successes of tomorrow.

By completing the move, the city will have the resources in place that it needs to continue its mission, provide new public services to the residents of the city.

I yield the rest of my time.

Thank you, Jake.

Next speaker is Walker Thomas, followed by Sam Crystal.

Crystal.

Oh, it looks like Walker Thomas is no longer with us.

So next we have Sam Crystal, followed by Ingrid Campos.

Sam Crystal are you with us.

It's like you're.

Hi can you hear me.

Yes.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Hi.

Good afternoon council members.

My name is Sam Crystal.

I'm a resident of District 1 and I'm also a teacher in Seattle Public Schools.

I'm also calling in today as a Jewish-American and I'd like to urge the remaining council members to sign on to Council Member Sawant's letter to President Biden to stop U.S. military aid to Israel.

We know this ceasefire may cause a temporary lull in the bombings, but it will not end the plight of the Palestinian people, who are subjugated as second-class citizens in their homeland, many of them cut off from resources and subject to daily harassment and humiliation.

Please sign on to this letter to send the message that here in Seattle, we stand up against oppression, we believe every person deserves human rights, and we value brown lives.

Please, we need to stop bankrolling these atrocities.

Many other Jews in our community agree that our ancestors did not survive genocide, just so another genocide could be committed in our names.

It is not anti-Semitic to rebuke the Israeli government.

You have the support of many in the Jewish community.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Ingrid Campos and Ben Ryan are listed as not present, so we'll move down to Kirsten Wagner, followed by Nanette Toyoshima.

First, Kirsten.

Kirsten, sorry.

Hello, I think you can hear me.

My name is Kirsten Wagner and I live in District 6. I'm calling in today to urge city council members who have not yet to sign Council Member Sawant's letter calling on President Biden to condemn the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere and to stop sending military aid and weapons to Israel.

I am heartbroken at the decades and decades of suffering of Palestinian people living under brutal occupation by Israel.

I am heartbroken that as a US citizen, my tax dollars go to military aid to Israel to rain down bombs upon families and children.

Palestinians are struggling for their survival against violence, settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.

As U.S. citizens, we are complicit in this atrocity.

We need to end our silence and stop the $3.8 billion annually in military aid that allows Israel to continue with their campaign of ethnic cleansing and brutality.

We need to stand on the right side of history.

I urge you to sign Council Member Sawant's letter and to stand in solidarity with Palestinians.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next speaker is Nanette Toyoshima, followed by Ryder Hoffman.

Nanette?

My name is Nanette Toyoshima, and I am the president of the Seattle Park Enforcement Officers Guild.

Our guild represents 88% of the full-time employees who will be divested from SPD.

We support moving parking enforcement to the Community Safety and Communication Center and expanding our duties.

Allowing PEOs to handle nonviolent calls will free up police officers to answer priority 911 calls and focus on preventing crime.

This is a workforce driven solution to enhance and improve public safety.

In a recent interview with public college, chief said he supported shifting substantial portions of police officers workloads to new community led programs or civilian departments.

I respectfully ask council to move parking enforcement to the CSCC.

I want to thank the people in the community organizations that support us and our vision of reimagined policing.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Nanette.

Our next speaker is Ryder Hoffman, followed by Kevin Bitswong.

Ryder?

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Ryder Hoffman.

I was a parking enforcement officer for about 15 years before taking another position with the city of Seattle.

I had the pleasure of working alongside a capable and diverse workforce.

Throughout my years at Park and Enforcement, we constantly added new technologies, additional duties, responsibilities in the areas of special enforcement.

I feel that Park and Enforcement moving to a CSCC role is a worker-driven, ready-made solution that realizes the city's commitment to race and social justice and to what the community needs.

PEOs taking on additional roles would help to restore trust from the community and free sworn officers to focus on important work that they do to keep the city safe.

I support moving PEOs to the CSTC.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Ryder.

Our next speaker is Kevin Vitswong followed by Nicholas Torres.

Kevin, are you there with us?

And if you are and you haven't hit star six, please do so.

I'm hearing a click, but I'm not That was it.

I had to unmute.

I'm sorry about that.

Hi, my name is Kevin.

I'm a Ragonfile member of the Seattle Education Association.

I'm calling to thank Council Members Herbold and Mosqueda for signing Council Member Sawant's letter and urging Morales, Straus, and Lewis to take a stance and sign on to the letter.

We should want to send the strongest message from our city, which is itself built on stolen land.

While a ceasefire has been declared, there is no end in sight to the ethnic cleansing and oppression that Palestinians face daily from the apartheid violence maintained by the Israeli state.

Seattle's own disgraced police chief, Carmen Best, led two delegations of SPD officers to Israel to learn and share crowd control tactics.

Both SPD and the IDF's legacy of indiscriminate violence, surveillance, excessive force, and near total lack of accountability is maintained through the silence and leisurely pace chosen by Seattle's front leaders.

So Seattle's workers and unions stand in solidarity with Palestine.

Sending this letter with the full support of the council was the right thing to do last week, and it is still now.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nicholas Torres followed by Andrew Larson.

Nicholas?

Nicholas is present right now.

Nicholas is not present.

OK.

So moving down to Andrew Larson followed by Margo Stewart.

Andrew?

Yes, I'm Reverend Andrew Larson, ordained clergy with the Evangelical Covenant Church.

I currently serve as a peace activist focused on bridge building, but also the human rights advocate in Israel-Palestine.

I lived in this role in the city of Hebron in 2011, seeing firsthand what happens on the street between Israeli settlers and Palestinians and the role played by the Israeli military.

One of the more troubling events I experienced was being shot at by IDF soldiers with tear gas and rubber bullets during a peaceful protest.

I'm a bit of a paraphernalia geek, so I harvested several tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.

Sure enough, it said made in the USA.

We need to suspend supporting this insanity.

And I would urge council members to To sign the letter by Council Member Sawant, you must hold Israel, as well as the Hamas, accountable for violence against civilian populations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Margo Stewart, followed by Robert Strozier.

Margo?

Hi, my name is Margo.

I rent and work in the Central District, and I'm calling also to thank Council Member Sawant for putting forward the letter.

calling on the Biden administration to seize military aid to the Israeli state, as well as the hundreds of ordinary people here in Seattle who've stood with the movement to make this possible.

I'm glad council members Herbold and Mosqueda have signed on, but also deeply disappointed that Straus, Lewis, and Morales, all allegedly progressive council members, have declined to sign this letter.

This is not a resolved issue, and it's 100% a global issue and a Seattle issue, not just on the basis of the local Muslim and Jewish communities fighting in solidarity to end the violence instigated by the Israeli state, uh...

and supported by the by the administration but also because of the connections to the violent police repression we've seen locally at the black lives matter movement that others have alluded to and we know it's going to take international solidarity to fight racist police violence worldwide you know that he's fired with only one by working people standing up worldwide but immediately after it came into effect we thought another raid on the alexa ma we're seeing mass arrest carried out on the palestinian people workers and youth and of course there's no end to that

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Robert Strozier followed by Michael Blum.

Robert.

Good afternoon council members.

My name is Robert Strozier and I'm a PEO in the city of Seattle.

I'm calling to support moving the parking enforcement unit to the community safety and communication center.

I support the move to the CSCC because the city can serve its residents better.

Seattle can lead the nation with steps forward at the local level.

The city can engage civilian officers to support community safety by moving PEOs to the CSCC.

Seattle will continue to respond to the calls for change in the community and utilize the workforce of public servants ready to make a difference.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Robert.

Our next speaker is Michael Blum followed by Raghav Kashuk.

Michael.

Hello, my name's Michael Blum.

I live in the fifth district.

It's time to end the occupation.

The occupation of the West Bank has gone on for 54 years.

Enough is enough.

It's time for the United States to stop spending its money supporting the occupation.

Think about 54 years after World War II.

Japan and Germany were world powers again.

This is just too long.

It's time for it to end.

It's time for the Palestinians to have control of their own land and their own borders.

I'm a Jew.

I'm proud to be a Jew.

I have family in Israel who came there because they couldn't come here.

But enough is enough.

Thank you very much for all your work.

Bye bye.

Thank you, Michael.

Our next speaker is Raghav Kashyap followed by Josh Smith.

Hi, I'm here to speak about the Palestine letter.

While the ceasefire is welcome, we should note that none of the three conditions that led to the military assault have been addressed as part of the terms of the ceasefire.

There is no stop on the evictions in West Bank and East Jerusalem.

We are getting news of Jewish settlers entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, backed by the Israeli police.

And of course, the blockade of Gaza and the illegal occupation continue.

Let's also note that during the Israeli assault, the United States blocked a U.N.

ceasefire attempt four times and recently approved a $735 million arms sale to Israel.

Israel is the biggest recipient of military aid from the U.S.

All of this should provide the context for why this letter is urgent and crucial.

And I'm appalled that council members who said they had only minor reservations with it last week have not signed.

Shame on you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Josh Smith, followed by Sonia Poneth-Wash.

Hello, my name is Josh Smith, and I'm a software engineer in Seattle.

I'm speaking in support of Councilmember Sawant Flutter.

During the recent 11 days of violence, Israel indiscriminately rained fire into one of the most populated areas in the world.

They brutally killed at least 248 people, including 66 children and wounded more than 1,900 others.

The U.S. state has actively supported this violence for years.

It sells billions of dollars of weapons to Israel, shares military technology, and funds them more than any other country.

You know what the people think.

You have received hundreds of letters, seen the turnouts at the protests in the vigil, and read statements from community leaders.

If you want us to believe you when you say that you're progressive, that you will show up for human rights, then you can't mysteriously disappear off the Zoom

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sonia Ponath, followed by Nihal Fain.

Sonia?

Hi, this is Sonia Ponath.

I'm a working mom in District 3, and I really appreciate that Council Members Herbold and Mosqueda have signed on to this letter already.

But I do think that Seattle's working people have the right to speak on this in an important manner, because it's our tax money that is used for this killing and oppression.

I especially do want to thank council members who want socialist council office for the leadership and courage of standing always with the oppressed.

And I really appreciate the uniqueness of her office that it makes the political establishment take a stand on issues.

They normally wouldn't.

And people are craving that.

It's something that ordinary people everywhere should demand of their leaders.

So I don't understand why council members Morales, Lewis and Strauss haven't signed on.

The local community quite vocally demanded that their reps take a stand and declare that you're against the oppression of Palestinians, against anti-Semitism and racism in all its forms.

International solidarity is the only way forward to end exploitation and oppression.

Please keep helping us by fighting back against oppression and join us tomorrow to fight for renters' rights here in Seattle.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nihal Fahim.

followed by Barghouti.

Thank you.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

I'm actually, I have to say I'm very disappointed to the fact that some of the council members did not sign on to the statement of council member.

So one, I appreciate those who signed and I'm very grateful for them.

I would like to ask all council members to please endorse the rest of the council members to please endorse members of one statement to urge President Biden and the U.S.

Congress to stop the military aid for the Israeli regime and to condemn the brutal bombing of the city of Gaza, known as the biggest open-air prison, and to urge them to allow the aid relief for the reconstruction of Gaza without any conditions.

Today, Secretary Lincoln mentioned that the situation in Gaza needs immediate attention, which proves how much damage and mortality the bombings of Gaza did.

The bombings left over 60 children dead, several hospitals and schools destroyed.

We need to put pressure on Israel to end the apartheid, stop the ethnic cleansing.

MODERATOR Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bisan Barghouti, followed by Madeleine Olson.

Bisan?

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

Hi, council members.

I'm here to urge you to sign on to Council Member Kshama Sawant's letter.

I am a resident of Seattle and I am a Palestinian.

My grandfather was born in the now occupied city of Jaffa, where him and his sister had to pick up pieces of their father's scattered body parts after his place of work was bombed by Israeli military forces.

As we speak, Israel is now undergoing Operation Law and Order, in which they are randomly targeting and arresting 500 Palestinian men in order to settle the score.

Last summer, we saw, unable to look away for nine minutes and 29 seconds, as Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck.

When activists took to the streets, we took cues and shared information with protesters in Palestine and beyond.

Racial justice movements often center the importance of recognizing mutual systems of structural violence and white supremacy.

The Israeli occupation is no exception.

Knowledge-sharing and power-building between Palestinian solidarity and BLM movement has existed for as long as BLM has been an organization.

I urge you to sign on to Solange's letter and send a message you refuse.

Thank you so much.

The next speaker we have signed up is Madeline Olson, followed by Haley Evans.

Madeline?

Hi there.

My name is Madeline.

I'm a renter in Green Lake.

I'm just calling in to urge city council to sign off on I want to thank the council members that have already signed on in support, and to those who haven't, if you truly have solidarity with the Palestinian people, you will sign on to this today.

I also just want to say I'm really stunned by the scolding of people taking time out of their day to have their voices be heard, which is evident by several council members not signing off on the letter, despite all the support that we're hearing in this room.

We need solidarity with both the Palestinian and Israeli working class who both suffer from violence driven by the Israeli ruling class and military.

I want to thank Council Member Sawant for having the clarity to point out that we need the Biden administration to not only condemn the attacks, but also stop providing military funds and weapons to the oppressive regime.

These actions only lead to more deaths of innocent people.

It's critical that we take a stand here and now, as many have said.

The current ceasefire is fragile at best.

We cannot stand idly while innocents are killed for simply existing.

And you on the council have the opportunity to do that and do the right thing by improving the fire.

Thanks.

Our next speaker is Haley Evans.

Haley?

Hello, my name is Haley Evans, and I'm a resident of Seattle, a student, a worker, and a member of Seattle University Students for Justice and Palestine organization.

I'm calling in to urge the Seattle City Council to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and call on President Biden to end all military aid to Israel and pass H.R.

25 and 20 — 25 and 90. Recently a huge wave of Seattleites came out to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of B'Nakba, an event in which over 750,000 Palestinians were forcefully expelled from their homes.

Days later hundreds congregated to mourn the countless lives lost to Israeli state's violence — violent settler colonialist campaign.

These local mobilizations in part respond to the recent wave of bombings in Gaza, mass evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and violent attacks in the Alaskan mosque.

As a Muslim, this is an especially disturbing and disgraceful attack.

As city council members who are beholden to the demands of their constituents, it is your political responsibility to meaningfully consider both technical tiers of organizing by local organizations, fighting for Palestinian liberation in the recent mass mobilizations, and pursue justice for the Palestinian people.

Thank you so much.

is now 307 p.m.

and we have heard from public commenters up to the 30 minutes of time allocated on the agenda an additional 10 minutes beyond what was scheduled for the agenda.

And so moving on closing public comment now and moving on to the next item on the agenda We have the payment of bills.

Payment of bills, please read the title.

Payment of bills, Council Bill 12-0082, an ordinance appropriating money to pay certain audited claims for the week of May 10th through May 14th, 2021, and ordering the payment thereof.

Thank you so much.

I move to pass Council Bill 12-0082.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you so much.

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

Are there comments?

Hearing and seeing no comments, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem, Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving into the body of the agenda.

First, we have the community and economic development committee report and item one on the agenda.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

The report of the community and economic development committee agenda item one, council bill 12000, an ordinance relating to the organization of the office for civil rights amending section 3.14.910 of the Seattle Municipal Code to change the end of the director's term and remove an outdated subsection requiring a racial equity toolkit.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Morales, as chair of the committee, you are recognized in order to provide the committee report.

Thank you, colleagues.

So this is a bill that would, as the clerk mentioned, extend the term of the Office of Civil Rights Director from December 2021 to December 2022. And just by way of a little bit of background to try to give you some context here, in 2017, council members heard a variety of concerns from stakeholders that the Office of Civil Rights structure and authority within the executive branch could possibly limit its ability for the department to fulfill its mission.

And so the council at that time asked an ordinance that provided that the next Office of Civil Rights director would be confirmed by council with just cause removal protections and a limited term that would end in 2021. So the reason for this extension is kind of twofold.

First, some of that work is still continuing, and so there is an interest in that transition that would be implemented by that legislation, having a consistent director, stable director, leadership position for the next year until that work is complete.

And the second reason is that extending the term is one of the measures that could provide greater independence, and by which I mean it would allow for the directorship to have staggered terms with the appointing authority.

So that's two of the reasons why this extension for one year is being requested.

The intent here is not to continue to extend the directorship, but to just extend for this one year.

I also want to take a minute just to express my strong support for the implementation of racial equity toolkit recommendations that came out of this work.

As a former human rights commissioner, I participated in extensive process that culminated in that report.

And it did include input from community members, from workers, from other human rights commissioners at the time.

So I'm eager for that work to be completed.

And I do wanna thank Council Member Herbold for bringing forth the original slide in 2017 to examine how we can strengthen Office of Civil Rights.

And as the clerk mentioned, this was passed out of committee with a recommendation that it do pass.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Are there any comments?

from council members on this bill.

Council Member Swatt, I see your hand up.

Oh, that might be a holdover.

It looks like it was a holdover.

So yes, Council Member Morales, thank you for recognizing myself as the author of the slide that led to the work of recommendations from, led by SOCR and delivered to the council, I think, in late 2019. I was also the sponsor of the legislation that we are amending today.

And just mentioning that just to let my colleagues know that as the sponsor of that legislation that created a term and created a requirement for a just cause reason for termination that I do, in fact, support this legislation.

That, if there are no further comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Item number two, will the clerk please read item number two into the record?

Agenda item two, council bill 120071, an ordinance relating to commercial tenancies, amending ordinance 126066. The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Morales, as the committee chair, I hand it over to you to introduce the item.

Thank you.

Well, first I want to begin by thanking you, Councilmember Herbold, for continuing this work and allowing me to co-sponsor the legislation.

Prior to the pandemic, commercial tenants had nearly no protections in the city.

They don't have a just cause eviction ordinance and have been left mostly to fend for themselves while these disputes arise.

Simultaneously, small business tenants have provided a lot to our communities as we are dealing with this pandemic, especially in spaces for conversation, classes, for cultural exchange, and even provide some public safety just through the simple fact of business owners and staff being aware of what's happening and being frankly, just being from our neighborhoods.

And they understand the neighborhood and keep an eye on it.

They're also integral to our communities.

And the pandemic has taken a toll on them, as we all know.

So this legislation is necessary because while some landlords are operating in good faith and collaborating with their tenants, as we heard about Joe Fuggera this morning, others are using the small loophole to push people out.

And while this is a technical amendment, it serves as a reminder that these emergency protections are non-negotiable and that commercial tenants will need these protections well beyond the end of the pandemic.

Our city's already experiencing disaster gentrification.

Every week I hear in my district about another business or nonprofit, you know, storefront space that is having to shut down because they cannot afford to pay the rent anymore and they're being pushed out.

We're losing long time small businesses and these are our neighborhood anchors.

So we don't want to have to worry about national chains moving in and replacing these, you know, real community based entities.

So we have to do everything we can to save them now.

And this legislation keeps businesses in place and continues to lay the groundwork for what I hope can be a suite of permanent commercial tenant protections in the near future.

I'll hand it back to you interim, no interim chair, Council Member Herbold.

That works, thank you so much Council Member Morales.

Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

I'm really proud to follow the leadership of yourself and Council Member Morales and co-sponsoring this really important piece of legislation.

You know, our small business districts have really been through a storm throughout this pandemic and really unprecedented pressures that none of them knew when they signed their leases that they were going to experience and that they knew they were going to have to be prepared for.

And that's why last year, working with a previous member of my staff, Catherine Sims, put together legislation on personal guarantee leases and their suspension during this time period.

I think this policy around commercial tenancies is also really critical and important.

Anything that we can do from a regulatory standpoint to stem the bleeding that our small business districts are facing right now and into the future is time well spent.

This is the lifeblood of our economy and our community, and it's just been really sad to see that despite our efforts, a lot of our neighbors and a lot of our neighborhood small businesses are not coming back at the end of this.

So anything we can do to make sure that more folks get to the end, that we can still go to our favorite neighborhood restaurant that we can still patronize our favorite neighborhood bookstore.

This is a measure that gets us closer to that and coming out of this on the other side so we can rebuild together and make sure that these businesses that are really cultural institutions in some cases in our neighborhoods.

are still with us after we get through this public health crisis that has rocked so many small business owners.

So looking forward to voting on this today and really appreciate the leadership of yourself and Council Member Morales for bringing this forward.

Thank you.

Thank you so much Council Member Lewis.

Just a couple of quick words.

I did speak to this item at length in committee, I'm sorry, in briefings meeting this morning.

This strengthens our existing protections that the council passed for small businesses and non-profit tenants through the end of the declared civil emergency, protects against rent increases, and requires reasonable payment plans to address arrears.

With the possible end of the commercial moratorium looming June 30th, it could not be more important that Seattle's beloved and small business owners and essential nonprofits have every opportunity to come to the table with their landlords to address pandemic-related arrears.

Thanks again to Council Members Morales and Lewis.

Special thanks to Council Member Morales, who co-sponsored the original legislation that we're amending today, but thank you, both of you, for co-sponsoring this bill.

With that, just take another quick peek.

See if anybody's got a raised hand, seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

With that, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving to the Public Safety and Human Services Committee report.

Will the clerk please read item three into the record?

The report of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, agenda item three, council bill 120065, an ordinance relating to emergency communications, amending ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 budget, transferring positions from the Seattle Police Department to the Community Safety and Communication Center, and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts, the committee recommends the bill pass with a divided report with council members Herbold and Lewis in favor, Council Member Gonzalez opposed, and Council Members Morales and Sawant abstaining.

Thank you so much.

As chair of the committee, I will address this item.

This legislation itself moves both the PEOs and the 901 dispatch out of the police department and into the new community safety and communications center.

As mentioned this morning, I am bringing an amendment to this bill, which was posted with the agenda.

And so what I will do first is I will move to amend council bill, council bill, 12-0065 as presented on amendment one of the agenda.

And after I have a second, I will describe that amendment.

Thank you.

At this time, I'm calling for a second.

There's a second.

Thank you so much.

So the amendment itself alters the bill as introduced and as heard in committee.

Again, the bill as heard in committee moves both the PEOs and the 911 dispatch out of the Seattle Police Department and moves both into the new community safety and communication center.

This amendment will ensure that we are only moving the 911 dispatch out of the police department and into the Community Safety and Communication Center.

And we are maintaining the PEOs in SPD until a later date.

I believe we're looking at bringing this up again sometime before September.

And so with that, I will move Amendment 1. And if I could get a second to Amendment 1.

Second.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the bill as presented on Amendment 1. Are there any comments or questions about this action?

OK, Council Member Mosqueda.

Oh, thank you, Madam President.

Madam President Pro Tem, I appreciate you doing this and I just wanted to note the importance of you taking these steps today and look forward to the future conversations.

But I think that this is a smart move for now and I know there will be more conversations to have.

But I just wanted to thank you for the approach that you're taking with this topic in today's discussion and look forward to continuing to engage with you and various members of our city family and members of the public as well.

as we all remain committed to the goals that we talked about last year and those details, working out those details is really gonna matter in the next few months here.

So thanks for all of your work here and look forward to engaging in the next steps.

Thank you so much.

Any other comments on the amendment?

Council Member Morales, yes.

Yeah, thank you.

I do want to thank you as well for this approach.

I am hoping to have additional conversations with folks.

I think, you know, last week Council Member Lewis indicated some real discomfort with trying to walk a line between or really get between two different unions in the city and our, I think it's really important that we have a clear understanding from the different perspectives of our city employees, you know, why they think one is preferred over the other.

I have not been able to have those conversations yet.

And so I appreciate the opportunity to move forward with the 911 call response and to get my questions answered a little more time to get my questions answered about the parking enforcement side of this equation.

So thank you for pulling that piece out.

Absolutely.

Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

I made my comments this morning during briefing, but I think for the record, for the afternoon meeting, I should just briefly mention as well, similar to the sentiment Council Member Morales expressed, that I think it is always hard for us as a progressive pro-labor council.

when two members of our broader labor family have different views on a policy.

Although I would say a common interest, right?

I mean, there's unanimity that we want to move this work function out of SPD.

There's some dispute on exactly where we're going to send them.

And I do think that this would benefit from some additional time where we can use our relationships and our appreciation of service for both pro-tech and for the parking enforcement field to better understand a way to resolve this and equitably and in a way that doesn't divide the labor movement.

So I do appreciate this approach and I think that this time between now and the fall will be productive in resolving this in a good way.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

I wanna just take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts of PEOs to engage with this council, both back in September through November, and sort of the development of their worker-led mission for how they can play a role in reimagining public safety in the city, and as well, their continued engagement even today as we consider this legislation.

look forward to ongoing conversations moving forward to see if we can reach some agreement on these really important policy issues.

With that, not seeing any further questions, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment 1?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries.

The amendment is adopted and the amended bill is now before the council.

Are there any further questions or comments?

Council Member Swann.

Thank you, President Pro Tem Herbold.

I will be voting yes on this bill, but I just wanted to make some comments about just where I feel that things are.

This bill moves the positions from the Seattle Police Department's employment roles to the employment roles of the new Community Safety and Communication Center.

In the past, Seattle's political establishment have pretended that this is the demand of the Justice for George Floyd movement and conflated it with the real demand to defund the police.

In reality, This is overwhelmingly an accounting mechanism.

As I said, I support this, but I think we have to be accurate in characterizing what it is.

With parking enforcement, there is zero change in the function performed by the city staff who are engaged in it with the 911 call center.

Some community members hope that this is the first step to creating a community safety structure where police are not always dispatched when there's situations like mental health emergencies.

However, that continues to be an aspiration for the future and this bill that the council is voting on today only changes the accounting lines.

So as I said, I will continue to support this bill, but I do not agree with the attempts, ongoing attempts, to conflate it with defunding the police.

In fact, there's a danger, actually, when it is described as something akin to the demands that the Black Lives Matter movement brought forward last year.

The right wing pretends that the police do not have the money to fight crime.

When in reality, these accounting changes alter nothing about the number of police officers in Seattle and the amount of policing in Seattle.

The only change is in the name of the department signing the paychecks for these sub-departments.

I'm concerned that the mayor may try to increase the police budget for 2022, claiming that she's only returning it to its normal level, when in reality that would be a massive expansion of the police budget because these accounting tricks have moved major expenses off, formally moved them off the SPD books.

I will vote yes on this legislation, but I urge Black Lives Matter activists to remain vigilant to stop the political establishment from misrepresenting what is done by these accounting transfers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Swant.

I'm not quite sure if Council Member Lewis, you have your hand up again.

Yes, Madam President Pro Tem, I did just want to come in and say while I appreciate Council Member Swann's characterization that this is going to change how these employees are paid, there are more significant structural changes that come with the the transfer that we're doing under this provision and in the nine one one dispatchers will now be under civilian command and control in a new department that has uh...

on an interim director uh...

in the new communications on civilian department uh...

i'd i do want to take advantage of this opportunity to maybe just foreshadow uh...

madam president pro tem the work that our offices have been doing in collaboration with providers, with the Defender Association, and with other jurisdictions and cities through the sprint team process that you discussed during your comments at council briefing this morning, that those conversations have new life breathed into them in terms of the realm of possibilities by this transfer of the dispatchers being under civilian command and control.

and no longer being under the control of a sworn police captain, which was the previous arrangement that we are ending with this vote today.

So I did just want to indicate that while it is the case that a lot of it is a technical and accounting and administrative change, there are some real considerable changes in terms of who the dispatch is accountable to and what the incentives of that bureaucracy are and what the policy remedies can be on the future of how we do dispatch by the change we are making today that does represent a very structural shift in our ability to recalibrate and re-hook up our dispatch apparatus to things that are not police response systems.

And we are taking that first step today and look forward to continuing that work over the course of this year.

Thank you so much, Council Member Lewis.

Any other comments on the bill before we request the calling of the roll.

I'm not seeing any requests for comment or questions.

So with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the amended bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

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

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

Thank you so much.

Item number 13, we've moved up from the amended agenda so that we can hear item number 13 directly following the related item that we just voted on, item number three.

Clerk, will you please read the item 13 into the record?

Agenda item 13, council bill 120078, an ordinance relating to emergency communications, amending ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 budget, modifying a proviso and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.

Thank you so much.

I move to pass council bill 120078. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill as sponsor of the item.

I will real quickly just explain what it is and open the floor in case there are additional comments.

As mentioned previously, part of the council's action during the fall budget deliberations were to include a proviso in the legislation that directed the executive to move 9-1-1 dispatch and the PEOs into the new community safety and communication center.

The proviso was a date by which we expected the move to occur, and the impact of not authorizing the move by that time was is that simply that the folks in those two units would not be paid.

Now, given that we don't have agreement around the moving of the PEOs from SPD to the Community Safety and Communications Center, by the deadline that we imposed for the executive, we now don't ourselves have an ability to move that forward just now without additional conversation.

It's really important that we extend the proviso until September in order for the PE unit to be paid.

With that, are there any additional comments or questions about this item?

I am not seeing any.

So with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Okay, thank you so much.

Moving on to the next committee report, Transportation and Utilities Committee.

Item number four, will the clerk please read item number four into the record.

The report of the Transportation and Utilities Committee, agenda item four, appointment 01914, the reappointment of Marilyn K. Furman as member of Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee for a term to March 31st, 2024. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Peterson, as chair of this committee, you are recognized in order to provide the committee report.

Thank you, President Pro Tem Herbold.

Colleagues, this item is a reappointment to our School Traffic Safety Committee.

I appreciate the appointee's willingness to continue to do this important work.

The appointment packet on the agenda shows that Marilyn is well qualified to continue her service, and I appreciate her willingness to continue this important work.

The committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you.

Thanks so much.

Let's see whether or not we have any comments or questions for Council Member Peterson.

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries, and the appointment is confirmed.

Item number five.

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

Agenda item five, Council Bill 120052, an ordinance relating to the City Light Department, authorizing the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of City Light to execute an interlocal agreement with Skagit County for the transfer of real property from Skagit County to the City of Seattle to execute conveyance documents and agreements deemed necessary for the transfer of the property on behalf of the City of Seattle, and to accept a quick claim deed from Skagit County for such property and placing the conveyed property under the jurisdiction of City Light as part of its Endangered Species Act land program.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Peterson, as chair of the committee, you are again recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you.

Colleagues, in 1999, Puget Sound Chinook salmon were listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

The same year, the city council directed Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to pursue acquisition of undeveloped land in the Skagit and Tolt watersheds to protect important habitat for the ESA-listed fish runs on those rivers.

Today's action, CB120052, authorizes Seattle City Light to take title to a half-acre lot near the Skagit River.

Our utility has reached agreement with the Skagit County Commission for title to transfer to City Light at no cost.

The lot is part of an old subdivision, and City Light has previously acquired most of the other lots in the subdivision to protect its important riparian habitat.

Last week, our Transportation Utilities Committee unanimously recommended we accept the deed of this property in the City Lights ESA Habitat Conservation Portfolio.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Looking to see if there are any comments from council members or questions for Council Member Peterson about this legislation.

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

Item number six, will the clerk please read item number six into the record?

Council Bill, agenda item six, Council Bill 120053, an ordinance relating to surveillance technology implementation, authorizing approval of uses and accepting the 2020 surveillance impact report and 2020 executive overview for the Seattle Police Department's use of forward-looking infrared real-time video.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Thank you, and before we get to that on Council Bill,

12-0052, I recognize that I did not mention that the bill passes, and the chair will sign it, and ask that the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

So as it relates to Council Bill 12-0053, Council Member Peterson is chair of the committee.

You are recognized to address the item.

Thank you, President Burton-Herbel.

Colleagues, the next three items on this afternoon's agenda are surveillance impact reports that our committee amended and approved unanimously.

This is pursuant to the very thorough underlying surveillance ordinance revised in 2018. That ordinance makes sure we review technologies that have the ability to surveil so that we protect civil liberties while enabling technology tools for more efficient government services.

Colleagues, as you may recall, we are working our way through several groups of surveillance impact reports as required by that surveillance ordinance.

And we recently amended and adopted the so-called Group 2 surveillance impact reports for some of the existing technologies already in use by Seattle City Light, the Fire Department, and the Police Department.

Today, we vote on the so-called Group 3 surveillance impact reports, which are three existing technologies from SPD.

Thank you, Councilmember Herbold, for your thorough amendments, which our committee approved unanimously last week.

So these three council bills are in good condition for our vote this afternoon.

I also want to thank the professionals at Seattle Information Technology Department, as well as our central staff analyst, Lisa Kay, my legislative aide, Cara Vallier, as well as the volunteers of the Surveillance Working Group for their many, many months of work on these reports.

Again, these are three technologies.

We're going to vote on them separately.

The first one, Council Bill 12053, covers what's called forward-looking infrared real-time video for King County Sheriff's helicopters.

And as with previous surveillance impact reports, the committee adopted my amendment on requiring a report on equity metrics for these technologies.

Council Member Herbold also had a number of amendments to further define policies and reporting from SPD and the use of these technologies.

The committee unanimously recommended approval of all the amendments and the three surveillance impact reports.

And the first vote today will be on Council Bill 12053. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any questions or comments around the passage of this bill related to the forward-looking infrared real-time video.

Not seeing any real raised hands or virtual raised hands, so we'll move on to the roll call.

Will the clerk please call?

I'm sorry, President Podem-Herbold, I raised my hand.

Sorry, I didn't see it there.

No, no problem at all.

Thank you.

Council Member Sawant, you have the floor.

Thank you.

I will be voting against approving this surveillance impact report authorizing the Seattle Police Department to continue to use forward-looking infrared real-time video.

This is an infrared video camera that that is mounted on an airplane or helicopter and it can zoom in to show details on the ground in terrifying detail.

It is technology that was developed by contractors beginning in the 1950s on behalf of the U.S. military.

The surveillance impact reports analyze the hypothetical ways that a technology could be used productively or could be used to infringe on civil liberties, and that hypothetical analysis is important.

But in this case, we have clear experience showing how this technology is actually used.

Defense Attorney Nassim Bouchet fought for and eventually received the public records that expose how the Washington State Patrol used this infrared video technology to continuously monitor and spy on the Black Lives Matter movement in Seattle last summer.

The Capitol Hill Seattle blog published video and images that Nassim unearthed in an April 6th article titled, quote, remember that expletive plane flying over Capitol Hill during last summer's protest?

Here's what it was up to, end quote.

And I really recommend that members of the public review this important piece of journalism.

The blog also showed the hours-long flight path of the plane, seemingly hundreds of circuits around and around those of us protesting below.

In the first days of the Justice for George Floyd protests last June, many of us in the streets or living on Capitol Hill remember that incessant sound of a plane overhead day after day, just a few hundred feet above us.

We now know that it was a Washington State Patrol plane taking pictures with its special high resolution thermal camera and coordinating with Seattle police on the ground to compress, sorry, repress the Black Lives Matter movement.

Compare that to what is written in this surveillance impact report.

Quote, SPD policy mitigates against the potential for inappropriate use.

SPD policy 6.060, collection of information for law enforcement purposes, defines the way information will be gathered and recorded in a manner that does not unreasonably infringe upon individual rights, liberties, and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the state of Washington, including freedom of speech, press, association and assembly, liberty of conscience, and the exercise of religion," end quote. The report further states that, quote, additionally, officers must take care when photographing demonstrations or other lawful political activities. If demonstrators are not acting unlawfully, Police cannot photograph them. Further, SPD policy 5.140 forbids bias-based policing and outlines processes for reporting and documenting any suspected bias-based behavior as well as accountability measures, end quote. These assertions in this report are unfortunately the exact opposite of what actually happens in reality. The irony would be funny if it were not so dangerous. I want to be clear that there are socially responsible users of forward-looking infrared real-time video. It is useful, for example, for tracking wildfires and for finding people lost in the wilderness. But in real life, that is not how the Seattle Police Department uses this technology. The SPD does not track forest fires or search wilderness areas for missing people. In real life, the Seattle Police use this technology to spy on, almost exclusively, peaceful protests, people exercising their First Amendment rights. It is also sometimes used to track fleeing suspects but it has a mass negative impact on progressive protests. So on balance, the effect is negative. The police filmed protesters marching in the streets, milling around, gathering, talking with one another, leaving the rally, things we do every day in exercising our free speech rights. Because of the higher resolution thermal imaging, the camera captures a lot of detail. In one video, which is linked on the Capitol Hill Seattle blog article, the plane's camera hones in on one group of onlookers who are observing the protest and the police reaction from on top of a building roof. The police were looking for someone who allegedly threw a rock. An officer in the plane says, quote, there's a group of six to eight people on that roof. We'll keep an eye on them, end quote. And even though he admits there were, quote, no objects seen at this point, end quote, he continues to train his recording camera on them. The plane camera indeed continues to spy on these peaceful onlookers. And a few seconds later, the plane camera operator says he thinks the rock thrower, quote, was that other person that was running on that building up there on that other side. That's what I think, end quote. Another officer corrects him, quote, oh, that's the rooftop of the Seattle PD, end quote. and around and around the airplane circle. This is exactly the type of indiscriminate surveillance of political protests that the Seattle Surveillance Ordinance claims to be addressing. If council members will not object to this surveillance, then what will they object to? Or do they see these votes as nothing more than a rubber stamp? It is shameful but not a surprise that the Seattle Police Department and other police agencies saw their role in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to be a militarized repression of the Black Lives Matter movement, including chemical weapons, flashbang grenades, and blast balls guided into peaceful protests by forward-looking infrared real-time video. It is outrageous that council members who spoke passionately about opposing that militarized police response are now considering giving permission to the SPD to continue using the data from this spy technology owned by the King County Sheriff's Office against ordinary people who are merely exercising their First Amendment rights. Finally, I want to quote from some of the public comment that is included as an appendix to the surveillance impact report. The question posed is, quote, what concerns, if any, do you have about the use of this technology, end quote. Here are some of the quotes. I mean, there are many quotes that I would invite council members to read, but here are just a few that my office picked from the public comment responses. that this will be used to target black people and protesters. It's expensive and that money is better used to feed house and cloth people in our city. This is a creepy tool to put in the hands of people who have already proven they can't be trusted with the tools they use. They shouldn't be a surveillance state. Our police should not be able to monitor us from the air with technology that can see us. I am concerned that this technology is or will be used against protesters exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and that will have a chilling effect on those rights and create safety issues for protesters. Thermal imaging will be abused to surveil, track, direct, and disrupt legal protest movements. This technology will not be used to keep anyone safe. Rather, it will be used to surveil members of the public, specifically protesters, in order to arrest, attack, and harm them. SPD has already used tools at their disposal to brutalize protesters. Why does the Seattle Police Department feel the need to use military surveillance equipment on its domestic population? And the last comment I'll read is, no matter what you say in response to public comment, we know you're just using this to help oppress citizens and protesters, come on. So in closing, I will vote no on this.

Thank you, Council Member Swant.

Any other comments?

from councilmembers on this item?

Councilmember Mosqueda, you're coming on camera because you have something to say?

Yeah, I do have a few questions.

I'm sorry to do that in full council.

I know President Pro Tem, that's not the desired place to do this, but obviously I'm concerned about the report that Council Member Sawant just referenced.

And I will also note that my team and I did ask central staff quite a few questions about this technology, because that is a concern of mine as well.

And I do remember some of the reports and incidents I know we don't typically have central staff on these calls, so for the sake of maybe the sponsor and council member who raised the questions, I'll just point out that when I asked about the detailed images that this device, I believe, which is currently used, will project, what I understood from the answers is that the way this camera works, those people don't show up.

It's actually just red blobs and there's no defining images.

So I'm really concerned about the state technology that was used.

I'm obviously in alignment with what the concerns were that were used from that state technology, especially as it relates to last year's surveillance of protesters and the consequences of that.

I want to continue to fight against that type of technology.

I do want to have a better understanding, though, about this specific technology and if it's slightly different, if it truly is just blobs versus defining or definitive images, because I would be very concerned and I continue to just sort of be skeptical about this technology in general, but obviously in opposition to anything that would be defining for the purposes of future arrest or targeting of folks.

I wanted to get that out there because I thought I had done some research on this and had heard that it was no defining images and simply read big blogs.

Council Member Peterson.

Council Member Mosqueda, you are correct.

Your research with central staff is sound and that is, you know, the reference to an airplane was not the same technology as the King County Sheriff's technology that we're voting on today.

It's a different technology where It's just thermal imaging where it doesn't show the details.

That's what we're voting on today.

So central staff gave you the correct information.

I'm sorry.

And for having not been in the benefit of the committee, may I ask a follow-up question?

Yes, absolutely.

Go ahead.

Is there any sort of sideboards that are or could be put on the use of the technology so that it's not used in situations like hovering over expressions of First Amendment rights.

I mean, I was understanding that this was more for a search function, and I'm not sure what the extent of that search function is, but that feels very different than a hovering over First Amendment right demonstration.

So is there any sort of sideboards that we have currently that we could point to how it can be used?

So that's one of the amendments that was passed in committee.

We recognize that, you know, one of the things that they're required to include in these policies is a definition of the purpose and use, including circumstances where officers may request assistance from the county for these policies.

forward-looking infrared real-time video content.

So one of the amendments that passed in committee was a recognition that that was something that was missing and that we need to receive is a definition of the purpose in use, even given that this is technology that is already being used, the committee thought it was really important to get those sideboards in.

Thank you very much for letting me use some time during full council to ask those questions.

I also understand Council Member Herbold, I believe, among Council Member Peterson, You offered a series of amendments to address a number of questions that I know I had, and I was told by central staff that some of those had been addressed.

But I really appreciate the reminder on where those can be used.

And I will continue to express concern about the state technology that was just referenced as well, and anything that would be honing in on anybody's ability to have identifying information.

And perhaps I'll do a follow-up with chair of public safety just to make sure that we're continuing to monitor to make sure that this isn't being used inappropriately.

Even though we've tried to put some sideboards on SPD before, we know that there's been some ignoring of those rules and want to make sure that that's not the case with this so that it truly remains non-identifiable and not used for First Amendment expression surveillance.

Thank you.

And I just want to also just very quickly want to highlight the additional amendments in case there are questions that council members might have.

Amendments included recognizing that we need to receive from SPD policies that specifically define the timeline for deletion of images to protect the privacy of individuals not connected to any investigation, policies that specifically describe how they are going to ensure that this technology is not used in a way to disproportionately surveil communities, And then lastly, an amendment that requires an annual report of the use of this technology and helicopter deployment.

These are all areas that have been flagged for the committee by the technology working group.

And council members, I want you to have your hand up.

Is that a holdover?

You want to speak again?

I would like to speak again just to respond.

You have the floor.

Thank you.

I think it is important for council members who are asking these questions to look at the video themselves and see how defining the images are.

There are blobs before you zoom in, but once you zoom in, it's stunning how much clarity there is.

And if council members maintain that this is different technology, as Council Member Peterson has said, then you should hold off on this bill and show the video to the council and the members of the public at a committee meeting that is announced well in advance so that members of the public can judge for themselves whether or not this is a violation of their rights.

And just to clarify, the amendment in committee, obviously I'm not a member of the committee, amendment that was mentioned from Councilor Herbold.

What it does is, I mean, essentially it says that approve this bill now and say that the problem that you know that there's really nothing essentially to protect civil liberties and that is a problem we have to We acknowledge that the problem exists, but it doesn't stop approval of the legislation.

I don't understand how we as a legislative body can do this if we know that there is a problem and we know how this technology can be used, because we have seen how it can be used.

We have seen the absolutely abysmal track record of a police department that, as I quoted in briefing just a week or two ago, that in a study of 500 different police departments comes very, very close to the end in terms of its accountability and racial bias and so on and so forth, how it is that council members can justify, you know, giving this police department this technology.

I mean, to be very accurate, to be very specific, the Seattle Police Department ranked 477th out of 500 police departments that were studied.

So it's not like it's some problems.

This department is very much the epitome of things not working well in a police department.

And so if council members are concerned about the potential violation of civil rights by the SPD, then you should vote no on this bill today and let the committee hold hearings on the forward-looking infrared real-time video technology so that we can have transparency and public accountability.

Thank you, Council Member Swant.

Any additional comments?

I am not seeing any.

So with that, will the clerk please call for the roll call on the passage of Council Bill 120053. Swant?

No.

Strauss?

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Six in favor, one opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Thank you.

Now, item seven.

Will the clerk please read item seven into the record?

Agenda item seven, council bill 120054, an ordinance relating to surveillance technology implementation, authorizing approval of uses and accepting the 2020 surveillance impact report and 2020 executive overview for the Seattle Police Department's use of situational awareness cameras without recording.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Thank you so much.

Again, Council Member Peterson is chair of the committee.

You are recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you.

Colleagues, this is Council 120054. It's a surveillance impact report covering an existing technology called situational cameras without recording.

They do not record.

These awareness cameras are used during crisis events, just hostage situation.

And after adopting the amendments, our committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any comments from Council Members on this item?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you.

Again, I feel like this is...

an area where I am relying on reports from the committee and also doing my research with central staff and stakeholders, really appreciate that there is a central staff memo that's been circulated on these items and would ask for that to potentially be recirculated to the full council, especially as it relates to concerns that are being raised around surveillance of First Amendment rights.

For example, in the previous bill, my understanding was that It was not a King County helicopter and the thermal images do not show that level of detail that was described.

I just want to make sure that I fully understand that I was reading that correctly and that the verbal report back along with the central staff memo is shared.

That would be very helpful.

On this, for having not been in committee, I would like to ask either the chair.

or the sponsor of the amendments.

If you might wanna just summarize a few of the amendments that you did incorporate as well to help put some sideboards on it for the benefit of full council, that would be really appreciated.

Absolutely, Council Member Mosqueda, Council Member Peterson, do you want to lead the way on your amendment or you feel free to describe mine too if you like?

Actually, my amendments were the ones already approved by the previous technologies, and it's just the equity metrics that are being used to report back to us on those.

But I think it's more important for me to mention, as part of this underlying surveillance ordinance, one of the requirements with all SPD technologies is that the Office of Inspector General continues to monitor and report on these for us.

So it's not done today.

It's something the OIG will continue to monitor for the council.

And regarding Council Member Herbold's amendments, which do put those sideboards on the technology, look to Council Member Herbold to describe those, which the committee unanimously approved.

Sure.

Thank you.

Again, this is an item that the technology workgroup identified as a priority gap.

in the legislation, and it doesn't – the bill as it was originally drafted did not specifically ensure that the purpose and use aligned with the limitations.

And so in this case, we wanted to make sure that there are policies that prohibit downloading or streaming images.

The policies, again, address retaining recorded images, but did not include the policies for retaining downloaded or streaming images.

So this amendment requests that SPD enhance those policies to make sure that those conditions are included.

Any other comments or questions here?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

DeWant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving on to item number eight on the agenda.

Will the clerk please read item eight into the record.

Agenda item eight, council bill 120055, an ordinance relating to surveillance technology implementation, authorizing approval of uses and accepting the 2020 Surveillance Impact Report and 2020 Executive Overview for the Seattle Police Department's use of video recording systems.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Peterson, as chair of the committee, you are recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you, colleagues.

This is the last of these.

Council Bill 120055 is your surveillance impact report covering an existing camera system used only at SPD facilities.

After adopting amendments, our committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any comments or questions from council members on the presentation and passage of this bill?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you so much.

I am, again, sorry to ask some questions that I'm sure you dealt with at committee, but Council Member Peterson, as chair of the committee, perhaps this is for you or the President Pro Tem as chair of Public Safety.

Did I understand correctly that this is an existing technology that we're now approving?

How come SPD had approval to use it prior to today's authorization?

That is the nature of the beast, Council Member Peterson.

Sure, the surveillance ordinance that was originally adopted in 2017 and then refined by Council President Gonzalez in 2018 and others.

This is the process where it first goes through the surveillance working group, the volunteer surveillance working group, the department puts together a report.

It's reviewed by information technology department.

just to scope out exactly what the technology does and what the concerns, whether it is surveillance, has surveillance capabilities, what the concerns might be, what the mitigants are to those concerns.

And it works its way through this process to get to us.

And then, like I said, the Office of Inspector General continues to monitor this going forward.

That is the case for all of the technology that all of the departments currently use at the time of the passage of the surveillance ordinance.

So that's when we talk about the retrospective technologies, we're talking about surveillance technologies that were purchased before the passage of the surveillance ordinance.

Our expectation is that, correct me if I'm wrong, Council Member Peterson, is that there are no future purchases of surveillance technology moving forward because we want to, the expectation is that we will pass these kinds of policies as a requirement to permit the purchase.

But we don't have that opportunity with things that were already purchased.

That's right.

And as a follow-up to that, maybe just a prompter to confirm my research as well, just because the department is using it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to authorize it.

You've gone through the rigorous process and committee of evaluating the various questions and making sure that it conforms or that you have added the appropriate sideboards to make it align with the council's priorities.

And thus, it's not not just a symptom of it being currently used and thus being authorized, but you have gone through this process with the robust input from the committee, whose name I'm forgetting right now, to make sure that those questions have been answered.

And then where there are additional sideboards, you've worked on amendments, and the council also has the option to not authorize if we so deemed necessary, correct?

Yeah, there were very thorough discussions at committee.

We had at least two committee meetings on this.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, for your questions.

Are there additional questions or comments on this item?

All right.

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, nine opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving on, will the clerk please read item nine into the record?

Agenda item nine, Council Bill 120061, an ordinance granting permission to Northwest Kidney Center to continue to operate and maintain a pedestrian tunnel under and across Broadway, north of Cherry Street, repealing section eight of ordinance 123367, and providing for acceptance of the permit and conditions.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council member Peterson is chair of the committee.

You are recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you, colleagues.

We have four items on our agenda today, which simply renew time-limited term permits that allow the continued use of a SkyBridge and three small tunnels.

Each renewal is for 15 years with the ability to renew for another 15. This Council Bill 120061 renews the permit for a pedestrian tunnel between Northwest Kidney Center and Swedish Hospital.

Our committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you so much.

Looking to see whether or not there are any council members with questions or comments on this item.

Seeing none, would the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Moving on, will the clerk please read item 10 into the record.

Jen, the item 10, council bill 120074, an ordinance granting Grange Insurance Association permission to continue maintaining and operating a pedestrian skybridge over and across the alley between second Avenue and third Avenue, north of Cedar street, repealing section eight of ordinance 1, 2, 3, 7, 2, 3, and providing for acceptance of the permit and conditions, the committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council member Peterson, as chair of the committee, you are again recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you, colleagues.

This second item is a renewal of the permit for an existing Skybridge, and it's described as described in the title of this council bill.

It's self-explanatory.

Our committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you so much.

Any questions or comments from council members on this item?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Item 11, will the clerk please read item 11 into the record?

Agenda item 11, council bill 120075, an ordinance granting BGO Plaza 600 permission to continue maintaining and operating a vehicular and pedestrian tunnel under the alley between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue, north of Stewart Street, repealing section seven of ordinance 119508 and providing for acceptance of the permit and conditions.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Peterson, as chair of the committee, you are again recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you.

This third item is renewal of the permit for a small existing vehicular and pedestrian tunnel downtown as described in the title of the council bill.

The committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you so much.

Are there any questions or comments on this item?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Salant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, item number 12. Will the clerk please read item 12 into the record?

Agenda item 12, council bill 120076, an ordinance granting IC slash RCDP Seattle Hotel LLC permission to continue maintaining and operating a pedestrian tunnel under and across Seneca Street between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue, repealing section eight of ordinance 123, 539 and providing for acceptance of the permit and conditions the committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council member Peterson is chair of the committee.

You are recognized to give the committee report.

Thank you colleagues.

This is the fourth and final item.

It's a renewal of permit for an existing pedestrian tunnel as described in the title of the council bill.

Our committee unanimously recommended approval.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any comments or questions on this item?

Not seeing any.

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

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold.

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

Moving forward to item 14 on the agenda.

Clerk, can you please read item 14 into the record?

Council President Pro Tem, did we get your signature on the last council bill?

You got me.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Thank you.

So yes, moving forward to item 14, please read item 14 into the record.

Agenda item 14, resolution 32006, a resolution requesting the Federal Aviation Authority to transfer excess property around the air route surveillance radar facility at Discovery Park to the City of Seattle for Seattle Parks and Recreation purposes.

Thank you so much.

I move to adopt resolution 32006, May I have a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt resolution 32006. Council Member Lewis, as the sponsor of this item, you are recognized in order to address this item.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

As I mentioned during morning briefing, this is a project that started at the request of Friends of Discovery Park, which is a citizen-based organization in the Magnolia community and beyond that advocates for Discovery Park and for enhancing the recreation opportunities at the park.

Phil Vogelsang, who is the president of Friends of Discovery Park, distributed a letter to the council and Parker Dawson on my staff distributed that letter just for belt and suspenders to all the council offices this morning.

expressing the interest of Friends of Discovery Park in this, the acquisition of this parcel of property in keeping with actions that other communities around the country have taken for some of the excess land around FAA towers that have been integrated for public uses and the enjoyment of the general public.

primarily into parks and greenways.

The area of Discovery Park, where this current parcel sits, will be well known to lots of frequent park goers.

It occupies a space on top of a prominent vista near the field and the footprint of the old base where a lot of the old army buildings are located.

With the removal of this fencing and the access of the parcel, it will offer great views to general members of the public and will offer additional recreation activities and possibilities for the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation to explore.

It should be noted that this resolution is the culmination of an extensive process of consulting with neighborhood organizations, with the Department of Parks and Recreation, and with the chair of the relevant committee, Council Member Juarez.

who was helpful in crafting the tone and scope of this resolution.

It should also be noted that the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation has confirmed that maintenance of this additional acquisition of the land, should it be granted from the Federal Aviation Administration, would come at no increased ongoing maintenance cost and could be absorbed within existing expenses.

And I look forward to continuing to work with our congressional delegation, namely Senator Patty Murray and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, both of whom have been in contact with my office through dependency.

of creating this resolution over the past several months.

I want to thank Parker Dawson for doing a lot of great work with the stakeholders to move this forward and look forward to eventually having this additional public space for visitors of Discovery Park to enjoy.

So with that, I would urge the adoption of the resolution.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, are there any comments or questions for the sponsor of this resolution?

I am not seeing any.

I'm excited for what is being characterized as practically the most impactful change to Discovery Park in decades.

So thank you, Council Member Lewis, for moving this work forward.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

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

And moving through to the final items on the agenda, items 15 through 19. Will the clerk please read items 15 through 19 into the record.

Agenda items 15 through 19, the appointment of Justin Clark as chair, Seattle Design Commission, for a term to February 28th, 2022. The appointments of Adam Paul Ammerhein and Jill Crary as members, Seattle Design Commission, for terms to February 28th, 2023. And the reappointments of Amalia Leighton Cody and Elaine Wine as members, Seattle Design Commission, for terms to February 28th, 2023. Thank you so much.

I move to confirm appointments 1909 through 1913. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointments.

Council Member Strauss, as sponsor of these appointments, you are recognized in order to address them.

Thank you Council President Pro Tem.

Colleagues the Seattle Design Commission advises the city on the designs of C funded capital projects or projects on city land and right of way the commission's members are all appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council.

Adam are making is an urban planner and designer with LM and architects in Seattle and has been appointed.

to the urban planner position.

Justin Clark, the unanimous nominee for chair, currently serves as the licensed engineer on the commission and works as a senior structural professional engineer at WSP, the architectural firm.

Thank you, Justin, for presenting in committee recently.

Amalia Leighton Cody is the director of the Seattle office of tool design, T-O-O-L-E design, and is being reappointed to the transportation planner position.

Jill, Jill query recently retired after 30 years of the Seattle center, including 12 years as the redevelopment director, she moved mountains to change and better the face of our city's public lands.

in particular she was a key player within the key arena climate pledge arena coliseum whatever name you want to call it making that redevelopment a success thank you jill and everyone else who helped you she is being appointed to the at-large position and finally elaine woo wine elaine wine is a development manager at Seneca Group and the chair of the Ballard Avenue Landmarks Board.

She's being reappointed to the architect position.

Thank you, Council President Pro Tem.

Colleagues, I urge a yay vote.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any comments or questions for Council Member Strauss about these appointments?

Seeing none.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Herbold?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much, the motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Do I need to ask you to fix my signature on these clerk?

No council president, thank you for asking.

Oh, just double checking, thank you so much.

All right, so we're moving on to other business.

Is there any other further business to come before the council?

Council President Pro Tem.

Yes, Council Member Strauss.

Hereby request to be excused June 7th.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Council Member Morales?

Yes, thank you.

I...

Wanted to address the Gaza letter.

And I want to first apologize to my colleagues for missing this really important discussion this morning.

At the end of briefing, I had to get my son to his first COVID shot, and my phone's Zoom wasn't working for me to finish the meeting.

So I apologize for missing it.

I do want to say that I agree completely.

The violence against the Palestinian people is reprehensible.

that the asymmetry in force that has been used in the region and the resultant death in Gaza is horrific.

And I agree with Varshini Prakash, the director of the Sunrise Movement, who said that Biden and Congress can't call for a ceasefire while continuing to hand over the very weapons responsible for trapping and killing innocent children.

I am going to be having a conversation with Council Member Strauss about perhaps signing or drafting a letter with him that reflects our solidarity as Jews with those who stand for peace and who stand for greater political stability in the region and wanted to make sure that I had at least had that statement on the record since I missed the end of the conversation this morning.

Thank you for indulging me, Council Member Herbold.

Thank you so much, Council Member Morales, for sharing your intent here on this moving forward.

And Council Member Strauss did so as well during council briefings.

So really appreciate that you are recognizing the important voice that you have on this council to raise concerns and objections.

There are any other comments for the good of the order?

Doesn't look like there are.

All right.

Council member Strauss had requested to be excused.

If you can just move that request so that he could be officially excused for June 7th, that'd be great.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, I need to move it?

If there's no objections, you can seek.

Got it.

If there are no objections, I approve Council Member Strauss' request to be absent.

All right.

Seeing no objections, the request is approved.

And with that, it is now, what time is it?

It's 4.31 p.m., colleagues.

concludes the items of business on today's agenda.

And our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is on Tuesday, June 1st, 2021 at 2 p.m.

I hope everybody has a wonderful afternoon and we are adjourned.

Thank you.