Thank you so much.
December 14th, 2021 meeting of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee.
Welcome to order.
It's 3.30 a.m.
I'm Lisa Herbold, chair of the committee.
Council Member Morales, let me know that you would not want to join today, and so she is excused from today's meeting.
We'll quickly call the roll.
Council President Gonzalez?
Here.
Council Member Lewis?
Present.
Council Member Sawant?
Council Member Peterson.
Here.
Chair Herbold.
Here.
There are four present.
Thank you so much.
On today's agenda, we have just a bit of end-of-the-year work to do.
We have two reappointments to the Community Police Commission.
We have two appointments and a reappointment to the Pacific Hospital Preparation and Development Authority Governing Council.
And then we have Council Bill 12-45, which is a treatment and services cleanup bill for Seattle.
will now approve our agenda for today's committee meeting.
If there is no objection, this committee agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.
At this time, we'll move right into public comment.
I'll moderate the public comment period in the following manner.
Each speaker will be given two minutes to speak.
I will call on the speaker by name in order which they registered on the council's website.
haven't registered to speak but would still like to, you can do so by signing up before the end of the public comment period by going to council's website.
This link is also listed on today's agenda.
When I call a speaker's name, you'll hear a prompt, and once you've heard that prompt, you need to hit star six to unmute yourself.
begin by stating your name and the item which you are addressing.
Speakers will hear a chime when the 10 seconds are up or are remaining of the allotted time.
Once the speaker hears the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your comments.
And if the speakers don't end their comments at the end of the allotted time provided, the speaker's mic will be muted after 10 seconds to allow us to hear from the next speaker.
Once you've completed your public comment, please do disconnect from the line and you can continue following the meeting, but doing so by Seattle panel or the listening options listed on the agenda.
Today we have two people signed up for public comments and we'll just jump right into that.
We'll start with Howard Kale and Howard will be followed by Sue Williams.
Howard.
Good morning, Howard Gale, District 7, reviewing the year in police accountability.
You've been faced with clear facts and data, the SPD killing more people in the years after with the consent decree than before, continuing racial disparity in the SPD use of force, continuing racial disparity in SPD stops, and then in 2020, unconstitutional and egregiously violent actions against demonstrators.
You've watched as our police accountability system has determined recent killings, like the SPD murder of Terry Caver days before George Floyd, to be, quote, lawful and proper, unquote, followed by the all too predictable SPD murder of Derek Hayden this year.
You've watched as our police accountability system exonerated the vast majority of officers for the abuse of 2020. And in the few cases where complaints were repelled, handout reprimands, or in very rare cases, a few days off.
These abuses of justice don't just happen.
It requires the folks in power at the OPA, the OIG, and the CPC to actively undermine accountability.
Two high-level investigators, two, at the OIG risked their livelihoods and well-being to sound the alarm and to explain to us how all these failings of accountability happened.
Carolyn Bick at the South Seattle Emerald documents all this in 11 investigative pieces.
KUOW reported earlier on the abuses engaged in by Andrew Meyerberg.
Despite all this, most of you try hard to ignore it, whereas council members Herbold and Lewis unfortunately engage in diminishing and undercutting the whistleblower's efforts to bring to light injustice in an entirely corrupted accountability system.
Council members, you've ensured that the year after George Floyd will be remembered as a year where the council rewarded police for bad behavior with bonuses, and steadfastly refused to advance police accountability in Seattle.
It is not particularly brave or moral act to jump on a bad wagon, but it is a clearly...
Thank you, Howard.
Our next speaker is Sue Williams.
Sue is showing as not present.
Sue is not only our next speaker, Sue Williams is our last speaker.
So I'm going to just call for Sue Williams one more time, watching to see if her not present status changes.
Not seeing any change in status.
And so with that, we will I'll close public comment moving into the agenda items.
Please read in agenda items 1 and 2.
Agenda item one, appointment 02087, reappointment of Catherine Seibel as member of Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2024. Agenda item two, appointment 02088, appointment of Lajeya A. Washington as member of Community Police Commission for a term to December 31, 2024, for a briefing discussion and possible vote.
Thank you so much.
So let's just, on this item, do a round of introductions here.
If we could just do a quick go-around, your name and your affiliation, and then we'll move into the meat of this item.
Newell, would you like to start?
Sure.
I'm Newell Aldrich from the Office of City Councilmember Hubbell.
Thank you.
I'll pass it to Douglas Wagner.
Thank you.
Good morning.
I'm Douglas Wagner.
I'm one of the three co-chairs of the Seattle Community Police Commission.
Thank you so much.
And these are reappointments and they are their reappointments.
We do not require that they be with us for that reappointment process.
I'm wondering, Mayor Wagner, thank you so much for being here.
Really appreciate your joining us.
Could we just please start off with a brief description of the Community Police Commission and the work you do and describe sort of the context for these appointments?
Absolutely, yeah.
So I'm one of the CPC's three co-chairs, and the CPC is one part of Seattle's three-part police accountability system.
We're made up of multiple staff and 21 volunteer commissioners, and we're an independent city agency.
Our mission is to listen, amplify, and build common ground among communities affected by Seattle policing.
And we were created in the wake of Seattle's federal consent decree.
But since 2017, we've become a permanent fixture and part of Seattle's police accountability system.
In terms of our work in recent years, we've made recommendations to city council related to crowd control, advocated for police reform bills statewide, and have continued to fulfill our ongoing oversight duties under the consent decree.
So that's a little bit about kind of who we are and what we do.
And these two commissioners have been great members of our commission.
Catherine is one of our co-chairs.
And I'm just grateful for the opportunity to share a little bit about our work, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, before we go into the reappointments, one of the.
questions I have about the future work of the CPC as it relates specifically to the consent decree is sort of how the review of this consent decree is evolving.
We're going to be entering into a new year and I think There are lots of questions about whether or not, you know, if we maintain compliance, what that means for the future of the consent decree.
I know that CPC has begun to have some discussions with the consent decree monitor, and I'm wondering if you could just give the viewing public a little preview of what, maybe not the content of those discussions right now, but what you're hoping to get out of them.
Yeah, so the monitor is engaging in kind of an assessment of where the city's at with the consent decree.
And I think, frankly, it's kind of laying the groundwork through that assessment for what a post-consent decree environment might look like in Seattle.
And so we've been teaming up with the Monitor to kind of strengthen the community engagement aspect of that assessment.
And so over the next several months, we're going to be engaged with them in doing a series of community meetings and outreach to ensure that there's a community perspective.
in the report that they develop and share with the judge who's overseeing the consent decree.
And so while the city remains out of compliance in one key aspect of the consent decree, the accountability section, and has yet to kind of come back into compliance, I think the reality is and what we're kind of sensing from the monitor is that at some point the consent decree is going to come to an end.
And so there needs to be plans put in place for what that means for the city, how police oversight and accountability will continue and can strengthen beyond the consent decree.
And so I think that preparation does make a lot of sense.
But that's kind of what we're going to be engaged in in concert with the monitor over the next couple months, few months.
That's super helpful.
One other question I have about those conversations.
We know that there's been a significant reduction of use of force incidents.
But one of the areas that we often hear about and we see demonstrated in SPD's own reports is that there is still a very high disparity in racial disparity in use of force.
And I'm just wondering how the conversation, and that wasn't, bias policing, if I recall correctly, was not a finding under the consent decree, but it's still a challenge for the department and for community who come into contact with police officers.
So I'm just, I'm wondering, given that that wasn't a, they sort of, alluded to, they walked right up to that being a finding, but didn't identify as a finding.
And I'm just curious to know how that issue might interplay in the discussions about the future of the consent decree, or will it?
I think that's going to be a main feature.
In addition to ongoing concerns about use of force generally, I think the continued racial disproportionality of how force is being used is going to be a main feature of the discussions in the coming months related to how the consent decree could end, whether it should end, whether we've actually made enough progress in the city.
You know, beyond the data and statistics, I think the perception is also still a concern.
I mean, I think, you know, if you ask people of color in the city, I'm not sure that you would, I'm not sure that most folks would really share that they feel like there's been this kind of monumental shift in policing in terms of whether folks feel safe or, you know, whether they feel, like, confident that Seattle police are there to protect and serve them.
And so I think the perception issue in addition to the disproportionality around use of force is still a major concern.
And, you know, while one thing I'm also hoping from the monitor is an additional analysis of use of force, I think, you know, we've all kind of relied on the report from the previous monitor, which came out like for five years now, which showed use of force trending down but marked the disproportionality.
But since then, we haven't seen kind of a concerted analysis of SPD's use of force and their use of force dashboard.
And, you know, just taking a look at the dashboard, you can see that use of force was way up in 2020 as a result of the protests and all of the hands-on engagement with officers.
And so, I think it's important to kind of know where we're at and get an updated analysis of that use of force.
Because I think the report that, you know, I cite it too, but it's from like four or five years ago now, and I think the data is kind of stale.
Thank you for that.
I appreciate your willingness to go off on that important agenda.
So now I think we're just going to move into the presentation of The two reappointments, I think both of those reappointments are council reappointments, and so we will have my registrative aide, Noel Aldrich, present some background on these two individuals.
Noel?
Thank you, Council Member.
The first appointment is Catherine Siebel, who, as Co-Chair Waggoner noted, is currently serving as a Co-Chair.
She works in policy and advocacy, and her career has included policy and advocacy efforts promoting mental health, social emotional learning, child sexual abuse prevention, and bullying prevention at the multi-state and federal levels.
Her career has also included direct service in mental health care, and she has served as a teaching associate at Columbia University School of Social Work.
Professional experience includes work at the Committee for Children and the National Alliance for Mental Health Washington.
Vijaya Washington serves as operations specialist for King County Equity Now.
Her duties include tracking policy projects and participating in panels and community events.
Her professional experience includes working at Seattle's CARES mentoring, cultivating the genius of black children and black community impact alliance.
She served as assistant to the deputy coroner in the city of Pasco's coroner's office and interned in the office of King County Council Member Larry Gossett.
Her volunteer experience includes the Urban League, Central Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Tyree Scott Freedom School.
Thank you.
Thanks, Noel.
And so are, let's see, any questions about two reappointments?
Not seeing any.
I'm going to, I just want to first say I really appreciate the willingness of both Catherine and Lajeya to continue to serve and want to just recognize the role that Catherine has been playing as CPC co-chair.
Really appreciate both of their contribution to this really, really important work.
I move appointments 02087 and 02088. Is there a second?
Second.
Second.
Thank you so much.
Any final comments on the appointments?
Hearing no comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the appointments?
Council President Gonzalez?
Aye.
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
And Chair Herbold?
Yes.
Four in favor.
Thank you very much.
Please read in the agenda items three through five.
Committee agenda item number three, appointment 02089, appointment of Aina Abai as member of Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council for a term to December 31, 2022. Agenda item number four, appointment 02090, reappointment of Nancy Kathleen Sugg as member of Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council for a term to December 31, 2022. In agenda item five, appointment 02091, appointment of Virgil L. Wade as member of Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council for a term to December 31, 2023.
Great, thank you so much.
So we have some additional appointments and reappointments here, and I'm wondering if we could just get started with a quick round of introductions and your affiliation.
Hazmuth, Office of Intergovernmental Relations, and I'll pass it to John.
John Kim, Executive Director of Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority, and I'll pass it to Aine.
Good morning.
Aine Abbey, they, them.
I'm the CEO of the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom.
Great, thank you so much.
Who would like to kick us off?
If it's okay with you, Chair Herbold, I'll do a quick intro and then pass it to John and Aine, who know the work on the ground very well.
So the Pacific Hospital PDA is tasked with the stewardship of the Pacific Tower and its surrounding campus.
They fund programs along with its mission of decreasing disparities in healthcare access and improving healthcare outcomes among King County's underserved populations.
Understandably, they've had a tough year and a half in the midst of everything and are continuing some amazing work despite all that's going on.
There's three appointments before you today, two new appointments, and the reappointment of Nancy Sugg, all of whom have been appointed by the PDA Governing Council.
Virgil Waite is not with us today, so I have a brief overview for him, if that's okay, and then can pass it to John and Ina to talk about the work that they're doing.
So Virgil is the operations director for the Chief Seattle Club.
He has been a strong advocate for indigenous people's rights throughout his career, and has served as general manager for the Snoqualmie Indian tribe, and has previously served on the Casino Arizona Talking Stick Resort Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Pawnee Nation Tribal Development Corporation Board of Directors.
And this will be for his first term.
And then I'm happy to pass it to John to talk a little bit more about the PDA work and the other appointments.
Thank you very much, Hannah.
It is such a pleasure to be before you with these appointments.
The PDA is really a proud steward of this significant campus on North Beacon Hill.
And as Hannah said, we really did have a challenging couple of years with COVID, but to be honest with you, it's only a heightened experience of the disparities that existed before the pandemic hit and will continue after the pandemic eases into endemic.
And so we are laser focused on providing resources that are generated from our campus into community-based organizations and efforts to address disparities in access to healthcare resources and to address the inequities in the system.
Not only do we want to continue vibrant funding in a way that is approaching community problems from community perspective, but we want to amplify the authentic voice of community through their learned experience into the system-level work where there are some real concerns about the need to improve access to services for communities of color.
And so we are anxiously You know, building our governing council with some specific attributes that I think are really important to us.
When we're looking for members of the governing council, we want folks who are strategic.
We want folks that are experienced.
and knowledgeable and skillful and above all compassionate that they really love the mission of serving people and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live a full and fulfilled life and health is a cornerstone of that ability to do so and so I am so pleased that we have Aine Virgil and Nancy.
I'll just talk a little bit briefly about each.
Virgil comes to us with a real rich background of serving indigenous peoples, and he is actually in a leadership position at Chief Seattle Club, which is one of our grantees and knows the work at the very ground level in terms of how to address access to services.
I'm going to let her speak for, I'm going to let them speak for themselves.
But as you can see from the packet, highly accomplished, and we couldn't be more pleased to have such a strong and knowledgeable leader in our governance group.
And then finally, Nancy Sugg, she is nearing the end of her nine years.
of service to the PHPDA and what a partner she has been.
She is the chair of the program committee and as the medical director for the Pioneer Square Clinic and a leader at Harborview.
as well as i think the director of the nursing team for the homeless uh...
she brings of wealth of connections and knowledge about serving difficult to serve populations and this is the kind of experience that is help this organization in building a strategy toward addressing the need for services on the ground as well as moving into the system level improvements that are necessary to really make impact.
And then just a final note, we are so proud to be working in partnership with the Seattle Chinatown International District PDA.
Our sister PDA is developing affordable housing on the north lot of the PDA campus.
We are anticipating a close of that transaction in spring of 2022 and groundbreaking to follow shortly after that.
And this will bring hundreds of units of affordable housing to Beacon Hill.
And this is an opportunity for us to integrate a new community onto our campus and to take advantage of a campus setting to create health equity, even in the place where we reside.
So with that, I will pass it to Aine and thank you for your attention.
Thank you all.
Thank you all for having me.
My name is Ina Abbey.
For the past six years, I was the deputy director for Seattle University Center for Community Engagement.
So I led all of our external partnerships.
And so I have a very good sense of kind of the communal networks in and around PHPDA.
Prior to that, I was based in DC, where I led communities creating healthy environments and there was a program office through Robert Wood Johnson Foundation where I supported 27 jurisdictions and leading local health campaigns.
For me, health justice is at the root of everything.
I enjoy using my skills from my master's in public administration to really improve health outcomes for community members.
So through the PHPDA and through colleagueship, I'm just really enjoying my time in participating and volunteering with the PHPDA.
I'm so excited that you are willing to serve and I know you're going to help do great things on the PDA.
Do you want to just talk a little bit about if there are some particular accomplishments or initiatives that you want to work on during your tenure on the PDA?
What I've been excited about is our strategic plan, really amplifying the mission of the PHPDA.
Just last week, we had our all grantees meeting.
It was online, but still felt very connected.
I enjoy that the grantees are able to connect the dots between their work and create more camaraderie and coalition building because it does take all of us.
It is about the ecosystem.
Health is in all policies.
So that is something that I'm looking forward to to keep building upon.
and to really support a strong base of health justice workers, people in the community that they're serving, that they also have health themselves.
So I think we're at this really intersectional place around thinking about the services we're providing.
Are those people who are providing the services have the same living standards that they're trying to provide for others?
So looking at both direct service, but also around how are we operating?
How is the field operating?
What can we do to raise the tide for all ships?
Yeah, that's I know the these issues around.
Hey, Equity, for folks who are doing this really, really important work.
These are issues that have been looming for a long time, but the pandemic, I think, has really laid them bare.
Before I open it up to my colleagues, in case folks have questions or comments, I also just want to say I'm a huge fan of your work with the Cuban Center for Health and Freedom and really excited for the city's continued partnership in that really groundbreaking work, so thank you.
Any questions or comments from my colleagues?
President Gonzalez.
Thank you, Chair Herbold.
I just wanted to say thank you to INA for the work that we were able to do together to advance that $500,000 seed.
emphasis on seed investment in the Tubman Health Center, and really appreciate that they, you know, really showed up early in the budget process to help advocate for that.
And I think that the synergy between that really critically important program and service to the community blends really well with the opportunity for INE to serve on the PDA and hope that that's an opportunity to sort of learn and create a sustainable health center that is focused on the needs of our black residents throughout the city and the region.
So really, really appreciate an opportunity to support this appointment.
today and look forward to the future council continuing to follow through on the commitments, early commitments we've made to the Tubman Health Center.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Absolutely.
All right, so if there are no further questions or comments, we'll get this process moving here and I will move appointments at 02089, 090 and 02091. Is there a second?
Second.
Thank you.
Any final comments on the appointments?
No final comments.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the appointments?
Council President Gonzalez?
Aye.
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
Chair Herbold?
Yes.
Four in favor?
Thank you.
Congratulations.
All right.
Will the clerk please read Committee Agenda Item 6.
Committee Agenda Item 6, Council Bill 120-245, an ordinance relating to the Seattle Fire Department's Fire Preservation Services, amending sections 22.602.010, 22.602.020, 22.602.020, 045, 22602050, 22602070, 22602090, and 3.102.110 of repealing sections 3.16.130 and 22600.050 of and adding a new section 3.16.131 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
So much.
Let's do a quick round of introductions.
I have some new faces here.
Go for it.
Thank you.
Hey there.
Good morning.
I'm Chief Munnis.
I'm the fire marshal here in Seattle.
I think I have had the opportunity and the pleasure of working with most of you.
I also have my business manager, Karen Grove.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
Nice to be here.
Thank you, Karen.
All right.
Are you going to pass on this one?
Anne, are you with us on this item?
Yes, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
That's great.
Shall I introduce the bill?
Anne Gorman with Council Central staff, please.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Good morning, Madam Chair and council members.
Council Bill 120245 would update language in the Seattle Municipal Code related to the Seattle Fire Department's permitting and inspection services functions.
These functions are housed in the fire marshal's office and they broadly support fire prevention, for instance, through the regulation of hazardous material storage and the certification of those who inspect fire suppression systems.
This is what is often called a cleanup bill in the sense that it cleans up SMC language to reflect the most current requirements and practices.
The proposed legislation is the last step in a regular process that begins with the International Code Council updating its model fire code.
This code is then implemented at the state level, along with any changes that are specific to Washington.
SFD then works with its Fire Code Advisory Board to draft SMC changes that incorporate those changes and any Seattle-specific changes.
The changes to the fire code itself were adopted earlier this year via ordinance 126238, and the bill before the committee today reflects all necessary administrative changes implied by that adoption.
It also includes a few non-substantive clarifications that were suggested by the law department.
A version of this bill is often included as legislation, but this year it was not because there are no proposed changes to SFP permit or service fees, thus no financial impact.
Staff memo lists the notable administrative changes in the bill.
The one I would highlight concerns the permits that apply to the operators of food trucks.
SFD requires these operators to pass an inspection of their fuel source on an annual basis as an element of their permit applications.
And other cities in our region have the same requirement.
Earlier this year, SFD partnered with other fire departments on a new standardized approach to this inspection that will eliminate a hurdle for food truck operators that operate in two or more jurisdictions.
The proposed changes address the new approach.
The bill's proposed effective date is March 1st, 2022. The proposed changes require some programming updates in the city's Accela system, and the state will give Seattle IT time to perform and test that work.
Anne, appreciate it.
And I believe we have a presentation here.
All right.
We do.
Thank you, Anne.
Once again, amazing job.
I'll kick it off here.
So as you see the first slide here, I'm just going to talk quickly about what the, just for the group, what the fire code is.
The fire code is, as everybody knows, is a very strict, very detailed, item that we use in order to guide us.
Now, behind the scenes, it's one of those behind the scenes documents.
We know in the Seattle Fire Department it's our responsibility to keep people safe.
I know that everybody's heard Chief Scoggins talk about our values and I just want to let everybody know that the fire code, I often say this and I really mean it, is the fire code doesn't have feelings.
It's a very strict guidance for us to keep people safe.
But I want everybody to know on here that the Fire Prevention Division does have feelings.
And we try to be compassionate and we try to be patient with everybody that we deal with.
It's not always easy, because we do have a responsibility to keep people safe.
As everybody knows that the year has been tough on the entire city, the last couple of years it's been extremely tough on the Seattle Fire Department.
But I want everybody on this call to know as we kick it off to Karen Grove that the fire department will always show compassionate service and patience with the community.
So I will kick it off to Karen Grove to go over some of the specifics and we'll be around for any questions.
Great, thank you.
I'm having, I apologize, just a little bit of trouble getting the screens to line up, but I believe you should be seeing a slide about our 2018 Seattle Fire Code.
And as you know, as Anne also summarized, the codes are adopted about every three years nationally.
States then have the opportunity to amend the code further.
In Washington State, that does happen.
The state code took effect in February, we brought you further amendments to that.
The way the law works is that local jurisdictions can amend the code further to work for their communities, their businesses, their geography, but it can't be less strong than the national or state code.
It can be more strong, but not less strong.
So the set of Considerations you proved earlier this year accomplished that, took effect in the first quarter.
And we are now coming along behind with some cleanup work.
Let me see if I can address, advance the next slide.
So behind the scenes.
I really apologize.
There's something about doing this through Zoom that is interrupting.
Okay, so I really apologize.
There's something, and if Sun is still on the line, Okay.
Very good.
So I was just, as a transition, I wanted to let you know that the fire code is also advised to us by a fire code advisory board.
So similar to some of the appointments you just enacted today, you've also been very helpful to us over the years in confirming a really good set of advisory board members.
And we do appreciate your support in that over the years.
And it's been very helpful to us as we bring you the code amendments.
So today we are now talking about aligning the Seattle Municipal Code to the Fire Code and some of the services we provide include permits.
We do about 6,000 hazardous materials permits a year that might be welding on fishing boats in from Alaska, it might be nitrous oxide in a dentist's office, or it might be storage of explosives in a warehouse.
We also do special events permitting that might be discharging fireworks at a Seahawks game or it might be reviewing with concert promoter their concert strategy to prevent the type of tragedy that happened at Astroworld in Houston earlier this year.
And we also do annual permitting, so restaurants, nightclubs, churches, all of those places bring a lot of people together and we do permit them.
It gives us a chance to share safety conditions with them and do education first as well as enforcement later.
We also do about 15,000 inspections each year.
An example there would be about 6,000 that are part of the city's building process, so all new construction and major remodels.
We are actually incorporated into that process.
The customer submits to SDCI, as Anne Gorman mentioned.
The permitting all happens through Accela, and behind the scenes, it's routed to us.
We do about 6,000 of those inspections each year.
And we also do about 1,000 high-rise building inspections each year.
We don't have a ton of changes to either our permits or our inspection fees.
I do have a slide later about changes to inspections.
Certification helps us know that the people working on fire alarms and sprinklers are safe in the city, are trained to keep those pieces of equipment working and keep people in the city safe.
We do have just some small changes to our certification titles to align them with the state regulations.
And we also provide plan review services.
I mentioned the inspections that we do for new construction.
Before the building enters the construction phase, we also work with the building department to review the plans for that.
And I gathered some statistics for you guys on plan review.
We did about 3,000 plans a year.
And in a recent year, that was 58,000 fire alarm devices that we looked at and 150,000 sprinkler devices.
So it's really quite a large body of work.
And we just have a few small changes to clarify titles and application there of our plan review.
It's basically an hourly fee.
The work we do is partially fee funded, and we usually bring in right around $9 million a year.
There has been some intentional and some just matter-of-course reduction during the pandemic.
What I mean by that is the city made a decision to reduce or waive permitting fees.
For example, the restaurants you saw moving outside, we tried to work with them through COVID to help them survive in the face of government regulations that were really making it hard for them to conduct business.
So wish me luck as I try to advance this slide.
Oh, it worked.
Yay.
So I want to give you just a couple examples of what the ordinance does.
The fire code introduces regulations around a lot of new technologies.
So we do have, for example, a new permit that we're asking for your approval on.
to install fuel cell power systems.
This council, as you know, has passed regulations that prevent natural gas to power new buildings, and instead to supplant that or provide alternatives, buildings are starting to look at other power sources.
In this case, it's very often hydrogen or phosphoric acid.
So one of the reasons we're saying this ordinance doesn't have a lot of fiscal impact at this time at all is, although we do have new permits, it's a very new technology.
And we really don't expect to see any substantive activity in this.
But we do need to have the code framework set up as these newer technologies come through.
And again, the permitting is also really our chance to educate people, to work with them as they're doing this so they get it installed safely.
Another example I just want to share with you is our food truck permits.
And you've probably seen in the news over the years that food trucks, because they use propane, unfortunately have explosions.
And there's very often a lot of people around the food truck.
So it's actually a really high hazard situation.
And so we in Seattle have actually been regulating the propane in food trucks for a while.
The model code now in 2018 that just took effect in Washington State this year actually now is doing a food truck permit.
And so what we're asking for your support on today is we're going to update our permit structure to allow for the non-mobile booths.
Maybe you would see them at Bite of Seattle.
They'll continue to have our general permit regarding safe use of propane.
And then the mobile food trucks, we have a new permit that aligns with the full set of regulations in the state of Washington code.
And on this, I want to say this was one we spent a little extra time with.
We heard from businesses that, as Anne mentioned, because they are mobile and move across jurisdictions, they actually have a pretty extensive permitting gauntlet that they have to run, and it becomes bureaucratic and expensive for them.
And we also internally as a city, we looked from an RSJ lens at this and we realized this industry actually has a very high percentage of immigrant owned businesses.
And so we, together with some really tremendous help from ORIRA, the Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, we figured out how we were going to try to roll this new permit out in a manner that was really accessible to all of the business owners.
And so what this looks like is we got together regionally about 20 jurisdictions in the area to agree on a set of minimum standards for an inspection for this permit type.
And we agreed that regardless of which of our departments conducts the inspection, we will all mutually recognize it if it does meet these agreed minimum standards.
And then all of us locally are working with our city councils to allow for some type of a fee reduction for somebody, like if somebody comes to us in Seattle with a rent inspection, we'd like to give them a fee reduction corresponding to that inspection timeframe.
So we worked regionally on that, and we also were then with OIRA, we received their great guidance on, you know, the way we can best set our immigrant business owners up for success is make the expectations super clear.
So we translated all the materials and program aids that they will need in order to schedule those inspections, but also really know how to pass it.
Like, what will we be looking for?
So at the time of the inspection, they should hopefully find success.
And we shared the translated materials with the region.
Most of the small jurisdictions don't have monies to translate.
So in order to extend the positive impacts, we were able to share those out regionally.
lots of little peek at kind of what we've done behind the scenes to adopt the fire code and implement it.
And then, before I – oh, yes, ma'am.
Quick question.
On the food truck sort of streamlining the regulatory requirements of multiple jurisdictions that the food trucks move through, You know, given that I understand that the permit is the permit fees are supposed to be associated with associated.
With recouping the costs associated with the work that the regulatory agency is doing, it is both helpful for the operator to have those costs reduced, but it's also, it's not, as I understand it, these costs are not being reduced at the cost to the city.
Because if there's less work, being done to approve the permits if you have this sort of standard multi-jurisdiction permitting approach and process.
Is that more or less correct?
Yeah, that's a really great summary.
So the inspection associated with the permit approval, that is now a shared cost.
So it is truly more efficient across the region.
In Seattle, I mean, the bulk of food trucks really do work here, many of them do almost 90% or more of their business here, we actually do intend to get out to these food trucks multiple times and see them in action so.
There is still a cost to us of the service that we provide, and it goes beyond that one inspection a year.
But the way you summarized it is absolutely right.
It is a little less effort for all of us because we're trusting and recognizing that people are implementing these agreed standards.
Did that address your question?
It did.
It did.
I was just trying to get at the concept of the permit fees being focused on cost recovery.
And if the costs are somewhat reduced, then it makes good sense that the fees are also somewhat reduced.
Exactly.
Exactly right.
And so then we're on the last slide, but I just really wanted to say, you know, before I turn it over to you for comments or questions, on behalf of our department, I really wanted to thank each of you on the committee for your help across the years.
I know we have all benefited from your steady and principled leadership and support.
And we appreciate your engagement.
I'm not sure at this time what next year brings and who we'll be working with, whether it will be in a committee or out in the community in a different role.
But I'm sure with the shared commitment we have to the fire and life safety, we will have a chance to work again.
And I look forward to that.
And again, on behalf of SFD, I just really wanted to thank everyone on this committee for what you've done and the leadership.
So, it's very kind sentiment to be shared in our last committee meeting of the year.
Thank you.
Are there any comments or questions from my colleagues?
Before we move the bill, I also want to just recognize how difficult this past year, past two years really has been for the Seattle Fire Department and really appreciate your steady commitment to the health and safety of the public and the way that you do your work compassionately and with patience and also recognize the profound loss that the fire department family has experienced recently and just our hearts go out to the SFD families and SFD community supporters of those families.
I know this is a very difficult time for folks.
Thank you Council Member Herbold.
I just want to let everybody know we We really appreciate it, and we do feel it.
We do feel the support, not only from this group, but the entire city.
So it's much appreciated.
Thank you.
It's sincere.
All right.
If there are no further comments or questions, I move Council Bill 120145. Is there a second?
Second.
Thank you.
Any final comments on the bill?
No further comments.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council President Gonzalez?
Aye.
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
Chair Herbold?
Yes.
Four in favor.
All right, great.
Thanks again.
Really appreciate it.
Happy holidays, you guys.
Thank you.
So thank you.
This was the final Safety and Human Services Committee of the year.
I want to thank my colleagues and everyone for their participation.
and all the work that we've tackled in the last few years.
I want to also thank the former chair of a successor or a previous committee that this is somewhat of a successor to.
My vice chair, council member, President Gonzalez, we appreciate your mentorship and your partnership over your term and in particular as it relates to this committee over the last couple of years.
And, you know, you have plenty of more opportunities, I believe, for recognition and thanks, but just within the context of this particular committee, I wanted to say so.
Before we adjourn, are there any other comments from my colleagues?
All right.
Seeing none, it is 1024 a.m.
and we are adjourned.
Thank you.