Seattle Full Council 2/25/2019

Okay, thank you for being here for the February 25th 2019 full City Council meeting will now come to order.

It's 2 o'clock p.m I'm Bruce Harrell president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mosqueda?

Sawant?

Here.

Bagshaw?

Here.

Gonzales?

Here.

Herbold?

Here.

Johnson?

Here.

Juarez?

Here.

President Harrell?

Here.

Six present.

Thank you very much.

Did someone hear a voice from the...

Let the record reflect Councilmember Mosqueda is here.

At this point, I will move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

I believe Council Member Swamp may have some amendments.

Thank you, President Harrell.

I move to amend the introduction and referral calendar by introducing appointments 1262 through 1264 and by referring them to the Human Services Equitable Development and Renters' Rights Committee.

The appointment titles are as follows.

Appointment 1262, appointment of Calvin R. Jones as member of Seattle Renters' Commission for a term to February 28, 2020. Appointment 1263, appointment of Regina Owens as member Seattle Renters Commission for a term to February 28, 2021. And appointment 1264, reappointment of Michael Padilla Ocampo as member Seattle Renters Commission for a term to February 28, 2021. Thank you very much.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

Is it moved and seconded that the introduction of referral calendar be amended as stated?

Any further comments?

Those in favor of the amendment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries, and the introduction referral calendar is amended.

Now, those in favor of adopting the introduction referral calendar as amended, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries, and the introduction referral calendar is adopted as amended.

If there is no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

The minutes of the February 19, 2019 City Council meetings have been reviewed, and if there's no objection, the minutes will be signed.

Minutes are thereby signed.

Hello, Council Member Morris.

No comment.

Presentations, I'm not aware of any presentations this afternoon.

So we'll move to public comment.

And again, these are public comment on today's agenda, not the MHA hearing, which will follow this full council meeting.

So I'll call you out in the order in which you've signed up.

And we'll allow you two minutes and ask that you identify yourself.

So the first one is, let's see here.

Oh yeah, hey Paul.

Okay, got you.

You are first, Paul, and you'll be followed by Lee.

Lee Bruck.

Hello, President Howard, Harold, and I am actually G-Sun.

I'm also ASN Hyundai.

I'm also a MaBear, and I'm also a Templar, the first one.

But the problem that I have is that you guys aren't doing a very good job on how you do your things.

And since President Trump does not say nothing about me, doesn't say fake news, I really think you need to go on and not be present in this place.

But in the retrospect of everything, I hope you have a nice journey and do something else.

And cast your mind, you're not a PhD, you're a certain assistant, your devil already knows that.

I don't appreciate that.

And of all things in life and stuff like that, I would really understand.

I don't like being poisoned.

I really don't like being shot at.

My little brother is Kim Jong-un from North Korea.

I am the southern part.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Be careful.

Thank you, sir.

Lee Brook, followed by Lisa Frazin.

I'm Lee Brush, a resident of North Seattle and a member of the District 5 Community Network.

City Council and the Director Zimbabwe, never forget, the best transportation plan is a great land use plan.

That's a mantra repeated by Brent Toleran, the former Chief Planner for Vancouver, BC.

That philosophy has helped Vancouver create an amazingly livable city, where over 50% of all trips are by transit, walking, and biking.

One of my dreams is for the leaders of both cities to meet to explore strategies to envision and implement transportation and land use plans that help people of all ages and abilities to move around the city.

But of more immediate concern, Mr. Zimbabwe, you are undoubtedly being quickly inundated with the details of managing a complex department and will face citizens arguing for a variety of priorities.

But as you begin formulating and implementing a vision for people moving around Seattle, we request that you make some time to visit the neighborhoods to get to know your new city.

Last year, the District 5 Community Network, Council Member Juarez and I, work with the organizations throughout District 5 to conduct tours of the district for council members at large, Gonzales and Mosqueda.

Mr. Zafali, we invite you, the Mayor and her deputies, and the members of City Council to a tour of District 5 with us to experience this neighborhood and its people.

I'm submitting to you copies of these comments and a summary of the transportation issues in our area.

And my contact information is on it for you to contact me to arrange the tour.

Thank you, sir.

Following Lisa will be Alice Lockridge.

Hi, my name is Lisa Ferseen.

I'm representing the Seattle Silence Breakers, and I'm reading a statement today supporting the process used to select the SDOT director.

Sam Zimbabwe comes before the city council as nominated by Mayor Durkan for SDOT director after an 11-member committee conducted a nationwide search for one of the most highly scrutinized positions in the city.

Similar nationwide searches have been conducted for the new City Light CEO, Deborah Smith, and Seattle Police Department Chief, Carmen Best.

Currently, the Silence Breakers are collaborating with employees of HSD and community service providers, demanding a transparent and competitive search process for the director of HSD, as has been done for all other high-profile positions in the city under the Durkin administration.

We are pressuring the administration to change this standalone strategy by aggressively organizing, demanding transparency, and a process with equality at the forefront.

As Sam stated, no other city across the country has the type of trajectory and challenges that Seattle is facing right now.

If voted in, Sam will be faced immediately with dismantling the viaduct, new tunnel, waterfront construction, light rail expansion, and convention center redesign.

It's these types of transportation projects that make SDOT an exciting place to work.

However, there are other challenges faced citywide and by SDOT, as revealed in Durkin's executive order regarding anti-harassment, anti-discrimination that make SDOT an intimidating place to work.

In a survey of more than 4,000 employees, one third said they have been subjected to harassment or discrimination, with the percentages being higher for women and people of color.

Sam, please encourage your future staff to report their concerns to the Office of the Employee Ombud, which is critical to ensuring fair and supportive treatment of employees experiencing harassment, discrimination, and misconduct.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Following Alice will be Alex Zimmerman.

There's two of us named Alice.

Oh, Alice Lockridge, then Alice Lockhart.

Similar last names, too, is seventh.

Alice Lockridge and Alex Zimmerman.

Well, as long as we both get to talk, it won't matter.

Hi, I'm Alice Lockridge, a retired City of Seattle employee and a member of the Silence Breakers.

I'm reading eight of 37 comments we received from dozens of SDOT employees.

I'm reading them because current employees don't feel safe to speak their truth here in public.

I would encourage you, the new director, to review SDOT employee engagement surveys.

Another employee said to read the recommendations from the Mayor's Anti-Harassment IDT.

Another comment was that complaining at SDOT is career suicide.

Victims complaining cannot bring their concerns to anyone safely.

It's a nightmare to add new dependents after birth to insurance forms, figure out FMLA leave time, and contact HR shortly after giving birth.

Another said, there is no support for working mothers when they come back to work, especially for moms trying to pump who have field jobs.

Women are expected to do all the social tasks on groups, organizing parties, shopping for treats and gifts, cleaning up afterwards, sending cards, collecting donations for baby showers, and of course, funeral flowers.

Another person said, I was talking passionately about a problem we needed to fix to provide better customer service at a team meeting, but I was immediately cut off by my male supervisor and chided that I needed to take it down a notch.

His patronizing tone was humiliating.

Several of my male colleagues have extremely loud voices and have even banged on the table when they were talking, but never once were they told to tone it down.

My manager told me that I had to decide if I was serious about my career with the City and if my job was important to me or not in response to asking for a reduction in my weekly hours so that I could pick up my children from daycare.

This caused me great distress when my manager routinely leaves work early to pick up his own kids.

Alex Zimmerman will be followed by Sean Van Eel.

I want to speak about agenda, about your workplace.

Because I come to this place for 10 years, more than 2,000 times, I have a little bit of correction.

Correction number one, Consul Vares always stopping me and take me out.

She doing this, use her power because I can do that for District 5 and she District 5 Consul now.

That's number one.

You, Carol, like a president, possibly stop her because I think she has a mental problem, number one.

Number two, about someone.

Someone talk too much, too much, too much, too much and always agree with her, but she forgot about one simple point.

When every director will have Q&A every month, it's not matter who will be this director.

Because this never happened with Consul too.

You never have Q&A every month.

You ask employee, you post a report to us like all civilized businesses doing.

You're not civilized businesses.

You are pure criminal, fascist, a bandit.

This is exactly who you are.

For this, we don't have Q&A.

So Consul Savan, it's why do not propose in your statement about this bad, bad, bad boy, what is Durkan fine, you know what this mean?

So every director in every department have every month's Q&A.

I talk about this Council 7 for many years, and you don't listen to me.

You don't listen to me right now.

So your goal only for election.

I don't want what is people elected, because you are most dangerous crook from this old fascist what is.

Mr. President, this speaker began with personal insults and is ending with personal insults, and it has nothing to do with the agenda.

Stand up, America.

Stand up.

This is exactly what is being doing right now.

Q&A with every, this crook, every month, every month, every month.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.

Unfortunately, I think he was describing the confirmation process for directors, which is part of our work plan and our responsibility.

I think that somewhere embedded in that was that point, but I appreciate your admonition.

So we'll follow that by Sean Van Eyck and then Ms. Alice Lockhart.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Sean Van Eyck.

I am a union representative for PROTEC 17, formerly Professional and Technical Employees Local 17. I'm also the co-chair of the Coalition of City Unions.

PROTEC represents about a quarter of the city employees, and in coalition, we represent over half of the city employees.

I was also on the search committee for the SDOT director, and I'm here to strongly endorse the appointment of Sam Zimbabwe for the leadership position within SDOT.

In the short time that he's been there in consultation with members, I've heard nothing but positive things about his role and that he's been a breath of fresh air.

So, thank you.

Thank you, Jeff.

Our last sign-off speaker is Alice Lockhart.

Good afternoon, Council.

I was here, anyway, working with 350 for the MHA, and I learned that Katie Wilson could not come today to speak on the Zimbabwe appointment on behalf of the MAS coalition.

So I am doing my best to speak for MAS.

Seattle Sustainably Coalition.

We are excited at the prospect of Mr. Zimbabwe's appointment and look forward to working on, sorry, working with him and with the mayor's office.

We hope this represents, his appointment represents an inflection point and after which efforts to make this a greener, more sustainable, city to meet the challenge of climate change and to make our transportation system meet that challenge and be more equitable.

It's a huge task and we are completely excited to work with Mr. Zimbabwe to get us there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes our public comment section.

So we will move to payment of bills, so please read the title.

I'll move to pass Council Bill 119465. It's been moved and seconded that the bill pass.

Any further comments?

Please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda aye.

Sawant aye.

Bankshaw aye.

Gonzales aye.

Herbold aye.

Johnson aye.

Juarez aye.

President Harrell aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and the Chair will sign it.

Please read the report of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee.

The report of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee, agenda item one, appointment 1250, appointment of Samuel D. Zimbabwe as director of the Seattle Department of Transportation for a term to January 1st, 2023. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Council Member Johnson.

Thanks.

Council Member O'Brien conveys his regrets for not being here this afternoon, but I'm happy to speak to Mr. Zimbabwe's appointment on his behalf.

But before we do so, one of the things that has been a relatively new tradition for us as a council is to include a letter of expectations associated with the council confirmation of mayoral committee members, so cabinet members.

So this letter, which has been circulated to council members, and I'm holding it for benefit of the public, includes the following expectations of our new SDOT director, that they maintain a constructive working relationship with the council, that they advance the city's race and social justice goals, that they proactively and effectively communicate with our constituents, that they demonstrate strong management skills, that they deliver on capital projects as outlined by the Move Seattle Reset, that they ensure the department prioritized the implementation of Vision Zero strategies while working towards moving goods and people more efficiently throughout the city.

that they foster cooperative regional partnerships, and that they create a vision for the future that supports the city's affordability, livability, climate, and environmental stewardship goals.

There's a lot more included in this letter, but that's the major overarching points.

And with that said, I'd like to get the administrative thing out of the way, if possible, and move to amend appointment 1250 to add the council's letter of expectations for Mr. Zimbabwe.

Councilmember Johnson is officially making an amendment to add the letters.

Is there a second?

Okay, those in favor of the amendment as stated by Councilmember Johnson, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed?

The ayes have it and the file is amended.

Thank you.

So briefly, I want to say that the Council Committee on Sustainability and Transportation spoke to Mr. Zimbabwe at a couple of different committee meetings and held a public hearing on his appointment.

And we received written responses from many individuals in the public as part of that confirmation process as well.

Throughout that, I was really struck by three things that I want to highlight.

It's my belief that Sam has a deep commitment to building people-centered and sustainable cities, and that can be seen not only through his work at the DC Department of Transportation, but also through his previous work in the private and nonprofit sectors.

Seattle's trying to meet our challenge of climate change goals, and transportation is the largest emitter.

And I believe that SAM is going to be focused on building resilient and equitable transportation options.

to make sure that we can meet those climate change goals.

I also believe that Sam's career has given him the experience that will allow us to make progress on those goals because he has done that in the past.

He's been in charge of planning and delivering major capital projects in a complex political environment like Washington, D.C., and has done an exemplary job in doing that.

So as we enter into our own major phases of construction, We wish him well in having the same sort of success here in Seattle that he had in DC.

And then finally, I'm particularly pleased by his thoughtfulness around transportation equity and Vision Zero, two foundational policies for SDOT in our work.

And I think that Sam's commitment to making sure that all of the residents of our city have equitable access to transportation is going to be critical.

And that every time that a resident leaves their front door and wants to get somewhere in the city that they can get there safely is a core value of his.

In his responses to council, I want to quote, Sam said one thing that I thought was very helpful.

Transportation is the power to be a force for positive transformation within communities.

safe, accessible, reliable, and intuitive transportation connects people with economic and educational opportunities and can even accommodate improved health and quality of life outcomes.

I thought that was an excellent sort of modus operandi for our new SDOT director.

So I'm pleased to recommend that the council confirm the appointment of Sam Zimbabwe to a term of January 1st, 2023.

Thank you, Councilmember Johnson.

And thank you, Councilmember O'Brien for watching in.

Any other comments or questions?

Councilmember Mosqueda.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, and thanks to the Chair and to Council Member Johnson for those incredible words, but mostly thank you to Mr. Zimbabwe for your interest in serving the City of Seattle.

We're really excited about this potential, well, I should say.

about your upcoming confirmation, which was just momentarily away.

Because we know that it's really incredible, the amount of work that you bring to this position, your dedication.

You're going to be grappling with past planning practices and decisions and helping us deliver on our present day commitments.

And I know that with your experience in the past, and your commitment to working directly with community and with the workers that you just heard from, from ProTech17, especially with the workers whose voices haven't been lifted up in the past, that together we can actually create a Seattle that moves towards the transportation system of the future.

And this is no small job, so I don't want to minimize the type of work that we have in front of us.

But as a health advocate, I think this rule is really critically important for promoting health across our city.

Health and economic and social disparities exist throughout our city due to a variety of past harms and historic inequities in our city's planning process that have directly interfaced with our transportation policies.

So having you at the helm to think about city planning, investments, priorities through a race and social justice lens, as you heard from the silence breakers, is really critical for us in an effort to close these disparities, in an effort to make sure that we're serving every community equitably across our city so that people can get to their child care facilities, so that they can get to grocery stores if they are in food deserts, so that they can get to their health clinics, and that they can access affordable housing throughout the city.

What you do has the ability to create healthy communities and to help us deliver on a more accessible Seattle.

So one of the things that I would like to just flag for you that I'm really interested in is advancing our commitment to creating an accessible network for bicyclists throughout Seattle.

And we talk a lot about ages and abilities.

One of the words that we use up here now is the Allegra system.

All ages, languages, ethnicities, genders, races, and abilities.

We want to see more people of color younger folks, older folks, people of different abilities out there using our bike network and to know that they're going to be safe in this latest Seattle squeeze.

We saw a number of people with ability limitations being boxed out of being able to access our city because the boxes in the middle of intersections were filled with cars.

We're looking forward to working with you to ban boxes from being in the cars and to make sure that our crosswalks, our sidewalks, our bike lanes are truly safe for everyone.

And I'm looking forward to working with you to make sure that we're intentionally and equitably prioritizing our investments in those systems throughout Seattle so it's a transportation system for all.

I really commend you for wanting to serve here.

I'm excited that your family is moving out here.

Looking forward to working with you.

And mostly I just want to thank the folks who made this search process inclusive.

I think it's really powerful, the words we heard today from really some of our most trusted community partners.

The folks from ProTech, the folks from the silence breakers, others who engaged in this national process.

And we heard clearly from the silence breakers that there's not issues that have been resolved yet, but there's faith in the process that took place to know that you heard some of these issues.

So for us, I think as council members, we can take some solace in the fact that you hear them, you're committed to addressing them, and through the process and the public meetings that were held on your nomination, you're committed to addressing those head-on.

So thank you for helping to lift up the community-identified priorities, especially with our Move Seattle transit investments, our basic bike network, our pedestrian master plan, and for making sure that truly Seattle creates a vision of transportation that's inclusive for all.

Excited to work with you and your family.

Thank you, Council Member Esqueda.

Council Member Bagshaw.

Sam, I would like to just say what Council Member Mosqueda said, what she says.

But I'd like to focus on two quick things.

The bike network downtown is critical, something I've been working on for about seven or eight years now.

If we're gonna be dealing with reducing congestion, getting that bike network to a place where people like me can feel safe, thank you for that.

And then also in our letter dated February 25th under equity, We've added a section asking for you to focus on implementing the city's age-friendly action plan to the extent it applies to SDOT.

So that age-friendly action plan is something very important to me, and I appreciate your work on it.

Thank you, Council Member Bekshaw.

Any further comments or questions?

If not, we're ready to vote.

Those in favor of confirming the appointment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Thank you very much.

I did watch the Academy Awards, so if you have to start playing the music, I know I've gone too long.

Thank you for your vote today.

It's truly an honor to be entrusted with the leadership of the Seattle Department of Transportation.

I've now been here for about four weeks, and there has never been a dull moment.

I can tell you that.

I would like to thank Mayor Durkin for putting her faith in me and to my family for supporting me as I take on this responsibility.

I also want to thank the more than 900 women and men of SDOT, many of whom I have been able to meet and who I feel lucky to serve alongside every day.

I look forward to working with you and all the residents and businesses of Seattle to build a safe and equitable transportation system.

I also look forward to fostering an inclusive and collaborative department where good ideas come from throughout the organization and each and every employee is able to contribute to their fullest potential.

Leadership of SDOT is a role that has many responsibilities.

Whether it's delivering important projects that will build the city of the future or basic services that people depend on each day, I'm excited for the challenges that await me.

Thank you.

Thank you and congratulations.

Please read the report of the Housing, Health, Energy and Workers' Rights Committee.

The report of the Housing, Health, Energy and Workers' Rights Committee, agenda item two, Council Bill 119462 relating to the City Light Department declaring certain real property surplus to the needs of the city.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I appreciate all the good work from Seattle City Light, who came to the committee in the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee last time we met to talk about this piece of property.

Just as a reminder to folks, we did pass a land disposition policy last year that required the city to look at every parcel of land and to decide if we can build affordable housing on that land, it should be preserved, protected in public hands so that we can build affordable housing.

We first applied that rule to Seattle City Light and then to citywide properties at large.

The good news here is that this metric, this rubric, is working.

Seattle City Light came to our table and said, we analyzed this parcel to determine whether or not housing can be built on it.

And the answer was really simple from the get-go, but it's important that we go through the analysis.

The parcel of property is only 30 feet wide.

It has city light lines that run right over it.

And it's already being occupied by a renter that is currently renting a building that is partially on the piece of land.

So we're basically selling a very small strip of land to the current renters so that they can have site ownership.

It makes a lot of sense.

And the dollars will go back to City Light to make sure that the rate payers are kept whole.

I would recommend passage of this small parcel for our consideration.

Thank you very much.

Any questions or comments?

If not, Please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Gonzalez.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

Juarez.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Please read the next agenda item.

For adoption of other resolutions, agenda item three, resolution 31864, a resolution adopting the Seattle City Council's 2019 work program.

Thank you.

As I described this morning at 9.30 when the council briefing started for those that were there, this is a resolution that adopts our 2019 work program.

For the viewing public, at the beginning of each year, we develop a work program that identifies our major projects in our various committees, and this gives us an opportunity to look at assignments and staff time and make sure we allocate the right resources.

This resolution adopts our work program for both standing and select committees.

It has been our historical practice, and central staff and I are aware when there are subject matters, there could be potential overlaps, and of course, many of these subject areas we work on across committees, and so we try to be as specific as possible, but still allow some latitude as the work continues.

So this work program can also be updated throughout the year as circumstances and priorities change.

So with that, are there any questions or comments on the work plan?

If not, those in favor of adopting the resolution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

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

Please read the next agenda item.

Resolution 31865, Adopting Statements of Legislative Intent for the 2019 Adopted Budget, 2020 Endorsed Budget in 2019 through 2024 Adopted Capital Improvement Program.

So just like the

Previous resolution, this resolution adopts our statements of legislative intent.

You'll hear council members refer to these as SLI's and so this adopts them for the 2019 adopted budget and in 2020 endorsed budget.

and the 2019 to 2024 Adopted Capital Improvement Program.

So a slide is intended to explain an action, such as providing a rationale for a budget cut, as an example, to give guidance for city policies, such as describing how a program is to operate.

It may call for additional studies, such as requesting a report analyzing the effectiveness of a new program, or it may create a new program for a department and or the council, such as calling for a study of a new concept or approach.

And so this resolution formally adopts the many slides that the city council adopted during the budget process and will list 32 slide items on the attachment, the associated legislation.

Any question or comments on this resolution?

If not, those in favor of adopting the resolution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

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

Is there any other business to come before the council?

If not, we stand adjourned.

Everyone have a great day, and we'll start our MHA hearing discussion at quarter till?

Quarter till, that'd be 245, not 246, 245. We stand adjourned, everyone.

Thank you.