Thank you son and thank you madam clerk.
Good afternoon everybody.
Today is October 24th.
This is a meeting of the Seattle City Council.
I'm Debra Juarez.
I'm now calling the meeting to order.
Madam clerk, will you please take the role?
Council member Lewis.
Present.
Council member Morales.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Present.
Council Member Nelson.
Present.
Council Member Peterson.
Present.
Council Member Sawant.
Present.
Council Member Strauss.
Present.
Council Member Herbold.
Here.
And Council President Juarez.
Here.
Eight, present.
Thank you.
If there's no objection, Council Member Morales will be excused from today's City Council meeting.
Not seeing an objection, Council Member Morales is indeed excused.
Uh, there are no presentations for us today moving on to public comment.
I understand that we have 2 remote speakers and 7 folks in chambers.
So we'll start with our remote speakers.
Each speaker will have 2 minutes.
I don't think we need to run the recording.
I think the rules are always pretty self explanatory without going through the whole through the holes.
Presentation instructions, please please speak to the matters on the agenda.
What's also in our work plan.
I ask that you please be considerate and allow people to speak.
And with that, madam clerk, I'll let you go ahead and start with the names of the remote folks.
Thank you.
Our 1st, remote speaker is Desiree Hunter.
Hello, my name is Desiree Hunter.
I am a lifelong Seattleite.
I live on Beacon Hill in District 2, and I have been a city employee for 25 years.
Since 2008, I have worked in the Information Technology Department maintaining Seattle's street network data in the city's Geographic Information System, or GIS.
I am respectfully requesting an audience with members of the Transportation Committee regarding two topics which have a direct bearing on the city's street data, especially in terms of emergency response and public safety.
These topics require more time than what is allotted here today.
The street data that I maintain is pulled into both police and fire emergency dispatch systems, and my position is partially funded by the Regional Emergency 911 Agency.
So this request, I promise you, is not made lightly or frivolously.
I have reached out to Transportation Committee members before, but will email those members again so that you have my contact information.
The agenda item is SLI SDOT 302A-001 2023. The other topic has to do with the legal naming of street right-of-way.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Thank you.
Our next remote speaker is Lee Lambert.
Lee?
Hello.
Hi, my name is Lee Lambert and I'm the Executive Director of Cascade Bicycle Club.
I'm just calling to speak in support of the resolution that you guys will be considering today regarding reallocating, renaming the Ballard Way terminal to, I do believe it's Meeker Railway.
Calling to voice Cascade's support for the transfer as it will allow the city to pave over what is one of the most dangerous parts of the Burton-Villamon Trail Missing Link, the tracks under the Ballard Bridge, which have caused countless injuries and harmed many cyclists We are appreciative for the city moving quickly on getting these railroad tracks paved as quickly as possible as a first step to making social favor for all cyclists.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
We'll move to in-person speakers.
And our first person is Christy Robertson.
Hello, my name is Christy Robertson.
I speak on behalf of those in my East Ballard neighborhood, many of whom met with Councilmember Strauss a few months ago, to walk around our community and share our concern that building townhomes with limited or zero off-street parking is causing serious problems.
Councilmember Strauss was empathetic to concerns, but stated that there was nothing he could do about it.
My neighbors keep asking me, have you spoken to Dan again?
So here I am.
A hundred years ago, my neighborhood included pasture for cows.
Over time, varied city councils changed the zoning to 5,000 square lots with single homes.
Later, the zoning was changed to duplexes.
Now we are upzoned with four to six townhomes per lot with zero to 75% off-street parking.
While upzoning is needed to provide more housing, cars, now sometimes approach each other with no place to go.
Twice I've had to back up into an intersection to allow a car to pass.
This is dangerous, especially on my street, which is a designated bike path.
The theory that bus routes and a future light rail station will eliminate the need for cars lacks the awareness that this is a family neighborhood located blocks from three schools.
These townhomes are the family homes of the 21st century.
Families with children require a car to get to emergency medical treatments in the middle of the night and to soccer practice.
I appeal to the council to return to prior upzone building code which required one off-street parking space per townhome.
Please keep family neighborhoods safe.
I will send each of you a request.
A copy of this request, Council Member Strauss, I ask that you initiate a proposal to require off-street parking space, one per townhome.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next person up is Nate Moxley.
Good afternoon.
My name is Nate Moxley.
I am a District 4 resident, lifelong Seattle resident as well.
I want to say I'm here on my personal time.
I'm a Protech 17 union member.
In total, I've been a Peapatch Community Garden Coordinator for seven years at the Department of Neighborhoods.
Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts and feelings regarding the general COLA increase for city workers and to advocate for increasing the pay range for the Community Garden Coordinator position so that our wages are more aligned with other city employees with similar job requirements.
The past few years have taken a toll on our family's ability to keep up with rising costs.
It is imperative that the City of Seattle recognize that city workers play a critical role in making Seattle a place where we embrace difference and celebrate commonality.
From frontline workers and first responders to parks employees and IT security specialists, all of us play a part in making Seattle a world-class city.
Offering a fair COLA for city workers, many of whom are Seattle residents, impacts the neighborhoods that we live in, the local small businesses that we sustain, and our individual families' well-being.
The pandemic highlighted the importance of the P-PATCH program.
For a period of time in 2020, Seattle's community gardens became one of the few places for city residents to safely interact.
Many Peapatch gardeners shared that their gardens became a real lifeline for human connection.
Across the city's 90 Peapatch gardens, we heard about neighbors checking on neighbors, sharing food, and supporting each other.
through health and employment challenges.
The gardens were and are places of respite where gardeners were able to maintain emotional well-being or heal from mental health trauma.
The work of a garden coordinator is diverse and requires a wide range of skills to be successful, from community organizing and leadership development to maintaining a database and stewarding internal and external relationships with many partners.
Our ability to recruit and retain
I probably should have said at the outset, I again, 2 minutes and then you get a 10 second warning.
So I apologize that it's a little bit abrupt.
I probably should have said that at the beginning.
So again, 2 minutes with a 10 second warning.
Thank you.
Is this work?
Oh, this one's working.
Clerk, is yours working?
Yep.
Hello?
How's that?
There we go.
I can hear you.
Oh, okay.
Just tell us when.
Go for it.
All right.
My name is Jessica Ray.
I'm an admin specialist, one with Seattle Fire, and I am Seattle Fire Department's union steward for Protex 17. I'm speaking with you today about our contract, wage study, and cost of living adjustment.
I am the office assistant for the fire marshal's office, doing critical work to keep our city and its people safe.
Every single fire code complaint or daycare inspection request typically goes through me and ends with me.
All calls for the fire marshal's office, in addition to 40 hours per week I spend in the office, I spend time working on union items off the clock, bargaining team prep, speaking to council like I am today on my own time, rallies, steward meetings, and more.
I give a lot to the city, knowing that I am one of the lowest paid workers in the city.
I cannot afford to live in the city I serve.
I can no longer even afford to park in the city I work in, as parking alone was costing me a minimum of $3,000 a year or 7% of my yearly income.
With the 2.5% COLA the city is offering, I couldn't even pay for six months of parking, let alone gas.
And frankly, the only reason I can afford to take the bus in every day is because of our OrcaPass benefit.
Otherwise, I would literally be unable to afford to get to work.
And I'm not eligible for telecommute either.
Between commute, the work I do on the clock, the work I do off the clock, I give nearly 60 hours a week to the city, literally half the hours of each day in a work week.
Our office is understaffed and behind.
We have multiple job classifications, but the majority of us are ad specs.
According to the recent wage study that the city is not honoring in full, we are 20% behind market.
at the inflation rate, and we are nearly 30% below where we should be in pay.
We cannot retain good workers at that rate because they cannot afford to stay, or if they do stay and tough it out, we drown them in so much work that it becomes unbearable.
The unit that handles all the high-rise inspections in the city each year, one admin spec, one inspector.
They are months behind.
Systems Testing handles 28,000 fire safety systems in the city, with 7,000 to 8,000 systems deficient and in need of attention, with one admin spec and one lieutenant.
Emails are expiring before we're able to get to them.
And that's just two of our units.
The city needs to step up and back its claim of one Seattle.
One Seattle should not mean 1% for Seattle workers, and upping that to 2.5% does not negate the problem either.
We work hard, we commute long hours, and we serve the city with everything we have and then some.
We deserve to have pay that matches and to have pay that keeps quality folks keeping the city running.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Ashley Clayton.
And I'd like to mention that usually there's a 10-second warning.
So if you could please be mindful when your time's expired.
Thank you.
Yes, thank you.
Hello, my name is Ashley Clayton.
I'm a 25-year plus District 5 resident.
I'm a Protech 17 member here on my personal time.
I'm also a human service department case manager working on the Seattle Fire Department's HealthONE mobile integrated team.
Our teams of case managers paired with specially trained Seattle firefighters respond to individuals who have activated the 911 system, typically for some kind of crisis.
The crisis can include people experiencing homelessness, people in mental health crisis, with substance use disorder, people who are aging in place, have poorly managed chronic illness, may be experiencing abuse and neglect, may be food insecure, living in hoarded conditions, or any combination of the above.
We work to address the immediate crisis and follow up with the individual to connect them to ongoing supports to meet their needs.
I urge you to support the vital mission of city workers.
We need a fair contract and a living wage.
Many city workers describe being financially pushed out of the city they love and serve.
We also need to remain a competitive employer in this region.
For example, the HealthONE case managers looked at the wages for other mobile integrated health teams in the area, and we are at the lower end of compensation for King County.
I am proud to work for the City of Seattle and I love the work I do.
Please support a fair and sustainable contract and wage.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Jamie Feckler.
Good afternoon.
I'm a shop steward for pro tech 17. I'm here on my own time.
how important it is to pay fair wages in the city of Seattle.
We certainly, there's a lot of things that are on the agenda every week about how we're going to deliver better services and improve on services and meet the needs of a diverse community.
But we don't get there by not giving people raises or just keeping wages up with the pace of inflation.
We can look to two departments that are really struggling in the city currently, Seattle Fire that's two and a half years out of contract, and the Seattle Police Department that's two and a half years out of contract.
We're approaching a year out of contract with record inflation.
So the city's proposal for two, two and a half percent is insulting.
It's incredibly insulting as a city worker who has shown up during the pandemic, one of the few people to report in community for the entire pandemic.
I can't tell you what it feels like as an employee to be this undervalued by a community that purports to have values of supporting people and being one Seattle.
It certainly doesn't feel that way on the other end.
I love this city.
I've dedicated my life to serving this city and advocating for my colleagues and community members.
So I urge you to dig deep and let's live our values as a city and honor the people that are working it by paying them fair wages and keeping their jobs up with the current market, recognizing the salary wage analysis and the record inflation that we've experienced and you know I just again I thank you all you council members for your service and really appreciate what you do.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Alicia Gregory Davis.
Hello everyone, Alicia Gregory Davis.
I am a union rep with Protech 17. I'm here on behalf of workers I represent in Seattle Public Utilities, specifically those working in the water quality lab.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to come today because they have limited staffing and that is one of the reasons why they wanted me to come and speak on their behalf.
As I stated, folks working over in the water quality labs such as water quality analysts, water quality technicians, they have been understaffed for many years.
They've been fighting tirelessly to see about getting their class spec reassessed and they have been denied multiple times.
They are part of the seeing about what a wage increase looks like for their group.
They have a severe recruitment and retention issue, and this is something that even their management is aware of.
They provide critical services for the city by going out, testing water, making sure that the city of Seattle has clean drinking water.
checking micro microorganisms such as in their the folks that work in chemistry, in luminology, in microbiology.
So they provide a critical service to the city.
Their ask is that the council and the city take in consideration the work that they do and that they are able to get a fair wage for the work that they do and that they can keep up with the skill set that they have and they can be able to recruit quality workers.
Right now they are having a very hard time keeping enough staff so that they can even take vacations because they have such high turnover because the pay that they're receiving is not adequate.
With that, that puts them at a disadvantage.
It creates burnout for the workers and they don't have the opportunity to take vacations or come to meetings such as this so they can express the concerns that they're having in the workplace.
So as I said, We are fighting for a good contract.
We need your help in this particular group.
They are desperate for some change.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our last speaker is John Otto.
Hello.
Thank you for allowing me to speak.
My name is John Otto.
I've been a Seattle resident since 1976, which is all my adult life.
I've been a Seattle City employee for the last 11 and a half years, and I'm also a union member.
I'm speaking for myself today.
I work at the library just down the street a few blocks.
I provide information and reference services to all people that come into the library, no matter what their background, who they are, their needs, no matter how intense, and I gotta tell you, it is intense.
It is not a relaxing job working in a library, contrary to public perception.
I increasingly find it hard to afford to live in Seattle, even from back when I was 22, 21 years old when I first started living here.
I've got a master's degree in library and information science.
I've got the student loans to go with it.
And I find it extremely hard to be able to get by, let alone prepare for my retirement.
I'm turning 70 in two years.
Please support a fair contract for city workers.
We work hard, and it's hard to get by and live in this city.
I love this city, but I want to continue to live here.
But I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that after I stop working.
Please give us a fair contract.
Thank you.
And that's the end of the public commenters.
Thank you, madam clerk and thank you for those that called in and thank you for those that showed up today in chambers and with that public comment is now closed.
Moving on to the calendar adoption of the introduction referral calendar.
If there's no objection, the IRC will be adopted.
Not seeing or hearing an objection, the IRC is adopted.
Moving on to today's agenda.
If there's no objection, the agenda is adopted.
Not seeing any objection.
The agenda is adopted.
Let's go to the consent calendar.
The items on the consent calendar are the minutes from October 10th.
And council bill, we have payroll bill, council bill 120676, and council bill 120678. Are there any items any council members would like removed from the consent calendar?
All right, not seeing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.
Is there a second?
Second.
Thank you.
It's been moved and seconded to adopt a consent calendar.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda?
Aye.
Council Member Nelson?
Aye.
Council Member Peterson?
Aye.
Council Member Sawant?
Yes.
Councilmember Strauss?
Yes.
Councilmember Herbold?
Yes.
And Council President Gladys?
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
Thank you.
Consent calendar is adopted.
So with that, before we move on to committee reports, my understanding is that we have seven matters in front of us.
The 1st, 5 is going to lead us through and that is our inaugural payroll tax oversight committee.
So, with that, madam clerk, can you please I think we're going to read from my understanding and we're going to read all items 1 to 5 into the record and let council member most mosquito speak to each of the appointees and then take 1 vote.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
All right, so with that, why don't we go ahead and read items 1 through 5 into the record.
Thank you.
Agenda items 1 through 5, appointment 2682 through 2686. Appointment of Patience M. Malaba as member of Payroll Tax Oversight Committee for a term to October 31st, 2025. Appointments of Gabriel Newman, Ali Panucci, Shawnee Wheeler-James, and Katie Wilson as members, Payroll Tax Oversight Committee for a term to October 31st, 2026. Thank you.
Councilor Mosqueda.
Thank you very much Madam President colleagues.
I'm really excited to sponsor these 5 amendments as you heard from the council president.
This is our inaugural appointments to the jumpstart oversight committee.
Very excited to have 5 very well qualified people who are interested in serving in this role.
And these 5, a lot of council appointments are going to fulfill the requirements as noted in the jumpstart oversight committee as established through ordinance in ordinance 1, 2, 0, 6, 0, 9. Again, this is just part of the equation because the mayor's office has the other half of the oversight board that they will be working on appointing very soon.
The purpose of the oversight board is providing oversight on the services and programs supported by jumpstart and the impacts of the progressive revenue payroll tax on the local economy in consultation with.
Oversight bodies monitoring investment areas within the spend plan and providing an annual report on this information, both to the council and to the mayor.
I have included in the chairs balancing package that was released last week for the 2024 budget 100000 dollars in general fund to the Department of neighborhoods to support the payroll tax oversight committee evaluation work and annual reporting requirements.
I'm excited that there is staffing currently at the Department of neighborhoods, and that we have added to their 2023 budget to support the work of the jumpstart oversight committee creation and future work.
So, thank you to the existing city family members who are currently within Department of neighborhoods.
I really appreciate the conversations that we've had with the mayor's office about the appointments in front of us today, and they have expressed support for these initial appointees.
The mayor's office is working on their list of appointees and will be in coordination with us as they move forward.
As a note for all of us, the mayor's appointments to the committee do not require council approval.
My office did circulate these appointments to council members and legislative assistance on October 13th.
Thanks to Aaron house, the council president and bring those with her chief of staff and to Dan Nolte in the executive's office, along with deputy mayor Wong for their ongoing conversations.
Madam president is okay.
If I provide a short sentence on each of our appointees in front of us.
Well, let me do something 1st, because I kind of jumped the gun.
I was supposed to move and get a 2nd, then then I'll come back to you.
Can I do that?
1st procedure to break it out?
I apologize.
I realized when I looked at it that I had jumped the gun on that.
So, let me do this.
I moved to confirm appointments to 682 through to 686. Is there a 2nd.
2nd, thank you.
Now, it's been moved and 2nd did to the confirm and now customer mosquito.
You can address those 5 items.
Again.
Thank you very much.
Excellent.
Thank you, Council President.
Colleagues, as I noted, we have five highly qualified candidates in front of us for these appointment slots for the Jumpstart Oversight Board.
This includes Patient Malaba, who serves as the Executive Director for the Housing Development Consortium, which oversees the 200 Membership Association, which is nationally acclaimed and includes a diverse network of housing developers, financial institutions, architects, building contractors, attorneys, accountants, service providers, local housing authorities, government agencies, businesses, that are committed to producing, preserving, and increasing equitable access to affordable homes.
And Patience was named one of the 2023 Puget Sound Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40, and was the 2020 Bullitt Foundation Environmental Award winner for her leadership in addressing the intersecting crises of affordable housing, racial equity, and climate change.
A commitment to environmental and economic justice is her passion and I think that she'll be a fantastic member of this board.
We also have Gabriel Newman.
Who is the policy council and government relations greater Seattle business associations.
government relations manager who began their work as the office manager in 2019. He was attending classes at the Seattle University Law School and has been thrilled to continue to serve at GSBA after law school in the public policy world.
His current work includes a collaboration with GSBA members and local leadership to understand community needs and transform those perspectives into advocacy.
Prior to joining GSBA, Gabriel worked in the legal field and studied political science and public affairs also at Seattle University.
Very excited that the next appointee is our very own Deputy Director Allie Panucci from Central Staff, who's been a pillar of the legislative branch's ability to develop and move forward policy over the last decade almost.
Allie joined City Council Central Staff team in 2015, where she provides independent policy and fiscal analysis to support the Council's decision making on public policy.
And I am very thrilled that Deputy Director Panucci Is interested in serving in this role incredibly important to have continuity as deputy director has been there from the inception of the legislative intent on jumpstart.
And, um, as you all know, deputy director exudes the councils.
Um, a commitment to review and decision making.
For the city's in sorry, executes the city council's review and decision making for the city's annual budget.
She leads the fiscal policy team throughout the year.
And prior to joining central staff, deputy director Panucci worked as senior, a senior planning officer within the city's planning office, focused on a variety of land use policies and regulations.
Very thrilled that she has joined us previously from the city of Minneapolis.
Shawnee Wheeler James serves as the deputy executive secretary treasurer at the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, one of the largest county labor councils in the country with over 100,000 members, spanning 150 unions.
Her work focuses heavily on building relationships with affiliate unions, modernizing and developing our region's local labor movement.
to serve the next generation and also engages in community relationship and action over the last 15 years.
Shani has served as both the political and legislative director at Teamsters Joint Council 28, IBEW Local 77, and she's helped to navigate a web of various policies that span Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.
Very excited that she continues this leadership on workers' rights and ensuring That legislation continues to center those voices in all policy.
And finally, Katie Wilson.
Katie Wilson is the co founder and the general secretary of the transit writers union and king, a king county based membership organization, which advocates on a range of issues, including public transportation, affordable housing, labor standards and tax policy.
Katie has over 10 years of experience in grassroots organizing campaign coordination.
and deep public policy experience, especially on tax related matters.
Katie has served on a number of boards, including the Seattle Transit Advisory Board, Seattle's Progressive Revenue Task Force, the Housing and Homelessness Task Force, the Revenue Stabilization Work, and has been a resident of Seattle for almost 20 years, living car free in our neighborhoods.
and is an incredible asset as we think about long-range public policy changes to tax systems and our code.
There's additional information about all of these appointees in the packets that you receive from the department that was circulated by our office, and I'm honored to bring the individuals forward for your consideration on the Jumpstart Oversight Committee.
Thanks for your interest in serving to our community members, and thanks again to the Council President and Brendel, For working with Aaron house in my office and Dan and deputy mayor one in the mayor's office.
Thank you.
Madam president.
Thank you and a big thanks to Ali for serving.
I don't think she's had enough of us.
Let me open up the floor.
Council member Nelson.
Thank you very much for bringing these forward.
If anybody's been listening to these budget meetings, it's clear that we are eager to have this oversight board impaneled.
And they've got a full plate off the bat talking about what qualifies for what kinds of spending.
So thank you very much.
And I want to give a special shout out to Gabriel Newman because GSBA has a special place in my heart as I believe it's the largest association representing small businesses in particular in Seattle.
They're a wonderful advocate and have always been really central to city policy as well.
So I'm really glad to see somebody represented from the GSBA on this board and think that's a great choice.
Do you know when, Council Member Mosqueda, do you know when the, what is the timeline for having everybody on board, I guess is what I'm trying to ask.
Thank you very much council member Nelson and thanks for your comments about the appointees.
The conversation is ongoing with the mayor's office.
They're initiating their initial outreach to various members to serve.
And so I believe that we'll know more in the next month or 2 about their selection.
And our hope is to very much have this stood up in the 1st, quarter of next year.
We have fully well, we've, we've allocated a 100000 dollars so that they have the funding to go right away in January.
And there's also department and neighborhood staff members that are ready and already employed, helping to get them off the ground.
So I think it could go as early as January is next year.
Okay, is that thank you for that is is that 100,000 that you just mentioned different from the up to 5% of the annual jumpstart fund revenue that is for the administration and evaluation of the effectiveness of the jumpstart payroll excise tax.
Correct yeah, central staff can help provide an overview.
It's included in our memos from last week and the previous meeting as well.
5% is the allocated amount for administration across all categories.
So green new deal housing, equitable development and economic resilience categories allow for 5% for various departments.
So this is an allocation of 100,000 that is moving forward for next year.
But each of the categories still retain.
5% allowance and we can get you additional information.
Okay.
I was just reading it here.
It said administer and evaluate.
So I thought that's what you're talking about because I thought that that up to 5% was also for evaluation.
We can talk later.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thanks.
With that, since we're giving shout-outs, I want to give a big shout-out to Patience, our good friend, who I have been working closely with for at least, since I've been here, eight years, and watched her career grow.
Plus, she is a defiber.
Yeah, and I'm not busy in January, somebody, so I may need a job.
If you want me on there, let me know.
All right.
Is there any other comments from my colleagues before we go to a vote?
No, thanks for all your support to get these through today so that we can hopefully get the panel up and running early next year.
Great.
All right.
With that, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda?
Aye.
Council Member Nelson?
Aye.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
Council Member Sawant?
Yes.
Council Member Strauss?
Yes.
Council Member Herbold.
Yes.
And Council President Juarez.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
Thank you.
Let's move on to item number six.
Looks like this comes out of Council Member Straus' committee.
Will the clerk please read the short title of item six into the record?
Agenda item six, Council Bill 120677, authorizing the Seattle Department of Transportation Director to approve the transfer of the railway franchise granting the right privilege and accompanying authority to locate, lay down, construct, maintain, own, and operate standard gauge railway tracks.
All right.
I made a mistake.
This did not come out of committee, so I need to move it because it came straight to committee as Council Member Strauss walked us on, I believe, last week.
I move to pass Council Bill 120677. Is there a second?
Second.
It has been moved and seconded to pass the bill.
Councilor Strauss, as sponsor, you are recognized.
Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, colleagues, for allowing me to walk this on.
This is an urgent bill because the work needs to take place before the weather changes.
And what this would do, it would allow SDOT to pave over the section of railroad underneath the Ballard Bridge that is part of the missing link.
I'm really excited that we can finally make one of the most dangerous railroad crossings in our city.
safe for people riding their bikes.
When I was in grade school, I watched somebody crash their bike on these tracks and they had to call 911 and were taken to the hospital.
This was before Fred Meyer was ever built, back when Ballard was a very different neighborhood.
And I'm really excited and glad that we can finally put a stop to this.
This bill sets us up to be able to pave over this dangerous section of train tracks in the city, one of the most dangerous sections of train tracks in the city, which is under the Ballard Bridge within the missing link of the Burke-Gilman Trail.
This legislation is a simple amendment and allows us to pave, as soon as this legislation is passed, we will be able to pave over that section of the tracks, hopefully this week.
If not, very soon, because again, this work must happen before the weather changes with rain and colder temperatures.
This bill will make biking in District 6 and our city safer.
I urge your support today.
I'm proud to deliver this outcome for District 6 and our city by bringing people together to find common ground.
This demonstrates that even after 30 years of fighting, we can move forward together and everyone can win.
Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, colleagues.
Councilor Strauss, thank you for speaking to the base bill, but I believe you had an amendment for me.
Did I?
I thought you were going to amend council bill.
I do.
It is a substitute type amendment.
We've been working with Lauren Henry and so I would.
So I need you to move it and then we'll go from there.
If you move to amend council bill as presented as amendment A.
Thank you.
I move to amend council bill 120677 as demonstrated in amendment A.
Thank you.
Is there a second?
I'll second it.
Thank you.
It has been moved and seconded to adopt amendment A as presented on the agenda.
Councilor Estrella, can you speak to the amendments and then we can go back to the base.
Yes, happy to.
I'm just pulling up the amendment right now.
These were a number of technical changes that, so for background colleagues, the lawyers between the city and the railroad have been working to make this fix.
These are all, and I looked them in the eyes, they had to look me in the eyes, and they had to give me verbal confirmation that they both accepted these agreements.
And so all of this has been agreed upon by both the city, by all lawyers who typically disagree.
So there are a few whereas paragraphs just about rail and trail purposes, modifications to their current operating agreement and assignment of the operating agreement to Meeker Southern Railroad through the passage of the ordinance.
changing the word use and occupy from operate, an assignment, some technical changes with capitalization, and ensuring that substantially in the form of the agreement attached to this ordinance, any contingency in the amendment or assignment of the operating agreement to the railroad is satisfied by the enactment of this ordinance.
All that to say with this, there is also a signed agreement between the railroad and our SDOT director that is attached to this record.
Great, thank you, I just had it handed in front of me.
Thank you, Council Member Strauss.
So you just spoke to the amendment.
Are there any comments regarding Council Member Strauss' amendment A?
Okay, I'm not seeing any.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of amendment A?
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda?
Aye.
Council Member Nelson?
Aye.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
Council Member Sawant.
Yes.
Council Member Strauss.
Yes.
Council Member Herbold.
Yes.
And Council President Juarez.
Aye.
Eight in favor and none opposed.
Thank you.
So the motion carries.
Amendment A is adopted and the bill is amendment.
Are there any other further discussions on the amended bill?
Not seeing any.
Council Member Strauss, do you have any closing remarks before we go to a vote on the amended bill?
I'm just happy that we can make this a safer intersection and that truly people can come together when we put our differences aside and focus on our common ground.
Thank you.
Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the council bill as amended?
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Aye.
Council Member Nelson.
Aye.
Council Member Peterson.
Yes.
Council Member Sawant.
Yes.
Council Member Strauss.
Yes.
Council Member Herbold.
Yes.
And Council President Juarez.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
Thank you.
The bill passes as amended.
Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.
So, let's move on to item number 7 out of the public safety and human services committee.
This is from Councilmember Herbold.
Can you please read item 7 into the record?
Report of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, Agenda Item 7, Council Bill 12668, relating to funding for housing and community development programs adopting the 2024 through 2028 consolidated plan for housing and community development and authorizing its submission to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The committee recommends that council pass the bill.
Thank you.
Council Member Herbold.
Thank you so much.
This legislation adopts the 2024-2028 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development and it also adopts the 2024 Draft Annual Action Plan.
It authorizes submittal to HUD, the Housing and Urban Development department and the consolidated plan itself brings together the principal housing and community development planning documents, informs HUD about Seattle's strategies for using our annual allocation of funds.
from our four HUD programs over the five-year period covered by the plan and provides a draft allocation plan for 2024's anticipated HUD entitlement funds.
Funds are used to provide services, housing, and facilities to people experiencing homelessness, low and moderate income persons, businesses, and neighborhoods, and the legislation itself authorizes the acceptance of those funds.
I just want to also flag that No, I'm not going to mention that actually.
That is not relevant to this particular bill.
There was two pieces of legislation related here and this is the second one.
So, don't want to mix things up.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilor Herbold.
Are there any comments from any of our colleagues regarding Councilor Herbold's piece of legislation in front of us?
I'm not seeing any, and Council Member Herbold, I'm guessing you're good to go on the vote?
Thank you.
This is the second in two bills.
The other one we passed in full council the other week, and with this, we can put to bed the changes to our federal consolidated plan.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks for staying on top of this stuff too.
All right.
With that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Council Member Lewis.
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Aye.
Council Member Nelson.
Aye.
Council Member Peterson.
Yes.
Council Member Sawant.
Yes.
Council Member Strauss.
Yes.
Council Member Herbold.
Yes.
And Council President Juarez.
Aye.
Eight in favor and none opposed.
Thank you.
The bill passes.
The chair will sign it.
And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature again to the legislation.
We had no items removed from the consent calendar, and I am not aware of any resolutions for the, for the introduction and introduction and adoption today.
So, with that, let's move on to other business council rehearsal has a proclamation for signature, recognizing the month of November to be family caregiver support month in Seattle.
Council Member Herbold, the floor is yours.
Thank you so much, Madam President.
Colleagues, this afternoon I'm asking for your signatures on a proclamation declaring November to be Family Caregiver Support Month here in Seattle.
This proclamation was drafted by the Human Services Department.
The mayor is concurring.
My office circulated this proclamation to all council offices last Tuesday.
Just as a little bit of background on the need for the proclamation and the recognition, in Washington State there are an estimated 850,000 unpaid caregivers.
the heart of our long-term care system.
These people dedicate themselves to the physical, emotional, and practical needs of individuals aged 18 or older.
Caregivers often face many challenges, including mental, emotional, and financial challenges.
Unpaid caregivers frequently encounter financial strains due to lost wages and the complexities of finding dependable respite care and essential support services.
This proclamation commends those family caregivers for their resilience and their dedication, and it recognizes the work of family caregivers, allows our entire community to be included with members who are able to live with dignity and compassion.
We're not doing a presentation during a full council meeting.
This proclamation will be shared in the Human Services Department's AgeWise newsletter and at the African American Caregivers Forum next Saturday.
Welcome, my colleagues, to share any comments or questions.
Otherwise, thank you for including your signature.
Thank you.
So, you know, I do have something to say, Councilor Herbold, and thank you, Leila, for running in here and reminding me.
I know this doesn't sound like much, but it's really important on the family caregiver support month, because just this month, we learned or last month through the Native American boarding school issues that Department of health and human services, the federal branch has finally recognized what they call kinship givers as statutorily acceptable, not only to be as kinship.
but also can be compensated for taking care of their family, extended family, and then some.
Some of you are too young to remember this, but it took an act of Congress under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 for this country to recognize extended family.
So just fast forward, I don't know how many years from 78, Now, we don't have to have an Act of Congress.
We can actually have the federal government recognizing kinship.
And it isn't just kinship for blood relations or whom we deem as our family, but also really helps out the LGBTQ community, the transgender community.
All of those people can be recognized as kinship givers and be not only recognized, but compensated and given the services or youth that they bring into their family or elders that they bring into their family.
So I know it took 45 years, but it's nice to know that some things are changing without having to have an act of Congress.
So this does tie into what you're talking about as well.
Councilor Herbold, the family caregiver.
So I want to thank you for that.
Thank you.
All right.
Are there any other comments to the proclamation before we ask for signatures?
All right.
I'm not seeing any.
So with that, and no further discussion.
Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed to the proclamation recognizing the month of November to be Family Caregiver Support Month in Seattle?
Council Member Lewis?
Yes.
Council Member Mosqueda?
Aye.
Council Member Nelson?
Aye.
Council Member Nelson?
Aye.
Thank you.
Council Member Peterson?
Yes.
Council Member Sawant?
Yes.
Council Member Strauss?
Yes.
Council Member Herbold?
Yes.
And Council President Juarez?
Aye.
Eight signatures will be affixed.
Thank you.
So with that, I think we've completed our business for the day.
Is there any other business before I make a comment before we adjourn?
I do not see any.
So, colleagues, this concludes our items of business.
The next regularly scheduled city council meeting is scheduled for October 31st, but that meeting will be canceled.
So there is no meeting on October 31st.
However, the city council will meet again on November 7th, 2023. Did I get that right?
Yes, I got that right.
Okay.
So, we will see you all again on November 7th and with that.
We are adjourned Thank you and thank you for those who called in and came to city council.
Thank you.
Thank you recording.