Select Budget Committee Meeting Session I 10-27-26

Good morning, the October 27th, 2026 Select Budget Committee meeting will come to order at 9.30 a.m.

I'm Dan Strauss, Chair of the Committee.

Clerk, will you please call the roll.

Council Member Foster, Council President Hollingsworth.

Present.

Council Member Juarez.

Present.

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Lynn.

Council Member Rink.

Here.

Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Sokka.

Good morning.

Here.

And Chair Strauss.

Can you call Council Member Foster again?

Council Member Foster.

Here.

Thank you.

And Chair Strauss.

Present.

Present.

Thank you.

Those not present are excused until they arrive.

We have a packed agenda today.

We are getting our first look at initial council member proposals.

These are not amendments.

These are proposals.

And we have a couple proposals that are very large, eight and $10 million.

I think that these are important to bring forward because it represents council members bringing forward the true need that is in our community today.

We have had a difficult budget year.

I will be putting together the chair's package over the course of the next week to do my best, and I have been scouring this budget in ways, and I've been looking for every penny and dollar that I can find to help this cohort of council members meet the community's needs that they have seen, that they have heard, and that they are proposing today.

And so I've heard a lot of questions about what's being cut, what's being traded off, I'm not looking to cut things.

And to the best of my abilities, I won't.

And we still have a great ability to fund as much of these wonderful proposals that we have before us today.

But that's not easy work and that'll occur over the next week.

We have Council Member Lynn and Rivera present as well.

Next week, I will have the chair's package out in public.

We will print it and publish it 48 hours before the public hearing.

There will be a full day-long meeting here in the Select Budget Committee to review the chair's package line by line.

And it's very important to me that we put this information out in the public with enough time for everyday people to read, to digest, to understand before they come and give their public comments so that they can be as well informed as possible.

The Monday after that is the self-balanced amendment.

Those are the council member amendments, right?

Today are proposals.

Once we have a better understanding, and I'm continuing to look through the back of the budget book right now, to find every dollar that we can to responsibly and fiscally responsibly fund the needs of our community.

We've had a structural budget deficit.

It took 10 years to create.

We can't solve it in one year without doing unnecessary harm in an austere way.

And so it's really important for me that we are meeting the public's needs to the best of our abilities.

And we have about 170 amendments to proposals.

Sorry, I did it myself.

We have about 170 proposals today, which is a similar number to what we had last year.

and this represents that the council members before you representing districts and citywide are out listening to community about what the needs are in our city for Seattleites.

And so whether I agree or disagree, I am grateful for the proposals that are being brought forward today because it represents listening, hearing, digesting, representing this is what a healthy democracy looks like.

With that, we, as I started but talked too long, we have a packed agenda today.

We'll be going through these council member proposals.

I'll call for an hour break, but before we begin, if there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

I've already took all of my allotted speaking time, the four minutes for today, so I'll endeavor to be as quiet as possible moving forward.

With that, we have public comment period.

Clerk, how many folks are signed up in person and online?

Currently, we have 37 people signed up in person and 35 online.

So that is over 60. Usually we drop to below a minute because we endeavor to keep public comment to a minute.

Next week at the public hearing, it's a much longer form.

So I will keep it to one minute today.

If we do have more people show up all of a sudden, we've got a lot of folks, I'll have to cut it down to 50 seconds or 45 seconds.

But with that, We've already done that part.

Each speaker will have one minute.

We will start with in-person speakers first and then we will transfer remotely.

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 60, let's do 70 minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

and you will hear a chime when 10 seconds are remaining.

So please wrap up your comments.

The microphones do automatically mute.

It is not intentional.

It is just how it works.

And there is a box right here for you to add additional comments.

So with that, I'm gonna call the first speakers up.

I recommend the tall microphone unless you are not that tall.

And if folks could line up in the order of 10, I do see that we have an elected official in the audience.

And so by tradition, we will have elected officials come first.

And with that, City Attorney Erica Evans.

Good morning.

Thank you, everyone.

I just want to thank Councilmember Foster for your work on this proposal.

This proposal is vital because we inherited a 5,000 case backlog, and many of those cases are cases of domestic violence.

And when survivors and victims have to wait up to two years for justice, that is completely unacceptable.

I also want to thank Councilmember Kettle, who was very surprised and very grateful to see your proposals that you put in yesterday.

These proposals, one, is going to add four prosecutors to the City Attorney's Office, and the second one is going to put funding in to allow us to use our new DUI testing law that we worked so hard to pass in Olympia.

Public safety is a core component of our public charter.

And ensuring we approve these proposals, we are essentially putting our money where our mouth is.

This is gonna address our current backlog.

It's gonna ensure a new backlog doesn't grow, and it's gonna put in the funding to keep our roads safe.

I'm asking you to adopt all three.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

And I forgot to read the next 10. We have Vedrana, Sarah Ford, Marcia Wright Sojka, Sean Roberts, Anne Farrell Scheffer, Susan Boyd, Kim Giordano.

I'm sorry, I did not have enough coffee to speak well this morning.

Hiroshi M, Steve Rubstello, and Laurel Heckler.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Vedrana Dorakovich.

I work for Sound Generations.

We serve older adults and adults with disabilities across King County.

And I'm also here on behalf of our partners Healthier here to kind of talk to you about seeing every single day how difficult it's become for older adults to navigate an increasingly complex and fragmented system of care.

For many of the communities we serve, particularly immigrants, refugees, those with language barriers, and limited English proficiency, we really see there's limited resources making accessing essential services even harder.

Connecting someone to a service is only the first step, however, and we need to know whether they actually receive the help that they need.

Tools like Connect2 can help community-based organizations coordinate services, track referrals, and ensure people don't fall through the cracks, and they will ensure outcomes for clients.

As we prepare for the impacts of H.R.

1, I urge the Council to commit an additional $4.4 million annually, beginning with the 2026 supplemental budget, to strengthen the case management, to really address the impacts of the Medicaid cuts and impacts of H.R.

1.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Sarah, followed by Marcia.

Sarah, welcome.

Thank you.

Hi Council, I'm Sarah with Tree Action Seattle and I'm here to support OSC 003A to fund Pocket Forest at Seattle Public Schools.

Thank you Councilmember Lynn, Chair Strauss, and Councilmember Kettle for putting forward this important proposal.

Just a few blocks from Aurora Avenue at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School is an oasis.

Once a bare patch of dead lawn, it is now a thriving biodiverse native ecosystem that the students planted, an outdoor classroom they enjoy all year, and a powerful nature-based solution for some of our most urgent climate challenges.

With just 14% canopy at city schools on average, our kids are on the front line of some of our city's worst heat island impacts.

We know that protecting our existing trees is the most important thing we can do to leave them a climate resilient city.

But where there is dead lawn and excess pavement, we can and must plant the next generation of Seattle's urban forest with the next generation of Seattle's leaders.

This funding would help us do just that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Marsha followed by Sean.

Good morning, Marsha.

Good morning.

Hi everyone, I'm Marcia Wright Sojka.

I use she, her pronouns and I'm the Executive Director of Family Works.

I'm here today to express my support and urge yours for Councilmember Rivera's request to provide capital funding for Family Works.

Thank you Councilmember Rivera, Hollingsworth, and Kettle for your support.

To ensure affordable housing is paired with the critical services that keep families stably housed and connected to resources, we will open a new Family Resource Center on the ground floor of the Sunbreak, an affordable housing tower developed by Bellwether that will break ground next year in the University District.

We all know that housing in the city is unaffordable and too difficult to access.

In addition to hundreds of homes, this project ensures that with the Resource Center, families access resource navigation of financial and food support and other essential services for residents and the broader community.

Because of the issues our community faces in affording and keeping housing, expanding this model to the University District is more important than ever, and I urge you to support this request and invest in a model that we know works for families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next is Sean followed by Anne.

Welcome.

Did you say Sean Roberts?

Yes.

Okay.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Hi, my name is Shawn Roberts.

Good morning.

I'm the Executive Director of ArtsCorps, and we're located in District 1. Everyday Seattle's cultural organizations provide services that go far beyond arts and entertainment.

ArtsCorps is one of those organizations.

We are a nationally recognized youth arts education organization that serves over 2,000 King County youth every year.

Through our arts integration, out-of-school arts enrichment, and teen leadership programs, youth experience transformative power of the arts, creativity, and they gain a deeper belief in their capacity to learn, make healthy decisions for themselves, persist and achieve.

Across our sector, our organizations are supporting young people, seniors, immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, and those recovering from addiction and trauma.

yet our sector is facing enormous financial pressure.

Thank you, Councilmember President Hollingsworth for submitting a proposal that will provide three million to the cultural sector.

On behalf of Arts Corps, we respectfully ask the Council to please approve both amendments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next we have Ann followed by Susan followed by Kim.

Good morning, my name is Ann Farrell-Sheffer.

I work at Healthier Here.

I'm here today to ask the City of Seattle to commit additional funding for case management capacity, data interoperability infrastructure, and training for community-based workers to mitigate the impact of HR1.

Medicaid insurance enrollment ensures essential funding for community clinics and the public health Seattle King County clinical safety net.

Reductions in this funding will impact services and all of the people who are using them.

Families are struggling right now.

It's difficult to ask a parent to think about work requirements if they don't have enough food for dinner or can't pay their utility bills.

Ensuring effective, continuous health insurance enrollment for families will necessitate addressing their immediate and pressing needs first.

The work to connect people to resources and keep them enrolled in Medicaid requires time, tools, and training.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Susan, followed by Kim.

Welcome, Susan.

Hi there.

Thanks for all the hard work you're doing in a very tough budget year.

I'm Susan Boyd.

I am the CEO of Bellwether Housing, and I'm here to talk about two things.

One is to follow up on Marsha's comments about the Family Support Center in Sunbreak Tower, which will be one of the city's largest affordable housing developments.

I can say from the perspective of a housing operator, what a lifeline the Family Support Center is for our residents, not to mention the general public, with their parenting classes, play groups, diaper, and food banks.

They've just been an incredible support, and it's a brilliant idea to pair them with affordable housing.

I also want to ask your support for Councilmember Foster's seven budget proposals that support the stabilization and growth of the city's deeply affordable housing portfolio.

Re-centering Jumpstart funds for their original housing purpose and ensuring we don't lose ground in providing critical affordable housing for our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Kim, followed by Hiroshi.

Good morning, Kim.

Good morning.

My name is Kim Giordano.

I'm the Community Engagement Director for Northwest Opera in Schools Etc. or NOISE based in District 6. We serve every council district and our impact in Seattle Public Schools is significant.

We reach an average of 10,000 students a year and this year are on track to reach almost 13,000.

We love making a big noise for kids and arts education.

But rising costs at every turn from insurance to fuel for our van along with severe federal funding cuts threaten small orgs like ours.

The proposals by council members Hollingsworth and Foster are a welcome first step towards stronger funding for this sector.

Thank you for putting them forward.

Seattle likes to say it values the arts.

So let's put those words into action and invest boldly in our arts and cultural sector.

The arts give our city a voice.

By approving these amendments, you can make sure we can all hear it.

And as the saying goes, money talks, and sometimes it sings.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

Well said.

Hiroshi followed by Steve.

Good morning.

Thank you.

Good morning, chair and members of the committee.

My name is Hiroshi Nakano, and I'm the treasurer and board member at Healthier Here.

I'm here to support a budget request that Healthier Here CEO John Kim sent to Chair Strauss back in July of 26. Healthier Here deploys Medicaid funds to support a network of more than 85 community-based workers across Seattle.

They provide case management to Medicaid recipients and others and connect people to housing, food, legal support, and transportation.

That network is at risk.

Starting January 1st, new Medicaid enrollment requirements under HR1 will put in an estimated 70,000 King County patients covered in that balance, with a large contingent of those in South and Central Seattle.

In addition, those folks will face disenrollment cliffs every six months after that.

This budget cycle, you can take a focused action coverage and access.

First, secure data infrastructure that bridges the silos between social services, government, and clinical care.

Second, HR1 training for community-based workers with federal guidelines on a daily basis.

We need to be able to apply that information out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Hiroshi.

Up next is Steve followed by Laurel, and then I'll call the next 10 names.

It's so much more fun in budget years when inflation is not so big, but it is right now, and you're gonna have to deal with it.

I'm here to speak about public safety as a concern.

We've had many mayors recently, many police chiefs recently, quite a bit of turnover on the city council.

One fire chief for a very long time.

This is an indication I think that you should be concerned about public safety because many of Seattle's residents are.

Now I hear things are getting better, but turn on the news this weekend.

Take a look at how many shots are being fired.

I'm old and I'm not used to that in Seattle.

I'm not used to the vigor of it.

So if you do not make changes, I think we'll consider in the city more and more changes.

More from Fremont.

Thank you, Steve.

Up next is Laurel.

Welcome.

And after Laurel is Joey Lou, Annie Kegi, Eleni Araki, Severns Bilois, I'm bad, I'm so sorry, Cedar Bush, Crystal Ball, Carlos Ortiz, Kelly O'Brien Burford, David Lieberman, Martha Lucas.

And with that, welcome Laurel.

Good morning.

My name is Laurel, they, them.

I am a trans adult and citizen in Seattle, and I am here following up on the $300,000 allocated to the trans refugee crisis that is currently happening in Seattle.

I'm lucky enough that I came to Seattle just to study, just to go to college.

I did not come here fleeing from another state.

I have family support.

I have resources.

This is not the case for many other trans people, and it is especially not the case for people who are currently fleeing unsafe, hostile states.

I appreciate the gesture of the $300,000 and now what needs to happen is it needs to get in the hands of organizations who will use that money to support the community and I look forward to active updates on where that money is, where it is going and how it is helping the trans refugees here in Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next is Joey followed by Annie.

Good morning.

My name is Joey.

I am the Food Access Manager at the Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Market.

This is my colleague, Nina, who manages the Capitol Hill Farmers Market.

And we are here today to express our support for the Fresh Bucks program and to express our gratitude from constituents using these programs.

On behalf of our shoppers, we ask that you turn the recent one-time $6.3 million into ongoing funding for the program.

Since the recent expansion last year, our markets have seen a remarkable 320% increase in utilization, translating directly into income for small local farmers.

We hear week after week how much the FreshFuck programs mean to people, and we wanted to pass along these comments to you all.

Matt Long says, this investment helps me access fresh produce, especially after my family lost SNAP benefits.

Now, the only groceries I get for myself regularly are from the Fresh Bucks program.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next is Annie, followed by Elena.

Good morning council members on this classically Seattle morning.

I'm here with Inspire Washington as an arts enthusiast, D5 Lake City resident, dance parent, and non-profit fundraiser at Seattle Theatre Group.

Several of us stood here three weeks ago asking you to sustain arts and culture funding at a time when our sector's under enormous pressure.

Councilmember Hollingsworth and Foster, thank you for hearing us, and with so many priorities, you still recognize the need to support creative cultural experiences that center humanity, health, and connection with one another.

Councilmembers, we are not asking for a handout.

We are asking the city to build a budget that invests in the valuable services our organizations provide.

and protects the cultural workers who provide them.

Please approve Paulingsworth and Council Member Foster's proposals for arts and culture future funding.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Lena, welcome, followed by seven.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Elena Arakaki, and I'm here representing Friends of Little Saigon in District 2. I'm here today to ask you to support council budget action OED006A, which will restore the stabilize, activate, and invest locally fund, also known as SAIL, in a CID in Lake City.

This past year, SAIL funding has been crucial for the safety, health, and activation of Little Saigon.

We have been able to support 16 small businesses' security needs, such as updated signage, gates, window security film, lighting, and new storefront awnings.

We're currently working on replacing the hostile chain link razor wire fence at 12th and Jackson with a colorful new fence.

We have also supported 14 events hosted at Hua Mai Park, Little Saigon's only public green space.

These activations create opportunities for fun, learning, creativity, and mutual aid.

Over the course of the year, over 2,500 people have come out to Little Saigon for events at the park.

Council Budget Action OED006A would continue sale investments for services that began this year, but do not have funding to continue.

We ask for your support to restore funding for these essential investments in Little Saigon.

Thank you.

Up next is Seven, followed by Cedar.

Good morning Chair Strauss and Council Members.

My name is Seven from District 1, President of the Seattle Composers Alliance and a Seattle Music Commissioner.

On behalf of the Seattle Composers Alliance, please support Council President Hollingsworth's $3 million for arts and culture.

Council Member Foster's admission tax proposal, and on behalf of the Music Commission, Council Member Lind's $20,000 Musician Laureate pilot.

Council Member Sokka, as your constituent, you set out a tight budget should sharpen our priorities, not weaken our commitment to neighborhoods.

Your Delridge mural wall proposal shows that the arts belong in that commitment.

Vice Chair Rivera, as former Deputy Director of the Office of Arts and Culture, you know the importance of the admission tax and the city's latest revenue forecast, which lowered next year's admission tax estimate by over $800,000.

Councilmember Kettle, you've said the arts are businesses too, and with the crocodile KEXP and climate pledge in your district, you know why the Music Commission sits under the Office of Economic Development.

Please approve Council President Hollingsworth's $3 million, Councilmember Foster's admission tax proposal, and Councilmember Lin's Musician Laureate pilot.

Chair Strauss, please include all three in your balancing package.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Cedar followed by Crystal.

So, my name is Cedar, and I'm here to talk about a time where the world is at a crossroads, where we can either choose to fund social programs and help people and make things better, or we can just continue our descent into barbarism, where a lot of people are gonna die.

And so...

We keep funding ICE, we keep funding the police to record levels, which makes our youth and are less fortunate, and most of the rest of the populace feel more and more unsafe.

And part of it being that if we're not gonna fix this, I mean, the option is the Samson option, basically, where, for those who don't know, it's when Israel can shoot 300 nukes at a lot of countries in the West and just destroy everything like they are to Gaza, so, yeah.

Thank you.

And Crystal, you're up next.

The last time you were here, we did receive an email from another public commenter stating that they felt threatened and harassed by some of your behavior.

So I'm just reading that into the record today.

Okay, well, I also heard that a few of you reactionary centrists could not get past reading the first three letters of my sign.

Ironically, one of the things that both the NAACP and the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund agree on is the fact that modern day policing can directly trace its origins back to slave patrols.

So let's look at the SPD, which remains overwhelmingly white and conservative like Kettle.

There are still two active SPDs that are worth J6ers.

Okay, two J6ers are still active on the roster.

Last year, this council gave funding for a DEI manager to SPD, and it did not even post the job opening and has no plans to.

SPD acting like slave patrollers, this week marks one year since SPD literally chased a black man in crisis, Jack Pileli with their vehicles driving up onto the sidewalks in pursuit of him, and then got out and shot and executed him.

So despite community demands, neither unedited body cam footage nor the names of the cops involved have been released.

Your job at City Council is not to critique the sign of community.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Carlos Ortiz followed by Kelly O'Brien Burford and then David Lieberman and Martha Lucas.

Welcome, Carlos.

We can take a minute.

I'm leaving participant in North Lake District 4. I ask you here to make two investments in Seattle's 27 and 28 budget, an additional 500,000 for tenant protections to help people stay housed, and 300,000 to open a new Nicholsville tiny village.

Nicholsville is a cost-effective and sustainable model.

Having said that, sweeping people from one location to another does not end homelessness.

If there aren't enough shelter beds, where are people supposed to go?

Public safety means more than enforcement.

It means preventing displacement and investing in real solutions.

Without some form of housing, a person cannot move forward trying to rebuild their lives and making sure they don't stay homeless is the best way to get rid of homeless problem that plagues our city.

Please support these two budget investments.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Carlos.

Up next is Kelly followed by David.

Welcome.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Kelly O'Brien Burford and I am a Nicholsville participant at Brighton Village.

I'm an autistic emerging technology patent holder who's been affected by the loss of diversity, equity, and inclusion opportunities.

Nicholsville gives me a place where I can work to contribute to my community and remain accountable to my peers.

Brighton Village has provided me with safety, stability, and purpose.

I urge you to support an additional $500,000 for tenant protections and $300,000 for new Nicholsville Tiny House Village.

These investments help prevent homelessness and provide community-led housing for people who need a non-traditional path forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next is David followed by Martha, and then I'll read the next 10 lines.

Up next is Martha Lucas.

Martha, welcome, and I'm gonna call the next 10 here.

Brandon Craig, Susan Lean, Kate Nagel-Carluso, Kat Munson, Marta Kidane, Beatrix Kelly, Chloe Gale, Tara Moss, Tyler Messman, Lars Erickson, and welcome Martha.

Good to see you.

First of all, thank you all for allowing this opportunity.

I just want to indicate that we have actually sent the Council a revised budget request under Washington State Coalition of African Community Leaders, and several community members and leaders have actually already sent comments because we weren't sure how to do it otherwise.

and they represent either themselves or their community members are residents of all the council districts.

So my name is Martha Foster Lucas and I'm the Executive Director of WASCOL.

In addition to, since 2015, the black immigrants or elected officials have been constantly under attack.

In addition to increased ICE activity and these constant attack, a new issue has emerged and that is predatory services.

And so we really ask you to consider the pilot because we have a lot of community members that are not getting the legal services that they need or the linguistic or cultural.

Thank you, Martha.

Up next is Brandon.

There you are, Brandon, followed by Susan, then Kate.

My name is Brandon, and I'm a Nicholsville participant.

As you all consider the proposal today, we ask that you give careful consideration to the following.

One, invest an additional $500K in tenant protections.

If we can't prevent homelessness in the first place, then all of our efforts and sacrifices are for nothing, period.

We ask that you allocate $300,000 to open a new Nicholsville Tiny House Village in 2027. Nicholsville operates unique, self-managed, low-cost villages that offer more than just shelter.

They offer community, shared responsibility, and a sober environment in which to thrive.

Number three, we ask that you ask yourselves this question.

Is adding more money to policing while people are literally dying on the streets from not having shelter really the right thing to do?

Fun fact, one cop's salary in Seattle would fund one of our villages for a whole year.

Imagine what we could accomplish by investing in tenant protection, self-managed villages, instead of simply adding more police or some silly, ill-conceived RV ban.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Susan, followed by Kate.

Welcome, Susan.

Good morning.

My name is Susan Liu.

I'm the executive director at Theater Off Jackson, located in District 2, and I'm a resident in District 1. Seattle's cultural sector is an essential part of our city's economy.

We create jobs, attract visitors, support small businesses, and help make Seattle a place where people want to live, work, and visit.

At Theatre Off Jackson, we put on more than 150 events a year, providing low-cost performance space to artists and low-cost tickets to the community.

Every dollar spent in the arts and culture sector yields a 3X return for the CID neighborhood.

but we provide that value while operating in one of the country's most expensive cities with rising costs hitting us at every turn.

On behalf of Theater Off Jackson, I'd like to thank council members Hollingsworth and Foster for their amendments to fund arts and culture in the budget.

And we respectfully ask for you to approve both of these amendments.

Together, they will provide meaningful funding to the cultural sector in the budget.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next we have Kate, followed by Kat.

Kate, welcome.

Good morning.

Good morning, Councilmembers.

I'm Kate Nicola Caraluzzo, the Executive Director of Town Hall Seattle in District 7, and I'm also a member of the Seattle Arts Commission.

I'm here to ask you to support Council President Hollingsworth's $3 million arts and culture amendment and Councilmember Foster's amendment to restore a portion of admissions tax revenue to the Office of Arts and Culture.

At Town Hall, we welcome more than 100,000 people annually with affordable programming that brings Seattle together around arts, ideas, and civic conversation.

But we're part of a much bigger story.

Arts and culture brings people downtown, fills restaurants, supports local businesses, creates jobs, and helps our neighborhoods thrive.

They're part of what makes Seattle, Seattle.

and as an arts commissioner, I believe strongly that protecting the dedicated arts funding and ensuring these investments continue to benefit communities across our city.

So thank you for bringing these amendments forward and I hope that you'll vote yes.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Up next is Kat followed by Marta.

Morning.

Good morning, Kat Munson here today representing the Seattle Human Services Coalition in strong support of Council Member Lynn's 6% wage equity amendment for human services contracts.

So our coalition knows all too well the personal stories of unlivable wages in Seattle in this sector.

The case managers securing housing for their clients for so little, they're teetering on the brink of homelessness themselves.

The social worker at a local shelter and food bank can move 25 miles outside of Seattle just so they can continue caring for unhoused neighbors in our city.

As you likely know, the city-funded 2023 wage equity study highlighted a 37% pay gap between nonprofit human services staff and their peers in other sectors.

Not addressing this now at a time when federal cuts are exponentially increasing basic needs of our most fragile population makes the struggle for agencies to reach skilled employees that much more real.

Please pass this amendment so Seattle Human Services workers can keep their crucial, meaningful jobs and continue to live in the city where they work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Marta followed by Petrix.

Good morning.

Thank you council members for taking the time to hear from community members here today.

My name is Marta Quirana and I'm the community engagement manager for the Low Income Housing Institute.

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your work happening throughout this budget session and we greatly appreciate your efforts to meet our needs.

As we are excited to see shelter expansion happening in Seattle, I would also like us to keep in mind the existing shelter programs that require additional services.

At the time that Lehigh was adding behavioral health services to our tiny house village programming, we were not awarded across all sites and currently ask for a $500,000 allocation to be made to allow our Camp Second Chance, Inner Bay, Whittier, Georgetown, True Hope villages to get the necessary behavioral health support on site.

This would provide additional support to families with young children and adults alike.

And if this allocation were to require an RFP, we would gladly do so.

Additionally, as the legislation has passed last week, we ask that the council prioritize a second RV safe lot, which we have identified, and I'd like to lift up all the human services asks today, and council members Hollingsworth, Foster, and Rank.

Thank you, Martha.

Up next is Beatrix, followed by Chloe.

Welcome Beatrix.

Good morning.

Thank you for being here today.

My name is Beatrix Kelley, and I work for the Low Income Housing Institute, and I'm a resident of District 3. I'm here today to ask you to think about Seattle's neighbors experiencing homelessness as you approach the next step in this budget process.

Please continue to support the mayor's plan to expand shelter.

Each Lehigh client that I've met has expressed gratitude for having a door that locks.

As a shelter expands through the city, the more people we have feeling safe going to sleep at night.

Along with a locking door, an essential tool that helps program participants get their way to housing is behavioral health and staffing support.

In the past, there has been underfunded villages and older villages missing essential resources.

Please consider increasing funding for wraparound essential services in this year's budget.

Finally, I'm hoping that there will be funding for the second RV safe lot.

Again, please think about your unhoused constituents, including those who live in RVs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Chloe, followed by Tara.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Chloe Gale from Evergreen Treatment Services, the REACH program.

And I'm here every day because our team goes out in the rain, hail, sleet, and snow to connect with people that are living outside in crisis.

Our lead team members, for instance, meet police officers and care team members in the field 24 hours a day connecting with people on their worst days and allowing city first responder teams to go back to their critical work.

Our outreach team spends weeks building supportive relationships and motivation so that the fire department's Health One pop-up clinic events can have people who are ready to access treatment on day one.

And in small neighborhoods all over the city, our neighborhood outreach workers go quietly into green belts, parking lots, under overpasses to find the people that have been pushed out everywhere else and need our critical care.

This work requires passion, empathy, persuasion, but also vigilance and awareness.

For this highly skilled frontline safety conscious work, our team needs compensation necessary to keep themselves and their families healthy and safe.

We support the wage equity 3% increase.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Chloe.

Sorry, we're down to a minute today.

Tara, welcome.

Hi, welcome.

Good morning.

My name is Tara Moss.

I'm co-executive director at PDA, including overseeing the LEAD program.

I am speaking in support of Council Member Lynn's proposal to bolster human services contracts.

Existing human services funding levels are built on historically depressed assumptions about what a viable wage is in this sector.

Several recent studies have established that contractor wages are far below what is needed to recruit and retain a skilled workforce in homeless outreach, shelter operations, supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and other complex areas fused with trauma and multisystem barriers.

In this sector, many organizations lose some of our most skilled staff to city and county employment where there are reliable step increases, living wages, and generous benefits.

because staff need to take care of their families and need to know they can progress.

My own organization, PDA, was recently a case study for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, looking at how our approach to workforce compensation made a clear difference in staff retention and client satisfaction and confidence.

Councilmember Lin's proposal...

Thank you.

Thank you, Tara.

Thank you, Tara.

Thank you, Tara.

And up next is Tyler Messman, followed by Lars, then Alicia Ruiz, Zach McCary, Sam Wolf, Gordon Padelford, Kate Rubin, Sola Plumaker, Gwendolyn Hart.

Welcome, Tyler.

Okay.

Good morning, my name is Tyler and I'm the development director of Scarecrow Video in the U District in D4.

We serve over 65,000 people annually through our film library and free community programming.

Every day I meet people whose stories encapsulate the impact that Scarecrow and our cultural peers have in this city.

An immigrant from Chile, ecstatic to discover our Chilean film section and already halfway through watching them all.

Someone who drove up from Tacoma to buy an animated Filipino film that he couldn't find anywhere else.

A group of tourists from Texas who made a special pilgrimage while in town.

These stories are not unique.

Across our sector, organizations attract visitors, sustain economic growth, all while supporting immigrants, seniors, and other vulnerable communities through creative programming.

We do this while facing increasing financial pressure every year.

I'd like to thank council members Hollingworth and Foster for sponsoring amendments to fund arts and culture in this budget.

We ask the council to please approve both of these amendments.

They provide meaningful funding for our cultural sector to continue sustaining creative economic growth.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tyler.

Up next is Lars Erickson followed by Alicia.

Good morning, Chair Strauss and Councilmembers.

I'm Lars Erickson, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at the Seattle Metro Chamber, representing 2,600 member employers.

I'm here today in support of Budget Actions, Law 001A1 and Law 002A1, which would provide critical resources to reduce a criminal case backlog and fund four additional prosecutors.

Public safety remains a top concern for Seattle businesses, especially small businesses.

In the Chamber and Downtown Seattle Association's recent business climate survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents identified public safety as a major challenge, and 70 percent said improved public safety would make them more likely to invest, expand, and remain in Seattle.

Addressing the case backlog and increasing capacity is a practical step forward toward greater accountability and stronger confidence in our public safety system.

We appreciate Councilmembers Foster and Kettle for bringing these proposals forward.

We urge you to include these proposals in the budget chair's balancing package.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lars.

Up next is Alicia followed by Zach and then Sam.

Welcome.

Good morning Chair Strauss and members of the committee.

My name is Alicia Ruiz.

I'm with Habitat for Humanity, Seattle King and Kittitas counties.

And we're here today to support Councilmember Foster's amendments, namely restoring $10 million to the Office of Housing, including $3 million for the production of affordable homeownership.

And here's what that money becomes.

Martin had been raising his nine-year-old daughter in a one-bedroom apartment.

but now he's buying a two-bedroom home at Liberty Commons, our 58-unit permanently affordable community in Columbia City.

His daughter will finally have her own room with the reading nook that she has always dreamed of.

Martin said that he never had dreamed that he could own a home anywhere, let alone Seattle, and his payment is set at what he can afford so they can stay there for good.

We ask that you direct the $3 million to the new construction of permanently affordable homes, so every dollar adds homes that stay affordable for the next family and the one after that.

Habitat believes everyone deserves a decent place to call home.

Please make this a priority.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Zach and then Sam, and I'm going to ask everyone that we're going to need to move more quickly.

We've had more people sign up online.

I don't want to reduce down to 45, 50 seconds, so we'll just need to move a little bit more efficiently.

Welcome, Zach.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Zach McCarty.

I'm here today to strongly oppose the 1.25 million cut to safe routes to school.

Children in this city deserve the right to walk or bike to school in a manner that is safe for all road users.

As expansion furthers for the school's own speed camera program, let's please use that revenue to build out infrastructure that keeps kids in our city safe, not to use that revenue to backfill every hole in the budget, which would be significantly detrimental to the autonomy and safety of children in this city just trying to get to school and back home alive.

Please restore the $1.25 million to school safety.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you, Zach.

Up next is Sam.

Welcome, Sam.

Good morning, Council.

My name is Sam Wolf.

I work for PDA.

In Q1 of this year, a broad coalition of community-based organizations, community members, service providers, and labor unions came together to support shelter.

I first want to give my appreciation to Council for passing the necessary shelter legislation back in Q1.

I'm here today to urge Council to bring the proposed shelter expansion package across the finish line.

Since that Q1 legislation passed, service providers and neighborhood leaders have shown that what can work nationally can work here as well, not only in Pioneer Square, but also in other projects, like what happened with Ballard's Neighborhood Impact Framework over the summer.

but it can't be successful if we don't have places for people to go.

Our success relies on the investments contained in the shelter expansion package.

That coalition for shelter support remains.

This morning, each of you received a copy of a sign-on letter affirming all of the above, with the same broad support as .

We are poised to move the needle, but we need your support.

Please preserve the proposed shelter expansion package in the balancing package.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Up next is Gordon, followed by Kate.

Welcome, Gordon.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Gordon Pedelford.

I'm the executive director of the Seattle Streets Alliance.

and I come to you today with two problems which, when taken together, actually are the solve for each other, which is sort of exciting.

Apologies for not noticing this earlier, but we just realized yesterday that there is a $1.25 million cut to Safe Routes to School over the next two years and continuing into the future.

That is an issue, as we all know, Safe Routes to School's vitally important program.

and it's an incredibly popular program helping build crosswalks, traffic calming near schools so the kids can get there safely.

At the same time, there is revenue from the school automated traffic safety camera revenue that's going into signal major maintenance and ITS, which are both reasonable programs doing their own work, but that's not in keeping with, I believe, the council's intent of the revenue coming from those cameras, which is to reinvest in safety.

and school safety.

So you see the solution here is also at hand, where we can resource safe rest of school with those school traffic safety camera funds.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gordon.

Up next is Kate, followed by Sola.

Good morning.

My name is Kate Rubin.

I'm a renter in District 2, and I am the co-executive director of Be Seattle, one of 11 organizations funded by SDCI to provide tenant services.

Tenant services funding remains below 2023 levels, while evictions are at record-breaking highs.

Renters are losing their homes.

We are seeing this problem on the streets of Seattle every day.

Thank you to Council President Hollingsworth and Council Members Foster and Lynn for sponsoring the amendment to add $500,000 to tenant services.

Our organizations help renters facing eviction, unsafe housing, and landlord misconduct exercise their rights and stay housed.

We bring different expertise, language access, and trusted relationships that reach renters who might otherwise go without help.

The full $500,000 is necessary to prevent further reductions in services.

We cannot afford to lose any of it in the balancing process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Sola followed by Gwendolyn, Marsha Batolio, I am so sorry, Hallie Willis, Kate Garvey, Hamdi A., Don Is this David Lieberman again?

David Lieberman, Desmond Hanson, Amarantha Torres, Allison Jervik, Ashley Nurbevig, and Manny Colling, if y'all could line up.

Welcome, Sola.

Good morning.

Thank you all for some time to speak to you today.

I'm Sola Plumacher.

I'm the Director of External Affairs with Plymouth Housing.

I just wanted to say thank you to Council Members Lynn Foster and Rink for the proposed funding increase to support wage equity in human services.

There's ample evidence to support human services workers make an average of 37% less than their peers in other fields.

This gap leads to high staff turnover, which leads to challenges in continuity of care despite best efforts, especially in housing and homelessness services.

Previous increased wages have led to better staff retention, and in this time of scarce affordability, it is critical to support a living wage.

When staff are facing housing insecurity, inability to pay for health coverage, or child care, clients suffer.

When employers face significant staff turnover, the administrative burden to recruit, hire, and train is also costly.

Please support this increase and consider making this a permanent increase year over year.

Additionally, please support Councilmember Rink's ad for gender-based services.

Thank you, Sola.

Up next is Gwendolyn Hart.

Thank you.

So the mayor's proposed budget cuts have $68 million being taken from housing.

That's in a state when already 41% of homeless people in Seattle already have jobs.

People in the city are literally drowning by the cost of living crisis and restoring a little funding to programs here and there.

It's simply not enough compared to the tidal wave of miseration that these housing cuts will actually cause.

And it'll make everyone here's jobs you've heard about literally impossible to keep up with.

Seattle already has the largest sales taxes and regressive taxes of any city in the country, and this council is raising electric bills by 20%.

This budget wants to increase parking fees.

Council Member Lynn, you literally ran on more affordable housing and on no more taxes on poor Seattleites.

Will you follow through with your campaign pledges and promise to vote no today on any bill that includes these cuts to housing?

Please feel free to use my time to say yes or no.

Thank you.

If you're not going to use your time, we do need to keep moving forward.

I'd like to hear from how he ran on these things.

Thank you.

Up next is Maria Batiola.

Please come on forward.

Thank you, Maria.

And I'm sorry I didn't notice you before.

We should have had you up first with Erica Evans.

Good morning, everybody.

I just really want to say thank you for your leadership during this tough time.

I'm here from Beacon Hill Council, and we are challenged with housing and with climate issues.

So I just really want to strongly support, we strongly support, the package of amendments submitted by Chair Diane Foster, with Council Members Eddie Lin, Alexis Mercedes Rink, and Deborah Juarez.

Along those lines, we also ask that the study, the development of the plan for being able to redirect 50%, consistently redirect 50% of the Green New Deal taxes include a study on the impacts on climate delayed greenhouse gas reduction and also on community resiliency.

That is really important for us.

So thank you so much for your good work.

and thank you for everything you've done for our city.

We would be a worse place without you.

Up next is Hallie Willis followed by Kate Garvey and Hamdi.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Hallie Willis with the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness and a member of the Seattle Human Services Coalition.

I wanna share support today for proposals from council members Lynn, Rink, Foster, and Hollingsworth to support wage equity, affordable housing, and tenant services that prevents eviction.

Today, I'll focus on wage equity.

All levels of government have underfunded human services staff for decades.

With low wages, workers doing some of the hardest jobs can't afford to live in this city, and they can't afford to stay in those jobs for very long.

That has real consequences for our community members that rely on those services.

But when we invest in wage equity, frontline staff can gain the mastery that only comes with time.

and community members can depend on quality services that they need to survive and build stability on their own.

Thank you for investing in wage equity.

Thank you.

Up next is Kate Garvey followed by Hamdi and then David.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Kate Garvey, and I'm the CEO of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.

Thank you for your continued commitment to survivors and for recognizing that supporting survivors requires action, not just words.

Last year, I stood before you as we talked about KUOW's adults in the room and the sexual assault in Seattle schools.

Now we're seeing attention surrounding hashtag IamJaneDoe2.

Too often, sexual violence gets attention only when the headlines become impossible to ignore, but survivors need systems that work long before headlines fade.

We work with survivors who wait months, sometimes years, for their cases to move forward.

Timely case resolution is not just an administrative issue, it's a survivor issue.

I urge the Budget Committee to include Councilmember Foster's $1 million investment in the Seattle City Attorney's Office capacity, and council members ranks $8 million investment in Seattle stands with survivors every step in the city budget.

Thank you for standing with survivors.

Thank you, Kate.

Up next is Hamdi, then David, then Desmond.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Please, like you're at a rock concert, get close to that microphone.

Yes, hello.

You can move it around.

I guess I am tall.

Okay.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Elise Aiden, representing African Community Housing and Development.

I'm here to request $3 million for the Seattle International Public Market under OPCD 005A1.

Thank you to Councilmember Rink for sponsoring this request and Councilmember Saka and Dion Foster for co-sponsoring.

Our existing farmers market now in its sixth year is already bringing economic activity back to Delridge, supporting small business and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs.

The Seattle International Public Market will build on that success, creating a permanent home for dozens of small businesses, shared kitchen space, business development services, and community gathering space.

This is not just economic development, but it's also an anti-displacement strategy.

Creating jobs, building wealth, and ensuring existing communities benefit from Seattle's growth.

With your investment, we can make South Delridge a regional destination for culture and commerce.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now David, then Desmond.

David Lieberman, Director of Real Estate Development at ACHD.

First, thank you to Councilmember Rink, Saka, and Foster for sponsoring this $3 million request for the Seattle International Public Market in the Highland Park neighborhood of Delridge.

When we think about great cities, we think about great infrastructure.

We think about roads, bridges, transit, and public markets and community cultural spaces are just as important for the life of our city.

Think about Pike Place Market.

It's more than just a place to buy food.

It's an economic engine, a source of civic pride, and a defining part of Seattle.

It is community infrastructure.

We should be building more places like that.

The Seattle International Public Market is our opportunity to make that kind of lasting public investment in South Delridge.

These investments strengthen neighborhoods and pay economic dividends for generations.

I urge you to support this.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, David.

Up next is Desmond and Amarintha.

My name is Hamdi Abdul.

I'm the president and CEO of African Community Housing and Development, and I just want to say thank you very much.

Big hugs.

Thank you, Hamdi.

Now we'll go to Desmond.

Hi, I'm Desmond Hanson.

I'm a local artist, District 1. I'm here to support Rob Saka's initiative amendment to build a established graffiti wall in West Seattle.

It doesn't have to be graffiti.

Public art wall, we should probably call it.

The neighborhoods really take pride in seeing new murals being put up and it could be a good way to kind of deter unwanted vandalism and prop up local young artists who want to maybe focus their attention on visual art and painting murals.

When I was a kid if I would have had a place like this growing up then I probably wouldn't have done as much vandalism and this could be a good way for the community to take pride in their neighborhood.

I really thank you all for being here and hope you decide to support Rob Saka's amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Desmond.

Up next is Amaranthia, then Allison, followed by Ashley.

Hi there.

Good morning.

My name is Amritia Torres, and I'm the co-executive director of the Coalition for Any Gender-Based Violence.

I'm here to share support for several amendments that would support survivors in a positive way, including addressing the backlog at the city attorney's office, wage equity, tenant services, and Councilmember Rink's budget amendment to add $8 million in funds for supporting survivors.

When survivors seek recourse through the legal system, they deserve timely decisions and meaningful communication on their cases.

Expecting victims to wait years in limbo is not an acceptable option.

It's a risk to their safety.

Addressing the backlog is an important step to ensure survivors are given the dignity of the response for the harm they've experienced, and we urge you to support it.

We also believe that choosing to work in human services shouldn't result in a pay penalty.

Workers in our field shouldn't have to take on a second job to make ends meet.

I really, I want our folks to see a future in our field, to raise a family, to retire.

Oh my goodness.

This is why we support wage equity and urge you to do the same.

And tenant services, black survivors face residual impacts of systemic racism.

And that's why we support that too.

Thank you so much everyone.

Thank you.

Up next is Allison followed by Ashley.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Allison Jerkovich, and I'm here today as the board chair of the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, as a social worker, as a gender-based violence advocate, and a survivor myself.

Today, I'm here to ask budget chair Strauss and the council to include council member Rink's full $8 million budget amendment for gender-based violence prevention, accountability, and survivor services.

Our coalition represents more than 30 organizations supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and people in the sex trades.

These programs provide critical services, yet chronic underfunding has left survivors facing longer wait times and fewer options when they need help most.

Being a survivor can be incredibly lonely.

We know that violence thrives in silence, that healing begins when survivors are heard, believed, and supported, and not met by a waiting list.

This funding represents an opportunity to ensure that when survivors reach out, someone is there.

Thank you so much for your support for the full $8 million investment, and we look forward to continued partnership with all of you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Ashley, followed by Manny, then Crystal Lee, Blue Gray, Karen Lund.

That's everyone here.

If you'd like to sign up, you need to do so now.

We have 38 people online.

If I have more people than that, we are gonna have to start ticking down the time, council members.

I'm also going to, at this time, reduce our lunch by 15 minutes to 45 minutes, just so that we can hear from the public.

With that, Ashley, welcome.

I'm Ashley Nurpavig, Advocacy and Development Officer with PDA and I'm speaking in support of CM Lynn's proposal to bolster human service contracts.

As Tara mentioned, PDA was recently studied by the NAEH looking at how our workforce compensation made a difference in staff retention and client satisfaction and confidence.

However, because funder budgets don't match our wage practices, we had to pause step increases this year, and we surveyed our staff about the impact of that freeze and learned it had major impacts.

If we don't resume regular step increases, we can expect to lose some of our strongest staff.

In that study, when describing their experiences with our program, participants made direct connections between staff support and changes in their well-being, particularly in relation to recovery or employment stability.

Simply put, supporting Lynn's proposal would be a major step towards organizations like ours being able to achieve the outcomes you all and the public from our human service programs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Manny followed by Crystal.

Welcome.

Good morning, honorable chair and members of the committee.

I am Annie Kowalien, executive director for Inspire Washington.

I speak today with a representative voice for the cultural sector, our nonprofits, and so many of our creatives.

Broadly across the city, in every neighborhood, our advocates have been lifted up by the proposals by council members Hollingsworth and Foster, Thank you.

We urge you all to support and approve them.

We are especially excited by the legislative language to explore future investment.

I really appreciated all of our advocates' comments.

They have told the best stories.

The comment that particularly stood out to me as a nonprofit director was the need for help and not a handout.

Every day, our partners in your neighborhoods, they sell tickets, they offer classes, they open up their exhibit floors, largely for free and discounted rates.

that these programs are not free to produce.

They are very expensive.

Please help us serve your constituents.

We're very excited about the ambitions of a future Seattle Center bond, and this investment today will send the right message to cultural leaders across the city that arts and culture matters in every single neighborhood.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Manny.

Up next is Crystal.

Welcome.

Hi.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Crystal Lee.

I'm the director of school-based safety for Community Passageways and a Rainier Beach alum and a mother raising my family there.

I'm here to support Councilmember Eddie Lynn's budget priorities, especially youth employment, violence prevention, and support for families impacted by gun violence.

My main ask is to dedicate city-funded jobs for youth and young adults through partnerships with community-based organizations like Community Passageways.

We provide safe passage, violence prevention, and case management.

We know these young people, their strengths, and their barriers they face.

Fund the jobs and support that helps them keep those jobs and succeed.

We cannot ask young people to choose a different path without investing in opportunities along that path.

Make this budget a commitment they can see in a job offer, a paycheck, and a future they can build.

Thank you.

Thank you, Crystal.

Up next is Blue Gray, followed by Karen Lund, Kim Coleman, Cassandra Corbett.

Welcome.

Hello.

I'm an artist.

I live in Capitol Hill.

Hang tight.

You'll need to get the microphone real close.

We want to make sure we get your voice through the mask.

Hello?

Yes, much better.

Thank you.

Can we start over?

Yes, of course.

My name is Blue Gray.

I'm an artist in Capitol Hill.

It is the humane and socially commendable choice to use your power for good.

City Council, are you listening?

Are you listening?

Five of you are currently up for re-election.

Do you want to be known as empty, heartless pawns or as people who use their power to protect and heal their city?

We are paying attention.

We will not be silent and we will not be ignored.

We are suffering.

If you do not represent us, we will vote you out.

People line up week after week, day after day to tell you that they are suffering and they need your help.

Are you listening?

Week after week, day after day to tell you what they need and offer you solutions.

Are you listening?

Thank you.

This is meant to be a haven city.

Let's act like it.

Thank you.

No more police brutality.

No more sweeps.

Thank you.

Thank you, blue-gray.

We have more time at the public hearing next week.

We will have more time for each person.

We do need to keep moving on right now because there's another 38 people online right now.

Thank you for your public testimony.

Up next is Karen Lund.

Thank you.

Welcome Karen followed by Kim and then Cassandra Kim and Cassandra if you could line up.

Thank you

Good morning.

I'm Karen Lund, Producing Artistic Director of Taproot Theatre in Greenwood.

Seattle's cultural sector is an essential part of our city's economy.

During our recent HVAC emergency, when performances were at risk of being canceled, it was the small businesses and our neighbors who stepped forward with support, not simply to save a theater, but to protect a vital part of Greenwood's identity and economy.

We didn't have to make a case to them about the theater being important.

They made it for us.

They know a night at Taproot Theater means dinner nearby, coffee down the block, and a neighborhood coming together.

Arts funding isn't charity.

It's an investment in local jobs, small businesses, and a culture of belonging.

But rising costs put that work at risk.

Thank you, Councilmember Hollingsworth and Foster for the arts funding amendments.

Please approve both.

Invest in the arts and in the neighborhoods that count on us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Karen.

Up next is Kim and then Cassandra.

Welcome, Kim.

Hi.

Hi, Council.

Is this right?

Yes, please.

Okay.

Real close like you're at a rock concert.

Hey.

Oh, that was too close.

Hi, I'm Kimberly Coleman with the Seattle Tenant Landlords and Accountability, STLCA.

STLCA has been analyzing SDCI's housing complaint and enforcement data, and here is the problem.

Seattle can measure permitting, it can measure customer service, it has dashboards for both, but housing enforcement is still a blind spot.

On September 29th, Council Member Foster asked SDCI how it determined staffing for the new rental regulations.

Jeff Talent said, to be honest, we don't know exactly.

That is the problem.

We are making enforcement policies and staffing decisions without a measurable baseline for the enforcement system we already have.

The new law doesn't take effect until July 1st, 2027. We have time to fix this.

I will be sending the council proposed SLI this morning.

I am asking one of you to sponsor it.

Let's stop guessing, make housing enforcement measurable.

Thank you.

Thanks, Kim.

Up next, and to close us out, Cassandra Corbett.

Welcome, Cassandra.

I'm going to go and then I'll read all the names online.

If you are online, pay attention.

Good morning, everybody.

OK, I'm Cassandra.

I'm with the RV Outreach Program.

I'm discussing a lease for an entire building on Rainier Avenue South for a resource center, a day center, and transitional housing.

This will give people living in RVs and motor vehicles a place to connect and support with housing assistance.

I'm walking through the property with the owner today to clarify the spaces and needed improvement.

I ask for your help in arranging a meeting with city staff to review the building, explore funding, and identify partners to move this to an opportunity forward.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Cassandra.

We are now going to move online.

I'm going to read everyone's name in order, and then I will read just a few each time we transition between public commenters online.

If I say that you are not present, that means you need to check your email, check your spam to get the call-in information.

There are only three people not present.

I'm gonna call these names in order.

Amanda DeFisher, Raina Lainwala, Alice Lockhart, Paul Villanueva, Elizabeth Armbalt, Marshall Hugh M, Dominique Alex, Jack Kelly, Rose Legionnaires, you are not present, Shonda Boyette, Margaret Shield, I think you already testified in person, Marisa Figueroa, Valen Solomon, Ricardo Ortega, Debra Brose, Ruchika Gupta-Truitt, Carrie Omegna, Sam Wolfson, Kay Van Petten, Dulce Ventura, Leah Hall, Claire Cantor, Guinevere Godsdoter, Lam Ho, and Kimberly Coleman, you are not present.

And so with that, Clerk, if you could promote Amanda and followed by Raina and then Alice.

Amanda, you're here.

You're already off mute.

Take it away.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Hello, Council.

My name is Amanda D. Fisher and I'm co-chair of the Seattle Women's Commission.

I'm here to support Councilmember Foster's proposal to provide the city attorney's office with $1 million in one-time funding to clear the criminal case backlog.

Behind these cases are real people awaiting accountability.

Around one third of the backlog cases are domestic violence related.

Research conducted by the Women's Commission found that dispatch received more than 11,000 DV related 911 calls between 2023 and 2025. And in 2025, the municipal court filed over 1,100 DV assault charges.

For survivors, delays mean ongoing fear and years before their cases can be resolved.

Timeliness matters to ensure accountability and helping survivors get their lives back.

This is a practical step toward restoring capacity, providing justice, and flowing the pattern of repeat offenders.

By supporting this funding, you send a clear message to abusers, not in our city.

Survivors, we hear you, we stand with you, and your safety matters.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you, Amanda.

Up next is Rayana, followed by Alice.

Rayana, I see you're here.

Star six to unmute.

Rayana, star six to unmute.

There you are.

Hi.

Welcome.

Hi.

Thank you.

Good morning, Councilmembers.

My name is Rayhana Lanwalla.

I work at FamilyWorks and I'm here in support of Councilmember Rivera's proposal to provide capital funding for the FamilyWorks Sunbreak Family Resource Center.

As you've heard from others today, FamilyWorks is opening a Family Resource Center on the ground floor of the Sunbreak Bellwether Housing's new affordable housing tower in the U District.

The center will offer resource navigation, parenting support, free diapers and kids' clothing, and so much more.

We know families are more likely to access help when services are located where they already live.

We also know this model works.

Research shows Family Resource Centers generate nearly $4 in public value for every dollar invested by helping families achieve greater stability and reducing reliance on more costly interventions.

As Seattleites face rising housing costs and increasing economic pressure, This investment will help ensure affordable housing is paired with the supports families need to stay housed.

I urge you to support this proposal.

Thank you.

Up next is Alice Lockhart followed by Paul Villanueva.

Alice, I see you're here.

There you are.

Welcome.

Good morning.

I'm Alice Lockhart in D5 and the mayor's proposed budget takes a comprehensive approach to gun violence prevention.

It does not need council member Rivera's proposal.

to add an outside consultant contract with National Network for Safe Communities, NNSC, with their own brand of what's called Focused Deterrence.

Council Member Rivera wrongly credited them with Baltimore's violence reduction, whereas, in fact, they failed two years in a row and Baltimore only succeeded after they fired NNSC and switched to a more comprehensive and effective approach.

Quoting Alex Hudson in the mayor's office, Focused Deterrence is a core component of the mayor's plan.

and the mayor's plan does include consulting with the University of Washington, not an iffy out-of-state company.

We don't need to randomly throw more money at this problem.

It's a tight budget year.

Thanks for all you're doing for housing, tenant services, important stuff.

Thanks, Alice.

Up next is Paul, followed by Elizabeth.

Paul, you're here and you're off mute.

Welcome.

Well, good morning chair and council members.

I'm here to ask for your support.

My name is Paul and I am the program coordinator for legacy quality leadership and organizing the licensing program.

We help people get their drive their license back if it's suspended or rebote.

We have been partnered with the city of Seattle for the last 20 years under the pre-filing diversion program and priority hire.

Our program has been a success this year after partnering with the Seattle Municipal Corps in their Resource Center.

We were able to get 50 new clients this year.

Our re-licensing program was able to get that number within just six months into the program, but needed to stop taking clients as we have reached the total amount of clients we can accept for the year because of the limited funding that we have.

We are asking for your help to advocate for an increase since we haven't gotten an increase in years for our program and we want the council to continue funding our program.

Please keep our program in your mind today as you discuss budget proposals.

Thank you.

Thank you, Paul.

Next up is Elizabeth followed by Marshall.

Elizabeth, you're here.

Star six to unmute.

There you are.

Welcome.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Elizabeth Archambeau and I live in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

I'm speaking today in support of the wage equity investment proposal and request that this proposal is included in the Balancing Act.

As a tenant, this wage equity investment for providers would help me greatly in providing the providers with a living wage so that they can stay in their jobs longer, which will build more and better skills and increase their ability to help people like me to have a better tendency and to stay stable.

It will also help them in that they will get the ability for living stability and they'd be able to live in Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Up next is Marshall followed by Dominique Alex.

Marshall, I see you're here.

Star six to unmute.

Marshall, there you are.

Welcome.

Hello.

Sorry on the technical delay.

I appreciate everybody's time.

My name is Marshall Hugh Massengale.

I serve in the Seattle Music Commission and run Fremont Fridays.

I'm here to support OED013A1, which is the $20,000 Music Laureate pilot program.

I want to thank council member Lynn Hollingsworth and Rink for sponsoring it and I support it as written.

I also want to echo what a lot of artists and organizers have put into writing to this council that art is public safety and I've seen it firsthand and really believe that we should have continuous funding for the arts and one-time grants that should last past the World Cup.

I support President Hollingworth's three million for arts and culture and Councilmember Foster's admission tax proposal as well.

Thank you for your time.

Have a great day, y'all.

Thank you, Marshall.

Up next is Dominique Alex followed by Jack Kelly.

Dominique, welcome.

Star six to unmute.

There you are.

Welcome.

Good morning, Councilmembers.

I'm Dominique Alex, CEO of Mary's Place.

I'm here to ask you to reinstate 167,000 for BrightSparks at the Allen Family Center in 2027 budget.

Thank you to council members Rivera and Saka for sponsoring this request.

The Allen Family Center is a free drop-in in South Seattle where families experiencing homelessness can get basic needs, showers, housing navigation, and shelter referrals in one place where we served about 1,000 families last year.

BrightSparks helps parents navigate childcare and complete subsidy applications and runs play and learn groups for kids and their caregivers.

For a family in crisis, having that support where they already are means fewer bus trips and fewer missed appointments.

It means kids keep learning while their parents work towards housing stability.

Thank you for standing with Seattle Families.

Thank you, Dominique.

And up next is Jack Kelly, followed by Rose Legionnaires.

Welcome, Jack.

Hi, good morning, Councilor.

Yes, good morning.

My name is Jack Kelly.

I'm a member and organizer with the Transit Riders Union and I'm here this morning to urge the Council to support the amendment to add an additional $500,000 for tenant services to what is proposed in the Mayor's budget.

Special thanks to Council President Hollingsworth for sponsoring and to Council members Foster and Lynn for co-sponsoring.

I want to reiterate, this is the bare minimum of what is needed to prevent further collapse of these essential services.

And even with this increase, funding will fall short of meeting the current demand.

So, yes, please support the amendment to add at least $500,000 for tenant services in 2027. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Jack.

Up next is Rose Legionnaires by Shonda Boyette.

Rose, you're here.

There you are.

Welcome.

Hello.

Last week, the mayor put out an incredibly tone-deaf proposal for $13 million for 77 homes while individuals all over Seattle are homeless and struggling.

I encourage and push the council to push for more homeless services or individuals instead of this incredibly laughable proposal to add a very small number of homes to try and resolve our crisis.

I personally have housed multiple trans people to try and help with the trans refugee crisis that's happening for six months or more and this has helped people be stable in Seattle We need that sort of investment in order to get people off the streets and into stable housing.

And that is not happening right now.

And that is certainly not going to happen with the mayor's proposal to add just a fraction of homes for an astronomical amount, let alone with double what she's cutting from the fire department.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rose.

Up next is Shonda Boyette followed by Margaret Shield.

Shonda, you're here.

Star six to unmute.

There you are.

Welcome.

Hi, good morning, Councilmembers.

I'm Shonda Boyette.

I'm a mom, a Wallingford resident, and a Family Works Board member, and I'm commenting about Councilmember Rivera's proposal for the Sunbreak Family Resource Center.

Last night, we learned something shocking at our Family Works Board meeting.

Some of the biggest users of our mobile food trucks aren't just neighborhood residents.

They're the staff who work in the locations that we visit.

Seattle's working families are working hard but still can't afford to feed themselves and face other affordability crises as well.

I'm asking you to fund Councilmember Rivera's proposal for the Sunbreak Family Resource Center, specifically $300,000 toward capital and acquisition costs for this project.

This Family Resource Center at Sunbreak would pair affordable housing with food and essential services for residents and the broader community.

We've seen this model succeed at Cedar Crossing.

Please fund Sunbreak and invest in Seattle's family's ability to thrive.

Thank you and thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Shonda.

Up next is Margaret Shield followed by Dominique Alex, who is not present, and we will be followed by Eileen Gibbons.

Welcome, Margaret.

Star six to unmute.

There you are.

Welcome.

Good morning.

I'm Margaret Sheldon, D5, where I'm active with the Lake City Homelessness Passports and on the Community Council for the Olympic Hills Tiny House Village.

It's a myth that chronically homeless people won't accept shelter.

Meeting people where they are at through outreach with offers of appropriate shelter and services works.

Let's fund more of what works.

Please support the shelter accelerator initiative with the additional 37 million in the mayor's proposal.

Please fund a second RV safe lot as proposed by Councilmember Strauss.

That's a minimum add.

The metric to use is the number of RV spaces, not the number of lots.

and we need vehicle safe lots around the city.

Please support Councilmember Lynn's amendment for a wage equity increase for human services workers because they're struggling to live in this expensive city.

Those staff truly offer lifelines.

Preventing homelessness is also critical.

Please support for rental assistance sponsored by Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you for your efforts to put as much funding as possible

Thank you, Margaret.

Up next is Dominique.

Dominique, Alex is not present.

We will move on to Eileen Gibbons followed by Miranda Ludwig.

Good morning, Eileen.

I see you're here, star six to unmute.

Welcome.

Good morning.

My name's Eileen Gibbons.

I haven't done this before, so excuse my unprofessional organization, but basically I am proud President of Rainier Valley and live in District 2. I'm here to support Councilmember Lynn's proposals to the budget for increases in safety and reduction of gun violence.

Our children are the bravest people I know that they show up to school every day, especially after their classmates get killed, like the assassination on January 31st at the bus stop in front of at South Shore Elementary and Rainier Beach High School.

I ask that you support the funding for the in-school community passageways programs at Rainier Beach that have been not funded yet.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eileen.

Couldn't tell us your first time that was professional as all can be.

I hope to have you back.

Up next is Miranda Ludwig.

I see you're here, star six to unmute.

There you are, welcome.

Hello, my name is Miranda Ludwig.

I'm just calling on behalf of the Georgetown neighborhood and a new farmer's market that was very successful this year.

I'm calling to give support for just pulling up my note.

We are looking for support for the budget amendment OSE002AI and thank you for the support from Councilmember Foster and Saka for the amendment for this budget and we just want to be very clear that Georgetown is a neighborhood that is, I recognize it as a food desert and needs a lot of support and care for healthy, accessible food for its residents.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Logan Schmidt, you are no longer present somehow.

If you would like to call back in, we will come back to you at the end.

Sarah McNally, you are up next, followed by Sarah White.

Sarah McNally, I see you're here.

Star six to unmute.

Sarah McNally, I see you're with us.

If you could hit star six to unmute on your phone.

Clerk, could you promote Sarah?

Sarah McNally, we're with you.

You're with us.

We're together.

Welcome.

Sorry about that.

You're all good.

Yes.

I am calling.

I am a Rainier Beach resident, a homeowner, a mom, and an artist.

I'm calling to support Councilmember Lynn's proposal to invest $200,000 into the vacant forefront in Rainier Beach.

I can envision a future where our makers, our small businesses, and our artists work shoulder to shoulder, create programming for our youth, and help visible artists and art opportunities and invest in our community.

Rainier Beach deserves this.

They deserve more than just safety, but emotional trauma support, and the arts are an incredible way to help our youth have that.

So I would love for that to be supported.

And if you've got a little extra change, I'd love to put it towards the noise dampening efforts for the shooting range.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sarah.

And now Sarah White, followed by Jonathan Gonzalez.

Sarah White, welcome.

I see her here.

Hi, Will.

Hi there.

My name is Sarah White.

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Good morning.

Welcome.

Okay, I'm going to assume you can hear me.

I'm here.

Hi, thank you.

I work at Catholic Community Services' Tenant Law Center, and I'm here to ask for your support for the amendment adding $500,000 for tenant services.

Our lawyers make about $48 an hour, and I wish I could tell you about the miracles that they accomplished with just a few hours of their time.

Recently, we represented a 91-year-old woman who was facing removal from her home that she had lived in for 40 years by way of a protection order.

We sent an attorney to her hearing, and she kept her housing, but statewide right-to-council funding would not have covered this.

About 100 Seattle residents call us every month, and we can only help about 10% of them.

Two years ago, this council approved a curb cut that cost more than the entire tenant legal services budget for 11 organizations.

We talk constantly about the homelessness crisis.

This is one place where the city can prevent homelessness before it happens.

Thank you to Council President Hollingsworth and the council members Foster and Lynn for supporting this amendment.

Please.

Thank you, Sarah White.

Up next is Jonathan Gonzalez followed by Elaine Shearer.

Jonathan, I see you're with and you're off mute.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Good morning, City Council.

My name is Jonathan Gonzalez.

I'm calling in to ask the City Council to reconsider the $1.25 million cut to safe routes to school.

This funding supports safety improvements for kids walking and biking to school, and you can see how this investment impacts lives when kids bike in the middle of the street as they go to school, free and unafraid.

In this budget, we're seeing a massive expansion in productive revenue for speed cameras, which was promised to fund projects like safe routes to school.

Instead, we're seeing a cut to this program and those revenue being used to backfill hold in the budget.

Please restore the 1.25 million cut to school safety.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jonathan.

Up next is Elaine Scher followed by Camille Baldwin-Bonnie.

Elaine, I see you're with us.

Star six to unmute.

Welcome.

Thanks.

This is also my first time, so it's very exciting.

Thank you, council members.

I am calling today to show my support for the Budget Amendment OSE002A1 to support the Georgetown Farmers Market.

My name is Elaine Scheer.

I am a resident and a business owner in District 1, and as you all know, this Georgetown is a food desert, and this funding is very critical to the sustainability and growth of our market so that our residents and people who are in most need can access fresh food.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Elaine.

Up next is Camille, followed by Emma Rhea.

Camille, I see you're here.

You're already off mute.

Welcome.

Take it away.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Camille and for 30 years I have called Seattle my home.

I've seen the housing crisis and the resulting humanitarian crisis grow exponentially.

I live a few blocks off the Aurora Corridor and I've watched income disparity, poverty, lack of affordable housing create the conditions that leave women vulnerable to trafficking.

I strongly support Councilmember Hollingsworth adds $500,000 for tenant services.

I strongly support Foster's amendment to add $10 million to the Office of Housing for both multifamily and affordable homes.

And I strongly support Rink's amendment directing $8 million to gender-based violence services.

Access to resource is violence prevention.

and I urge the council to direct all 8 million to direct services in prevention.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Ann Maria Zieda followed by Marissa Figueroa.

Ann Maria, I see you're here.

Star six to unmute at this, off mute.

Welcome.

Welcome.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Amira Ziada.

I'm a government affairs coordinator for OPEIU Local 8. We represent the shelter monitors, case managers, janitors, maintenance workers, all who keep Seattle's homelessness response running.

Our members start at $22 an hour.

They respond to overdoses and crisis.

Some have found residents who passed away and they come back for their next shift.

Many are one paycheck away from needing the same shelter that they staff.

This afternoon, the mayor opens Cloverleaf Village and says what makes it work is a case manager who knows your name.

Our members will be that case manager, but you cannot keep a case manager that you will not pay.

So please pass Councilmember Lynn's 3% wage equity amendment in the balancing package.

We also support Councilmember Rinks, $8 million for gender-based violence services, and Councilmember Hollingworth, $500,000 for tenant services.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next is Marissa Figueroa followed by Valen Solomon.

I see Miranda Ludwig is promoted though.

I believe Miranda already spoke.

Now we have Marissa.

Welcome.

Hi.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Hey there.

Thank you so much.

My name is Marissa Figueroa.

I am the market manager for the Georgetown Farmers Market as well as a small business owner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.

I'm calling this morning to show my support of budget amendment OSE002A1 to support the Georgetown farmer's market.

I want to thank council members Foster and SACA so much for bringing this important amendment to the budget.

We had a really successful season this year and we would really appreciate the funding to continue our farmer's market in years to come.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Marissa.

Up next is Valen Solomon, followed by Ricardo Ortega.

Valen, I see you're off mute.

Good morning.

Yeah, good morning.

Yes.

Good morning.

My name is Valen Solomon.

I am a managing attorney with the Housing Justice Project and a resident of D3.

I'm providing comment to support Council President Hollingsworth's proposal, which is co-sponsored by Councilmember Lin and Foster to add an additional $500,000 for tenant services in addition to what is already proposed in the mayor's budget.

At this time, eviction rates are at an all-time high and there's no signs of them slowing down.

Rather, what we are experiencing, I think, is a new normal.

And while it is obvious to many of those that do this work day in and day out, many of those that are evicted are evicted into homelessness.

and like many of my colleagues have said earlier today, the best way to address homelessness is in fact to prevent it.

And that is what the organizations funded through tenant services funding are doing on a daily basis.

I cannot underscore the need for this important funding during this urgent time in the city.

Please support council president's proposal of an additional $500,000 for tenant services.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And up next is Ricardo Ortega.

I see you're here, Ricardo.

Star six to unmute.

Ricardo?

Ricardo, I see you're here.

If you could press star six to unmute.

Ricardo?

We're gonna leave Ricardo promoted.

If we could also promote Deborah Brose.

Oh, Deborah, don't- Good morning, council members.

Yep, great.

Take it away, Ricardo.

Welcome.

Okay.

Thank you.

Good morning, Council Members.

My name is Ricardo Ortega, and I work for a community organization named LILO.

Through LILO's community organizing partnership with the City of Seattle, we create the licensing program to assist communities impacted by the criminal justice system that disproportionately affects low-income people and communities of color.

For 26 years, LILO has been helping our community to recover the driver's license, our health, is to provide to understanding why the driver license is suspended, how many tickets our clients have, where are those tickets, and what we have to do to recover the driver license.

Also, we contact the course and we ask to remove tickets from collection, reduce fines, and offer an affordable payment plan.

Our clients are mainly Asian, Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and our program provides service in English, Spanish, and Tagalog.

Please keep funding the licensing program.

Thank you, Ricardo.

Up next is Deborah Brose.

Deborah, I see you're here and you're off mute.

Welcome.

Hi, this is Deborah Brose.

I'm the Executive Director of the Georgetown Business Association and I'm also a small business owner in Georgetown.

I'm here to show support for the proposal OSE002A1 for the Georgetown Farmers Market.

I want to thank council members Foster and SACA for sponsoring the amendment.

As we've heard already, Georgetown is a food desert with no grocery store.

Approximately 20% of the residents are using food assistance programs.

Through OFE funding in 2026, we were able to run a first full season market, which was just not a source of fresh food, but really community wealth.

And funding our farmers market this year will provide us time to create a sustainable program and provide much needed food security to our neighborhood.

I've emailed all the council members with a summary of a survey that we had for our market, so you can see where our numbers and successes are.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Deborah.

Up next is Rishika, followed by Carrie and then Sam Wolfson.

Rishika.

Hi.

Thank you so much, everybody, for hearing my comments.

My name is Rishika.

I am a mom, a Capitol Hill resident, and Family Works Board member.

I'm here to support Councilmember Rivera's proposal to provide funding for Family Works Sunbreak Family Resource Center.

As you all know, Bellwether is opening Sunbreak in the U District and Family Works will be opening a Family Resource Center there.

And I think you've heard a lot today about the families facing housing costs and increasing economic pressure.

And I just want to emphasize that Family Works has a proven model of supporting families, meeting them where they are, providing resource navigation, connection, parenting support, free diapers and kids' clothing, and so much more.

And this model helps to ensure that families stay in housing and thrive.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Rashika.

Up next is Carrie Meghna, followed by Sam Wolfson.

Carrie, welcome.

I see you're here.

Star six to unmute.

Carrie, I see you are here, star six to unmute.

Carrie?

Can we please promote Sam Wolfson?

We'll leave Carrie promoted.

Sam, if you are able to press star six, we are ready to hear from you.

There you are, Sam, welcome.

Hello, hi council.

My name is Sam Wolfson.

I am a district resident and I'm a member of the Executive Committee on the Seattle Renters Commission.

The Commission urges City Council to approve Council President Hollingworth's budget amendment to increase the proposed funding for tenant services in the mayor's budget by $500,000.

The current budget does not take into account the increased costs over the past year.

and must be increased to at least match current demand.

I want to add that while we applaud this amendment and are grateful to see it put forward, we still believe that the funding should be further increased to fully support the needs of our renter population.

Seattle is a majority renter city and further renters represent lower income populations with fewer resources at our disposal.

We deserve for our well-being to be prioritized by city government.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

We're going to try Carrie again.

Carrie, you're off mute.

Welcome.

Take it away.

Thank you for your patience.

Good morning, Council Members.

I'm Carrie O'Meña, President of the Georgetown Business Association and co-owner of a couple restaurants in Georgetown.

I am calling in support of Council Member Foster and SACA's proposed budget amendment, OSE00281, for continued support of the Georgetown Farmers Market.

Thank you both for putting this forward.

To add to the comments of my fellow Georgetown neighbors and business owners, I'd like to point out that fresh food is a hallmark of a civilized society.

Funding for the 2027 market is critical to ensure the future sustainability of our neighborhood and food access.

So I urge the City Council to support this amendment for the benefit of all who live and work in our neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you, Carrie.

Up next is Kay Van Petten followed by Dulce Ventura.

K, I see her here, star six to unmute.

And for central staff, we've got about five more people.

So if you wanna come on up to the committee table anytime you want.

K, star six to unmute.

We're gonna leave K promoted.

We're gonna move on to Dulce Ventura.

Dulce, hang tight.

K is off mute.

So Dulce, yep, there we go.

K, take it away.

Welcome, good morning.

Hey, good morning.

I'm Kay Van Penten, a Seattle Music Commissioner and Working Musician in District 6, actually playing a show tonight at the sunset.

In this tough budget year, supporting the arts is public safety, and it's also supporting our economy.

Music alone contributes over $6 billion to Washington's economy.

Please support President Hollingsworth's $3 million for arts and culture, Councilmember Foster's admission tax proposal, and especially the Musician Laureate Pilot OED 013A1.

Thank you council members Lynn Hollingsworth and Brink for sponsoring this opportunity to strengthen the music community's connection with the city through OED.

These investments support the people who make Seattle a city of music.

Chair Strauss, please include all three.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Kay.

Now Dulce, welcome back.

Thank you for your patience with us, Dulce.

Hello.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Luta Ventura and I am the Allen Family Center's Children and Family Service Specialist.

with BrightSpark Early Learning Services, here to ask you to support Councilmember Rivera and Saka's proposal to restore the $167,000 in funding to continue the services we provide at the Center in partnership with Mary's Place.

I've been supporting some of Seattle's most vulnerable children and families for about two years.

During that time, I've seen the difference our holistic services make for families through ongoing support that keep them stable and also allowing me to develop relationships to address their most pertinent needs, such as helping medically fragile children get diapers delivered to their door and even supporting a mother preparing to leave her abuser.

Just this year, we served 36 families with child care navigation and reached 111 adults and 347 children through our programming.

We know that you have a lot of heart choices and that there's a keen focus on public safety and that that begins at home and in our families.

Please help us continue protecting and serving the families we support.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Dulce.

Up next is Leah Hall, then Claire Cantor, Guinevere God's daughter Lam Ho.

Leah, you're off mute.

Welcome.

Thank you, council members.

I appreciate your time.

I'm a mom of two South Shore kids.

I'm a small business owner.

I've lived in the South End for 20 years, born and raised in Seattle.

I'm a Rainier Beach resident and I'm asking for your support on Councilmember Lynn's Rainier Beach storefront activation proviso 200k for OED to activate vacant commercial space at Rainier and Henderson.

I also urge support for the amendments on the Seattle Police Athletic Association noise barriers, Rainier of South, traffic safety, the gun violence victims fund and youth employment.

As you know, Rainier Beach is an equity priority area due to historically discriminatory zoning and a lack of investment, which for generations has led to disproportionate health, economic, and social harm, yet our frontline neighborhood continues to be marginalized as we face flight throughout our urban center.

At the heart of the corridor, we have five schools and around 2,000 youth.

Across the street, the former Right America sit fallow.

I just would like us to address the market failures and continue.

Thank you, Leah.

Up next is Clara Cantor followed by Guinevere Godstadter.

Clara, you're here.

Star six to unmute.

Welcome.

My name is Clara Cantor and I'm a community organizer and policy director with Seattle Streets Alliance.

And I also live right off of Rainier Avenue and I'm here asking for your support for Council Lumberland's amendment to advance safety on Rainier Avenue South.

On average, one of my neighbors is injured in a car crash on Rainier Avenue every two and a half days.

I'll say that again.

It's on average, a community member is injured on a car crash on Rainier Avenue every two and a half days.

Delay to this safety project is costing our communities in the south end, and I urge you to support this amendment in order to ensure that the safety project continues to move forward.

I also want to strongly oppose the $1.25 million cut to safe routes to school, as others have spoken to, and support the asks of the solidarity budget.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Clara.

Up next is Guinevere, then Lam.

Welcome, Guinevere.

Hello, thank you.

Proactive policing does not work.

NYPD held a work slowdown in the winter of 2014 after the murder of Eric Garner by police.

During the several weeks of police work slowdown, civilian complaints of major crimes dropped by about 3% to 6% during the slowdown.

The researchers who studied this said, quote, the cessation of proactive policing corresponds roughly to the relative decline in crime that earlier research attributed to the effect of mass incarceration, end quote.

And the researchers said the underreporting did not account for this drop.

Fund programs, not police, The city must release the 300,000 for trans refugees immediately.

Thank you.

Thank you, Guinevere.

Up next is Lam, and then Laura is our last public commenter today.

Lam, welcome.

Star six to unmute.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Lam Ho, and I'm the general manager for the Transit Riders Union.

I am here to urge you to support the amendment proposed by Council President Hollingsworth adding an additional $500,000 for tenant services to the mayor's proposed budget, as well as amendments by Councilmember Foster for more resources for affordable housing and to prevent the displacement of existing homeowners in our city.

In 2027, Seattle renters will face a record number of evictions, rising housing costs, and increasingly complex challenges when dealing with landlords.

Renter protections only matter if people can actually access the support they need to enforce those rights.

Tenant services provide that lifeline.

They connect renters to legal assistance, know your rights education, eviction prevention resources, language access support, and help resolve issues like discrimination.

Please support the amendments to add $500,000 for tenant services and resources for affordable housing.

Thank you very much for your time and for standing with Seattle Renters.

Thank you, Lam.

Up next is Laura.

Laura, I see you're here, star six to unmute.

Laura, star six to unmute.

Laura M, I see you're present, star six to unmute.

While we're waiting for Laura, colleagues, we had a bunch more people sign up after we had 61 or so people signed up initially, which is why I extended it to one, kept it at one minute.

We did go about a half an hour long.

Laura's here.

I'll save the rest of these remarks after Laura speaks.

Laura, welcome.

Hi, thank you.

I am calling in because of the budget line item for the $2.5 million investment for South Seattle and the Central District.

called a reinvestment fund, which is really ironic because so much of a disproportionate amount of investments already go to those neighborhoods, especially to the black community, while other communities are getting almost nothing.

Councilwoman Rink wanted to do the do not solicit fines to go for a displacement fund.

But for who?

In the Central District, we've seen Asian and Jewish residents pushed out such as the Kiro building that belonged to the Japanese community being handed over to Africatown because of their aggressive pursuit of that.

We see a synagogue across the street, Langston, used to host Nazis like Amanda Seals and give homage to Omari Garrett who has open records of abusing people.

We ask you to show respect for the Asian and Jewish community and direct your funds to there, especially the Kiro building and the synagogue.

Thank you, Laura.

And I want to check with the clerk right now.

Do we have any more public comment registrants in person or online?

There are no additional registered speakers.

Thank you.

That does conclude public comment today.

Colleagues, as I was saying, we went about a half an hour over what I expected, even with additional commenters.

I appreciate your patience and your grace with me because I do think it is important that we hear from folks in the future if we have the same situation.

I may reduce to 50 or 45 seconds.

With that, clerk, can you please read the first item into the record?

Agenda item one, introduction and budget proposals overview for briefing and discussion.

Wonderful.

We are joined by Director Lish Whitson, Calvin Chow, and central staff, and I will hold my remarks until after your opening.

Welcome.

Great.

Thank you, and I'll breeze through this.

Let's see.

As you are aware, we are in phase three of the budget process, discussion of council member budget proposals.

This week we are going to briefly summarize each budget proposal and leave it to you to provide more substance behind what you are recommending the council adopt.

Okay.

Today we have 16 different departments with 36 different budget amendments on the agenda.

Tomorrow we only have five departments.

Seattle Center has dropped off.

But we have 59 different budget amendment proposals for those five departments.

And on Thursday we will have 68 proposals for six departments.

As you know, next week, on Tuesday, we will be releasing the chair's balancing package that will be discussed on Wednesday with a public hearing on Thursday.

Following next week, on Monday the 9th, is your deadline to submit any final self-balanced amendments to the chair's package.

And any questions?

but I'd like to just add one comment about the self-balance package deadline.

And just because of where we are in the process and the need to actually process those quickly and get them ready for the council consideration, we will have to have all the details identified at that time.

We will not be able to have time to iterate after that deadline.

Thank you, Cal.

Thank you, Lish.

We'll move on to questions in just a moment.

I'll share some general remarks.

As I mentioned earlier, we have around 170 amendments that you've heard will be broken out in these next three days.

I wanna talk, and just speaking about my own amendments here, I know that I can't fund all of my amendments to the fullest degree that I have asked.

I put these asks forward because they are asks that I have received from our community, and they are asks that I know that need to be funded, even if we can't achieve that in this budget here.

I make this choice so that I show in public what I'm considering for the chair's package.

Like last year, but different from previous budget chairs, we'll also have a slide showing any changes I make in the chair's package that were not reflected in this week's process.

I want to talk just a little bit about the procedure in which we will endeavor through today with 36 amendments.

I'm going to have central staff brief the item.

I will then turn it over to the sponsor of the proposal.

From there, I will ask if the committee chair of the committee overseeing the department would like to share any words.

At that point, we will follow Robert's rules of order, in which anyone who wants to speak can do so, and if somebody raises their hand a second time, we will wait until everyone's had an opportunity the first time.

This is simply a conversation about the proposals.

the conversation about trying to win or not win votes will happen in the next round of amendments, right?

And so today is simply the proposal so that it can be said in public.

I will ask for council colleagues to endeavor to I only have one comment, but if debate does ensue, I will facilitate that debate.

If it's a long conversation, I'll turn back to the committee chair and then to the sponsor to have final word before we move forward.

When we move forward, this is where I'll need everyone on their toes.

If you would like to co-sponsor the item, I will ask you for the co-sponsorship.

You will raise your hand.

I'm not gonna take a lot of time, so we have to move quickly.

I will call out all of the names of those who want to co-sponsor, and then I will confirm with Calvin Chow verbally on the record.

And then we will move right on to the next item.

I will be facilitating in a more active way during this section of budget than I have in the past two sections of budget.

The past two sections have been more conversational because it has been a conversation with the departments or with central staff about the choice points that we have before us.

Today we are moving into the proposals.

Next week will be the chair's package and the following week will be amendments.

And so this is where more active facilitation will occur.

and also be giving you Google Map updates on the traffic that we have before us.

Said another way, we have 36 amendments today.

If everyone speaks for 10 minutes, if we all speak for 10 minutes on each issue, we will be here for six hours, which at this point means 5.30.

If we all speak for five minutes, we'll be here for three hours, which is 2.30, not including lunch.

What this means, and I'll kind of give these updates along the way.

I'm just here about procedure.

I'm not here to speak about the merits of the issue and whether we should speak on it.

I will close each day by 5 p.m.

at the latest.

I hope that we can get out by 4.30 today.

and if we are not able to get through all of the items on today's agenda or that day's agenda, they will roll over to the morning of the next day.

If we are not able to get through all of the proposals by Thursday at 5 p.m., we will come back to the dais on Friday morning at 9.30 a.m.

Agree or disagree, we will demonstrate a healthy democracy through a healthy conversation.

That's where I wanna leave us now, and with that, let's get into our proposals.

Are there any questions on the procedure or where we are in the budget process?

Seeing none, clerk, will you please read items two through six into the record?

Agenda Item 2, Seattle Municipal Courts.

Agenda Item 3, City Attorney's Office, Law Department.

Agenda Item 4, Office of Civil Rights.

Agenda Item 5, Office of Labor Standards.

And Agenda Item 6, Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, all for briefing and discussion.

Thank you.

I'm going to turn it over to Council Central Staff to run us through this.

And I hope to get through the 10 amendments in these first five departments before we take lunch.

With that, Central Staff, over to you.

Good morning, Tommaso Johnson Council Central staff here to brief you on the sole item for the Seattle Municipal Court, SMC 1A.

This council budget action would increase the Seattle Municipal Court by $410,000 of general fund in 2027 and $414,000 of general fund in 2028 and restore 2.0 FTE for an information technology professional position and manager 1.0.

position.

This amendment is sponsored by Councilmember Kettle and co-sponsored by Councilmember Saka and Strauss.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle, as sponsor of the amendment and chair of the committee, you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to note briefly in the five-minute rule, or even less, you know, this goes to an element in our strategic framework plan about furthering a functional criminal justice system because, you know, oftentimes we have these press conferences and programs are rolled out like ATSC, Automatic Traffic Control Cameras, Connection Court, and so funded and so forth, but it's essentially an unfunded mandate for the court, because they have an important role for the carrying out of these programs.

And over the years, they've had a lot of cuts.

So this is a way to ensure that these programs are successful, to ensure that the court can actually follow through on what it needs to do in support of these programs and its mission overall.

And with that, Chair, I ask for everyone's support, including the Chair's.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any further discussion on this item?

Seeing none, if you would like to co-sponsor SMC 001A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I see Council Member Juarez.

And that is it.

And Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

And we will now move on to the next item and next department.

Ketel Freeman, Council Central Staff.

I'm going to present three budget actions here, all aimed towards a similar goal of reducing the backlog of prosecutions for the City Attorney's Office.

The first is Law 1A, sponsored by Councilmember Foster and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Rink.

This budget action would increase proposed appropriations to the Criminal Division of the City Attorney's Office by $1 million general fund in 2027. It's a one-time appropriation to help address the backlog and misdemeanor case clearances.

Thank you, Mr. Freeman.

Council Member Foster, sponsor of the proposal, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you, colleagues.

And I will just say thank you so much, Chair, for your Google Maps and your overview and the transparency of the process and how you're going to approach it.

I think it does not go unnoticed.

So, colleagues, I am asking for your support for this proposal, which is a one-time $1 million ad to the CAO's office to address a backlog of more than 5,000 cases.

This has been a persistent issue over the years, as many of you know.

I do want to share with you a little bit of information about the backlogs.

33% of those cases are domestic violence, elder abuse, assault, or stalking cases.

The next largest number of those cases are criminal traffic violations, which are about 16% of the cases.

After that is harassment at 14%, assault at 12%, and it goes on.

As we all know, each of these cases have people that are behind them and that are impacted.

And the CAO's office has done a lot of work on reorganization to try to address this backlog.

But I believe that this one-time ad will allow them to, through working with external firms, externs, existing staff, work through these cases, decide which ones they want to move forward in a timely manner.

so that we don't have to be concerned of the statute of limitations running out before we have the opportunity to do them justice.

So, colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Council Member Kettles, Chair of the Committee.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Council Member Foster.

I support this.

It's really important.

It's something that goes across the various city attorneys.

This is a chronic issue, and instead of passing it down to the whenever the next city attorney will be, it's best to, for all the reasons that Councilmember Foster said, to address these issues.

And so with that, yes, Councilmember Foster, I do support this.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Opposal, sorry.

I was about to say another word.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor Law 181, please raise your hand at this time.

I have Councilmember Juarez, Saka, Hollingsworth, Lynn, and Kettle.

Adding Councilmembers Hollingsworth, Juarez, Kettle, and Saka, Councilmember Lynn was already co-sponsored.

Great.

Wonderful.

Moving on to the next item.

All right.

Law 2A sponsored by Councilmember Kettle and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Juarez and Strauss.

This budget action would increase proposed appropriations to the criminal division of the city attorney's office by $562,000 in 2027 and $715,000 in 2028 and add four FTE assistant city prosecutors to increase capacity for criminal prosecutions.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle will sponsor the amendment.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

For basically the same reasons as Councilmember Foster's proposal, I propose this as well.

Councilmember Foster's is a bit of a surge to attack the backlog, and this one is a complement to that in a sense of working the backlog, but also helping ensuring that it doesn't reappear.

So colleagues, for those reasons, and again for basically furthering a functional criminal justice system, I'll say it again, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Council Member Juarez, is that a discussion hand?

Yes it is, sir.

Wonderful, you are recognized.

Thank you.

First I want to thank Council Member Kettle and you, Budget Chair Strauss, for being co-sponsors and of course our city attorney, Erica Evans who came to public comment to talk about the additional four FTEs.

I have a few more words and I'll add some more later on when we get into OPCD.

Just as Councilmember Kettle said, the City Attorney's Office is unable to keep pace with the volume and complexity of cases referred by the Seattle Police Department.

We know that we have a backlog of over 5,000 open misdemeanor cases in court or awaiting a decision on filing charges.

Without these positions, the City Attorney's Office will be forced to make incredibly difficult decisions regarding which criminal violations can be filed or pursued in seeking meaningful intervention.

This would directly impact public safety and undermine Seattleites' confidence in the city's ability to enforce Mr. Wiener laws.

So I'm just gonna focus very briefly why this is so emergent for us in D5 and of course the citywide as well regarding gun violence, particularly on North Aurora.

Since January to October, we have 19 active shootings that have occurred most notably October 22nd and October 24th.

I'll get in a little bit more detail on that when we get to number eight under OPCD.

So we've seen since May an 8% increase of gun violence with shootings taking place in these neighborhoods.

On June 11th, as you know, because Councilmember Kettle was there, as well as you, Budget Chair, the press conference we had with the community, the City Attorney's Office, Council President, King County Prosecutor Lisa Mannion, Councilmember Rivera, and the mayor and the interim SDOT director, Angela Brady, about the efforts of all those neighbors from basically from 85th to 145th, putting up their do-it-yourself blockage on seven streets that are still there.

The mayor did announce road closures from 95th to 102nd.

The mayor's office is said to be studying and safety effects in the area.

We've yet to see that study or the public safety plan.

So anyway, the last shooting we had of course was October 22nd, Thursday at Oak Tree Plaza on 105th and Aurora with 120 plus fired casings found.

The victims were not located.

And then on October 24th at eight in the morning, we had another shooting on 107th in Interlake in which over 88 fired casings were found.

Vehicles and residential structures were damaged.

I know that I don't have to go into all the detail of what we're dealing with with misdemeanors and shootings and felonies, not just on Aurora Avenue North, but of course citywide.

And I think that an investment in the city's attorney's office with four FTEs to address and put these folks or hold these folks accountable who are terrorizing our city and to address the backlog is incredibly important for our public safety measures.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Vice Chair Rivera followed by Council Member Foster.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to confirm a couple things here.

First of all, we have all these CBAs in, and I believe I read somewhere there's about $47 million worth of asks.

We know that we have about 26.7 from coming out of the Forecast Office of extra funds that we know would be available to allocate.

do you have a sense of how you, beyond the 26.7, how we will be funding some of these ads?

I guess that's one question.

And then my second question is, there are a lot of worthy CBAs here.

Obviously, we don't know how we're going to pay for them.

So a co-sponsorship of some of these CBAs, are they being seen as you're taking the number of folks that co-sponsor as things that you would move forward in your chairs package.

Are you able to give some information about that?

I ask that because there's some things like the last one we just had where I would be willing to give co-sponsorship, too, in terms of I think they're worthy causes.

I just don't know if we have the funding to fund these things.

And so I just want to lend my support if it's understood that it doesn't necessarily mean that we will be able to fund those things, because I don't know where we're going to land with all the ads.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

At this point, this revenue forecast was the smallest that we have had in the last maybe 20 years, and I hold the pandemic out of that because we received COVID relief funds from the federal government during the pandemic.

For those reasons, I am going through the back of the budget, every financial fund that we have to look for every dollar possible.

that information that you're requesting, I don't have at the fingertips right now because we're continuing to do the analysis and the work to see how much money is available to us.

Your question directly about co-sponsorship on these items, the best way I can say it is that I will be and creating my chair's package through both conversations with all colleagues, I've spoken to you all already, as well as looking at co-sponsorships on the dais here.

Said another way, if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.

If you believe that it is something that you would like to co-sponsor, I think all nine separately elected officials sitting on this dais have probably a slightly different system to use.

But what I can say is that if everything's a priority, nothing's a priority, as well as if everyone signs on to something, I'm going to put it forward as the budget committee's action, not an individual council member's action.

Because there are some things, such as the firefighter overtime, that I know has near, if not unanimous, support on the dais.

and in that way, it is my job as the steward of this process to put forward it not on any one person's behalf, rather on all of our behalf.

So through conversation, through looking at sponsorship, if everything's a priority, nothing's a priority, those are the ways that I'll be making my decisions.

Sorry, Chair.

So just...

Let me try again.

If we...

offer our co-sponsorship on things that we think are worthy causes, but we might not necessarily have the money.

We don't know today whether we will have the money for it or not, but we think they're worthy causes.

Then would you recommend that we add our co-sponsorship to it, knowing that some of these things are not and you're not going to be able to make it into the budget since we don't know and you're not able to confirm today the number.

I thought it was 26.7.

That's what you and I talked about in terms of the money that we knew we had extra from the forecast that had not been forecasted when this budget was submitted by the mayor.

But it sounds like you're still looking for additional funds that we can add.

I don't know where those monies would come from if you're looking at reserves or other places.

So not knowing where the money's coming from, that is my hesitation on adding co-sponsorships to things that I equally feel are important that I would like to lend my co-sponsorship to.

but in the end I don't know how these things will land.

So are you saying it's best to right now signal that you think these are important and recommend we add our co-sponsorships too if we support them but knowing that in the end we don't know what will actually make it into the final budget.

Thank you.

I recommend that each council member use their own matrix to understand if they would like to put forward their co-sponsorship on these items.

This is the proposal section of the budget.

It is not the voting on amendment section of the budget.

So I'm happy to follow up with you, but I do need to keep us moving unless you have a comment on the current CBA.

Well then I'm just going to assume that we should lend our support to things we think are worthy with the understanding that these things may or may not make it into the budget.

Correct?

I'm going to let everyone make their own decisions on how they co-sponsor today.

Do you have anything on this item?

I would like to actually co-sponsor them the last item because I think it's a worthy cause.

I don't know if we have the funding for it and then we can move forward.

Okay.

I'm going to confirm with Cal.

We are adding council member Rivera's co-sponsorship to law 1A1.

Adding council member Rivera to law 1A.

Great.

That is the last time I'm going to make the co-sponsorship exception today.

We're going to keep moving forward.

I see council member Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair, and I will be brief.

I just wanted to appreciate Council Member Kettle for bringing this forward and just state I'm actually not adding my co-sponsorship to this one only because part of my decision-making was around balancing one-time ads versus ongoing costs.

So there was just some great conversation about how Council Members are making that decision.

but I wanted to say, Council Member Kettle, I really appreciate you bringing this forward and I wanted to share that thinking and I appreciate you co-sponsoring mine.

That's all I got there.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Any further discussion?

Council Member Kettle has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Okay, are we on to Law 003?

Nope.

Any last words on that one?

Because it went long.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If you would like to co-sponsor Law 2A1, Please raise your hand at this time.

I am seeing Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Saka and Council Member Rivera.

Council Members Hollingsworth, Saka and Rivera.

Thank you.

Moving on to Law 3A1.

Okay, Law 3A1 sponsored by Council Member Kettle and co-sponsored by Council Members Wires and Strauss.

would increase proposed appropriations to the Criminal Division of the City Attorney's Office by $277,000 in 2027 and in 2028 by the same amount for toxicology testing and witness travel to testify in prosecutions.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle does sponsor the amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

I also wanted to first say thank you for highlighting the revenue impact, a lot of which is related to public safety and the impacts that it's having then indirectly and directly onto revenue.

And to Councilmember Rivera's point, as it relates to public safety, this is why I call this the unfund budget, because we do have these needs.

And despite the fact that the budget has been essentially declared to be with no new taxes and so forth, the Goldilocks budget, but as I noted to some people yesterday and today, on the public safety side, it is pretty much a a bowl of cold porridge.

So with that framing, I also wanted to highlight and thank Council Member Juarez for her remarks regarding North Aurora because it is massively important and what's been going on there is not right and it's not acceptable, something that we said back in the summer and here we are still because of those same issues that impact us chronically as it relates to public safety.

And so with that, Here with the toxicology, you know, again, furthering a functional criminal justice system, but also leveraging the work that we did down in Olympia, myself, others, the city attorney, in terms of getting the bill passed related to toxicology labs.

It is so important, having done that work, to take it to the next step, to give the city attorney the ability to use that law, to use that authority, to then move forward in terms of addressing the backlog across the board that has been mentioned in these previous two but on this one as it relates to driving on the influence and so forth.

And so this is really important because justice delayed is justice denied and we see this and it has major impacts on the ability to properly prosecute these cases.

And then importantly too, so many times there's lost loved ones and they wonder what is happening when a drunk driver has killed their loved one.

And we have to be mindful of that.

and it comes back to showing that government can work, city government can work, in this case, in combination with the city attorney.

So, colleagues, with that, I ask for your support.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Any further discussion?

Colleagues, any further discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor Law 3A1, please raise your hand at this time.

And we're set.

and we're set.

I have Council Member Foster, Rivera, Lynn, and Rink.

Council Members Foster, Lynn, Rink, Rivera.

Thank you.

Just as you hear your name called, that's when you should lower your hand for when you hear Cal call your name.

Calvin Chow, sorry, sir.

With that, we're gonna move on to the next department, OCR 181.

OCR 1A, sponsored by Councilmember Rink, co-sponsored by Councilmember Lin and Council President Hollingsworth.

OCR 1 would increase appropriations to the Office for Civil Rights by $50,000 general fund in 2027. This is a one-time expense for costs associated with the Seattle Human Rights Commission establishing an affected persons workgroup.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rink has sponsored the proposal.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair Strauss, and thank you, Tomaso, for briefing the amendment and for your work with my office in developing this.

Colleagues, without going into all of the history here, I want to highlight one important piece to bring us into context of just this year.

We have had four officer-involved shootings this year and one death that occurred with a person dying in police custody this year alone.

There is a broader discussion to be had about use of force and officer conduct, and I believe wholeheartedly that a functional public safety system requires an accountable police force.

But this amendment coming before the council is about the people and their families who are affected and are coping in the aftermath after those things happen.

And we're talking about the trauma, medical expenses, funeral expenses, childcare, and more.

I believe that this warrants our attention and it warrants programmatic and policy solutions.

And so that is why I am proposing one-time funding to go to the Office of Civil Rights that would establish an affected persons work group that will be supported by the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

And this work group would develop recommendations for how the city can improve resources and additional supports for individuals who have suffered life-altering injuries or who have had family members who have died following an interaction with the Seattle Police Department.

I wanna thank the co-sponsors on this amendment, Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Lynn, and colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, and Council Member Foster is chair of the committee overseeing the department.

If you would like to say anything, you are recognized first, saying nothing.

Council Member Juarez, you are recognized.

She's to support.

I don't have to say anything.

Great, we'll come back to you, Council Member Kettle, followed by Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

Recognize this falls under Council Member Foster's committee, but it also relates to my committee, and we do have, I would argue, the best accountability system in the country between the OIG, the OPA, and the CPC.

and I do encourage everyone to work with the Community Police Commission or the Office of Police Accountability.

But that said, I understand the pieces here and this could be a good opportunity to provide another avenue, support, relief valve, whatever how you want to say it in terms of providing some and again, going to that kind of functional system and people understanding that they're being heard.

And we do need to work with our accountability system, but I will support this one.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Rank for bringing this forward.

I will say Community Police Commission and our other accountability partners, I see them as leading in this space.

This looks a little bit like we might be bifurcating the system, so all to say I think the work is important.

I look to our accountability partners to do this work regardless, and I appreciate you bringing this forward, but I do think we need to be working with our accountability partners on this.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Further discussion?

Last chance for further discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor OCR 1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

Thank you.

I see Council Member Juarez, Kettle, Foster.

Council Member Juarez, Kettle and Foster.

Great.

Thank you.

We will move on to OCR 2A1.

Good morning, I'm Eric McConaughey, I'm the central staff.

OCR2A is sponsored by Council Member Juarez and co-sponsored by Council Members Rink and Foster.

The CBA would increase appropriations in the Office for Civil Rights by $30,000 general fund in 27. and $30,000 general fund in 2028 for contracted support for the Seattle Disability Commission.

The contracted services would provide technical skills and group facilitation, disabilities, and program management.

Thank you.

And Council Member Juarez, as sponsor of the amendment, you are recognized.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eric.

And I'm just going to give you some basic background here.

First of all, thank you, Councilmember Rink.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster, for supporting in this ask of the Seattle Disability Commission.

It's $30,000 for the facilitator for 27-28.

This item creates stable funding for consultant services and interpretation services tailored to managing the diverse and unique challenges and access needs of the Seattle Disability Commission.

The purpose of the SDC is to promote the full participation of people with disabilities into all areas of economic, political and community life in the City of Seattle.

These consultant services make the work of the Commission possible and have been funded since 2022. These funds support reliable access to plain language interpretation services, note-taking services and collective and collecting accessible public comment and public input.

Accessibility in boards and commissions helps uplift and amplify community voices and develop civic leadership among underrepresented populations, that is, people with disabilities.

In the proposed 27-28 budget, the SDC's budget was cut in half, removing $26,500 in funding, effectively limiting the work the commission could do.

The legacy of this commission, which was established in 210, is incredible and they are, of course, as you know, situated within the Office of Civil Rights.

According to the CDC bylaws, the commission has at least 51% of the commission made up of commissioners who identify as disabled or having a disability.

Members of the commission come from all seven of Seattle's districts.

A few highlights.

I'll be brief.

In 2019, Seattle adopted the closed captioning and public accommodations law, advancing accessible information in restaurant bars and other public venues.

In 2024, the SDC, in collaboration with Seattle Center and the Seattle Department of Finance and Administration, announced the first wheelchair charging station at the Seattle Armory for public use.

In 2025, The work plan priorities include accessibility in transit, sidewalks, and disability-aware workforce development and advising on accessibility for the 2026 FIFA World Cup planning.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

In 2026, SDC, in collaboration with myself and Councilmember Saka, proposed changes to the Seattle Transit measure that go to ballot in November of 2026 that prioritize safe and accessible transit and infrastructure for people with disabilities.

And with that, I look and ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

Councilmember Foster's chair of the committee, would you like to share anything at this time?

Seeing nothing.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Last chance for discussion.

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor OCR 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I have council members Saka, Lynn Rivera, Kettle, Hollingsworth.

Council members Saka, Kettle, Lynn Rivera, and Hollingsworth.

Thank you.

Let's move on to OCR temporary number.

And we are joined remotely by Jennifer Lebrecht.

Oh yes, Jennifer Lebrecht, welcome.

Hello.

Thank you for letting me join you remotely today.

This is legislation.

It's the use of the Do Not Solicit Penalty Revenue Ordinance.

Earlier this year, Council passed a Do Not Solicit Ordinance for homeowners that does charge penalties when that do not solicit ordinance is violated.

This ordinance would restrict penalty revenue generated for specific uses.

And the sponsors are Council Member Foster, co-sponsors are Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Rink.

Thank you.

With that, Council Member Foster, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And sorry, a little mic situation here.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to my co-sponsors, Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Rink.

I really appreciate that.

A special shout out to Council President Hollingsworth.

I think this concept for this came from something that you said to me during the bill process, and I committed to bringing it back during budget.

So thank you, as always, for your leadership and always identifying ways to make sure we're serving the people that we are seeking to serve.

So colleagues, thank you again.

You passed this legislation unanimously earlier this year.

And as Jen already stated, the intent here is to ensure that the penalty revenue that is generated from the Do Not Solicit legislation is reserved for specific use.

which is to go back into communities who have been negatively impacted by this practice.

I also want to take a second to express my appreciation and my slight apology to central staff.

I do have seven budget bills.

I will not be doing that again in the future, but this was one that we identified months ago, so thank you so much to Jen for all of your hard work on those bills.

and colleagues, I ask for your support.

And I see the chair looking at me with future appreciation for not doing this again.

Thank you so much, chair.

And now.

Colleagues, discussion.

Colleagues, discussion.

Seeing no further discussion, if you'd like to co-sponsor this, please raise your hand at this time.

Set.

Councilmember Lin.

Acting Councilmember Lin.

Thank you.

Moving on to our next department, OLS 1A1.

Good morning, council members.

I'm Karina Boll here to talk about two items for the Office of Labor Standards.

The first one is OLS 1A.

It would increase appropriations to OLS by about 192,000 OLS fund in 2027 and about 194,000 OLS fund in 2028 and add one FTE strategic advisor to restore a policy analyst position that would be removed in the proposed budget.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Rink and co-sponsored by Council Members Lynn and Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Chair Strauss, and thank you, Karina, for your work with our office in developing this amendment and a huge thank you to the co-sponsors on this amendment as well.

Colleagues, I'll be brief and just note for the record that since its inception, the Office of Labor Standards has won almost $70 million for more than 120,000 workers in our city.

It's the work of the Office of Labor Standards to uphold our strong labor protections that we champion as a city and clearly their work continues to deliver for working people.

And so this amendment would restore the policy analyst position and that was proposed to be abrogated as a part of the mayor's budget.

I believe it is important to keep up the policy arm of the Office of Labor Standards so they can continue work alongside us in developing additional labor protections and work in the years to come.

and I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Seeing no discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor OLS 1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Set.

Seeing no further co-sponsorships, we will move on to OLS 2A1.

Yes, the next item is OLS 2A.

It would increase appropriations to OLS by 120,000 OLS fund one time in 2027 for outreach to workers and hiring entities on the domestic workers ordinance.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Rink and is co-sponsored by Council Members Lynn and Strauss.

Thank you.

Council Member Rink is sponsored the proposal you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair Strauss, and thank you for your co-sponsorship on this amendment.

Thank you, Karina, for briefing it and for your work on this.

Thank you all.

Earlier this year, we passed some really important updates to the Domestic Workers Ordinance, and this was following the action taken by the state legislature to pass a statewide Domestic Workers Bill of Rights we as a council took that as an opportunity to update our own ordinance, and the resulting policy is something I believe we should be proud of as a city, and our policies and protections are only so good as much as we can put them into practice.

And so this amendment would extend funding to allow for additional outreach for workers and employers so folks are aware of the new protections that we voted on as a council.

and thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor OLS 281, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I see Council Member Foster and Council Member Kettle.

Adding Council Member Foster and Kettle.

Thank you.

Moving on to the next department, Uwaira 181.

Good morning, council.

Brian Goodnight, council central staff.

So the next item is OIRA 1A, which would increase appropriations in the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs by $300,000 general fund in both 2027 and 2028 on a one-time basis to support workforce development for refugee and immigrant women artisans to help them achieve economic stability.

This item is sponsored by council member Juarez and is co-sponsored by council members Strauss and Rink.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez as chair or sponsor the proposal, you're recognized.

Thank you.

First of all, thank you, Chair, for your support.

And of course, thank you, Council Member Rink as well.

This is $300,000 to support workforce development for refugee and immigrant women's partitions in 27 and 28. This is a program that's near and dear to my heart.

I've been working with them for a decade since they started in D5.

According to, let's see, the funding, should be used for an organization that supports refugees and immigrant women artisans, their job skills training, micro-business support, wraparound support, and connection with employment opportunities.

The Refugee Artisans Initiative, RAI, is a fantastic organization, as I shared in DE5, and watching them grow from two or three or four people in three or four sewing machines to, I don't know, I think we're up to 30 women in 40 sewing machines.

and I think I was having this discussion with Council Member Foster, hope she doesn't mind.

This is the kind of nonprofit that you watch grow, that you fund, and that you see not only that of the deliverables, but what it does to a community to come out and use their skills and have a place to go.

And I just cannot tell you the byproduct and the benefits of having such a gem in D5.

The RAI was founded in 2017 It provides hands-on training, access to materials, equipment, production management, quality guidance, and consistent paid work opportunities led by the executive director, Hein Huxley.

Many women arrive in the United States with deep technical skills, cultural knowledge, and creativity, yet face systemic barriers to employment.

Our AI exists to partner with women artisans, remove those barriers, and support economic mobility through dignified, sustainable work.

They also offer individualized support, helping artisans navigate licensing, documentation, scheduling flexibility, communication expectations within the U.S. work environment with the goal of long-term economic confidence.

And I could tell you when you visit there, it's so wonderful to see these women there at work with their children as well.

Demand for REI's program far exceeds capacity with over 320 women on their wait list for the Workforce Development Program.

Thank you, City of Seattle.

Since founding in 2017, 167,000 upcycled products have been made by the artisans.

1,700,000 in income has been generated for refugee women.

In 2019, we secured a rented space in Lake City.

In 2022, after the rented space was damaged by flooding, they purchased 12337 Lake City Way with support of King County and the Seattle City Council.

In 2020, they started scaling up by providing the community with 80,000 hand-sewn masks to help keep frontline workers safe during the pandemic.

I witnessed that firsthand going down to their shop, which is literally half a mile from my house.

They were making masks and it was incredible.

In the winter of 2024-25, they hired a workforce development manager and expanded employment support for their artisans and the community.

Late summer 2025, RAI's team moved to temporary space That was the Mennonite church.

And in August, they began renovations with groundbreaking in September.

And I think council member Rink may have joined us there.

The fall of 2025, we began an official structured ESOL and digital literacy program.

That's English as a second language.

And in quarter one, 2026, we launched REI's first artesian marketplace cohorts, the micro business and entrepreneurial pathways.

in late quarter one, 2026. We completed renovations and moved back to a newly renovated building in March.

I had the opportunity to go visit our friends on Lake City Way about a week ago, and it's amazing, and I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Rivera is chair of the committee overseeing this department.

Do you have anything to share?

Thank you, Chair.

Just to thank Councilmember Juarez for keeping our refugee and immigrant women in mind.

This is really important to support OIRA in general does workforce development and appreciate the department for doing that work.

and then especially so to ensure that we're also supporting our refugee and immigrant women.

So really appreciate you, Councilmember Juarez, for this and I will be co-sponsoring.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Further discussion?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor Owyra 181, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we set?

I see Councilmember Rivera, Sokka, Lynn, Hollingsworth, Foster, Kettle co-sponsoring Owyra 1A1.

Councilmember, all councilmembers are co-sponsoring.

Fantastic.

That looks like a priority then.

With that, colleagues, we are at 12.07 p.m.

I do appreciate and thank you for your grace letting me take 15 minutes of our lunch so that we could extend public comment today.

We have 26 items this afternoon.

If we take 10 minutes per item, that's about four hours, 18 minutes, which puts us at about 4.30-ish.

So at this time, I will ask us to come back here at, I'll give us the extra couple minutes if we can make sure to get through the afternoon.

So if we can be back here at 12.55, 12.55.

If there is no objection, the Select Budget Committee meeting will be in recess until 1255 p.m.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hearing no objection, the Select Budget Committee is in recess until 1255 p.m.

Thank you.