Seattle City Council 7/1/2025

Good afternoon.

The July 1st, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2-0-1.

I'm Sarah Nelson, Council President.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council Member Solomon?

Here.

Council Member Strauss?

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Council Member Kettle?

Here.

Council Member Moore?

Present.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

And Council President Nelson.

Present.

Seven present.

Okay, there are no presentations today, so at this time we'll open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar, and the council work program.

Clerk, how many people do we have signed up today?

We have six in person, two remote.

All right.

We'll go ahead with the in-person and then go to the remote.

Thank you.

And everybody can have two minutes.

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

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

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

Speakers will alternate between sets of in-person and remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

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

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time.

Allow us to call on the next speaker.

Public comment period is now open and we'll begin with the first speaker on the list.

We'll start with speakers.

Let's see, we have first Matt Payne and then Paul and then Patrick.

Good afternoon.

We face three more years of federal immigration, ICE, that threatens the well-being of our neighbors.

Now more than ever, Seattle must take clear and decisive action to protect our immigrant community from further harm by ICE.

During over 90 hours in the hallways of immigration court with ICE, I did not see dangerous criminals being removed.

Saw grandparents, spouses, siblings, and single mothers.

Ordinary people disappeared down an elevator shaft.

These are our friends, our colleagues, and our neighbors.

We must learn from what happened in Los Angeles where ICE raids devastated families and take proactive steps to prevent similar tragedies here.

Seattle has always stood for inclusion and compassion.

Now is the time to reaffirm those values.

I urge City Council and Seattle Police Department to engage directly with the immigrant community in developing strategies and solutions, not just broad statements.

Educate the public on how to respond if ICE returns so we can stand together to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Recommit to the Keep Washington Working Program and the protections that provides our city's immigrant workforce.

Enact local legislation requiring all federal and state officials have ID and no face masks.

Develop SPD protocols to prevent unlawful detentions by unbadged or unidentified individuals.

Ms. Rink, you were the only one I saw at the immigration court.

Thank you.

It meant something.

It meant a lot.

The rest of you, now is your time to step up, to show up, and put your words into action.

Let us work together to ensure Seattle remains a safe and welcoming city for everyone who calls it home.

Thank you for your time.

Yeah, Paul.

Hi, so I'm Paul Glumaz with the King County GOP.

I will be later presenting to the city council and the county council, a report and an action plan for dealing with the drug addicts being allowed to maraud our neighborhoods and businesses.

In this, I'm looking forward to working with you as this gets organized and underway.

The crux of the matter is that taxpayer dollars should not be given to any nonprofit that is engaged in any low barrier shelter, housing, or anything that allows low barrier situation.

The state should not be subsidizing the destruction of our community.

How can law enforcement do their job under such circumstances?

They can't.

It is time we got organized to call it what it is and to do something about it.

And this is not gonna go away.

We have an incredible problem of allowing drug addicts to maraud our neighborhoods.

You can't allow that.

It's got to come to an end.

It's destroying the city.

It's destroying the morale.

It's destroying the neighborhoods.

It's making people very cynical.

It's making people very apathetic.

This has to change.

And I'm looking forward to working with you all on that.

Thank you very much.

We now have Patrick McKee, and then I believe it's Steve.

Hi, thanks.

The council will be confirming the appointment of Seattle's police chief later today, but reading through the interview questions from council members, I'm struck by the level of disconnect from contemporary events.

Nobody asked, so here goes.

Chief Barnes, how do you see the role of Seattle Police Department going forward as authoritarian police state corruption at the federal level as visited on local residents?

Just last night, I asked this question of an SPD officer.

He agreed that ICE gangs were not behaving like legitimate law enforcement.

And it's true, their refusal to identify themselves, their disproportionately aggressive and violent tactics, their open reliance on racial profiling are like something out of the Jim Crow South.

SPD will not assist ICE, he told me, and yet there they were at the federal building, clearing a crowd, helping ICE take out a van load of people seized at the immigration courts, people kidnapped in the process of exercising their due process.

So what am I not understanding?

What would you do, I asked him, if right across the street you saw a gang of masked, unidentified men roll up on a brown guy, knock him down and drag him into an unmarked car, would you treat it as an attempted kidnapping in progress?

He considered this.

I'd investigate.

Now, just as a thought experiment, imagine a couple of cops who see me walking down the street and being suddenly attacked by half a dozen guys in masks.

I don't want an investigation.

I want a police response.

Isn't that what you'd want?

Everyone here would expect to be protected unquestioningly and immediately because what I'm describing is a crime.

And this is not math our police officers should be asked to do, evaluate in the moment every anonymous assault in progress.

We need them responding in accordance with a clear set of orders, orders provided by the mayor and the city council.

ICE needs to be told they cannot operate with impunity in Seattle, cannot solicit the collaboration of SPD in their crimes, cannot assault and kidnap our residents.

Making this clear is y'all's job, not the cop's job.

Thank you.

We have Steve, and following Steve will be Bennett.

For too long, we have not had a police force that actually protected average citizens.

It's been more of a Praetorian guard for the mayor and some of his friends because we have a booming private security industry in the city, the likes of which I hadn't seen in my lifetime now.

And the reason why we have it is because we're not doing a very good job.

I wish this would have taken a little longer, and the Public Safety Committee would have had more time to take a look at what is going to be done differently, what might possibly be improved.

Another two-year plan makes it sound like the old Soviet Union.

Every two years, we'll have a two-year, four-year, six-year plan.

Right now, assaults in this city are not being investigated.

still and that's been going on for almost as long as america participated in world war ii not maybe as long as our european allies were fighting but as long as we were there i think it's time to start taking a look at proposals that will actually really work and i don't see it working uh seattle should be on the forefront of actually doing something good for their citizens.

There used to be a way to contact the police when you didn't like what was going on through the chief's office.

And you'd get a response, self-correcting.

I don't see that in the Seattle police for many, many years.

I don't want them to have the attitude We don't care and we don't have to.

I want them to think more about the average citizen, businesses in the city.

We have Bennett.

Following Bennett will be Alex Zimmerman.

one or more of you are backing something controversial or running against another candidate.

It'd be interesting if you did something called a Reddit AMA or Ask Me Anything.

And this is not for the novelty factors.

Look at me.

I'm the hip candidate.

I'm on Reddit.

I genuinely believe this would be a more effective forum for making an argument than many of the existing candidate debates and town hall forums.

And some of the problems with the existing formats, you have people lining up at the mic to ask many versions of the same repetitive question.

You have people doing blatant grandstanding in the guise of a question.

You don't really have follow-ups, and the answers are time-bound even if you want to talk longer.

A Reddit AMA doesn't really have those problems.

When one person asks a question that lots of people want to ask, they will all tend to vote up that question so you can see that that demands an answer.

Also, candidates and sitting politicians have done this before.

The questions that get voted to the top tend to be ones, they're not grandstanding.

They are tough but fair questions that can actually be answered.

And then if somebody has a follow-up to the answer that you give, again, the follow-ups can be voted up just like the top-level questions.

And the ones that get voted to the top, again, tend to be tough but fair, reasonable follow-ups to the answers that you've provided.

Also, for better or for worse, the in-person ones can be disrupted by one-off people or protesters.

The online ones obviously can't be.

And I sincerely believe if you have a controversial or unpopular position that you think will hold up or look better under multiple rounds of tough-but-fair questioning, you should try this.

I've been to the alternate format ones.

I was at the Rink-Woo debate, and there were situations where, like, Somebody asked, you know, Tanya Wu, we are concerned that you're backed by big business.

She said, I'm not backed by big business.

The whole audience laughed.

She said, I own a small business.

That's not really relevant.

And you know, before you know it, the whole minute is burned without really conveying any actual information.

And also, you know, Tanya Wu's husband was there, and he kept yelling and heckling at Alexis from the audience.

You know, like, boo, no.

We're Sarah Nelson when you need her, right?

Alex?

You know my name, Alex Zimmerman.

You know this?

Thank you.

Hello?

Hello?

See hi, my dirty damn Nazi Gestapo anti-Semite pig.

My name Alex Zimmerman, and I want to explain to you something that is very unique.

Yeah.

Five days ago, They cut my statement for election.

So first time, what is I go for election in my life, I don't have a statement.

Who did this?

It's very interesting.

They did this under Council member Zahili, who are chair right now, why he did this?

Why?

He's a refugee, and he, under Martin Luther King picture, you know what this means?

Did something, what is nobody did this in this country.

I come and speak here almost for 35 years, almost maybe 40. So this is very interesting for me.

Why?

Because I told for 30-plus years, fascism goes bigger and bigger and bigger.

Fascism cannot be stopped when people acting like an idiot.

Look in Europe.

Everything for 30-year clean.

No more fascists for 30-year.

You guys, by definition, damn Nazi Gestapo pig is exactly who you are.

Even people don't stand up.

It don't clean you.

It will go for another 30 years.

And our lives go worse and worse every day.

So right now, can I give you a statement from my copy from statement with my president?

He talk exactly the same.

You don't know what you're doing.

You're a freaking, freaking Nazi pig.

So we were Trump, we were New American Revolution.

Before people stopped acting like an idiot, Because only idiot not understand what is going on right now.

Why we need Trump right now?

Because it's a last chance.

Bring country back.

And state Washington is absolutely Nazi pig.

Thank you very much.

Hello, everyone.

Hi, all the city council members in the audience.

I'm a constituent of, I'm from District 7. And I am an immigrant, as you can tell from my accent, from Russia.

And until recently, I was not an activist, but recently I got very concerned about what's going on here.

in America where I've been for 20 years.

I'm a citizen because it reminds me of what happened in Russia.

And my question to you is, do you plan to introduce a legislation or consider registration, introduction, review it on partnership of Seattle police with ICE and also requiring all the ICE agents to be demasked?

and requiring for them to be identified.

Because there are already cases of people impersonating ICE agents.

And again, it hopefully looks very much like Russia where people in masks just grab people off the street and then we just don't know what happened.

And I remember that in February when things started happening, I spoke to my friends and I said, hey, listen, what's going on here?

It looks like Russia.

I was reassured that in America we have checks and balances and I don't have to be worried.

I don't see the checks and balances working.

I don't know about you.

Thank you.

That was our last registered in person.

Okay, we'll now move to remote public comments, and our first speaker is Alberto Alvarez, to be followed by Rose.

Please press star six when you hear the prompt that you have been unmuted.

Go ahead, Alberto.

Thank you.

Council is facing a severe economic downturn and a budget that will not match the needs of the people.

Reduction in services and staffing will destabilize working families and elders on fixed income.

People are making sacrifices just to keep a home and live on a shrinking budget.

Council will have the job of appointing a district five member unelected and with the potential to cause immense damage in the year plus they will be in office.

Council Member Hollingsworth, Council Member Rank, Council Member Kettle, and Council Member Strauss.

The four of you are a fair representation of Seattle's left, right, and center.

You must choose people over profit.

and housing stability over mass evictions.

This appointment is a life and death decision for thousands of people.

You have to get this one right.

Thank you all, and have a good day.

Next speaker is Rose Legionnaires, followed by David Haynes.

Hello.

My name is Rose.

This last week, and finally announced today, Zoran Mandani, the prospective mayor of New York City, was nominated for the Democratic nominee.

As part of his policy that is uniquely popular, he says, we will ensure that for New York, they are protecting their strength and strengthening their sanctuary city apparatus by getting ice out of all city facilities, ending in cooperation, increasing legal support, and protecting all personal data.

All of these are very simple things that the councils could actually go and start doing today.

It has been weeks of people talking about how their neighbors are being stolen off the streets, how people are being taken in ways that should never happen in America, yet the city council does nothing.

I understand that people do not matter the same way as golf courses, as curbs, or the police force, but these are people you should care about.

These are individuals that are part of our community.

These are individuals that are so relevant and important to everyone feeling safe and everyone feeling that they can be a part here.

And instead of standing up to a fascistic regime, you're rolling over and doing nothing.

Right now, Council President Sarah Nelson, you have a 19% approval rating from everyone in Seattle, and you were up for re-election for a primary in a month.

I don't understand how you think you're going to get reelected if you are having a lower approval rating than Trump does in the state of Washington.

Right now, it is so incredibly low that people have zero faith in the city council to do anything meaningful or even care at all.

We have the chance to do something for our community.

We have the chance to be there for the people that aren't there.

We have a chance to actually show up.

City Councilmember Rink has the highest approval rating of everyone in the council, and that is in large part because she has been showing up and showing that she is actually a part of the community that she cares about, that she realizes that we are not just individuals that are isolated from each other, but that we are all there together.

Show up and be there like everyone else.

Be the people we demand you to be.

Thank you.

The next speaker is David Haynes.

Go ahead, David.

You may need to press star six, David.

Thank you.

Hi, thank you.

David Ames.

Ever noted anytime you're listening to the police or a cop about crime, they're quick with a political excuse or a button-pushing staffing issue.

It's a reminder of the binder that when Democrats sabotage police reform, exempt drug pushers from jail, and then prioritize hiring leaders who are willing to exempt them from jail and not trying to shut the evil down.

It has created a serious problem with our economy where people just don't want to go downtown, can't go anywhere near public transportation, even just like today.

Every single day at 145, there's these junkies hanging out at the bus stop.

And when a couple of them hop on the bus, a couple more replace.

But yet there's no trespassing.

There's no effort from the bus driver to call Metro Transit.

There's no effort between Metro Transit and the police to work together to sweep the bus stop with all these evil pieces of crap that are making life a living hell.

Instead, we get these wannabe lawyer cops and transit who want to act like the jurisdiction of their requirements Don't dictate that they're going to bother with the inside of the bus stop, but anybody that steps outside the bus stop, that's not their responsibility.

That's the police's responsibility.

Where is the effort, the real concerted effort to trespass all these junky thieves in downtown, question them, and put them on a court-ordered path to break their addiction with an authorized encampment that could be set up in 24 hours by the National Guard and put community service officers in charge of protecting the service providers who would be on strike?

You are part of the reason that you keep capitulating to the devil's advocates who love sabotaging police reform and playing the race card, blaming the white man for everything.

Is that it?

There are no additional registered remote speakers.

All right.

Thank you very much.

We have reached the end of our list of registered speakers, so the public comment period is now closed.

Thank you everyone for your comments today.

I do want to note that Councilmember Hollingsworth had joined us as well as Councilmember Rivera before the right before the public comment period started.

All right.

If there is no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

And if there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

All right.

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar.

The items on the consent calendar are the minutes of June 24th, 2025, Council Bill 121010, payment of bills, 20 appointments from the Housing and Human Services Committee, and three appointments from the Land Use Committee.

Are there any items that council members would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

All right, I'm seeing none.

I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Thank you very much.

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

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council member Kettle?

Aye.

Council member Moore?

Council member Moore?

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

And Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

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

Let's see.

All right.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record?

The report of the Public Safety Committee, June's item one, appointment 3175, appointment of Sean Fitzgerald Barnes as Seattle Police Chief.

The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Okay.

So here's what's going on.

Um, there was a miscommunication about, um, when this would be coming up.

Nevermind.

We're on track.

All right.

So council member Kettle is chair of the committee.

You're recognized in order to present the committee report.

Uh, thank you, council president, um, colleagues, um, We've been working public safety quite diligently over the last 18 months.

And we're quite aware of the needs for leadership within our department on a whole host of issues.

I myself first met Chief Barnes last November.

One of the things I knew from my experience is that we needed an outside candidate.

We needed somebody with that different perspective to come and lead our department.

One with a diverse background as Councilmember Hollingsworth noted in our committee meeting in terms of, you know, diverse within the law enforcement field but also as a teacher and a marine.

Also important too is a very strong academic background and a strong background in terms of, you know, the academics and reform within law enforcement, you know, bringing these ideas to fruition.

I do believe during the course of the committee meetings, we have a nominee who is committed to reform, particularly in the reform in a one Seattle way with Seattle values.

And I should note that it's not just on those pieces, but there's also the practical aspects of it too.

And as we kind of noted in the committee meeting, that kind of also refers to communications and the need for Seattle Police Department to communicate, not only with the council, but more importantly with the city and its neighborhoods.

On that point, I think Chief Barnes has shown his outreach.

He's basically given himself his own Before the Badge program, where he's gone to each of the neighborhoods and understood the various pieces that make up our city, in terms of the neighborhoods, the communities, the populations, and the very diverse aspects of our city.

And to go around and do so is very important.

It also happened with our accountability partners.

He met with them.

I was having a meeting with the native community side of things and Chief Barnes had done that as well.

These pieces are very important.

And again, the most important part is doing the outreach to the varied communities that make up our city.

With this background and the process that we've gone through in terms of roll calls and the like, meeting with community, the nomination package, the Q&A package, as Councilmember Saka noted, I don't lift them up anymore in terms of documents, but this is thorough and very good background in order to make a decision.

So with that said, I look at my colleagues and ask for your support in voting aye for this nomination.

Thank you, council president.

Thank you.

All right.

I will open the floor to questions or comments from our colleagues on this appointment.

Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Council President.

So I just want to say that I do support the appointment of Chief Barnes to be our new permanent chief.

I appreciate your accessibility and your willingness to meet regularly about Aurora.

I appreciate your willingness to have taken those issues around Aurora as well as Lake City seriously.

They were not previously taken seriously and I believe that you've brought a new understanding and commitment to addressing the right of all of those residents to peaceful enjoyment in their neighborhoods as well.

So thank you for that and also thank you for providing resources to the North Precinct captain and empowering him and his leadership team to do what they need to do to truly provide for public safety in District 5. I believe that I want to be hopeful and as I said in the committee meeting I do believe that we are in good hands.

It has certainly been a while since we've had a permanent chief here for any period of time and so I am hopeful that you are willing and able to make this your home for a long time coming.

I think it's going to be important for the healing that we need to do from the past and also for us to have consistency as we go forward.

These are, as you know, very turbulent and trying times ahead of us.

And we are going to need to have a steady hand.

We are going to need to have a professional hand, a thoughtful partner in this as we really truly need to work together so that we are not at We do not allow the forces outside of us to divide us in a way that prevents us from being able to work together to improve the safety of all.

And so in seeing how you've operated to date, I'm confident that you will continue to operate in such a manner.

And so thank you for being willing to step up to a very difficult position.

I look forward from watching your success from afar.

Thank you, Chief Barnes.

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

And I shared my more fulsome comments on this topic at the committee level as vice chair of the Public Safety Committee.

But just I'll restate a few of the central themes here.

especially given that the chief has joined us today.

So first and foremost, Chief Barnes wanna thank you for your service to the city so far and your willingness to continue to serve in this capacity.

I'm honored to be able to support your nomination today to serve as the chief on a more permanent basis.

I think now more than ever, our city has needed an outside leader to come in and lead this department.

And whenever there's someone that comes in from the outside, there's always a little trepidation that can happen in community, within the ranks of the department themselves, all the way through the elected official rank or ranks.

But I think you chief are the right leader the right outside leader at the right moment for the right department.

And I wanna thank you for your thoughtful collaboration and close partnership so far with me and my office on any number of District 1 related public safety challenges, including rampant gun violence, problem speed racing, basic traffic enforcement, little just neighborhood issues that truly make a difference in people's lives.

And then taking lessons and learnings from those district one focused conversations and applying them and scaling them across the city.

I found you to be a very insightful, highly collaborative and thoughtful governing partner I wanna thank the mayor for choosing you to begin with.

Smart pick, but we've had some great opportunities to work together already.

Chief, I gotta tell you, now the work really begins.

Now the work really begins to continue to earn trust within communities.

Now the work really begins to continue to make better progress on some of these statistics.

Now the work truly begins to collaborate with everyone.

Accountability partners, elected officials at this dais, members of the community, Now the work truly begins.

So I'm really excited to be able to, and honored to be honest, to be able to support your nomination today and looking forward to rolling up my sleeves with you and alongside you to do this work together.

And I know you're up for the task yourself.

So thank you.

That is all I have, Madam Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I too want to extend my note of gratitude actually to the Chief for his strong collaboration out of the gate since he's been here.

In particular to me, really appreciate the attention that you've given to the issues in the district that I represent, the D4, and not only just being so collaborative and a really good problem solver, but just a caring individual.

It is really clear that you care about the residents of Seattle, your new home.

And I really look forward to the partnership continuing moving forward to continue to try to make some headway here on the issues that we're experiencing in Seattle.

So I will be supporting your nomination and I'll keep this brief.

Just wanted to say thank you and to tell you you have my support.

I think you are the right pick and I really look forward to the continuing collaboration.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rink.

Thank you.

Colleagues, this appointment will mark a new chapter for the department, not only towards building a response system that provides quick responses and right responses for public safety scenarios, but one that hopefully ushers in a real moment of culture change for the department.

and meaningful changes to our accountability system to ensure that we're delivering accountable services.

And there weren't real questions raised today in public comment and questions that my office continues to hear about, about ICE in our community disappearing our residents, and we have a lot of work to do on that front, and I look forward to working with the department to problem solve around that so we are truly keeping our residents safe.

And I will be supporting this appointment today with an understanding that we have a lot of work to do to keep our residents safe and take on meaningful accountability and also to keep our residents safe from the actions of the Trump administration.

Thank you.

Councilmember Salomon.

Thank you very much, Council President.

Chief, when I first heard about you, I went, okay, this is the guy.

And then I met you.

I went, yeah, this is the guy.

Then we had conversations, and we started working on things and trying to address some specific issues in District 2. I went, let's get this guy confirmed now.

So I'm looking forward to be able to vote yes on your confirmation today.

Make it permanent.

Long time in coming.

And one final comment, fine you.

Let's go.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President.

I first want to thank Councilmember Kettle and his office and the Public Safety Committee.

But Councilmember Kettle ran a phenomenal process engaging with colleagues and your staff during this process.

I just wanted to give him his props.

And then the second thing, also, besides the engagement that we've had with District 3 with the Chief, which incredibly important.

I also want to elevate the thing that did it for me, and I said comments in our public safety committee, but I think that interim, Chief Barnes has made it very clear that building trust with our youth is the essential part of public safety.

Bottom line, you keep your kids safe and the babies safe and our youth safe, you keep families safe.

We're all safe.

If you can keep our kids safe, then we're all safe.

And that has been a piece that he has always elevated with me and with the community.

And also understanding that there's alternative types of response and making sure that we engage with our youth early, with activities, with connections, with communities.

And I wanted to highlight that because that is the one thing that I think is incredibly important when we have a police chief in our city is understanding that if we keep our kids safe, then we are all safe.

Thank you.

Councilmember Strauss?

Thank you, Council President and Chief.

I'm sorry I'm not with you inside the chambers right now.

I'm coming to you live from the D6 District Office.

My comments are as follows, starting off with Council Member Hollingsworth is always right when she says if you keep the baby safe and keep the kids safe, you're going to keep all of us safe.

And I'm just so glad that you share those feelings as well.

From my perspective, I felt confident about you when we first met.

And yet, first impressions are just those.

Impressions.

It's actions that speak louder than words.

And your actions so far have instilled a lot of trust from me in you.

Thank you for the 8 a.m.

meeting this very morning.

It's great to see you for a second time today.

What one of the things that you shared in this morning's meeting is we need to make sure that we've got metrics for this to understand what level of resource is creating what type of response and intervention, because the level of intervention is different for each situation.

I really do look forward to working with you as we continue to tackle some of the hardest and most challenging problems that our city faces and i'm really looking forward to getting to keep working with you and thanks for everything you've done so far thanks chief.

I would just like to add a comment, which is that when I think back to when I started when I started in office, it was 2022 and there was there was still an exodus of officers and investigators were pulled from investigative units and put into patrol to lower 911 call times.

And in the and those were really trying times.

The this council has has worked together with the executive to try as best as we can to set you up for success.

Hiring is at an unprecedented rate right now.

47 new hires, this net new hires this year compared to one in 2024. And so we're trying very much to restore the ranks and yet It's a big city and there are a lot of challenges here.

I hosted a press conference earlier today to talk about the need for more focus on addiction treatment because I see the drug crisis, fentanyl, et cetera, as inextricably linked to both our chronic homelessness challenge and also our public safety challenges.

So thank you for taking a chance on the city of Seattle and for stepping up to join the ranks.

While we're trying to set you up for success, you're a greatest I think that your greatest asset right now are the men and women in uniform and not in uniform in the Seattle Police Department that I know care very much about this city and I have gleaned from our communications, yours and mine, that you do too.

So assuming this vote goes well for you today, welcome to Seattle.

So anyway.

Council member Kettle, would you like the last word?

Um, thank you, uh, council president.

One of the things I just wanted to add, and I often do this in committee where I'll refer back to, you know, comments made in public comment.

Mr. Rubstello knows I do this and, and I wanted to do again, uh, right now, um, because this came up in committee, but I wanted to speak to the, you know, the, the public comments that, uh, that were raised related to what is happening on the federal level, particularly federal law enforcement.

And The key thing here is for our city and for our police force, and this came up in committee and this came up in conversations.

I've had conversations with the mayor's office and different entities on the issue of federal law enforcement.

Sometimes things are done better quietly.

But it's important to state that these conversations are happening, these understandings are happening.

And the theme that came out of the committee meeting is the idea of being professional.

The idea of being professional.

That was a theme that came up in committee and it applies here too.

It's about being professional.

It's about knowing what our job is, what are the rights and responsibilities that go with that.

And I understand the historical piece.

So to our public commenter, I say .

I understand .

I understand, I agree, and it is true.

You know, we are seeing parallels, not just with Russia, but other countries around the world, Hungary and others.

And we do need to stand up and we are looking to do so, but we do so by being professional and understanding that our mission is not the federal government's mission, our mission both for the city government, police force, the executive, but the legislative to our committee is to create a safe base in our city.

And that is looking after the residents of our city, the people of our city to ensure that they have a safe base.

Everyone, to Mr. Rostello's point, that we have a safe base throughout our city.

And that's how I look at this.

This is the conversations that have come up.

And I state this in terms of bringing to full council what I do in committee and that is to have this cross connect with public comment.

And I think that is important to stay given the importance of the topic today.

So council president, thank you for the opportunity to link this very major issue that we're facing and not just in our city, but in our country, but also to link it to the importance of public comment and that piece, but also link it to the theme that came out of community and the idea of being professional and working the mission, which for us at the city level is creating a safe base.

So thank you, council president.

Thank you for coming.

Okay, I am not seeing any other hands raised.

Thank you for those comments.

Councilmember and Public Safety Chair Kettle.

All right.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment.

Councilmember Solomon.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore.

Aye.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Council member Saka.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the ayes have it and the appointment is confirmed.

Congratulations, Chief Barnes.

You're recognized.

You are recognized to provide some comments yourself if you would like to, to the to Council and also to the members of the public.

Thank you, Council President Nelson.

I will make my comments brief.

I had lunch today with a community member.

No position, no rank, no title.

Just wanted to sit down and have lunch with me.

And in our conversation, he said something that's been ringing in my ear.

He said, if you want to go fast, go alone.

But if you want to go far, go together.

And in order to do that, we have to go together.

And so my comments are thank you to this council, because in order for us to achieve the public safety that we want, we have to do it together.

I want to say thank you to Councilmember Kettle and his committee.

Thank you, because in order to provide the level of safety and security we need in Seattle, I'll have to do it together with your committee.

I also want to thank you for your comments, because my command staff will tell you we had a meeting recently, and the topic of that meeting was professionalism.

We will be the most professional police department.

And your comments today really shows that we're going and moving in the same direction.

So thank you for that comment.

I also want to thank the men and women of the Seattle Police Department because I could not do this job or lead the department without their permission.

They've granted me their permission to provide the vision and mission and direction that we will go forth with with the Seattle Police Department.

And I want to thank them as well as the professional staff who do an amazing job each and every day, sometimes a thankless job in order to provide safety for our community.

So I want to thank the men and women of the Seattle Police Department, both sworn and our professional staff.

I want to thank the mayor's office and I want to thank Mayor Bruce Harrell for instilling in me his trust and his confidence.

When I first was approached about this opportunity, It took some time and I did my research, but when I had my feet on the soil here in Seattle, I had an opportunity to meet some very amazing people who work for this city, who work with you providing public safety.

Chief Public Safety Officer, our Chief of Public Safety Natalie Walton Anderson.

I had an opportunity to meet Aisha Foster, who's our Chief People Officer.

Then I had an opportunity to meet Pam Inch.

And when I met them, as well as Tim Burgess, I realized that everyone was moving in the same direction.

And everyone had a heart, first thing I look at, for public safety.

And then they had a strategy.

And they wanted me to help implement that strategy.

to make everyone feel safe and be safe in Seattle.

And then finally, I had an opportunity to meet Mayor Bruce Harrell.

And my conversation with him was a conversation that was motivating.

It really restored a little bit of energy that quite frankly was a little lost.

I'm still a little down from the school shooting in Madison.

But just having a conversation with him and his passion for public safety really made my decision easy.

And I wanted to become the next chief of police for the Seattle Police Department.

This is where I want to end my career.

This is where I want to be.

I want to be a part of that chapter, of that story that will be written about how the city of Seattle and the Seattle Police Department became a national model for policing.

And lastly, I want to thank my family who is away from me, but always with me.

And thank you for your trusted confidence in me.

We have a lot of work to do.

You're right.

Council member Saka, the real work begins now, but we do have a plan and we have been working and we're ready.

to debut that plan to our community and show them how we're going to work together as a collaborative police department in order to achieve the type of public safety that we want.

Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay, moving on.

Will the clerk please read item two into the record.

The report of the Parks Public Utilities and Technology Committee, agenda item two, Council Bill 120-9999, relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation to enter into a golf course management agreement.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

All right, Councilmember Hollingsworth, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to provide the committee report.

Awesome.

Thank you, council president.

And just to clarify, so I'm correct on the process, I'm going to talk about it.

And I know there's an amendment that's coming.

That's after this.

It is.

Okay.

Awesome.

Right.

Yeah.

Thank you, my apologies, thank you.

Okay, so Council Bill 120999 authorizes the superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation to enter into a golf course agreement with Premier Golf to manage and operate the city's municipal golf courses.

We've learned about the extensive RFP process that parks held, and the agreement covers public benefits, reporting, financial requirements, as well as service and program operations.

The city's municipal golf courses are located.

We have four locations.

There's Jackson, there's Bill Wright Golf Complex at Jefferson Park, formerly known as Jefferson Golf Course, now Bill Wright, Inner Bay Golf Center, and West Seattle Golf Course.

A reminder to my colleagues is that the All the golf courses are self-funding.

So they take nothing out of the general fund and that goes towards maintenance.

It goes towards like service employees.

It goes towards a lot.

And so they're self-sustaining, which is excellent knowing that there are no tax dollars that go towards these golf courses.

They're self-sustaining.

So would look forward, it passed, with none opposed and looking forward to people's support on this agreement for parks.

Thank you.

All right.

Are there any questions or comments?

Council member Strauss.

Would you like me to move my amendment?

Yep.

Thank you.

I would like to move amendment A to Council Bill 120-9999, the last Council Bill on the one, two zeros.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the bill as presented on amendment A.

Council member Strauss, you're recognized to address the amendment.

Thank you.

I'll share the comments that I shared yesterday.

Again, my apologies for not being able to attend committee last week and any confusion that my amendment may have created.

Also clarify, I misspoke yesterday about the sidewalk on 145th around the Jackson golf course.

There is, in fact, a sidewalk there.

However, it doesn't look.

I think the reason I forgot about it is it's not a standard width and it's oftentimes overgrown.

The amendment before us is an opportunity to create an allowance.

This is not a requirement.

That allowance would have to be negotiated.

It would not interfere with the revenue generation of golf courses.

Dave Kuntz, It would require funding that is not from the golf courses so likely the metropolitan parks district or at a future a beautiful state when we have a plush general fund that we would use general fund or read dollars on this.

the goal here is to finish the outer loop trails connect the outer loop trails of these golf courses again the golf courses take up the same acreage as discovery park so over 500 acres of parkland of our city the ability to create these outer loops allows us to utilize this parkland in a way that everyone can access these trails if created again would be negotiated which means that they would not be interfering with the golf activities nor would they be in places that people could get hit by golf balls these are not trails through the center of the golf courses um those are my statements as to now oh again this is an allowance so meaning this is a 15-year contract so if at any point in the next 15 years we have a plush general fund or the next cycle of the metropolitan parks district has a desire to do this, if we don't create this allowance now, we will create a barrier for ourselves in the future.

This is a, usually these, or in the past, these contracts have been for 10 years.

This is for 15 years, which is why it's an important, why it's more important now than ever that we create this allowance because again, it's not a requirement.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Council Member Strauss, for this.

In committee, I had abstained with this because I needed more information.

I did my background and feel comfortable supporting this today, just knowing what I know, and then also knowing that this does not have impact on the revenue generating of the golf courses as well to make sure that they continue to stay healthy.

And so I will be supporting this, and thank you for bringing it.

I have a question.

These golf courses, it's public land, right?

It's city land.

I just have a one.

I'm, I, my question is why, if it is public land, um, I'm not understanding why we couldn't modify at some point in the future to finish the, I think you're saying the, um, the walkway around it.

That's a question to you.

Council member Strauss.

Thank you council president again because this is a contract regarding the parkland the publicly owned parkland So in the current situation, we are giving them a contract for all the land up to the fence Currently if we wanted to move that fence we would again have to if it's not in a contract that creates the barrier that's why an allowance is important rather than requiring a requirement again this doesn't bind us to anything it just creates the opportunity for us to finish this work in the future thank you councilmember moore

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to say thank you to Councilmember Strauss for bringing this forward.

I appreciate the explanation that was provided in Council briefings and the clarity about the intent to improve pedestrian access on the Seattle side of 145th at the northern perimeter of Jackson Park.

and to seek funding through the Metropolitan Parks District process.

Just for those who are unaware, there is currently only a very narrow sidewalk or path along 145th, which is adjacent to traffic.

So it really does not feel safe, nor is it really safe.

This is an important issue for pedestrian access to the light rail station at 148th from the Olympic Hill community just east of the golf course, which is proposed to be established as a new neighborhood center in the comprehensive plan.

Moving the fence back 10 feet is something that has been discussed for a while in that community, so thank you for this amendment that could allow for a safer pedestrian crossing environment.

Again, while I don't know that this is necessary to accomplish this, I do think it is helpful in seeking funding for a significantly better sidewalk or path, and it does signal the Council's intent So thank you again, Councilmember Strauss, for bringing this forward, and I will be voting in favor.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Strauss, so what is the impact of this to the partner premier?

There is no impact.

Any changes would have to be negotiated with them.

But what you're saying is for us to complete this piece of the perimeter around Jackson Park, we would have to go back to negotiate that with the partner?

To ensure that we are not creating, so that we're not impacting the golfing area or their revenues, or ensuring that we're not putting anyone at risk of being hit by golf balls.

But the...

the section of trail along 145th is is easy to do so i say that we need to go back and negotiate with them maybe another way to say that is we need to go back and ensure that we have partnership with them this is again a situation where the reason i can say that there's no impact to them today is because if we're going to do this we need to work with them in partnership and without this clarity in this contract up front we could block ourselves out for the next 15 years

Right.

So I guess the question I'm trying to get to is this would have an impact on the ability of Jackson Park to continue to operate as a golf course the way it is today.

If we're making changes to the perimeter of the actual golf course, that's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of.

And that's why we have to negotiate with them because we're going to be changing it and maybe we're not going to be able to utilize it as a golf course in the way we can today if it's having an impact on the amount of space for the golf course, I mean.

That's what I'm...

trying to get to.

So is that true?

I mean, if we change where the perimeter is, where that gate is, are we then going to impact, you know, the 18 golf, whole golf course that's there?

I think it's 18 holes now.

uh council president i'm just gonna keep i'm just gonna jump in uh currently there's 18 holes there's nine holes a driving range and i believe that there's a putt-putt up there at jackson council president is all right if i share screen just to put some clarity on this

Yeah, go ahead.

Thanks.

I'm just going to do this briefly, just so that we can see.

The reason that I'm saying, Councilmember Rivera, thank you for that additional question, is you're wondering, are we going to be impacting the Gulf area?

What we see here is there is a fence that is off and I call this a three quarter sidewalk.

It's a half sidewalk.

If it's overgrown, you can see the golf cart path right over here on the other side of the fence.

So if we move this fence farther that way, we have more area for us to work to create a walking path in a place that, again, doesn't create impact on their golfing because their golfing is farther away.

I'm just going to bring you down here.

And Council Member Moore, you might have to help me out here.

There's a trail head that goes along here that is the next section of this.

Maybe it's right here.

Hard to say.

I'm going to stop sharing screen because...

That's not my typical role as a council member.

But just to say, you could see through that short demonstration that there is the golf cart road, there's a section of space, and then the fence is quite close to the sidewalk, which is not a full sidewalk at this time.

So it's an existing element of infrastructure from a time in seattle that when you saw it there was also barbed wire on the top of that fence it comes from an older time in seattle and i think it's important for us to create this allowance so that we can update for the future seattle as councilmember moore stated with the light rail station there do you have a follow-up question councilmember rivera

I guess I'm not clear what impact this has on the operation of the actual golf course as a golf course.

That's the question I'm asking Council Member Strauss.

So is the answer that it's not going to have any impact on the ability to continue to use this as a golf course in its current form?

My understanding is that this will have no impact on the golf course to continue operating in its current form.

but we're not sure.

Is that what you mean by my understanding is?

No, I'm just saying that that's my understanding.

I would say it's a fact, but that's, I feel comfortable saying that that's a fact, but from my perspective, my understanding, everything that I've researched and understood to be true, this would not have an impact on the golf course to operate in the same way it's operating today.

Councilmember Moore?

Or wait, Councilmember Rivera, are you, do you have a, are you finished?

No.

Yes.

Thank you.

Okay.

Councilmember Moore.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm wading into this, not being as well versed in all this, but I can just say from previous conversations that I had with members of the community, maybe a year actually when I was initially running for the seat, there's been ongoing discussions about there are sort of de facto pathways, but they are very difficult to navigate.

And it really is a safety issue for pedestrians and a utilization issue.

So my understanding of this amendment is that it's really just going to allow for some negotiation to go forward to improve upon the paths that are there and make them more navigable.

rather than, and they are outside the golf course, so it's not going to impact the actual operations of the golf course.

And certainly inserting this language, I mean, this language already is allowing for the city to basically engage in a renegotiation on a large scale relating to transit needs.

in other property, you know, community needs up there.

So I'd see this as really just a way to make those walking paths navigable while the larger issues play out.

Thank you.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Sorry, just for a quick reference, there's already a path that is the Jackson golf course path that is on Fifth Avenue that runs north and south.

This potentially, and correct me if I'm wrong, Councilmember Charles, this would connect east to west.

on 140 fifths so this would basically continue that path the trailhead that council member shots was referring to is on more on the west side and this would connect that path um to be able to run uh excuse me i'm getting my directions east to west there is one that kind of runs north to south on the outside of the golf course i think this would just make that um all come together that path does not currently interfere with golf operations and i don't think um this one would as well um connecting all those together there's considerably a large amount of space that is on the golf course on the back end from the the path if you're looking at the greens and perspective um i've been on that golf course a lot and so there's there's to put it in perspective there's plenty of space thank you

Okay, I have one last question.

What, Councilmember Strauss, did you, what does the operator, or what has been the response from the department and the operator to this?

There are people that would know more than I can glean from the impact of this.

I'd say you should probably talk to them directly if you haven't done so already.

well I didn't know that you were going to bring back the amendment until yesterday and I haven't really had time to do that so you have not had conversations I have I would say that I have received different reactions depending on their understanding of the dynamics at City Council the understanding that I have is neutrality today as an official position

So just to clarify you, they have not expressed concern about this amendment or operations of a golf course, because I don't really know if this would make a difference in terms of the space necessary for a particular hole on a green, et cetera.

I have heard no opposition.

Okay.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I quickly reached out to central staff.

And they're not sure.

I mean, the bottom line is if it takes, if what is contemplated will be taking property away from the golf course, then the contract would have to be renegotiated with Premier because then it would have an impact.

So this is a concern I have.

And I want to make a couple things very clear.

One is, of course, I support a path so folks are safe.

I want people to be safe.

I also know the history of the golf courses, the difficulty the city has had in maintaining the golf courses, and that currently these three golf courses with this partner has enabled the city to cost-free maintain these golf courses that have really benefited residents and kids and youth that utilize the golf course and We had a lot of conversation about the importance of getting out into nature and getting youth involved in golfing and the great mental health aspects.

So all of this is true.

And the reason I have concerns is if it has an impact on the ability to operate as a golf course, then it would have an impact on residents' ability to golf there.

And that's my concern.

And I don't know whether there's a different path for whether we need to have a path through there for folks.

I don't know enough about it.

So I guess today, I will be abstaining from this vote because of that.

But thank you so much for the ability, Council President, to ask the questions.

try to get to some of this, but I just don't know enough today to be able to say it doesn't have an impact at all, so let's move forward.

You know, though I understand and I appreciate and of course I want to make people safe and I want to make sure that these golf courses continue to exist for the benefit of the residents and the youth.

So thank you.

Council member Rivera, abstentions are not permitted in full council meetings at the final, pardon me.

Thank you for the reminder, council president, then I'll be voting no, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

All right, I'm looking to see if there are further questions.

Okay, no further questions.

All right, will the clerk please call the roll?

Council president, not get last word,

Yep, I didn't see a hand.

Go ahead.

I thought it was just part of our format here.

Thank you, colleagues.

As you've heard through this discussion, this has been a long-time community request.

This updates, as you saw from the shared screen, a chain link fence with barbed wire on it that hasn't been utilized in many, many, many, many, many years in Seattle.

This amendment would create the allowance for us to update an out-of-date Seattle to the future of Seattle.

It has no impacts on golf operations.

And again, this is an allowance, not a requirement.

Without this amendment, we would box ourselves in for 15 years.

With this amendment, we would set ourselves up to continue this conversation.

I hope to earn your support today.

Thank you.

Okay.

Is that an old hand, Councilman Rivera?

No, it's a new hand.

I just want to clarify.

Well, Council President, may I speak?

Yes.

want to clarify we don't know for a fact that it won't have an impact the way i appreciate what you're saying council members stress i almost certain i can with 99.999 certainty say that this will not impact golf revenues golf operations i think that point point point zero zero zero one percent is an unknown i don't find this but that's my understanding

Right, and that's why I asked central staff who is not able to give us an answer today.

So I just, that is important because it is an important decision.

It is important to me as I make this decision.

So we don't have enough information to say that with certainty today.

But again, I appreciate what you're saying.

I'm fine taking the vote.

Thank you.

All right.

Do you want the last last word Councilmember Strauss?

I would just appreciate in the future that the last word is the last word.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment A. Councilmember Solomon?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle?

No.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

No.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

And Council President Nelson?

No.

That is six in favor, three opposed.

The motion carries and amendment A is adopted.

Are there further comments on the bill as amended?

Okay, seeing no further comments, go ahead Council Member Moore.

Okay, this is the underlying bill that we're speaking to.

Okay, thank you.

So yes, I did want to note that there has been, as I mentioned, some advocacy around future uses of Jackson Park.

So I want community members to know that this agreement is about operations and the agreement is clear that it does not preclude any changes to future use.

While this agreement is about operations of golf courses, there is a separate issue that I would like to mention as it pertains to Jackson Park, since this is my last City Council meeting.

One issue community members in District 5 have raised for quite a while now is the name of Jackson Park, which is one of the areas covered by this agreement.

Jackson Park is unfortunately named for Andrew Jackson, who was a slave holder.

That name was established in 1930, well before this area was incorporated into the city of Seattle in 1954. Park's naming policies discourage renaming of park areas, however, with the caveat that it can be reconsidered based on the individual's character.

I've been interested in this issue and the upcoming consideration and had reached out to parks about this renaming and their position was with the consideration of the parks open space plan that that was the appropriate moment in which to pursue this issue and move forward.

So I am bringing that will be coming forward and I hope that my colleagues and whoever takes the seat will remain committed to pursuing a renaming of Jackson Park to a more befitting and appropriate name.

Thank you.

Thank you for.

Thank you for bringing that to our attention.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Sorry, that was an old hand, but it was an inadvertent hand.

My apologies.

Thank you, Council President.

But I will say, Council Member Moore, thank you.

You have my full support, and I'm looking forward to address that as well.

I think we have a great model in how we move forward with the Bill Wright complex.

Council Member Solomon was a part of that group that spearheaded that at Jefferson, and I think it's a great...

path forward so figuring out what that looks like at jack at jackson golf course i think is incredibly important so thank you councilmember moore for bringing that up okay i don't see any other hands councilmember strauss

Thank you, Council President.

I'm not going to speak too much more to this bill.

Rather to thank Councilmember Moore for her service to our city, it is fitting that this bill is on your last council meeting, especially with what you've shared and the feedback you were able to provide about the walking path.

I know just as we're doing placemaking up in that area with the new Pinehurst light rail station, Pinehurst golf course might be a nice idea.

But thank you for your service, Councilmember Moore.

Thank you.

All right, seeing no further hands raised, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council member Kettle?

Aye.

Council member Moore?

Aye.

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, there were no items removed.

Go ahead.

Item number three.

Oh, I guess.

Nothing removes the consent calendar or the agenda.

Will the clerk please read item three into the record?

Agenda Item 3, Council Bill 121002, Authorizing General Manager, CEO of Seattle Public Utilities to enter into two interlocal agreements to provide for the implementation of Chinook Salmon Conservation Plans for the Lake Washington, Cedar River, Sammamish Watershed, and the Green River, Duwamish River, and the Central Puget Sound Watershed.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

All right.

Council Member Hollingsworth is Chair of the Committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

I think this bill would be a little bit more straightforward.

Seattle, the Parks Utilities Technology Committee voted to authorize SPU's general manager to sign two interlocal agreements relating to the Seattle's participation in the regional salmon recovery efforts for 20 26 to 2035 for watersheds in Lake Washington, the Cedar River, Sammamish, as well as Green River, Duwamish, and Central Puget Sound.

I also want to thank Councilmember Saka and Councilmember Rivera for for their leadership representing the city on the watershed and the salmon recovery efforts.

We heard about this in committee, about all of the progress and the amount of energy and time and just thoughtfulness and to continuing to be leaders in protecting our environment and our salmon and our recovery.

You know, we might not see the impacts today, but this is definitely for our kids and our future to make sure that we are great stewards of our land as we are growing as a region.

So thank you.

I urge the council for your support.

I don't urge you all, but I hope to get your support.

Thank you.

All right.

Council member Rivera.

Thank you, council president.

Thank you, council member Hollingsworth for shepherding this through your committee as chair.

I sit on the YRA 8. Council and it's been really a great experience for me personally and professionally.

Salmon recovery is really important to our city and our region and this is an effort that is between the county and the city and many of our community partners in our and the tribes, and so I really could not support this more, the continuation of this effort towards salmon recovery in the region.

So I wanted to say that.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you very much.

Are there any other comments?

Okay, seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Council Member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council member Kettle?

Aye.

Council member Moore?

Aye.

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

All right.

I'm making sure here where we're at in the in the agenda.

All right.

As I was saying before, there were no items removed from the consent calendar and there's not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

We're at that time in our in our Agenda where we come to further business and colleagues I would like to.

I would like to recognize publicly that it is Councilmember Moore's last committee meeting and.

I just want to say on the record and to your face as my dais neighbor here that I so respect and value your service on this body.

I've known you since maybe it was 2010. I can't remember or 2006. I don't know when we were both LA's together in council member Richard Collins office.

So we go way back.

And through that time, whether or not you were in LA or a judge or any other role and a council member or any other role that you have occupied, I just have to say that what I've seen constant is a dedication to public service and a big, huge heart for the most vulnerable and also someone who is fearless in asking the tough questions and saying exactly what's on your mind at the dais.

And for all of that, I thank you.

And I believe and know I can say that the city is a better place for you having inspired in us that level of inquiry and just the courage to stand up.

And so I just wanted to give you an example.

You know, you have also brought difficult topics before us.

I mean, your work on Aurora Avenue for the neighborhood and also for the people that are exposed to violence and exploitation up there on a daily basis.

For that, you increased my awareness of that very difficult issue and well, and the criminality going on there, but also you widened my understanding of the people that are dedicated to that issue and to helping.

And just today, I didn't know anything about The More We Love, that organization and those people and Christine's work with women that really need her help.

I have since begun to forge a relationship with her and she took part in a press conference that I had earlier today to talk about the need for centering treatment on the city's agenda.

So that is how you have made me a better council member, not just by introducing me to other nonprofits that are doing good work, but you have served as an example of someone who can speak their truth at the dais.

And so I thank you very much for that.

And I will miss you very much.

So.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera, I see you have your hand up.

Thank you, Council President.

I too want to add my voice.

Council Member Moore, you've been a fierce representative for your district, D5, and you've been such a great partner to me on the north end, and not just the north end, but to our city as a whole.

You've always been diligent and balanced in your approach to this work and always focus on doing the very best for the residents in your district and across our city in a very selfless way.

I very much have appreciated serving with you.

I feel honored to have served with you and I will truly miss you and will miss your presence on this council.

Thank you.

Council member Strauss.

Thank you.

I had already shared my words.

I was raising my hand for another purpose, which is why I released it.

I will just take this moment to, again, share my gratitude to you, Council Member Moore, for all of the work that you've done for the D5.

You know that my heart is up there in D5, even if I don't live in the district.

And even without you here, I'm going to continue carrying your mantle for sidewalks, from Crown Hill to Greenwood to Lake City and the Lake City Community Center.

There's a number of different priorities that I'll continue to carry the torch for you.

And I just so appreciate that the amount of work that you've been able to accomplish in these few months to move these endeavors forward.

And then Council President, once we are done honoring Councilmember Moore, I do have another emotion.

Thank you.

Council member, I don't know who is next, council member Solomon.

Thank you very much, council president.

Council member, when I think about your service to this body, when I think about your service to the city, it comes back to something that I had an opportunity to say to you in your office, which is, I respect the hell out of you.

And I just want to echo that again.

Thank you for everything you've done.

Thank you for the work, especially on Aurora with the more we love folks.

I think I am now their biggest fan, right?

And that would not have happened without you.

You know, the work continues.

I want to be able to support your successor as Vice Chair of Housing and Human Services.

I want to do what I can to carry the work that you began forward and make sure that people know you began that work, right?

So again, thank you for your service.

Please take care of yourself.

And as I said, I respect the hell out of you.

Council member Kettle.

Thank you, council president.

I spoke at committee meeting regarding council members Moore's work, particularly in public safety.

So I'm just going to simply say fair winds and following seas.

Thank you.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President and Council Member Moore.

I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to have been able to work with you over these past 18 plus months.

It has been an honor and a privilege for me personally.

I've learned so much from you, your approach, your thoughtfulness, the way you show up, always well prepared.

You have been a...

a champion on any number of really important issues, whether it's renters protections or nitty gritty neighborhood issues like those constituents are experiencing along Aurora, sidewalk infrastructure.

You've been a fellow unapologetic champion of adding new sidewalks to the city.

And we did a lot together in the levee through, your leadership, we were able to provide a generational investment in adding new sidewalks.

And that's just a sampling of some of the wins and impact that you've had in your time on this body.

So I recognize it, I appreciate it.

Councilmember Moore, you are, like I said, you are always well prepared.

You always do your homework.

You are very exceptionally diligent, exceptionally diligent.

And, you know, look, we're all independently, separately elected individuals, and...

And we all probably take pride in different aspects of what we do.

For me, I'll just say personally, I can be outmaneuvered, outstrategized, outimplemented, out any number of things, but I can never and will never.

be out hustled and I will never be out worked ever.

Cause that is something that you can directly control.

And just watching you and your level of diligence.

Well, I can't be out worked.

There are people who match my effort and you are absolutely one of those.

And so Really, really, really do appreciate you.

It has been, again, such a privilege to be able to work with you.

Very collaborative, colleague, friend.

And although this is your last day at the dais, I look forward to staying in touch and continuing to benefit from your wisdom and insights and friendship.

I don't know who's gonna pick up the man, I'll pick up the mantle and continue the new sidewalks and other things that you helped us bring to life.

I don't know who's gonna pick up, which one of us is gonna pick up the mantle of someone not coming prepared and sitting at that table and getting an earful and being taken to task.

I don't know who's gonna take up that mantle, but just wanna say Council Member Moore again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

for all you've done and wishing you the very best.

Looking forward to staying in touch.

Thank you.

Council Member Rink.

Thank you, council president.

I just wanna add to the chorus of gratitude for council member Moore and I wanna recognize and celebrate the policy areas that we've been able to work on together.

Kicking us off pretty early on our work together on less lethal weapons legislation and being able to collaborate with you on those amendments was really meaningful, especially just in my first couple of weeks on council.

And then going on to of course our most recent work together on algorithmic rent pricing and then of course being my vice chair for the federal committee.

Your support on that work has been so appreciated and I wanna thank you deeply for that.

It's just been great when we've been collaborating on issues and I am truly wishing you the best in your next steps.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Moore, you are very highly respected, and I thought you were incredibly thoughtful on every single approach.

That is the lawyer and judge in you, affectionately known on the council as the judge.

You are also my mother's favorite to watch and talk.

And as you are articulating how you got to certain answers and your thoughtful approach, I think was phenomenal.

And I really appreciate you bringing a truly nonpartisan approach to this that did not care about labels, that did not care about which side are you on, which boxes.

You always cared about outcomes.

And that was important to you and your community and the constituents and the neighbors because we have to Start looking at that, at outcomes.

And I think that's what you brought to this office.

That's what you brought to District 5. And quite frankly, we just saw you work your butt off night in and night out, staying long days, doing constituent meetings in the office, a lot of stuff that people don't see, doing office hours in your district.

staying till 10, 11 PM, doing whatever was needed to make sure that you got the job done.

And you also read every single email and paper that came your way.

So you knew what was going on and just so grateful.

I know a lot of people just don't know how hard you worked on this council and just wanted to sincerely say, thank you, Kathy.

Thank you to your family.

It's a sacrifice all the time that you spent in this office.

And we wish you positive vibes all the way and true peace.

So thank you, Kathy.

Thank you.

Sorry, I have to be formal.

Thank you, Council Member Moore, for all your hard work and your friendship and looking forward to seeing the best is yet to come.

Thank you.

Well, just have to take that in.

You've just, I'll just say that I hope that our words stay with you.

And if not, you can watch them anytime you want, because you have truly, um, you've inspired us and you have made this council better in your Greece, tenacity, boldness, work ethic has also made this city better.

So thank you very much for your service and I'll miss you.

Councilmember Strauss, do you have another item of business?

Yes.

Hold on, I'm sorry.

Yeah, I see Councilmember Morphin.

Would you like to say anything?

Thank you.

Oh, my gosh.

I really said I was going to try very hard not to cry.

So I will do my best.

I did not expect such an outpouring.

It's not too late to change your mind.

But thank you, thank you so much.

It really, I have a number of people that I would like to thank, but I do wanna just start by saying thank you to my colleagues so much over this past year and a half.

I have really greatly appreciated the exchange of ideas that we have engaged in and the work that we have done together.

Your direct partnership and your vote in support of my legislation has truly contributed to the success of my office efforts to improve the lives of Seattleites.

And as they say, it takes a village and you have consistently shown up and been that village.

And I am forever grateful for that partnership and it has truly been a privilege.

Sorry.

And an honor to serve with you I do really much have to and want to thank my staff.

Last week, we sent out our last district newsletter in which we had iterated all that we were able to accomplish for the residents of District 5 in the City of Seattle over these short past 18 months.

And I have to say, after reading it, I thought to myself, no wonder I'm tired.

And so I want to say that I owe that productivity and the things that so many of you have noted here to my amazing staff of Hannah Thorson, Noel Aldrich, Melissa Beckerman, and Henry Pellett, who have worked full bore from day one in service to our community.

I have been immensely fortunate to have worked and laughed, cried, and celebrated with these talented, thoughtful, dedicated, and truly all-around stand-up individuals.

Thank you, all of you, for making me a better council member.

I wanted to also thank central staff for always knowing the answers or being willing to find the answer.

And I want to thank you for turning my incohate ideas into coherent instruments for social change, which is really what we are doing up here, social change.

To Amelia, I want to thank you for your expert guidance through this legislative maze.

And to you and Jody and Shireen for your calm and steady operation of chambers, which is no small feat.

To Brad and Sue, I want to thank you for your wonderful help navigating the Wild West of media and communications.

Perhaps one of these days I will finally learn how to manage a narrative.

To Nick Cedric, Rick Riira, William, Taha, Roberto, and the rest of security, I want to thank you for keeping us safe in council chambers and at City Hall, even in the hottest and most intense of moments.

Your calm presence was there, and it was always very reassuring to me.

To Mayor Harrell and all of your leadership staff, I want to thank you for your partnership and collaboration in addressing the pressing issues facing our city.

It has been a pleasure to be part of One Seattle.

And again, to my colleagues, it has been quite a ride, but I feel very proud of all that we have accomplished together.

And thank you for your partnership and your friendship through this journey.

And I wish you all good speed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any further items of business before we adjourn?

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Yes, next Tuesday I will be meeting in person with the Suquamish Tribal Council.

It's not clear if I'll be back on time or able to join virtually, so I'm requesting to be excused from the July 8th, 2025 Council meeting.

If I do show up, I'll just do the unexcusal motion.

We have a process for that.

All right.

I'm looking right and left.

I'm seeing no objection to that excusal.

What is the day?

Do I have to say it on the record?

Councilmember Strauss will be excused on July 8th.

Thank you.

All right, everyone.

We've reached the end of today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is July 8th at 2 p.m.

Hearing no further business, we are adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.