Seattle City Council 6/14/22

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

The Tuesday, June 14 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 201 and I am Deborah Juarez.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Here.

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Present.

Councilmember Nelson?

Present.

Councilmember Peterson?

Present.

Councilmember Strauss?

Present.

Councilmember Herbold?

Okay.

Council member Lewis.

And council president.

Here.

Seven present.

Thank you.

At this time, I'm not aware of any presentations and moving down on our agenda.

We'll move to public comments.

Colleagues, at this time, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

For the hybrid public comment period, the remote speakers will be heard first, and then we'll be followed by the in-person speakers that are actually in council chambers.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers do we have today, beginning with remote and then in-person?

So far we have, excuse me, five remote speakers and two in-person speakers.

Okay, so let me do this.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

And Madam Clerk, let's start with the remote speakers.

And at this time, I will hand over the directions to the clerk to go ahead and do the directions and start our recording.

Thank you.

Hello, Seattle.

We are the Emerald City, the City of Flowers and the City of Goodwill, built on indigenous land, the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples.

The Seattle City Council welcomes remote public comment and is eager to hear from residents of our city.

If you would like to be a speaker and provide a verbal public comment, you may register two hours prior to the meeting via the Seattle City Council website.

Here's some information about the public comment proceedings.

Speakers are called upon in the order in which they registered on the Council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number provided when they registered online and used the meeting ID and passcode that was emailed upon confirmation.

If you did not receive an email confirmation, please check your spam or junk mail folders.

A reminder, the speaker meeting ID is different from the general listen line meeting ID provided on the agenda.

Once a speaker's name is called, the speaker's microphone will be unmuted and an automatic prompt will say, the host would like you to unmute your microphone.

That is your cue that it's your turn to speak.

At that time, you must press star six.

You will then hear a prompt of, you are unmuted.

Be sure your phone is unmuted on your end so that you will be heard.

As a speaker, you should begin by stating your name and the item that you are addressing.

A chime will sound when 10 seconds are left in your allotted time as a gentle reminder to wrap up your public comments.

At the end of the allotted time, your microphone will be muted and the next speaker registered will be called.

Once speakers have completed providing public comment, please disconnect from the public comment line and join us by following the meeting via Seattle Channel Broadcast or through the listening line option listed on the agenda.

The council reserves the right to eliminate public comment if the system is being abused.

or if the process impedes the council's ability to conduct its business on behalf of residents of the city.

Any offensive language that is disruptive to these proceedings or that is not focused on an appropriate topic as specified in council rules may lead to the speaker being muted by the presiding officer.

Our hope is to provide an opportunity for productive discussions that will assist our orderly consideration of issues before the council.

The public comment period is now open, and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

Please remember to press star six after you hear the prompt of, you have been unmuted.

Thank you, Seattle.

If you have not registered to speak, you can still sign up before the public comment period has concluded by registering for public comment online for remote public comment or for in-person public comment, please sign up on the signup sheet located near the podium in the council chamber.

The first public commenters today will be a remote public comment.

And our first commenter is Howard Gale.

Howard, go ahead, please.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Howard Gale with Seattle Stop.org commenting on our failed police accountability system.

You will vote today for another police union contract that allows police to investigate police and allows for the accountability failures to continue.

During the nine years prior to the first meeting of the Community Police Commission in 2013 the SPD had killed people experiencing a behavioral health crisis who were not wielding a firearm.

During the nine years after that, that is the last nine years, that number is now 12. 12. One of those was Charlena Lyles, the pregnant mother of four murdered five years ago this Saturday, just four weeks after Seattle's police accountability legislation was passed.

Her murder, like the 11 others under similar circumstances over the last nine years, was deemed by this accountability system to be, quote, lawful and proper, unquote.

Five years ago, after Charlena was killed, council members to quote, find a new way of doing things so that we actually get different results.

Yet our city council went on to kill, yet our city went on to kill Albert Fredericks Jr., Danny Rodriguez, Ryan Smith, Terry Caver, Derek Hayden, and the person still unnamed on Beacon Hill in January.

All quote, lawful and proper, unquote.

Council members, you promised after Charlena that the results would be different, and they have been.

They have been worse.

If you wanna pay justice on the fifth anniversary of her murder by the SPD, then embrace the future of police accountability that dozens of other US cities have post George Floyd by creating direct community control of police abuse investigations, of police discipline and of police policy.

Look forward to a future of justice and not backwards to a mythical past and false promises.

And for God's sakes, do not congratulate yourselves today for living in the past when you vote for police union contract that allows police to investigate police and declare every killing lawful and proper.

Thank you.

Our next speaker will remote speaker will be Shannon Chang and Shannon Chang will be followed by David Haynes, Shannon.

So it shows she's present.

So let's give her one more minute.

Can you hear her, Shannon?

Yeah, let's circle back to Shannon then.

OK.

David Haynes is listed as not present.

And William Ames is listed as not present.

So our next remote speaker is Patience Malaba.

Patience, go ahead, please.

Patience.

Good afternoon.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you, Council President Juarez and members of the City Council.

For the record, I am Patience Malaba, Executive Director at the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle King County.

It is with great enthusiasm that I join you today from the East Coast to express our unequivocal support for the confirmation of Director Winkler-Chin as Director of Seattle's Office of Housing Michael has worked in the field of affordable housing and management for the majority of her professional career.

In fact, she has served on our board of directors for many years and just led us through a critical point of transition.

And she also worked as a second of director of one of our member organizations, Skipter.

And during such a time where we have unprecedented and great need for more affordable housing in Seattle, Michael is the right and qualified person to lead the way towards an inclusive and equitable and affordable Seattle.

She has the knowledge, she understands the needs in our community and will be a great partner with many of our affordable housing providers.

As the affordable housing community, we are thrilled to see this appointment and look forward to continued partnership to address the critical need for affordable housing in our city and region.

Thank you.

Thank you, Patience.

Our next three registered remote speakers are listed as not present.

And that would be Shannon Chang is still listed as present.

Shannon, are you available to speak?

I don't see her tile up here either.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, sorry, I think I had trouble unmuting earlier.

Should I start?

Yes.

All right.

Good afternoon, Council Members.

My name is Shannon Chang.

I am a District 7 constituent and Chair of People Power Washington Police Accountability.

I am testifying today about the Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Seattle Police Management Association or SPMA.

People Power Washington appreciates that the vote on this important matter was delayed by a week to allow more time for the public to review and understand the ramifications of this agreement.

Since our attendance at the September 2019 public hearing ahead of the start of these negotiations, there has been very little publicly accessible insight into the bargaining process and whether the promise of the 2017 police accountability ordinance would finally be realized.

We are glad to see improvement from the previous iteration of the contract, especially in the area of discipline review with efforts to fix the broken arbitration system.

Thank you to council member Herbold for her detailed response to our other concerns.

We are pleased to hear that since the SPMA contract stays silent on the topic of subpoena power and since council passed an ordinance last year to establish a process for its use, that subpoena power is indeed in effect for members of SPMA.

We want to make it clear that we expect to see the same or better accountability provisions reflected in the eventual Seattle Police Officers Guild contract when those negotiations are complete.

Finally, we call on council members to help advocate for lasting change on these matters at the state level.

While we respect the hard work being done at the municipal level to enact meaningful accountability for SPD, it troubles us that matters such as subpoena authority are not truly codified and only possible through the police field or association agreeing not to include it in their CBA.

We have been working in coalition with other stakeholders over the last two state legislative sessions to pass policy that respects the right of law enforcement officers to bargain for fair working conditions and prevents police contracts from being used as a shield for serious misconduct.

We need your help to convince state legislators to pave the way for progress so that we...

Our last present remote speaker is Agnes McGovern.

Agnes?

Agnes, are you with us?

Okay.

So, We don't, is she on the line?

Is Agnes on the line?

She is shown on the line, but not responding.

So we would normally tell Agnes to press star six, correct, to unmute?

Just to be sure, yes.

Okay, Agnes, can you press star six and unmute?

Oh, there we go.

Agnes, I see your tiles up.

I see the number next to it.

Can you unmute?

She may need to click it one more time, because now she's showing as muted again.

Agnes, push star six one more time.

There you go.

Hello?

Agnes, we can see the line.

You're on the line.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you now, Agnes.

Good job.

Okay, great.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, and thank you to the Council for the opportunity to speak to you today.

My name is Agnes Govern and I'm a member of Proactive Persistent People for Progress, shortly known as P4, a local group working to strengthen democracy and advocate for progressive values.

I listened to last week's briefing and the short discussion at last week's council meeting.

I want to acknowledge the improvements made in this contract and thank those of you who made that happen.

We wrote a letter to the council chair with copies to all council members and raised several important issues.

I am disappointed that several council members seem to discount the importance of this collective bargaining agreement, saying that it only refers to 80 or 81 officers.

One of the primary reasons we are interested in this contract is that it It is likely to set the parameters for the collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which will affect many more officers, and particularly officers that directly serve the public.

I want to focus on section 16.6, which is of great concern and includes the following language, where the language of the contract or the past practices of the department grant the officer greater rights, the greater rights shall pertain.

Our fear is that this language will be used to circumvent the important changes that have been made in the disciplinary review process.

I reached out to council central staff and we referred to Alder Klein, seeking answers to our concerns about this section in the collective bargaining agreement.

We wanted information that this language would not apply to the new disciplinary review and therefore restrict disciplinary actions that the chief may impose.

we were not able to receive any clarification on that.

And I ask that council discussion of that, seek that clarification.

I also finally wanna recognize that the accountability organizations were involved, but in 2019. So for the SPOD negotiations, please update the concerns of those.

Thank you, Agnes.

Unfortunately, your time has expired.

So if you have any additional comments or concerns, please feel free to submit them to Seattle City Hall.

So with that, oh, go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead, Madam Clerk.

Oh, I was going to let you know we're now ready to move into in-person public commenters.

Great, thank you.

So we will now move into the in-person public commenters.

And once your name is called, please approach either microphone and state your name and the item to which you're addressing.

And the first public commenter for in-person public comment is Sue Tayoka.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

I'm Sue Taoka.

I'm a member of the Governing Council for the Pacific Hospital PDA.

And I'm also here just as myself in support of Michael Winkler-Chin's appointment.

Michael is a true practitioner of housing and community development.

And I've often thought that the person in this position who understands the operations and how this really works would be a great help to the city.

I think I've worked for Michael probably for the last 20 years off and on in a variety of different ways.

She's currently worked, well, before she left SCPTA, she'd been working with the PHPDA on the North Lot Project, which includes affordable senior housing and a PACE project, which is, I don't know, It's hard to explain.

It's a continuum of care for senior Asians, the El Centro Child Care Center, and it will also include middle income housing.

So it's a great and important project.

One of the things that I think you should know about Maiko is she's a great leader and a great collaborator.

And I've seen her build bridges in areas that looked almost impossible to build.

I think she would be a great boon to the city staff.

And I guess my one regret is that the community loses her.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Our next in-person speaker is Marguerite Richard.

Yes, my name is Marguerite Richard.

I wanted to identify with this on today, the conscious decision someone makes to deliberately engage in an unlawful or negligent act or to harm someone else.

Examples, general, specific, and constructive.

And that means the definition of criminal intent.

So here we have today a situation with Juneteenth where they're saying that we have a federal holiday.

I'm not with that.

You say, why not?

Because somebody lying.

If I can go places and I don't feel like I'm free, I could be maliciously harassed for something that I didn't do.

What you possibly did, Ms. Warask, you and your gang, huh?

And I don't like it.

I don't think that you should be participating in anything that you say that I gave the definition of.

And I'm tired of coming down here saying that.

So it's really evil to say that you're gonna give somebody a holiday and tell them to celebrate something and folk is still being persecuted because of the color of their skin and being discriminated against.

So until you make a conscious effort that you're gonna do the right thing, you don't have no business in our business, huh?

And we supposed to speak now or forever hold our peace, huh?

And so how can you say that any of you council people are peaceful individuals and you sitting up there putting that poison in us that Biden was talking about?

And he might not be exempt either, because I don't know all his history, but I know what the color of his skin is and what it signifies to us.

And then you want us to have a holiday, huh?

Eh, it's not my holiday.

Our next speaker is David Haynes.

Thank you.

Extremist policies judge skin color and exempt evil from jail, refusing to judge the character of a criminal.

By the admission of the nominee, It's obvious the nominee for office of housing is not qualified to build 21st century first world quality affordable housing.

Further cheating and oppressing the BIPOC community told they are getting a priority as if denying white people will justify living in warehouse echo housing low to the street level next to the loud mental crisis causing bus and train stop honking throughout your apartment causing mental crisis like Charlene Lyle suffered as people drove through.

by the admission of the nominee for the office of housing, she's not qualified to build affordable housing and has no qualms about being the most racist nominee in modern time, where she's gonna judge her skin color and prioritize, yet.

is politically connected to all of the conflict of interest that the city council and the reelection apparatus of the democratic party have that finance and use government money to line the pockets of unqualified non-profits who have to skim off a warehouse echo housing project that doesn't yet they have to subcontract it to another short change low quality builder We need to change the law so a for-profit developer can participate in the hundreds of millions available for robust build out of affordable housing instead of putting people in the projects in modern time conducting a race war within the office of housing and the police chiefs like racial like motivations to appease the community has been wronged in the past.

So now he's not even going to throw BIPOC drug pushers, destroying people's lives in jail.

are destroying people's lives and being listed low level crime.

Your all's policies are imploding our society and it's obvious you haven't learned your lesson from the election we just had.

Justifying your services to be disserviced and kicked out of office.

Please resign your oversight on public safety in the homeless crisis and reject the nominee.

And our last speaker is Michael Fuller.

It's Honorable Michael Fuller.

Excuse me, Honorable Michael Fuller.

Nope, that's for the record and that's a record request.

Yes, I'm Honorable Michael Fuller, Sioux I Jewel.

And I must stay in prayer with this organized crime with the city council.

openly violating their oath to office, refused to enforce American with Disability Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. That was admitted in 1988. 30 L-O-Y, period.

L, period.

A, period.

L, period.

R-E-V, period, 977, 1996 and 97, meaning no one is above the law over the America with Disability Act and the Rehabilitation Act, not either federal, state, or local government.

All these city councilmen, They need to be prosecuted and put in the federal penitentiary, but not enforcing the American with Disabilities Act.

I really want to see their face, and I don't like these chairs empty when I speak with this organized crime that's occurring here with Black Lives Matter.

This is not the changes or the dream Black Lives Matters can believe in.

Who do you think you are in Black Lives Matters community at the time of war?

$338.3 billion spent on unauthorized, undocumented aging, and then our veterans here on the street.

More than what the war brought us.

You talk about a war.

All right.

Okay, that concludes our registered public commenters.

Thank you, we're out of time.

Come back next week, thank you.

That concludes our list of speakers, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

All right, folks, we have reached the end of public comments, both with our remote and our in-person folks that have come down to be in council chambers to provide public comment.

And onto the agenda, we will go to the adoption of the IRC, the Introduction and Referral Calendar.

Hearing and seeing no objection, the IRC is now adopted.

Moving on our agenda onto the consent calendar.

Are there any items any councilor would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

Before we move forward on this, Council Member Strauss, it looks like you have 26 appointments lined up.

It's going to be a busy day for you.

Seven for the Equitable Development Initiative Advisory Board and 19 for the Design Review Board.

Well done.

Thank you.

That went through your committee.

You don't have to say anything.

I just was thanking you.

Oh, thank you for having a consent agenda.

Okay.

Um, so, um, since there's no items that are going to be, um, uh, removed from the consent calendar and I'm hearing that no one has anything to move, um, I moved to adopt a consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Council member.

Um, the consent calendar is, um, not hearing or seeing an objection.

The consent calendar is now adopted.

Moving on to our calendar to the agenda.

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

Not hearing or seeing an objection, the agenda is adopted.

So we will move on to committee reports.

And the first item is item number one, which I will speak to.

But Madam Clerk, will you please read item one into the record?

The report of the city council agenda item one council bill 120332 and ordinance relating to city employment, authorizing the execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the city of Seattle, and the Seattle Police Management Association of January 1 2020 through December 31 2023. Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120332 is there a second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

A sponsor of this item, I will address it and then I'll open the floor to comments.

Last week at the request of our Public Safety Committee Chair, Council Member Herbold, we delayed a vote on the Seattle Police Management Collective Bargaining Agreement by one week.

Today, the SPMA, the Collective Bargaining Agreement will be considered for a vote.

As you may recall, the SPMA Collective Bargaining Agreement was referred directly to full council.

It was not considered at the committee level.

The council received a one hour informational briefing, presentation, I'm sorry, on council bill 120332 by our council central staff and lead negotiators in open public session on Monday, June 6th at council briefing.

This collective bargaining agreement came to the council at the conclusion of lengthy focused negotiations between the Seattle Police Management Association in the city of Seattle.

As council president, I sponsored it ensure it's timely consideration in full council and due respect for this lengthy negotiation process.

The council has the option to accept or reject, but not to amend a collective bargaining agreement, which is why per protocol they are, they are sent, they are sent straight to full council and not sent to committee for review.

So basically we did not go through full council or I'm sorry, committee came to full council because it's collective bargaining agreement.

Council Bill 120332 would authorize the mayor to implement a collective bargaining agreement between the city of Seattle and the Seattle Police Management Association, the SPMA.

The collective bargaining agreement is a four-year agreement on wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions covering the period January 1st, 2020 through December 31st, 2023, and affecting approximately 80 regularly appointed city employees.

Greg Doss, the council central staff outlined key elements of the agreement and a memo provided to council members and was posted online and made obviously made available to the public on Friday, June 3rd.

In summary, analysis of SPAM contract has been presented in writing and in a presentation publicly with the opportunity for council members to ask questions and receive answers.

Before we move on, what I'll do is I'd like to hand it off to the chair of the public safety and human services council member Herbold if she'd like to provide some comments.

Gus from Herbal, so much.

really appreciate it and appreciate the delay last week.

And just a little bit of more detail about that process.

There are two labor unions that represent Seattle police officers.

One being the Seattle Police Management Association and the other being the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

SPOG represents officers and sergeants and SPMA represents captains and lieutenants.

This contract, in addition to salary increases, includes several advances in accountability deriving from each 2017 accountability legislation.

Issues that in 2019, the court overseeing the consent decree highlighted as a basis for non-compliance regarding discipline and appeals.

Issues identified by the CPC, the Community Police Commission in their November 2019 letter, including inclusion, the standard.

evidence in discipline review, addressing the 180-day timeline problems, removing the requirement that intentionality must be proven in dishonesty charges, allowing OPA to play a role in criminal investigations, retaining personnel files six years after an officer is no longer employed by the city, and new issues raised by accountability partners OIG, and CPC prior to the beginning of negotiations.

Perhaps the most important change covered in this particular agreement is in discipline review.

Seattle's current arbitration system is broken.

It's one of the main reasons a federal judge found the Seattle Police Department out of compliance with the consent decree in 2019. It's due to a ruling of an arbitrator regarding the reinstatement of an officer fired by the former chief for striking a woman who was handcuffed.

There are currently 93 open appeals according to OPA.

Some of them involve complaints filed as far back as 2016. This new agreement creates a new discipline review system that marks a sea change in how discipline and skills will operate.

It will help slow that backlog from growing even more by ensuring cases aren't being entirely re-litigated during arbitration as they currently are.

What's called de novo review.

We will also ensure that arbitrators who are generally not experts on policing don't substitute their judgment for the police chiefs, undermining accountability, as happened in the Adly Shepard case, and recently with a parking enforcement officer who made a comment about lynching and was reinstated by an arbitrator.

New system, as recommended by the CPC and the 2017 accountability legislation, establishes a preponderant standard for evidence rather than higher standard of clear and convincing previously used.

The new system will also prohibit hearing of new facts related to the Office of Accountability Investigation unless the new facts were not discoverable at the time of the chief's decision.

and that reasonably expected to change that decision.

Another important improvement is that the proposed SPMA contract removes restrictions on the ability of OPA to assign civilian investigators to certain tasks, allowing the OPA to make assignments based on the skills and abilities of the investigator rather than whether or not they are a civilian or a uniformed sergeant.

Language in the SPOG contract limits the number of civilian investigators that can work at OPMA.

This change to the SPMA agreement now might help address that limitation in the SPOG contract.

Other improvements include, as we heard in public comment, subpoenas.

The 2017 accountability legislation established subpoena authority, the Office of Police Accountability, and the Inspector General.

SPMA and SPOG objected because there was no process identified.

I propose legislation and the Council adopted a process.

Last year.

Consequently, the SPMA contract is now silent on the top means that power as passed by the Council in 2021. unimpeded by the contract and goes to affect SPMA members.

Contract also removes the prohibition on OPA from coordinating an investigation and states that OPA will not direct the conduct of a criminal investigation.

OPA may communicate with criminal investigators and prosecutors about the status and progress of a criminal investigation.

As it relates to the 180-day clock, the contract places a pause on the 180-day clock whenever a criminal investigation is conducted, regardless of where the alleged criminal activity occurred or what agency is conducting the investigation.

And very importantly, the contract also amends the definition of dishonesty.

The intent of the definition is made clear by removing intentionally and changing facts that are material to the allegation to material facts.

And then lastly, I just want to note in response to Agnes Govern's question in public comment today, I just wanted to note that Otto Klein responded and we have an email from him saying that Otto is confident the sentence in the Bill of Rights section of the agreement reference will not limit new discipline review process.

or restrict disciplinary actions taken by the chief under the new process, because again that bill that sentence only is only tied to the Bill of Rights and not tied to the new review process.

And so that's my attempt at a quick overview at the important reforms in this contract.

And I do hope that folks can join me in supporting this contract with your vote.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Herbold.

I know that you're wrapping up months of maybe over a year of negotiations, but I stand corrected if I'm wrong on that.

But this has been going on quite a while.

Council members, does anyone have any other comments before we move to go to a vote?

Would anyone like to?

say, Council Member Morales, please.

Thank you.

I will be relatively brief.

I do think it's important to say that this negotiated agreement makes some important changes regarding the management of police misconduct proceedings.

This agreement doesn't eliminate arbitration, which is something that the city, I think, has been working on for a while, and I personally would like to see us get there.

But it does place greater restrictions on the arbitration process.

It eliminates the ability of officers to bring new evidence or witnesses to a misconduct proceeding, as Council Member Herbold said.

It would require an arbitrator to uphold a chief's discipline rather than overturning it.

And it lowers the bar for evidence of misconduct, which is a key change for reaching a discipline decision.

I think there are important elements in this agreement, even if it doesn't get us all the way to where I think we need to be.

And perhaps most importantly, it sets a precedent for the entire department about discipline review, officer liability and accountability for officer misconduct, all things that I know we will continue to talk about as we go into the SPOG contract negotiation.

So for those reasons, I will be supporting this agreement.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments?

All right.

Not seeing any.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

That is eight to present, none opposed.

Excuse me, eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, can you please affix my signature to the bill?

Thank you.

Moving on to the Finance and Housing Committee.

I see Council Member Mosqueda has something on the calendar today.

Madam Clerk, will you please read item two into the record?

The report of the Finance and Housing Committee, agenda item two, appointment 02215. The appointment of Maiko Winkler-Chen as Director of the Office of Housing.

The committee recommends the City Council confirm the appointment.

Thank you.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you very much.

And Council President, before we begin, I just wanted to confirm and thank you.

I believe we do not need to make a parliamentary motion today, even though the meeting happened on Thursday afternoon.

So we are free to proceed.

Is that correct, Council President?

Yes, it is.

Excellent.

Well, colleagues, thank you very much for your support of Director Michael Winkler-Chin to be the Director of the Office of Housing.

In our Finance and Housing Committee meeting last Thursday, we did have the chance to unanimously confirm that we would love to see Michael Winkler-Chin serve as the permanent Director of the Office of Housing.

As you heard in public testimony today, we heard the same thing in public testimony on Thursday, last week, repeated calls from community, especially from community members who are working within organizations directly serving those who are most impacted by the effects of displacement, who are working to build affordable housing and build affordable housing in the vision and with the values of communities of color and folks who've been affected by displacement and and harms of past public policy, especially in the housing arena, they are so excited, as are we, to support Director Winkler-Chin.

This is an important role as evidenced by the number of questions and ideas that council members had as you weighed in on the questionnaire that we created for you all to add to before we sent it to Director Winkler-Chin.

We had so much participation from community as well as council members in developing the questions And I think that that just underscores the interest in ensuring that we got a high-quality, community-driven, affordable housing expert to serve in this position.

And there could not be someone who I think more appropriately fits the requirements for permanent director of Office of Housing.

Director Winkler-Chin has served over a decade in community-based affordable housing work, serving in the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority, or SCIPTA PDA, where she served in roles of housing manager, director of housing and facilities, and ultimately as executive director over the last 12 years.

She spent time preserving, promoting, and foreseeing the resilience of Seattle's international district and Chinatown by making sure that hundreds of affordable housing units were developed and advanced new real estate priorities and projects in the neighborhood.

Previous to Director Winkler-Chin's roles at SCIPTA, She served in roles at Southeast Effective Development, otherwise known as SEED, including as SEED's asset manager and oversaw SEED's commercial affordable housing and mixed-use projects, and also served as the Main Street and Economic Development Coordinator, working to promote and support small businesses and local neighborhood business districts.

Director Winkler-Chin has served in many of Seattle's task force, advisory committees, and other roundtables related to coming up with community-driven development, transportation, and planning policies.

She's also served on national and local boards, such as the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development and Seattle-based Crescent Collaborative organizations.

I'm excited that we've had the chance to work with Director Winkler-Chan and community before this possible appointment.

I know that she is going to bring her passion, expertise, and vision to really steward the ship at Office of Housing in this most pressing time.

One of the most exciting aspects of Director Winkler-Chin is her answers to, it has to be housing and.

She brings a housing and lens to everything that she does.

Not only how are we going to create new housing units, but how are we going to make sure that these housing units and the buildings have the full spectrum of services, supportive services and small businesses on the first and second floor, community space along with childcare and other amenities that make a home complete.

Again, colleagues, you heard today the support from community calling in through public testimony.

I encourage you to look at the numerous emails we've received over the course of the last month and a half supporting her nomination here today.

And I hope that you will continue to join the Finance and Housing Committee's unanimous support of Director Winkler-Chin in the confirmation today.

Again, we are just thrilled that she is interested in this position and has committed herself to serving the residents of Seattle as the Director of the Office of Housing.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments?

Okay.

So not seeing anyone, Madam Clerk.

Councilor Morales has a question.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I didn't see.

Oh, I'm sorry, Councilor Morales.

Go ahead.

That's okay.

Thank you very much, Council Member Mosqueda.

I share your enthusiasm for Director Winkler-Chin.

When I met Maiko in 2000, I believe it was, she was still an asset manager at Seed.

She also still had black hair.

When she took over for Sue Taoka at Skipta, we all knew that she would make a profound impact on the neighborhood, which she has.

Maiko and I have had many discussions over the years about how to advance equitable community development, including but not limited to housing.

And I have every confidence in her ability to do this job well.

I know folks in the CID are sad to see her go, leave the neighborhood, at least in a professional capacity.

She's there regularly.

but I'm excited to have her here in the city family and I know she'll be a tremendous asset continue to be a tremendous asset to the Chinatown International District neighborhood and to greater Seattle and I'm very excited to be able to support her today.

Thank you.

Thank you Councillor Morales.

Okay not seeing any.

Councillor Morales or Mosqueda is there anything you want to add before I move to a vote and then allow to speak or did you already say enough?

One more thing, Madam President, I want to thank Erin House for her work to collect the questions from community and from council members and really appreciate her stewardship over the process of getting Director Winkler-Chin into this position for us to vote on here.

Thank you, Madam President.

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment of Ms. Winkler-Chin?

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Hi.

Council President Juarez, can we confirm Council Member Strauss is in the chambers?

Yes, he is.

Oh, okay.

Council Member Strauss is in the chambers.

Okay.

We can have the mic on.

Oh, that's Jody.

Hi, Jody.

Hi.

Yeah, we're here.

We can hear you, Council Member Strauss.

Appreciate that confirmation.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

That's eight in favor and none opposed.

All right, Jody.

Great.

And we're all on the same team.

So the motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

And congratulations, Director Miyoko Winkler-Chin.

You are now recognized to provide some brief remarks for the Seattle City Council.

And I, there you are.

Hi.

Hi, thank you very much, Council President Juarez.

I want to thank Committee Chair Mosqueda and the members of the Finance and Housing Committee.

I also want to thank Council Member Morales for her kind words, or as I know her, Tammy from the neighborhood.

I am honestly shocked, honored, and humbled to be here today in this conversation.

I could have never imagined being asked to be in this position.

I think Mayor Harrell, and as I said the other day, I hope he doesn't regret it now that I've been in the job for a couple months.

He might, but that's okay.

And the confidence though that city council has shown me at this moment, I look forward to working with you as we work together on behalf of the citizens of the city of Seattle and the housing and that council member Mosqueda mentioned was the Filipino Community Center last week.

It was the Plymouth Bertha Pitts Campbell site this week.

Every week we have a lot of housing opening up and they're all opportunities to do great in the city.

And so look forward to working with you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here today and providing some comments for the full city council and the city of Seattle and those watching.

So thank you.

Okay, with that, we will move on to the land use committee and Council Member Strauss is out on the dais I think he's in my seat but okay.

Will the clerk please call read the short title of item three and to the record.

The report of the Land Use Committee, agenda item three, council bill 120339, an ordinance relating to grant funds from non-city sources, authorizing the directors of the Office of Planning and Community Development and the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections to accept a grant and execute related agreements.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, and happy to switch back seats if you want.

Council Bill 12339, as Clerk Schwinn noted, accepts grant funding on behalf of both Seattle Department of Construction Inspections and Office of Planning and Community Development for OPCD.

It's $250,000 accepted from the state of Washington for planning around transit-oriented development around 130th and 140th stations.

Nice work on getting that 130th station in there, Council President.

This grant is part of a $2.5 million legislative allocation in 2021 to help cities facilitate TOD.

For SDCI, $50,730 grant is being accepted for shoreline master plan mitigation planning.

This funding will be specifically allowing SDCI to complete final modeling for the Habitat Evaluation Procedures Program.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

That's how we roll up in the D-5.

Two light rails, we don't mess around.

Okay, with that, does anyone have any other comments or remarks for Council Member Strauss?

Okay, so before we close out, is there anything else you wanna add, Council Member Strauss, before we go to a vote?

No, just hoping to have light rail on Ballard one day.

Yeah, well, rub a lamp.

So let's move on.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Musqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number four, Council Member Strauss.

It's you again, but anyway.

Clerk, will you please read the short title for the record?

Agenda item four, Council Bill 120287, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, updating regulations for rooftop features and amending sections of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Council Member Strauss.

Thank you as clerks when stated this is accountable 12287 updating regulations for rooftop features.

This legislation updates regulations for equipment and features on the rooftops of buildings.

Last year we adopted the strongest energy code in the nation for new buildings, and to comply with these new regulations.

We do require new mechanical equipment, and these regulations make it easier to account So the new energy code requires more aspects and features equipment on the roofs.

The legislation before us today makes it easier to accommodate the needed equipment on rooftops.

The legislation before us today also updates regulations specific to Pioneer Square and Chinatown International District to provide more flexibility for rooftop amenities.

including rooftop bars, restaurants and circumstances in Pioneer Square and to allow for faster elevators because we're allowing folks to build higher.

In committee, we adopted two amendments, one technical corrections to the legislation and the other changes to rooftop requirements in certain zones in Chinatown International District to align with requirements for other high rise zones in the city elevators in which I just referenced.

Council President, colleagues, that is the committee report.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any comments for my colleagues for Council Member Strauss before we move to a vote?

Not seeing any.

Council Member Strauss, I'm guessing you have said everything you need to say before we go to a vote.

Is there anything else?

Yep, good to go.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

This is Council Member Peterson, but Madam Clerk, will you please read the short title of the item into the record?

The report of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee, an ordinance relating to Seattle Public Utilities, authorizing the general manager CEO of SPU to accept a non-exclusive easement within the Shilshall Bay Waterway.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Yes, Council Bill 120322 accepts an easement from the State Department of Natural Resources to install a replacement sanitary sewer line within the Salmon Bay Waterway.

The legislation was unanimously recommended by our committee.

Are there any comments or concerns for Council Member Peterson?

Not seeing any, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature?

to the legislation.

Moving on to item number six.

This is also Council Member Peterson.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item six into the record.

Agenda item six, council bill 120323 in ordinance relating to SPU accepting two deeds for real property acquired for the purposes of installing and operating groundwater wells or waterworks to provide potable water in connection with the Highline well field project.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Councilor Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Council Bill 120323 implements what is essentially a technical correction by accepting two property deeds that perfect SPU's property rights for those two parcels originally acquired in 1986. The legislation was unanimously recommended by our committee.

Thank you.

I do not, does any comments or questions?

Not seeing any, then we will go to a vote.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Musqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and please affix my signature to the legislation.

On the agenda, we will move to items regarding the consent calendar, and there were no items removed from the consent calendar.

Moving to adoption of other resolutions, there are no other resolutions on today's agenda.

Other business, is there any other business from my colleagues?

Council President?

Yes.

Council President, Council Member Strauss here to make a motion to rescind my excused absence for today.

I had moved on May 10th to be excused from today's full council meeting.

So I moved to rescind this excusal.

I would also request to be excused for July 5th.

Okay, so if the Council Member moves to rescind, so I need a second?

if you prefer you can you can call for a second we can call for a vote or if there's no objection his uh his excuse can just be rescinded yeah we'll just do that we'll just go ahead and move forward and accept his motion to move forward that he's not rescinded anymore oh thank you council president Oh wait, Councilor Mosqueda has something to say.

Wait, let me finish with Councilor Strauss first, Mosqueda.

Councilor Strauss, you might want to look at the camera.

Councilor Strauss would like to be excused on July 10th.

Is that the date, Councilor Strauss?

What date did you say?

July 5th, please.

July 5th, I'm sorry.

So Council Member Strauss would like to be excused on July 5th.

Is there any opposition to that?

I'm not seeing any.

Councilor Strauss, you are indeed excused on July 5th.

And Councilor Mosqueda, you had your hand up.

Thank you, Madam President.

I too would like to be excused on July 5th from- All right.

Councilor Mosqueda would like to also be excused on July 5th.

Is there any opposition?

Nope.

So you are indeed excused on July 5th.

Let's see.

There are no other matters.

Council Member Strauss is back.

He was rescinded, now he's back.

Colleagues, this does conclude the terms, or I'm sorry, the items on today's business agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, June 21st.

And before I adjourn, I wanna say happy early Juneteenth, which I believe is this Sunday.

So with that, we are adjourned.

Thank you.