Seattle City Council 3/14/23

Thank you, son.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Today is Tuesday, March 14. I am now going to call to order the Seattle City Council meeting.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Herbold?

Council Member Lewis?

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Present.

Council Member Nelson.

Council Member Peterson.

Present.

Council Member Sawant.

Council Member Strauss.

And Council Member Nelson.

And Council President Juarez.

Here.

Seven present.

We have seven?

Madam President, I think that the microphone on the dais wasn't picking up, folks.

Oh, okay, good, because I can see them out there.

I was wondering what, okay, so we got seven present.

Okay, so let's just move forward.

If there's an objection, Council Member Sawant will be excused from today's City Council meeting.

Not seeing an objection, Council Member Sawant is excused from today's Council meeting.

There are not any presentations today, so we'll move on into the agenda.

We're gonna have two public comments today.

If you look at the agenda in item number two, Council Member Mosqueda and Council Member Lewis have resolution 32085, which supports the King County Crisis Care Center levy, which is scheduled for a special election on April 25th.

So we are gonna have a public comment period for that resolution as well.

Council Member Lewis and Mosqueda will introduce the resolution and we will move to public comment where people can either voice their opposition or support of resolution 32085. We'll allow the Council Member Mosqueda and Council Member Lewis to have closing comments, see if other council members have anything else to say.

And then after that, we will go to a full vote.

So moving along on the agenda, Madam Clerk, how many people do we have remotely?

We have three remote speakers and seven in-person speakers.

Okay, let's do our remote speakers first, then we'll do our in-person speakers and each speaker has two minutes and Madam Clerk, I will hand it over to you to start the instructions.

Present, President.

Oh, you're there.

Thank you Council Member Nelson.

Oh.

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.

Our first remote speaker is Howard Gale.

Good afternoon.

Howard Gale with Seattle Stop dot org.

Today marks the eighth week the eighth week since Janavi Kandula was killed by a speeding SPD officer.

Have we forgotten Janavi and the serious questions still left unanswered.

For example despite varying claims by Chief Diaz concerning the reason or requirement that an SPD officer was speeding to the scene of a medical emergency.

Public Hola reported last week that the emergency involved a person suffering a panic or an anxiety attack rather than an opioid overdose.

This indicates that Chief Diaz intentionally misled the public and that there was no reason for an officer to be speeding to the scene.

Further, after seven weeks, the SPD has failed to release any in-car or other video, 9-1-1 dispatch audio, or any SPD radio traffic concerning this incident.

This stands in stark contrast to the SPD policy and practice over the last seven plus years to release these records within 72 hours of a police-related death.

Again, only recently did Publicola obtain the audio of the 911 call, something still not made public by the SPD.

From news video taken shortly after the incident, while EMTs were attending Genavi, it appears that her body was displaced over 150 feet from where she was struck, suggesting that the SPD car was traveling at an extraordinarily high rate of speed, failing to brake until after hitting her and or dragging her for half a block.

Will Genavi, a victim of SPD's failed accountability, also now become a victim of a so-called police accountability system that creates a facade of accountability and service to moving forward and forgetting?

Will this council's allegiance to a failed accountability system be the motivation to forget?

For council members leaving this year, is this the legacy you wish to leave behind?

And for those council members running for re-election this year, trust that you will be faced with these questions at every public hearing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Cynthia Spies.

Hi, I'm Cynthia Spies.

My comments are regarding agenda item six, the updated FLIRSIR.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold, for proposing amendment A, which I support.

However, numerous concerns still remain.

This rushed and sloppy process for updating the SIR as resulted in a revised SIR that is confusing, misleading, and incomplete.

Amendments four and five remove the details about how the video recordings are transferred from King County to SPD.

SPD clarified those details verbally.

However, the SIR is supposed to function as a standalone document.

The SIR specifically asked how the data will be accessed, but the revised SIR just hand waves over with legal wording instead of providing the technical answer needed by the public to understand the risks.

Therefore, the SIR and executive overview should be updated to say, quote, These recordings are provided by the King County Sheriff's Office as digital files transferred from the King County Sheriff's Office Evidence.com instance to SPD's Evidence.com instance." In multiple places in the revised SIR and Executive Overview, SPD uses the phrase, Maple Leaf Downlink Equipment, which is an odd wording and use of capitalization, and it only makes sense if you have insider knowledge of how SPD operates. The SIR and Executive Overview should be updated to specifically correct this confusing wording by instead saying, quote, Downlink Equipment located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood, end quote. Given that the downlink is sending a video feed to SPD's building in the Maple Leaf neighborhood, isn't this simply moving narration from King County Sheriff's Office to SPD over to SPD to SPD? If there is instead a video feed available to officers and their vehicles, then that needs to be added to the SIR. Ordinance 126556, that was the UASI grant, includes five other items that might be surveillance technologies, and at least two of those would seem to need their own surveillance impact reports. Are all the other surveillance technologies also going to skip public engagement and working group review? Also, the ordinance was signed in April 2022, which means SPD had almost an entire year to achieve compliance with the surveillance ordinance. Instead, the city waited until the absolute last minute for getting approval and did Euro public engagement and bypassed the Community Surveillance Working Group. This is on top of state-wide key proposal to silence the public by overlapping the public engagement areas with the Working Group's review. Please see my email. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last remote speaker is Susan Williams, who is showing us not present.

So we'll move on to the in-person speakers.

And the first person is AD Skip Knox.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, council members.

Especially my departing D5 council president, we're gonna miss you.

We'll figure out.

I want to comment on Council Bill 120521, the ordinance relating to criminal code and for defacing public property.

I don't know if this is the appropriate point to stick something new in it, but I would hope that some consideration be given to ankle bracelets for first offense for a year.

That would certainly damping down the ability to move around like a spider on some of that stuff I don't have those guys get up there, maybe give them an award for the most creative ascent, but they should be made to and I assume it's guys, they should be made to account for their work and.

Maybe that would get around the community and damp down some of that offensive graffiti.

It gives people the wrong impression to travel through this area and it gives people the wrong impression to live in this area that we don't care.

We know we do care, but it's a tough issue to get at with some traps triggered by garage door openers, kinds of things that signal that there's somebody there that should be able to catch these guys and I'd be happy to help invent some of those trapping methods.

I do appreciate your taking this issue up long overdue and we'll hope we can make a dent in the effort.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next in-person speaker is Marguerite Rashar.

Howdy everybody is my mirror, since my face is not on the screen, so how do I look hopefully.

economic development, but it's talking about some ordinance in regards to technology and surveillance and implementation.

Okay, so I guess it's a good thing you're not showing our face because that's what surveillance is all about.

Isn't it, Mr. Strauss?

We got a smile out of him.

Just put on a happy face.

That's all you gotta do, huh?

And then you can get whatever we want, huh?

Because the police department that you put it on the agenda, not me.

And we got Tyree Nichols' trial has not come up yet.

So we all should be very frightened now, Lisa Herbold, because you're over public safety, but you're going somewhere else, huh?

So we won't have to be nervous anymore, rattled, walking down the street, looking like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

this is serious business because you're dealing with human nature and surveillance and technology where people are already in fear of their lives.

And you asked us about an executive overview of a report that might not be substantiated because that liberty and justice for all It's still a work in progress, huh?

We still have to be walking like we're walking on broken glass or something else that's gonna cause a disturbance in our life.

Do you think you're worthy to cause a disturbance in people's lives?

I don't think so.

See ya.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ajana Smith.

Hello, my name is actually Asia Nae Smith.

Asia, like the continent, and just put Nae at the end.

It's very easy.

It's very simple.

I just want to talk about how you guys are always talking about police surveillance and technology, but we're not talking about surveilling the police.

I understand that everybody is worried about what the city is doing, but like my aunt says, there's a trial going on for Tyree Nichols, and what they say is official oppression.

And we always see black faces getting discriminated against or be killed, shot for nothing.

Right.

But we are making surveillance.

I guess we're making more surveillance for us people, but you guys aren't surveilling, I guess, the board members, the council, the mayor, the police department, your attorneys.

Even your civil rights office needs to be surveillanced, in my opinion, because you guys don't do anything.

Nobody is getting the justice that they deserve.

You guys as homeless are still homeless, but then they say that they are paying.

I heard one lady on here talking about cheap.

They pay through taxes for the homeless to get housing, but I don't got no place to go.

So I'm trying to figure it out one step by another, and I'm gonna figure it out.

I'm gonna unlock the code, and God is gonna give me all of, I guess, what I need to understand, because I'm not understanding what you guys are doing, and what you guys are surveilling, and what you guys are reporting, but there's no reports, because nobody really reports anything.

Next speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, my lovely Nazi Gestapo animal from animal farm, a pure bandit, a criminal, a mafia soldier.

My name Alex Zimmerman.

My memory not so good.

Oh, I am candidate.

or ship to the moon.

You never speak about agenda number one because it's very interesting agenda you have this.

I'm totally support this agenda because you're very smart.

You're talking about criminal code that defends a property destruction.

So by this criminal code, you all supposed to be going in jail, all of it, because you broken this code, a property destruction.

You distract us.

Every meeting for many years and for 10 last months, you never show us faces.

Why?

Why you show everybody faces who work for government, and your faces always here, 24-7.

You nobody show us faces.

Yes, a poor black two girl, a poor disabled immigrant, you know what it mean?

Refugee.

You never show us faces.

Why you don't show us faces?

What's going on?

You know what this means?

So you are a criminal.

You're not only criminal, you're a bandit, because it's not only criminal code for...

destruction of destruction of destruct oh property destruction i'm sorry yeah guys stop and acting like a freaking idiot i go and speak every day dozen times you know what has been all over right now i never see like this before and i don't know somebody in america have this idiotic situation so you don't show us faces Can you explain to me, because I check all county in America.

Everybody show faces.

Everybody show faces.

Everybody show faces.

What is wrong with you?

Are you criminal?

Maybe you mentally sick.

Maybe you are Nazi by 100%.

It's a problem.

Stand up, America.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kim Beckland.

Metro on their government relations staff.

And I'm here to speak in favor enthusiastically for CB 120522, which would authorize the council to affirm what's already happened before our council unanimously in the Sound Transit Board and that is the transfer of four stations that constitute the downtown Seattle transit tunnel.

This tunnel provided wonderful dual access for bus and rail up until 2019 and it is in this act that this will help us go to the recorder's office affirming this action from Seattle.

What it does in fact is take these four stations and the 2400 assets within these this tunnel section and convey it over to Sound Transit at no cost.

The public has already paid for this tunnel and this tunnel in fact are the stations for which light rail will be dramatically expanded throughout our region.

It's taken a lot of work to get here and the beauty of this is it helps us streamline the work in order to manage and maintain and operate that system very well.

So I just want to thank particularly our friends at Sound Transit.

They've been outstanding partners and particularly with City of Seattle as we've worked very hard to improve the conveyances that is the escalators and elevators that serve these stations.

It is a legacy property.

We have seen improvements since the contractor took over from Sound Transit so we're pleased to report that.

And I understand that you'll be receiving a like report that's timely to provide your citizens, our riders, that information.

So I thank you in advance for your time today and your consideration.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Abel Pacheco.

Mr. Pacheco.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Abel Pacheco, Government Relations Director for the Central Corridor at Sound Transit.

I'm here on behalf of the Sound Transit to ask for your support in approving the transfer agreement between King County and Sound Transit of the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.

The Sound Transit Board approved the transfer agreement last fall, and your actions today will allow for a smooth continuation of said transfer between both organizations.

Sound Transit has committed to Councilmember Peterson to come before his committee this spring to present our state of good repair program and share our plans for making for modernizing and improving the downtown tunnel as we prepared for link expansion.

I'd like to extend my appreciation to Council Member Peterson, Council President Juarez, SDOT staff, and central staff for your collaboration in shepherding this agreement through the council process.

And of course, thank all of you for the countless work you do on behalf of Seattle residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that's it for the public commenters.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Prochekow from Sound Transit and all the other folks for coming in today and giving us public comment.

All right, see Mr. Councilor Peterson's back on the screen, so always good to see.

So with that, our public comment period is now over, so we'll move on in the agenda.

If there's an objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

Not seeing any objection, the IRC is adopted.

There's no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

Not seeing any objections, today's agenda is adopted.

So moving on to the consent calendar.

See, I don't think we got a whole lot on here today.

Items on the consent calendar include the minutes of March 7th, 2023, and payroll bill, council bill 120526. I'm guessing that nobody wants to remove anything from the consent calendar.

All right, not seeing anyone.

Hearing none, I move to adopt a consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Second.

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

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the consent calendar is adopted.

Will the clerk please fix my signature to the minutes and the legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf.

Moving on to committee reports, today we have six, item number one.

It looks like this is Council Member Herbold, but Madam Clerk, will you please read item one into the record?

to item one council bill 12521 relating to city's criminal code amending elements and defenses of property destruction and amending section 12A.08.020 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Thank you.

I move to pass council bill 120521. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you so much.

So as discussed Before this is a risk management bill proposed by the city attorney to mitigate a possible risk with our current code that has come to light in the course of a current lawsuit.

The legislation itself brings the code more in line with state law by adding a provision taken from the section of state law regarding graffiti.

R.

C. W.

9 a 48. 090. And specifically, the legislation removes the affirmative defense that applies to graffiti in the Seattle Municipal Code because it is not in state law.

Central staff sent a follow-up to last week's email about this.

And as I've shared with council members, my objective as a sponsor of the transmitted legislation was to address only the risk exposure.

Because otherwise, I believe if we were dealing with policy issues, the bill should be heard in committee to have those deliberations.

So very narrowly limited to address the risk management recommendations of the City Attorney's Office.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any comments from my colleagues regarding this item?

All right, not seeing any.

Council Member Herbold, I'm guessing you have any more comments?

No, thank you.

You good?

I'm good.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

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

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the bill passes, the chair will sign it.

Madam Clerk, please affix my signature On my behalf to the legislation.

So let's move on to item number two.

Let me make a few comments before I have you read it into the record Madam Clerk.

As provided for under RCW 4217A.555, the city council will now consider the adoption of resolution 32085. At the conclusion of council member comments, the council will hear comments from members of the public who wish to speak to the resolution, which supports King County's Crisis Care Center Levy, Proposition 1, known as Prop 1, on the April 25th, 2023 special election ballot.

An approximate equal opportunity to speak will be given to members of the public.

So now, Madam Clerk, will you please read that item into the record?

Agenda item two, resolution 32085, supporting King County's crisis care centers levy and urging Seattle voters to vote yes on the passage of this levy on the April 25th, 2023 special election ballot.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to adopt resolution 32085. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt a resolution.

So I know that this is Council Member Lewis and Council Member Mosqueda, so both of you can be recognized in order to address and introduce this item.

So I can hear from however you want to do this, Council Member Mosqueda or Council Member Lewis.

Is it you, Council Member Mosqueda?

Sure, I'll jump in.

Happy to, Council President.

Thank you colleagues and thank you Madam President for moving swiftly to include this on today's agenda for the council's consideration and in support of what the community is also showing broad support for.

And it's my pleasure to be able to work in partnership with the King County partners as well as our council colleagues including Council Member Lewis in bringing this forward today.

As noted in the resolution, resolution 32085 supports King County's crisis care centers levy, which we are urging voters to vote yes on the passage of this levy in the upcoming April special election, as the council president noted.

The deadline for the election is April 25th, 2023. Again, a special election called for by King County council members in the passage of putting this levy on the ballot.

I'm very appreciative of the leadership of the King County Council, led by Council Member Zahalai, in partnership with the Executive, Executive Constantine and his team, Leo Flohr, Kelly, Kelly, right?

Thank you, Kelly Ryder, and also the good work of April Putney, his Chief of Staff.

This measure is truly rooted in what our community has been calling for for over the years.

but especially given the increased crisis and compounding needs under COVID.

The measure that will be in front of voters would create five new crisis care centers throughout King County, including one care center dedicated just for children.

Currently, there is only one unit which provides 46 beds for the entire county.

So this levy in front of us would restore the lost treatment beds in the county, especially experienced in the last few years under COVID.

And it will help us address the long wait time that people currently have in order to get mental health residential treatment.

Currently in our county, people wait on average 44 days for a mental health residential bed.

This levy will also grow the behavioral health workforce by creating pathways through apprenticeship training programs while investing in equitable wages for the workforce.

Again, I want to thank the community partners who came together to support the creation of such an initiative, including SEIU 1199, who helps to provide the critical workforce necessary in this sector, who's very supportive of this levy as well.

Just briefly, colleagues, and Madam President, I'll save some comments for the end.

Right now, we need more behavioral health resources and not less.

What is in place in our county right now we with what's what is in place in our county right now we lack the capacity for both immediate crisis response and long term mental health beds in our region.

King County is without a walk in behavioral health urgent care facility.

We currently have 2.3 million people.

And I already mentioned, we only have 46 behavioral health crisis beds available at any one time.

The region's one voluntary crisis stabilization unit is called Crisis Solution Center, which is in Seattle.

And we absolutely appreciate them and adore the work that they do.

But getting in also requires a law enforcement referral.

And we know there's so many more people across our region who need access to care.

Residential treatment beds have seen a steady decline in recent years.

Before the pandemic in 2018, there was 355 beds for mental health residential care, and today there's only 244 residential mental health residential beds.

In terms of workforce, the local community behavioral health agencies continue to see declines in the number of available workers in the sector.

The staff are under tremendous pressure and we must do everything we can right now as we pass the levy to ensure that dollars are also going towards investing in the workers who are caring for folks who are in these moments of crisis.

So this levy rightfully invests in the people who are on the front lines.

the people who are ensuring compassionate care when someone is in crisis.

Thank you, Madam President.

I will save any closing comments for the end.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, are there any words that you would like to add before I open the floor up to other council members?

Yes, thank you so much, Council President.

I won't give the whole overview programmatically of the levy.

Council Member Mosqueda gave a great summary.

I'll just briefly say it was a great privilege to work with County Executive Constantine, Leo Flohr, and Council Member Girmay Zahalai at the Regional Policy Committee to help advance this.

to the November ballot.

I'm really looking forward to us taking consideration today to officially come out in favor of this really important measure to respond to one of the most intense crises that we face in the county right now around behavioral health.

And with that, I will yield it back to you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Councilmember Herbold, I see you have your hand up, and then next is Councilmember Peterson.

Councilmember Herbold.

much and thank you to council members.

Mosqueda and Lewis for proposing this resolution.

As we know, increasing the services available to residents who need behavioral health support or behavioral health crisis has been a priority of this council since the early days of the pandemic.

I have heard from constituents who have seen neighbors and loved ones pushed to the edge by the shadow pandemic, the years of fear, grief, isolation, and economic stability that are impacting us all.

In 2021, I sponsored Resolution 32026, adopted unanimously by the council.

And that resolution recognized the significant impact.

And in the resolution, we called on all levels of government to step up and meet the need.

Despite the fact that providing behavioral health services is primarily a responsibility of county and state government, the city council has repeatedly reacted to the significant need and stepped in to provide millions of dollars of increased funding over and over again since the pandemic began to both expand access to mental health care for Seattle residents and to provide additional services for folks experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

The city cannot and should not do this work on behalf of city residents on our own.

The resolution requested that the county substantially increase mobile crisis response, post-crisis follow-up teams, crisis stabilization facilities, and other treatment programs.

The resolution further affirmed that the shared role that all levels of government have in creating and maintaining a strong behavioral health system.

Really appreciate that the proposed levy answers this call by significantly expanding the resources available.

And it also includes provisions to stabilize the behavioral health workforce, an urgent need as we know that staffing human services providers are at crisis levels.

Just this morning, my Public Safety and Human Services Committee heard a presentation on landmark research by the University of Washington showing that human services providers are underpaid by 37%.

Solving the pay penalty crisis will require all of us to work together.

And I'm really, really pleased that addressing pay is incorporated into this levy.

And again, really grateful to all of our partners at the county for answering the call and for their leadership and putting forward this really critical levy package.

And if anybody's on the edge of their seats wondering how I'm going to vote, I will be very proud to vote yes on this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Herbold, Councilor Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm supportive of this resolution.

The City Council resolution does a good job highlighting the benefits of supporting King County's efforts to address this behavioral health priority, especially during the homelessness emergency.

The program is not free, though, and I think it's important to note that.

I don't think this is mentioned in the resolution itself, but it is in the fiscal note that accompanies the resolution.

The anticipated cost to the owner of a median value home would be approximately $121 in 2024. It's my understanding that's the new property tax cost for King County as a whole, but for Seattle residents, it's actually an increase for a median homeowner of $132.

Also, landlords can pass this cost on to renters.

That said, this is a priority.

I'll be a yes on this resolution today.

It's not clear how the county will fund operations after the ninth year, so it's my hope that the crisis care centers aggressively apply for federal dollars, not only for operations in the future, but also to connect clients to federal programs such as Medicaid, SSI, and Section 8. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Peterson.

I have a few comments to make.

Oh, I see.

Councilmember Nelson, go ahead.

Thank you.

In my first few weeks on council last year, I voted in favor of legislation promoting a ballot initiative.

But as I've reflected on my role here since then, I've decided that a better policy for myself is to just allow voters to make up their own minds.

So this is in no way a reflection on the merits of the ballot measure before us right now, but I'll be abstaining.

All right, thank you.

With that, I want to start out with a big thank you first to Council Member Lewis and Council Member Herbold for serving on the King County Regional Housing Authority.

I know that it hasn't been easy.

I also want to say a huge thank you to our budget chair, Council Member Mosqueda, who addressed this issue in our budget when we talked about third party providers.

And a lot of these people in the caring professions are not adequately paid.

And we know that.

So it's not an easy subject.

It's a difficult subject.

But for me, it comes down to people's lives.

I think that's part of living in a democratic society is that you give back for all the other good things you get, whether it's a park or a community center or a library or light rail.

I think they should also have this service which really speaks to our humanity.

So I will be obviously supporting this resolution.

So I will leave it at that.

I'm guessing there are no more comments.

So what I'm gonna do then is I'm gonna open it up to the public and then we will let the sponsors have closing remarks.

So Madam Clerk, do we have any one either remotely or in chambers here to address resolution 32085?

Council President, there's nobody signed up remotely and we have three speakers in chambers.

Okay, so this is how we wanna, I don't know how this is gonna shake out as far as what they're gonna say.

So I wanna start with those in opposition first, and then those in support second.

Since we've already heard from council members, we'll start with the opposition first.

And I don't know who of the three are opposing or supporting, so let's start there.

Council President they're all opposed to it.

The first speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

Okay, we're shutting it down right now.

Right now, stop.

We're not going to be into name calling.

Mr. Zimmerman, you are now not allowed to speak.

We're not doing that today.

So that will go on the record again as you attacking the council president based on her race.

So let's move on to the next speaker.

Security, make sure that Mr. Zimmerman is escorted out.

We're not doing that today.

Our next speaker is Marguerite Richard.

Mr. shard Richard.

I brought my mirror again.

My name is Marguerite Richard and I'm opposed because of the fact that we are at a crisis mode and nothing seems to be able to work here.

I don't care what you come up with.

It doesn't work here.

And I'm from here.

That's interesting, huh?

I just don't like this place anymore, okay?

So put me on the list for wondering why disabled persons and people that should have a facility that they can walk into.

Okay, we got homeless people.

I guess they're in crisis, like the governor said something about tent.

You're not going to find no services, I think you said, up on the blue tarp or tent or something.

He said something like that, if you zoom in to what he says about people in crisis.

So I don't agree with your plan, because right now, we should all be free.

If we have to come down here and complain about anything, about how in the world somebody can be suffering anything.

And then you call the guard and say, get out, get out.

But that's still their free speech.

Why do you torment people like that in their flesh?

I don't understand it, but I'm getting there.

Okay.

I'm getting there slowly, but surely, but I'm not going to apologize.

You know, I'm rejecting it because we come down here and get rejected all the time, okay?

I was downstairs with Honorable Michael B. Fuller.

Do you think that we weren't in crisis mode when a foreigner came up to us and say, you can't sit there, you need to get up?

Get up for what?

Was it our color?

Was it the way we were looking?

Oh, what was it?

Somebody tell me.

I still...

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Cortez Dondre Jones.

Hello Council, thank you so much for letting me speak.

I'm just here to kind of speak on Lisa Herbold's district number one.

I didn't have anything to say about behavioral health, there's nothing like that, but I got something to say about that later.

I got something on your declining rates in case types for page 10. For the US attorneys that were here, they were talking about how there were declining rates based on case types.

I'm just not with the, based on what they can prove, I'm just not with the way that they're actually explaining that because it basically proves discrimination in a way.

I have a question here via comment, it says, why are so many black men that believe in God and stuff like that always being prosecuted against?

Because we see the rates inside of jail.

We've asked people inside of jail, like inmates and stuff like that.

They're always prosecuted.

But then we ask them a question like, do you believe in God?

And a lot of them do.

A lot of them are not demonic or nothing like that.

They end up turning over to God and stuff.

So I just feel like declining criminal rates and stuff like that.

And basically stuff that we should be prosecuting have a lot to do with drugs and stuff like that.

People on the streets doing drugs.

I feel like we wouldn't have domestic violence if we decreased the drug rate.

And that's just the way it is.

When it comes to prosecutors all around the world, I'm not really like having anything against them.

I just feel like in the city of Seattle, in the city of Seattle attorneys, they focus on domestic violence and stuff like that.

I feel like that's really cool and all, but decreasing the drug rate, people doing a lot of drugs, it would absolutely be beautiful for us to see the decrease in that.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, I understand that we're done.

Yes, we are.

So there, I mean, there's no more people in chambers are on the line.

Correct.

Okay, so public comment on this matter has expired.

So now I'm going to go hand it back over to either customer mosquito customer Lewis, whoever wants to close this out.

I'm happy to defer to Councilmember mosquito.

I figured that's what was going to happen.

Well, thank you very much, colleagues.

Thanks for all your comments and your support.

Again, thanks to our colleagues and the executive team at King County as well.

I'll just summarize with some of the comments that I made yesterday in council briefing and will not share the full story.

But in short, I think what you've heard from all of the council members is that the impact of the shortages in terms of limited access to mental health and behavioral health services in King County right now.

It's playing out and affecting all of our communities.

It's affecting our family members, our neighbors.

We are seeing it manifest with increased crises in terms of those who are experiencing housing instability, folks who are getting pulled into the criminal legal system, and it's impacting our health care systems as well.

The reality is that it took us decades to get to this point, and it is going to take some time to reverse the course.

And I'm thankful for all of the support that we are seeing across the county from organizations and individuals and elected bodies to prioritize the type of care that's outlined in Proposition 1. In order for us to have a functioning and connected system, we must chart a new path forward that addresses behavioral health needs and make sure that we are connecting mental and physical health together and meeting people in community where they are at.

The status quo is just not working.

And anyone here today would tell you that they've seen it firsthand.

This is going to be a big undertaking.

And with your support from voters across King County, I think we can accomplish what is set out in this levy together.

I have faith that we will be able to transform the system and provide better care for community members and our family members across this region.

And I shared an example from Executive Secretary Katie Garrow from MLK Labor yesterday in our council briefing.

And just very briefly, I want to read from a letter that she has offered to share with members of the public as an example of how mental health and behavioral health issues affect working families across our region.

She shared this example to really underscore that addiction And the access to treatment is not a unique issue that we should shy away from, but instead is an issue that we should continue to share with members of the public so that people understand the disproportionate burden and crises that many working families are dealing with.

Katie shared with us, excuse me, Executive Secretary Treasurer Katie Garrow shared with us from MLK Labor that her father had been to rehab three times.

And she says her dad, like so many other men, worked manual labor for 35 years, had both his knees and shoulders replaced.

And because of those surgeries, was hooked on pain medications.

Over the course of his active addiction, he lost his home.

He spent his 401k.

filed for bankruptcy, survived a life-threatening stint in the ICU, and was living in his car by the time he was ready to get help.

And labor leader Katie Garrow shares with us that the wait time for him to get a bed was one day.

And it was a painful, long one day, but he had access to treatment because he had good quality health insurance through his union, and that was 15 years ago.

But she recognizes that the pain and trauma to get him into treatment ultimately was very painful for him and his physical health, as well as the health and wellbeing of her family and community.

And he has now been six years clean, and they have a healed and close relationship.

And she recognizes that that kind of healed and close relationship is rare, and it is cherished amongst family members who have addiction.

Treatment gave him a second chance in life.

And Katie Garrow says it's not lost on her that her dad did not have to wait 44 days for bed, nor did he spend any time in jail.

And she credits that to the fact that he had a good union job with benefits and because he was white.

And she notes, we all deserve to have the opportunity to recover.

We all deserve to live full lives and to do better by our children, our children deserve to do better than their parents, and that we need to keep improving the system.

That addiction is not a weakness, and that we need to continue to create resources so people can heal and get access to the care they need.

In April, when this issue shows up on your ballot when you receive it in the mail.

I hope that you will help us in destigmatizing addiction and supporting recovery and helping to pass Proposition 1 to create healthy coping mechanisms for everyone we know personally and for our community and population health as well.

And in doing so and in supporting this today, Council colleagues, we will be joining SEIU 775, MLK Labor, 34th Dems, SEIU 1199, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft Valley Cities, Asian Counseling and Referral Services, South King County Professional Firefighters, Local 27 Firefighters, Valley Professional Firefighters, and so many more, including Alliance for Gun Responsibility, NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Health, Recovery Cafe, and the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.

I appreciate your support today and look forward to helping us get the word out to voters to vote yes in their April ballot.

Thank you, Councilor Mosqueda.

Councilor Lewis, is there anything you wanna add before we go to a vote?

No, thank you, Madam President.

I am ready to call the question on the resolution.

Thank you very much.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Abstain.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Seven in favor, none opposed, one abstention.

Thank you.

The motion carries.

The resolution is adopted.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

So moving on into our agenda to item number three.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item number three into the record?

Agenda item three, Council Bill 12523, relating to city employment, authorizing the execution of a memorandum of understanding between the City of Seattle and the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, amending Ordinance 126725, which adopted the 2023 budget, changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the budget, and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts, all by a three-fourths vote of the City Council.

Madam Clerk, is that the short title?

No, it was the full title.

Okay, I'm sorry.

In the future, I keep forgetting to say sometimes if you need to do the short title, sometimes I forget to do that.

So correct me if that's an issue.

I knew that we needed a three quarters vote though for this one.

So anyway, since this is mine, I move to pass Council Bill 120523. I need a second.

Second.

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

As sponsor of this bill, let me address it now.

This legislation authorizes a memorandum of understanding between the city of Seattle and the Washington State Council of County and City Employees for Local 21PA, Assistant City Prosecutors Bargaining Unit, known as 21PA.

The city and local 21PA entered into negotiations after the city identified a need to increase pay to address recruiting and retention challenges for staffing at the prosecuting attorney's office, which I believe is the city attorney's office.

The increased labor costs will be included in the city attorney's office-based budget in the future years.

Funds supporting this appropriation increase were held in the city's unbudgeted labor planning reserves.

So with that, are there any comments from my colleagues before we move on?

Thanks, I just want to speak to the timeliness of this legislation.

We had the fourth quarter, 2022 report from the city attorney's office at the Public Safety and Human Services Committee.

This morning, and in the quarterly report, they did uplift the fact that.

for prosecutors in the city attorney's office, while starting salaries and steps for the first five years are similar to other jurisdictions.

For years beyond that, salaries are significantly lower, as much as 20% lower than other jurisdictions.

So just heard about that in committee this morning and wanted to lift that up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just want to briefly state as someone who used to work in this bargaining unit in the city attorney's office, I really appreciate our consideration of finally bringing our pay more in line with similar units doing similar work at King County, where similarly situated attorneys are getting paid more if we're doing the same body of work.

So really appreciate lifting this up and recognizing the work that this unit does and making sure that they're compensated in line with other jurisdictions in King County and the greater Puget Sound area.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

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

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Musqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Let's move on to item number four.

Madam Clerk, please read item number four into the record.

And I'll be reading the short title Council President relating to city employment or excuse me, agenda item for Council Bill 125 24 relating to city employment authorizing the execution of a memorandum of understanding between the city of Seattle and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local 77 amending ordinance 126 725.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, I moved to pass Council Bill 1205 to four is there a second.

Thank you.

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

And as a sponsor of this bill, I will address it.

This legislation authorizes a memorandum of understanding, an MOU, between the city of Seattle and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 77, which we refer to as Local 77. The city and Local 77 entered into negotiations after the city identified a need to scale up its workforce to install over 24,000 electrical meters.

The MOU provides for changes to certain working conditions to allow for training and installation of those meters.

Additionally, members in the meter electrician classification series will receive a wage increase.

This modified approach to the work will improve the accuracy and timeliness of bills to customers, allow for the resumption of collections, enable reconnection and disconnection of meters remotely, and support City Light's mission of customer service, workforce agility, and operational efficiency.

The increased labor costs will be included in City Light's base budget in future years, just like with the last one.

Funds supporting this appropriation increase were held, just like the last one, in the city's unbudgeted labor planning reserves.

So with that, are there any comments from my colleagues?

Councilor Lewis, is that an old hand or a new hand?

Old hand, Madam President.

OK.

All right.

Anyone else?

OK.

Not seeing any, and I do not have any closing remarks.

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

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

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 on my behalf.

So now we're moving on to item number five.

It looks like this is Council Member Peterson's gig.

Madam Clerk, will you please read number five into the record?

Agenda item five, Council Bill 12522, relating to Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, authorize an execution of a Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel transfer and conveyance agreement on behalf of the city of Seattle with the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority in King County and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120522. Is there a second?

Second.

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

Council Member Peterson, it's all you.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I had mentioned this legislation during our Council briefing yesterday.

As we know, Sound Transit and King County have shared their responsibilities for the downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, which includes several transit stations.

At long last, we will soon unify all responsibility under Sound Transit for the safety, cleanliness, and operation of those downtown tunnel stations.

As a party to the interconnected 20 plus year old agreements that have governed the use and responsibility for those downtown stations.

The city of Seattle must also execute a transfer and conveyance agreement, which is authorized by this legislation Council 120522. In the central staff memo circulated last week about this legislation, central staff identified no concerns.

Sound Trans is asking for this legislation to be approved expeditiously.

I sincerely appreciate Council Member Abel Pacheco being here today to speak in favor as well.

Thank you.

That's it?

You're good?

Short and sweet.

Are there any other comments from my colleagues before we move to a roll call?

Anything else before we go to vote, Mr. Councilor Peterson?

You're good, okay.

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

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

And Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, again, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

So moving on to item number six, it looks like we have an item out of the Economic Development, Technology and City Light Committee, which is Council Member Nelson, who is the chair.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item six into the record?

report of the Economic Development Technology and City Light Committee, agenda item six, council bill 12518, relating to surveillance technology implementation, authorizing approval of uses and accepting the 2023 updated surveillance impact report and 2023 executive overview for the Seattle Police Department's use of forward-looking infrared real-time video.

The committee recommends that city council pass as amended the council bill.

Thank you.

Council Member Nelson.

Hello, thank you very much.

So what we have before us is an updated SIR that would allow SPD to go into procurement for a downlink tool that would allow officers on the ground to view the live stream from an infrared video camera on the King County Sheriff's Office's helicopter.

And just to clarify comments made earlier, the maple leaf reference is the brand of the downlink tool or equipment, not a reference to a Seattle neighborhood.

So anyway, this update is necessary because this is a material change to the use of the floor authorized by Council in 2021. Currently officers rely on the helicopter pilots voice narration on the live stream and the ability to view the events themselves will improve.

will improve their response and the response of other emergency personnel.

The executive has requested that council approve this cert today, this update, because there is a federal grant at play and we risk losing this resource if we delay too long.

This will go into procurement soon.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I understand that Council Member Herbold has an amendment for us.

Indeed, thank you.

I move Amendment A to Council Bill 1205-18.

Second.

Thank you.

Thank you for the second.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the bill as presented as Amendment A. Council Member Herbold, go ahead and walk us through this.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate President Juarez and Committee Chair Nelson for allowing me to bring forward what has helpfully been characterized as a friendly amendment by Council Member Nelson.

and recognize bringing it forward at full council and the preferences to do so in committee, but we are working together to try to meet the timing needs of Seattle Police Department and the executive.

The amendment proposed is being brought forward based on stakeholder feedback from privacy experts.

And it simply requests that SPD keep a list of identification numbers, otherwise known as tail numbers, of helicopters using the technology described in the SIR, and that they administratively update the 2023 surveillance impact report to reference the location of that publicly available list of identification numbers.

Thank you.

And thank you Council Member Herbold and Council Member Nelson, because I know we went through this in committee last Wednesday.

So thank you for bringing this.

Thank you for Council Member Herbold for, I understand that you had an opportunity to get some comments from SPD about this.

So thank you very much.

Are there any other comments before we go to move to vote on the amendment?

Okay, yeah, I did have one of the things I just wanted to address it as it came up in in public comment in addition to the helpful clarification from Councilmember Nelson.

I did want to just state publicly, I appreciate that we've heard concerns that the material update process recommendation that has recently been created by ITD was not used for this update, but The surveillance ordinance itself does not promulgate a process for material changes to CSRS that have already been identified by council.

And the Information Technology Department only created an administrative process for these material updates.

Again, not required by the ordinance, but they themselves thought it would be good public policy to have a process.

And they created that process in December of 2022. We raised this issue during the committee discussion with the executive departments, and they provided assurances that in the future, this process will be used again, even though the surveillance ordinance itself does not create a process for material updates to already passed CSRS.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council member, um, well, let's let's go forward on this one first.

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

Council member Herbold?

Yes.

Council member Lewis?

Yes.

Council member Morales?

Yes.

Council member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council member Nelson?

Aye.

Council member Peterson?

Yes.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

And council president Juarez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, nine opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the amended bill is now before council.

Are there any further comments on the amended bill?

Does the sponsor have any closing remarks before we go to a vote?

I do not.

Okay, thank you, Council Member Nelson.

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

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Musqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes as amended.

The Chair will sign it and Madam Clerk again please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Moving on on our agenda is there any other business to come before Council?

All right, not seeing any.

Colleagues, this does conclude our items of business on today's agenda.

Thank you all very much.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be held next Tuesday, March 20, is that right?

21st?

Yep, March 21st.

All right, thank you everybody.

We are adjourned.

First day of spring next month.