Seattle City Council 8/9/22

Thank you.

I can.

You can begin now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Did not hear that.

Welcome.

The August 9th, 2022 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 201. I'm Deborah Juarez.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Ms. Guerra.

Present.

Peterson.

Present.

Sorry, Council Member Swant.

Present.

Council Member Herbold.

Here.

Council Member Lewis.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Nelson.

Present.

And Council President Juarez.

Here.

Eight in favor, excuse me, eight present.

Thank you.

Moving on our agenda to presentations.

We have no presentations for today.

Moving on to public comment, as usual colleagues at this time, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

For this hybrid public comment period, the remote speakers will be heard.

Wait, let me hold up on that.

Madam Clerk, how many remote people do we have?

We have two for general public comment and one for Council Bill 120356.

Okay, so we have two for public comment and who do we have in chambers for public comment?

We have one person so far.

Okay, so at this juncture then what I'll do is we'll go with the remote speakers first and then those in chambers and they'll each be given two minutes apiece.

So thank you for that.

I apologize for interrupting the script here.

And with that I will hand it over to you Madam Clerk to go ahead and provide the recording and the instructions for public comment.

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.

Speakers will now be called on in the order registered.

If you have not registered to speak you can still sign up for 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 chambers.

For remote commenters, the first public commenter for the remote public comment is Howard Gale.

Good afternoon.

Howard Gale with Seattlestop.org commenting on a lack of police accountability.

Exactly one year ago today, Carolyn Bick at the South Seattle Emerald revealed malfeasance and corruption at Seattle's Office of the Inspector General with her story about a whistleblower who had resigned just days earlier.

Instead of the council exercising oversight of the OIG, it allowed the OIG to contract with an outside entity for a carefully curated audit that would not be made public until nearly one year later.

Despite the limited nature of this audit, it substantiated, in fact, the claims made one year ago by the whistleblower.

Many of these claims had been noted two years earlier by a different whistleblower as well as by other OIG workers.

Today, I published my analysis indicating that despite this outside audit having been completed and printed 53 days ago, it was kept under wraps and then leaked two weeks ago before it was made public to journalist Erica Barnett, almost certainly by a council member Herbold or her office in a clumsy and transparent attempt to provide spin to the story by underplaying, distorting, and obscuring the audit's findings.

I will be making a formal complaint to Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission regarding this breach of oversight, trust, and transparency by the council member for an agency that spends over $3.6 million of our money and is entrusted with ensuring the accuracy and fairness of the investigations of police misconduct, a role that the Office of Inspector General has repeatedly failed at, as is evident from the complete lack of accountability for the police abuse of 2020 and the repeated failures of the Office of Inspector General to find fault with OPA investigations that determine each and every SBD killing to be, quote, lawful and proper, unquote.

To find out more about this story, go to South Seattle Emerald.

Again, that's South Seattle Emerald.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is John Burns and he's showing is not present.

And that's the end of the remote public comment list.

Our next two speakers in chambers are actually signed up for council bill 120388 to speak on that.

And we're holding off on that until later, correct?

So we'll come back to that.

OK, sorry about that.

Did not realize that my camera was off.

OK, so we have reached the list, reached the end of our registered speakers for both the remote and in chambers and public comment is now closed.

So now moving on to our agenda, we will go to adoption of the introduction referral calendar.

I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

Is there a second?

second.

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

Are there any comments?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Madam President.

Council President, I'd like to request that the rules be suspended to add consideration of an amendment to the introduction and referral calendar with a resolution that I'd like for the Council to be considered, but it was not circulated by 5 p.m.

on the previous day.

Okay.

If there is no objection, Council rule 3A4 relating to circulation of a resolution for introduction by 5 p.m.

on the preceding business day will be suspended.

Hearing or seeing no objection, the rule is indeed suspended.

Councilors Mosqueda, will you please proceed with your amendment to the introduction and referral calendar?

Thank you, Madam President.

I move to amend the Introduction and Referral Calendar by introducing Resolution 32065 entitled The Resolution Condemning Harassment, Threats, and Violence Against Elected Officials and Those Seeking Elected Office and referring it to Seattle City Council.

Great, thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the Introduction and Referral Calendar to introduce Resolution 32065 by referring it to the City Council.

Are there any comments?

I just wanted to note that this is a resolution that we are seeking to pass in conjunction with our colleagues at King County Council and in the lead up to this fall election with a lot of threats that we have seen against to be in solidarity with those seeking elected office, those in office, and public officials wanted to be in solidarity with those who have experienced it here locally and also across the nation in passing this resolution.

And again, we would not vote on this until next week, so we look forward to working with our colleagues if they had any amendments on this resolution in front of us.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.

I had a question, I guess a parliamentary procedure question about the title of the bill.

I'd be interested in perhaps introducing an amendment before next Tuesday just to expand it to all public servants and just didn't know if we'd have to amend the title to do that.

And I know there are rules about amending the title, once something's officially introduced.

So I didn't know if we have to amend the title in this moment, or could it be amended later?

This might be a parliamentary question about amending the title after something's introduced.

Madam Clerk, can you let us know?

My understanding is that we would have to do that, but you're the expert.

Thank you, Council President Juarez.

The resolution before us can be amended as far as the title, as well as amending the body of the resolution to reflect the title as well, because it's a resolution and not a council bill.

Great.

Thank you very much.

So Council Member Peterson would do that on next Tuesday, correct?

Yes.

I will work with the sponsor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anything else, Council Member Rescheda, before I ask the clerk to call the roll?

I would love to share those in advance with our colleagues at King County as well who are interested in sending a unified message across the region.

And I'm sure that they would be interested and welcome to receiving those suggestions as well.

So we'd love to work with you in advance of next week.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

All in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries in Resolution 32065, is included in the introduction and referral calendar.

And I think we've already heard all of our comments on the introduction, on the amendment introduction and referral calendar.

So we'll move on with that.

Council President Juarez, if we could just make complete one last step, which would be the adoption of the introduction and referral calendar as amended.

I was just getting there.

I just flipped the page.

So hold up.

I'm right there.

If there's no objection, the introduction referral calendar will be adopted as amended.

Hearing and seeing no objection, the introduction referral calendar is indeed adopted as amended.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Moving on to the adoption of the agenda.

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

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

Moving on to the adoption of the consent calendar.

As you know, the consent calendar has the minutes of August 2nd in it, the payroll bill of Council Bill 120390. And today we have 21 appointments from the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

Those are appointments to the Seattle Public Utilities Strategic Plan Update Customer Review Panel.

the Pedestrian Advisory Board, the Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee, the Seattle Transit Advisory Board, and the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee.

So with that, we will now consider the consent calendar.

Are there any items any council member would like to remove from the consent calendar?

Okay, not seeing or hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

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

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

And Council President Juarez?

Thank you.

Council President Juarez?

Yes.

If you could vote, please.

I know I'm giddy.

I'm right there.

I'm sorry.

The consent calendar is adopted.

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

We already did that.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

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

I'm sorry, Madam Clerk, I'm just a little bit behind today.

I'm trying to catch up here.

Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

So we are now going to move to, we have a public hearing section here for items one and two.

So will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, council bill 120356, relating to floodplains, third extension of interim regulations established by ordinance 126113 and amended by ordinance 126536 for an additional six months to allow individuals to rely on an updated national flood insurance rate maps to obtain flood insurance through the federal emergency management agency's flood insurance program.

Thank you.

Before I open the public hearing on this item, I'm going to turn it over to Councilmember Morales, who will be speaking on behalf of Councilmember Strauss, who is the sponsor of this bill.

Councilmember Morales, can you please provide us with introductory remarks?

Yes, indeed.

Most of them are in Jodi's reading of the title, but we passed legislation in 2020 establishing interim floodplain development regulations, including updated floodplain maps.

We've had to extend those twice and the current extension ends August 18th.

Creating my own.

So the floodplain regulations contain building codes and other standards that make homes, businesses, and people safer from flooding.

If we do not extend these, property owners in FEMA floodplain areas may not be able to purchase flood insurance or renew existing policies.

And just for the viewing public, the reason for the extension is that there was a CEPA decision to appeal.

The DCIPA – sorry – the CIPA decision was appealed by the port last summer, and staff have been working to resolve those issues.

So STCI's plan right now is to redo the plans, complete a new CIPA process, and move forward with proposed permanent regulations in the Land Use Committee next year.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

As presiding officer, I'm now opening the public hearing on Council Bill 120356, which is item number one, relating to the flood plains, the extension of interim regulations established by Ordinance 126113 and amended by Ordinance 126536 for an additional six months to allow individuals to rely on updated national flood insurance rate maps to obtain flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, through FEMA's Flood Insurance Program.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers do we have signed up today?

We have one person remotely.

Okay.

Our speakers will be given two minutes to provide public comment.

Madam Clerk, I will now hand this over to you to present the instructions and the public comment recording.

Speakers will now be called in the order registered.

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 in-person public comment.

Please sign up on the signup sheet located near the podium and council chambers.

And our first remote speaker is Sabrina Boulay.

Sabrina?

Okay, hi.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Sabrina Bullough.

I'm providing public comment on Council Bill 120356 to extend the FEMA floodplain regulations, the interim regulations for an additional six months.

Over the last year, the Port of Seattle has been meeting regularly with SBCI as well as the Department of Ecology and FEMA to ensure the city's floodplain regulations meet the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program.

while also considering the future impacts of climate change and sea level rise and protecting our working waterfront.

It's critical that the city adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of these regulations before moving to make them permanent.

We urge the passage of this council bill next Tuesday for an additional six months to review a solution that works for all of our interagencies that touch the waterfront.

It's important we work to prevent sea level rise, but also protect the vibrancy of our working waterfront.

We are optimistic we're going to reach a solution over the next couple of weeks working closely with staff.

So thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Are there any other folks that have signed in late that need to speak?

Madam Clerk?

No, there's nobody else signed up.

Okay, thank you.

That was our last speaker to present at this public hearing.

The public hearing on Council Bill 120356 is now closed.

And my understanding is that this legislation or this bill will go to full council on August 16, 2022, which is next Tuesday, for a final vote.

All right, moving on to item number two, Council Bill 120388. Madam Clerk, will you please read the matter to the record?

Agenda Item 2, Council Bill 120388, relating to funding for housing and community development programs, adopting annual action plan updates to the 2018-2022 consolidated plan for housing and community development.

Thank you.

Before I open the public hearing on this item, I'm going to turn it over to Council Member Mosqueda again and sponsor this bill to provide us with introductory remarks.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President, just one second if you don't mind.

Okay.

Pulling up my comments here.

Sorry, too many shutdowns of my computer today.

Madam President, thanks for opening up this public hearing today.

I would like to note that the annual action plan is adopted annually and that the city spends four federal grants on this effort.

The Community Development Block Grant, the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS, HOPWA, the Emergency $17.2 million of federal grant funds.

These funds will be used to support things like It provides affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness, economic development opportunities for neighborhoods and individual businesses, job training and supporting the goals of the equitable development initiative and overall improving neighborhood parks, shelter, hygiene services and rapid rehousing programs for people experiencing homelessness.

It also provides short and long-term rental assistance in The 2022 draft plan was already heard in committee, and the final plan reflects the policy decisions that were made by the council in the 2022 adopted budget.

There's typically a tight turnaround for the annual action plan due to the small window between congressional appropriations and the HUD deadline.

And in order to meet this deadline, HSD requests that the legislation adopting the financial plan be considered by the full Seattle City Council today.

Thank you again to the Council President and to your team, including Brindell and others, for helping to accommodate this legislation so that we are able to make the HUD deadline to ensure that those much-needed federal grant dollars get out the door in funding these critical programs.

Thank you, Councilor Mosqueda, and thank you for staying on top of the HUD stuff.

I know that federal stuff is dizzying, so thank you for staying on top of that and getting that in front of us.

All right.

As presiding officer, I'm now opening the public hearing on Council Bill one two zero three eight eight, which was item number two relating to funding for housing and community development programs, adopting the annual action plan updates to the twenty eighteen slash twenty twenty two consolidated plan for housing community development.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers do we have signed up for this?

We have two in person and none that are remote.

Okay, let's do the remote person first and then we'll do the two folks that are in chambers and then we'll.

Sorry Council President, there was zero, zero remote, so two in chambers.

Two in chambers, okay.

So why don't we give the folks that are in chambers each two minutes and I'll hand this over to you for public if you have to do it again, public instructions.

Thank you.

We will now move to the in-person public commenters.

Once your name is called, please approach either microphone and state your name and the item to which you are addressing.

The first public commenter for in-person public commenter is Michael Fuller.

Honorable Michael Fuller, and you note that for the record and let the record reflect.

I'm looking at the violation of 1962D conspiracy.

All these city councils, I'm holding y'all accountable for violating the math malfeasance of the officers and Bruce Harrell.

Y'all done invaded the black community with all these immigrants here at the time of September 11th.

Then President Bruce Harrell state agents needed a chance.

At the time, the tax payers paying $338.3 billion for unauthorized, undocumented, but then you don't speak about our veterans that sleeping on the street that fought to make this country safe, free, and secure.

So I'm looking at the Organized Crime Control Act of October 15, 1970, that was signed by President Richard Nixon.

and the Old American Act, July 14, 1965, that was signed by President Lyndon Johnson, and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that was signed by President Lyndon Johnson.

As President Harry Truman stated, how many times does a person have to hit you over your head before you realize who's hitting you?

Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle, organized crime.

and have not and will not enforce the American Disability Act, July 26, 1990, and Section 504, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the violation of 30 LOY, period, L, period, A, period, L, period, REV, period, 977, 1996 and 1997. No one is above the law.

Thank you, Mr. Fuller.

And our next speaker is Marguerite Richard.

Yes, my name is Marguerite Richard and I'm from Seattle.

And I'm like Farrakhan, I ain't scared.

I said, that's a good way to live, huh?

Because fear has torment.

I ain't got no business fearing nobody.

I just had to clear the air.

You know, if there's some imps in here.

I am going to address that funding and housing because that has been one of the greatest enemies for indigenous black people.

You say, oh no, but they gave you tiny houses.

Yeah, just like the little shacks down by the city dump.

So I'm asking and demanding that we be paid right now.

We're not waiting for them to find out whether or not Trump left you some money to make sure that we were safe and secure on this land.

I'm not gonna have it, whatever it is that you dishing out, because you're saying that you got a plan through HUD.

You wanna know about my history?

Just ask me, because I'm at their front door right now.

And I bet you better get this Jigaboo stuff together that you're doing.

It's straight from the pit of hell.

And everybody that knows me, if you come and ask me something, I'm gonna give you the truth.

Because he said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall Make you free.

So we don't want no more flim flam with this stuff here talking about, like he said, violating our rights up under the Constitution.

Forget about the human rights.

You don't treat us like humans.

Do you?

You need to ask yourself that question before you lay down and close your eyes on this evening.

Amen, somebody.

Thank you.

That's the end of the public commenters.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

That was our last speaker regarding the public hearing on Council Bill 120388, and that is now closed.

Therefore, I move to pass Council Bill 120388. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

Councilor Mosqueda, as sponsor of the bill, provide us with some introductory remarks.

Is there any other comments that you want to say to address this item before we move on?

No, thank you very much, Madam President.

Okay, well, thank you.

Are there any other comments from our colleagues?

Okay, not seeing any.

Councilor Muscade, do you have any closing remarks?

No, thank you for asking.

With that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Musqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Salant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Moving on to item number three, and Madam Clerk, will you please read item number three into the record?

Agenda item three, Council Bill 120386, an ordinance relating to city employment, adopting a 2022 citywide position list.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120386. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

and I will share my comments on this.

Council Bill 120386 presents a 2022 citywide position list, which includes all the authorized officer and employee full-time and part-time positions in each department as of January 2022. This bill fulfills an administrative function and does not have a substantive impact on city operations, employees, funds, or presents any other implications to the city.

Our own Karina Bull on central staff provided a memo on this bill to each office last week.

So if there's any questions or concerns after this, you can follow up with Karina, but we did get her memo last week.

After that, are there any comments regarding this bill?

Okay, not seeing any or hearing any.

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

Council Member Musqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Savant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature to the bill?

Moving on to item number four.

Will the clerk please read item number four to the record?

Agenda item four, council bill 120387 relating to city employment, commonly referred to as the third quarter 2022 employment ordinance, returning positions to the civil service system and adjusting the pay band of a discretionary pay program title.

Thank you.

This is also, I'm also sponsoring this as well.

I move to pass Council Bill 120387. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to pass this bill, and I will provide comments now.

If passed, Council Bill 120387 first returns two positions to the civil service system as a result of a classification review and determination.

These positions no longer meet the exemption criteria.

Secondly, it adjusts the pay zone for the Power Marketer title to align with Power Marketer BU title.

And again, Karina Bull and central staff provided a memo to each office regarding this bill and the former one last week.

Are there any comments?

Not hearing or seeing any comments.

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

Council Member Esqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

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.

Moving on to Neighborhoods, Education, Civil Rights, and Cultural Committee, item number five, regarding for Council Member Morales.

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

Report of the Neighborhoods, Education, Civil Rights, and Culture Committee.

Agenda item five, council bill 120374, relating to human rights, including protections against discriminations based on an individual's actual potential perceived or alleged pregnancy outcomes.

The committee recommends that the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member Ellis.

Thank you, Council President, as Judy mentioned the bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of real or perceived pregnancy outcomes, it adds civil protections so that the Office of Civil Rights can investigate alleged violations and enforce if necessary.

We saw in the Seattle Times just today that anti-abortion advocates are starting to target sanctuary states, and we know that protected classes exist for a reason.

We also know that for the first time in our country's history, our courts have reversed a fundamental right.

Every level of government has a vital role to play to ensure that bodily autonomy and self-determination are able to exist for our community members.

Recently, the National Institute for Reproductive Health released their local Reproductive Freedom Index report on 50 U.S. cities.

One of the items that the index assessed was anti-discrimination legislation.

Overall, Seattle received three out of five stars in the report.

So we know as a council that here in Seattle, discrimination exists.

We see evidence of that in lots of ways.

That's why we have a race and social justice initiative, for example.

This class of protected citizens is equally important.

While this is a tremendous first step to protect folks who are obtaining safe medical procedures in our city, we're living in a time where people will be impacted by the Supreme Court's decision.

We have to be courageous and stand for our values at this pivotal time in our history.

This was voted out of committee unanimously.

I do wanna thank the collaborative work from our community partners, Pro-Choice Washington, Legal Voice, Planned Parenthood, Christina Katsubas from Councilmember Herbold's office, Councilmember herself, and Dan Strauss, who are both co-sponsors.

I also want to thank Anne Gorman from Central Staff.

Our community advocates and partners are really doing a lot of work right now to meet this devastating moment in real time.

to provide compassionate care, protection, and advocacy.

And I'm honored to work alongside them to ensure that our city protects those who are obtaining or providing reproductive health care in the city.

Thank you, Councilor Morales.

Thank you.

Councilor Herbold.

Thank you.

I just want to say that I'm going to hold my remarks on both bills until after the second bill.

They're completely separate bills, but they're related and in the interest of time.

Efficiency, Madam Chair.

I'm going to speak once.

Thank you.

Actually, I prefer when you do that, Council Member Herbold, because I know that you and Council Member Morales worked hard on both of these, and I know there was a lot, and then you had a press conference, and it was great.

So it's always better, at least in my mind, maybe the public's mind, when we have our comments all kind of at the end.

That may be the old trial lawyer in me wanting a closing statement, so thank you.

So I'll move on with that and then I'll let, is there anyone else before we move on?

Maybe following in the footsteps of Council Member Herboldt's plan.

Okay, so we'll come back to some other comments later on.

Council Member Morales, do you wanna have any closing remarks before we go to a vote?

You good?

I'm good, thank you.

Good, thank you.

Will the clerk please call the passage of the bill?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

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 bill.

of the legislation on my behalf.

Moving on to item number six, which is again, Council Member Morales.

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

Agenda item six, council bill 120376, relating to city's criminal code amending section 12A.09.020 of the Seattle Municipal Code to adopt the revised code of Washington, offense interference with healthcare facilities or providers.

The committee recommends that the bill pass.

Thank you, Casper Morales.

Thank you.

So again this creates a gross misdemeanor for willful and reckless interference with access to healthcare facilities, and or disruption of the operation of healthcare facilities.

This would also authorize the city attorney to prosecute the misdemeanor in court.

I will say while it is unlikely that we'll see abortion restrictions at the state level in Washington, it is probable that disparate state-level legislative actions could create confusion about the protections or restrictions that are applicable in any given case.

So these bills are intended to provide clarity about what actions the city would take in specific circumstances.

I had more comments, but I will leave the rest of the time here for Councilmember Herbold.

I do just want to thank, again, advocates and on this particular bill, Ketel Freeman, who provided a lot of support in making sure that we had the bill in good shape.

And the vote bill passed unanimously out of committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

Again, really appreciate Council Member Morales' leadership on both of these bills and her willingness to allow me to sponsor.

I'm going to say a few words about these bills, but I'm going to reserve the majority of my comments to an area where I think we should be working to move into.

Here in Seattle, I know we're used to thinking about earthquakes, and many of us have emergency plans.

to help us survive an earthquake's aftermath.

The Dobbs decision was a kind of earthquake, but not just any earthquake.

For pregnant people and the people who love them, it's the big one, the catastrophic earthquake that we've always known is coming.

And it's the expected four-fold increase in people seeking abortions in Washington State that could be thought of as the tidal wave created by that earthquake.

that's headed our way.

Local providers are already reporting patients seeking care here from as far away as Texas and Louisiana.

And the reality is pregnant people don't have the luxury of time to make decisions about abortion.

I really appreciate the leadership of Council Member Morales and her team.

They've moved very quickly to identify regulatory fixes that will help pregnant people.

an ordinance to add people who have received or are seeking abortions as a protected class in our municipal code, ensuring their civil rights protections, and an ordinance to create a misdemeanor charge for people who encroach on individuals seeking abortion or gender-affirming care.

I want to thank Christina Kotsubos in my office, who's been working hard both on these bills, but to find other ways we can help pregnant people as they come to Seattle.

We're at the beginning of this crisis.

We know the tidal wave is headed here.

Thanks to the extraordinary work of advocates and providers, we can make educated guesses about the impact and we can move to meet the challenges.

But we cannot completely accurately guess today everything that will be needed to help keep what are essentially medical refugees in our country.

People who are from our country that are medical refugees in their own country.

and to keep them, their providers and those who support them safe.

One thing that I do know that I'm very, very concerned about is the impacts of hospital or the impacts of hospital consolidation in our state.

Up to 50% of hospital beds are now in religiously affiliated hospitals and patients in those hospitals cannot access the full range of healthcare that they require.

And no one is required to tell them when they're being denied care options.

I'm working with advocates, the Board of Health, and public health to explore options for ensuring more accessible and accurate patient information when it comes to understanding what they can and cannot receive at a given health care provider.

We know our state requires hospitals to post a form online with information about which reproductive care services are not generally available.

at each hospital, but I'm working to figure out how we can get that information into the hands of patients when they are seeking abortion care.

KUOW this week had a very, very compelling story of a woman who sought care at a hospital whose policies didn't allow the provider to act when there was fetal cardiac activity until the threat to the woman's life was immediate.

As reported by KUOW, Catholic hospital policies don't let providers act to terminate the pregnancy until they've determined that the pregnant person's life is at risk.

And when a patient crosses that line, that line is not clear.

Particularly because we expect an influx of pregnant people here from out of town, likely unfamiliar with our healthcare systems, it is so essential that they receive accurate information about the reproductive health care services that they can and cannot receive at the facility that they've chosen.

And I hope we can work on that really important transparency legislation, life-saving legislation in the months coming.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.

Councilmember Morales, before we move to a vote, is there anything else you'd like to add?

I forgot to thank my own staff, Alexis and Devin who were instrumental in getting these things moved so quickly.

Thank you to them.

Before we go to a vote, I just want to thank Councilmember Herbold and Councilmember Morales for getting on this and the legislation that was passed.

I think it's always important that this body pass legislation that is strategic, that is critical, that addresses a need that can be acted upon, and more importantly, as Councilmember Herbold brought up, built upon on the King County level and the state level, looking at institutions that are not providing these kind of health care services for women.

And I don't want to go into the criminality of it, but those are questions that we need to ask when someone's life is in danger, when someone is refusing health care in regards to reproductive and a woman's right to choose.

I have a feeling that the rest of this year and all of next year, we're going to be seeing a lot of this type of legislation and seeing it getting more sophisticated and more complex.

Hopefully, maybe we will get to a state amendment to our constitution and maybe a national one.

I hope that's where the conversation ends before I leave here.

Okay, so with that, is there anything else from any of my colleagues before I move to the vote?

Okay, not seeing any.

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

Council Member Musqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Aye.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

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 bill on my behalf.

Yay.

All right.

Let's move on to item number seven, the public assets and homeless committee, which is council member Lewis.

Madam clerk, will you please read item seven into the record?

Report of the Public Assets and Homelessness Committee, Agenda Item 7, Resolution 32062, a resolution relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing the superintendent of Parks and Recreation to act as the authorized representative agent on behalf of the city of Seattle and to legally bind the city of Seattle with respect to certain projects for which the city seeks grant funding assistance managed through the Recreation and Conservation Office.

The committee recommends that the resolution be adopted.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, you are the chair.

Thank you, Madam President.

We had a very robust discussion last week in the Committee on Resolution 32062. This measure allows the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation to pursue several grant awards for a number of different projects.

a total amount of investment of $8.8 million for five different projects throughout the city from several different funds.

We had an extensive discussion about these different sources.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is one in particular that stands out as being one that also has a significant connection to the legislative history of our Senate delegation, Washington State, but also helps us to construct sports fields, open spaces, and the department needs our authorization to continue to pursue these external grant sources.

And I will just read the five projects into the record before moving the resolution.

The implications of this resolution are seeking federal support for Coleman Pools renovation, Rainier Beach Skate Park, Carkeek Park Rail Overpass, Little Brook Park improvements, and Soundview Playfield improvements.

And in total, again, between those five projects, the city is seeking $8.8 million in federal support to match our own state, city, and regional commitments.

And with that, Madam President, I would move that we pass the resolution, and it was unanimously recommended by the committee.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

I don't think you need to move it because it went through committee.

So I think we're good there.

That's my understanding.

Right, Madam Clerk?

Right.

OK, so Councilor Lewis did tee it up for us.

And thank you, Councilor Lewis, for the for the report on what came out of the committee unanimously.

And with that, is there any other comments from my colleagues?

not seeing or hearing any.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the resolution, the adoption, I'm sorry, of the resolution.

Council Member Musqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Salant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, will you please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Moving to the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee, which is item number eight, which is Council Member Peterson.

Will the clerk please read item number eight into the record?

of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee, Agenda Item 8, Council Bill 120364, relating to the traffic code, adding a new section 11.72.445 to the Seattle Municipal Code to establish the authority to designate parking for truck tractors in the public right-of-way.

The committee recommends that the bill pass as amended.

Thank you.

Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, our committee unanimously recommends Council Bill 120364. This bill will enable SDOT to designate parking areas for truck tractors and then enable enforcement of that designated parking.

While SDOT's presentation was clear about four locations where it would initially designate this truck tractor parking, including Harbor Island, Georgetown, and Soto.

The legislation as originally transmitted would have provided blanket authority to SDOT throughout the city.

So to address concerns expressed by the general public about that blanket authority, we adopted an amendment drafted by central staff.

to ask that bill and that will require a director's rule that will enable the department to specify the principles that we use for designating future truck parking.

And most importantly, it's process for future public engagement on such parking locations.

Again, our committee unanimously recommended this bill as amended for adoption today by the City Council.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Peterson.

Are there any comments before we move?

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Thank you very much, Madam President.

I want to take a quick second to thank the folks at the Seattle Department of Transportation for their work with my office to include labor and human trafficking advocates in the forthcoming director's rule.

As I think these are going to be important stakeholders for the departments to include in additional outreach on legislation and future matters related to truck parking in this area.

We are hearing of impacts of overnight parking of trucks in other jurisdictions such as North Bend and increased human trafficking in these areas.

I'm really appreciative of the departments reaching out and including them so we can address this activity.

And while these DREA's trucks and locations are different than the long haul trucks overnight that are providing overnight in these parking locations, in that they only move containers locally between port terminals and nearby intermodal yards.

We want to make sure that there are no unintended impacts of human trafficking.

in this legislation and appreciate ESTOP being aware of this issue and including anti-trafficking advocates in their outreach.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't thank now Council Member Jeannie Cole-Wells for her leadership while in the Senate at the State Legislature on Human Trafficking and former House of Representatives Velma Veloria and the team at the Filipino Community Center who continue to raise this issue as well.

that we're going to continue to work with the departments to keep an eye towards these issues and to work with these advocates.

All right are there any other customer herbal.

Thank you so I want to just thank chair Peterson for sponsoring this legislation and approved improving it with his amendment in committee.

of South Park residents who often have these trucks parked in their neighborhoods.

And the impacts are not just felt due to traffic impacts, but impacts with additional vehicle emissions.

And so thank you to everybody who's worked on this.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else that wants to thank Councilor Peterson for the truck?

Thank you.

But I'm not I'm not trying to make light of your comments.

I just wasn't expecting them.

But thank you.

Now that you said that, it makes sense.

So thank you.

Councilor Peterson, do you want to have any closing remarks before we go to a vote?

No, no.

Thank you, Council President.

OK, so with that, with the clerk, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Council Member Musqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

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

Moving on to item number nine, which is Council Member Peterson again.

Can you please read item number nine into the record?

Agenda item nine, Council Bill 120373, relating to Seattle Public Utilities.

accepting easements granted to the city of Seattle for installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrants, water mains, domestic meter vaults, fire service meters, and puritans necessary for water utility purposes at various locations in Seattle.

The committee recommends that the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, our committee unanimously recommended this Council Bill 120373. This bill will enable Seattle Public Utilities to accept easements for installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrants, water mains, domestic meter vaults, fire service meters, and other equipment necessary for water utility purposes at various locations in Seattle.

Accepting the easements will have no cost to ratepayers.

Again, our committee unanimously recommended this bill for adoption today by the full City Council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any comments or any other folks that have anything for Mr. Council Member Peterson regarding this?

Okay, I am not seeing or hearing any.

Councilor Peterson, anything you want to say before we go to a vote?

No, thank you.

Okay, great.

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

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

That concludes our committee reports.

So moving on in our calendar to items removed from the consent calendar, we don't have any.

I'm not aware of any other resolutions for reduction for the introduction adoption today and going on to other business.

Is there any other business to come before council customer Nelson?

Did you have anything?

No, I retract my request for permission to be absent next Tuesday.

Like I said, trying to plan a trip with my son who's going off to college has been challenging, but I will be present.

I am probably a bad mom for saying this, but I did that twice and I'm glad I don't have to do that again.

So, you know, you can always ask to be excused and then if you don't need to, you can show up.

So we're good either way.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you for your understanding.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right, council, let's see.

That does conclude our items of business today.

And our next regularly scheduled meeting is next Tuesday.

Oh, there's the wrong date on here.

It's the 16th.

My script says the 9th, but it is the 16th at 2 o'clock.

And with that, we stand adjourned.

Thank you.