Seattle City Council 2/18/2025

Good afternoon, everyone.

The February 18, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.03 p.m.

I'm Sarah Nelson, Council President.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council Member Solomon.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Moore.

Present.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you very much.

So colleagues, today we have two presentations and at this time I'd like to invite Deputy Mayor Greg Wong to provide remarks and officially deliver the Mayor Harrell's 2025 State of the City Address.

President Nelson and council members.

It is my privilege to be here to deliver Mayor Harrell's 2025 State and City Address to you here in Chambers.

And first of all, thank you to all of you for being in attendance.

I just saw many of you down at Benaroya Hall.

where the mayor delivered the speech, along with so many of our leaders in this community, and most importantly, our youth as well, who featured prominently in the speech.

I also think it's important to acknowledge, in the same way that the mayor did to begin his remarks, about the federal landscape we're operating in, because it really does color all of the things we talk about.

The state of the city is an opportunity where we reflect on the accomplishments of the past year, and we talk about our priorities moving forward.

And when I heard the mayor talk about both our accomplishments and our future priorities, I think it really reflects our values and who we are as a city.

So thank you for joining him there.

Washington casts a dark cloud over our local skies.

We know that as a city, we will be strong and active in making sure we know who we are and what we stand for.

And I won't touch on all of the speech.

I don't think you need me to re-deliver it word for word.

Everybody can watch it on Seattle Channel if you're watching from home.

But I think it was really important.

Many of the subject matters that he highlighted are investments and really the revitalization of downtown, the new ways that we're looking at and succeeding in public safety, how we're addressing homelessness, getting people housed, and increasing the supply of affordable housing.

How we're looking at permitting and how we will be looking at it in the future and working with you to make sure that we're able to build more housing faster, to create more places to be off the street and for our working families.

Exciting things like World Cup that will be coming in just over a year.

And also making sure we're not losing sight of those who are here already, our small businesses, our families.

How we're looking at transportation and climate.

And as we'll be working with you throughout this year, our Families and Education Preschool and Promise Levy, which is one of our most important investments, because it invests in our children.

And so with those words, I just want to say thank you so much for your partnership.

the mayor talked quite a bit about how we are a city on the rise.

But we are a city on the rise because of our work together, our work with the city council, with the state, with other jurisdictions.

We know through all of these troubled waters, we will come out stronger as one Seattle.

As the mayor said, the antidote to toxicity of polarization is a united effort, and Seattle has the spark to do it.

So I'm proud to officially deliver to you the Mayor's 2025 State of the City Address.

Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor Wong.

The address will be added to Agenda Item 1, which is Clerk File 314540 for posterity.

So thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Okay, moving on, Councilmember Rivera will be making a short presentation acknowledging the 100th birthday of former Seattle City Councilmember Wing Luke.

And after the presentation and comments from Council Members, I'll move to suspend the rules to invite family members of former Council Member Wing Luke to provide remarks.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

Today would have been Wing Luke's 100th birthday.

I want to take this opportunity to recognize his many accomplishments during his life.

He was a steadfast champion of civil rights.

an accomplished lawyer and politician, and a leader who brought people together with compassion and humor.

I have invited members of Wing Luke's family to be present today, thank you for being here, to hear how much we value and honor his legacy.

I would like to welcome Linda Kahn, daughter of Wing Luke's youngest sibling, Betty Luke, and Cynthia Del Rosario, daughter of Wing Luke's sister, Ruby Luke.

I would also like to thank the Wing Luke Museum for providing much of the information that I'll be sharing with you today.

I also thank former council member Tanya Wu for being here today in support of the Luke family.

Wing Luke was a leader from a young age, becoming student body president at Roosevelt High School in 1943, and later president of his sophomore class at the University of Washington.

It was a divided time in this country, as you know, colleagues, and Wing Luke's achievements are a testament to his ability to persevere during hardship and bring people together.

After high school, Luke was drafted into the Army.

As stated in the Winged Luke's Museum's biography of Luke, he served in the Philippines and earned a bronze star medal and several battle stars.

While he was overseas fighting for his country, unfortunately, he had to use a furlough to come home and help his family who had been evicted from their university district apartment because of their race.

They faced discrimination as part of the widespread racism directed at Japanese Americans and other Asians, including Chinese Americans like Wing Luke, during World War II.

This deeply affected Wing Luke and propelled him to social activism.

After the war, Wing Luke returned home and attended the University of Washington, where he received an undergraduate degree in political science and graduated from the University of Washington Law School with a law degree.

After serving as Washington State Assistant Attorney General, Luke won election to the Seattle City Council in 1962. He was the first Asian American elected to office in Seattle and the first Chinese American elected to public office in King County.

He sat on the City Council until his death in 1965. As a council member, Luke was instrumental in passing the Open Housing Ordinance, which sought to end racial discrimination in housing.

That ordinance also led to the creation of the Seattle Human Rights Commission, currently still in existence today.

Wing Luke was a remarkable man who accomplished so much in a short time.

He continues to serve as an inspiration not only to those in Seattle's Asian community, but to anyone fortunate enough to learn about his many contributions to our city.

I truly wish that I could have met Wing Luke.

I'm proud to honor him here today.

Council President, with your permission, I'd like to request that you suspend the rules to allow Wing Luke's family to say a few words.

Thank you.

If there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow our guests to address the council.

I'd like to request Cynthia Del Rosario to come up to the podium, please.

I'll meet you there and you can say a few words.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

It's such an honor to be here.

Thank you so much for your kind words for my uncle.

My name is Cynthia Del Rosario.

I am the daughter of Ruby Luke, who is number three.

My cousin here beside me, supposed to be beside me, Linda Kahn, is the daughter of the second surviving sib, Betty Luke.

You know, when we were walking in, Tanya actually showed us this big hole in the ground that used to be the city hall.

My uncle was a man who could get 48 hours out of the day.

He was so, so busy, and yet never forgot people.

I actually went to work with him one day in that building, and I was probably about maybe six or seven years old.

It was such an important day for me.

I can remember what I wore.

I wore a turquoise and white plaid skirt and a furry fuzzy turquoise sweater.

It was my favorite outfit.

And we walked in the building and everyone said hello to him.

They greeted him by name.

Everybody knew my uncle.

but he knew them right back.

He welcomed everybody, he said hello to people, and he called them by name right back.

That was the man my uncle was.

The way I think about him, the way I talk about him, is he was a man of passion, a man of purpose, and a man of perseverance.

The work that he did in his few short years was so important because he would listen.

He was such a listener.

He made you feel heard.

He was so present.

He made you feel seen.

He engaged so deeply.

He made you feel understood.

And when people feel understood, they can come together around the table, whether it's the dining room table or whether it's the council room table, and bring people together.

And I'm just so honored, really, that his legacy, the enduring legacy, his impact is being honored.

his life as well as his deeds.

So thank you so much, really.

We are so, so appreciative that he has not been forgotten.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Oh, hi.

Go behind.

Thank you council member Rivera for creating the opportunity for this collective and public learning and honoring.

So thank you very much for that.

Thank you council president colleagues.

I just thought it was really important that we, these are, this was a huge milestone in the Wing Luke family.

He made so many contributions to Seattle, and it's important for us as a body to honor one of our own, a former member of the City Council.

So thank you again to the family for being here, and thank you, Council President, for allowing this to happen today.

And I extend my gratitude to you for coming in the middle of the day to help us honor Wing Luke in the best way that we can right here, right now, on this day.

So thank you.

Okay, are there any other comments or questions?

All right, let's move on now.

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

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

Madam Clerk, how many people are signed up today?

Two remote and two in person.

All right, let us provide two minutes each and start with the in-person commenters, please.

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

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time and speakers mics will be muted if they do not in their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

We will now begin with our in-person speakers.

We'll start with Skylar Ferris and then following Skylar will be Robert Reed.

Jody, do you have the timer?

Just a second.

There we go.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

The ability for the public to protest safely is essential for a free and democratic system.

Robert?

Council members, thank you for the opportunity to speak and thank you for your presence here.

I'm not certain that this is really anything to do with the agenda of your meeting today.

I'd just like to make a few remarks about the One Seattle Plan.

A team of people in Seattle and I have put together a short list of six possible amendments to the One Seattle Plan.

And I'd like an opportunity to present those as a slideshow to the City Council with my team at their leisure at some point in time in the future.

I've included this as an email to all of you two or three times now.

I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a quick read.

It takes one minute to read this page.

More than happy to send you more information if you desire it.

More than happy to bring the rest of my team who has more expertise than I do on all of it to answer any questions that you or your staff may have.

That's it.

Thank you again.

Thank you.

So last registered in-person speaker.

Our first remote speaker will be David Haynes, followed by Alberto Alvarez.

Go ahead, David.

Hi, thank you, David Haynes.

This city council was elected to right the wrongs of the past councils that defunded the police, sabotaged the integrity of police reform, and shifted the paradigm away from improving the war on the evil drug pushers.

And then they created these spending priorities that this council added money to that runs interference for repeat-defending criminals connected to the criminal underworld, conducting uncivil war on community, and being listed nonviolent, low-level.

No need to train better to shut down.

Instead, council has allowed for a creation of easy paydays for cops, politicking excuses for continued criminal abuses of innocent residents as cops disperse evil hotspots around the community, The criminals are committing random acts of violence and the cops are acting like it has nothing to do with them dispersing open drug markets that could have been trespassed and questioned and court ordered into low security shelter and treatment or improved punishment and better path for all.

Instead, council hasn't made those laws to dictate the procedures and policies because the Community Police Commission shook down the police reform and didn't agree to their efforts until they sabotaged some of the integrity of crime fighting force by diligent prevention efforts.

Anyway, we have a racist, woke lens that you all are unconstitutionally looking through, and you've allowed for a sabotaging of the housing levity priorities that are filled with race-baiting, white man-hating discriminations, and an incomprehensive plan That's all based on lining the pockets of the black and brown devil's advocates who are unqualified nonprofits with conflicts of interest within the political re-election apparatus of the Democrat Party that appoints one of their housing consortium developers who are unqualified to build a home, but yet a billion dollars is going to line their pockets of unqualified slum developers who are going to cheat a multitude of younger generations out of a better choice in home than real equity.

Our next speaker is Alberto Alvarez.

Go ahead, Alberto.

And you may need to thank you.

Go ahead.

Hello.

On Friday, DoorDash was sued for anti-competitive practices.

Kira Pfeiffer is a lobbyist for DoorDash.

He made visits to this council in December and January.

Per the lawsuit, DoorDash threatened to raise fees for restaurants, potentially adding millions in costs and threatened to remove the restaurants from the DoorDash app or near exclusive use of the DoorDash delivery tech.

Please take into account how DoorDash holds restaurants hostage and how they control such a large portion of the delivery market that they are willing to stifle fair competition.

Please be aware of the lobbyists sent to sway your opinion.

Thank you and have a good day.

Thank you.

That was our last remote speaker.

Okay, thank you very much to everyone who came and spoke remotely and in person.

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

So we'll now move on.

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

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

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

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

And now we move on to the proposed consent calendar.

The items on the consent calendar are Council Bill 120941, which is payment of the bills, seven appointments from the Housing and Human Services Committee, 12 appointments from the Parks, Public Utilities and Technology Committee, and one appointment from the Sustainability, City Light, Arts and Culture Committee.

Are there any items that council members would like removed from the consent calendar?

All right.

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

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

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Aye.

Thank you.

Council Member Solomon.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the consent calendar items are adopted.

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

Thank you.

Okay, will the clerk please read item one into the record?

Agenda item one, clerk fraud 314-540-2025, state of the city address delivered by Mayor Bruce Harrell on February 18th, 2025.

I move to accept and file clerk file 314-540.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to accept and file the clerk file.

Basically, colleagues, this is the attachment that we're accepting that will go with this clerk file.

It's a 2025 state of this city address, which Deputy Mayor Wong presented to us earlier this meeting.

And I believe that this is required in the charter as well.

So it's not a formality or it's not ceremonial.

This is something that we have to do every year when this is presented.

Are there any questions, concerns?

All right, no comments or anything.

Will the clerk please call the roll on accepting and filing the clerk file?

Council member Rink?

Aye.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Sacca?

Aye.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the clerk file is accepted and placed on file.

Will the clerk please read item two into the record?

Agenda item two, Council 120939 related to Seattle Center Department authorizing execution of a license agreement with the theater Puget Sound to manage and operate space in the Seattle Center Armory for use by nonprofit and arts organizations and individual artists.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hollingsworth is chair of the committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Last week, our committee unanimously voted for the licensing agreement with Theater Puget Sound to manage and operate space in the Seattle Center, Armory for Nonprofit Arts Organizations, or Individual Artists.

This agreement speaks to the partnership and collaboration to provide this critical service for our artists, the relationship spanning.

It's been over 25 years.

I have to definitely thank our center Director Marshall Foster, Theater Puget Sound, who was with us today, and also the colleagues that voted for this as well.

And I urge your support in passing this council bill.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I am looking to see if there are any questions or comments on this legislation.

Go ahead, Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

And I just wanted to second Chair Hollingsworth's remarks in that this is very important.

And what the Seattle Center's doing under Director Foster's leadership is really, you know, setting the foundation for stability, not just for Theater Puget Sound, but across the entire Seattle Center ecosystem.

It's been done many times, and I really appreciate that work because it really sets us up for the changes that are coming and the work that's going to be ongoing in the area to include with the Memorial Stadium project.

And I just really appreciate the work that he and his team is doing, plus at the Armory, specifically at the Seattle Center Armory, because it is a great opportunity to bring community together.

And the work that Theater Puget Sound also is not just for Theater Puget Sound.

Due to the uniqueness in what it does, it helps so many nonprofit arts organization, and it's really a great organization and a great opportunity for us to help this community, which is facing a lot of headwinds when it comes to the challenges of basically the dollars and cents, if you will, of the operations that they undertake.

So thank you, and thank you, Chair Hollingsworth.

I would just like to note that the presence of the Seattle Children's Theater right on campus as well, it only makes sense that we continue to support.

There are different organizations, different constituencies, et cetera, but we do have to recognize that the Seattle Center is a resource for our arts community, and we benefit from having the participation in the cost of the actual physical space.

So thank you very much for bringing that forward, Council Member Hollingsworth.

Anything else?

All right, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Council Member Rink?

Aye.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Solomon?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

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

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

All right.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar, and there's not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any further business to come before the council?

I believe that council member...

Hollingsworth, you have.

Go ahead.

I do.

Thank you, Council President.

Nelson, I just had a quick thank you regarding the Black History Month.

My brain, sorry, was somewhere else.

But the Black History Month proclamation that we're bringing forward today, I want to thank our colleagues.

Big gratitude to Councilmember Saka and the mayor's office.

I want to thank Councilmember Solomon as well for all your help.

I know last year Councilmember Saka took the lead for the proclamation and also graciously passed it off to me this year, which I humbly accepted.

And just want to thank your office for your partnership and Councilmember Solomon as well for your partnership.

Extra shout out, I know Council Member Sokka will be in Olympia during the proclamation presentation tomorrow.

So Council Member Solomon and myself will be able to present that Black History Month proclamation to starts at 10 a.m.

in Bertha Knight Landis, a room, Department of Neighborhoods and Black Affinity Groups from Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle Department of Transportation will be in the room.

I also wanted to highlight, and this is my last thing I'll say about the proclamation, oftentimes we are constantly fighting for equity and diversity and inclusion.

We include African-Americans in that and black communities.

I wanted to point out a fact that is very important when I'm thinking about Black History Month.

We celebrate artists.

We celebrate people that have contributed to our history and our American history.

But the one thing I think we continue and I will always continue to fight for is economic mobility for our community.

In 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation hit blacks for 14% of the population, they owned 0.5% of the overall wealth in this country.

Now we are 13.7% of the overall population, 4.7% of the overall net wealth.

That is, in 160 years, we've moved 4.2% of the overall net worth of this country.

But in 1860, we contributed to 60% of the overall wealth in this country.

The South did, 60%.

And so I will continue to promote economic mobility for our community because the issues that we have and continue to stem down from today is because of our economic development.

situation in this country and this city.

And as you all know, I'm constantly reminding us that the average household income for a black family is under $50,000 in the city of Seattle.

Might I note the most progressive city in the country, that is the average household income.

So anyways, I just wanted to point that out because as we are continuing the proclamation for this year, the theme is African Americans and labor.

I think it's important that we highlight some of those statistics as we are constantly thinking about equity in our community.

I spell equity, M-O-N-E-Y.

I think it's important.

So anyways, I just wanted to highlight that.

Thank you, council president for the opportunity to present that.

And I wanna thank my colleagues for signing on to this important proclamation as well.

Thank you.

Are there any questions, comments?

I just want to say thank you so, so much for that very eloquent summary of what this means to you, and I share completely your emphasis.

And I know that you've been working on this for a very long time, so thank you very much for bringing it forward.

We will call the roll on the guest.

uh, on who wants to sign this.

And I just want to say that it is, it is listed under other business because usually it's a presentation when we actually present it to someone, which you will be doing tomorrow at a different location.

Council member Saka.

Thank you, madam council president.

And I just want to thank a council member Hollingsworth for your leadership and bringing this forward, uh, leading these efforts this year and, uh, doing so with dignity and grace and appreciate your, your excellent remarks, your poignant remarks there as well.

Uh, And, you know, regrettably, I'll be unable to join tomorrow, as you pointed out, because I'll be in Olympia.

But just want to say thank you again for leading this on behalf of our body.

And I think the mayor signed on as well.

So on behalf of the city, really.

And also appreciate your flexibility and willingness to include my edits into the thing, into that underlying proclamation.

Just a minor...

edit to reflect our diverse immigrant and refugee communities that comprise the African diaspora.

And it is Black History Month.

And it is true that the descendants of slaves, we need to acknowledge, among other things, that this country was built on slave labor.

and that the struggle of African Americans or blacks in our country is very unique for descendants of slaves.

But we also are an inclusive and welcoming city, and whereas some would sow seeds of division and discord, in between communities, the black African American community or otherwise, I think it's a broad and inclusive and welcoming one.

So that's why I added a, and as a proud son of a Nigerian immigrant, that's why I added a little blurb there to acknowledge our tremendously rich history and culture of the African diaspora here in the city of Seattle.

descendants of Africans.

So in any event, thank you again, Council Member Hollingsworth for bringing this forward.

Exciting, it's our month.

I'm walking around with my head held extra high this month.

Okay.

I'm not seeing any.

Let me see if I am seeing any other hands.

No, no other hands or comments.

All right.

Will the clerk please call the roll to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed to the proclamation recognizing February, 2025 as Black History Month in Seattle.

Council member Rink.

Aye.

Council member.

Thank you.

Council member Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine signatures will be affixed.

All right, thank you very much.

I appreciate everybody's attention to this important piece of other business, which really shouldn't be other business anyway.

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

Our next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is on February 25th at 2 p.m.

Hearing no further business, we are adjourned and it is 2.39.

Thank you, everyone.