Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you for being here in City Hall.
The May 6, 2019 full City Council meeting of the full City Council come to order.
It's 2 o'clock p.m.
I'm Bruce Harrell, President of the Council.
Clerk, please call the roll.
Bagshaw?
Here.
Gonzales?
Here.
Herbold?
Here.
Juarez?
Here.
Mosqueda?
Here.
O'Brien?
Here.
Pacheco?
Here.
Sawant?
Here.
President Harrell?
Here.
Eight present.
Thank you very much.
If there's no objection, today's introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, today's introduction and referral calendar is adopted.
And hearing no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.
The minutes of the April 17th, 2019 Special City Council meeting have been reviewed, and if there's no objection, the minutes will be signed.
If there are no objections, the minutes are being signed.
Presentations, we're very delighted to have a few presentations this afternoon, and we'll start off with Council Member Mosqueda will present a proclamation recognizing Beatrice Catherine Alder Day or Memorial.
So Council Member Mosqueda, you have the floor, and it's our honor to hear from you.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
I'm honored to be introducing a proclamation recognizing the life of Beatrice Catherine Alder, formerly known, or fondly known, as Bea.
Today, we are honoring Bea and her parents, Rachel Adler and Erin Alder.
Here today, who are going to speak to us in just a few minutes, so I'll try to keep my comments very brief.
Rachel, who was working at Seattle Human Services Department, gave birth to Bee and was delighted to give birth after a complicated pregnancy.
After giving birth in November 2017, tragically, Bee died 36 hours after she was born due to medical issues.
Erin and Rachel were devastated.
They knew after losing their child that they would continue to fight, though, to make sure that their situation was a situation that no other parents ever experienced again.
Rachel learned that due to inadequate bereavement leave policies at the city, she would not get the time she needed to grieve, and she couldn't take time off to physically recover because she no longer qualified for family leave given Bea's death.
While recovering, Rachel and Aaron had to deal with procedural gaps that were due to the fact that we did not have enough leave, even though there was sick leave donations that came in from many of Rachel's colleagues.
I know some of you are here today because you supported her as family and friends, and Rachel's family is here who supported her and the both of them throughout their family's tragedy.
And today we're here to both celebrate the life of Bea and to also celebrate the future because policy change is coming.
After a year of advocacy, after a year of working with you, we were delighted to hear that the executive is transmitting policy to address the situation that Rachel and Aaron found themselves in.
And we will have a chance to take this up later this month as we look at policy changes to address bereavement leave and the family leave policy.
Today we are honoring Bea through a proclamation, and you might think that this is a unique proclamation that we find ourselves in, both honoring Bea and her parents.
And it is.
It's a unique policy, and it's a unique proclamation, because I'm struck by the advocacy, the dedication, the determination, and the vision of these two women.
The reason our policy gaps exist is because often those who've had the experiences, the lived experiences that we are supposed to be centering policy change on are left out of the policy making tables.
And Aaron.
and Rachel have made sure that they were at that policy-making table, that they not only lifted the voice of B, but they made sure that no other family would ever find themselves in this situation.
Today, we are changing policy.
Today, we are advocating for B.
And today, we've changed that dynamic.
We will continue to advocate to make sure that more people, everyone in the city, is able to take time that they need to grieve the loss of a child.
And Erin and Rachel, without your advocacy, your countless hours of partnership with us, the city, I don't believe, would be in the place to advance policy later this month.
So congratulations to you on that incredible, incredible advocacy win.
We've heard from you over countless months, I think starting at the beginning of last summer.
You were both patient and relentless.
You've reached out to us, and I think we've engaged in over 200 emails.
We met at least once a month to talk about the progress of Bee's Law, and you've been very clear that you wanted this to be more than just changes on a piece of paper.
You wanted this to be a positive legacy for Bee.
And your interest in this policy change was not in fighting or political games or making a stance, but addressing the root causes of the gap in policy coverage that exists so that other people don't have to go through a similar situation.
So thank you.
Thank you for your hard work, because it is paying off.
Today we recognize Bea, and we actually recognize her the day after Mother's Day very intentionally to recognize your work as well as mothers.
We thank Sean Van Eyck with Protech 17 for continuing to raise this, who brought it to our attention, and to help ensure that the conversation never went away.
I want to thank Sejal Parikh as well, our Chief of Staff, who was engaged in these conversations with you and your family and the folks at PTE.
I'm sorry, Protech 17, to make sure that we continue to fight for changes.
And I really appreciate the conversation we'll have later this month and the work that the executive is putting down for us so that we can actually change policy as well.
I also understand that you're expecting later this summer, so I just want to say congratulations in advance.
I cannot wait to meet the advocate, the fighter, and the passionate human being that you two will raise.
Today, we will be dedicating next Monday, May 13th, the day after Mother's Day, in honor of Bea.
I'm very excited to present this proclamation honoring Rachel, Erin, and the life of Bea, who has had an impact far beyond her 36 hours of life.
Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.
And before we present the proclamation, are there any other council members who'd like to say a few words to our honored guests?
And we'll wait for a moment, if the spirit hits anybody.
Say?
She covered it.
Well, I never assumed that.
In fact, I'd like to just say thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, and your staff for working on this proclamation.
Very emotional, sort of, at a loss of words.
Sometimes that never stops a politician from saying something I Hope the healing process continues and thanks for looking at this gap in our policies such that similar parents Benefit from the policy change, so thank you very much so councilmember scale.
Are you gonna present it?
I'm gonna walk to him to hand this over to you, and if there's no objection We'll suspend the rules and love to hear from any guests who would like to speak on this issue
Good afternoon.
I'm Erin Alder and this is my wife, Rachel Alder.
Thank you all for being here for this very special day.
Thank you to our friends and our family and our coworkers, some that drove quite a ways to be here.
We so appreciate you taking the time out of your day to be here with us.
Thanks to Sarah Barkman and Sean Van Eyck for getting this ball rolling for us, Council Member Mosqueda and Sejal over there, and Mayor Jenny Durkan for truly seeing us and hearing our story.
You've shown us that average citizens do have a voice and that we can make a difference.
And thank you to the rest of the Council for allowing us this time today.
We're here today to honor the life of our daughter, this little cutie, Beatrice Catherine Alder, and how even though she lived a short little life, she continues to buzz around us and move mountains.
Three days after Beatrice died in our arms, Rachel had ended up back in the hospital with preeclampsia.
I had just come back to the hospital that morning after visiting the funeral home to plan services for little B.
And Rachel was pumping milk because she had selflessly decided to donate her milk to babies that needed it.
I was standing at the sink washing out some of her pumping bottles, and she said, I need to tell you something.
I got an email from work, and I will only get paid time off for the two days that B was alive and one bereavement day.
I'll never forget my disbelief in that moment.
My wife had just had a C-section.
Our daughter had just died in our arms.
My wife was back in the hospital, and I was planning a funeral.
No baby, no paid time off.
I was at a loss for words, and frankly, I didn't have a moment to spare thinking about that injustice, because we had a few other things going on at that moment.
Thankfully for us, we had an amazing team of friends and family that brought us meals, raised money, and just kept on the path with us.
And to our coworkers, they donated PTO, and they kept in touch as we began to heal.
I'm not sure how we could have done that, if not for the support that we received.
I couldn't help but think of the families in the same situation that didn't have the support in place that we did.
How could anyone get through something like this, possibly having to go right back to work after the death of a child in order to pay their bills?
What could we do, and how could we help?
Thanks, Erin, for painting the picture of the immediate repercussions of the policy gaps we experienced, an outcome no one could have imagined when writing the policy.
I want to take a couple of minutes to tell you what else happened to bring us here today.
Then, of course, to share a little about our sweet baby girl, Beatrice, as this is her day after all.
When I practiced this, I kept the crying till the very end, so.
Okay, I returned to work after two months off, thanks to all the people that Aaron just mentioned.
Each day was an exercise in trying to be strong.
I was grateful to have a job I loved to return to.
All the while, it was still a challenge.
So I buckled down and worked with great support from my supervisor and my team.
After work many days, I walked to the bus stop for the ride back to Kent and cried on the ride home, trying to process, to understand, and to keep going, to be strong for Bea and her legacy of strength.
Also, after this return to work, my dear friend and coworker, Sarah Barkman, came to me about bringing my situation to the union.
I checked with Aaron, and we said, let's do it.
In March 2018, on my birthday actually, we had our first meeting with two people from the union.
Sean Van Eyck, our union rep, was one of them.
And forward we went, first to a meeting with the mayor's office, then to a meeting with council member Mosqueda's chief of staff, Sejal Parikh.
Let me tell you something about this unsung hero, Sejal.
She took an hour and a half and listened to our story, gave us her personal phone number, and reiterated more times than I can count that I could come and cry on Councilmember Mosqueda's couch any day, especially if I couldn't hold out until that afternoon bus ride.
And she replied to every email we sent, quickly.
She believed in our story.
They believed in our story.
So regardless of what happened, or what was going to happen, Erin and I were in good hands.
Yet again, as we have been throughout this entire experience.
There were ups and downs throughout this process, but ultimately, Erin and I were going to be satisfied with any outcome.
because we were sure we were part of a community of family, friends, co-workers, politicians, and doctors that cared about our family.
Bee's Law, if passed, will help what I hope is a small fraction of the workforce at the City of Seattle.
No parent will want to use Bee's Law.
But it will be there in their darkest moment, when the wheels have fallen off all that seems to be reasonable and right.
Bee will be there to help.
Now, let's get down to the real business of today.
Beatrice Catherine Alder.
She was born on November 15th, 2017. She cried out when first delivered, and our doctor said that the world got to hear her voice.
Her nose was beyond cute.
She had the best toes.
When I saw those toes, I knew she was my child.
Those were my toes.
And her hands, she had my sweet sister's hands, and a full head of hair.
And in our final time with her, she looked me square in the eye, almost saying, hey, mom, I love you.
It's all good.
More to come with this story.
We've only just begun.
And she was right.
Who knows where B's Law has the potential to go from here?
State?
National?
Maybe?
Hopefully?
Wherever it goes, her legacy is strong in this beautiful city of Seattle, a city of compassion, love, and strength.
Thank you to all that have said to keep going throughout every step of this process.
We needed everyone's strength together to create a life, to lose a life, and help many lives to come, including her little brother growing strong in my belly today.
Happy Bees Day, y'all.
Go be kind.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Very powerful.
Next, we'll have a presentation by Council Member Bagshaw, who will present a proclamation proclaiming May 2019 as Older Americans Month in Seattle.
Actually, we aren't doing that today.
It's going to be presented on Friday.
But happy Older Americans Month, and thank you very much, all of you, for signing it.
Okay.
I had my notes, my wires crossed.
and Council Member Mosqueda will present a proclamation recognizing Affordable Housing Week.
I hope.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'm very excited.
Do you want me to hold off?
No, we're just laughing about the I hope.
You're lucky I do have another proclamation in my hands here.
I am excited, Mr. President and council colleagues, to be introducing a proclamation and thank you and thanks to the mayor's office for signing this proclamation honoring Affordable Housing Week 2019. This proclamation will designate May 13th through May 17th as Affordable Housing Week in Seattle.
We partnered with the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle and King County, or HDC, to put together this proclamation.
HDC is a 165-member organization of affordable housing advocates who make sure that everyone can live with dignity and safety in healthy and affordable homes within the city that they want to work, live, retire, or play.
HDC is our region's leader on policy, advocacy, and organizing in support of affordable housing.
And today we have Patience Malaba from the HDC along with members of the affordable housing community here to accept the proclamation.
Affordable Housing Week will be a week full of events and celebrations, advocacy across a dozen cities in King County to ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable, and healthy home.
The idea of Affordable Housing Week was originated in East Bay, where they have been organizing a week of action for over 20 years.
Nationally, there's also a day of organizing and action which falls on the week of May 30th through June 5th.
That focuses on federal affordable housing investments that are much needed and have been depleting over the last few decades.
Affordable housing week here in King County is a testament to the collaboration and collaborative nature needed to make sure that we meet the scale of our affordable housing needs.
Just earlier today, Council Member Bagshaw was commenting on how many affordable housing units that we need in our city and county, and on a conservative estimate, we know that we need 156,000 affordable homes to meet our current need in the county.
Throughout the events of next week, you will be able to see how the city is striving to meet its goal and what we're doing to work together.
The city and King County is in its fourth year and the biggest year yet, with over 30 events to spur large-scale advocacy movement and movement more than we've ever done in our region.
These events are solutions-based, ranging from housing consortium events focused on homelessness services to home ownership.
There will be a building, sorry, a tour of buildings and open houses showing what affordable housing actually is, discussions on the intersections of housing, along with issues like mental health, immigration, and hunger.
And you can also learn, and I would also add to that, the criminal justice reform systems that we need so that more folks can get stabilized.
You can learn about these housing intersections at housingconsortium.org.
Affordable Housing Week this week is focused particularly to generate inspiration and motivation to implement the recommendations of the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force, which Councilmember Johnson brought to this committee before leaving, and I had the opportunity to co-sponsor with him to recognize and memorialize our commitment as well to the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force.
For Seattle, this means implementing bold leadership to scale up to at least 44,000 homes in the next five years as the task force recommendations say that we need to do.
As we know, this is a time of unprecedented and growing needs for affordable housing in Seattle as people continue to get pushed out of the city and pushed into the street.
Permanent affordable housing is the solution to homelessness and is a strong anti-displacement tool as well.
Permanent affordable housing is so much more than the units that are being built.
It promotes social inclusion, reduces poverty, and creates healthier and more resilient communities, individuals, and families.
It allows families and individuals the stability they need to get out of generational poverty and build resilience.
Affordable housing provides people with opportunities in high-opportunity neighborhoods with access to grocery stores, childcare, schools.
and parks.
It connects people to transit and it makes sure that everyone has a place to call home in the city that we love.
This week is an opportunity for us to celebrate, energize, and to focus.
And so as we look forward to focusing on the affordable housing week that is coming up, from May 13th to May 17th, we recognize there's so much more work to do.
The folks who've been actually working to build and provide affordable housing need individuals to come together to advocate for additional revenue so that we can meet the needs and that we have the resources needed to make sure that everyone has a place to call home.
Thank you so much for being here today, for the work that you do.
And Patience Malaba, it's always wonderful to see you and your incredible team.
So thank you all for being here.
But to the entire housing, homelessness, and affordable housing community, we thank you for the work that you do every day, because we know it's a long, long trajectory to go from getting legislation passed, the funding needed, to actually seeing people housed.
So thank you for your work.
And next week, we recognize you and all that you've done.
Thank you, Council Member Muscata.
Before we suspend the rules and hear from any of our guests, would anyone like to make any comments as well?
Hearing none, would you like to suspend the rules, Council Member Muscata, and present the proclamation?
Thank you so much.
For the record, my name is Patience Malava.
I am the policy manager at HTC.
And on behalf of our board members, our members and staff, is this on?
Okay.
Hello.
Thank you so much.
For the record, I'm Patience Malaba.
I am the policy manager at HTC, and on behalf of our members, our board, and our staff, I just want to thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, and all of Council for all of the work that you are doing.
This Affordable Housing Week is about solutions.
Just last week, All Homes Count found that there is a decrease of about 8% in terms of the number of people who are living unhoused.
This is the first decrease since 2012. And it's really a testament to the fact that the service provider community knows what works, and when we have the political will to invest in those solutions, were actually able to get people housed.
The count also found that we still have 11,000 more people across King County who are not housed.
So there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
And in order for us to meet this need, it's going to require that we collaborate, We engage and really focus specifically on solutions.
Every neighborhood, as you said, Council Member Mosqueda, needs more affordable housing and needs more supportive services.
And this will take that.
We are using all of the...
tools that we have in our solutions toolkit to meet these needs.
Thank you for your leadership and we look forward to continue working with you in building a city that is equitable, livable and affordable for all.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, at this time we'll take public comment on items that appear on today's agenda or our introduction referral calendar or our 2019 work program and we'll take public comment for approximately 20 minutes or when we run out of speakers at two minutes Allotted for each speaker and I'll just call me out in the order with which you've signed and we'll start with Susan Lee followed by Steven PR A-Y, I think.
Good afternoon.
My name is Miss Lee.
I am a servant of the living God.
I am here to let you know that the Lord has redeemed Jacob with a mighty stretched out right hand, as you can see all across this city.
He made a promise to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them the land where they are a stranger.
Guess what?
I am Jacob.
I am that blessed seed.
I am just here to let you know he will be moving to shake terribly the earth.
I am going in.
The God has given me this city.
You see availability everywhere because scripture will be fulfilled that the last will be first and the first will be last.
Those that don't know the Lord, I suggest you get to know him because he is gonna move.
I'm just letting you know that the liar will be dead and if I don't tell you what he told me to tell you, then I will be in trouble.
So, everybody have a great day.
I'm going to go in and help my people.
Everybody do what you're doing.
Hopefully, it'll change everybody to start believing in something outside of an idol that can't move, speak, or talk.
Have a great day.
God bless you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee.
Steven, is it Prey?
Oh, Steven Prey.
Good afternoon.
There you go.
Good afternoon.
My name is Steven Prey, and I'm a union representative at ProTech17.
I represent approximately 900 members who work for the City of Seattle.
I am also a member of the Mayor's IDT.
Although I have not personally met Dr. Conn yet, I am fully supportive of her appointment to the Office of Employee Ombud.
My support of her is based off of an overwhelmingly positive feedback that I have received from my members in her regard.
Many of my members have expressed their excitement and eagerness to bring her on board.
I believe that the Office of Employee Ombud will soon be one of the most important offices in the city.
The number of members that I have contacting me with experiences of harassment, bullying, and discrimination is increasing daily.
I look forward to being able to direct them towards someone such as Dr. Khan, who has the confidence of everyone that I have spoken to.
I would like to recognize and thank both the Mayor and City Council for dedicating resources to create this office and for listening to the unions who have been advocating for this office for some time.
This is a tremendous win for my membership.
I look forward to working with Dr. Khan in her endeavor to make all employees in the City of Seattle feel safe and supported.
I know she has a lot of work to do and that she is up to the task, and I wish her the best of luck in her new position.
Thank you, Stephen.
Our next speaker will be the Honorable Michael Fuller, Sui Juris.
Yes, I thank God for being here, but this is August 2019, it's 400 years enslavement by the European settlers.
Now, we're talking about housing.
Now, I've been talking about housing over two decades, and at the time of war, I'm looking at You Democrats brought over all these illegal immigrants at the time of September 11th, 2,996 deaths, 2,977 victims, 343 firefighter deaths, and 19 hijacker deaths.
Then in 2015, February of 2015, 42.1 million unauthorized, undocumented aliens, Bruce Harrell, You said something this morning that I'm disturbing my spirit.
You violate my First Amendment rights, due process, equal protection, my Fourteenth Amendment rights, unproceded due process, and substantive due process, and extraordinary abuse, abuse and moral turpitude of extraordinary circumstances, reckless misconduct, wanton misconduct, and irreparable injury and harm to Black Lives Matter.
And also, a violation of extraordinary circumstances against Marvin Lloyd Rich's 42.30 Open Meeting Act.
Now I've always stated you don't make value with justice and peace, but you can't come up in here making laws from third world countries in honor of Johnny Fuller that served this country two and a half decades during the Korean War and Vietnam War.
And her uncle that served in the United States Army doing Korean War, June 6th of 1944. Now, look, I'm saying this is a breach of contract, breach of trust for fraudulent intent and fraudulent dishonest act, 1962D, conspiracy, section 241, conspiracy against civil rights under color of law, violation, 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 fine, three years supervisory, and $100,000 sentence.
Sir, thank you very much, sir.
Our next speaker.
Bruce, I'm not playing.
I understand.
I'm not new to this.
I'm true to this, Bruce.
I understand.
These are not my laws, they're y'all laws.
And when you violate them, that's when you hear from me.
I understand, I understand.
So our next speaker will be Marguerite Richard.
Yes, my name is Marguerite Richard and I'm here today because the last time I was here, I was talking about logistics.
And the reason why I brought it up is because when I go to other places and address their counsel, they're not in no battle with me.
They give me my two minutes to speak and I speak and I'm gone.
But here I notice there's three individuals in particular that always seem to be in a combative spirit or in a disarray when I'm speaking as if there's something, some underlying issue.
And so, when the woman came here, I don't know, you know, she mentioned the Lord.
I think I mentioned the Lord, too.
And I said, you know, he said, these signs and wonders shall follow them that believe.
And so, when she came up in here and said that, that's the confirmation for me because it's not just me in the world.
That's a believer and says the things that I say because I'm feeling like abuse is going on.
Periodically, whenever person comes to address somebody.
So I was listening to the woman on the news and stuff and they had the affirmative action bake sale with the cookies.
And the president of the University of Washington said, I don't care how rude and abusive the language is, they have a right to be here to sell their cookies.
I said, what?
She said, oh yes, covered up under free speech.
The rudeness of the vulgarity or whatever that may have transpired over the sale of the cookies.
I said, well, they beat that folk down here at the city council.
but it's not covered up under free speech, huh?
So when you say program and agenda, I asked this Monica Simmons multiple times.
That's what I'm saying.
You explain to me what is supposed to happen in here so that there will be no confusion, because God is not the author of confusion.
He's a God of peace.
Thank you, Ms. Rashard.
That was in our public comment section and thank you for your comments And we will move to the next agenda item which is the payment of the bill, so please read the title council bill one one nine five zero eight Appropriate in mind it pays article claims and ordering the payment thereof come move to pass council one one nine five zero eight It's been moved and seconded the bill pass or any further comments If not, please call the roll on the passage of the bill
Bagshaw?
Aye.
Gonzales?
Aye.
Herbold?
Aye.
Juarez?
Aye.
Mosqueda?
Aye.
O'Brien?
Aye.
Pacheco?
Aye.
Sawant?
Aye.
President Harrell?
Aye.
Nine in favor, nine opposed.
Bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Please read the first agenda item, the appointment 01306 and I believe Council Member Juarez may have an amendment to that once it is read into the record.
I do.
Okay, please read it.
The report of the Civic Development Public Assets and Native Communities Committee Agenda Item 1, Appointment 1306, Appointment of Jesus S. Aguida as Superintendent, Department of Parks and Recreation for term to April 1st, 2023. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.
Thank you very much.
Council Member Juarez.
Thank you, Council President.
First, I would like to include a letter to the clerk file before the proceeding, as you stated, Council President.
This is a letter of expectations for Mr. Agade from City Council.
My staff shared a physical and electronic copy to all offices this morning.
Therefore, I move to amend appointment 01306 to add the letter of expectations for Mr. Agade as superintendent dated today, May 6, 2019. Is there a second?
It's been moved and seconded to add the letter of expectations to the appointment file.
Any questions or comments on the amendment?
All those in favor of the amendment, please vote aye.
Aye.
Those opposed vote no.
The legislation is amended.
Council Member Juarez.
Thank you.
I'm going to just briefly touch on the letter of expectations.
The council expectations are intended to enhance Mr. Agare's accountability to the Seattle City Council.
Council expectations are intended to add to the mayor's expectations and responsibilities established in the Seattle Municipal Code.
The four areas of city council expectations include communication, policy management, commitment to race and social justice, and leadership.
First of all, I'd like to discuss my support for Mr. Agodre following by a rundown of the process for the filing, for the filling, I'm sorry, this appointment position.
Jesus Aguirre is a remarkable and committed public servant.
He has a breadth of experience serving the role of director for large agencies.
Prior to moving to Seattle, Jesus served as the State Superintendent of Education for Washington, D.C., overseeing an agency of more than 1,800 employees.
He then served as the director of the District of Columbia Parks and Recreation, an over 1,000 employee agency, where he established a focus on outcome-based programs, staff professional development, and an overall emphasis on providing equal access to high-quality recreation and leisure programming to all residents and visitors.
He also led the agency through a comprehensive master planning process over a 10-year period, which received natural accreditation.
For the City of Seattle, Jesus served as the superintendent for the Department of Parks and Recreation from 2015 to 2018. During this time at Parks, Jesus successfully implemented the Seattle Parks District that was passed by the voters overwhelmingly in 2014. Jesus took a sabbatical in January of 18 to be closer to his family and participate in his family business.
He missed working in the public sector and especially for parks.
He particularly missed my committee.
Once the position was open, he applied again.
The mayor's office conducted a nationwide search in their call for applicants for the position of superintendent.
I chaired this committee, so my office was asked to serve as a member of the search committee.
Other members included the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Park District Board, the Parks Foundation, and the Mayor's Office.
There were four levels of institutional review and participation.
The co-chairs were Julie Farris and Thatcher Bailey, who conducted a series of meetings to set goals, standards, and evaluate each application throughout each round of meetings in which there were four.
The committee narrowed over 100 applicants to a group of about 15 over several weeks.
Then five were selected from that group for the interview process.
I sat on the interview panel and forwarded the two finalists to the final round of interviews with other director heads and park staff.
The feedback from these rounds were delivered to the mayor's office, who then made an executive decision selection for this position.
Mr. Agoury's appointment was transmitted to council on April 2nd, 2019. The appointment was referred to my committee, Civic Development, Public Assets, and Native Communities, to my committee.
Last Wednesday, May 1st, the committee held this appointment where the members had an opportunity to ask questions and learn more.
Thank you Councilmember Mosqueda, Gonzalez, and Bagshaw for providing your thoughtful questions in the committee.
Based on these questions and conversations throughout this appointment process and our mutual goals, I have again provided my colleagues with a letter of council expectations as well as a copy to Mr. Agare.
I want to express my gratitude towards all the volunteers and members of the search selection and interview committee, which are all of our volunteer, except for those of us that work for the city, especially to Deputy Mayor Mosley for conducting a collaborative and thorough process that I may confidently present, that I could confidently present to this council and my colleagues.
I believe in Mr. Agardi's values, lived experience, and strong commitment to empowering underrepresented communities.
I believe he will serve the city well.
The Civic Development, Public Asset, and Native Communities Committee recommends that City Council confirm the appointment.
Thank you very much.
Comments or questions comes from Bagshaw.
Thank you.
I want to say thank you very much for applying again And it's been in my experience a real pleasure working with you and your team And I really want to express my thanks for the work that you've done just stepping forward again It's almost as if you never left and just without without having any loss of time or effort and I also know how much your staff and team really appreciate you and respect you so I'm looking very much forward to voting yes.
Thank you.
Any other comments or questions?
Council Member Mosqueda?
Thank you, Mr. President.
I also want to thank the Chair, Council Member Juarez, for her participation in the outline that she just read, and thank the Mayor's Office as well for this comprehensive search process.
It was thanks to Council Member Bagshan, Council Member Gonzalez last week for asking questions on my behalf related to specific labor inquiries and public policies around our public servants.
And what I really loved and appreciated about the answers to those questions is that you really underscored how important it is to make sure that every worker feels safe, that they're listened to, and that we're responding to issues that workers come forward and bravely raise.
in occasion and that you're placing a special emphasis on human resource data and making sure that this is informing your response and your processes moving forward.
Really, really think that that's critical as we think about macro changes that are needed.
I also want to say thank you for your overall comments supporting unions and labor as a whole, especially in this day and age.
We're really excited about the work that our labor partners do in parks And we know how important it is for their work to be supported in order for our city to function well.
Thank you so much for identifying future opportunities to leverage this partnership with unions and with labor, and to think about how we center that work, especially in public-private partnerships as we move forward.
So thank you for answering those questions.
Thanks to my colleagues for raising those, and to the good chair for inviting those to be part of the process.
And I look forward to working with you.
Thank you, Council Member Muscat.
Any other comments before we vote?
Okay, let's move forward.
Those in favor of confirming the appointment as amended, please vote aye.
Aye.
Those opposed, vote no.
Motion carries, the appointment is confirmed.
And at this time, we'd love to hear from Mr. McGeady to make some remarks to the council.
I've got about 12 pages of written testimony.
President Harrell, thank you.
Councilmember Juarez, thank you.
Councilmembers, thank you.
It really is an honor to be standing here before you, being confirmed to serve as superintendent of Seattle Parks and Migration.
And it's especially humbling to have this opportunity a second time to serve the residents of the city of Seattle.
Thank you for all of the work that you do and the support that you provide Seattle and all of the residents.
I'd also like to thank Mayor Durkin for her commitment to making Seattle a great city for every resident and for giving me the opportunity to serve with her and her impressive cabinet.
A bit of housekeeping, Council Member Juarez, I want to acknowledge that I did receive the letter of expectations and I'm committed to working closely with all of you to meet those expectations around communication, policy management, commitment to race and social justice, and leadership.
I'd also like to very briefly take the time to thank Christopher Williams, who has served as acting superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation for longer than many permanent superintendents have done so.
Christopher has ably led and kept Seattle Parks and Recreation moving forward, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside him for many years to come.
So thank you, Christopher, for your service.
So as I approach this work for a second time, I'm struck by how fortunate we are to have had generations of Seattleites who have made parks and recreation such an important part of who we are as a city.
In fact, we have one of the best parks and recreation systems in the country due to the consistent support of generations of residents, elected officials, great community partners and volunteers.
We also have an impressive team of parks and recreation professionals that works every single day to improve the lives of Seattle residents by providing high quality programming and impressive facilities and open spaces in every Seattle community.
Of course, I'm also struck by how our city has changed and continues to change.
As I approach this work a second time, I'm committed to ensuring that we continue to steward our impressive Parks and Recreation Department in a way that's truly inclusive to all and responsive to the changing needs of the people that we serve.
I'm convinced that the work of Seattle Parks and Recreation has never been more important, and I'm ready to get to work on behalf of our residents.
So I want to thank you for your support.
Thank you.
Thank you, and congratulations, again.
Please read the report of the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee.
The report of the housing health energy and workers rights committee agenda item 2 appointment 1286 appointment of Amara Khan as director office of the employee ombud.
The committee recommends that the City Council confirm the appointment.
Councilmember Mosqueda.
Thank you, Mr. President.
First I'd like to move appointment 1286 by substituting the resume and appointment packet for an updated resume which has been distributed to our council colleagues.
It's been moved and seconded to supplement the appointment package as described by Council Member Mosqueda.
Are there any questions or comments on the amendment?
All those in favor of the amendment, please vote aye.
Aye.
Those opposed vote no.
The package is amended.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Wonderful.
Well, it is with great pleasure that after almost a year, after the Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Interdepartmental Team, or as we kindly refer to it as the IDT, recommendations came out, we are now moving forward on one of the key recommendations and turning it into a reality.
Dr. Khan will be the city's first director of the Office of the Employee Ombud, and I'm not only excited for what this means in terms of a monumental step for our city, but also because I believe that this could be the blueprint for other cities and other jurisdictions to follow.
Dr. Khan is the perfect candidate to stand up this office.
Her professional and personal background have prepared her to lead with race and social justice through trauma-informed practices.
One of Dr. Kahn's priorities for this office will be to gain the trust of our employees.
One way to do that is through ensuring employees' privacy and collaborating with other departments to get resolutions, to make sure that the office is looking at data-driven solutions and looking at training to prevent behavior in the first place.
She's also looking at ways to create space so that this office can be seen and act as it is free from undue political influence.
Dr. Kahn is a global diversity and inclusion specialist.
Most recently, she served as the Director of Equity and Inclusive Practices at the Renton School District.
Prior to that, she was the Associate Director for Global Diversity Initiatives at the Oregon State University.
And Dr. Kahn comes with support and recommendations for a yes vote from our friends in labor, from the IDT and the silence breakers, and the change team makers, and key stakeholder groups.
Through her various interviews and conversations with many of our stakeholders, she's had unanimous support.
I also want to take a second to thank the mayor's office for your really robust process in pulling in members of the IDT and Silence Breakers to be part of the conversation for creating the 34 recommendations, one of which was the Office of the Employee Ombud.
Today's a really exciting step forward as we look forward to implementing all of those recommendations.
We know we can't be successful without this office fully operating And the process, the search process that you led, which led us to Dr. Khan, really was inclusive and robust.
And I think you guys have selected and got feedback on one of the best candidates that we could ever hope for this position.
So thank you, and please pass it on to the mayor for her efforts and to the IDT members for their incredible efforts.
A quick thank you to Farideh Cuevas from our office as well, who sits on the IDT and had the chance to be part of the interview process and meet Dr. Khan, as she came forward from the mayor's office, I hope that they will also hear our notes of appreciation for their ongoing work.
and that the work that they put into creating the multi-page report wasn't just to go on a shelf.
It was to truly create action.
Today we see that action.
So I'm very excited that Dr. Khan is interested, qualified, and has the full recommendation of our committee to move forward and lead the Office of the Employee Ombuds for our city.
I'm confident that she will lead with empathy and justice for all our employees.
And it's with that that we recommend a yes vote on Dr. Khan to lead the Office of the Employee Ombud.
Thank you very much.
Are there any other questions or comments on this legislation or appointment?
Okay, let's move forward then.
So all those in favor of the appointment of Ms. Khan as amended, please vote aye.
Aye.
Those opposed vote no.
The legislation, the appointment is approved and confirmed.
And at this time, we'd love to hear from Ms. Khan to make a few brief comments to the council.
Good afternoon.
Can I, is that okay?
Yeah, it's working.
Thank you.
I had a lot of thoughts about how I would thank the respected council members, but after what we saw with little Bee and her legacy, I feel like today is a much bigger day.
If a small child can leave such a large legacy in kindness, us adults can only try and follow and leave an example.
I'm honored and humbled that this conversation is happening right after an amazing proclamation honoring a small child who is setting the standard very high for us.
I'm very grateful, I'm thrilled and humbled by the warm welcome and consideration offered to me by all of you and by this community.
My job now is to honor the vision and mission behind this important position and make sure I contribute towards restoring trust in our system and in our community.
I have three children.
My oldest is six.
And this morning, he asked me if I'm opening a new shop.
And I said, yes.
And he said, what would I sell?
And I said, I'm selling kindness and compassion.
So I hope I'm true to my promise to him.
Thank you.
Thank you, and congratulations.
Please read agenda item number three into the record.
Agenda item three, appointment 1315, appointment of Gay Gilmore as member of Labor Standards Advisory Board for term to April 30th, 2021. The committee recommends that the appointment be confirmed.
Actually, I suppose we could go three, four, and five.
Why don't we read them all into the record?
Agenda items four and five, appointments 1316 and 1317, appointments of William J. Pitts and Marilyn P. Watkins as member of Labor Standards Advisory Board for term to April 30th, 2021.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Thank you, Mr. President.
First, I'd like to move that the title of Appointment 1315 be deleted by deleting board after advisory and adding commission because it's the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.
Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded to amend the title of 1315 by deleting the term board as described by Council Member Mosqueda.
Any questions on the amendment?
All those in favor, say aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
It is amended.
Council Member Mosqueda.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
I'll speak to all three of these appointments.
First, we have Gay Gilmore, who is the co-founder of Optimism Brewery on Capitol Hill.
I've had the opportunity to work with Gay over the last two years and really appreciated her ideas about how to support small businesses while also protecting workers.
Optimism Brewery pays its employees a living wage by starting at $20 an hour with 100% paid medical and dental and vision.
Gay's leadership will be extremely useful as we figure out how to best implement our labor standards.
And Gay's constantly been an ally as we talk about what we need to make sure that policies work for small businesses so that they can be achievable and accessible for the workers that we advocate for.
So I appreciate her willingness and her leadership already and excitement to serve on this commission.
The next person is William Pitts, to be a member of the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.
He currently works at Teamsters Local 117 and brings a long history of work with unions and nonprofits and community organizations.
My staff and I believe many of you had the chance to work with Will during the Fight for 15 to support fast food workers and the strikes that they went on, the one-day strikes in 2013. I'm also excited that Will's going to be bringing to this commission his expertise on ride-sharing and TNCs as we consider how do we expand labor protections to these independent contractors and address issues of misclassification.
Very excited that Will is bringing his decades work of advocacy to serve the city.
And lastly, the appointment of Marilyn Watkins as member of the Labor Standards Advisory Commission, appointment 01317. Marilyn has been a longtime ally and friend of mine.
She has served as a policy director at the Economic Opportunity Institute, where I've had the chance to work with her on issues like paid family and medical leave, sick and safe leave policies, minimum wage at the state level, and equal pay, among a number of other policies.
She has led our state and constantly brought up the intersections between health, gender, and economic policies, and is a graduate of University of Michigan.
And Marilyn's policy expertise is going to be instrumental to helping us think through intricate policy issues on the horizon.
Marilyn is both an incredible advocate at the macro level and has an eye for the micro details that need to be changed to make sure that policies actually work.
Very excited about these three appointments and would encourage a yes vote on all three.
Thank you very much.
Are there any questions or comments?
Council Member Gonzales.
Thank you.
I noticed that Council Member Mosqueda made an amendment to the agenda for Appointment 1315 to change the listing from Labor Standards Advisory Board to Commission.
Are we going to do the same for Appointment 1317?
Yes, I was going to announce that after there are any comments.
I'm on it.
Okay.
Sorry.
Okay.
Any other questions or comments on the legislation?
I was just used to you calling the vote on all of them, so I didn't want that to go by.
So I have a note from the clerk to go through it individually.
I have a note to read my notes better next time because it's in here.
I apologize for that.
Anyone else want to correct me before I?
Just trying to provide a little bit of assistance.
I noticed that now we're on top of Yeah, we we got any other comments on the appointments, okay?
So we're going to vote on each one individually because we have to correct one of the files and so let's take the first one first which is 0 1 3 5 so we're going to vote on them individually as instructed by the clerk and And all those in favor of appointment 01315, please say aye.
Aye.
Those opposed vote no.
The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.
Number four, all those in favor of appointment 01316. Mr. President?
Yes.
Should I move to amend the title?
Prior to it's gonna be number five.
The last one has to be amended the fourth one.
I think is Okay, thank you, sorry about that, okay Okay, so all those in favor of appointment zero one three one six, please vote aye Those opposed vote.
No, the motion carries appointment is confirmed And on this one, number five, we have another correction.
So Council Member Muscata, you can move to make that same change on that one.
All right, third time's the charm.
I apologize, colleagues.
I move to amend the title of appointment 1317 by deleting board after advisory and adding commission.
Is there a second?
Second.
Okay.
All those in favor of amending appointment 01317 by, as described by Council Member Muscata, please vote aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
The ayes have it.
Okay.
All those in favor of appointment 01317 as amended, please vote aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
The ayes have it.
Okay.
Very good.
Okay.
We're going to move to adoption of other resolutions.
I don't think we have any resolutions there, but on other business, I believe Council Member O'Brien would like to discuss in an open forum a letter that he would like signatures on.
Council Member O'Brien.
Thank you, Council President.
I'm going to pass this copy of the letter with a slight modification from what you saw over the weekend and this morning.
The one clarification that I want to just highlight, sorry, this is a letter to City Attorney Pete Holmes regarding their ongoing work to potentially file a lawsuit against fossil fuel companies for their responsibility in the climate disaster that's happening.
The first copy of the letter had asked the City Attorney to work with outside counsel.
This version thanks him for working with outside counsel as it was highlighted that they are already doing that.
There are some questions this morning about current status of some other lawsuits.
The state of Rhode Island, the cities of Boulder, Boulder County and San Miguel County in Colorado, Baltimore, San Mateo County, Marin County, Imperial Beach, Santa Cruz County, and Richmond have all filed suits in addition to New York City, Los Angeles, and King County.
King County filed their suit about a year ago, and that suit is Being is paused at the moment well folks like the city of Seattle are waiting for a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on the proper jurisdiction for these suits to be pursued I can do my best to answer questions if folks have any other kind of legal questions But I'm probably not the best person to answer that That's very big show in no way to put you on the spot here councilmember Do you know what is our state of Washington doing?
What is our Attorney General doing?
Sorry.
I just asked, do you have any information about what the state of Washington is doing, what our Attorney General is doing in this regard?
I have not spoken with the State Attorney General.
I know they're busy with lots of suits of folks right now, but that's a fair question and I don't know the answer to what Attorney General Ferguson is doing on this.
Okay, so any other comments, Council Member Brown or any questions from anybody?
No, I just have a comment if he wants to move it.
No motion here, I'm just circulating it so the letter will work its way down.
The action will just be a signature open session.
Yeah, I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that you have been a champion on this and for people who think that this is a scary thing or a step forward, it really wasn't until our state and many of others got together around the tobacco cases that it brought to light the fact that tobacco companies had known for years, if not decades, the danger to people's health.
And I really am glad that we're moving forward.
I also would like for this not to be, you know, perceived as a blank check with our city attorney, and hope he'll come back and report to us what he's doing, what the status is.
But we know, I mean, based upon all of the science, that if we can get the fossil fuel companies to align their business models with some of the other requests, or at least to align with some of the recommendations in the Paris agreements, I think it's time for us to do the next five-year cycle, that we're supposed to be looking at our action steps, and since our federal government isn't doing that, that it's got to fall on the shoulders of the state and local actions.
So, thank you for bringing this forward, and glad to sign it.
Thank you, everyone.
Okay, any further comments on the letter that we're signing an open session?
And has it been completed by everybody that wants to sign it?
Okay, so we're finished with that matter.
I'll filibuster a little, we got two letters.
Is there any further business to come before the council?
Council, just a second, I forgot Council Member Mosqueda on that.
Did you have a question on that letter?
No, I'm just- Council Member Mosqueda.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I was remiss in not bringing this up during this morning's council briefing, so I'd like to take a quick second to talk about a letter that I've just circulated for a sign-on for consideration from my colleagues.
This follows on the heels of a presentation from Seattle City Light regarding the proposed mining in the Skagit headwaters of Canada.
We have a letter here that was jointly authored and will be submitted on May 17th that is being circulated to various municipalities for consideration.
And this letter outlines concerns regarding a proposed mining project in an unprotected area in the Canadian Skagit waters.
The sign-on letter that was circulated was drafted by Washington Wild, a conservation non-profit that's working to defend, protect, and restore wild lands and waters in Washington State through advocacy, education, and civic engagement.
As you can see, the letter expresses opposition to an exploratory drilling project in the Canadian Skagit Headwaters on the basis that it violates the High Ross Treaty between the United States and Canada and that it could have significant impacts on salmon habitat and water quality in the Skagit Basin in Washington.
The 1984 High Ross Treaty between the U.S. and Canada resolved a dispute over raising Seattle's High Ross Dam and avoided flooding in parts of the upper Skagit watershed.
Recognizing the unique ecological and recreational values of the Skagit watershed, one of the many purposes of the treaty was to maintain the environmental integrity of the watershed.
and the Skagit River supports the largest population of threatened steelhead and chinook salmon in Puget Sound and the largest run of chum salmon in the counter minus U.S.
Approximately 90% of bull trout from Ross Lake spawn in the upper Skagit downstream of the proposed activities.
These fish are key food source for the southern residential killer whales and are central to the culture and integrity of several tribes in the U.S. and Canada who have treaty rights in those resources.
Signatories to this letter include conservation, recreation, and wildlife organizations, as well as local businesses and elected officials representing Washington State, in strong opposition to the proposed mineral exploratory permit proposed by the Imperial Metals, being proposed by Imperial Metals, being considered by the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources.
Several Washington-based tribes and First Nations in Canada have already weighed in on the issue.
There is an unofficial comment period that, or I'm sorry, there is an official comment period that ends on May 17th, that's why this letter has been predated May 17th, that the British Columbia Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Resources is putting out there to get feedback, and this letter offers a joint message showing strong opposition to the proposal for the sake of clean water, salmon populations, and other downstream values in the Skagit Basin.
If you do have any more questions about this, I'm happy to engage in that, or Aaron House in our office, whose staff, City Light, can help inform folks more of the conversation we had previously.
Thank you, Councilmember Scate.
I believe the letter's been circulated.
That's been circulated, I believe, and is it Council Member Herbold?
Yes, I'm so excited to sign this and I'm really pleased that you're doing this.
I'm wondering if you might consider reformatting it on City Council letterhead?
Yes, so this was an impromptu way for us to try to confirm if folks wanted to sign on.
I think it's an electronic sign-on, so with your signature then I'll be able to tell them that We do have all of the council members who are interested in signing on, signing on to that.
It was my way of confirming your interest in the letter, but I think it will actually not have our signatures.
It will just be electronically signed on.
Fantastic.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
Yes, thank you.
I would move to be excused on Monday, May 20th.
I will be attending a national conference on our public retirement system, and this is an issue, as I mentioned this morning, as chair of the Seattle City's retirement system, this will work to learn more about potential board liability and reduce our responsibility to to be concerned about fossil fuels is one of the issue coming up.
And so that's May 20th coming up and I'll tell you more about it when I have more information.
Okay, I have that note.
I'll move it in a second.
I want to make sure that we had closure on the discussion of the letter to Herman Henning before we just close that issue.
I should make sure there are no pending thoughts or questions.
Are we good on that?
Okay, so it's been moved and seconded to excuse Council Member Bagshaw on May 20th.
Is there a second?
Second.
You can't second, Cheryl.
I will second.
Council Member Herbold will second.
All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
The ayes have it.
Is there any other business coming before the council?
Okay, if not, we stand adjourned and everyone have a great rest of the afternoon.
Thank you.