City Council 5/19/2026

Good afternoon.

The May 19th meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It's 2-0-2.

My name is Joy Hollingsworth, your council president.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Rivera?

Council Member Sacca?

Here.

Council Member Strauss?

Here.

Council Member Foster?

Here.

Council Member Warris.

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Lynn.

Here.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council President Hawksworth.

Here.

Seven present.

Will you call Council Member Rivera one more time during roll call?

Oh yes, Councilmember Rivera.

Present.

Thank you.

A present.

Awesome, and Councilmember Juarez is excused until she gets here.

Colleagues, Councilmember Lynn and I have a proclamation today to present recognizing May 19th as State Champion Rainier Beach Boys Basketball Day.

And we are so excited to have Coach Mike Bathia here and his wife Virginia.

For the record, Councilmember Juarez is here.

Colleagues, Seattle has a very rich basketball culture here in our city, and people might think it's obviously with the Sonics, it's with the Seattle Storm, the Huskies, Seattle U, but we know that being from Seattle, that high school basketball is, for me, the pinnacle of the culture and the heart here in Seattle.

It's the center, it's the rich traditions, the gyms packed, the legendary coaches, the machine that has cultivated and has elevated basketball players to national attention.

And it has been a breeding ground of excellence.

And one of those reasons is for the incredible culture and history here in Seattle is because of Coach Mike Bathia.

And I want to, I know this is for the Rainier Beach Boys basketball team, but Coach Mike is the Rainier Beach Boys basketball team.

He's the culture, he's the heart.

I want to first, by thanking Coach Mike and his wife Virginia for making their way down to City Hall.

Colleagues, I've had the wonderful opportunity of knowing Coach Mike for over 25 years, since I was in high school.

And what I can say is he has state championships, he's coached the best of the best NBA players, Division I athletes, everyday kids.

He's won for the state champion, 10 titles.

And I asked him in my office, I said, who comes close?

The closest person is five, okay?

So we're talking about amazingness here.

And he has coached NBA players, Division I athletes every day.

But what I can tell you is that Coach Bathea is a really great man.

The way he leads with love, how he's connected to people, not just his players, but just the Rainier Beach community, He understands that leadership is shared and you saw that with his coaching mentorship of some of his former players on the bench with Jamal Crawford and David King and all these players, but someone who is very trusted in our community and who will literally take the shirt off his back to give someone.

He has fed players knowledge of the game and off the court skills in an environment where so many people have oftentimes written off a community, but He knows how special Rainier Beach is, and we are so honored today as council members to present a proclamation for the boys' basketball team for the 12th state champion...

no, 11th state championship.

Under that, Coach Mike Bathia has 10 of those.

Okay, and so you only get once in a lifetime to experience people as great as this coach, and so we are so honored to present this proclamation.

I'm gonna pass it off to Coach Eddie Lynn, and then I'll open up for other council members who have words.

Coach Lynn, did I say Coach Lynn?

I'm sorry.

I am only a council member.

I am nowhere close to a coach like Coach Bethea who has just provided so much guidance to our young men, really the pride of Rainier Beach.

You know, you don't get 10 titles without incredible mentoring and hard work and the dedication of the team and the values of teamwork and just countless lives transformed.

So I just want to thank you and to Virginia as well for all your leadership in our community and to thank you to Council President for helping to bring this forward.

Thank you, Coach Lynn.

I'm just like, thank you, Council Member Lynn for those comments.

And colleagues, I know that we signed this yesterday and we had comments.

I'll open it up to see if anyone else would like to say anything else before we invite Coach Bathia up to the podium to say a few words.

Okay, awesome.

So we're gonna go ahead.

So hearing no further comments, the rules will be suspended so we can present the proclamation to our guests.

I won't read the proclamation full.

It is full of all great goodness declaring that this day is May 19th as state champion Rainier Beach Boys Basketball Day.

And so hearing no objection, Coach Mike would love for you to come up to say a few words and we'll present the proclamation for Coach Mike.

First of all, I just want to say thank you, just an extended thank you from the Rainier Beach community for inviting us down.

We are really honored by it.

Coach Mike, talk right in the microphone.

You can pull it up, too.

This one right here?

Yep, yep.

Perfect.

Can everybody hear me now?

You can pull it up, too.

Yeah, I just wanted to say, just on behalf of the Rainier Beach community, just thank you for inviting us down here.

It's one thing to coach basketball, but it's one thing to make a difference in young people's lives.

That's the reason I do what I do.

Basketball and winning the championships are just a byproduct of that.

My wife and I have made a solid commitment to make a difference in the south end of Seattle.

pleases me most and the thing that I'm really honored by is I know everybody hears the Jamal Crawfords and the DeJounte Murray Tyron Stokes stories and you know the list goes on and on but when I see people like this young man sitting right here to my right who also came up in the Rainier Beach system played under me Actually, I've been knowing him ever since he was a six-year-old, spending the night at my house.

Keith Wheeler, he's just a phenomenal person.

Again, the list goes on and on, and it's all about making a difference in these young men's lives.

It's all about showing them, using basketball as a vehicle to take them where they want to go.

NBA isn't for everybody.

But you know what?

You can use basketball to achieve what it is you want in life.

And so that's my passion.

That's the message I'll drive until I step down from this thing, which is, you know, who knows?

But again, just thank you for having us down here.

And we're truly, truly honored.

And thank you.

Awesome.

come up here.

Colleagues will take a council photo real quick.

We have our, and I think 12 would be a good number to stop at for your champion.

So you got two more championships.

You gotta, I'm just playing.

We'll do, Sue will be in the middle.

Just come up here, Coach Mike, and we'll all get up and we'll take the council photo and we'll jump right into our council business.

Thank you.

Virginia, would you like to join us too, please?

His wife, come on.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

That's a good one.

We are so grateful to the Bathias, Virginia, and Coach Mike.

Thank you.

Baker's Dezen would be 13. I just said 12, so thank you so much.

Just saying.

And thank you, colleagues.

I think it's important that we know there are so many great people in this community.

Oftentimes, they don't get the accolades.

We don't see them as often, because they might not be on the news.

but there is a lot of great mentors and people in this community and we've seen it here today that is out here doing the work, making sure that our young people stay safe and they have life skills and basketball and perseverance and all the great things.

So we are just so, so forever grateful.

So thank you, Coach Mike, Bethea, and Virginia.

Thank you so much.

Now what everyone's been waiting for, public comment.

So, colleagues, at this time we're gonna open up the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction referral program, the council's work program, the council cannot accept comments about quasi-judicial items or campaign related matters.

I see that we have 10 in person, nope, we have more, I'm sorry.

We have a total of 32 speakers, 25 in person and seven remote.

So we have 32 speakers.

Because it's between 30 and 60, every speaker's gonna have one minute to speak today under council rules.

Clerk, I'll hand it over to you to present the instructions.

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

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

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

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

Awesome, so we'll call speakers first that are in person, and then we'll go online.

First we have Ashley, followed by Ivan, and then Anitra, Greg, and Tara.

Those are our first five speakers.

Welcome, Ashley.

Thank you so much.

My name is Ashley Nervovig here representing Purpose, Dignity, Action.

And first of all, I just really want to thank every single member of the council who has worked on these pieces of legislation.

I know a lot of come at us very, very fast, and everyone has been really responsive and incredible collaborators throughout this whole process, and I'm just so grateful to every single member of the council for that.

One thing I do wanna flag is the proposed requirement for shelter sites to require trained security personnel.

For years, safety teams like WeDeliverCare have provided de-escalation, threat identification and rapid, sorry, de-escalation and threat identification and rapid identification of the cause of conflicts within high support shelter models.

And when funded, these safety teams have played a really invaluable role in real-time monitoring and accountability frameworks, all of which actually enable shelter operations to be good neighbors.

We have someone from WeDeliverCare who can talk a little bit more about their work, but we just really would hope that they would be included as well in that amendment.

Thank you so much.

Awesome, thank you, Ashley.

Next we have, is it Ivan?

Yes, Ivan.

I said Yvonne last time, my bad.

Ivan, Anitra, Greg, and Tara, welcome.

Hello, my name is Ivan Gerdes, and I am with ShareWheel and State of the Brick House, which is Share's Family and Disabled Shelter.

ShareWheel together have operated 500 spots over the Seattle indoor shelters intensities.

We do oppose amendments A, B, and C, which weren't vetted and approved through Land Use Committee.

Amendment A in particular feels like it's a bit of paranoia that really doesn't need to be in the land use code.

We operate our communities without private paid security and broke up neighborhoods for 36 years.

These things aren't needed.

We do have the ability to operate a new camp.

All we need is the lands and the funds to do it.

Tent City is moving next Tuesday, 526, from public land in South Seattle to a church in the U District.

Stop by and see us.

Without shelter people die.

Wheel's women in black are standing a vigil for 15 people tomorrow at noon on the steps of City Hall.

Two of those were shot.

Thank you, Evan.

Next we have Anitra, followed by Greg and then Tara.

Hello.

Anitra Freeman with Sharon Wheel.

Sharon Weill have been for 36 years operating shelters and tent cities from north to south safely, without paid security, without smaller internal neighborhoods, even besides schools.

We definitely support expanding the size of encampments because Seattle's desperate for shelter.

Women and blacks stand again tomorrow because without shelter, people die.

Councilmember Strauss, I appreciate you taking the fences out, but self-sustaining Having three kitchens in one camp is too much of an expense.

Thank you.

Thank you, Anitra.

Next we have Greg, followed by Tara, then Julia, Charles, Yvette Dynash, Ruth, and Denise.

My name is Greg Greer.

I am with Share, Wheel, and I stay at the bunkhouse homeless shelter.

Share and Wheel together operate nearly 500 spots all over Seattle, indoor shelters and tent cities.

We oppose amendments A, B, and C, which weren't vetted and approved through the Land Use Committee.

These amendments would limit our ability to create new shelters in a time of desperate need.

And without shelter, people die.

Thank you.

Thank you, Greg.

Next we have Tara, followed by Julia, and then Charles.

Good afternoon.

My name is Tara Miller.

I'm one of the executive directors of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

We're a member of the Services Not Sweeps Coalition, and we partner with ShareWheel.

We encourage you to vote in favor of the original legislation and reject the pending amendments that create barriers to this progress.

Many of the congregations in our network host shelters or services for people without housing.

Our congregation partners feel deeply the exponential growth of housing insecurity in our city and the disappointment when promises of shelter and housing have vastly failed to meet the need.

We support Mayor Wilson's vision of expanded shelter opportunities throughout the city.

please pass the legislation as is and reject the additional amendments.

Moving forward, we encourage you to continue this vital work of expanding shelter access by diverting funds from sweeps to fund additional shelter.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tara.

Next we have Julia followed by Charles and then Yvette.

Hello, my name is Julia.

I'm a D7 resident living at Third Pike Pine, and I'm here to ask you to pass the Shelter Expansion Bill.

Lack of first step housing is our biggest obstacle and bottleneck to helping our neighbors in need on the street.

The proposed bill makes excellent use of existing funds and has robust Good Neighbor guardrails in place.

However, I would echo the request to to delete the amendment for having licensed security.

We have WDC, we deliver care at Third Pike Pine.

They literally are the thing that is keeping our neighborhood livable.

So their skill, their talents are immense.

However, as I mentioned, passing this bill today is just the first step.

Too often, Housing First has been housing only, and without the robust services at these expanded sites, they will simply be moving the problem indoors.

So we ask you to recognize that today, you're not just voting for this, you are committing to voting for robust social services in the fall.

Thank you, Julia.

Next we have Charles, followed by Miss Yvette, Ruth, and then Denise.

Yes, good afternoon.

My name's Charles.

I want to thank the Council President and the members for having us here.

I'm with the Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance, and I'm here because there was a storm.

Can we pause your time and we're going to restart it and then just speak right into the microphone so we can hear you, Mr. Charles.

Again, thank you for having me here.

My name's Charles.

I'm with the Small Business Administration, Office of Disaster Assistance.

I'm here because of the mid-December storms to let the public know that there is resources available through the federal government.

For businesses, up to $2 million, substantiated by their losses at an interest rate of 4%.

For homeowners, up to $500,000 for physical damage, $100,000 for personal property at an interest rate of 2.875, 12-month deferment, no payments for 12 months.

And we also have assistance with mitigation, refinance, and relocation as well.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you Mr. Charles.

Next we have Miss Yvette followed by Ruth and then Denise, or it might be Benice, but it says, I think it's Denise.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Earlier today, I read Council Member Rink's full newsletter and you all do a lot more than I thought you did.

There's a lot going on.

that you do for our community.

And that showed your commitment to serving our community.

Meetings and other stuff, and God bless you for that.

And I'm truly grateful for your commitment to our community.

And as a small token of appreciation, I brought each of you some Girl Scout cookies.

Because due to an anonymous benefactor, and my organization gets them for free.

So again, thank you for what you do and keep up the good work.

And I'll hand Jody the cookies.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Yvette.

Next we have Ruth Dite, followed by Denise.

Thank you for the cookies as well.

It's really kind of you.

The American Enterprise Institute found zoning reforms would add one to 2.5% a year.

At 2.5%, up-zoning would generate only 318 more homes above what we built in 2024 and 325 above what we built in 2025. We do better limiting short-term rentals.

We have three to four thousands of those.

Why are we rushing to upzone so much so fast when it delivers so little?

I point again to the two high-level economic studies that found weak correlations between zoning and home prices.

The city can't afford to avoid information that suggests what it's doing isn't going to work.

We need to rethink what we're doing, expect less from upzoning, and focus on better solutions, including shelter housing, social housing, preserving normally affordable housing, and reducing land speculation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ruth.

Next we have, is it Denise or Bernice?

Denise, okay.

Welcome.

I am Denise Perez Lawley and I live and work in District 1. First, I wanna thank the council for continuing to move legislation forward connected to shelter expansion.

Expanding shelter is a necessary response to both Seattle's homeless crisis and the very real public safety concerns impacting neighborhoods across our city.

Over 2,400 people lived unhoused in Seattle last year and more than 60% surveyed had complex needs.

And so far only 75 shelter units for high support have been designated in the current expansion.

We must be honest about what it takes for shelter to truly work.

High support shelter models are essential for people living with high and complex needs.

Without deeper investments in high support shelters, Seattle's shelter system will continue to struggle to meet the needs of both unsheltered community members and surrounding neighborhoods.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge Council Member Rink for her proposed...

I know, thank you.

I know a minute goes by really quick.

Thank you for that.

Next we have Martha, followed by Kara, Scott and Kenneth.

Welcome.

Kara's up next, followed by Scott.

My name is Marta Quirana and I am the Community Engagement Manager at the Low Income Housing Institute, or Lehigh.

Firstly, I would like to thank Land Use Committee Chair, Lynn, and Council Bill 121195 sponsor, Council Member Foster, in addition to the full council.

Thank you for your efforts and support of shelter expansion for the benefit of our unhoused neighbors and overall community.

Thank you for elevating shelter and supportive service resources with such dedication and intention.

At this time, we ask that you do not pass Amendment A. Although this amendment seeks to ensure communication with schools within 500 feet from new or expanded shelter, this level of information sharing already takes place through currently required enhanced shelter community engagement.

Additionally, the amendment has no parameters regarding the timeline or how changes will be accounted for.

We ask that you pass Council Bill 121195 with the remaining amendments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Marta.

Next we have Kara followed by Scott and then Kenneth.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Kara Williams.

I work at the Low Income Housing Institute.

I would like to thank all of you, especially Land Use Chair Lynn, as well as Council Member Foster for sponsoring CB121195.

This legislation will make a real difference in how Seattle can address homelessness.

By expanding proven models, you're giving providers the ability to do more of what works and meet our unhoused neighbors with dignity and respect.

We ask that you do not pass Amendment A. This amendment duplicates the many public health and safety mitigation strategies that are written into the bill, like those included in the updated Good Neighbor Agreement and existing community engagement requirements for this type of shelter.

We support the rest of the proposed and passed amendments and appreciate your willingness to work with providers and community members to get to the final versions before you today.

Thank you all for treating homelessness in our city like the emergency it is.

Thank you.

Next we have Scott followed by Kenneth and then Margaret.

I'm Scott Buzzard with the American Party of Labor.

Where were your cameras, City Council?

Where were your cameras when one of my peers was killed in a blatant hate crime against trans lives that you refused to investigate as such?

These cameras are painted as a preventative measure by members like Kettle, yet they have done nothing to bring justice or stop murder.

Your militarized police force and abortion clinic-focused cameras did nothing to find the criminal, and they did nothing to stop this hate crime from happening.

Your cameras sit up on polls, watching citizens every move, but yet they couldn't do anything in tandem with the child-beating police force to stop a 19-year-old woman from being murdered.

What do these cameras do besides line your pockets with private contract money?

What do they do besides spy on workers and houseless people in poor neighborhoods?

The answer is a resounding nothing.

These cameras have done nothing for the people or their safety.

This past weekend, another shooting caught on your city cameras happened in Capitol Hill.

Again, where was the police force that you have spent nearly $500 million on?

What did these cameras do to alert the community?

What did they do besides capture the violence and show the uselessness of this surveillance?

There are people sleeping in dumpsters, under bridges.

Thank you, Scott.

Nearly $500 million of support, I'm sure.

Thank you, Scott.

Next we have Kenneth, followed by Margaret, and then Scott.

Another Scott.

Scott Boone, welcome.

Good afternoon, counsel.

My name is Ken.

We've met before, and I'm here to talk about the Starlink contract that SPD just announced.

So it is $100 million that SPD is spending on Starlink trash.

It was announced under the guise of, oh, it's security for the FIFA World Cup, but the contract lasts five months.

Now, let's assume that contract does start in June.

That would mean it would end in November.

You know what else starts in November?

The opening of a factory of a drone manufacturer, Brink, that works with Starlink.

So my question is, are you going to ensure that SPD does not renew that contract?

I don't think so.

Y'all are truly some of the biggest bozos in the fucking city.

That's ridiculous.

We have literal Nazis here and y'all are more embarrassing than that.

You should be embarrassed.

You should be humiliated.

If I had yelled at every single week by people who hired me, I'd be fucking humiliated.

Fuck you guys, I'll see you next week.

So next we have Margaret, followed by Scott, followed by Brian and Patrick, and then Mr. Gill, Howard Gill.

Next we have Margaret, welcome.

Good afternoon.

I'm Margaret Shield from D5, where I'm on a tiny house village advisory committee.

Please pass 121195 today with the four amendments thoughtfully developed in committee.

This will allow tiny house villages and vehicle lots to serve more unhoused people with safety for all.

A pilot site of up to 250 is also smart.

This works in other cities.

I urge you not to adopt Amendment A. It's not needed, given all the safety requirements in this legislation and the amendments, such as the public safety plans and good neighbor agreements.

Well-supported transitional shelters are not a threat.

They offer solutions.

I do see improvements in amendments B and C by their sponsors, thank you, but still have concerns.

On C, I still worry that self-contained will be interpreted in ways the sponsor doesn't intend to mean rigid barriers, separated facilities, and blocking residents from good interactions.

But thank you for all your hard work and your time working with shelter providers, homelessness groups, and community members

Thank you, Margaret.

Thank you.

Next we have Scott, followed by Brian, Patrick, and Howard.

Those are the last in-person speakers, unless there's some more that signed up, but we'll switch and go to online after we finish this list of speakers.

Scott.

Welcome.

I'm Scott Boone, the grandson of Dr. Wooden, applying for status of historical marker for the home.

A quick little background, Dr. Wooden was born in February 1865, two months before the end of the Civil War, graduated from medical school in the 1890s, Came out here to the west.

He had some relatives here.

And served on a ship going to Alaska as a surgeon during the Alaska Gold Rush of 1898. Came back here and joined the staff of the King County Hospital in the Georgetown area where he met a nurse, built a house, and got married.

And lo and behold, they had a little girl.

As time went by, the little girl had a little boy.

That was me.

We have now three generations of the family living in the same house and we have maintained the policy of keeping the house in as original condition as we can.

Very grateful to you for your consideration.

Thank you so very much.

Thank you Scott.

Next we have Brian followed by Patrick Howard-Gale and then we'll go to online speakers and we'll come back to our in-person speakers.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Brian Porter.

I am a Safety Ambassador Supervisor with WDC.

With five years of experience in the street outreach and three years working in the shelter facilities, I witnessed the critical role that safety and support play in our communities.

Today, I'm here to discuss a vital cause, the importance of including safety organizations that prioritize care and support rather than traditional security measures.

WDC has a proven track record spanning over six years demonstrating our ability to empower shelter operators and respond effectively to various challenges.

However, we are not a security company.

Our mission is rooted in compassion and understanding.

Continuity of care is essential for the success of our mission.

By ensuring that individuals receive consistent support, we can navigate the complex needs and promote long-term stability.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Brian.

Next, we have Patrick, followed by Howard Gale, and then we'll go online.

Yeah, hi.

My name's Patrick McKee.

I live in West Seattle, and I had two minutes of stuff to say.

But I'm reading that the Seattle Police Department has paid more than $100,000 to Elon Musk's Starlink for backup services during the World Cup.

Musk is the world's richest Nazi saluting racist.

He funds and platforms Nazis and racists in our country and around the world.

He bragged about destroying USAID at his Department of Government Efficiency.

These cuts have already resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, mostly kids.

Doing business with Nazi saluting racists doesn't necessarily make you a Nazi saluting racist, but it pretty clearly indicates Nazi saluting racism is not a deal breaker for at least some staff at SPD.

in a larger sense, these folks are employed by our city.

What does this say about us?

Is Nazi saluting racism a deal breaker for us as citizens or as city council leaders?

I recognize it's just a little fraction of Musk's democracy-threatening wealth that this contract represents, and it's not even paid by our taxes.

But our employees decided they were cruel contributing to Musk's corruption and bigotry.

Thank you, Patrick.

Thank you, Patrick.

Thank you, Patrick.

Thank you, Patrick.

Next we have Mr. Gill, Howard Gill.

Good afternoon.

At last Tuesday's full council meeting, Council Member Strauss called me out with obviously false claims, which I have documented in an email to all council members five days ago.

I will point out that Council Member Strauss' claim that I have, quote, a pattern of behavior targeting a certain individual on council is absurd when the record clearly shows that in the last 14 months, I have called out Council Member Kettle 10 times.

I have called out other members numerous times, including Council Member Strauss.

In last Tuesday's attack on me, Council Member Strauss also falsely claimed that I impugned the motives of Council Member Juarez.

My public comment that day implied nothing about anyone's motive, simply I stated facts.

Council Member Strauss' comments were an attempt to suppress First Amendment rights and abuse of the power and trust granted to him by voters.

It is grossly inappropriate for a paid and elected official to in any way make more difficult or costly an unpaid member of the public sacrifice and time to participate in the legislative process.

For these reasons, it is necessary for the council to censure...

Thank you, Mr. Gill.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Gill.

Next we'll go online.

And so Aiden, please press star six to unmute yourself, followed by Jelana and then Hannah, star six to unmute yourself.

Hello.

I am speaking today in support of the shelter expansion, allowing up to 150 occupants and a pilot site of up to 250. I want to oppose the amendments from any amendments except the four that were developed in the Land Use Committee.

We do not need shelters and services and housing that ought to be and every neighborhood to be segregated away from parks, schools, playgrounds, daycare, community centers.

There are lots of kids who are in homeless families.

There are not safety problems from homeless people that are required that kind of like different than anybody else.

Like cars are more dangerous than homeless people.

What I want to emphasize is that we need to be including an RV park.

I spoke to candidate for D5.

Thank you, Aiden.

Next we have Jelana followed by Hannah and then Concrete Rose.

You'll press star six to unmute yourself.

Hi, my name is Jelena.

I'm reading this comment on behalf of a young person with experience whose work schedule conflicted with this meeting today.

So this comment is on behalf of Lydia O' Taylor.

They mentioned last month that when they testified in favor of Council Bill 121-184 that they support the expansion in shelter capacity.

They also pointed out that it was an oversight to not establish more tent cities given that states were ongoing then and are ongoing now.

and they see that daily being the homeless being swept from place to place.

They also want to iterate their support of some of the amendments, the public safety plan which proposes a crime deterrent philosophy.

It appoints an accountable city liaison to respond to community concerns and staffing minimums and reasonable ratios of one case manager per 15 clients.

Their road disability was hindered by understaffing and a lack of reliable case managers because they face overwhelming crises.

They do oppose the amendments of 24-7 security, neighborhood divisions, and prohibitions on encampments.

And they also believe there should be more work done.

Thank you, Jelena.

Next we have Hannah, followed by Concrete, and then Rose.

Star 6M, mute yourself.

Hello, my name is Hannah Whitworth, and I'm the Domestic Violence Housing Systems Manager at the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence.

Our work at the Coalition is to care for, connect with, and mobilize over 35 gender-based violence programs who are all working to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking.

We'd like to share appreciation for the changes to Amendment A that take into account the impacts of families and DV survivors and the removal of controlled access from Amendment C. Finally, we wanted to share some concerns given that non-domestic violence designated shelters still serve and support survivors.

Currently, there are only 10 emergency domestic violence shelter units within the City of Seattle.

This results in non-DV program sheltering survivors.

With this in mind, even with the changes to Amendment A that creates exceptions for DV-designated shelters, the additional operating requirements will, in practice, continue to be barriers for survivors.

Rather, redirecting those funds towards the providers to ensure they have the ongoing staff and resources to meet the needs of survivors with support survivors in all shelter types.

Thank you for your expansion.

Support is expanding the shelter program.

Thank you, Hannah.

Next we have concrete followed by rose.

Press star six to unmute yourself.

We see you, just star six.

My name is Concrete Rose.

I'm a formerly homeless, young adult, advocate, writer, and founder of Triple H, which stands for Help for Homeless Hungry Humans.

Today I'm speaking in support of Bill 121195 and expanding shelter and transitional encampment capacity.

Before I experienced homelessness myself, I believed that if someone was struggling badly enough, eventually the system would help them before they hit the ground.

That is not what I experienced.

I experienced full shelters, long wait lists, instability, trauma, and the reality of trying to survive without enough safe spaces for people to go.

Homelessness is a survival issue.

People cannot stabilize or heal while fighting every day just to exist safely.

This is why expanding capacity matters.

Not everybody can immediately move into permanent housing.

Some people need transitional spaces, tiny home villages, and sanctioned encampments instead of dangerous unsheltered homelessness.

I support stronger staffing and case management, but I also caution against barriers that make shelter expansion harder.

And when people say shelters should not exist near neighborhoods, parks, or schools, I think we need to honestly ask where are homeless people supposed to go because homeless people are

Thank you, Concrete.

Next we have Rose, followed by Hillary, David, Alberto, and then Kyler.

Welcome, Rose.

Star six, unmute yourself.

Hello.

Just last week, the Seattle LGBTQ Commission recommended that the mayor declare a civil emergency for the ongoing attempt at genocide at trans people that is leading to a massive amount of refugees heading to Seattle.

One of these people that was going to Seattle was Juniper Blessing this last week who was murdered.

We need to realize that these are not just numbers, these are not just names.

We have individuals all over that are fleeing to our city and it is absolutely essential that we provide places for them and we provide a way for resources to be made for individuals in our community because everyone deserves here to be safe and they are not right now and we need individuals to feel that way.

It is the absolute minimum of what we should require for individuals in our community.

And the fact that it hasn't been is a disgrace to us all.

I urge the council to push for the mayor to support this declaration and support it themselves.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rose.

Next we have Hillary followed by David and then Alberto and then Kyler.

And then we'll go back to him in person.

Hillary, welcome.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Hillary Santini.

I live and work in District 3. I want to thank the Council for pushing to make legislation happen during this shelter expansion, including thoughtful amendments and the prioritization of good-neighbor agreements.

This is a necessary step in responding to the homelessness crisis, as well as neighborhood public safety issues throughout our city.

Again, thank you.

The Abel's shelter system must be designed to support people who have complex needs, a group that comprises more than 60% of our city's unsheltered population.

I do see that about 45% of new units coming online will provide for complex needs at one shelter site.

However, that does leave 55% not providing for complex needs, and we do have a population that needs that support.

So I please urge you to increase the investment in high support children models and making sure that it's very important that our neighborhoods and the surrounding communities are all providing to the people where they're at.

Thank you, Hillary.

Next we have David Haynes, followed by Alberto Alvarez and then Kyler.

Hi, thank you, David Haynes.

are they allowing cigarette smoking inside the encampments?

And think about this.

I think it would be better if you had the community service officers deployed around and inside the encampments at nighttime instead of making the nonprofits having to pay for-profit private security, many of whom are so untrustworthy and dishonest that they wouldn't even qualify to be an honest cop.

And we see that within transit security that looks the other way on all the horrible things that are going on around the corner at the West Lake Tunnel.

excuse me let's see here I just want to point out that our society is still exempting drug pushers from jail and prioritizing repeat offenders and none of them have been questioned to find out where they keep getting the drugs none of them have been required to break their addiction we needed encampments to force people to break their addiction instead of housing them and then overcharging but the private security is untrustworthy same as the

Thank you, David.

Next we have Alberto, followed by Kyler.

Alberto, welcome.

Thank you.

Council has a legal obligation to uphold the First Amendment and to protect our freedom of speech.

Civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance are fundamental to our freedoms.

Criticizing politicians, including all of you, is legally protected in our society.

Council must stop the policy that allows vindictive council members to ban people for statements they don't like.

You all may not like it, but that is the truth needed to maintain our personal freedoms and the power to hold government accountable.

Thank you all and have a good day.

Thank you, Alberto.

Next we have Kyler, and then we will go jump right into person with Nathan Wall, Alin, Alex, Sam, Hallie, and then I believe another person signed up in person.

Hi, council.

This is Kyler.

I just want to commend you all on rallying our city around supporting additional emergency and temporary shelter options.

It's been far too long since we've invested in that alongside investment in permanent supportive housing.

This is an important time to make sure that we have both shelter and housing for people in need in the city.

And I just want to highlight that as we increase shelter capacity, we need to make sure that we are increasing the capacity for High support individuals, people with complex needs.

Low support tiny home buildings do not support every single person who is currently homeless.

And actually most people do need some level of continued support while they move into housing.

So as we build a better system, we need to make sure we include high support individuals.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kyler.

All right, we'll go back to in-person.

We have Nathan Wall, followed by Miss Ellen.

Welcome, Nathan.

I'm here today to express my disappointment in the way Howard Gale was treated by Councilmember Strauss on May 12th.

On May 12th, Councilmember Strauss engaged in viewpoint discrimination against Mr. Gale and attempted to violate his First Amendment rights.

Councilmember Strauss' double standard is baffling because he did not once speak up when people actually personally attacked Sarah Nelson, including saying things about her physical appearance that were not nice, which I think we can agree went too far, even though I don't like Sarah Nelson.

Councilmember Strauss did not speak out about Sarah Nelson's policies, but rather spoke out when she started being mean to him personally.

Dan even suggested that wearing a Save Kirby t-shirt to the city council meeting could constitute harassment.

I don't think Rob Saka agrees with that.

and I'll beat the dead horse.

During Tammy Morales' second term, she was treated disrespectfully by almost everybody on this dais, except for Joy Hollingsworth and Bob Kettle.

And then Dan accused her of making false statements during the last budget hearing of 2024. So I'm just not really interested in hearing council members up here talk about Howard Hill being disrespectful.

Thank you, Nathan.

Next we have Elin.

Is Elin here?

I did see her.

She left?

Okay.

Understood.

Next we have Alex followed by Sam and then Hallie.

Welcome Alex.

Alex Lofton from the CD.

Thank you, council members.

My name is Alex Loftin, a resident of the CD and here with 4 Seattle Project.

And I'm here to urge you all to back the shelter expansion and to design it for the people it actually needs to serve.

Homelessness is the issue I'm hearing the most from our neighbors, the people living unsheltered and the neighbors around them.

Both are counting on this council to follow through.

That means designing for the 60% with complex needs, high support shelters, 24-7 case management, safety teams like WeDeliverCare that de-escalate, not just secure.

It means tracking outcomes openly.

Double down on what works.

Change course when it isn't working.

Don't throw out the program if the first version misses.

This is how we can actually deliver as a city.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Alex.

Next we have Sam, followed by Hallie, Sam Wolf.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Sam Wolf and I work for PDA as the local policy director.

I want to start by thanking Council for all of your hard work in enabling this much needed shelter expansion.

And I want to say that appropriately resourcing shelters is the single most important thing we can do to ensure recovery pathways, but also safe and orderly shelter operations.

In PDA's co-lead program, we've worked with We Deliver Care for years.

They provide de-escalation, milieu management, and work effectively alongside our staff in high support shelter settings.

Safety teams like WDC are not security teams, but have been key in obtaining the outcomes that we all want regarding safe and orderly shelter operations.

Please ensure that any added safety capacity allows for teams like WDC and is not limited just to traditional security teams.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Next we have Hallie Willis.

Welcome.

And I know we have a couple more people signed up as well.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Hallie Willis.

I'm the policy manager for the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness, which has over 50 member organizations that shelter, house, and care for members of our community every day.

I'm here to urge you to vote no on amendments A and B to the shelter expansion legislation before you today.

We deeply appreciate the improvements made to these amendments, but based on our conversations with shelter providers, we don't believe they'll produce greater safety or well-being for shelter guests or good relationships with the surrounding neighborhood.

Requiring security staff is not the same as creating the robust staff support shelters need, and adding requirements near schools creates unnecessary barriers.

The amendments before you today raise an important question.

If the city moves forward with large micromodular shelters, how can we ensure that we do that well?

We urge you to take those conversations seriously.

They should take place with direct service providers in collaboration with HSD.

Thank you, Hallie.

Next we have Jonathan Toledo, followed by Bennett.

Welcome, Jonathan.

Mmh.

I wanted to start off by just calling into focus that this is the sixth anniversary of the brutal murder by SPD of Terry Caver and he was yet another black man experiencing a severe mental health crisis much the same too in the way that Christian Nelson was before he was gunned down and the entire block was shut down for upwards of 12 hours so this means a lot to me personally because I was there and I saw his body lay on the floor so you know when I say that me and my organization are going to the precinct that is responsible for these murders of our civilians you know I say with a lot of happiness because you know these pigs are running rampant you know when you see a loose dog that's rapid you don't let it walk you you put it down you take it off the street so I'm really excited for that so It's going to be a really great march.

Thank you, Jonathan.

Next we have Bennett.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, counsel.

I want to go on record that I agree that I think it would be unconstitutional to penalize Dr. Howard Gale for the comments that he made during public comment last week.

I did make a partial transcript of what he said.

Again, I'm not saying I agree, but this is a transcript of what he said.

It's appropriate for you guys to make decisions that we don't like, it's not appropriate for you guys to gaslight us, and yet Council Member Juarez decided that I was doing sanction, that I was being disruptive, and so all I would ask Council Member Juarez is this, would you say that to the people who took over Discovery Park in 1970, which led to the creation of the Star Center, that they were being disruptive?

Again, I'm not taking sides in that back and forth.

It's not about whether or not I agree.

This is about a person's, a council member's statements in her official capacity as a city council member and criticizing that is well within the bounds of what you are allowed to do during public comment.

This was within the two minutes that he was allowed.

That's within the rules.

I would invite the council after public comment today to clarify that he's not going to be punished for that now or in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bennett.

Are there any more public commenters that have signed up?

Awesome.

Sorry, and for the record, Council Member Juarez was at the Star Center with those folks, so I would wonder what she would ask herself.

So now I just want to thank everyone for public comment.

Thank you all for coming down.

We're looking forward to the meeting today and always appreciate people's Always appreciate people sending us in public comment.

If I know one minute goes by quick, but you can always send us emails.

Oftentimes there's council members hanging out after meetings, like trying to be accessible and available at all times.

So I just wanna thank you all for your comments today.

Now we're gonna transition.

Public comment period is now closed.

Colleagues, we're now gonna jump right into the meeting.

because we got a lot of business to go forward.

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

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

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

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

We're gonna now consider the proposed consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar are the minutes of May 12th, 2026, Council Bill 121-210, payment of the bills, two appointments from Governance and Utilities Committee.

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

Looking left and right, hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Will someone please give me a second?

Second.

Thank you.

I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Oh, I already said that.

My apologies.

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

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Awesome.

Consent calendar is adopted, and will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf?

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

I think your microphone might- Excuse me.

Oh, there we go.

The report of the Governance and Utilities Committee, appointment 03494, the reappointment of Andrew Lee as General Manager as Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Public Utilities for term to December 31st, 2029. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Awesome.

So as chair of the committee, I'm gonna provide the report quickly, and I will provide a quick comment.

I've had the pleasure of working with our GM CEO, Lee, Andrew Lee, for the last two and a half years and looking, and we've always tackled very hard, tough issues.

I have known him to be very intelligent.

Obviously, he went to Stanford, so we talked about that.

Very intelligent.

Yes, Stanford.

Very intelligent, has always, and I said it in our meeting, has always just been a kind person as well, but very knowledgeable about the challenges that we're facing in our city, the challenges that we're facing with public utilities, the environmental impact, also affordability that's coming down the line.

And I've just always felt like I've gotten a straight answer from General Manager Lee to understand just like the complexities of Seattle Public Utilities from stormwater code to wastewater treatment to solid waste, all these different pieces.

He's always been able to explain them to us as legislators as we are making laws and a lot of the things that are coming to council for us to better, so we can make really great decisions.

And so I have, there are people that speak very highly of General Manager Lee, and I couldn't be more pleased this pass out of committee with, I believe five in favor, none, zero opposed.

And I am so excited to vote yes on this reappointment today.

And I will pause here and see if there's any other comments from our colleagues before we start.

Council Member Juarez.

It's good to see you again, Mr. Lee, or General Manager Lee.

I think we've been through at least maybe three or four mayors together and a decade of work, and I've always appreciated working with you, and I apologize for bringing up Stanford in committee.

Apparently that has stuck the tree, but it's been your confirmation packet, of course.

Your resume, your experience is a testament to Seattle hiring some of the best and the brightest and I'm glad to see you back.

And as Council President Sherrod, who's also chair of the committee, it was unanimous vote.

So again, welcome and it's good to see you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Chair.

General Manager Lee has my whole hearted support.

I'll be happy to support his reappointment today.

I'm always impressed with General Managers Lee deep knowledge of his field.

He's always able to see issues from both a high level perspective and on the ground details.

As well, I want to acknowledge what a great leader you are and manager.

You consistently lead with kindness.

It shows and it shows in your staff as well when we meet with them.

And I also want to say how much you care about the residents as well and your availability and willing to meet with our constituents as we're doing the work.

And that is noted and very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Saka, did I see your hand?

Yes, Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I'll be brief.

General Manager Lee, I just want to say I appreciate you.

In addition to being a highly capable, intelligent, and competent leader, you've just been a pleasure to work with over these last couple years for me and my office.

You've led the department with great care, great tact, navigating some challenging times, and I'm confident you are the person to take the department and help lead into the future.

And appreciate your partnership, your responsiveness with me and my office.

our constituents across the city of Seattle and your thoughtful engagements and collaboration during the annual King Tide events and beyond as you, your department and my office work closely together to navigate some of these various climate challenges impacting the Duwamish Valley in my district.

So thank you, excited to be able to support your nomination today.

Awesome, thank you, Councilmember Saka.

Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President, and since you brought up Stanford, I do have to say, fear the tree, otherwise my wife would be mad at me.

So, but I just wanted to note, this is my third year being on the Committee for Public Utilities, and then I had two years with the Regional Water Quality Committee, and so I've had a lot of interaction, and plus my strong interest in all things maritime that I've been working, so I've had a lot of interaction with various elements of the department, one thing I will say that they reflect their leader, they reflect the leadership that you're showing and they're also getting the job done.

And this is really important because there's big picture issues out there, you know, in terms of like the SOTO wet weather treatment facility, you know, managing the water, you know, for our drinking water, but then also the, you know, stormwater runoff, you know, what's happening with the consent decree, the environmental pieces.

It is a big project and big undertaking and and again, the team reflects you and great credit, as they say, upon the department.

So thank you and of course support your nomination.

And if you're wondering why Council Member Sock is grinning at me, it's because there's an element of a military term in there that I use, so he picked up on it pretty quick.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Are there any further comments before us before we take the vote to confirm General Manager Lee?

And then we'll offer some time for him to provide some comments as well.

All right.

Awesome.

Will the clerk...

Oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Will the clerk please call the roll on confirmation of the appointment?

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sacca?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lin?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Aye.

Any in favor, none opposed.

Motion carries.

The appointment is confirmed.

Congratulations, General Manager Lee.

And you are recognized to provide comments.

Yes, I'll be brief.

Just thank you so much for reconfirming me today, and also thank you for your really kind words.

I'm humbled and honored to continue working together with 1,500 amazing employees that make up our Department of SPU.

And I do believe we provide the best drinking water in the nation, and also excellent services in drainage and wastewater, solid waste, and clean city.

I count it a privilege and also an honor to have your trust and confidence in delivering on your priorities, whether they be keeping our rates affordable, protecting South Park from sea level rise, supporting housing in our city, or restoring salmon in our creeks.

These are all important priorities, and I know we share them together.

Thank you for allowing me to continue in this general manager role, and I look forward to supporting you in the great work that we do as a city.

Thank you.

Director Lee, Fear the Tree, we heard you, Councilmember Kittle.

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

Agenda Item 2, Council Bill 121202, an ordinance relating to Seattle Public Utilities authorizing the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Public Utilities or designee to execute amendments to the interlocal agreement between Seattle Public Utilities and the King County Flood Control Zone District for the South Park Interim Flooding Preparedness and Response Program.

The committee recommends City Council pass the bill.

Awesome, thank you.

So as chair of the committee, I'm gonna provide the report.

Colleagues I currently serve on the King County Flood District Advisory Committee and this interlocal agreement will be essential to help South Park to prepare for future floods like temporary flood walls, and a pump and bypass system.

And I want to also thank Council Member Saka for his, I know he doesn't, I don't think you sit on the committee with me.

However, just your partnership and your advocacy in South Park and all the work that you've been doing with Seattle Public Utilities, making sure that community is protected.

So just wanted to give you a shout out there and thank you for that, Council Member Saka.

Colleagues, I urge your vote.

This is four in favor, none opposed.

Are there any comments on the bill?

Okay, awesome.

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

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

The Report of the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee, Agenda Item 3, Appointment 03492. Appointment of Quinn Pham as Director of the Department of Neighborhoods for a term to December 31st, 2029. The Committee recommends Council confirm the appointment.

Awesome.

And I see that Acting Director Pham has joined us to the table.

Council Member Rivera as Chair as the Committee.

You are recognized to offer the report.

Thank you, Council President.

Welcome.

Interim Director Pham soon to be officially Director Pham.

Colleagues Acting Director Pham's appointment was passed unanimously out of the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee on the 13th of this month.

As you know, Acting Director Pham was previously the Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon before coming to work for the city.

During her time there, she conducted meaningful work to raise awareness about her community's rich cultural history, priorities and challenges.

While getting to know Acting Director Pham, I have appreciated the thoughtful and kind way she approaches her work.

The Department of Neighborhoods is sort of the front porch of the city, and I look forward to seeing how Acting Director Pham will use her years of experience as a community organizer to build on and improve the way that Don conducts its outreach to neighborhood and community groups.

It's so important that all groups across the city are aware of and can participate in city programs.

I'm so happy to vote for her confirmation today, and I welcome you joining me in that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Colleagues, are there any comments on the floor about the confirmation?

Oh, Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you so much, Chair Rivera, for bringing this nomination forward.

And thank you to Acting Director Quinn for your service in community and also for your service to the City of Seattle as you step into this new role.

I just wanted to take a moment to say I feel we are so honored to have you and your leadership.

having gotten to witness it for, I think, the last decade, if that's my math right, at Friends of Little Saigon.

And I know that you are just somebody who brings this dedication, this calmness, and yet this fierceness to doing the right thing.

And I just feel like I'm excited to witness your leadership in the coming years.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you.

I'll be brief.

I just wanted to say thank you for the years of partnership and our ability to work together before you came to the city.

You are really one of the few people that we worked on some really big, hard projects together.

We haven't totally resolved those issues.

We have a lot more work to do, and I'm just really heartened that you're now part of the city family so that we can work together from the inside and maybe find some new external pressures to help us with the inside-outside strategy.

Really glad, really honored, really excited to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Are there any other comments about our acting director that's going to be confirmed today?

at all.

Just grateful for your service.

Obviously, we met a couple years ago, your work in Little Saigon, and just always had positive energy from you and your work.

And that really means a lot.

You can know everything about whatever.

If you're not a nice person and kind, you do not go far in life.

So anyways, thank you.

And will the clerk please call the roll to confirm Director Pham?

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Thank you.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council President Alex Ruth?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Awesome.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Congratulations, Director Pham.

and you are recognized to provide some words.

Yes, thank you so much.

Thank you Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Rivera for your continued support and thank you all Councilmembers for your partnership over the years, but also I'm looking forward to working with many of you as well to build the future for the department.

I also want to thank the staff at Dawn over the past few months.

I've had the opportunity to see firsthand the amount of care and commitment they bring to this work every day.

The department carries 35 years of relationships and institutional knowledge, and I'm incredibly proud to be part of that legacy.

As someone who came from PACE, the first cohort over a decade ago, this moment is especially meaningful for me.

I know personally what it feels like when government creates space for people like me to participate and to lead and to believe that their voice matters.

That experience really helped shaped my path and it continues to shape how I see public service today.

and so my vision for Dawn is really rooted in relationships, accountability and impact.

I want us to continue to strengthen trust between communities and government.

I want us to help departments engage earlier and more meaningfully with our residents and I want communities, especially those furthest from government, to feel like they can shape the future of the city and not just to respond to it.

I also believe good government requires honesty.

Our communities want transparency about constraints.

They want us to follow through on our commitments and have a seat at the table before decisions are finalized.

That's the kind of leadership and partnership I hope to continue building with this council, with the mayor's office, with our departments, and most importantly with the people of Seattle that I now hope to serve.

As Dawn celebrates its 35th anniversary, I'm excited too and grateful for this opportunity to serve as we chart the next 35 years together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Director, and thank you, Councilmember Rivera, for shepherding that through your committee as well.

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

Agenda Item 4, Council Bill 121197, an ordinance relating to historic preservation, imposing controls upon the wooden house, a landmark designated by the Landmarks Preservation Board under Chapter 25.12 of the Seattle Municipal Code, and adding it to the table of historical landmarks contained in Chapter 25.32 of the Seattle Municipal Code, the Committee recommends Council pass the bill.

Awesome, thank you, Council Member Rivera, Chair of the Committee.

You're recognized to provide the report.

Thank you, Council President.

You heard from Scott Boone during public comment today.

He's the owner of the Wooden House.

This landmark legislation came before the Land Committee on the 13th, and I really enjoyed hearing the history of the home and the many generations that have stewarded and safeguarded the home.

I also appreciated hearing about Scott's grandmother, Emma Jean Wooden, who was a longtime community booster and helped to build a play field in Georgetown, which is actually named after her still today.

So bringing this before you colleagues for a vote today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Are there any other comments regarding the bill before us?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sacca?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lynn?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The chair will sign up.

Will the clerk please affix my signature?

Can I change my vote?

Yes.

Can we do another roll call?

Is there any objection to that?

Seeing and hearing none, we will do another roll call.

I didn't know if I have to ask for an objection.

We could just add her signature.

She walked in before we had totally closed, but we can cover our bases.

We'll take another roll call.

Okay.

Would you like to vote aye?

I would like to vote aye.

I had to say hi to my nephew.

Okay.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Your guess vote will be awesome.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

Chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix the signature on my behalf?

Congratulations, Scott.

I don't see him, but...

But he had really nice suspenders.

That was the one thing I saw.

It was kind of cool.

Okay, so will the clerk please read number five into the record?

Item number five.

the report of the Land Use and Sustainability Committee Council Bill 121195, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning adopting interim provisions to expand the capacity of transitional encampments and amending sections 23.42.054 and 23.42.056 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends council pass as amended the council bill.

Awesome, thank you.

Clerk, I'm gonna pass it to Council Member Lynn as chair of the committee to give the committee report how we'll do this, because there are three amendments before us.

I'll pass it to Council Member Lynn and then I believe some folks wanna make comments about the bill and amendments, so we'll open that up and then we will start moving those.

So I'm gonna pass it to Council Member Lynn and then we'll go from there.

Thank you, Council President, and if it's okay, I'd like to pass it off to the prime sponsor, Councilmember Foster.

All right, thank you so much, Chair, and thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I'm really excited that we have the opportunity to vote today on this bill for shelter expansion.

I believe we heard this first in committee in early April, and we've had a lot of fantastic engagement since then, so I want to first start off with appreciating the folks who have been here for public comment.

I know many of you have been here every week, it seems, as we've discussed this bill consistently, and not just here for public comment, but doing really deep engagement with various council offices behind the scenes.

I know many of you have answered my various questions several times.

So thank you for that engagement on this bill and that work.

I want to thank my colleagues in Land Use for the work that we did together to, I believe, make this bill better.

You know, I know all of us share a sense of urgency around addressing homelessness, and we also share a sense of making sure that we get this expansion right, and I believe that we did a lot of work to move in that direction.

I really want to thank the mayor for acting with urgency and prioritizing homelessness.

As I said before in committee, we've been in a state of emergency for homelessness for quite a long time, and it makes sense that we have a responsibility to act with that urgency, as well as to balance that urgency with with things that we've talked about over the last several weeks, the appropriate staffing, how to make sure that we have clear lines of communication.

And I'm proud of that work.

So colleagues, I know there are several amendments that we will be discussing today.

I look forward to having that discussion.

At the end of the day, what this bill is about is ensuring several things.

It's about ensuring that we use our public land effectively and efficiently.

We are looking at increasing the census capacity on these properties from 100 folks to 150 folks on these properties.

That will allow us the opportunity to ensure that more people can be housed.

And that's so important that more people will have this shelter because we know it's that shelter that provides people the stability the connection to services and the opportunity to move forward with their lives.

And then we have the one location that will be able to house up to 250 residents.

And this is an opportunity for us with this interim legislation to make sure that this expansion is really well run and really well done.

and I believe that the engagement that we've had, the leadership that we've had, and the work that we've done on this bill sets us up for success in both of those areas.

So I look forward to engaging in the conversation around the amendments at Council today, but colleagues, I do ask for your support on the underlying bill.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you, Council Member Foster.

I'll save my comments till the end and to give everyone their flowers, but thank you for bringing this forward.

And colleagues, I will pause here, Council, to see if anyone has comments about the overall bill, and then I'm gonna look to the Council sponsor, excuse me, the amendment sponsors to move their amendments.

Council Member Juarez, before I go to Council Member Kettle.

Appointed Chair, Madam.

Madam Chair.

Point of order, Madam Chair.

So, should we hold our comments on the underlying legislation and proposed amendments at the very end?

Would that be more helpful than trying to do it now?

Say that one more time.

Should we have our comments about the legislation after the amendments as we close it out?

Would that be better?

Ideally, but if you want to have comments now, Councillor Kettle would...

I'll wait till the end.

Okay, thank you.

So what we'll do is we'll do amendments first, and then we'll comment about the overall bill at the end.

Is that okay?

Thank you.

Awesome.

All right, so I'm going to turn to Council Member Rivera to move your amendment.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to amend Council Bill 121195 as reflected on Amendment A.

Second.

And just so you know, colleagues, I'm gonna second everyone's amendment so we can have discussion.

Second.

So it's been moved and second to amend bill as presented on Amendment A. Council Member Rivera, you are recognized in order to address it.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I've publicly stated starting when I was running for office that I support tiny home villages.

We need to take care of our unhoused neighbors across the city.

I want to ensure that tiny home villages are cited and I want them to succeed.

Based on conversations with you colleagues and with shelter providers, as well as learning about State Bill 2266, I pulled my original amendment.

The amendment before you is a new amendment that aligns with Senate Bill 2266. It allows SDCI and HSD to work with the operator of a shelter sited near a school or another shelter to address any additional public health and safety impacts that might be identified.

It does not apply to shelters for families and children or recovery shelters.

The identified additional safety concerns may be negotiated.

This is not a must requirement, it is a may. allowing everyone to work together.

And to clarify what I heard from public comment today, this amendment is not a requirement, it is an allowance, that's why it's the May language.

This means SDCI and HSD and the provider can work together and include additional public health and safety measures in the contract with the provider as suggested during public comment.

I will also add colleagues, this is just in my experience in ensuring that we set up shelters for success, we really ought to be adding additional amendments in the legislation that both codify state law and that really encourage everyone to work together to make all the shelters work well in our city and really set up everybody for success.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Are there any comments on Amendment A, Version 1 to Council Bill 121195?

Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, while I appreciate the changes that have been made since the initial introduction in the Land Use and Sustainability Committee to ensure that we are not in violation of state law, I will be voting against this amendment today for a couple of reasons.

First being what I view as some redundancy since Section D7A already requires a septet assessment prior to site openings to provide site and community-specific recommendations.

intended to mitigate public health and safety impacts.

Additionally, it's my understanding that in the development of this amendment, the Human Services Department was not consulted despite being named as a collaborator in Section 11 with the portion that states negotiating additional operating requirements to mitigate potential public health or safety impacts.

Now, to my knowledge, the Human Services Department already negotiates provider service and security needs on a shelter-by-shelter basis directly with operators.

We need to make sure that this plan is set up for success, and from my perspective, that means ensuring resources and staffing to prioritize safety and good relationships within the individual neighborhoods.

So I'll be voting no on this amendment today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Council Member Kettle.

Followed by Council Member Lin.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm gonna speak to the bill after these amendments are done and speak into the various pieces related to public safety, for example.

And I do want to know, if you read the language, the public safety piece has been largely placed in there.

And it's from the lessons learned and so forth that we've done.

in terms of our work over the years related to service providers and to include in District 7, but throughout the city.

And I'm happy that those are in because this is more comprehensive.

This is what we're trying to do versus land use.

So I appreciate these pieces that are in here.

and I also appreciate and understand the points that Council Member Rink is saying and they're right because these pieces are in here.

That said, you know, schools are a very special case.

I recently did a public safety walk starting in Rainier Beach at the Rainier Beach Community Center where we went to Dunlop Elementary, then we went to South Shore, the K-8 school there and there's actually a tiny home village right across the street and up a bit.

And so I believe everything is fine with that location and everything is good.

And then we finished, by the way, at the Rainier Beach High School.

It was a fantastic public safety walk with members of the community, the school district, King County, the city.

It was fantastic.

There is a certain redundancy here, but because of the May language and the need to ensure that our schools are safe, I will be voting yes for this.

With those points made, I see this will be just a double check, if you will, related to school safety, which is a big issue that we're working.

And when I say that, I'm not saying that it's automatic, but it's worth the check.

And so for that reason, I will support it.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle, Councilmember Lin, followed by Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Council President and colleagues.

Thanks again to Councilmember Foster for being the lead sponsor.

And, you know, this has been a balance as we've tried to move quickly, but also thoughtfully.

I'm gonna be voting no on all the amendments today.

And I think I struggled with where I was at.

I think there's a lot of good intention behind these amendments.

And I do wanna note that this is interim legislation.

As soon as we, assuming we do pass this, we're gonna have to hold a public hearing within 60 days to take more public comments.

And we're gonna have to come up with a work plan to develop permanent regulations in collaboration with the mayor's office.

So, you know, these amendments, I just think I wasn't quite there.

I think they need just a little bit more workshopping.

But I do just want to speak to the need, what I see as alignment across the floor with the mayor's office is the need for robust services for robust security.

And I think as we engage with our providers and many of our folks who are unhoused who have had bad experiences with shelter in the past, who, you know, I spoke with someone living in an RV last week and I was talking to them about, you know, the upcoming RV safe lot and they expressed concerns because they had heard about a shooting in an RV lot in the recent history.

and it's named RV Safe Lot for a reason, it's supposed to be safe.

And so most of all, I wanna make sure that when we invite people into shelter, when we invite people into RV Safe Lots, that we are making sure that we are providing those robust services and safety for them, for the neighborhood.

And that's gonna require, as we've heard, hard discussions for us as we approach budget season.

I do think many of these requirements would be better housed within our human services contracts with providers and at the end of the day I think it's going to require collaboration with us with the mayor's office with you know our local neighborhoods with our fire department SPD CARE and others.

So thank you to my colleagues.

I will be voting no on these, but it is my commitment to continue to work with you, especially as we develop the permanent regulations for this new shelter search.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

Councilmember Saka, followed by Councilmember Juarez.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I'm going to be supporting this amendment today, and here's why.

At a high level, it leaves room for a lot of discretion and flexibility in how it's implemented, A, and B, if it's even implemented at all.

I'll read the text of the amendment.

It says, the director, the relevant text, an excerpt portion, the director in consultation with the director of the Human Services Department may negotiate additional operating requirements to mitigate potential public health and safety impacts.

Key and operative word there is may.

It does not purport to impose an affirmative or definitive obligation on anyone.

It leaves plenty of room for discretion and flexibility.

The Department, the Director, and or the Human Services Department Director may choose to implement it, they may not.

is completely discretionary.

And for those reasons, I'll be supporting this today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sokka.

Council Member Juarez, followed by Council Member Foster.

Thank you.

I have no problems here today voting yes on this, and I'll tell you why.

As somebody who is here in 2021, 20, and 2022, The actual fact pattern did play out with Seattle Public Schools at Broadview on Bitter Lake, where we went from 3 tenths to well over 60. And we had jurisdictional disputes because Seattle Public Schools, it was their property.

It wasn't the city of Seattle's property.

There was no mechanism in place for Seattle Public Schools to be notified or work with our city departments, because it wasn't our land.

They took a different position about, quote, unquote, no sweeps.

But in the meantime, Broadville Elementary and the surrounding neighborhoods were not happy.

And so those of us, and nothing against those of us that are elected citywide, but those of us that are district representatives worked with and dealt with constituents and parents when that fall and school opened that you can go from four or five tenths up to 60 or 70 and our hands were tied.

There's nothing we could do.

So when we distinguish between operators and providers, I think Council Member Saka hit it right on the nose.

I think you have, and it is a may, it's not a shell, it's not a different, another burden, but it's saying there has to be some discretion and some opportunity so we don't have this no man's land of jurisdiction with Seattle Public, or Seattle Police Department, Seattle Public Schools, City of Seattle, and everybody pointing at each other and nobody told the school that they were gonna allow more tents.

Now, again, this isn't about criminalizing the homeless.

This isn't that people don't have empathy.

It's about a may and giving an opportunity and a space for the operator provider to maybe have discussions if indeed there will be a tiny house village near a school.

And that has been an ongoing problem.

And I know some people don't want to hear this politically.

It's kind of the elephant in the room.

But some of us were around when Mayor Murray declared the war on homelessness in 2015. And I think Council Member Strauss was around during 21, 22 when we were dealing with other encampments.

three other elementary schools and a high school.

And it was really difficult.

And us having to talk to the principals of the school and the superintendent of Seattle Public School and have to hear their concerns and complaints about why didn't anyone tell us that this was gonna happen, who do we talk to?

And so I don't think that this is like a bad thing.

I think it's good governance.

And again, it's not a shell, as Council Member Saka pointed out, being another lawyer, it's a may. and I don't think there's anything wrong with saying, hey, let's talk to Seattle Public Schools, let's talk about our schools and safety because we did have safety issues.

We did have shootings, we did have overdoses and we also had them next to our parks, our community centers and our bathrooms.

So I'm just going to be honest about that.

I know a lot of people don't want to hear that, but that is what it is.

And I speak from being a District 5 representative elected in 2015. And so I think just a little institutional knowledge and just a little common sense isn't a bad thing.

I don't think it makes us bad people if we say may instead of shall.

So for that reason, I'll be voting yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Foster, and if there are any other comments after Council Member Foster, if not, we'll go back to the amendment sponsor.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thanks, colleagues, for your comments.

I know there's been significant work done on this amendment since the first time that it was introduced, and I appreciate those changes.

I will be voting no on this for several reasons, and I appreciate the focus on may as opposed to shall colleagues.

I will say I still have significant concerns around implementation, potentially running afoul of state law, as well as significant concerns around the differentiation between different types of shelters that we're making in this amendment.

Further, you know, I believe that the work that we did, and I thank you, Council Member Juarez, for working so closely with me and for your leadership on the amendment for the public safety plan, I believe the work that we did on that amendment allows us to take into consideration unique needs of any of the shelter locations that would be identified under this legislation.

So I believe there's already a provision to allow from that, from my perspective.

So for those reasons, colleagues, I'll be voting no on this amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll just close by saying a couple things.

One is it does not hurt to call out this piece about the schools because it is important for all of us to work together to ensure, like I said earlier, that we have success at the schools.

And some of us have seen, to Councilmember Horace's points earlier, issues in the past.

And so we want to acknowledge that we care and that we're going to work together and if something additional is identified to make the shelter successful at that location then we may do that.

I will say in terms of the conversation about the contracts, we as council don't have the ability to weigh into contracts at the department level.

That's really a mayor's office function.

They oversee the city departments and they can tell their departments, hey, when you put that contract together, please make sure to include these provisions in the contracts.

Council doesn't always have insight.

we don't always have visibility into all of those contracts.

So how counsel has the ability to say to a department, hey, we care about this.

So when you're doing that work, can you please include this other thing is via the legislative process, which is why this says again may.

This may happen that you work together if additional public safety measures need to be put in place, then you can work together and it can be included in the contract.

Absent that, it would require us to stay on top of, you know, we'd have to work with the mayor's office and the department to ensure that something got in and then it doesn't always, if they don't agree, make its way in.

So I want to level set the conversation about things are better placed in contracts.

It's okay for us in the legislative process to indicate some interest in particular areas that might be reflected in a contract.

In any event, I just want to underscore that I don't think there is a lot of alignment here on shelters and siting these tiny home villages and ensuring we are supporting our unhoused populations and that we really set up for success by acknowledging where we've had prior issues and fostering an opportunity to have people work together to make things even better if that opportunity is there and the parties so choose.

It's an opportunity.

It is not a requirement.

I hope to have your support.

This seems like common sense.

legislation.

It's not meant to be onerous and that's why it's the May language and the opportunity language versus an actual requirement.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

So it's been moved and second.

Are there any other additional comments regarding Amendment A?

Colleagues, I will be supporting this.

I believe it provides discretion, flexibility.

It's simple.

And most importantly, we have to build trust with our community.

So I will leave it at that.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the Will the clerk please call the roll on Amendment A to Council Bill 121195?

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sokka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Sorry.

Sorry sir, that was a no.

Thank you.

Yep.

Council Member Foster?

No.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lynn?

No.

Council Member Rank?

No.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Yes.

That's five in favor, four opposed.

So amendment number A passes.

Will the clerk please, or excuse me, the motion carries amendment A is adopted.

Excuse me.

I move, oh, and then I'll pass it to Council Member Rivera to move amendment number B.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to amend Council Bill 121195 as reflected on Amendment B.

It's been moved and second to amend the bill as presented on Amendment B. Council Member Bavaria, you're recognized in order to address it.

Thank you, Council President.

I made changes to Amendment B again as I had conversations with you all and providers, which I reflected here in this new version of the amendment.

I heard from providers in my district to operate permanent supportive housing and low-income housing.

The new version of this amendment only requires overnight security, not 24-7, just overnight, that it's identifiable and trained.

It does not require third-party security, nor does it set the hours.

There is flexibility for that.

This is for the operators to determine.

The providers that have instituted overnight security in my district have seen fewer 911 calls, fewer incidents, increased resident participation and an increase in staff morale.

In essence, it has provided safety for the residents and the staff who are the most impacted by public safety issues at the sites and the surrounding neighbors and neighborhoods.

Colleagues, I believe, as I said earlier, if we work together, we're going to have better outcomes.

And this amendment, as was the last one, were crafted with this goal in mind.

We all support tiny homes.

We want to ensure they're set up for success.

This security piece is not meant to be onerous.

And as I said earlier in the sites that have instituted some type of security, It's worked really well for the residents that live there and for the surrounding neighbors as well.

And that's what we want.

We want folks to live in safe environments.

The folks that are living in the tiny homes and the folks that are their neighbors in the tiny homes.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Colleagues, are there any comments regarding Amendment B?

Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Oh, let me get my mic here.

Thank you so much, Council President.

And I wanted to share, colleagues, I'm again going to reference some of the work that we did in committee and appreciate Councilmember Rink for her amendment on 24-hour staffing, as well as an amendment that provides some goals for case management ratios.

I believe those amendments were really important in making sure that we have adequate and appropriate staffing on site as we seek to do this shelter expansion.

For those reasons, I will be voting no on this amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

As I'm sitting here looking at these amendments and what's the language above, It is striking that we're talking about public safety, public safety, public safety on a land use committee bill that has been sponsored by the housing committee chair.

I just make that point because there is a good governance point here generally that we should be mindful of, particularly as we move from interim and then moving forward.

So I wanted to make that point.

Additionally, by the way, related to Amendment A, I think the city would be happy to know that the relationship between city government, at least with city council and the school district, I can't necessarily speak for the executive, is much better.

So Council Member Juarez, thank you for bringing up the history and the challenges that we were facing a decade ago.

but I would, it's important to know that we've been building the relationship with the school district.

Superintendent Scholdinner, very positive, very positive relationship with him.

I mentioned the Rainier Beach Public Safety Walk.

We had representatives from the school district.

their security person in addition to the principals from the three schools.

So it's very positive.

So I think the city should know that, you know, often in the past when I was at the Queen Anne Community Council, I would often note that, you know, between the school district and the city, it's almost like they have to exchange ambassadors in order to have some type of relationship.

And we've definitely moved beyond that.

And I think it's important.

I think it's really important for this topic here.

As noted, as I noted at the beginning, there's a lot of public safety pieces into this, and I've been working with these service providers I've met countless, to include those that have done public comment, those that used to work for service providers who now work for the city, Mr. Grant, and others on these tiny home villages, but all across the board.

And from that experience, I do know the challenges, and like the Salmon Bay Village, that we had which was a, you know, RV safe lot and there was issues but it was done well.

And the security pieces were designed into it and they had staffing, 24-hour staffing that could make that 911 call or control who was coming in, checking coming in and out.

So the staffing could, you know, do those kinds of functions and I think they did them well.

And I say this because I also know from all this engagement with service providers that and can I add too, by the way, in terms of security, you know, private security and the like, first I want to thank all the businesses across the city that bring on private security or other non-profit organizations generally that do it because it's hard and it's expensive.

I've been engaging with one location in District 7 and they don't bring it in because of the cost and so forth.

And I raise this point because for these shelters, the margins are not that great and the cost of having a dedicated security team would be problematic.

But given the fact of the other public safety pieces, the fact that we have 24-hour staffing that could, again, make that 911 call, do these different pieces that have a security element to it, I don't want to conflate the two, that based on this and the factors in terms, particularly in terms of the cost and so forth, that on this bit, this amendment, I will vote no.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

Council Member Lin.

Thank you.

Just a couple questions for Council Member Rivera.

I think there was a prior amendment that requires 24 seven staffing of two staff and just curious, would this be, could one of those two staff be the train security staff during overnight?

So you wouldn't have to have three necessarily if this passes, that one of them could be on the 24 seven staffing.

Is that the intent?

Absolutely, please.

Yes, please.

Yes, Council Member Lynn, this doesn't have a number, nor does it say it has to be a third party.

If security is providing the security, then they just need to be trained, because I think it's important not to put staff in a situation where their safety is at risk, so they should be trained and identifiable.

People should know who's providing that security.

So there is flexibility within, and also it doesn't say how many, like the hours overnight.

because it works differently in different places for different providers.

So there is flexibility built in.

It just acknowledges that security is needed at these locations for the residents as much as for the neighbors.

and they should be identifiable and trained so that they're not put in harm's way because unfortunately we know that at some of the sites we have drug dealers that show up trying to prey on folks.

We have other safety concerns that show up, you know, that we can't always know about ahead of time, obviously.

So there is like a person who's dedicated overnight that's on deck for providing that security.

So there is a lot of flexibility built in here.

I hope I answered your question.

And it doesn't demand to or it doesn't say anything on number.

It's just that that service is being provided that the person providing the service is trained so that they're set up for success and safety and that they're identifiable to folks so you know who to contact.

Thank you.

And yeah, you somewhat answered my other question, which was the term overnight.

It sounds like there's some flexibility there of what that could mean.

Yes, because it really depends on the site.

I mean, we heard from public comment today some sites don't have issues and then other sites do.

So it really gives that flexibility so that the provider can determine how to best set it up.

Okay, thank you.

Awesome, thank you Council Member Lynn, excuse me, Council Member Saka followed by Council Member Juarez.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

First off, I want to thank Councilmember Rivera for bringing this forward today.

I appreciate you and your leadership.

I know she has the best of intentions and purest of motives and cares deeply about our unhoused neighbors and getting them housed and making sure that we provide safe, Habitable places for people to live, and that the arrangement works well for everyone involved, including the existing neighbors.

And so I know that to be true, and I really do appreciate and all the work that went into this specific amendment.

This is one where I'm actually gonna be voting no.

And it's for similar reasons that were expressed.

The cost factor, the unspecified cost factor.

would not at all be surprised.

And I'm sure the anecdotal evidence supports the things that we heard, like when this kind of provision is in place, the employee morale boost and less incidents, et cetera, et cetera.

It's also very costly and we need to get people housed quickly.

That's it.

You need to bring people indoors quickly, surround them with wraparound services, which is in and of itself a fairly costly endeavor, as is.

And even in the absence of this, I would encourage the mayor's office when they implement in the departments, when they think about implementation to bake in similar provisions that give the department discretion.

They can flow through provisions into the contractual terms of those contracts that if there's a certain amount of problems or challenges or indicators that things will be a problem, then you can impose this kind of requirement.

But as a starting place and as a blanket rule at this stage, given the overriding all the considerations at play.

I'm not going to support it today.

I also think there's overlapping coverage in elsewhere in this same bill as amended, whether we're talking about CPTED reviews or central points of contact or good neighbor agreements and the like, list goes on and on.

and with the other bills, the other package or suite of bills that we passed to address this and enable this effort more broadly and strategically, similar kind of overlapping coverage.

And because of the costs, I think there is some overlapping coverage, although I will agree, security-trained, identifiable security is not the same you know, other forms of services and support which they need.

But because of the costs, wanna give the chance for these other provisions to bake in and work.

I'm not gonna be supporting this today, but I do appreciate the intent and I know Council Member Rivera's motive is pure.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am going to be responding and voting yes on this, and I'll tell you why.

And some of it overlaps with what I had shared earlier.

First, though, I want to thank Council Member Foster for being really, really wonderful at working through this legislation, the discussions we had, the amendments that were done, discussing good neighborhood agreements, the critical incident reports, who makes that 911 call.

and again, I'm probably gonna say something that politically people aren't gonna like but what I've seen since 2015 in our homeless population and what I see in 2026, I'm just gonna say that some of our residents who actually live in these tiny houses are subjected to more, I would believe, predatory and violent behavior.

I don't agree that...

I mean, I appreciate that operators and providers have trained and have staff that are trained in de-escalation, but I would submit to you that that is not public safety.

and I am more concerned about the folks that are living in the encampments that are trying to stay sober, that are trying to stay safe than some of the people that get attracted to and prey upon tiny house villages and the people that live there that are just trying to have a better life.

We do and we discussed at length good-neighbor agreements, the critical incident reports when a felony does occur within 24 hours or calling 911. Our misdemeanors, those are all part of the operator contracts.

That is nothing new, nothing burdensome.

Everybody knows that.

We've gone through every one of those contracts.

And what those obligations mean as a contract, not just for the safety of surrounding quote-unquote NIMBYs, but for the people that actually live there.

and I guess my other concern is when we are doing shelter expansion and its interim, then we're gonna see more activity.

and if we're gonna see more activity, we're gonna see good activity and we're gonna see some not so good activity.

And that is my concern.

And I don't think that there's anything wrong about, or I'm not taking any type of political performance here of saying that I'm against Tiny House Villages or I'm against Lehigh or I'm against PDA.

I am for the people that are trying to live there who are trying to stay sober and trying to stay safe.

And on a personal note, from my personal perspective and my lived experience and with my family and members of my family that have struggled with addiction and trying to stay sober, it is really hard to be in an environment if you're still not safe and you cannot maintain your sobriety or handle your mental health issues.

And so for that reason, I will be supporting, though I'm guessing it probably will not pass, but I am going to support it not because I need to do any type of political performance up here, but because I think it's common sense.

So for that reason, I will be voting yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any other additional comments before I go to the amendment sponsor?

Council Member, I'll pause here.

Okay, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you colleagues for all your comments.

I just wanna say, you know, there is a cost, Council Member Sacca associated, you're absolutely right.

and the providers in my district who were having some seriously significant issues with public safety and then put security in, it is a cost, they're telling me, that is well worth it.

So it is because things much improved for their residents.

and for their staff because a lot of times to Council Member Juarez's point, folks that are living in housing where there are other folks trying to prey upon people, you know, I'll be honest, I grew up in low income housing and we didn't have security in my building.

You know, you let yourself in and sometimes someone would follow you behind you and people did get, mugged and robbed at a knife point in my building.

There was no security.

So I guess part of me also remembers that from when I was a kid.

But getting back to today, which is many, many years later, I just know from working with the providers, and I am so grateful for the providers in my district because they instituted security and it had such a positive effect for everybody involved and most of which were the residents.

There's a lot of activity happening in some of these places where residents are just, you know, these are some of these residents are, you know, they are in recovery.

They're just trying to lead a good life.

And we want to be supportive and we want to make sure that it's safe housing for people.

and that is not a disrespect to all the providers.

I very much appreciate all the providers.

This is actually to help the shelters set up for success is to ensure that we have that security element and it's different from having a public safety plan.

You can have a public safety plan but when something's happening on the spot, you need a security person to come in and help the situation and that's what this is for and I wrote it after speaking with providers as with as much flexibility as possible but to accomplish that we do need security.

Folks that live in tiny homes and in permanent supportive housing and in low income housing deserve to live in safe spaces and when something happens they deserve to have someone on site who is trained to help them.

And this is what this is about at the end of the day.

And to the cost issue, I will say that when I started here, the city was not, when I spoke to providers, the city was not allowing city dollars to be used for security.

And then when we came in and we passed the operating stabilization funds, we did allow security, it is now an allowable use of the funds.

And that was really important to me because I saw that the providers really needed that, but they couldn't afford it.

So my hope is that when the mayor is instituting these shelters and HSD is working with contracts, that the cost of security is baked into that contract.

And I will say that in terms of what it costs right now, a median tiny house unit costs about, from our central staff telling us, $35,000.

And this, having security on site would bring that cost from $35,000 to about $35,900.

this is all approximate but I say this to say this is not a huge cost but it is a cost that has yielded great results to the providers that I've spoken with who've hired security because their residents needed it, wanted it and their staffing as well.

So I don't want to belabor the point further but I am mindful of the costs and I would like to see providers being able to use city funds toward that purpose because it is to ensure the safety and security of the residents there, of the neighbors, the neighborhoods.

And it's part of setting up safe and, you know, safe housing for everyone.

So anyway, thank you, Council President.

And we can take our vote when you're ready.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

And I know that you worked really hard on the two amendments that showed up in committee.

Other council members had talked about that and then to like refine them and get them to where they are.

And so we appreciate your intention behind that as well.

so will the clerk please call the roll to amendment number B for Council Bill 121195. Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Nay.

Council Member Strauss?

Nope.

Council Member Foster?

No.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

No.

Council Member DeLynn?

No.

Council Member Rink?

No.

Council President Hollingsworth?

No.

Ms. Two in favor, seven opposed.

The motion fails for amendment number B, so it's not adopted.

So colleagues, we have amendment A adopted, okay, to the council bill, and now we're gonna, I'll pass it to Council Member Strauss for his to move amendment number C.

Thank you, Council President.

I move amendment C version one to Council Bill 121195.

Second, it's been moved and second to amend the bill as presented on Amendment C. Council Member Strauss, you're recognized in order to address your amendment.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you colleagues for, you know, I'm bringing this amendment to full council because the members of the Land Use Committee requested that they have more time to review the amendment as well as I've taken the time to work with many different providers to make many more changes.

I think that there's still I understand the urgency of this bill.

We're moving an emergency bill that is not using the traditional SEPA processes.

And I think that that process is creating confusion for many people in the community, unintendedly.

And Anitra Freeman, I agree with you in all your points.

And I think that some of that confusion that's occurring in this amendment are the things that you are worried about are not within this amendment.

and I think that that has been a point of confusion and had we had more time with this bill, had we not been rushed with this bill, we would have more time to find that common ground and the common understanding of what is and what is not before us.

I also heard from Greater Church Council about some issues that you're concerned with in this amendment, that when you read the land use text of this amendment, those concerns don't exist.

And I was really careful to craft these words in a way that we are not being overly prescriptive.

I have three different versions of this amendment that are all more specific, which can become more difficult to attend to, and I did not bring them because I wanted to make sure that in this moment that if we are having confusion, we are also having the maximum flexibility.

And so I'm bringing this amendment because it is important to have more people housed on sites that can fit more people.

But what we are doing right now is we are now moving into a size of shelter that we have not utilized before.

And what I'm concerned with is that when we have more people in one place, that we have to ensure that they have increased privacy, that they have increased access to kitchens, laundry, showers, toilets.

Before the pandemic, we relied on congregate shelter extensively in the city, which are mats on floors without kitchens, without laundry, do have restrooms, some have showers, some don't.

If there was one individual in that room with mats on the floor, if there was one person in there that was predatory in nature, no one got a good night's sleep.

People were not safe, people did not have privacy.

That is why tiny homes and the type of shelter like tiny homes is better because people have four walls and a door that they can lock to remove themselves from somebody else's behavior so that they can find solace and privacy in their own space.

And yet still, these tiny homes do not have showers.

They don't have kitchens.

They don't have bathrooms.

They don't have the amenities that people need to live their full life to stabilize and then to thrive.

What concerns me is that when we increase the number of people living sheltered in one place without increasing the dispersed access, so that means we are not putting all of the kitchen space in one place.

We're not putting all of the toilets.

We're not going to a concert and having all the porta-potties in one part of the arena.

We need these places, these shelters, to feel and set somebody up as if it was their own home.

And what I'm concerned about with the dialogue that we've heard is that there is a potential that we will be warehousing people.

I have no interest in warehousing people.

That's what we were doing with congregate shelter.

In the last decade, there were proposals brought to the city council to put a big white tent down in the port facilities and send everyone who's homeless there.

I stood against that proposal because that's warehousing of people in the same way that I'm concerned that this bill without the proper guardrails will warehouse people.

When Rudy Giuliani sent many homeless people to one place upstate, that was warehousing people.

That wasn't stabilizing them.

That wasn't helping them thrive.

I'm concerned without the proper guardrails to this bill and the future permanent bill that we're going to be warehousing people because we are not ensuring that they have their own individualized access to the resources and amenities that they need to stabilize so that they can actualize into having a better life.

And by increasing the number of people but not the amenities, there's a high potentiality for us to be doing them a disservice.

So this is the most flexible version of, I think, maybe even four, I know three different versions of this amendment.

Would greatly love your support on this amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any other comments regarding amendment number C to Council Bill 121195?

Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

I appreciate that we are on, you said version four, I thought it was more like version five or six of this, and so I really want to appreciate you.

I will back up a little bit and say when this legislation was first sent down, some of my initial questions were not so much around raising the census from 100 to 150, but really questions like, what does it take to do this well?

and in particular for a location where we might be serving up to 250 people.

And as you can tell sort of by some of my previous comments around the work that we did around the public safety plans and the septeds and the staffing, it's my preferred approach as we're thinking about how we do this well to think about it from sort of a design perspective.

What does it look like to create neighborhoods so that those neighborhoods create safety, that those neighborhoods create community, as opposed to a different approach?

And, you know, we heard from providers and committee actually around this neighborhood concept.

We heard from folks not just here in Seattle, but we also heard from some of the folks who were operating larger shelter communities and other locations.

And so for me, this was one that I really struggled with because it was really about what does it look like to get this right?

I will tell you that I think the provision that's in this amendment that allows the SDCI director to go up to 75 is incredibly important.

I believe it's a provision that should be used liberally in the implementation of this should this amendment pass, because that allows us to have multiple communities while still providing flexibility to providers.

I know that providers engaged really deeply on this amendment, and I want to thank those folks who are here for that work and that engagement to create those improvements.

And for those reasons, I will be voting yes on this amendment.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Are there other comments regarding Amendment C that is before us?

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I just, I was trying to understand what are the, as Council Member Sacker raised earlier, the cost implications for dividing, well, I'm not really sure what it means to divide.

Are you just saying for the, 150 person shelter, you're just gonna have extra amenities there.

Is it more about amenities?

I just didn't understand about these neighborhoods.

Is it that it's gonna be enclosed separately?

Council member Strauss?

Thank you, Council President.

And through you to my colleague, I'll respond to the question here.

I'm gonna just read from the text because the other versions of this clearly required a ratio of amenities to units, which if I was to put into code a ratio of amenities to units, then it is required at a certain rate.

with the controlled access.

Nietzsche and I had a good back and forth, and I wasn't here.

When Ketel presented the amendment the first time, Ketel said fences.

I was thinking flower boxes, but either way, when we talk about controlled access, that's where you are creating a neighborhood where people have to enter and exit through one entryway.

Control could be as simple as a sign to say visiting hours are from 9 a.m.

to 9 p.m.

Control could be a resident advisor from somebody who maybe gets an extra perk within the community for being a resident advisor.

Control could be a staff member sitting there.

Control can be many different things.

When we talk about self-contained, that's still pretty broad.

It's still pretty vague.

And so what that means is that there are amenities that people can access.

There's no qualification on ratio.

There's no qualification on where those amenities are placed, there's no qualification in that way.

But it is saying that we need to acknowledge by almost doubling at least 1.5 times what we have done before.

We need to be able to provide people, we need to be building and designing these shelters in a way which does increase people's connectivity to their neighborhood within the shelter, that increases their ability to have privacy and get away from other people, that increases their ability to have space, and what that is are neighborhoods.

And so as you can see, this language that is being put into code is very flexible in comparison to how prescriptive we could be, because all of those things that I just said could be put into code, and I think that they could be met with the proper funding, but without more time to work on this legislation and come to a better place of consensus within the community, there's still enough concern that I think that the most flexible version is the prudent way forward today.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Yes, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

So what about costs?

Like if it's about amenities, what did you cost this out?

I'm just curious.

Council President, through you to my colleague, there's no comment about amenities in this amendment.

Well, you were talking about needing bathrooms and the like and separating out so we could have extra.

We should do that.

We should do that, absolutely.

And it is not codified in this amendment.

Okay.

Um, council member, the floor is yours.

Okay.

Thank you.

Council members.

I don't, um, I am not sure I understand if, if it's a hundred people or 150 and you're just going to half it and put a flower box.

I'm not really understanding.

It's still a shelter with 150 people.

So, um, apologies, but I don't, um, I guess I'll just, I'll leave it at that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Kettle, and then we'll go back to the amendment sponsor.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Councilmember Strauss, and everyone, Councilmember Rivera, for the amendments.

But I want to start like I did last time.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez, for bringing up Good Neighbor Agreements and the like.

I will say, Good Neighbor Agreements, once they're in ordinance, they become law.

So yes, the departments do need to follow the law, and they do need to have Good Neighbor Agreements.

And I would add, we as a department are working on the follow-on, you know, next generation, if you will, Good Neighbor Agreement, which is the Neighborhood Engagement and Mitigation Plan.

It's gonna be different, it's gonna take in, you know, improve upon the history of Good Neighbor Agreements, and it's a two-step process.

We're in step one right now in terms of developing the review and report.

But I also wanted to thank Council Member Juarez for talking about sober living, too.

As you know, Housing First is a low barrier approach.

I always say Housing First, yes, if it's a photo finish with wraparound services, because we do need to have those wraparound services, and we should be encouraging those wrapper hound services that are encouraging the decision calculus towards treatment, knowing that it could be many rounds of treatment before any type of success.

But also on sober living, as we go through this process, I think we have to have some dedicated sober living options for individuals who are seeking that because As you know, we're not living in a perfect world and some of these locations will probably not be conducive sometimes to those individuals who are wanting a sober living option.

I just bring that up, so based on Council Member Orr's bringing up the term and also the Good Neighbor Agreements.

On this amendment, I appreciate what is going on here, but in terms of my experience, in terms of, you know, with shelters and other experiences that I've had in this kind of general area, and I think the service providers are going to be going into this kind of neighborhood sections, if you will.

The hang-up is the self-contained part, because what does that mean in the sense of, If we have self-contained, maybe a certain aspect of the services or amenities or like that, if you have three or four different neighborhoods, well maybe because of geography and shapes and everything that you can't necessarily fit each of those pieces in, whatever it may be.

And so I'm a little bit concerned about the language in the sense of forcing every amenity to be replicated in each of the neighborhoods where it may make sense for a certain amenity or service or whatever it may be to be in one location, maybe independent of the neighborhoods or maybe one versus the others.

And so for that reason, again, I appreciate what's happening here, but I'm hung up on the self-contained neighborhoods based on the experience of the combination of the housing plus the services, the wraparound services, it makes it difficult.

But otherwise, and I encourage the service providers to create these neighborhoods so it's not a big block.

And again, based on my conversations with many, I think that's the direction they're gonna go to as well.

So thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Are there any further comments regarding Amendment C?

Councilmember Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

I want to thank Councilmember Strauss for this amendment and for your work on it, particularly from last committee meeting and bringing to full council.

and thank you for speaking to your intent here.

I share in your desire to make sure that everyone who is living in these sites will be living with dignity and I think just for today I saw some outstanding questions and hearing consternation from our partners and so I will not be supporting today but I'm hoping that as we engage in permanent legislation we can really thoroughly think through how we tackle this in land use code.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Are there any further comments regarding Amendment C for Council Bill 121195?

Council Member Strauss, a sponsor of the amendment, you were recognized for closing comments.

Thank you.

Just want to take the moment to thank Council Member Foster.

You have stewarded this in the best way I could ask for, and I really appreciate you working with me to to improve any ideas that I've had.

I've had even more amendment ideas that I didn't bring because of how you stewarded this process and I really appreciate how you've done this work.

Colleagues, as you know, I passed the two bills out of my committee almost a month ago to support adding new shelter capacity within our city.

At that time, I stated that I was greatly concerned because I was seeing homelessness at a level that I haven't seen in my district in quite some time.

Since then, it has gotten worse.

When we spoke a month ago, we had a gentleman with an actual stovepipe coming out of his tent.

He has since been, I don't exactly know what his final destination has been, the folks were removed and now even new folks who we've never seen in the neighborhood before.

We've seen these other folks before.

We have completely new people in the neighborhood in that exact same spot and it's only a month later.

Marvin's Garden, which is where the Ballard Bell Tower is, Old City Hall in Ballard, had an encampment in it this weekend during Sit-Namai.

I've actually not seen that since the pandemic.

I have a tent encampment of over 30 tents in one location in my district.

This is the first time we've had an encampment that large since we resolved Woodland Park encampment without a sweep.

You can hear that I have great consternation at this moment that we have had these issues really come to this level of seriousness in just the last few months.

And I'll be supporting this bill today because we have to do all that we can to address the situation, but we also can't stop midstream.

And it feels as if the city has taken a pause in addressing homelessness in the way that we have been for a number of years.

And that goes back to, I don't need to go back to the navigation team versus the unified care team, We took police out of the lead role in addressing homelessness for good reason and when we did that we've seen a lot more human-centered success, a lot more human-centered services and I'm concerned that we're pausing in the middle of the stream right now and I'll be supporting this legislation now but I think as you can tell we'll have a much more robust conversation when we get to the permanent legislation.

Thank you Councilmember Foster for stewarding a wonderful process.

Thank you Councilmember Strauss.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of amendment C.

Councilmember Rivera?

No.

Councilmember Sacca?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

No.

Councilmember Kettle?

No.

Councilmember Lin?

No.

Councilmember Rink?

No.

Council President Collingsworth?

Yes.

That is four in favor, five opposed.

So the motion fails.

Amendment number C is not adopted.

Are there any final comments about the bill?

So the bill has been amended.

Amendment number A has passed.

So is there any further comments on the bill as amended?

and colleagues, this is your time to talk overall.

And then I will pass it to Council Member Foster for the end for your comments as the bill's sponsor.

And just checking with Council Member Lynn, is that okay?

Because I know you're the committee chair.

Awesome.

So we'll go to Council Member Lynn, followed by Council Member Rivera, Council Member Juarez, Council Member Kettle.

Thank you all.

Thank you to Councilmember Foster for sponsoring this.

Thank you to all the colleagues for your hard work.

Thanks to the Mayor's Office for acting with urgency.

You know, this is, to Councilmember Strauss, to your point, things appear to be only getting more difficult in the past few months.

I've certainly heard that, at least from my district, South Seattle.

And, you know, I'm sad to report that just about a week ago, we had an unhoused neighbor that was killed in the Mount Baker area.

Just early this morning we had an RV that was caught on fire and exploded.

I spoke with the resident of that RV and he thankfully was okay but he thought it might have been arson.

And so we just see, you know, in many of our unhoused neighbors the serious public safety issues that they face and why it's so critical that we give them a door and some security and safety and services.

You know, it's critical that we act with urgency as neighbors continue to ask, what are we doing to support the neighborhoods, to support now as neighbors?

You know, I keep saying, well, this is why I support the mayor's surge in shelter with services, and I just can't wait till we start to see some of these come online.

I'm so excited to see it open up in Inner Bay, in West Seattle, and just anything we can do to continue to grow that support and to find the resources to do so.

So thank you, and it is my commitment again to work with each and every one of you on the permanent legislation.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

In general, I just want to reiterate my support for tiny home villages and ensuring that we are working hard to house our on house neighbors across the city with the resources, it is my hope, to help them get treatment.

I'm hoping that treatment will be a part of the mayor's plan for these.

That is really, really important.

I wanna see people set up for success and I really wanna say I very much appreciate all of our providers in the city.

I really appreciate the providers in my district who worked with me when I was working on this legislation and I want to, and I appreciate having a conversation with the Coalition on Homeless because I had conversations with them as well.

I know there is so much alignment here.

We all care about housing our unhoused neighbors.

So it's my hope we can set up these shelters quickly in a manner that provides services to the folks inside the shelters so they get their needs met and in a way that provides for safe temporary housing for our folks there.

and in a way that is safe for the neighbors and the communities and neighborhoods around them so that we really are fostering great relationships between the folks that are housed at the tiny homes and their neighbors.

So really appreciate being able to move on this quickly.

And then I also know this is interim legislation, so we'll have more opportunity in the future to have more time to think through and then also see how this gets set up quickly, hopefully, and we'll have more information by which to make future decisions.

So thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Juarez followed by Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I think I said this before in committee, but I want to say it again.

This is interim legislation that was transmitted from the Mayor's Office, and I know that there are a lot of handprints everywhere on this legislation when it was first transmitted, but I want to really, really stress, and I wrote down my thoughts because I want to make sure I got this right, to Council Member Foster.

I think that she has demonstrated some of the finest shared leadership and principles that I've witnessed so far.

Well, a lot of.

And it's very familiar to me because that's how I was raised in Indian Country.

Real leadership, cooperation, relationships and honesty.

and we've had that opportunity to discuss the legislation as it was originally transmitted and we had those discussions in a real honest, candid, transparent way done with kindness and respect.

There were areas where we didn't agree and I appreciated that.

She could come in my office and say, look, I don't got you on this, but I'm like, okay, let's talk it through.

And she turned me around on a few things and I appreciated that.

We had a real opportunity to discuss all options to support shelter expansion, provide services, look at public safety, and to do what's best for our great city and our great need to shelter our friends, our neighbors, our relations who are unhoused.

And on a personal note, I want to add something, two things.

Like Council Member Rivera, as she shared in a moment of vulnerability, I too grew up in public housing, low income, HUD housing.

I know what it's like to grow up with lack of resources, heat or food, or lack of public safety, be subjected to crime, drugs, and predatory behavior, and even transportation.

So I understand what it's like when people discuss, as Council Member Strauss so eloquently stated, people just being warehoused.

So we don't make these decisions lightly.

We don't make them in a vacuum.

We certainly, every one of us come to this dais with, as we say, lived experience, common sense, our own subject matter expertise and how we believe legislation move forward.

But when you see really good leaders like Council Member Foster up and coming, Council Member Strauss, Council President, and every one of you, I don't want to leave any of you out, but I'm just saying each of you have had your strengths.

And what I really appreciate about this Council is that we've had an opportunity to build relationships and have discussions without politicizing, humiliating, or being disrespectful to each other.

And so for that, I want to thank all of you and for this Legislation Day, which I will be supporting.

So thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

I should say thank you also to our Committee Chair, Councilmember Lin, but obviously from the Housing Committee Chair and also your service on the committee, the Land Use Committee, Councilmember Foster, for your work on this legislation.

I wanted to note first that shelter must be part of the response to the challenges that we see in our street and elsewhere in our city.

and it must be an all hands on deck effort and I know that and so that's why in my meeting with, you know, the policy director Nicole Valserosopa and our senior policy advisor who's here with us, Mr. Grant, that I said yes on the West Armory Way and it was the only one that was listed in the original mayor's announcement on this topic because we do have to show the leadership on this, and also to build on the experience that I've had in terms of successful efforts where they integrated all these different pieces.

And so I want to thank that.

I do have to say, though, I think it was related to a budget question when the mayor said, you know, her priority is homelessness, homelessness, homelessness.

I would argue that's wrong.

I would argue it should be public safety, public health, and homelessness.

You have to have those elements in the public safety, public health, the alternative response piece, but also the human services piece, and obviously homelessness with the housing piece.

We have to have this comprehensive approach.

And the reason why is that, particularly for our district representatives, and I'm sure most city-wise are also getting constant contact on this is, you know, I have a constituent named Mike and he says in an email, it's not just public comment, we get emails, I'm walking my dogs, it could be anything where we get public comment.

He said, I want to be clear about my position.

I support humane solutions to homelessness and I do not support criminalizing people for being poor, mentally ill, or in crisis.

But I strongly object to the city concentrating another high impact shelter site in this immediate area, speaking of West Armory Way, without clear and forcible protections for the people who already live and work nearby.

and he spoke further on and then he had eight questions he wanted answers on.

But one I just want to highlight, number three, which is, who is named city contact responsible for urgent neighborhood concerns once the site is active?

We have to work through these pieces to ensure that this connection between city government and the constituents, the residents, our neighbors throughout the city can be heard.

and he also noted that recent council discussion has included promises around neighborhood agreements, public safety planning, staffing and better communication.

I'm asking your office to help ensure that those promises are not just talking points but real obligations with real follow through.

You know, I think this is really important to highlight and to highlight this public comment and my office, myself and my office, we will be working these pieces as we've already been doing.

Because we need an approach that looks to our neighbors who are in crisis with compassion.

We have to lead with that compassion for our neighbors in crisis.

But to his point, we also have to look out for the neighborhoods.

We have to have the wisdom that we have to look out for the neighborhoods and communities.

It doesn't have to be like a geographic neighborhood.

It could also be communities.

We also must incorporate lessons learned, and I keep mentioning Salmon Bay Village, you know, the safe RV lot, but it's RV and tiny home villages, and the pieces that were in there to include, you know, the services piece, but also the security pieces.

And I would argue that was a successful enterprise, which then leads to the ability to support, like, the West Armory Way.

Nothing breeds success in this area than success, and we need to be working these pieces.

As I've already kind of noted already earlier, but also in this final note, yeah, this is in land use community, but this is really much broader.

And because I heard some comments in public comment, not vetted through land use.

Well, Some of these are land use, but this also represents a mismatch between the land use elements of what we're doing, but also the non-land use elements.

Because really, elements of this could have been gone through public safety committee, it almost feels like a public safety committee piece of legislation, human services and housing.

And that's really important to reflect.

And so moving forward with the comprehensive piece, we need to ensure that these elements are all getting, you know, addressed in a way that also is a good governance aspect.

Another, something not spoken to today, but I want to speak to it right now, is this effort that we're doing here with the shelter plan cannot supplant the regional approach to homelessness that we've embarked upon because we truly have a regional problem on the streets and other areas of our city than Seattle.

We have a regional homelessness problem on the streets of Seattle.

And we have to maintain this regional approach.

We have to maintain the oversight role that we have as a city through this regional approach to this regional problem.

and it's really important.

Yes, I'm talking about KCRHA, the King County Regional Homeless Authority, or 2.0, probably same name, we have to have these pieces.

We have to have the regional approach.

We have to have the oversight pieces.

We have to have a voice in that regional oversight.

And again, not mentioned today, but it's important to do so.

And to close, I just wanted to note again, public safety, public health and homelessness, and I invite everyone to look at the 24 April Public Safety Committee meeting, the chair comment in the beginning, where I spoke to a Seattle Times article talking about Little Saigon.

I talked to these pieces, but I also talked bigger pictures, like why are we still here after Mayor Murray declared the emergency back in 2015?

I spoke to being a city of two minds.

We're of two minds in a lot of ways.

That kind of paralyzes us.

You know, the follow-through and the follow-up hasn't been there over these last dozen years or nearly a dozen years.

And so I speak to these pieces and I think it's important to raise this and make it public because otherwise we could be here a decade from now and we'll still be in the same position.

and I want to get to the place where I see all these service providers who I meet on a regular basis across the board and get to the point where they've succeeded in their mission to help the people and we've gotten to the place where we're beyond having these pieces because we have the long-term set response for the individuals in crisis and our neighborhoods in crisis.

Again, thank you Councilmember Lynn and Councilmember Foster for the main lead, but everybody on the Council and you too, Council President.

Awesome, thank you Councilmember Kettle.

Are there any more comments before I give it to the Council sponsor?

I will say this so you will have the last words.

Councilmember Foster, I want to thank you, as Councilmember Warra said, for your leadership in sewarding this process, having conversations behind the scenes, like literally all of the work that it takes to go into each, every council member's office to steward this legislation and get it to a really great place.

I know that this is interim, and so we'll talk about the permanent and the work plan coming forward, but just really, really wanna give you your flowers on the stewardship of this on the second floor, so thank you.

I also wanna thank Council Member Lynn for going to your committee, because I'm gonna tell you this, you've been a workhorse since we started, all the heavy pieces of legislation that has come through land use and as some has fell into your lap has been a lot.

And so people see us pass legislation through your committee, but all of the backward that happens, the meetings.

So I just wanna thank you Council Member Lynn and highlight that, that you've been an absolute workhorse on that.

So thank you.

I also wanna, I'm very happy to vote on this legislation today.

And I do want to say two things when we are doing the permanent work plan.

Number one, we have to include more providers.

There's more providers that were not included at the table at the beginning that are not in this room that are, you know, I've had tons of meetings with that need to be at the table when we're talking about permanent legislation because they have to be included in this too.

So that's number one.

And number two, the whole piece of human services.

So when we are talking about placement of shelters, we gotta include food banks, meal programs, mental health providers, health care providers, folks that are the wraparound services to a lot of these transitional shelters that have wanted to be included in these conversations because it impacts them too as well.

And as we are providing more resources to the folks that are providing the shelter, that we also need to provide resources to the folks that are providing the services to the people as well.

And so that is one thing that I heard as well.

And last but not least, and I'll continue to say this, is that my priority for these shelters are families and children.

There are a ton of families and children that we do not see on the street that are sleeping in cars, that are sleeping on sofas.

There are 20 family members sleeping in a home right now.

We have kids that are, you know, taken out of school because they do not have places to go.

We have parents arranging rides for kids that are living separate places because they don't have enough beds for them.

So I just want to highlight that my goal is for us to re-center our focus on our families and our kids that are impacted because it is hard for kids to switch three and four schools in one school year and we expect them to get good grades and we expect them to be able to function properly.

So that is my priority in this and I will be working diligently with mayor's office on that and making sure that I beat the drum loud and clear about our families and our babies and our children.

Other than that, colleagues, I'm sure people are tired of hearing us talk.

I see yeses, okay.

I will pass it.

Miss Yvette said yes.

Councilmember Foster for the last words before we vote.

Shoot.

Well, I'm sorry, Ms. Yvette, because I got a couple more comments here.

Thank you so much, Council President.

And you mentioned the workhorse that is Councilmember Lynn.

That's why we call you Coach Lynn, I think, earlier in this meeting, although that feels like a different meeting at this point.

So I am going to close with just something that has been really on my mind through this process.

Actually, first is sort of a technical thing.

I know that sometimes on the dais, as we're talking about the work that we are doing, there's sort of an interspersal of different experiences that folks have had.

So I just want to kind of close us the way I started us off with a reminder that the legislation that we're about to vote on is really focused on expansion for our sanctioned encampments, for tiny houses, and for RVs.

I just want to continue to reiterate that so we have that level of clarity of what this legislation allows and those are going to be sites that are operated by skilled providers and so I just want to make sure we're very clear on that as we close out and then what I want to say is you know I live in my neighborhood I'm in a walking distance from I think three shelter locations one that's actually getting ready to open up and The one that's getting ready to open up has been delayed for quite a while and I've been excited to see in recent weeks action happening at that location where there's units that are getting brought into the site and units that are getting built on the site and it reminded me that over the summer I went to a community meeting for that location and there was neighbors who came from the community where this shelter location is opening up and there was also neighbors who came who lived nearby another tiny home village in another neighborhood.

And what we heard so clearly from those neighbors who lived by the existing tiny home village was about the benefits to their community.

Neighbors talked about, you know, somebody said, when something's broken, I go and I check and I talk to somebody who lives in the tiny home village because he's super handy and knows how to fix everything.

Somebody else said, we've really appreciated what this village has meant to our community because there's more people walking around.

Somebody else said they had an experience where their home was broken into and it was the person who lived in the tiny home village who actually called 911 because they were in the neighborhood and they had built this relationship and they were showing up and taking care of their neighbors.

and I think I just want to remind us of those experiences and that kind of community.

And when I think about the work that we're doing and some of the things that we passed on this legislation, I have said this whole time, my underlying goal is to ensure that we pass this interim legislation and we have this first year of expansion in a way that is so successful that we are able to continue this expansion because we know the work that will happen in this first year is gonna be critical and we also know we're gonna need to continue in years two, three, four, five to continue that expansion.

So that is my hope with this legislation.

Colleagues, I appreciate your deep, deep engagement through this process and I look forward to the vote today.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

All right, colleagues, if there's no further comment, will the clerk please call the roll on the bill before us as amended for, excuse me, as amended.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sokka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lin?

Yes.

Council Member Rank?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

That is a clap for people not talking anymore.

That's what everyone clapped on, just playing.

Okay, so we have two more items on the agenda.

I'm gonna have a clerk read both six and seven on the agenda, and then I will pass it to Council Member Foster to address both of them, and then we will vote on them separately.

Okay, colleagues, so we'll get done a little bit quicker.

Jody.

Agenda item six, resolution 32200, a resolution creating an arts and cultural district in the Columbia Hillman City neighborhood of Seattle.

And agenda item seven, resolution 32201, a resolution creating an arts and cultural district in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.

The committee recommends council adopt the resolutions.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

You are recognized to read item or to address item six and seven and we'll vote on them separately.

Thank you.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Colleagues, I am so excited that we get an opportunity to vote on one of the things that makes our city so special, which is arts.

So before you today are two pieces of legislation that passed unanimously out of committee to create the Georgetown Arts and Cultural District and to reconfirm the Columbia Hillman Arts and Cultural District.

We heard in committee about how much about Georgetown has been a distinctive creative neighborhood that wasn't just built for artists but was really built by artists and is a place where industrial history and active arts all come together in a way that is really unique.

And I'll just say hat and boots in here because I know Councilmember Saka knows what I'm talking about.

as one of the most unique and fun landmarks in our city.

And we'll also be voting on the Columbia-Hillman City Arts and Cultural District.

This is a reconfirmation of work that has been happening since 2016. And I wanna acknowledge the work that has been happening by the Southeast Seattle community, as well as the Georgetown Association of Arts and Culture, as well as our Office of Arts and Culture for bringing this resolution forward.

I'm looking forward to ensuring that this designation helps support our artists and creative cultural communities all around Seattle, and I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Are there any comments regarding items six and seven?

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I'll be brief.

Look, as the Councilmember who is honored and lucky to represent one of these two areas, Georgetown, I gotta briefly speak on it.

So first off, the designation in Georgetown honors the critically important work that community has put in a community of, as Councilmember Foster noted, a community of artists, also includes residents, workers, and leaders.

It recognizes Georgetown as a vibrant neighborhood, that it is, and a critical part of our city's creative economy.

Also wanna note and kinda highlight the fact that Georgetown has historically been an underserved, overburdened, polluted industrial area.

that has been forced to absorb many of the unwanted aspects of our urban industrialization efforts.

So this arts and cultural designation is one small step, but an important one towards righting those wrongs.

And I'm excited because I think this designation will unlock new investment to ensure that artists and creatives who helped build this community, continue to get to do so and thrive.

Excited to be able to support both of these resolutions, but special shout out to my Georgetown neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sacca.

Are there any further comments regarding items six and seven before us?

All right, awesome.

We'll vote on those separately.

Will the clerk please call the roll on item number six, which is resolution 32200 for an arts and cultural district in Columbia Hillman City neighborhood of Seattle.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Sacca?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Lin?

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?