Seattle City Council Community Economic Development Committee 5/20/20

committee will come to order.

It is 2 p.m.

I'm Tammy Morales, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Lewis.

Councilmember Juarez.

Here.

Councilmember Peterson.

Here.

Councilmember Sawant.

Chair Morales.

Here.

Three present.

Lekesha, I do see that Council Member Lewis is here.

Can you call him again, please?

Council Member Lewis.

Yeah, present.

I hadn't been promoted to panelist when you called the first time.

Apologies.

Okay, great.

Thanks, everyone.

We have four items on the agenda today, all related to the U District BIA reauthorization.

Before we begin, we will now approve our agenda for our committee meeting.

So if there's no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

At this time, we will open the remote public comment period for items on today's agenda or within the committee's purview.

Before we begin, I do want to ask that everyone please be patient.

We are learning to operate a new system in real time, and we are navigating through some inevitable growing pains.

While it remains our strong intent to have public comment regularly included on our meeting agendas, the city council reserves the right to end or eliminate public comment periods at any point if we deem that the system is being abused or is unsuitable for allowing our meetings to be conducted efficiently and in a manner in which we're able to conduct our necessary business.

I will moderate the public comment period in the following manner.

The public comment period for this meeting is up to 20 minutes, and each speaker will be given one minute to speak.

I will call on each speaker by name and in the order in which they registered on the council's website.

If you've not registered to speak but would like to, you can sign up before the end of the public comment period by going to the council's website.

The public comment link is also listed on today's agenda.

Once I call the speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate mic, and an automatic prompt of, you have been unmuted, that will be the speaker's cue that it's their turn to speak.

Please begin by stating your name and the item on which you are addressing.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left on the allotted time.

And once the speaker hears the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comments.

If you do not end your public comment at the end of the allotted time period, your mic will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Once you've completed your public comment, we ask that you please disconnect from the line.

And if you plan to continue following this meeting, please do so via Seattle channel or the listening options listed on the agenda.

So the public comment period is now open and we'll begin with the first speaker on the list.

Let's see.

The first speaker is Steven Antipin.

Steven, I apologize if I said that wrong.

Steven, are you there?

I am here.

Good afternoon, Council Member Morales and committee members.

I'm Steven Antipin.

I'm here to speak in support of Council Bill 119-779, renewing the U District BIA.

I am a homeowner resident in the U District for over 25 years.

I currently serve as the Board Chair of the Nonprofit Neighborhood Farmers Markets.

I urge you to support the ordinance to renew the BIA.

Your support will help continue the excellent work in helping our business community during the COVID crisis and our economic recovery.

It will ensure that the U District has the revenue needed to continue to expand clean and safe.

What our REACH caseworker does literally on the street every day and every night for the city's most vulnerable populations is essential, even before the COVID crisis hit us so hard.

Your support will help us advocate for small businesses, many of whom are immigrants and or people of color.

And your support will help us increase promotional marketing that attracts people to the U District.

As massive changes, both unanticipated and planned, and planned with UpZones and LinkStation to affect us all.

We need to maintain the services and expertise through its nonprofit program manager, the U District Partnership.

The partnership needs to continue leadership to implement the BIA programs.

They've built effective relationships.

I'm proud to chair one of their program advisory committees as a community volunteer.

Thank you, Steven.

The next speaker is Corey Crocker.

Hello?

Yes.

Cory, go ahead.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is Cory Crocker.

I'm the Secretary of the U District Small Businesses and the Treasurer of the U District Community Council, a 30-year resident and a local small business owner.

I would like to speak about the renewal of the U District BIA.

I advocated for the initial passage of the BIA ordinance in 2015 and served on the board of the U District Partnership for four years.

After five years now and almost $5 million spent, My original enthusiasm for the experiment has diminished greatly.

Now we all know these are very troubling times.

The instability of the pandemic means that you should we should proceed carefully with any increase in the cost of doing business in your district.

Even before the crisis local small businesses and residents were impacted by the high rise up zone and redevelopment.

The already high risk of displacement is further exacerbated by the closure of small businesses during shelter in place.

Uniquely felt in the district is the loss of almost 70,000 students, faculty, and staff at UW this quarter, this summer, and perhaps even this fall.

At Tuesday's meeting, the UDP considered contingencies for up to 20% loss of assessment revenue from businesses who cannot pay.

Thank you, Corey.

The next speaker will be Michael Sovich.

My name is Michael Savage, owner of BB's Teriyaki Grill on the Ave, and I'm here to state my support for the U-District BIA.

Us U-District small business owners need City Council to support the ordinance to renew the BIA.

The BIA's support helps our community in countless ways.

They advocate for us as small businesses, they keep our streets safe and clean, and their program manager at the U-District Partnership is constantly patrolling the streets and has really done a great job building relationships with us businesses.

They're always there to answer questions.

They keep our best interest in mind, and they do.

They're just an amazing all-around resource that we can go to whenever we have any questions or needs.

My favorite part of the U-District partnership and what they do is they help keep the app clean and safe.

The app's success depends on customers being willing and safe coming to U-District to shop in our stores and restaurants.

The partnership contracts agencies to clean up graffiti, biohazard needles, They help prevent shoplifting, car prowling, they hire security, and they really do the work that our community needs while us business owners are busy operating our businesses.

Thank you, Michael.

The next speaker is Susan Schultz.

Good afternoon.

My name is Susan Schultz.

I'm here today to speak in support of renewing the University District BIA.

I am the owner of Schultes Bar and Grill and a current rate payer to the BIA.

The BIA has helped us as individual business owners by taking care of big picture endeavors such as security, cleanliness, and beautification, which are essential basics for attracting patrons and visitors to the neighborhood.

The BIA has brought together and fostered relationships between the city, neighborhood-based outreach, nonprofits, and the myriad of individual businesses in a way that no single entity could dream of achieving.

The BIA has been in the U District every day during the COVID crisis, providing security and cleaning services to help the whole neighborhood as we navigate our way through these really difficult times.

I'm so grateful that we've had it to support us.

The establishment of the BIA concept is one of the best ideas the city ever devised to help support individual neighborhoods.

The bang we get for the minimal amount of bucks we pay is amazing.

I really wish there was a way to show this in time-lapse video, how well the BIA has helped our neighborhood.

Thank you for your time and the opportunity to share my views.

Thank you, Susan.

The next speaker is Mike Shin.

Mike Shin, are you on?

OK.

If Mike comes back, we can get him on the line there.

So let's move on to Michael Polzin.

This is Michael Polzin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Michael Polzin.

I'm a business owner representing American Campus Community, speaking in support of the renewal of the U District BIA.

We currently have three existing rental properties in the U District, as well as one under development.

I do want to reiterate my full support of the ordinance to renew U-District VIA, not only for our businesses, but for our small retail businesses within our community locations.

We have had opportunities to contribute in other areas of the country with similar programs and initiatives and have seen how firsthand in the U-District this has made a positive impact, not only on the businesses, but the individuals that inhabit and also visit the U-District area.

Most importantly, we are focused on giving back.

I think the U-District BIA does an amazing job of that.

We want to be part of a larger community, not just our rental properties.

And this has been an amazing way to continue to do that moving forward.

Thanks for your time.

Thank you, Michael.

The next speaker will be Mary Coligo.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Mary Caligo, and I'm here to speak in support of renewing the U District BIA.

I represent Buffalo Exchange.

We've been in the U District for over 20 years in our current location, and even longer before that.

There's been a lot of changes in the neighborhood over time, and the presence of the U District BIA has been very beneficial to all of us.

The main thing that I really appreciate them for is the clean and safe program, which has really helped respond to problems in the neighborhood, both in regards to cleanliness and safety.

They advocate for small businesses.

They've been for us particularly right now during the time of the COVID crisis.

We've had break-ins that they've responded before anyone else.

At times we feel like we're alone out there, that no one cares about the U District and they've been there for us.

They've been particularly supportive during this, as I said, during the COVID crisis.

We really appreciate them and I thank you for your time and the opportunity to share my views.

Please support the U District BIA and thank you for your work on the COVID-19 response.

Thank you, Mary.

Before we move to the next speaker, I do want to acknowledge Council Member Sawant has joined us.

Thank you, Council Member.

The next speaker will be Patricia Simpson.

Council members, my name is Reverend Pat Simpson.

I'm pastor of University Temple United Methodist Church, speaking in favor of the U District BIA renewal.

I'm also a University District Partnership board member.

Our church houses seven human service programs, which serve our city's most vulnerable citizens.

And in the five years I've worked here, I have seen them increasingly subject to harassment and danger.

So the clean and safe services provided through the BIA funding are important to us.

Free consultation about how to improve our lighting and make entrances safer, street and alley cleaning and pickup, and much more.

When increasing crime led our alley consortium to hire private security, BIA funds were available to contribute to the cost.

And the presence of a mental health outreach worker through REACH has been a lifesaver, literally.

These are basic services vital to the well-being of our neighborhood.

Please support the renewal of the University District BIA.

And thanks to you for being on the job for us in this hard time.

Thank you, Reverend.

The next speaker will be Andrew McMasters.

Hi, my name is Andrew McMasters, co-founder of Jet City Improv, a nonprofit arts organization located in the U District.

I've been involved in the University District since I moved my company there in 1997. I'm speaking today to support the passage of renewing the U-District BIA.

This matters to me for a lot of different reasons.

I've worked with the former Chamber of Commerce and other groups to help make the U-District a better place for my company, my employees, and most importantly, my audiences.

And this collaboration of nonprofits, residents, small businesses, faith-based organizations, and the University has worked better than anything else we've tried over the years.

As a small business with a triple net lease, Jet City relies on the services provided by the UDP.

You can see the difference in clean and safe makes directly outside of every business's door.

The monthly cleanups, weekly cleaning up at the upper part of the app, these have made a difference, and I've been able to see firsthand what the BIA has created for the U District.

To lose that now in the face of all this uncertainty would be an immeasurable loss for small businesses.

Thank you very much for your time, and thank you for your leadership during this difficult time for our city.

Thank you, Andrew.

The next speaker will be Max Bloom.

Hey, my name is Max Bloom.

I'm here today to speak in support of renewing the district BIA agenda item CB 119779. I represent Bloom Company Real Estate.

We're a property owner in the University District and a rate payer to the BIA.

We need City Council support for the ordinance to renew the U-District BIA.

The U-District BIA provides numerous benefits for the community, including acting as an advocate for small businesses and providing the clean and safe programs.

As someone who operates several different real estate properties in the neighborhood, I can attest to the positive impact that the U-District partnership has had on the overall appearance and safety of the U-District.

The extra cleaning, the help with trash pickup in public areas, and the assistance with keeping our properties safe is invaluable.

U-District needs the continued leadership of U-District partnerships to continue implementing the BIA's program.

Thank you for your time this afternoon.

Thank you Max.

The next speaker is Maria Barrientos.

Thank you.

This is Maria Barrientos or Maria Barrientos as you say.

I'm here to speak in support of renewing the U-District BIA.

program.

I'm a property owner and business owner in the U district.

My firm is a minority owned business and I'm proud to say all of our employees are women.

Uh, we do need city council support of the renewal ordinance.

Uh, your support's going to help ensure there's revenue to continue and expand the clean and safe programs.

The BIA through its, um, partnership with the U district partnership advocates for small businesses.

We're working to increase marketing efforts to attract people and businesses to the district.

And we want to continue all the great work that UDP is able to perform in this neighborhood.

It's made such a positive impact in the district.

We need to continue the leadership that UDP provides in implementing all the BIA programs.

They've built such effective relationships with the neighborhood.

Thank you, Maria.

The next speaker is Mike Shin.

Do we have Mike on the line?

Yes, I am.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Mike Shin.

I'm here today to speak in support of renewing the U District BIA.

I'm representative of Cafe and F and I'm the manager of the restaurant and I've been here for more than a year and we need city council support of the ordinance of the renew the new district BIA or we need to ensure that your district has the revenue needs to continue the extended clean and safe program and continue to excellent work of the UDP in helping our business community during the COVID-19 and with our economic recovery.

And it might be helping us increase the promotional marketing that attracts people to the UJ Street.

And thanks for all the helping and bye.

Thank you, Mike.

The next speaker is Kate Barr.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kate Barr from Scarecrow Video, and I represent both arts organizations in the U District as well as the Roosevelt Corridor.

Five years ago, I was speaking before City Council on the other side of the fence.

Once the ordinance passed, I decided to get involved by joining the Ratepayer Advisory Board to ensure that both arts organizations and businesses on Roosevelt would have a voice.

The last five years have been a lot of trial and error, but I think we've now found a good stride for using the public monies to truly serve the entire U District.

There is more potential for us to do.

There is potential for us to do more.

That's why I'm speaking to you today, to ask the City Council to support the ordinance to renew the U-District BIA.

Did you know Scarecrow Video is one of the largest video libraries in the world?

Your support would allow us to share this as well as other ways our neighborhood is special by providing the means for a robust marketing strategy.

Spreading the word about how amazing the U-District is and working to attract folks to our neighborhood benefits all businesses and all organizations in the U-District.

With your support and the continued leadership of the U-District Partnership to implement the BIA programs, we can make the great work that is already

Thank you, Kate.

The next speaker is David Kohanim.

Good afternoon.

My name is David Kohanim.

I'm here today to speak in support of renewing the U District BIA.

I represent myself and my family.

We're long-term stakeholders.

And over the last 60 years, we've lived here and attended school here, created and operated businesses here, built housing, retail and office space here, shopped here, eaten here, played here.

We're deeply embedded in the U District and we treasure it.

We watched the U-District decay around us with increasing crime, dirty streets, sidewalks, no support for the homeless population that was there, all leading to a loss of business and activity in what was once Seattle's, one of the more vibrant communities in the city.

Ten years ago, or almost, a diverse group of community members formed what would become the U-District Partnership to work to better the community, and out of that was born the U-District BIA.

BIA has done exactly what its name implies, improve business in the area.

Our streets are cleaner and increasingly attractive.

Businesses are growing and operating in longer hours as people feel safer.

Larger retail venues are returning to the area, and we see a massive renewal.

I think my time's up.

Thank you very much.

Please do renew the BIA.

Thank you, David.

Right now, the last speaker we have listed is Aaron Hord.

Hi my name is Aaron Horde.

I am both the currently vice chair of the BIA rate fair board as well as I work for the University of Washington.

And I'm here today to speak on behalf and in favor of passing the new district BIA.

I've seen over the years a number of ways that it's made a positive impact in the neighborhood.

It keeps the neighborhood clean and safe through daily cleaning.

It helps small businesses to thrive by helping those business owners solve problems around their buildings.

and promoting them in different ways to different audiences.

It helps the most vulnerable in our neighborhood.

I'm particularly proud of the Reach Ambassador program we funded to connect those experiencing homelessness with services.

Finally it brings people together whether through a broad representation on the BIA and UDP boards or community meetings or volunteer community cleanups.

It's done a lot to help people work collaboratively to improve the district.

I hope you will pass this legislation as proposed So we can continue this important work together.

Thank you.

Thank you, Aaron.

That looks like the last speaker that we have signed up.

So, thank you everyone who registered to speak.

We will now move on to the next agenda item.

So, we'll begin with the chair's report.

Today, we begin the process for the U-District BIA reauthorization for BIAs go through this committee.

With that said, my intention is to work with district representatives on all BIA renewals or authorizations and invite them to participate in this committee for the duration of their process.

In all of these processes, it's my goal to listen to ratepayer support or concerns, to be respectful, and to hold all of the complexities that may come out of these conversations.

When we first met with stakeholders, we were in a very different economic environment.

And despite the extraordinary circumstances presented by the coronavirus, my aim is nevertheless to have as much of a transparent and equitable process as we can.

And I look forward to working with everyone here, including Council Member Peterson, who represents the University District and who is a co-sponsor of this legislation.

Council Member Peterson, do you have anything you'd like to add before we jump into our items of business?

Yes, please.

Thank you, Chair Morales.

I really want to thank the committee chair, Council Member Morales, for her leadership on this.

I'm grateful for the work completed by our city council central staff, Yolanda Ho, also Philip Sit and Bobby Lee of the Office of Economic Development and our city attorney's office.

I really appreciate everybody taking the time to speak today.

We heard comments from people at a previous meeting, and we're going to have more meetings and public hearing coming up.

We also do have a special email address if you want to send in your comments for us all to read to udistrictbia at Seattle.gov.

Again, that's udistrictbia at Seattle.gov.

The U District is one of 20 neighborhoods in District 4, and it's the only one that's considered an urban center.

It includes our world-class university and a new light rail station that's opening next year.

It also has some of the most diverse and best international selection of food in Seattle.

There's also a lot of naturally occurring low-income housing, as well as rent-restricted low-income housing.

Many youth there are experiencing homelessness, and the neighborhood businesses even before the COVID crisis, have been struggling as property taxes rise after the previous city council approved a dramatic up zone there.

I want to thank the small businesses who make the U District fun and funky and a special place.

A study completed by Peter Steinbrook confirmed that two-thirds of the businesses along the main street of the U District we have are owned by women and people of color.

Many of these businesses are so-called triple net lease businesses.

That means they pay the taxes, the insurance, common area maintenance.

The BIA fee can be passed on to these neighborhood businesses, even though they're not the landowner.

So that's why we want to see more of a voice for them at the table.

BIAs, I believe business improvement areas are positive economic development tools that help keep districts clean and safe throughout our city.

The U District BIA clean and safe program includes the REACH program, assisting unsheltered and other high barrier individuals.

And during the COVID-19 crisis, the BIA is linking many small businesses to relief programs.

So I'm hoping this reauthorization of the BIA honors the reasonable concerns raised by the community by adhering to three principles, good governance, better representation, and preventing displacement.

So I was pleased to see when the legislation was sent down that there are improvements from the 2015 ordinance.

There is the executive added prevention of displacement to the economic development mission of the BIA.

They reinstituted term limits for members of the BIA advisory board.

They added representation for those triple net small businesses.

And they're also gonna require a competitive request proposal process for the program manager.

I've got some questions later, but I look forward to the presentations and thank you, Chair Morales, for your time.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

So we do have four items on our business agenda today.

LaKeisha, could you please read the first item of business into the record?

Council Bill 119779, an ordinance establishing a new university district parking and business improvement area, BIA.

Briefing and discussion.

Thank you, Lakeisha.

So our first presenter is Yolanda Ho.

Yolanda, can you please introduce yourself and get us started?

Yes.

Yolanda Ho, Council Central staff.

So my intention is to provide just a brief overview of the process to establish a business improvement area, also known as a BIA.

The procedures are established by state law, chapter 35.87 ARCW, and as well as city policies, which the council most recently updated in 2016 with resolution 31567. Per the city policies, the city will consider a new BIA when presented with a petition by potential rate payers representing 60% or more of the total assessment of the proposed BIA.

Establishing a BIA is fairly process intensive.

Multiple pieces of legislation are required as well as the public hearing.

So there is a resolution that initiates consideration of the BIA.

Then there's also a resolution that establishes the city's intent to establish the BIA and sets a date and location for a public hearing on the proposal.

And then there is the ordinance that creates the BIA and levies a special assessment to fund BIA activities.

On April 27th, the council introduced all three pieces of legislation related to the new U District BIA and adopted Resolution 31943, initiating consideration and Resolution 31944, establishing the city's intent to establish the BIA and set the public hearing date.

It also referred Council Bill 119779, creating the BIA to this committee.

The public hearing is set for next Wednesday, May 27th at 9.30 a.m.

This will be held remotely due to the COVID-19 civil emergency and the governor's stay-at-home order and we will also be discussing potential amendments after the public hearing.

As required by state law, the notice of the public hearing was published in the Seattle Times and the Daily Journal of Commerce and mailed to all potential rate payers at least 10 days in advance of the public hearing.

On June 3rd, the committee will hold another meeting and possibly vote on amendments and the bill as amended for final council action on June 8th.

And with that, I will turn this over to Office of Economic Development and Philip Sitt to provide more info, information about BIAs generally, and describe the U District BIA proposal.

Good afternoon, everybody.

This is Philip Sitt from the Office of Economic Development.

I think we have Bobby Lee, our director at OET, on the line here first.

Bobby, if you can take it away.

All right, thank you, Phillip.

And thank you, Council Member Morales and Council Member Peterson for shepherding this issue throughout the process.

The Business Improvement Area BIA program is a public-private partnership with City of Seattle.

It's under what we call here at OED, at Office of Economic Development, is part of what we call an ONI in Seattle business district program.

And many cities have these type of neighborhood-based place-based economic development programs.

Here in Seattle it's called ONI in Seattle.

BIA's are community-driven.

It's a bottom-up economic development strategy and provides critical programs and services for neighborhoods especially right now as we grapple with COVID-related impacts which is significant as we talk about economic recovery.

And at this point, I know we have a long agenda, so I'll go ahead and turn it over back to Philip, and Philip will provide an overview of the program.

Thank you very much, Bobby.

From a technical standpoint, can everyone see my screen at the moment?

Yes.

Great.

Thank you.

So again, my name is Philip Sit.

I am the BIA advocate here at the Office of Economic Development.

I'm part of the Only in Seattle business district team.

I'll be providing a high-level overview of our current BIA program, along with a technical overview of the UDBIA proposal.

Currently, we have 10 BIAs here in Seattle, generating about $26 million annually in enhanced services and programs.

The revenue is collected 100% for the district in partnership with FAS and OED.

The BIA submits monthly reimbursements that's reviewed by city departments in order to seek reimbursements for services.

We currently have, as I mentioned, 10 organizations in Seattle that are identified as BIA districts.

You might note that the first literation of the U District BIA was established in 1996, prior to the 2015 formation of a new BIA.

Some of the programs and services that BIAs are currently tasked with You guys have heard clean and safe marketing, promotion, special events and economic development.

Something to note is that currently of our nine district based organizations, eight of them are currently contracted with a certified homeless outreach specialist nonprofit.

You'll want to cover this previously.

The BIA information is community-driven.

The community must demonstrate 60% of support from ratepayers, and the proponents may utilize property values, lost square footage, any reasonable factors related to the benefits that might be received.

OED provides support and evaluates the proposal as in alignment with city policies and state RCWs.

We also provide a benefit analysis along with a racial equity toolkit, and we complete a five-year program evaluation prior to the renewal of a BIA.

For the technical overview of the UD BIA reauthorization, As of April 10th, the U District Partnership has secured 65.39% of supports, with the University of Washington being a single rate payer representing 34.8% of that support.

Of the 527 petitions that were representative of the property owners in the district, 223 were signed.

And below that, just for a comparison sake, if we were to exclude the university's contribution the average petitions that went out to the property owners averaged around $1,500 for annual services.

And the average signed petitions of the 222 that we got back was about $1,600.

So that's basically an alignment in terms of the average support petitions along with the average petitions that went out to the general population.

The renewal is slated for 12 years, and the accessible rate payers are property owners with representation on the board from residents, business tenants, property owners, and the University of Washington.

BIAs have different assessment models dependent upon the district and also what types of services that the community has selected to support.

The youth district is a property-based assessment model, so the rates has been primarily $0.25 per thousand of property values that's tracked by the King County Assessor's Office.

This chart shows you a quick snapshot of the different assessment models, both for the property-based BIAs, along with the business-based BIAs that we have in West Seattle and Broadway.

A couple of changes to the proposal for the reauthorization of the U District BIA.

It's a new general cleaning fee across the entire district of $0.03 per spot square footage, in addition to the two additional cleaning zones along primarily the Ave.

There is also a minor U-district BIA boundary adjustments, which we'll get into shortly.

And then the formula has, we are grandfathering in current assessments with a modest increase, which I'll also expand on.

Previously, MFTE buildings were receiving a non-profit discount on their assessment.

That is no longer the case.

However, non-profits and churches and other institutions will still receive a non-profit discount, but the MFTE buildings will no longer receive that discount and reduction.

Private properties on UW's lands are now deemed accessible, and there's an example which I'll span on here shortly.

Here is the boundary adjustment along both the north east boundaries along with the southern end of the campus.

I should note that the primary south end of the campus is primarily University of Washington buildings as well.

In light of development in many of our commercial districts, we have noticed a trend of increasing property values based by the methodology that's required by state law for our local county assessors.

Raw land, despite what current use might dictate, is based on highest and best use.

The U District, in light of recent developments over the past half decade, has seen a tremendous increase in land values and land sales.

In order to minimize that increase in BIA assessments, the proposal dictates that the assessment moving forward will grandfather in current assessments plus a minor increase.

Formulas for any new development that comes into the district after renewal is essentially $0.275 per thousand of total taxable value.

That's an increase from the current established BIA ordinance of $0.25 per thousand.

There is a sub-cleaning fee that is charged by lot square footage on the south end, which is indicated in the map here.

along with a north cleaning area of $0.09 for each total lot square feet.

And as I mentioned, there is now a general $0.03 per lot square footage add to all remaining properties in the BIA boundaries.

New development, as I mentioned, will be added to the assessment rolls as they come in during the span of the new BIA, and we will be utilizing the latest King County property values as those buildings, new developments, or expansion comes online.

Here's an example of a mixed usage building with commercial retail.

As you can see, the current assessment that this property owner is paying today is a little bit over $950.

The proposed renewal for the base assessment is a modest increase to $1,077.65.

And again, that's taking into consideration we're taking the current assessment as of today, in 2020, and applying a 10% increase along with a CPI cost of inflation.

And that's how we got that increased renewal fee.

If we were to update the property values from 2015 to 2019, the assessment would have gone up to $1,800 per year.

Here's an example of a MFTE building that was receiving a nonprofit discount previously.

Because of the way that the MFTE works at the King County level, the total taxable value as you see is severely reduced over the lifespan of the exemption.

Therefore, the assessment for this building was slightly over $2,400.

Because these are essentially marketplace housing with a small subsection of units reserved for marketplace housing, both the BIA proponents along with OED deemed that it was probably not competitively fair for MIT building to receive such a significant discount while they were receiving such a general benefit compared to their counterparts.

So taking a look at the appraised value of the building, which the King County Assessor's Office tracks, the new assessment, which is comparable to other similar buildings in the district, will be about $9,000 annually.

Here's another building that is on UW-owned land that's been leased to a developer.

Previously, this building was exempt from BIA assessments as part of the UW portfolio.

That is no longer the case due to the 99-year lease agreement.

And they will be contributing about $16,000-plus in annual assessments for their complex.

And that's the end of my presentation in terms of some of the technical overviews of the BIA proposal in the industry.

Great.

Thank you, Philip and Yolanda and Director Lee.

Let's see.

I do want to just state that we did a little bit of smashing together of items one and two.

So we covered both the ordinance and legislative process and the overview from OED.

So, colleagues, do you have any questions for our presenters about what we've heard so far?

Yes, Councilmember Peterson.

Please go ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you for those presentations.

That was very helpful.

Had a question about the length of term of the new or this reauthorized BIA, it would be going from the current five years to a 12 year term and wanted to know what's the magic behind that number?

Why 12 years?

Because that does seem like a big jump from the current term.

So thank you, Councilmember.

So the 12 years was proposed by the BIA proponents in the U District.

Our most recent renewal was Soto, and that time span was 10 years from 2018. Across the US, BIAs are pretty prevalent in urban districts.

The general best practice of a BIA duration is anywhere from 10 to 25 years.

In the U district, the past alliteration of it was set for five years, I think was based on the original community proposal in 2015. So again, the duration is predicated based on the BIA proponents from the community.

Okay.

And Chair, may I ask two more questions?

Yes, please.

The additional, the 10% increase that's proposed, is that, could you talk a little bit about that?

Is that going into the economic development category and is that including the prevention of displacement?

Thank you, Council Member.

I think the UDP proponents might be better equipped to answer that, but I do note that in your benefit analysis, the economic development work item in the budget has increased substantially.

something also to note is that primarily most BIAs that are property-based does a new benefit update of all recent property values.

Given the highest and best use issue that we're seeing in the U District, most of the assessments being paid by repairs have kept, have stayed constant over the past four years.

So the 10% from my understanding was a way to kind of bridge some of the new services that was outlined in the proposed budget.

Okay, so we'll hear from the proponents then about to answer that question, I think.

So I'll hold my questions until then.

Thank you.

Okay, colleagues, any other questions for the presenters who have gone so far?

Very good.

Okay, seeing none.

We will move on to the next agenda item.

LaKeisha, would you please read what is the third item of business into the record?

University District Business Improvement Area Reauthorization Proposal, Briefing and Discussion.

So we are going to hear from the BIA proponents at this point.

So the presenters, if you could please introduce yourselves and begin your presentation.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair Morales and council members.

I'm Maureen Ewing.

I'm the chair of the U District BIA ratepayer board.

I'm also the executive director of U Heights and a proud ratepayer.

We also have Mark Crawford, our interim executive director, and Lois Koh, who is the owner of Sweet Alchemy on the Ave, as well as a couple other locations throughout the city.

And she's also a very active UDP board member.

I first want to start by thanking you all for taking the time to meet with us today.

We know that your workload is particularly crushing right now and we are very grateful for your time and making sure that we can continue the important work of the BIA.

As most of you know, the U District is a vibrant neighborhood made of eclectic small businesses, restaurants offering amazing international cuisine.

We have a world-class educational institution, residents, both owners and tenants, and a strong-knit group of nonprofits and faith-based communities.

But we have very real challenges, and the reason I'm so involved with the BIA is because the BIA is on the front lines of these challenges.

Being on the Ave, Monday through Friday, sometimes more, I know the first-hand positive impact that the BIA has had over the last five years.

U Heights has over 3,000 children going to school and other programs, and safety is our number one concern.

So I want to paint a picture for you of what life was like before the BIA, at least this expanded version.

Back in 2014, I was literally afraid to walk directly across the street to what is now Joey Mart owned by one of our neighbors, Rocky, and his family.

It's there on the corner of 50th and the Ave, just south of that.

I would have to cross the street and eventually cross back to my favorite restaurants, which happened to be Thai Tom and Jewel of India.

that are still open and doing takeout.

And I had never seen that level of blatant drug dealing in broad daylight before.

That same corner went off one night, a drug related shooting caused us to go into our first lockdown at U Heights.

And it happened right when parents were dropping kids off outside.

And it was excruciating to have to lock the doors knowing that there were still kids and their parents out in the playground at that time.

Thank goodness we were all safe and the victim survived.

But because of the BIA and the work that we've done, we don't have to worry so much about our safety.

The BIA was instrumental in coordinating with the Sheriff's Department and SPD to break up that corner, and this is a huge relief to our community.

2014 was also the first time I had staff bring me photos of human excrement that had become a recurring problem, not only on our block, but throughout the entire neighborhood.

And actually this morning, I was just texted a photo of a milk jug filled with urine.

The BIA again is on the front lines.

This past April, the BIA removed over 1,000 biohazards And this is a five and a half times increase over last April.

Over the last five years, the BIA has made a huge impact in the daily cleaning and beautification of the district.

And there is a noticeable difference.

And as you know, the public health crisis has only been exacerbated by these COVID closures.

The BIA also supports our most vulnerable neighbors.

as mentioned during our public comment, our REACH worker, David Delgado, demonstrates our compassionate response to all of our constituents.

David is a full-time social worker who is the eyes, ears, and voice for people living on the streets.

He works with folks experiencing addiction and severe mental and physical distress.

He's extremely successful at connecting people with food, housing, employment, and medical resources that are of utmost importance right now.

Recently, I heard a story where he was able to help reunite a missing young person with his mother across state lines.

So he is out there changing lives every day, doing really difficult work.

And because of the BIA, hundreds are getting the individual attention that they need to survive.

And another story I'd like to share that just happened last week, was we had expanded our and extended our security services.

And one of our workers saved a life by literally getting in the middle of a fight.

And at this point, one of the men was laying unconsciousness and was continuing to be beaten.

And our security got in the middle until CPD or SPD could arrive.

So we are out there literally Saving lives every day, the BIA managed these types of crises on a daily basis so that the rest of us that are working hard to run our nonprofits and small businesses can focus on surviving through this pandemic.

So that's a highlight of some of our clean and safe efforts.

And ultimately, all of them are good for business, but we do so much more.

Our small businesses were already operating in a really harsh economic climate before COVID.

And as Councilmember Peterson just mentioned from the Steinbrook report, we know that 65% of our small businesses are women or POC owned.

And now more than ever, it is critical that the BIA continue to give small businesses the tools that they need to ward off economic displacement.

At the onset of the pandemic, UDP staff suited up in their PPE gear and went to door-to-door to provide information about available resources, not only available through the BIA, but through government resources.

And personally, after we had experienced many layoffs at U Heights, one of the first calls I made was to Mark, who you're going to hear from in a minute, at UDP.

And he and his staff set up two hotlines, one for folks who are recently unemployed and one for small business support.

The BIA was a lifeline when we needed it most, and their one-on-one support made all the difference at a very scary time.

So now I would like to introduce Lois Koh, who, as I mentioned, is an active UDP board member, and she's going to give you a little bit more of an insight into her experience with these programs that help prevent economic displacement for our small businesses.

Hello Council Chair Morales and all of council members.

My name is Lois Ko.

I own and operate an ice cream shop called Sweet Alchemy Ice Creamery in the U District.

The BIA's renewal and continuation of the work they do is important to me because the work they do to bring together such a diverse community is not easy.

We have college student population not just from in and around Washington.

but from around the world living in our district.

We are a destination for high school students along with more permanent families and workers, not to mention pockets of retirement communities.

First generation immigrants have opened up shop here in greater numbers of diversity than anywhere in our city.

We have a robust medical community as well as homeless community, and we are all neighbors and we all show up for cleaning days at the UDP sponsors.

As a business owner with a storefront on the main street called Ab, cleanliness of the street has been an ongoing issue.

With UDP's cleaning contracts sweeping the streets constantly during the day, we have seen unpleasant street activities decrease pre-coronavirus lockdowns.

During the lockdowns, the cleaning has been crucial, but the UDP's security team called Ambassadors have stepped up in major ways and play a critical role in keeping our emptier streets safe.

as well as being eyes and ears for our businesses.

Just a few days ago, my neighbor, a Chinese dumpling restaurant had a break-in around midnight And the ambassadors were able to contact my building manager and work together to board up the shop and not leave it open and vulnerable.

All of my employees have the ambassador hotline number saved on their phone, and it gives them added security to work during uncertain times.

The block watch that Marcus, UDP's clean and safe program manager, has started has been an important safety-related communication tool for the businesses and property managers of the Ave.

We are each other's best informants, and Marcus is adding on new community members constantly.

Daniel, who's led the economic development position, and Mark have been going business to business with us when the city went into stay-at-home orders to make sure each business had information on the resources for grants and loan applications.

They also work with OED to provide language services to help distribute vital information.

Daniel also started a GoFundMe page to provide meals for frontline workers in our community by paying our district's restaurants, which has collected almost $3,000.

Katie, who is the built environment relations manager at UDP, she has helped connect artists with businesses that were boarding up their storefronts.

As we enter more uncertain future in the phased reopening of our community, this type of resource and support will be more vital.

A lot of business owners don't speak English as their first language, and with lacking social media presence from these individual businesses, the advocacy that the small business, for the advocacy the UDP provides is going to become much more important in the success and survivability of our vibrant and diverse business community.

There is still a lot to learn and expand upon.

The pandemic has put a pivot on marketing and community-oriented neighborhood projects that I am personally excited to see continue, such as making UW's Cherry Blossom into a festival for the whole district.

The work that UWP does and that the BIA renewal can bring to us is essential to the economic well-being of the university district's business community.

Thank you for listening, and I will pass on my mic to Mark Crawford, to talk about more PIA renewal fundamentals.

Thank you, Lois.

Am I being heard?

Good, thank you.

Thanks.

I want to begin by talking for a moment about community input.

In each of these areas, the boundaries, the terms, the rates, and the cleaning zone, we tested a range of options with all of our community.

We did this by holding open public meetings and events.

We did this by reaching out to stakeholder groups and inviting them to meet with us.

We did this with one-on-one meetings with rate payers, and we did this in consultation with our own UDP and BIA board members knowing that those members collectively represent the broadest and the most diverse group of ratepayers and stakeholders in the district.

What we have presented in this petition is a reflection of those discussions and the final recommendation of the Ratepayer Advisory Board as they ratified on the June 9, 2019 meeting at the annual meeting.

Okay, let's talk quickly about the areas themselves.

First, the boundaries.

We are actually reducing the size of the geographic footprint.

In the north, the areas that are being removed are overwhelmingly single-family residential blocks.

Those single-family residential areas are not ratepayers, and these adjustments were driven by the community input and request from those residents.

In the southern sector, the boundary was moved northward to make it clear that no BIA resources are actually expended on the University of Washington campus itself.

This has been true since we began, but the current BIA boundary created some confusion about that, and we think this rectifies that confusion.

Moving on to rates, there are really two important notes about the rates, the base assessment methodology and the proposed increase in the rate itself.

First, the proposed BIA assessment is based on our commitment to protect our ratepayers and their tenants from the speculative increases created by the current property values being uplifted by the 2017 rezone.

Simply put, Given the King County assessor's responsibility to value properties at their best and highest use, for those owners who are not choosing to redevelop their properties, they are deed rich, but cash poor.

By maintaining the existing base year for each property, we are protecting them.

If they develop their property in the future, then their base year is updated to more accurately reflect the actual best use at that time.

Second, as was noted by the OED presentation, the U-District BIA had, and it still has, the second lowest rate of all property-based BIAs.

10% may sound like a big jump but because our current rate is so low is actually only an increase of two and a half cents per $1,000 of assessable value.

This increase is being asked in direct response to community input that we expand our support of our businesses and the overall economic development.

On the cleaning zones, over the past five years, the current BIA has taught us and reinforced over and over and over again that maintaining a clean and safe neighborhood is the foundation for all success.

Someone needs to pick up the biohazards, the biowaste, remove the graffiti, pick up the trash, and remove the garbage accumulations.

we will continue to provide the extensive professional cleaning services in the existing cleaning areas and now we propose on extending those services through the entire district one time a month.

Finally, to talk about the term.

The current BIA was deliberately set up for an exceptionally short term of five years to provide initial services and to let the community understand the benefits and the outcomes of the BIA.

After five years, over 65% of RSS-based is asking for this renewal.

They believe in the BIA.

As OED explained, the proposed term is now more closely aligned with all other Seattle BIAs which range from seven years to perpetuity.

Renewals are difficult, consuming processes, and they use up precious resources.

Shorter terms limit the ability of the BIA to think and plan and to operate strategically.

They also create inefficiencies in program delivery.

Given the local U District conditions, the changes, and given the community's input, 12 years was identified as the optimum time for this next BIA.

I'll be glad to respond more to Council Member Peterson if there's got follow-up questions for that.

So thank you very much.

Maureen.

Thanks.

Thanks, Mark.

We're going to wrap it up soon here and open it up for questions, but I did want to touch on the governance model that we already have in place.

It's pretty elaborate, and we have several layers of oversight over BIA operations.

So if you picture an org chart, The rate payer advisory board is at the very top and it's made up of 80% rate payers with a mix of neighborhood representatives.

Every year we vote on three things, the upcoming year's work plan, the budget, as well as who is going to be designated as the program manager.

So we are really at the 30,000 foot level ensuring that measurable goals are met in all of our focus areas.

In addition to that, we have 311 rate payers that are invited to cast a vote annually to approve these same items, including the program manager.

Then our recommendations are directed to the city for final approval.

Our board members serve three-year terms, and they must be voted back on at the end of their terms.

We've had a healthy turnover rate at nearly 45% of bringing on new board members over the last five years.

Then going down the org chart, we have the UDP board, which is also made up of a diverse mix of neighborhood representatives.

And they provide oversight of the daily operations.

So they are really boots on the ground.

Along with that board, we have several committees and our neighborhood has many opportunities to participate and give feedback on our work that has been funneled up through the two ports.

We also do extensive community outreach through multiple channels.

e-newsletters, social media, mailings, community forums, so we really do our best to try to reach everyone that lives and works in the U District.

And I can attest that it's a tremendous amount of work and a labor of love for our Executive Director, Mark, who's really the linchpin between all these passionate groups of folks.

The BIA, I think, what's most powerful for me is that it's really the great convener in our neighborhood.

We all can contribute a small amount to the pie but have such a bigger impact together.

And for the first time we are convening across all sectors and we wholeheartedly support the proposed amendment to include language in the ordinance to specifically prevent small business displacement with the particular focus on POC and women-owned businesses, as well as the new proposed requirement to formally increase the required representation of triple net rate payers on our board.

We know that our small businesses are smart and they're innovative.

We see them reinventing themselves right now through this crisis, and we rely on their insights to drive our mission forward.

So we scratched on the sole goal of the full breadth of BIA services, but I hope that we were able to give you a snapshot of what our daily work looks like, work that is so critical now more than ever.

The proposed increase that Councilmember Peterson asked about will go directly to small business support and driving paychecks to their businesses, so we can go greater into the details when we open it up for Q&A.

But I do want to impress upon the committee that an interruption in BIA service would be detrimental to our neighborhood and exacerbate the public health crisis that we find ourselves in today.

And our goal is to ensure our existing small businesses are getting the support they need to survive now and then thrive when we are fully able to reopen again.

So thank you so much for taking the time during this difficult time for our city.

And we're very appreciative that the council understands the urgency of reauthorizing the U District BIA.

Thank you again.

Thank you, Maureen.

And thank you, Louis and Mark as well for sharing this information with us.

Council colleagues, are there any questions for our presenters right now?

We will have, I should say, the next section, we will have sort of an issues identification discussion.

But if you have questions for our presenters, please let me know.

Not seeing anything.

Okay.

So in that case, we will close out that section and move on.

Thank you for your presentation again.

Lakeisha, would you please read the last item of business into the record?

University District Business Improvement Area Issue Identification Briefing and Discussion.

OK, so I believe is that Yolanda and Philip?

Yeah, it'll be mostly me, and then maybe Philip can chime in as needed.

OK, please go ahead, Yolanda.

All right, so I just wanted to walk through the issue identification that I described in my memo.

I was supposed to see the agenda and just speak to some of those points.

Um, the first one was regarding rate payer support, and this was just more of a, um, kind of thinking about how, um, the BIA proponents had collected the petitions of, you know, over 65%, but that was, um, last year and kind of earlier this year, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current financial crisis.

So, um, we have not, you know, I don't think we've done any formal check back in necessarily as a city to those who signed the petitions.

And so I just, I'm flagging this for the council members prior to the public hearing, because the state law states that proceedings shall terminate if potential rate payers representing a majority of the total assessment oppose the proposed BIA.

So that's just something to be aware of.

And the next item was in regards to the BIA advisory board.

And as noted by the presentation before, there are a few differences from the current composition of the board.

There will be two additional commercial tenants, specifically those that are subject to a triple net lease for a total of three commercial tenant representatives and an additional residential representative so that there will be one residential tenant and one residential owner instead of one or the other.

So that will result in two residential representatives.

And the other requirements are unchanged from the previous advisory board, specifically the 35% cap on representatives from the University of Washington and the 80% rate payers with seats dedicated to rate payers, with at least one rate payer representing less than 0.5% of the total assessment.

Due to the requirement that the board have the four non-rate payer I think it is important to note that the current BIA board positions the residential and business tenants and that ratepayers must hold at least 80% of the seats.

The board will have no fewer than 20 members which makes this a relatively large advisory board.

For reference, the current BIA board has 15 members.

I would like to see these bodies typically are more in the 12 to 16 member range, just in terms of, I think, functioning.

So some options here are that the committee could elect to amend the legislation to reduce the share of seats reserved for ratepayers to something like 75%, for example, which would then lower the minimum number to 16 seats or make other changes as requested during the public hearing or received during other feedback.

And I see no questions.

I will move on to the assessment rates.

I think these have been described in great detail by both OED and the proponents.

So again, it's a relatively small increase in the rates, though we know that businesses and residents, whether owners or tenants, are struggling financially right now.

And this increase in assessments is you know, likely to be passed on or by property owners for tenants.

And that is potentially an additional burden.

We know that there are currently state and city protections in place for commercial and residential tenants.

specifically in terms of prohibiting increases in commercial rent for businesses impacted by COVID-19, as well as small businesses and nonprofits.

I just want to note, based on kind of some additional research I did, that BIA assessments may, could be bundled into rent, in which case a rent increase would, so the increase in the BIA assessments would not necessarily be passed on to the tenant as a result, but but if the assessments are a separate charge, uh, just based on, you know, how the lease agreement is, then that increase may be passed on to the tenant.

Um, even while these protections are in place, cause it is not considered rent.

Uh, so I also want to note that, so the department of finance and administrative services is the, um, department that is in charge of billing rate payers and collecting the assessments and engaging with the rate payers on that front.

And their practice is to typically send out the first bill 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance.

In this case, I had not mentioned this before, but the current legislation includes a ratifying confirm clause which actually allows it to, some aspects of it to take effect prior to, after council adoption, prior to the effective date.

So in that case, FAS may actually, could actually send out the bills earlier than 30 days after the typical effective date of the ordinance.

So that's just something to be aware of.

And so some options here, if they seem appropriate, would be to amend the council bill to require the FAS to either offer rate payers, excluding the University of Washington, which is a voluntary rate payer, the option to defer payment of assessments or to perhaps delay sending out initial assessments until later in the year.

And, you know, we'd want to work with FAS on this option if that was desired.

There's also the potential that the council could amend the proposed rates for the first couple of years so that they, to decrease the rates potentially so that they kind of are more in line with the current rates and so do not reflect that 10% increase.

I would note that both of these options could limit the BIA's operations, right, because then due to the cash flow issue there.

If the council members elect to reduce the rates or change the rates in some way, we would want to send out a notice to all the potential rate payers at least 10 days in advance of final council action to inform them of the proposed changes.

opportunity to weigh in and are fully aware of those.

And finally, as drafted, the legislation would allow the initial program manager to serve in that capacity for five years prior to the Office of Economic Development conducting the competitive RFP process to select a program manager who will then have that role for five years before the process happens again.

So that would then leave the final term of the program manager to two years.

Um, so what, um, some options here are to amend the legislation to allow the program manager, the initial program manager to serve for up to two years.

So this assumes that the 12 year term for the BIA is unchanged and that would allow for there to be two full five year terms for the program manager and for the rest of the term.

And that is it.

Any questions?

I have a question.

Oh, just one second.

So thank you, Yolanda.

So I'm glad to see that there is an additional representative, a tenant representative added to the advisory board.

I think that's important.

And I do want to ask about the point you made with OED working with some ratepayers across the city to create payment plans in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

And you mentioned that the city hasn't gone back to have conversations with folks in the U-District, but I would like to hear from the U-District folks about whether there have been any conversations with ratepayers about changes in their current financial situation or their ability to pay a 10% increase.

Um, and also just, um, are there options or have you considered options for payment plans?

If that's something that people have expressed interest in Maureen or Mark, somebody wants to, or I just wanted to see if Philip wanted to respond from the OED perspective.

First, I was just deferring to him first.

Sure, thanks Mark and thank you Council Member Morales for that question.

The majority of the property-based BIAs fiscal year started on January 1st, and they billed biannually for six months.

So I guess, in short, most of the property-based BIAs have already received their first half of their budget.

We're continuing to monitor to see what the second half assessment's response will look like, but we already have protocols in place to work with ratepayers, both property owners or business owners, to make monthly payment plans or to make deferments as needed.

Again, we won't have more statistics until the second half of the fiscal year is nailed out.

From there, we'll see where the collection rate comes in.

From a standpoint of FAS, the bill goes out and payments are due within 30 days.

We have included language to include for the next set of assessments to contact FAS to work with us if there is any financial burden that a property and business owner might be facing.

And we are willing to, at this stage, extend payment up to six months, and we're willing to pivot and expand on that as needed.

But it's obviously a balancing act between making flexible options for the rate payers, but also ensuring that funding exists for the critical services and programs.

Mark, I'll turn it to you from the second half of that question.

Thanks, Phil.

Before I say anything, Maureen or Lois, would either of you like to speak, or shall I go ahead?

Go ahead, Mark.

Okay, thank you.

So yeah, I think you know, we've obviously talked about this a lot as we plan for the coming year and I think what we've come to is You know, we need to follow the lead that the city is setting for all this isn't a you district specific issue It's affecting all of the BIAs and all of the ratepayers over the city.

So I we're interested, involved in the conversations with OED about how do we continue to provide services in these revenue shortfalls, but doing it in a way that coincides and cooperates with how it's being done citywide.

So that's my very sincere answer as opposed to trying to figure out a solution for this district specifically.

That doesn't seem like the wise or appropriate way to go about it.

In terms of conversations we're having with our ratepayers about how are they feeling right now, you know, I think it varies.

I mean, to be very frank with you, I think there are some people who are just, you know, you know, very difficult spot.

But overall, what we're hearing day in and day out, and I think you heard it from the public testimony today, was so many people are saying, thank goodness you're here, thank goodness you're helping us through COVID.

You've got to stay, you've got to keep doing what you're doing.

We've built relationships, and they're critical.

I think the final thing I would say is that if you want the most contemporary reflection of what our businesses are saying, knowledgeably, where they are right now, it's found in the letter that we sent to you a council member signed by over 30 businesses just on the ave and more letters that we'll be sending from all over the district that are saying no please support the bi we need it so their voice is on the table uh they are saying please continue thank you thank you mark i appreciate that um council member peterson you had a question

Thank you, Chair Morales.

Getting back to the thank you, Yolanda, for your memo where you identify a lot of issues.

And as I understand it, you are interested if today we're identifying issues that we as council members care about, these might turn into amendments for our next meeting.

So I'll just sort of start going down that road here.

Back to the question about the length of term.

I know that there has been some concern expressed by some in the community that the more than doubling the existing term is too long.

And I didn't know if central staff had any views on that.

And then I've got a couple more questions after that.

But going from five to 12 years seems like a big jump to me.

Yeah, I mean, I guess I would defer to the proponents in this regard and the OED's analysis of, you know, that's what their proposal is.

I think that, you know, I leave it to them to defend their, the rationale there.

As a general, you know, in terms of just kind of objectively, yeah, it is a longer term, but, you know, there's pros and cons there with that.

So as I think we've, this has been discussed, but no.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I just wanted to see if you had any strong feelings about that.

I did hear I heard the proponents talking about this, you know, in their comments.

So we don't share.

I don't think I don't need to go back to them for that issue on the term.

But my my next question might dovetail into that because it's about the.

So this concept of having a competitive process to select the program manager for a BIA.

So here we have the program manager is the university district partnership.

They are on the ground doing the work, doing the clean and safe work and the outreach work.

They are, you know, They've got that work automatically when this BIA was set up five years ago.

So this legislation says, you know what, we really need to have a competitive process for this.

So Office of Econ, section seven of the council bill talks about this, setting up an RFP process, which I support having that competitive process.

The legislation's a little bit, the way it's written, I think Yolanda interpreted it as, this current program manager would be grandfathered in for five years, that seems like a really long time to be grandfathered in.

So one thought is, which Yolanda had pointed out, and I guess I'm signaling my support for this, is to grandfather in that program manager for just a year or two.

so that Office of Economic Development and FAS can set up their RFP process, get proposals in, choose the winner, that group, which could still be the University District Partnership, but whoever wins that RFP would then start up in one to two years from now.

And then that would then determine Okay, well, how long would that contract be for?

Would it be for five years, or would it be for four years?

Would it be grandfathered in for a year, have a four-year term, then another RFP, then a four-year term, and then one-year cushion at the end?

So, Yolanda, I want to work with you to perhaps craft an amendment to specify that grandfathering-in period and then what the subsequent RFP periods would be.

Sounds good.

Okay.

Those are all the questions I have right now, Chair, or else.

Great.

Okay.

Are there any other questions, council colleagues, about what we're hearing from either from the proponents or from central staff?

Things that you want clarified?

I don't see anything.

Council Member Juarez, I don't see you at all, so.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chairwoman, for checking in on me.

I'm good.

Thank you.

OK, very good.

Well, in that case, if we have no other questions, I would say that we can wrap this up.

So this concludes the May 20th, 2020 meeting of the Community Economic Development Committee.

As Yolanda said earlier, our next committee meeting on this topic will be May 27th at 930, and that will be the public hearing on the U District BIA proposal.

So for the public, you can sign up to provide public comment on our council website two hours beforehand.

You can also submit comments to the email address, which is udistrictbia.seattle.gov.

And I think we are done here.

So thanks everyone for attending.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks everyone.