All right, good morning, this is the council briefing meeting of January 13th 2020 it is 932 a.m.
I'm council pro tem Lisa Herbold and joining me this morning are Council members so want Morales Lewis Peterson and shorts.
Thank you everybody Strauss.
Thank you everybody for joining us.
So the first item on our agenda is the approval of the minutes.
There are no objections.
The minutes of January 6, 2020 will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.
As far as President's Report today, just want to share that I had a phone call with the legislative department leadership last night at 7.30 p.m.
to assess the weather conditions.
With what conditions seeming mild, we scheduled another phone call this morning for 7.30 a.m.
Again, assessing the conditions as mild, made the decision to keep the department open and continue with all of our planned meetings.
SDOT has more than 60 snow and ice fighting equipment prepared and ready to go to clear snow and ice from major streets and are pre-treating conditions when able.
The city's severe weather shelter is opening at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.
between January 12th through January 19th, and the severe weather shelter services adults, services adults aged 18 and hold older, and it is operated by the Salvation Army.
Other issues related to emergency operations, in the event of an activation, daily press conferences will be held at the Emergency Operations Center at 10.30 a.m.
and at necessary 4 o'clock p.m.
daily.
Press conference will be similar to what they produced last year.
And we can also expect to receive ongoing communications in the way of blog posts and press releases from the office the mayor sent daily at 8 a.m.
And the mayor's communications office reaches out to our comm staff every morning to ask whether committees have been canceled, which they will then include in a press release that they send out, helping us get out the word about cancellations as necessary.
Our comms office is committed to working closely with each of your offices and the clerk's office to get cancellation information.
As far as items that I have on my report before I go into council business, I want to to share with folks the very exciting news of the new baby born to Council President Gonzales.
Her name is Nadia Luciana Gonzales-Williams.
She was born on the 10th and weighs 6.49 pounds and want to, on behalf of Council President Gonzales, Send a shout out to the staff at Swedish and First Hill including those of course represented by SEIU 1199 Northwest so photos forthcoming, I'm sure Items coming up on today's full council agenda, I will be presenting two of the three bills that have been championed by Council President Gonzalez coming out of her committee, specifically related to campaign finance reform.
The, we are moving on two of the three bills, and the bills that we are moving on relate specifically to the requirements for commercial advertisers and qualified public communications, as well as a bill related specifically to foreign influence corporations from making independent expenditures or contributing to campaigns.
We are not moving ahead the bill sometimes referred to as the Super PAC bill.
There will be two amendments proposed related specifically to the foreign influence corporations bill.
And those amendments, the first adds the definition of an independent expenditure committee to the definition section.
This necessary definition was previously missing.
And the second changes the title of Section 7 from Limits on Contributions to Campaign Expenditure Committees to Independent Expenditure.
This is important because it ensures that foreign-influenced corporations would not be able to make political expenditures themselves.
As it was written in the original bill, that limitation was related to the contributions to an independent expenditure committee or to campaigns, and we want to make it specifically broad enough to include a direct independent expenditure that a foreign influence company might make.
and I think that's all I have on those those items.
Councilmember Sawant has introduced to the introduction referral calendar a resolution related to actions both here and abroad related to the the activities in the Middle East and I have worked with the Office of Intergovernmental Relations who worked with some of our external to the city Organizations to suggest some changes and I'll share them with folks.
I would request that if The changes are changes that people want to have more conversation about.
There is a request from some of these organizations that we take some more time.
But I appreciate that there is interest in moving forward expeditiously.
So I really think the interest in taking more time is dependent on the level of concerns that folks may have or may not have with the version that I'm about to pass around.
Thanks.
That's it for me.
Thank you, Council President Pro Tem Herbold.
And thank you for serving.
And I wanted to make sure I pass the original resolution that we have drafted from my office.
in addition to...
And I will send out a strike changes version.
I'm sorry, I intended to print up a version that shows the changes, so I will make sure that everybody receives...
As long as you send it to us electronically, that's the most important thing, and I'm happy to look at that.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone, and I will join Council President Pro Tem Herbold in congratulating Council President Gonzalez on the birth of Nadia Luciana and also use that as an opportunity to thank the healthcare workers at Swedish, including those organized with SEIU 1199, who organized an energetic rally on Thursday evening where we were also joined by State Representative Nicole Macri and healthcare workers who are saying they deserve a fair contract and of course my office completely supports them.
There are no items on today's City Council agenda from the Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee.
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for a special time Thursday, January 23rd at 6 p.m.
here in council chambers.
We are holding an evening committee meeting because at that meeting we will bring to a vote the legislation from my office banning winter evictions and we want to make sure the meeting is accessible to working-class renters and homeless organizers.
I also Really appreciate the offices of council members Lewis, Peterson, and Morales and the council members themselves for making time in your schedule for that evening meeting.
There is one item on today's city council agenda from my office.
It is the resolution that my office sent to you all last week in opposition to Trump's escalation towards war with Iran, and also in opposition to what have been reportedly border patrol agents targeting people of Iranian descent, Iranian Americans, at the border crossing in Blaine, Washington, and also at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Trump's policies towards Iran, including airstrikes and the prominent drone assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq, Iran are risking war.
The U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have not expanded the freedom, democracy, standards of living, or safety of ordinary people in the Middle East, as were, you know, those were the promises made.
and have not increased the safety of people in the U.S.
Instead, they have caused massive loss of human life and ongoing suffering in Afghanistan and Iraq and among U.S. soldiers.
Ordinary people, especially women, young people, and marginalized communities always end up paying the greatest price for imperialist war.
We've also heard that border, as I said, border patrol agents in Washington have begun targeting people of Iranian descent, including U.S. citizens.
People have been detained and questioned for hours, including families with young children, as they return from attending a concert in Canada or return home to Seattle through Sea-Tac Airport and so on.
We feel it is important that the Seattle City Council speak out in support of our community members of Iranian descent and also do everything in our power to prevent another disastrous war in the Middle East.
My office has me personally and my staff together.
We have spoken to KR Washington, which is the Council of American Islamic Relations in our state, and other organizations such as CISCA, OIR, as Council President Pro Tem Herbold mentioned, we've also been talking to OIR, and ordinary Seattleites who are of Iranian descent and have been personally stopped by Border Patrol and the Port of Seattle, and actually one of them, at the very least, has sent a written account of his experience.
And he notes that he is probably not the person who has faced the worst experience.
It was merely a couple of hours of detainee.
He's a tech worker, but he imagines correctly that people have faced worse situations.
So, first of all, I wanted to thank the Office of Council President Pro Tem Herbold and also Council President Gonzalez for accommodating the resolution on the calendar, and also Amelia Sanchez, City Clerk, for helping us get this on the calendar, because understandably the Iranian-American community and anti-war activists feel the urgency.
But I'm also looking forward to reviewing the edits that you have proposed, Council President Pro Tem Herbold, And I'm personally not opposed to waiting until the 21st if we need to, but if we can pass it out of full council today, that would be great also.
At the city council meeting today, I'm also hoping to walk on to the introduction and referral calendar resolution.
My office is developing in concert with community members to support Seattle's South Asian community who are rightfully concerned about, I don't know how many of you have heard, but a horrendous Muslim citizenship registry.
that the right-wing Hindu fundamentalist government of Narendra Modi in India is pursuing.
And the Seattle South Asian community has held at least two courageous protests during the December vacation in Seattle downtown, which I was personally able to attend and speak at.
Just to give some background quickly, this policy by the right-wing government is expected to, if it is allowed to reach its logical conclusion, expected to strip 200 million Muslim people of their citizenship in India.
In addition, it will also target the citizenship rights of indigenous people and many other community members, including lower caste people.
As many of us know, India's Prime Minister Modi of the BJP government has a long track record of promoting violence and discrimination towards Muslim and lower caste community members.
His policies use xenophobia to drive right-wing demagoguery, much like the Trump administration does.
And in fact, just a few months ago, Donald Trump held what I can only call an odious rally titled Howdy Modi Rally, a really right-wing rally.
that filled a stadium full of people to welcome the right-wing government of India.
So I'm working with the community to get the resolution drafted.
We will send it to the law department as soon as we can.
And if the resolution is approved by the law department, I will be bringing it on to city council, and I will be sharing it electronically with you all the first chance we get once it is approved.
If we can introduce it today, then It will be available for the public to see and also hoping that we can vote on it on the 21st.
And there will be community members here to share with public comment.
And just for clarification, there is a question whether or not we will be having it walked on by you based on whether or not we get approval by the law department.
Is that correct?
Yeah, a question in my mind only logistically speaking if you have the time to turn it around, not so much in the substance of it.
All right, thank you.
And then finally, please join my office this evening along with the dynamic fighting labor leader Sarah Nelson and hundreds of our friends and neighbors as we launch the 2020 Tax Amazon Movement, and also it will be my inauguration.
The rally will be held at Washington Hall at 6 p.m., weather permitting.
Hopefully it will go through.
But we will keep everyone updated.
As of now, everything is on schedule, just like our city council meeting.
And I just wanted to say I might have to leave briefing early, so I give my apologies in advance.
Thank you.
Council Member Morales.
Well, good frosty morning, everybody.
I want to also extend my congratulations to Council Member Gonzalez and her family and welcome Nadia.
Can't wait to meet her.
I don't have a lot.
I do want to let folks know that our Community Economic Development Committee will typically meet on the third Tuesday at two, but this month we're getting bumped because that Monday is a holiday.
So council meeting will move to our Tuesday spot and our meeting will be moved to Friday, January 24th at 2 p.m.
So that's that.
Additionally, we will have our, I just wanna let folks know, we will typically be having in-district meetings on Friday for my office.
Our first in-district meeting is on the 31st.
We're gonna be meeting at the Station Coffee Shop, and I cannot remember what time that is, but if you have questions or wanna come and have a conversation, you can contact Devin in our office.
And then finally, we also have an event tonight, weather permitting.
We're having our community swearing in at six o'clock at El Centro de la Raza.
And we invite our district to community members to come and join us.
We will have tacos and the program actually begins at 6.30.
Fantastic.
Thank you.
Councilman Lewis.
Great.
Thank you, Council President Pro Tem Herbold, and good to see everybody this morning.
Also extend my congratulations to Council President Gonzalez and her family.
That's great news this morning.
I misspoke at briefing last week.
I was not going to the Magnolia Community Council.
That does not meet on that particular evening.
I did go to the South Lake Union Community Council meeting.
And there was a good discussion about the desire in that community to see a community center put in somewhere in that neighborhood, among other presentations.
Had a meeting later last week at the Belltown Community Council where there was a big discussion about the Battery Street Portal and some of the other infrastructure investments that SDOT and Seattle Public Utilities have recently made.
It is my intent to attend all the community council meetings in District 7 on at least a quarterly basis personally to have a staff member present at all of those community meetings on a regular basis and that has been a good start last week going to two community councils and really hearing from a lot of people in District 7 about how we can be an effective partner in government and what they want to see over the next four years.
The Select Committee on Homelessness Strategies and Neighborhoods is going to meet next week on January 22nd, so a week from Wednesday, at 2 p.m.
in Council Chambers.
One item of business that will be on the agenda is going to be Council Member Sawant's Ordinance on Transitional Encampments and the Reauthorization.
I would appreciate everyone's feedback and perspective on that ordinance over the course of the next couple of weeks.
I'm looking forward to having a robust discussion about that on the 22nd to really make sure that especially as the weather today is reminding us there's an exigent need.
Sorry?
You're talking about the winter moratorium?
No, no, not the winter moratorium, the transitional encampments.
Oh, sorry.
Yes, the tiny house village reauthorization.
But I mean, as the weather today is reminding us, making sure that we have ample opportunities to get everyone into shelter is more important than ever.
So definitely appreciate people's feedback on that ordinance and look forward to having a discussion.
And those are the only things I have to report this morning.
Councilmember Peterson.
Good morning everybody.
Thank you Council President Pro Tem Herbold for taking on these extra responsibilities this month and congratulations to the Gonzalez family.
That's really exciting.
more kiddos in the council is a good thing.
So the snowstorms remind us of the importance of local government to keep things running, keep the streets clear.
I want to commend Mayor Jenny Durkan, her department heads, and all the workers in the field who were out late last night.
Over the weekend, they were meeting from SDOT, SPU, HSD to keep things running.
And parents of school kids woke up this morning to find out public schools were delayed a couple of hours.
Some private schools were starting on time and some were canceled altogether.
So as a parent of school kids, hopefully it was consistent in your household and you didn't have siblings yelling at each other this morning.
If you do have a sidewalk, please.
Got a prop for this morning.
Please be sure to shovel sidewalk.
If you have neighbors who are mobility impaired or older and need help, please help your neighbors.
It's very important to keep those sidewalks clear.
We learned that from the snowstorm last time.
And the weather forecast is for it to get cold tonight, so beware of ice tonight and tomorrow morning.
On the City Council agenda today, there are no items from the Transportation and Utilities Committee.
We are meeting this Wednesday, January 14th at 9.30 here in Council Chambers.
For our first meeting, we will hear an update on the Seattle Transportation Benefit District and the important services it provides to residents, including supplemental bus service and filling potholes.
And I've asked for this update because in a few weeks we'll explore ways to potentially renew the Transportation Benefit District.
Renewal of that has been made more complicated because of what I consider to be the very harmful Initiative 976 by Tim Eyman.
But I look forward to working with SDOT, our city attorney's office, on options.
And I'm optimistic we'll find a path forward.
I believe it's really important to maintain and expand transit to our city.
In addition, we'll hear from Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities updates on their strategic plans.
I'm very keen on seeing where we can stem the increase in utility bills.
events in District 4. Last week, my staff attended the legislative district meeting, the town hall held by our 46th LD representative, Senator Frock, Representatives Valdez and Paulette.
We also attended the Ravenna Bryant Community Association, heard about some pedestrian safety issues, and I attended the Northeast District Council meeting to answer questions Talked about the Transportation Benefit District renewal as well.
Thank you to the Chair, Nancy Boland, who's a great community leader in District 4. And interesting thing, I had fun Friday afternoon, for those trying to reach me Friday afternoon, I was actually out doorbelling again.
I was knocking on doors to let neighbors know about a repaving project in my district, 15th Avenue Northeast.
from 55th Street all the way up to Lake City Way, just making sure everybody was aware of that project to sort of get input.
SDOTs are also getting input on that, but it was fun to be out there talking to constituents directly here and informing them about the project.
This week, we'll be going to the Eastlake Community Council meeting and then office hours every Friday and four from 3 p.m.
to 6 p.m.
at Magnuson Park, Building 30 Conference Room.
Thank you.
Councilmember Strauss.
Good morning.
Again congratulations to Council President Gonzalez and Cameron.
Welcome to the world, Nadia.
There are no items from the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on the agenda today.
There is one item from the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on the Introduction and Referral Calendar.
It is Clerk File 314443, which is an application for a contract rezone of 4731 15th Avenue Northeast from Neighborhood Commercial 2 to Neighborhood Commercial 2 with a 75-foot height limit and MHA suffix.
The reason I bring this up this morning, and this property is located at 47th and 15th Northeast, which is the University Baptist Church.
I bring this up this morning because this item is now pending under council rules, quasi-judicial rules.
Council members should avoid communications about the merits of the rezone applications.
with proponents or opponents of the project.
Council's central staff is scheduling meetings with new council members to brief you on the council's quasi-judicial rules.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach Ketel, a freeman of our central staff.
Last week, we had the opportunity to open District 6's district office.
We also did a district walk and were joined by Sergeant Stevens and Officer Sergio Garcia of the Seattle Police Department, which was a very productive walk.
Hearing concerns about public safety and also interest in additional reach outreach workers in the community, Ballard Playgrounds.
concerns about construction and so day two of being on this job we were out on the streets hitting the ground running and meeting with constituents.
We also had the opportunity to join Sound Transit's expansion committee and advocate for the 130th station coming on as soon as possible so that the Linwood extension can be as effective as possible reaching its full potential on day one.
Additionally, and lastly, with the snowstorm impending, we will be sending out updates from our office about different resources people can utilize in District 6 and across the city.
That's all I have.
Thank you.
Fantastic, thank you.
Just a couple things that I did not mention related to my Public Safety and Human Services Committee.
The regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 14th is cancelled and the first committee meeting will be on January 28th.
and at 9 30 a.m.
Also, I just want to announce publicly a reminder to the viewing public as well as my council colleagues that there is the 47th annual community celebration of MLK Jr., Martin Luther King Jr., on Friday, January 17th, from noon to 1.30 at Mount Zion Baptist Church.
And this year, internationally acclaimed scholar and speaker, Tricia Rose, will be their keynote speaker.
And Danelle Damon and Greater Works Gospel Choir will join them again with their award-winning music.
And if there's a critical mass of folks that are interested in going, we might look into trying to arrange transportation for us all to get there together.
All right, great.
Thank you.
If there's no further business to come before the council, this Monday morning briefings meeting is adjourned.
It's 9.59 a.m.
Thank you.
Thank you.