Good afternoon everybody.
Thank you for being here at City Hall the January 22nd 2019 City Council meeting of the full Seattle City Council come to order.
It's 2 o'clock p.m.
I'm Bruce Harrell, president of the council.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Gonzales.
Here.
Herbal.
Johnson.
Here.
Juarez.
O'Brien.
Here.
Sawant.
Here.
Begsha.
Here.
President Harrell.
Here.
Six present.
Thank you very much.
At this point, I will move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar, and I believe we have an amendment to that.
And Council Member Swatch, you have the floor.
Thank you, President Harrell.
I move to hold the adoption of the introduction and referral calendar until after item G, public comment.
And if I might briefly explain that so the members of the public understand what I'm doing here.
Sure, please.
So just to explain to members of the public who are here, most of whom who are here to speak about saving the homes of the residents of the Halcyon Mobile Home Park, in the sort of normal course of the agenda, the public comment is after the adoption of the council calendar, which is where our item to introduce the legislation on the Halcyon Home Park is going to come.
So I'm I'm request, I'm making a motion to the council that we hear from members of the public first and then vote on the legislation.
Okay, so it's been moved.
It has not been seconded yet.
And before it's, well, why don't I, why don't you, it's been moved and seconded by Council Member Bagshaw.
Let's have some discussion.
Please let's work for the Council Member Warris has joined us.
Ordinarily, we try to show some flexibility in the order of the agenda.
I want to thank all of you for coming here this afternoon, because I know it's harder for many of you to come here than it is for others.
It's my impression that Council Member Swann made a fairly compelling argument this morning as to why this matter should go on the instructional referral calendar.
dealing with mobile home parks.
And quite candidly, I don't think there's any disagreement there.
So the action that we're about to take is fairly routine.
It's just the introduction and referral calendar.
When we have public comment, as we generally do, that would be the time for all of us to hear your individual stories as to why you think either these mobile home parks should be examined or whether there should be a moratorium.
And we'd hear from you on that issue.
My take on this issue is that a routine passing of the, amending the indirect referral calendar here will just be a 3670 vote or something along those natures without any controversy, which will give you more time to talk about the substantive issue.
So I'd rather have, it'd be my preference to have public comment in the ordinary section of the agenda to keep along with our general way construing the instructional referral calendar.
Quite candid, it's not a big deal, but to me it doesn't make sense to do it before, to have public comment before, because it's probably a routine situation.
But it's been moved and seconded, and you can vote as you see fit.
Would anyone else like to comment on having public comment before the IRC?
Any other thoughts?
And I'll just say that again, Part of my concern is that many of these good, fine folks will say, try to implead us to put it on the IRC calendar, and I think it's going to be there anyway.
And so I'd rather hear about the substantive issue, not whether we should put it on the IRC calendar.
Please.
As you said correctly, Council President Harrell, part of this is, it's a technical process.
And my strong understanding is that the members of the community who are here are not going to be commenting so much on the technical aspects, but are actually going to be telling their stories.
And I do think that Logically, it makes sense for them to tell their stories first before the council takes up.
And I understand that today we're not voting on the base legislation, but voting on putting it on the calendar.
But still, it's part of the process.
And I think that public comment should come first.
And just unfortunately, because this issue has been so urgent, this is the first time That the council will be hearing from them.
Of course the my committee heard from them on friday But then there were no council no other council members present.
So I would argue that we if if if president harrell if you are Generally, okay with either way, then I would urge that we do the public comment first Okay, so, uh, just to make it clear to my colleagues the way it will play out is we'll consider this motion and if this motion passes we'll take public comment and then we will
you will actually amend the IRC after public comment, correct?
Yes.
So after public comment, okay.
Did everyone hear that?
I don't think you did.
So in other words, if this motion passes, we'll go through the agenda, we'll go through the other items, and we'll pick up the IRC after public comment, where the public comment, very good.
Yes, Council Member Gonzalez.
Thank you.
So ordinarily, I tend to agree with Council Member Sawant's motions to front load public comment, particularly on issues where We are making a substantive decision around a particular piece of legislation and also when the agenda is quite lengthy.
Those are all reasons that in my mind would ordinarily contribute to a vote in favor of shuffling the agenda around in a way that allows members of the community to provide us their public testimony before we take action.
But in this instance, we have one item on the agenda.
It's incredibly short agenda and public comment is before we consider that agenda and so item and because this is a technical non-substantive vote in terms of just adding it to a future full council meeting, I think I'm going to support Council President Harrell's suggestion that we just maintain the order of the agenda.
And, you know, frankly, I think hearing the stories from folks in public testimony are, regardless of whether it happens before earlier on in the agenda or not, it's still going to be beneficial to me as a council member to hear those stories from you all now.
a week or maybe a couple weeks in advance of when Council Member Solant will bring this before the full City Council for vote on the actual substantive issue of whether or not we're going to do a moratorium here.
So I still will find, regardless of when the public testimony is, I'm still going to find all your stories in your public testimony incredibly helpful.
to my understanding of how this legislation impacts your lives and what we're trying to accomplish here through this bill.
I would also suggest that during the introduction referral calendar, council members will be able to speak a little bit.
And before you all comment, you can sort of know their thoughts as well, which I think would be of value to you.
Council Member Warris.
Thank you.
First of all, I want to thank you wonderful people from D5 for being here today.
I know that my staff had an opportunity, both Shana and Nagin, to be at two of your community meetings, and I apologize for not being able to meet with you Friday, but I should point out that Councilmember Sawant's regularly scheduled committee meetings are Tuesday at 2, and so Friday was a bit of an anomaly where some of us, because of Martin Luther King Day, had other commitments.
But we did watch the test, the public comment, and I'm going to agree with Council President and Council Member Gonzalez about this issue because it is a technical issue.
And is Linda here today?
Oh, good.
I talked to Linda yesterday, and we talked through that this was more of a technical piece that we were going to move this to put it on the calendar for next Monday.
to discuss the merits of the moratorium.
I've had an opportunity to meet with Councilmember Johnson.
I've had an opportunity to talk to the representative from the University of Washington and the developer.
And so there's a lot of things that I've learned and I look forward to working with my colleagues on this particular moratorium and any type of edits that needed to be made.
I believe I did share with Linda that, and I'll just be frank and honest with you, I said, I think your time is better spent showing up next Monday, because I know that some of you used your own money to charter a bus to come down here, and I don't know who's paying for that, but I know that if you're on limited, I'm sorry, if you're on limited funds, I don't think you should be having to do that.
So when I was talking to Linda, I was saying, I think I said keep your powder dry, Save your money until we get to this next technical round.
But I do agree with the President and Council Member Gonzales that we're all in, well, we're going to vote.
It is going to probably pass and we will all be discussing this.
And we have between now and Friday to work on the legislation on the moratorium and also to connect with OPCD and SDCI.
So I'll leave it at that.
Thank you.
Thank you, Council Member Morales.
Council Member Swan.
Thank you.
Well, it troubles me that every council member is saying this is a technical vote, but then I heard Council Member Gonzalez say that we will be considering the vote on the legislation itself in a week or maybe two weeks.
Well, that's not a technical response because the urgency, there is an urgency for the legislation to be passed.
And in my motion, when I will make it, I will be moving for the legislation to be voted on next Monday at full council and not delayed any further.
So if council members are talking about a week or two weeks or more, then this is not a technical matter anymore.
This is a political matter.
And then if that's the case, then if council members are intending to make amendments to my motion as far as when, which day the legislation should be adopted, then I do, I will urge that the public comment happen first because the people who will be speaking will be speaking to why this is absolutely urgent for them.
Thank you.
My only reason why I said I had any indication of doubt as to when full council action would be is because I had emailed your office over the weekend, Council Member Sawant, asking for clarification on when you intended to bring this.
substantive legislation before full council and I didn't receive a response.
So it wasn't my indication that I was somehow going to amend your intended motion.
It was a legitimate lack of understanding as to what your intent was.
If your intent is to have this full council take action on the underlying ordinance on Monday, January 28th, I have no objection to that timeline personally.
Okay.
And just to let you know, my staff member did reach out to you today, and you all were away at lunch.
So, we are happy to talk to you at any time.
Okay.
So, we have a motion, and let me make it clear.
The motion is to have public comment before the adoption of the introduction referral calendar.
That is a pending motion by Council Member Schwan and was seconded by Council Member Baxter.
So, I'm going to call for the vote.
All those, and please raise your hand.
All those in favor, say aye and raise your hand.
Aye.
All those opposed, say no and raise your hand.
No.
So it fails?
Okay.
So at this point, we have an introductory referral calendar, and now let's amend it, and Council Member Schwartz, you still have the floor, because I believe you'd like to amend the introductory referral calendar as stated.
So just to clarify to the members of the public, you will still have public comment, but the vote will happen before you speak.
I move to amend the proposed introduction and referral calendar by introducing Council Bill 119451 entitled, quote, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, adopting a moratorium on the filing, acceptance, processing, and or approval of applications for development in areas currently used as mobile home parks, Declaring an emergency and establishing an immediate effective date all by a three-fourths vote of the City Council unquote and by referring it to the City Council meeting Monday January 28 second Is it moved and seconded to amend the referral calendar as stated by council member so want Can I speak to it?
Yes Thank you this council bill is which, if this motion is adopted, will be voted on next Monday.
So just, this is a bit of a parliamentary procedure.
What the council is voting on right now is my motion to put the legislation on the council's consideration calendar.
And then once that passes, if that passes, then the council will be considering, sorry.
Somebody fell.
Is she okay?
Okay.
Please let us know if you need any medical attention or anything.
No, please don't apologize.
And so, if there are no amendments to my motion, then the actual legislation will be voted on next Monday.
So this council bill would place a moratorium on redeveloping mobile home parks in Seattle for one year.
This will give the city the time to conduct all the legally required steps to create permanent zoning restrictions to save mobile home parks like Halcyon in Seattle.
Last Friday in my committee, the Human Services Equitable Development and Renters' Rights Committee, we discussed with a group of people who live in the manufactured homes at the Halcyon Mobile Home Park in North Seattle.
We also had Ketel Freeman from City Council Central staff to give us technical advice on what steps forward exist.
The Halcyon Mobile Home Park houses seniors 55 years or older who are now in imminent risk of eviction, which would be totally devastating.
In ordinary circumstances, when a renter is evicted or priced out of their tenancy in Seattle, it can be extremely difficult to find another place to live, and many are pushed out of the city or into homelessness.
When a mobile home park evicts its residents, it is that much worse.
The residents own their manufactured homes, which after many years are not actually mobile, despite the name.
They lose the home they own and have sunk their life savings into.
Often they must even pay to have it demolished.
If evicted, the Halcyon seniors would be forced to find somewhere else to live in Seattle's unaffordable housing market after just having lost their home and their beloved community.
It is totally unacceptable, and I intend to do everything in my power to stop it.
The problem arose because the owner of the Halcyon property passed away, and the property is now controlled in trust by U.S.
Bank, which is in the process of selling the property to a developer called Blueform.
Council members will have the chance now to decide which side they're on.
Does this city belong to real estate speculators and big banks who see housing as nothing more than a profit-making investment, or does this city belong to the human beings and the working people who live here?
The legislation is an emergency legislation to place a moratorium on redeveloping mobile home parks, but we will have to act very quickly.
Just like in the legislation we put forward from my office last fall to save the showbox, this legislation will only succeed in saving these homes if Following the moratorium, we are able to pass it, pass the zoning designation and so on, but at this moment, if the moratorium itself is passed into law before the developer has reached a point in their application where, you know, it will not be possible to pass this moratorium, the technical term for that is the developer vesting.
Once a developer vests, basically anything the council will do will be too late.
And unfortunately, Blue Fern, the developer, could vest literally any day now.
It is even possible that voting next Monday will not be fast enough, but that is the first chance we have given Seattle's law.
Any delay beyond next Monday, in my view, would be extremely irresponsible given the information we have.
I think that for council members, I think that is the most important bottom line.
What will happen to the seniors who are living there and their family members if we end up having a delay in passing the moratorium?
I am very thankful to Council Member O'Brien who has agreed to co-sponsor this legislation with me.
Since the moratorium is only a temporary measure and not a permanent zoning change, it is specifically designed to be implemented quickly to give the city the time it needs to do all the research into a permanent zoning change.
And this, again, this zoning change that we are recommending once the moratorium is in place is not something that we are treading new ground down.
The City of Portland a city council in August of last year voted unanimously to adopt a manufactured park zoning designation for 56 of their 57 mobile home parks.
And so we have a lot of guidance from what has happened in the past in Portland and also in the city of Seattle.
That is why I'm proposing to refer the moratorium legislation directly to the city council meeting next Monday rather than a committee which will prolong the process and potentially have a grave danger of taking this opportunity away from our hands.
I want to thank all the organizations that have come out in support of or sent letters in support of the seniors at Halcyon, including the following, and I apologize if I miss any organization, Aerospace Machinists Union, IAM Local 751, Unite Here Local 8, Tenants Union of Washington State, PASARA, which is Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, AMHO, which is the Association of Manufactured Homeowners, which is like the Tenants Union for Manufactured Homeowners, the Seattle Displacement Coalition, Socialist Alternative, Bethany United Church of Christ.
I also particularly want to thank Ketil Freeman from Council Central Staff, who worked closely with the City Attorney's Office to prepare the legislation for the moratorium in record time, while also being bogged down with a full workload of other legislation, like the mandatory housing affordability, and who put in the extra effort to get us a draft legislation in time to introduce today.
Given how little time we've had, I really appreciate his time and attention to this matter.
And I also wanted to thank Nick Jones and Jonathan Rosenblum, who have tirelessly worked with the Halcyon residents, and Ted Verdone, the policy analyst from my office.
And last but not least, the Halcyon residents themselves, who have been an inspiring example, and I think young people will be inspired by how older people have been fighting for your rights.
Thank you, Councilmember.
Thank you, Council Member Schwant.
Council Member Juarez.
Thank you.
Again, I want to thank Council Member Schwant for the work that she has done on this, but I think we need to correct the record just so the viewing public and the people that are here understand this.
As you know, there was an owner that owned this property, and one of the beneficiaries was the University of Washington.
The last beneficiary is no longer with us, and the next one in line reverted to the University of Washington.
They are the complete and sole beneficiary.
University of Washington then hired, didn't hire, but U.S.
Bank is the trustee, meaning that they are the ones that manage this property on behalf of the UW.
And the UW made the decision that they would like to sell this property.
So the U.S.
Bank trustee, in fulfilling their fiduciary duties, as directed by the beneficiaries, put the property on the market.
And when they put the property in the market, they hired Kidder Matthews to do the sale.
So I was on the phone with these folks to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on.
So as of today's date, there is no sale currently pending on this property.
Blue Fern is not buying this property.
But that isn't going to stop us from looking at a moratorium or look at us looking at potential legislation to protect manufactured homes in the mobile parks in which they sit in.
My understanding, again, is from talking to not only the University of Washington and talking to the gentleman that Linda referred me to, because I said I'm dealing in innuendo and not facts.
I just need to know exactly what's going on with this property, and he confirmed for me At this time, there is no buyer and there is no developer.
Now, the property is still on the market, but as far as it being sold and people being evicted and people being told that they have to move out, under state law, you would have to have a year's notice.
And if all that was true and that you actually had a person lined up to buy the property, you would be well over two years out just in the zoning and the permitting process itself.
So I wanted to have those facts there so you understand where I come from when I make decisions so I can start there.
And so I'm guessing that what we're going to work with, and I want to thank Councilmember Johnson and Ketel, is that between now and Friday, we can look at Councilmember Sawant's proposed legislation about the one-year moratorium that gives us an opportunity to find out how we have legislation and how we have hearings because other individuals are interested in this matter.
and would have an opportunity to come here and provide public comment as well.
And that is what we are angling for.
I don't think anyone here, particularly in Seattle's rental market and housing market, and like we saw in the city of Tumwater, wants to see anybody displaced, doesn't want to see anyone lose their homes.
And you're right, these are manufactured homes, they're not mobile homes.
These are your homes where you have equity in them and you bought them with an understanding that you would be living there and so with that I wanted to share that we would be supporting moving this to the calendar next Monday, and I have a commitment I think Councilmember Johnson if he had his hand up or not that we'll be working with Councilmember Johnson and at the end of the day obviously Councilmember Sawant that we have something to put forward regarding a moratorium.
Thank you.
Thank you Councilmember Juarez.
Councilmember Johnson, you have the floor, sir.
Yeah, thanks.
As many folks are aware, I chair the city's Land Use Committee and we're responsible for reviewing of zoning matters like the matter that we're going to discuss again next Monday.
I, too, like my colleague Councilmember Juarez, will be voting in favor today of having this discussion on Monday and also plan on voting on Monday in favor of the moratorium.
However, I also want to correct a couple of issues for the record because I do think it is appropriate that we share with people what the facts are.
Not only has the property not been sold, as Councilmember Juarez said, but there is also not a development proposal for this proposal, for this property.
Much has been made of the fact that there supposedly was a developer application that was submitted on this property.
That is not the case.
Someone has contacted the city's Department of Construction and Inspection and asked what the process is for a pre-application hearing.
That does not mean that they have vested in this property.
That does not mean that we can't take action to put a moratorium on these properties.
But I think it is really important that we do state the facts of this case because we are a legislative body and the facts are important to us.
So my plan is to bring forward an amendment next Monday that will set forth a path after the vote on Monday to put a moratorium on this, which the moratoriums are only effective for one year.
And ask that the work be referred to my committee for further analysis, including a whole wealth of options available to us as a city and analysis of what other cities have done to protect manufactured home parks.
in other jurisdictions, not just in Washington, but around the United States.
So I am going to be asking my colleagues to support an amendment next week that will refer additional work and reference to my committee and also give my committee the authority to start doing that analysis so that once the moratorium is concluded, we can come back with a more permanent solution that will allow for the protection of mobile home and manufactured home parks throughout the city.
So rather than just having this be a temporary thing, and rather than spreading information that isn't accurate, I think it's important for us to be transparent with folks about what is actually happening and what are some long-term solutions that we could get in order to make sure that folks aren't coming back around to the city in a year or in 18 months or in two years without a permanent solution.
So I'm excited to have this vote on the introduction and referral calendar so that we can then actually vote on this issue next Monday, since today's vote is just a procedural one, but I wanted to share those thoughts on the record.
Thank you, Council Member Johnson.
Any other comments?
Council Member Swat.
I'm happy to hear that the voice of ordinary people has reached this council and that the council is planning to vote yes on putting this on the calendar and also as council members have themselves stated that they are intending to vote yes on the moratorium itself next week.
I think that should be considered a victory for the Halcyon residents who have been fighting.
And for all the housing activists and the union members, some of you who are in this, in chambers, and the union leaders who have stood with Halcyon residents, because without that we wouldn't have been at this point.
But I also don't see how it is helpful for Council Members Juarez and Johnson to say that there's been some innuendo and some misinformation.
The residents themselves heard that a corporate developer is interested in this property.
In July of last year, U.S.
Bank put the property on the market at a value of 22 million.
So even if we assume that there is no development plan right now, it is just a matter of time before another corporate developer comes along and decides to buy this property.
So I really don't see the purpose of saying that somehow the residents have been misled.
They haven't been misled.
They're very, very clear about what's facing them, and they are correctly fighting to make sure that their homes are protected before any developer vests.
And furthermore, it was only at this morning's briefing table that Council Member Juarez was talking about how Blueform had done its pre-application process.
Now if that developer has backed off because of the activism of the homeowners that's great but that will not be the last we will hear so it is absolutely still very important that we go ahead with the moratorium and we go ahead with the research that's needed just like it was done in the city of Portland for the zoning designation so that these homes are helped to keep safe and I think if facts are important then the situation that the homeowners are facing is the most important situation.
And as far as the amendment that Council Member Johnson is talking about next week, I'm fine with that amendment.
I also don't see what the need is because in my mind, it would be referred to your committee anyway because it is zoning questions and your committee deals with those topics, but I don't have any objection to that.
Okay.
Okay, I'm going to say a closing comment, and then I think we'll be ready to vote.
And for me, it's very simple.
How do we fight displacement for these fine folks?
It boils down to that.
And one year will pass fairly quickly.
And so while I fully support putting this and deciding this moratorium next week on the January 28th, the one year will pass fairly quickly.
And so I'm as equally concerned about the strategy after that.
And I think that's the work that Council Member Johnson is speaking of.
during these times of rapid growth, our efforts, we have to double down on how to fight displacement.
And so I think this fits very neatly into what we're trying to do.
So again, thank you, Council Member Swant, for bringing this to our attention.
And thank all of you for sort of weighing in and to get this good work done.
So let's amend the introduction referral calendar.
If it's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction referral calendar as stated by Council Member Swant, All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Aye.
All those, you can vote too if you want.
I saw some hands go up.
All those opposed say no.
Okay, it's been moved and seconded to that this, the instruction for our calendar is amended with Council Bill 119451. Okay, let's move on to our agenda.
If there's no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.
The minutes of the December 17th and 19th, 2018 and January 7th, 2019 city council meetings have been reviewed and if there's no objection, the minutes will be signed.
Hearing no objections, the minutes are signed.
Presentations, I do not believe we have any presentations this afternoon, which will take us now to public comment.
and public comment will be our rules allow that to be accepted for 20 minutes and speakers are limited two minutes of public comment and we ask that you sort of identify yourself in the manner you'd like to speak about and I'll call you out in the order that you You sign up and before I introduce the first two speakers I hope you I've been at least impressed upon you there was some wisdom in doing this before you spoke So now we can hear about your real stories because we're you you got a feel for some of the council members on their Understanding of the issue.
So now let's hear from you.
So we're gonna start with Renee and I apologize if I mispronounce Hagem and then Georgia and Porter will be next.
And Georgia, if you don't mind taking this mic, we could hopefully hear from more folks.
I do have my sign here to notify U.S.
Bank.
I don't want them trespassing on my home.
I was, in short, I was here to...
Prior to Alstead Mobile Home Park, manufactured home park, I was homeless in Seattle.
I was on the streets of Seattle.
And as I said in my statements on Friday, for two years, I tried to save some money.
I mean, I set up a service and so forth.
I lived inside a tool shed with no power, no heat, no running water.
I got to go to the house to whom that shed belonged to, but it cost me $200 a month.
I found Halcyon, which was a blessing.
I had the money to purchase a manufactured home that was not in the best of condition.
By the grace of the Halcyon or HomeWise, Seattle HomeWise program, I was able to refurbish that home and make it a home.
I got new windows.
I got new doors.
They insulated underneath.
It did some electrical for me.
In fact, there was an inspector that came from Olympia, and they had chose my home to look at.
Now, there is no reason for us to...
I just, I don't understand the burning and the flooding and washing away of goods, spent money through the state and the city of Seattle having this HomeWise program if we're going to be destroyed.
I'm not the only one in the park that has had work and refurbishing done to their homes.
Can you stop the clock?
Can you stop the clock?
I apologize.
I'm sorry.
Mr. Zimmerman, you know that's a no-no in the chamber, sir.
No, I support her.
Well, that's fine.
You can support her from your seat, sir, please.
Thank you very much.
I'm, stop the time.
I apologize for interrupting you.
Please proceed.
Anyway, on a happier note, this is my seven years of representation, my time in Halcyon.
I have quite a lengthy garden.
It's at least six by 50 or 60. I grow fruits and vegetables for myself and my neighbors every year.
We're self-sufficient.
We're not asking for anything except to be able to keep the homes we own.
That's all.
So please, no delays.
Please help us save our homes.
Thank you very much, all of you, for being here.
Following Georgia is Bob Holley.
Bob, take the middle mic, please.
My name is Georgia Porter, and I am one of the younger homeowners at Halcyon.
I moved there three, four years ago.
I'm a disabled vet living on $1,400 a month.
You tell me where I can find a decent place to live in Seattle, I have no family, and I'm not moving back to Pullman.
So we need your help to help all of us because this is a very diverse group of people.
Old, young, and everything in between.
All of their disabilities.
When I first moved in, I had been there I think three months, and I had a total hip replacement.
People didn't know me from Adam, and Renee brought me soup.
So I was just a beginner there, and these people are wonderful, and they definitely take care of each other.
When everybody needs help, we're there for them.
Thank you.
So after Bob, we have Wesley Shearer and then Isbed Dickens.
Wesley and Isbed.
My name is Bob Hawley.
I moved into Halcyon nine and a half years ago.
I'm a retired Boeing SPIA technician.
My church teaches us that we are to live a thriving life of heaven on earth.
And through prayer and meditation, I was led to this place at Halcyon in this neighborhood that has been so good to me.
We have so many things close to us.
I can bicycle almost every place.
My church has just purchased a property within three miles of Halcyon.
We're getting an ice skating rink in Northgate, and I'm a former figure skater.
We are seven minutes from the hospital that has saved people's lives having such a short ambulance ride to our hospital.
This whole thing has allowed me to have a thriving life of heaven on earth with wonderful neighbors that take care of each other.
And I can live out, I plan to live out my days here in Halcyon.
I know my home health won't always be as good as it is, and the public transportation is really good in the area.
The line stops in front of my church.
It takes me downtown.
I don't have to drive my car very much anymore.
So thank you very much, council and everybody, for your support and save our homes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My name is Wesley Shearer.
I have lived here since 1999. I am a Teamsters.
It has been a safe environment for my granddaughter, who is mentally challenged.
And if she is displaced, it would be a tragedy.
People in our park are very wonderful people.
They look out for her and they see that nothing happens to her.
I am also security for the park.
I make sure at night people are safe.
And I try to keep the lights on.
Thank you for listening to me.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
After Ishbed is Linda Constantine and then Mindy Lee.
Good afternoon, President Harrell, members of the council.
My name is Isabel Dickens.
I'm here this afternoon as a board member of the Seattle Displacement Coalition and as one of the founding members of the Association of Manufactured Homeowners.
I've been working on manufactured housing issues for over 30 years and actually was involved with the Seattle City Council when they passed the first moratorium in 1988, along with Jim Street, who's here in the audience.
If we'd passed a zoning ordinance then, we wouldn't be here today working on an emergency moratorium.
Time is of the essence.
Passing the moratorium next week is absolutely vital because we do not know when the next purchaser will come along to either purchase Bella Bee or Halcyon.
If we'd passed a moratorium and a zoning ordinance 30 years ago, we would have nine manufactured housing communities within the city of Seattle.
We're left with two.
I think it's really important that you consider the zoning ordinances, and I'd be happy to work with the council on that, having worked with the city of Tumwater, the city of Linwood, the city of Marysville, the city of Spokane, who've all passed zoning ordinances, as has Snohomish County, and Kenmore's is pending.
I've been involved with all of those, and we can do it here if they can do it there.
It's time to save what we have, because it's far cheaper to preserve existing housing than to replace it, and there is no way to replace Halcyon.
85 seniors are a community.
When they go, they will lose everything.
They will have nothing to pass on to their families, and they will not be able to afford to live in their community any longer.
It is up to you who have the moral and the legislative ability to save these houses to do so.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
My name is Linda Constantine, and I'm a homeowner at Halcyon.
I want to thank the City Council members for taking up this legislation, and particularly Councilwoman Sawant for introducing it.
I had to edit this really fast, so bear with me.
It has recently been brought to our attention by experts in the field from property managers to developers that this landfill site will be next to impossible to clean adequately for residential purposes and will likely be developed into office space.
These same experts surmise that U.S.
Bank and any possible development company that comes in may plan may submit plans for residential simply to make it more palatable to displace a community of senior citizens.
We need your help.
Seattle need not follow the rest of the country in uprooting the lives of its senior citizens to already wealthy construction companies for profit.
We need to set a precedent.
Please help support your voters today.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi, Mindy Lee.
I'm here representing Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action and we've been here many times in front of this council in support of these social issues and I'm just amazed at these people behind me.
I mean they have done a tremendous amount of work and the council members too in this issue because it's very important.
And I know you guys support these social issues.
I've seen you do it before.
And I heard a couple of really important things here today.
And that is, first, the urgency to get this done.
Even though there is no buyers right now, we need to get a moratorium on this.
And the other thing that I think is important is what Rob Johnson said, and that is, once you get the moratorium, you've got a year, but don't let this fall through.
You've got to then work really hard to get these people some permanent residence, to get mobile home parks like they've done Portland permanent so these people don't have to go through this again to lose their homes.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Hello.
I'm Russ Saunders with Handy Andys.
You've heard from me before.
I want to address part of what you guys talked about last week about changing Aurora to a pedestrian-oriented designation.
I don't agree with that.
I don't think that Aurora should be rezoned to NC3.
I don't think these people would want to live on Aurora.
It's not the place that has shown any development.
There's only been one apartment building built in the last 20 years on Aurora.
and that was for a subsidized housing.
The five blocks that were rezoned almost 20 years ago to NC3 saw no development.
We were seeing development on Aurora.
It may not have been housing, but it was development, which was good for our area.
And I suggest that you maintain the C1 and C2 zoning on Aurora.
As for Halcyon and Bellaby that are right next to each other, I agree with these people, you know, there needs to be some protection.
I think you should look at the property closer.
If you look at Ashworth and the backside of both Bellaby and Halcyon, there's an opportunity for more housing to be there.
I suggest when you look at your moratorium that you look at how to build a future for the mobile home parks, whether that's to build, make condos out of the same spots where mobile homes are that instead of them getting replaced with other mobile homes.
But if you were to look at Ashworth, I think the city has a lot of land right there that they could build subsidized housing on the backside of these mobile home parks and transition it to a future for subsidized housing for people like this.
and our seniors.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My name is Anne Brindler.
I do not live in Halcyon Mobile Home Park, but I am a contemporary of all these folks.
I live in affordable housing down near Columbia City.
I live in an apartment.
I'm here today in support of all these wonderful people because of another resident who's not able to be here today.
Patty Zaitlin is undergoing radiation treatment for her cancer.
I am in the same organization as Patty.
She is the vice president of the Seattle Storytellers Guild.
I am the treasurer.
I'm a retired teacher.
I tell stories to children.
I so want to be able to make a story of this situation that has a happy ending.
I know that many stories do not have happy endings.
When I look at the city seal, the official seal of the city of Seattle, and I see Chief Seattle there, and I think about what an amazing human being he was, And yet his people were displaced.
And here again, we have the threat of people being displaced.
I almost can't bear the thought.
that this is happening in the 21st century.
I want to thank Council Member Sawant for all her hard work on this, and thank all of you for listening to all of us.
We really need to put an end to any fear of a development at Halcyon Mobile Home Park.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Following Christy will be Linda McCoy, and then Dan Katz.
Ms. Kavanaugh.
Hi.
My name is Christy Ross, and I live at the Oslo Mobile Park, No. 75. When I moved there, my husband died.
I was working at the time, and I put all my savings and everything that I have into my home.
Now we're facing this fear of losing our home, and it devastates me.
I'm asking you guys to help save our homes.
It is so vital to us.
That's all I have to say.
Thank you very much.
You've said a lot.
Thank you, Christy.
Thank you, Council Member Sawant and all the Council Members here.
Thank you, Council Member Debra Juarez, for our conversations and the quick research that you've done on it.
I do wanna clarify the threat from Blue Fern, even though it didn't, quite go through all the hoops was a very real threat.
It was published in the Daily Journal of Commerce the day after Christmas, and we were hoping that we had a little more time before a serious fire would be announced.
But when that happened, and it was right in the holiday season, boy, we were really thrown for a loop.
So I really do appreciate the quick response.
And I just want to say, I really appreciate getting to know our community more in this process.
And we're going to do this.
I'm so happy to hear that Blue Fern has pulled back.
I want to verify it.
It gives me really a lot of hope.
So thank you for listening to our stories.
We've got a long road ahead.
There are all kinds of detailed issues that need to be addressed, but I think we can do something really worthwhile.
Halcyon and Bellabee are the only two manufactured home, mobile home places left in the city of Seattle.
So if something is to happen with either one of those, there is no mobile home place to go.
Even if people could move their mobile homes, there is no place to go.
So I understand the tax base thing.
I understand why it would be so cool People to pay a bunch of money, and U.S.
Bank to get a bunch of money, and the city to get a bunch of taxes.
But I really, really implore you to look at the other pieces.
Thank you so very much.
Hi, everyone.
My name's Dan.
I'm a food service worker, and I'm a member of Socialist Alternative.
And I'm here because I think it's urgent to pass the moratorium with no delay.
I want to thank Councilmember Sawant for really fighting for this and putting this on the agenda, and I want to thank all of the seniors at Halcyon who came forward and built this movement.
If we win this, it's because y'all built a movement, and that's why I really think y'all are really brave.
I think we really need more fighters on the city council, people who are willing to fight for working people and who are willing to stand up to big businesses like U.S.
Bank because I think this really does come down to people versus profits, right?
Like the needs of ordinary people in our community versus the profits of U.S.
Bank.
And I just want to remind all the council members, a lot of you are up for reelection this year and people are going to remember, did you stand on the side of big business on this issue or did you stand on the side of seniors in our community and ordinary working people?
So do the right thing and pass the moratorium with no further delay.
Our time for public comment is over, but I would suggest if unless there's objection, a lot of you have taken time out of your schedule, we should extend it.
We have a lot of folks that have struggled to get here, so why don't we extend it if there's no objection beyond our usual 20 minutes, and maybe for another 15 minutes, we'll see how we get through it.
So let me call out a few names.
Mary Kennedy, Dennis Saxman, Jonathan Betz-Zoll.
Myra, I'm sorry, Mary, Dennis, and Jonathan.
Hi, I'm Mary Kennedy.
I live in number 20 with my husband, Steve.
He's 80 and disabled.
I'm quite frightened by the prospect of my home being sold out from under me because I have nowhere to go.
And my entire life is in the North Seattle area, from my grandchildren to the work that I do singing to hospice patients.
I'd like to be able to continue my life here and also be near the doctors that we need.
But thank you all for your support.
I'm feeling a little more hopeful.
Thank you.
My name is Dennis Saxman, and I, of course, support the Halcyon Resolution.
I only hope that this council delivers actually on this promise better than it has in the past.
I have seen you talk about a concern with social justice, with race issues, with affordability, and the crisis has only worsened in our city.
It has not improved.
And I know three of you aren't even standing for re-election, so we won't be able to hold you to account.
But I at least will be watching what you really do.
I've heard your fine words before.
And I think this group, quite frankly, is a little naive to believe them.
Because we've had an emergency housing crisis for how long?
Over two years?
And it just keeps getting worse.
Okay.
Jonathan, Joanna Crocker, and then Thomas Yellen.
Thank you.
My name is Jonathan Betzall.
I am a homeowner in District 6. I've owned and operated the Bright Morning Star community since 1979 in the same house since 1986. My tenants are having trouble affording the rent that we have to charge just to cover our costs.
They're going up, I believe, because of the sort of redevelopment that's being proposed for this community.
We managed to make it through this year.
I think we have about another three years in our neighborhood before priced out.
And this is just the ordinary homeowner.
We're sharing costs.
I'm not there to make a profit.
I'm there to share my home with four other people who are just barely getting by.
These are baristas, artists, the kind of people who make Seattle.
the place that all these other folks want to move to.
So, I want my tax dollars spent supporting the people in the community that we just heard testify, not for the profits of big developers.
You're hearing this from a homeowner, not necessarily a political activist.
I'm a homeowner, that's what I want, because these folks are standing up to keep me in town, me and the people I'm trying to shelter.
Okay?
The community that we've seen demonstrated in the testimony today is the kind of thing that makes our community worth living in.
It's not about money.
It's about people supporting each other.
That is the kind of city I want to live in, and you're hearing it again from the ordinary neighborhood person.
Okay?
Finally, I just retired as an instructor in environmental science from Highline College, and I can tell you from that viewpoint, this is an environmental issue.
Every time poor people get displaced, there are major environmental impacts that the typical EIS takes no account of, no account of.
I'm really tired of that.
I want to see that analysis brought into whatever analysis goes into your proposal.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So, Joanna Crocker, Thomas Yellen, and then Kylan Parks.
My name is Joanna Crocker and I served as Director of the End of Life Care Program under the Hawaii State Office on Aging.
Then I moved to Seattle area and I worked for Chris Bailey, former King County prosecutor, until a texting teenager took me out at 65 miles an hour on I-5.
Subsequently, the only place I could find to live that could be permanent was a manufactured home park in Goldwood East in Kenmore.
And that mobile home park has had many of the same problems as the folks here today.
And during 2018, a group of us attended every single Kenmore City Council meeting and Planning Commission meeting.
And Kenmore made some changes that may be helpful and useful to you folks.
So Kenmore will be passing a resolution in April permanently preserving two communities and temporarily preserving the other four for a period of 10 years.
Most of us who live in those communities would like it to be forever.
They did see the benefit of not losing their affordable senior housing, and they saw it as only right to give those folks time to make such a serious transition.
So, I hope you'll all do the right thing and put people over profits and also honor the power of these communities, of the neighbors helping neighbors, which is incredible.
And I hope we can resolve this for the many manufactured home parks in this state and be a great example for them.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today.
My name is Thomas Yellen.
I'm a longtime 39-year member of the Wedgwood neighborhood.
I'm in Mr. Johnson's district.
I have no direct connection to any of the people who have spoken here today besides our common humanity.
And I am very impressed with the community spirit that is so evident.
here.
All of us in our city have been wringing our hands for years all people of goodwill regarding this affordable housing crisis and I would be the first to admit it is a difficult thing to solve but it seems to me that we have a possible opportunity here to preserve such housing Frankly, I hesitate to bring up economics, but I will say perhaps at a very favorable cost.
And I think there has been a lot of evidence presented today about the human cost if we don't succeed in this particular effort.
So I urge all the council members to vote for this moratorium and to work very hard to preserve these two communities, Halcyon and Bellabee.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Council.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today.
My name is Kylan Parks, and I am a manufactured home owner that lives in a community in Lynwood that was sold to a developer in 2006. We fought hard to save our homes, and we are a success story.
We were able, the developer said at a city council where we all showed up, said that he would be willing to sell our lots back to us for $100,000 a piece.
is 98 senior homes.
That was not feasible, but it did give us an opportunity that he was willing to sell.
So we approached the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, which entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the developer.
We got one year to purchase, to have the funds.
It took us that to lobby the legislature, which we successfully did in 2008, where 98 senior homes are saved into perpetuity.
After that, we got so many calls and outpouring from mobile home owners in different areas all over the state saying, what can we do to keep from being in the position that you found yourselves in?
That's when the Association of Manufactured Home Owners was born, to pay it forward.
And we are we have been helping for 12 years.
The first thing after we saved our community was went to the city of Linwood to save the 17 communities with a manufactured housing community zone, which they did.
So there is precedence right in your backyard.
You heard the city of Kenmore is getting ready to do that.
I want to tell you, I understand Councilmember Juarez, the concerns about misled information and such, but I will tell you it's very difficult for me to hear because I received a letter from my owner of my community not 30 days before the taxpayer of record changed and the purchase was already in the works and we were lied to that the community was not up for sale, that he would never sell until he died.
30 days later the taxpayer of record was changed and that the community was sold.
So I encourage people to be proactive as they have done here so well at Halcyon.
And please remember, this is the last form of unsubsidized affordable housing left.
You hear the stories of these people.
They have not asked the government for anything.
They have made their own way.
They have worked hard, they have paid taxes, and they deserve to keep what they fought hard for.
So please, no delays.
Put a manufactured housing community zone in immediately.
Thank you so much.
Marilyn Reid, followed by George Sigler, and then S.
Naomi Finkelstein.
Marilyn, George, S. Naomi.
Marilyn Reid, George Sigler, and S.
Naomi.
Hi.
Hello, I'm Marilyn Reid.
Thank you council members.
I'm a resident of Halcyon and homeowner.
I'm probably one of the younger people in the park.
I am so moved to be here more for the sake of my wonderful neighbors and the powerful community that I live in.
The high level of organization that they have each created in their own lives is so moving.
I see people who have invested the remains of whatever income they had and are basically living on social security to make a beautiful home and to create a lifestyle in which they are comfortable and safe.
One of my dear friends, Patty, has lived there for 25 years, and I see how she's carefully crafted this life of support, you know, activities that she does without having to drive, her church, her community, her women's group, her storytelling group, all in the neighborhood.
So I also see my next door neighbor who's basically unable to go more than a few feet from his house, let alone get on a bus or come here.
And I'm actually really wanting to say something about all those residents who could not make it here.
that have barely made it out of bed to the kitchen to make their breakfast, and they manage to live their lives in a way that works through support.
And what would happen if they were displaced?
They do not have the means to move.
They would have to go into assisted living.
Who's going to pay for that?
There is no way for them to have successful lives.
So therefore, if this park goes into eviction and demolition, it's a death sentence for those residents.
There's no way they could live.
So I am really all for voting for the moratorium next Monday.
And within that year, putting in place some measures that would ensure the safety of these 85 people and their friends.
Thank you.
My name is George Sigler.
I'm a lifelong resident of Seattle, retired after 40 years as a purchasing manager.
I live about a mile from the park and I, as a homeowner and a voter, I want to encourage you to support the moratorium and then continue to work on the issue to allow these people to live out their lives in this location and to support affordable housing in Seattle in general and I think this is a good opportunity to demonstrate approval support for affordable housing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hello, my name is Naomi Finkelstein, and I'm a member of the Kadima Jewish Progressive Community and the Poor People's Campaign.
I'm an organizer for the Poor People's Campaign.
And more to the point, I'm 55 and I'm disabled, and I watched the city destroy Yessler Terrace, and all my neighbors who lived there, who were old and had community and support, got dispersed, and many of them, many of them, I followed them.
I watched them die because of it.
I want to quote somebody.
Let's see if you know who it is.
No greater tragedy exists in the modern civilization than the aged, worn out worker who after a lifetime of ceaseless hard work and useful productivity must look forward to their declining years in a poor house or a nursing home.
A modern social consciousness demands a more humane and efficient arrangement.
Guess who said that?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Workers who have worked hard their whole lives cannot have some kind of security at the end of their lives.
and cannot form community.
We used to have neighborhoods and take care of each other in my lifetime.
When we don't have that and when they don't have that, well, I don't know.
Seattle becomes less and less humane, less and less a democracy, less and less someplace I want to live.
And I'm just saying to you all, I don't even know what to say.
People deserve housing as a bottom line right, whether they have worked or not worked.
But these are union members who are sitting here.
These are veterans who are sitting here.
I support this moratorium going forward as quickly as possible.
And all this nonsense about people not knowing when there's an emergency is condescending.
These people know.
Thank you.
So we've extended it for another 20 minutes.
We've exceeded that time.
We just have a handful of folks, but we do have an agenda we have to go on.
What I'm going to suggest, unless there's objection, that we hear from the last folks that have stayed here, but let's take it down to 60 seconds.
So if you could adjust the clock to one minute, and then we'll hopefully get for everyone that's come down here to sign up.
So let's move on down our line here to Devin Silvernail, then Amy Tower, and then Merle Adler.
Devin, Amy, Merle, are you here?
Okay, so, oh, you are here.
They're very good.
Thank you, council members, for having us here today, and thank you for giving us the little bit of time that we have to talk to you.
My name is Devin Silvernail.
I'm a member of the Seattle Renters Commission.
I'm also executive director of Be Seattle, an organization that works with folks who have been displaced from their homes in Seattle.
And I wanted to be here to remind you that, you know, it's traumatic for people who are displaced or evicted as is, but for seniors, it can be life or death.
And that's really important to remember, especially when we're here listening to people's stories.
It might be something that you need to study or it might be something that's theoretical for you, but for them, it's not.
So with that, I wanna remind Council Member Johnson that we do have a case study for whether or not this works.
It's called the City of Portland.
And the Portland Housing Bureau has a great helpline.
I've called them.
So maybe you all could call them too.
Please support the moratorium.
Thank you so much.
Hi, good afternoon, council members.
My name is Amy.
I work with the Tenants Union of Washington.
I'm also a renter in District 4. We're here, I'm representing my organization, definitely in support of the Halcyon homeowners and their beautiful community.
As the Tenants Union, we've been working in SeaTac to help preserve the FERS mobile home park, which has a lot of parallels in terms of the beautiful community, the amazing web, you know, people taking care of each other, which I know Council Member Sawant said on Friday, like, it would be great if we all had this, honestly.
It's something that when we talk about highest and best use of land, this is absolutely the highest and best use.
And when we're talking about people and profits, those are not just words.
These are the people, and I hope that You're really looking into their eyes and hearing their stories, because I think it was impossible to come away from Friday's meeting without just the urgency of needing to validate and say, you know, this is what Seattle should be about.
So please do vote for the moratorium and place the zoning for manufactured home parks.
Thank you.
So following Merle will be Lynette Chase and then Alex Zimmerman.
Hi, I was here for the Friday meeting not to speak on behalf of one of my sister's best friends, but here I am again.
I didn't know that she lived in Halcyon.
But I do think that this exhibits a further problem that we need to address, and that is the financial industry that puts these things and acts as a progenitor of these problems, because they see their business as not having any economic externality.
And what we really need to see this as is perhaps a bid where we can use eminent domain to establish these kind of properties as being not someplace, which I think the case Kelo versus New London, not someplace where we have to decide in favor of the use of that land that has the most tax revenues that comes from it before we decide on whether we should throw people off of their land.
And that's what Kelo under a very liberal justice in 2005, Justice Department came up with.
But in this case, if we were to do, you know, they have moved to the need to actually get a public bank here, we wouldn't be subjected to like other cities like Richmond.
And California and other countries or cities that we're very interested in.
using eminent domain to save people from foreclosure.
Thank you.
Is this wrapping up?
Are you wrapping up now?
Are you hearing me when I say wrap up?
Security and financial institutions to give up on the bond that the city would have.
Thank you, sir.
Lynette will be followed by Alex Zerman and then Amanda Davila.
Hi, thank you for your time.
I'm Lynette Chase, and my family and I have been in Halcyon for close to 30 years.
My husband and I grew up in Seattle, wanted to retire in Seattle because this is home.
Like so many people, you get older, you don't have family.
Everybody's moved away.
You've got that.
So what do we have now?
We have our family and our community here.
We took our savings, invested in a home that We wanted to stay in forever.
It's got what we need.
We're close to the doctors.
We're close to shopping.
We're close to our friends and our neighbors, the things that are important.
And the fact that I'm this age and having to fight to keep my home, I never thought that would ever happen in a million years.
You buy it, you work hard all those years.
Battling to keep your home is not supposed to be something that you ever have to face.
So your help and support is appreciated.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So Amanda Davila, Stuart Duckworth, David McElveen, McElveen, Sheila Parker, and Eloise Mickelson.
Are those folks not here?
Okay.
So with that.
Eloise is here.
Eloise is here.
Thank you for giving me some time.
Yes, ma'am.
Thank all of you for being here for us today.
This is the most terrifying situation, and it's terrifying to me because 16 years ago, I bought my home in Halcyon Park, and since that, I've been taking care of a lot of seniors there.
I'm a volunteer in the area.
I'm also a volunteer in Shoreline and for Lake Forest Park, which I previously lived.
What I'd like to say to you today is that it is so humiliating to see my neighbors and friends, 97 and so on, crying in the streets when I come in to see them.
And just, hey, one thing you can do is send the mental health services up to Halcyon, because we all are on the borderline of being sick with PTSD, if that's what you like to call it.
I know that my friends and neighbors are suffering, and I'm asking you with the power to be to alleviate that suffering by helping us to stay in our homes, calm us down, so that we can live a productive life from now on.
Thank you.
We are vigilant.
We are taxpayers.
We are caring for each other, and we're caring for the community at large.
We understand the situation of homelessness because we have them in our backyard every day.
Stone Street from 122nd to 115th is tense, tense, tense.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you very much.
Our last speaker.
Our last speaker to sign up is Aiden Cardell, or Carroll, I'm sorry, Aiden Carroll.
If there are any seniors in the room who didn't get a chance to sign up, I'd like to yield my time to them.
If there's any seniors in the room who didn't get a chance to sign up, I'd like to yield my time to them.
Is there anyone who would like to speak who's from Halcyon?
I yield partway through.
Why don't you just continue there?
Okay.
Well, my name is Aiden.
I am a senior at the University of Washington.
While I live in Wallingford, I went to Ingraham High School, which is right near here.
My mom works at Broadview Thompson.
I have seen how This neighborhood is a refuge for people who can't afford down near, closer to Green Lake and stuff.
This is a really important bigger problem that's probably just one example of.
I do think it's a little condescending to imply this is a false alarm when these people received clear notices.
And we heard on Friday in that hearing, there were people from Halcyon who had heart attacks and were hospitalized due to shock from the implications of this, having to sell their homes for nothing.
So just let's take the real pain and the real feelings seriously.
So thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Chris.
Okay, we're gonna conclude.
I'll make this really quick, I really appreciate you guys' time in this.
Are you on the sign-off sheet, sir?
I am on this, David McElmean.
Oh, I skipped past you.
Okay, I'm a newcomer to the park.
I need to share with you guys, we all live in communities.
When was the last time you cooked your neighbor a meal or took him to the hospital?
This happens in this community every day.
Mr. Johnson, you said there's nobody buying this property.
By this property going up on the market, every one of these people have lost the equity in their home because nobody will buy their home while it's up for sale and they're not going to get their money back out of it.
I've talked to some of these people.
If they sell this property and somebody comes in to develop it, you're gonna find a lot of people who they got no place to go and they're not moving.
They're gonna chain themselves to their trailer and stay there and it's gonna make a big, big impact in Seattle.
To conclude our public comment, and I want to thank all of you for sharing such impactful stories.
Thank you very much.
Please proceed to payment of the bills.
Council Bill 119442, approving money to pay settlement claims and ordering the payment thereof.
I'll move to pass Council Bill 119442. Second.
It's been moved and seconded that the bill pass.
Any comments?
Just one second.
Please call the roll on the passage of the bill.
Gonzales.
Herbold.
Aye.
Johnson.
Aye.
Juarez.
Aye.
O'Brien.
Aye.
Sawant.
Aye.
Bankshaw.
Aye.
President Harrell.
Aye.
Aiden, favor, none, opposed.
The bill passed and the chair will sign it.
I'm sorry did I overlook a person that was on the list and what is your name ma'am?
Okay, Sheila Parker, we come forward.
If there's no objection, I'd like to suspend the rules to go back to public comment.
I did call Ms. Parker's name, and I apologize.
I didn't say it loud enough.
So let's hear it for Ms. Parker.
You have the floor, ma'am.
Thank you for being here and listening to us.
My name is Sheila Parker.
I retired from the University of Washington about 13 years ago, and I've been for the And I live in the Bella Bee Mobile Home Park next door to Halcyon, and I've been there for 30 years.
And I've enjoyed living and participating in the Heller Lake community, which is the greater community that these mobile home parks reside in.
I'd like to see the Seattle Mobile Home Parks preserved and to look to you and our various government entities to help us.
I would like to think that you all and they work for all of us.
King County, I understand, has purchased five mobile home parks.
And in the 80s, I remember Patty, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, worked on mobile home park issues.
And her parents lived in a mobile home park in Bothell back then.
Please help us.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Barger.
And before we proceed to the next agenda item, Council Member Street, I did want to recognize you, sir, for your years of service.
I believe this started in 1983 and your years as a Superior Court Judge.
Did you want to say any words to us, Mr. Street?
Okay, thank you for your continued community service.
Very good, very good.
Please read the first agenda item.
The report of the City Council agenda item 1, Council Bill 119441, amending Ordinance 125706 to modify the effective date of that ordinance.
Council Member Baxhaw.
Thank you all.
This is actually a matter that came in front of us during our budget last year.
Approval of Council Bill 119441 would make a correction to the effective date of another ordinance, which is 125706, which updated street use permit fees as part of the 2019 budget process.
And this ordinance, 125706, should have been included an effective date of June 15, 2019, not April 1st 2019 which was actually included so the June 15th date aligns with the fee updates with s dots Implementation of its new permitting system.
I'm sorry to bore you all but that is something that we need to correct Thank You cancer in Bexar any comments on this If not, I will move to pass council bill one one nine four four one second.
It's moved in second any further comments Please call the roll on the passage of the bill
Gonzales.
Aye.
Herbold.
Aye.
Johnson.
Aye.
Juarez.
Aye.
O'Brien.
Aye.
Sawant.
Aye.
Bagshaw.
Aye.
President Harrell.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Is there any further business to come before the council?
Council Member Gonzales.
Thank you, Council President.
I move to be excused on Monday, January 28th, 2019. Second.
Is it moved and seconded that Council Member Gonzales be excused on January 28th.
Any comments?
All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
The ayes have it.
She is excused on 1-28.
Any further business coming for the council?
Council Member Johnson.
Mr. Chair, I usually don't spend this time at full council making statements like this, but I felt compelled to do so.
I, as you know, serve as the delegate for our sister city, Gdynia, Gdynia, Poland.
is just around the corner from Gdansk, Poland.
And over the weekend, the whole country of Poland mourned the loss of the mayor of Gdynia, who was a voice, I think, in Poland for progressive left-leaning policies, and over the holidays was stabbed to death, tragically, in front of a large group of people at a fundraiser organized in support of Christmas charities.
And I say this because we've been exchanging some dialogue back and forth with elected officials in Gdynia who I think are still in shock and in mourning for the loss of such a a great leader like Mayor Adamowicz and I just want to say publicly how sorry I am for their loss and let us be reminded of the fact that the kind of hate speech that is being spread in Poland does have consequences and unfortunately this seems to be one of those consequences so I wanted to take a minute to say that I would have said it this morning at council briefing but we were running out of time this morning and so I thought this afternoon might have gone a little bit faster.
So I apologize for waiting but I thought that was important to share.
Thank you for sharing Council Member Johnson.
Thank you very much.
And with that we stand adjourned and everyone have a great rest of the day.