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Council Briefing 4/1/2024

Publish Date: 4/2/2024
Description: View the City of Seattle's commenting policy: seattle.gov/online-comment-policy Approval of the Minutes; President's Report; Signing of Letters and Proclamations; Preview of City Council Actions, Council and Regional Committees
SPEAKER_02

Well, good afternoon.

Today is April 1st, 2024, and that is no joke.

The council briefing meeting will come to order.

The time is two o'clock.

I note that council member Strauss is excused today.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

SPEAKER_07

Council member Saka?

SPEAKER_02

Here.

SPEAKER_07

Council member Wu?

Present.

Council member Hollingsworth?

SPEAKER_04

Present.

SPEAKER_07

Council member Kettle?

SPEAKER_04

Here.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Moore.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

SPEAKER_08

Here.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Rivera.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

SPEAKER_02

Eight present.

Thank you very much.

All right, if there's no objection, the minutes of March 25th, 2024 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

And so for the president's report, not much to say.

We don't have any presentations or executive sessions scheduled for today, but we do have one proclamation.

At tomorrow's council meeting, we'll have 36 items on the introduction and referral calendar, including the bill payment ordinance, a resolution on a proposed budget framework for the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, which is the joint commission between Canada and the United States that oversees the upper Skagit River watershed, and 34 appointments, 25 of which are to the Design Review Board and nine to the Green New Deal Oversight Board.

The consent agenda will include the weekly bill payment ordinance as well as one appointment to the LGBTQ Commission and five appointments to the Community Involvement Commission.

And then on the regular agenda, Council will consider four bills relating to city employment and wages.

These are being sponsored by Councilmember Strauss, who is chair of the Finance Committee.

And because he's not here today, I believe that Councilmember Rivera will speak briefly to those bills as Vice Chair of the Finance Committee when she's going on with her report.

Okay, so moving right along, Councilmember Wu and Councilmember Moore have a proclamation recognizing April 2024 to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Seattle.

Councilmember Wu, please lead the discussion on the proclamation for any additional feedback before I request signatures to be affixed to it.

And then I believe that after Council Member Wu speaks, she will turn it over to Council Member Moore.

Go ahead, please.

SPEAKER_00

I think we all recognize the importance of recognizing April 2024 Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Seattle.

Council Member Moore and I were working on two different proclamations and decided that we were gonna come together and put forth this one together.

But so in partnership with HSD, Human Services Department, as well as the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.

We have circulated copies, and we're planning to present copies to leadership from the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, as well as the Seattle Women's Commission, who will be present tomorrow in chambers.

I plan to have a more formal remarks tomorrow, but I will pass this to Council Member Moore for further discussion.

SPEAKER_06

Well, thank you very much, Council Member Wu, and thank you for your partnership with this proclamation.

I think it's great that we were able to join forces on this very important issue.

So colleagues, I am honored to bring this proclamation before you today.

Sexual violence is a serious public health crisis with profound lifelong consequences for survivors.

We know that sexual assault has disproportionate impacts on black, indigenous, and other people of color, people living in poverty, people in the LGBTQ plus community, elders, people with disabilities, and others who have been historically oppressed.

So I am so grateful to advocates for their tireless work to help support survivors.

And I invite my colleagues to join me and Councilmember Wu in wearing denim on April 24th to raise awareness about the misconceptions surrounding sexual assault and victim blaming.

So thank you very much for this opportunity.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you.

Do any colleagues have any questions or comments before I call for a count of who would like to sign on to the proclamation?

Okay, seeing none, I just have a question.

Will anybody be present tomorrow to accept the proclamation?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, my understanding that we will have people from KSARC and also the Women's Commission.

SPEAKER_02

Great.

Okay, I will save my comments until tomorrow then.

Thank you very much.

Seeing that there is no further discussion on the proclamation, will the clerk please call the roll to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed to the proclamation recognizing April 2024 to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Seattle.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Saka.

SPEAKER_02

Aye.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

SPEAKER_04

Aye.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Kettle?

SPEAKER_04

Aye.

SPEAKER_07

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

SPEAKER_02

Aye.

SPEAKER_07

Council President Nelson?

SPEAKER_02

Aye.

SPEAKER_07

Eight signatures will be affixed to the proclamation.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you very much.

All right, we'll now begin our next discussion, which is a preview of City Council actions coming up this week and a look back at what happened last week.

And so this week's roll call rotation begins with Council Member Saka.

Will you please begin and then pass it on to the next person?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, absolutely.

So thank you, Madam Council President.

So we have our next big Transportation Committee meeting tomorrow.

And at this meeting, a few items on the agenda.

First off, we're going to discuss the Seattle Transportation Plan, which we originally discussed back on March 5th.

But at tomorrow's meeting, we'll focus on a discussion of a number of amendments to the Seattle Transportation Plan that have been proposed.

and discuss the path forward there with the goal of voting on a final plan two weeks out at the committee level.

And colleagues, I welcome any of you all who want to join that meeting uh i'm pleased to see the level of behind the scenes coordination and partnership uh on second hall even for members who don't sit on the committee so shout out to uh council members morales uh moore heck council president everybody uh that that doesn't even sit on the committee um and and taking the time to to to make sure council member rivera of course making sure your views are are reflected uh and so feel free to join tomorrow if you're able to i know council member moore i think plans on joining so welcome you for that your dearest colleagues uh the next thing We're gonna talk about tomorrow at the Transportation Committee.

We're gonna consider a resolution to make an honorary renaming of a portion of 8th Avenue after Weir Harmon, who was a former longtime executive director of Town Hall Seattle and champion of the city's arts and cultural community, who sadly passed away recently in December.

And finally, I'll note that, colleagues, you may have seen the memo that was sent from the council president's office about setting up the Transportation Select Committee, which we're really excited for.

And, you know, feel free to chat with me here or one-on-one offline.

If your staff have questions about that as well, please reach out to Heather Marks in my office with any specific questions.

That is all from my perspective.

I guess I will pass.

Well, first off, take any questions or comments from any of you all.

And if none, pass the baton here to Councilmember Wu.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

So this Friday the 5th at 9.30 a.m., we are gonna have another committee meeting for Sustainability Seattle City Light and Arts and Culture.

We have some commissions that we would like to fill as well as Seattle City Light will have a presentation for us.

This past week, I went to the comp plan meeting in D5 at Nathan Hill High School, heard a lot of great comments and suggestions.

Also met with Puget Sound Energy, went to the API Chaya Gala Saturday night, as well as the 98th Odessa Day celebration at Hing Hay Park.

Also joined in Holi celebrations over the weekend.

And this week, I will be putting forward a proclamation to honor a community member who has passed away this weekend, Matt Chan, who was close to a lot of community members, as well as helped launch many candidates of color campaigns.

And so that will be before your desk.

If there are any further questions, I will pass this on to Council Member Hollingsworth.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you, Council Member Wu.

Shout out to Mr. Chan.

He will be very missed in our community.

So last committee meeting for the Parks Utilities and Technology Committee, we had an overview of the capital projects, a very high-level overview from our Parks Department regarding their capital projects.

They will be coming back to us with more data and information regarding how they're picking those projects and the different capital pieces that they'll be asking the state for funding.

So that will be great to hear them identify those.

We also had a presentation from our police department about the hostage throw phone and call you as well.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 10th at 2 p.m.

for our Parks Committee, our Parks Utilities Technology Committee.

Regional meetings this week, I am on the Regional Quality Water Committee with Councilmember Kettle.

That will be on Wednesday.

We just received the agenda in the packet, so we'll be going over that information as well for our Wednesday meeting.

District updates, last week I went on a ride with our unified care team where we did a ride along in the district.

I know some of my other colleagues have gone to look at the different sites where they're providing care and encampment resolutions.

Also had small business coffee chat with Metier Brewery in the Central District and a bunch of different small businesses that came and talked about all the challenges that they're having and what they're hopeful in the city, which is super important.

Also this weekend, spent time with Seattle Central Little League, and it is the start of their season.

Very passionate about parks, play fields, and our kids and our youth, and there were a ton of kids there for our historic Seattle Central League that is home to the same fields of Bill North, Joe Satan, and Cornell Archie.

used to play on those same fields, and so did I.

And last but not least, before I end my shout-outs and updates, UConn Huskies play USC tonight, and the reason why that's important, the connection is there's a guard Her name is Malia Samuels.

She's number 10. She's a Garfield High School graduate.

She's a freshman, and she's majoring in business.

She was a two-time state champion at Garfield High School.

And they will be playing at 7 p.m.

on ESPN.

That is our representative from the Central District.

So we are sending so much love and support to Malia Samuels, number 10, USC.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you, Council President, Council Member Hollingsworth.

Moving forward, first, yes, we've been following the Women's Terminate very closely, so thank you for that heads up and that point.

Appreciate it.

And as you mentioned, we'll be working with you, attending the Regional Water Quality Commission meeting on Thursday.

Separately, our office will be attending the Southlake Union and Queen Anne Community Council meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

And also important, I just wanted to highlight this, and I believe you're going to be in the meeting as well, Council Member Hollingsworth, is that we have a meeting with all the major, I believe all the major stakeholders on the Memorial Stadium plan.

I think it's going to be great to review that and see where we are.

That's something that I've been following very closely ever since just before the school levy, particularly with my old VFW cover on related to the Memorial Wall.

The following week, 9 April, is our next committee meeting, public safety committee meeting, which will feature the Office of Emergency Management.

Very important to have them covered as well.

They're one of the nine organizations that we oversee.

And joining OEM that day, we're going to have OIG.

We're going to have Inspector General Judge, and she's going to be going over the use of force report that's just been recently released.

Looking back over the past week, joining Councilmember Osaka on the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board meeting, very important.

And also the Domestic Violence Prevention Council.

I had a meeting with them.

And I want to highlight this, and it kind of goes into the proclamation as well, is that City Attorney Davison is going to be leading the charge, and it's going to be a focus on women.

And children, I mean.

in that situation, and trying to break the links between today and then 10 and 20 years from now.

And we received two fantastic briefings, and I really wanted to highlight them to the rest of the council.

I can pass to those who want.

I'll definitely pass to my colleague from the Housing and Human Services Committee, because it's such an important thing, and it plays somewhat into the question of children and young adults, what we're seeing in today.

And that is it.

And I'll pass now to Council Member Moore.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06

Thank you very much, Council Member Kettle and Council President Nelson.

For this coming week, I will be attending the Transportation Committee tomorrow with the invitation and permission from Chair Saka.

So thank you very much.

And just wanted to note that...

Council Member Salka and I went on a wonderful tour of sidewalks last week in Greenwood to look at alternative sidewalks because we are districts certainly 5, 1 and 2 are in desperate need of sidewalks and they are very, the sidewalks themselves are not terribly, well they're expensive but the real expense is in drainage but this was a great way to look at alternatives which have worked very effectively and are much more cost effective so We had a very good turnout and it was an interesting excursion, so I appreciated the opportunity to do that and I appreciate the opportunity to appear tomorrow with an amendment, to discuss an amendment to increase provisions for sidewalks in the transportation plan.

Let's see, what else?

Next, our next, we did last week, the Housing and Human Services Committee met.

We had a presentation from KCRHA, which was interesting, asked some tough questions, and we are looking forward to bringing them back with some follow-up information relating to services and allocation of money for those services vis-a-vis the City of Seattle.

The committee also unanimously recommended council confirm the appointment of Cody Allen to the LGBTQ commission and that will be on the consent calendar tomorrow.

Cody Allen sounds like a very dedicated public volunteer and we really are looking forward to their service on the commission.

I also last week had the opportunity to meet with some local D5 businesses, and that was sponsored both by the Chamber and the Office of Economic Development.

Again, they also talked about what we see kind of across the city with small businesses.

public safety being a huge concern, and also just the rising costs of labor and rent, and trying to remain viable in the city.

So it was very interesting to have that conversation.

I believe that covers it.

Thank you very much, and I'll pass it on to Council Member Morales.

SPEAKER_08

Thank you, Council Member Moore.

Good afternoon, colleagues.

There are no items from the Land Use Committee on tomorrow's full council agenda.

The Land Use Committee meeting for April 3rd is canceled.

This week I'll be meeting with community members and some stakeholders regarding the Connected Communities legislation that we've been talking about to work through some of the concerns we've heard about the bill so that we can vote on April 17th.

This morning I had my monthly check-in with OPCD.

A reminder to the viewing public that the last day for public comment on the draft EIS is May 6th, so just a little over a month from now.

Please make sure to share your thoughts and ideas about what the comprehensive plan should look like.

You can do that at engage.OneSeattlePlan.com.

This week, I'll be participating in the PSRC Growth Management Policy Board meeting, as well as meeting with the director of PSRC.

Tomorrow, I'll also be attending Councilmember Saka's Transportation Committee to introduce the resolution that he referred to, naming 8th Avenue between Seneca and Spring as Ware-Harmon Way.

And we'll also be meeting this week with the Seattle Fire Department for my regular quarterly check-in with them regarding the vacant building legislation that Councilmember Kettle and I have been discussing.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the death of Elijah Lewis, who was a vibrant young community leader who was killed by gun violence in Capitol Hill last year.

Elijah was a dedicated public servant serving his community.

He really focused on community economic development.

He supported young black entrepreneurs in the Central District and in the South End, and was a fierce advocate for reducing gun violence in our communities and creating a safer city for all of us.

This morning I joined his mom, Janine Lewis, and Elijah's friends and colleagues up at Seattle Central College to remember his impact on the CD and the South End and to honor his legacy.

Elijah will always be missed, but his work will resonate for generations.

So I want to send again condolences to his mom and to our community.

This week, my team and I will be attending a few different meetings in the community.

Tonight, the Mount Baker Community Club Seattle Parks will be presenting their Lake Washington Boulevard plans.

Tomorrow, there's an OPCD info session that's online regarding the draft EIS.

And then this weekend, we'll be at the Friends of Little Saigon Landmark Project Community Meeting in the CID, and I will be at the FIFA World Cup Local Organizing Committee Meeting at the stadium as well.

That is all I have.

If there are questions, I don't see any.

I will pass it to...

You did not start.

SPEAKER_03

I will pass it to Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Last Thursday, we had a good presentation from Director Dwayne Chappell of the Department of Education and Early Learning.

Also on the topic of education, I attended the Oversight Committee meeting of the Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy.

It was a good meeting, and I'm looking forward to learning more about the outcomes of this past seven-year funding levy, especially as we look to renewal next year.

I also met this past week with different community groups, particularly around the topic of transportation and housing.

And on Saturday, my staff attended the API Chaya Gala event.

This week we're holding in-district hours on Thursday in Wallingford at the Good Shepherd Center.

And also we'll be joining my colleague, Council Member Morales at the Puget Sound Regional Council's Growth Management Policy Board.

And then this week we'll also be sending out our newsletter where in particular we will be emphasizing how constituents in the D4 can offer input to the One Seattle Comp Plan It is so important and we've been getting word out to community frequently about the importance of being engaged, giving feedback, going to the community's in-person sessions if you're able to, and if not, to write into OPCD with their feedback.

It's a really important process.

And then finally, I'll turn to tomorrow's full council meeting.

There are four bills related to city labor agreements and employee compensation that will be up for a vote tomorrow at full council.

The bills have been referred directly to the full council.

Council member Strauss, as chair of the finance committee, has sponsored the legislation, but since he is not with us today, he asked me to provide a little information about these bills.

Three of the bills are related to the recent agreement reached between the city and the coalition of city unions.

One approves the coalition agreements themselves, and the other two provide comparable changes in wages and benefits for two groups of nonrepresented employees.

And then the fourth piece of legislation authorizes an initial collective bargaining agreement with a relatively small group of employees who sought union representation in 2021. You have all been provided with memos regarding each pieces of legislation, and Director Noble and Deputy Director Perducci are also available to you all colleagues to answer any questions that you may have.

Council President Nelson.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you very much.

Okay, so the Governance Accountability and Economic Development Committee met last Wednesday, and we had two items on the agenda, although one took up the lion's share of the time.

The second item was a briefing and presentation from the Office of Economic Development on the implementation of the Downtown Activation Plan.

for this year, certain actions that will be taken this year.

And the first part of the meeting was a briefing on the current app-based worker minimum pay ordinance, payment ordinance that went into effect in January, and a proposal brought forward by an association representing drivers called Drive Forward, which was developed with feedback from network delivery companies to resolve the catastrophic impacts of the current ordinance on drivers, restaurants, and customers that we've all been hearing about for nearly three months now.

So the compromise proposal would retain a minimum wage, contrary to reports we are not rolling back a minimum wage, we are in fact requiring network companies to pay drivers $19.97 per hour, the same minimum wage across all of Seattle, plus the 35-cent fee per mile.

And what is different, however, is that this is a different model, not based on a per-order payment, but on a...

So it's based on the amount of engaged times that drivers actually worked.

And this is more predictable and should, well, I believe strongly that it will be an improvement upon the current situation, which does not guarantee any kind of payment per hour, which is how most people understand their wages.

So I'm working with council central staff who is furiously putting together legislation that will translate this basic framework into legislation that will come before this committee.

I cannot say with certainty when that will be.

The next meeting of the Gade Committee is next April, is next in two weeks, on April 11th, and that agenda is still in development.

So it would be ideal to have something before us in writing At that meeting, however, it's a lengthy document, so we will see.

All right.

As for what happened last week, last Thursday I attended the American Jewish Committee Seattle's Advocacy in Action Dinner, which featured a keynote address by journalist Yair Rosenberg of The Atlantic.

On Wednesday, my chief of staff and I joined Visit Seattle for their 2024 annual meeting at the SIF Cinerama Center.

theater downtown.

There's some good news about tourism and both business and pleasure visitations to Seattle.

So that was good.

And speaking of CIFF, my chief of staff Jeremy and I met with the Seattle Film Commission Chair Kat Ogden.

also last week, as well as with Chris Swenson, who is the Office of Economic Development's staffer for the Film Commission.

And it's amazing to see what they've been able to accomplish in terms of developing an agenda of priorities after only a year impaneled.

And we will be hearing their priorities, both potentially legislative, but also programmatic, I would say, for 2024, probably at our last meeting on April 25th this month.

And they will also talk about what they plan to do with the funding that they received in last year's, during last year's budget deliberations.

So that would be in this year's budget.

All right.

On Thursday, finally, I was excited to head back to T-Mobile Park for opening day of the Seattle Mariners 2024 season.

And I was joined by other people here.

Although it did not go the way we had hoped that evening, it was just great to be back in the stadium and looking forward to an exciting season.

So go Mariners.

That is about it that I've got to report.

I am open to any questions that any of my colleagues have.

All right, seeing none, there is no executive session today and nothing else on the agenda.

So if there is no further business before we adjourn.

SPEAKER_03

I would like to request to be excused from the April 8th Council briefing, which is next Monday, and also the Thursday, April 11th, Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee.

No, you cannot miss that.

SPEAKER_02

Just kidding.

All right.

Hearing if there is no objection, you are excused.

SPEAKER_01

Go ahead.

Council President?

No, I have no objection to that.

I mean, but would love to document it and be recognized on record.

I had also previously requested an excused absence for Thursday the 11th at our economic development meeting.

So I... Yes.

SPEAKER_02

And let me explain for the audience.

It was unclear whether or not we would be able to hold the meeting on the 11th due to my own personal family obligations.

However, in the intervening time between potentially canceling and confirming that it was on, council members who are busy people had other plans, so completely understandable.

All right, and before I adjourn, I did want to...

Thank you, Council Member Wu for bringing forward that proclamation honoring Matt Chan.

That was devastating news.

And I just want to express my condolences to his family and to the community.

He certainly has and had a very wide ranging impact.

And so that is extremely sad news.

So thank you very much for recognizing him in that way going forward.

All right, hearing no further business, this meeting is adjourned.

It is 2.30.

Thank you very much, everyone.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.