Transportation Committee 5/20/2025

Awesome.

All right, good morning.

The May 20th, 2025 meeting of the transportation committee will come to order.

It is 9.30 AM.

I'm Rob Saka, chair of the transportation committee.

Will the committee clerk please call the roll.

Council member Kettle.

Here.

Council member Rink.

Present.

Council member Strauss.

Present.

Vice chair Hollingsworth.

Chair Saka.

Here.

Chair, there are four members present.

All right.

If there are no objections, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing and seeing no objections, the agenda is hereby adopted.

Thank you colleagues and members of the public for attending us today or the meeting of the transportation committee with us this morning in person and joining online as well.

I know first off that vice chair Hollingsworth is excused from today's meeting just for the record.

First and foremost, wanna start by acknowledging another tragedy on our roads, a pedestrian death.

This one in my district a few days ago in South Park.

And wanna start by expressing my sincere condolences to the friends and family of the gentleman that was struck and killed by a car this past Thursday, May 15th, at the intersection of 14th Avenue South and Henderson Street.

This is the second such pedestrian traffic fatality that this specific community has had to endure in this location just the last five months.

Indeed, back in December, there was another tragic death at this very same intersection.

And we express our condolences to Natalia's friends, family, and husband, Isidro.

That's the victim and the family of the December killing.

Two years prior to this most recent fatality, a child was hit in the crosswalk while getting off a bus.

South Park residents have also reported frequent near miss collisions in the area.

On a recent neighborhood walking tour, my office witnessed firsthand the high rates of speed down this arterial and have advocated for mitigation efforts as well.

This current situation is totally unacceptable.

I've called for immediate action from SDOT and the mayor's office to lead mitigation efforts.

Yesterday, I convened a meeting with Deputy Mayor Farrell, SDOT Director Emery, and SDOT's Chief Safety Officer, Namani, to better understand the department's anticipated new actions to address traffic safety in this neighborhood.

Building on the work SDOT has already undertaken to date.

It is clear there is much more to do.

After that conversation with relevant city leaders and our executive departments, it is clear to me that I know we share a commitment to wanting to deliver as a city more prompt, immediate action to make this specific known problem area for traffic collisions in South Park safer for all road users, especially the most vulnerable.

And I'm happy to report that SDOT has committed to expediting some safety improvements in the area that were already in the works for this latest tragedy while exploring what additional safety measures could be quickly employed in the area in parallel.

With clear timetables for these existing and new actions, finalizing those clear timetables by the end of this week, I have seen firsthand how quickly SDOT can move to address traffic safety mitigation as they did recently on Fourth and Pine, Councilmember Kettle's district, to make much needed and urgent safety improvements to protect cyclists on our roads here in downtown, which I spoke about and specifically praised this excellent work at our last committee meeting.

I know we as a city are capable of delivering effective, responsive results when there is sufficient will.

And I know that will is shared.

Looking forward to supporting SDOT as they bring about those solutions so desperately needed in this area.

And I want to be very clear that my office will continue advocating for residents and visitors to this neighborhood and work to ensure that proper lifesaving traffic mitigation measures are installed and the SDOT actively works to improve the safety of this community support and I will support them in any way I can.

Moving on to The focus of today's meeting is the Levy Oversight Committee.

Today's agenda will focus on appointments, the initial slate of appointments at least to the Levy Oversight Committee.

Colleagues recall that the voter approved transportation levy that voters overwhelmingly approved this past fall is the most accountable transportation levy in our city's history.

Something to celebrate and be proud of.

It also delivered allows our city to deliver big, bold, transformative transportation investments over the life cycle, the eight year life cycle of this levy.

But today's committee agenda speaks to that accountability firsthand.

The levy oversight committee will help provide citizen feedback to the projects SDOT will execute on as part of the levy and ensure will also ensure that the committee is able to effectively carry out its solemn vital oversight function of the levy.

So by law, the levy oversight committee will have 19 members which includes seven appointees from each of the seven council districts, five appointees from the mayor's office, four appointees from each of our modal advisory boards, freight, bicycles, transit, and pedestrians, the chair of the transportation committee, city budget director, and a get engaged youth member.

So this committee is charged with confirming, reviewing, and ultimately confirming at its discretion, nominees submitted from the council and mayor's office.

Today, we will hear the nominees from the mayor's office and the nominees from districts one, three, and five.

Then, in our second committee meeting about this topic, second and final committee meeting about this topic on June 3rd, We'll hear the remaining slate of nominees, which includes appointees from council member offices, from districts two, four, six, and seven.

Together, this will ensure that subject to council review and confirmation, the full committee, the full levy oversight committee can be seated and ready to begin their vital oversight work no later than the beginning of July when the committee is expected to meet first.

This levy is a transformational investment in our city's transportation infrastructure, as I mentioned a moment ago.

It's also here to drive accountability making sure that taxpayers get the most bang for their buck, so to speak, strong returns on their investment.

So thank you again, colleagues for your engagement as we help bring to life this important oversight committee for our city.

That said, we will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment should relate to items on today's agenda and within the purview of this committee.

Clerk comedy speakers are signed up today.

Currently we have zero in-person speakers and there is one remote speaker.

All right.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

We'll start with, I guess all we have is remote.

So clerk, please read the public comment instructions.

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

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

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

Speakers will alternate between sets of in-person and remote speakers until the public comment period is ended.

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

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

Public comment period is now open and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

That is David Haynes.

David Haynes, when you're allowed to speak, remember to hit star six.

City Hall yesterday and exited out of the Pioneer Square area across from the courthouse.

and there was like over 15 completely strung out, whacked out of their gore drug addicts, and it was totally unsafe to turn your back.

And when you walk up the third and cross the street on the corner of the courthouse, there's two cop cars just sitting on the sidewalk, and one of the cop cars is running, and they're not doing anything but showing force, making it seem like they're keeping the courthouse safe.

But there seems to be this, like, territorial pitching with the cops in Metro where they argue about what they're responsible for when it comes to like an area like the bus stop or outside the bus stop.

But I just don't get it where the cops, all these cops are inside the courthouse acting like they're keeping it safe, but they don't make any proactive effort to help make it safe across the street and around the corner.

It's like whatever takes place in downtown Seattle continues to take place And whatever mayor and whatever policy coming out of council, it's not making a difference because it's still unsafe to go anywhere near transit-oriented transportation because nobody truly makes an effort to shut down the evil pieces of crap that make it a living hell.

And I hate to say this, but it's highly offensive when I hear a council member try to twist up the interpretations of public safety.

And let's say you've got a bunch of gang bangers shooting off guns, like a hundred shots, right?

And the council member gets up and tries to drown out his entire district and start talking about public sidewalks.

Like you're going to be safe with your public sidewalk, but we're not going to really do much about the black drug pushers who are conducting uncivil war on community because they don't know any better.

We got to sympathize with the devil.

It's unsafe to go downtown.

Thank you, David.

That concludes the amount of speakers we have signed up.

All right.

So we will now move on to our first item of business.

Will the clerk please read items one through nine into the record?

Agenda items one through nine.

Appointments 03149 through 03157. Appointments of Leonard Harrison Jerome as member Transportation Levy Oversight Committee for a term to August 31, 2025. Jack Brand, Alex Hudson, Chase Kitchen, Stephen C. Pumphrey, Caden E. Ray Tipton, Nafizo Dees, Sumitar, Tyler J. Vasquez, Jack Edson Wisner as members Transportation Levy Oversight Committee for terms to December 31, 2028.

Excellent, thank you.

Will our presenters please, and nominees who are here, please join us at the table.

Presenters, please share your presentations when you're ready.

And everyone please do also introduce yourselves.

I want to squish the chairs together.

Great.

Thank you.

So, hello, I'm Serena Lehmann.

I'm with the Seattle Department of Transportation, and I'm our portfolio and asset manager, and I work very closely on reporting and monitoring our levy.

I'll hand it to my colleague to introduce herself, and then I'll give a brief background on kind of what the levy oversight committee is, and then we'll hand it over to council appointments.

Hi, thanks.

I'm Eileen Trang.

I'm with the Seattle Department of Transportation as the boards and committees coordinator.

Great, so thank you all so much for having us here today, council members.

Just a reminder, the 2024 transportation levy was approved by voters last fall.

This eight year 1.55 billion transportation levy is gonna provide funding to maintain and modernize the city's transportation infrastructure, including building sidewalks, paving streets, repairing bridges and improving transit connections.

The Transportation Levy Oversight Committee was established in the levy ordinance to monitor revenues, expenditures, and program and project implementation.

The first meeting will be on June 17th here in City Hall.

Most importantly, this oversight committee is tasked with advising the city council, the mayor, and the Seattle Department of Transportation on spending of levy proceeds and the performance of levy programs.

The LOC provides great value to the city of Seattle in many ways, including serving as a key partner, enhancing transparency and accountability to Seattle taxpayers and the broader community.

This LOC is generally structured similarly to our previous levy oversight committees.

As council member noted earlier, it's composed of 19 members, which is an increase from our previous levy oversight committee, which had 16 members.

The change in composition includes the one get engaged member, as well as a change to how we have council district representation.

Previously, we had five council members appointed by council members that were throughout the city of Seattle.

With this one, we have one council member per council district appointed.

And then as council member already noted, we have four representatives from all of the modal boards, as well as five representatives from the mayor's office.

So I will now, I think that is all.

And now I'll pass this over to Aileen Trang, our boards and commission coordinator who will introduce the committee members for confirmation today.

Hi, thanks.

So the first, actually, committee member is Leonard Harrison Jerome, who is unable to be here today, but I do have a statement from him, if I may.

So from Jerome, from Leonard.

I want to serve on the board because we must prove that democracy can deliver for its constituents.

Our city must drastically change to accommodate the millions of people that will come here over the century due to climate change as well as being a progressive bastion where people of all backgrounds can seek refuge.

We need the city to invest in safety infrastructure as well as infrastructure that saves people the need to own a car in order to give more space to the things that really make our city worth living in, such as housing, industry, and green space.

I want to ensure these transportation projects happen.

I will apply my skills as a manufacturing and mechanical engineer to better ensure that SDOT and the city council are delivering the voter-approved projects.

And that was from Leonard.

Next on our agenda is Jack Brann.

I'll introduce him.

Good morning, council.

My name is Jack Brand, and I'm a resident of Rainier Beach.

I'm honored to have been considered to serve on the Levy Oversight Committee.

I moved to Rainier Beach about four years ago and immediately became involved as a volunteer for the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, or RBAC, on our recent Recreating Henderson Street project.

I particularly focused on transportation, and we had close collaboration with SDOT, Metro, and Sound Transit.

I now facilitate the Rainier Beach Action Coalition's Transportation and Land Use Roundtable, which brings together community members and business owners to stay abreast of and provide input on transportation efforts such as the ones the levy will encompass.

In this role, I was very motivated and interested in serving on the levy oversight committee.

On a personal level, I'm the parent of two disabled adult children who live with me and depend heavily on public transportation as they cannot drive.

Our family actually relocated from the east side to Seattle with accessible transportation in mind, so I will bring that lens to my efforts as well.

While I don't have a deep professional transportation expertise, I plan to learn much from my colleagues and represent the transportation needs of my community.

and the Seattle voters and taxpayers who made this levy possible.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And yeah, why don't we just do the round robin for folks that are here and just please introduce yourselves, share any thoughts that you might have.

I'll call on Alex Hudson next then.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Alex Hudson.

I am the executive director of Commute Seattle.

I am a First Hill resident who is raising my family in First Hill.

I've lived there for 16 years and I've spent the last seven years of my professional career dedicated to helping build a transportation system that works for people and meets important public policy goals.

So I am I'm very grateful to Mayor Harrell for nominating me to serve on this extremely important committee.

It is really important that we get the transportation levy correct.

We need to have infrastructure that allows people and goods to move around our city freely to access opportunity and each other.

We need to meet some very important stated public policy goals that have been adopted by the legislature and the executive over a very long time, including reaching the goal of having nine out of 10 trips in the city of Seattle be made in a multimodal way so that we can move forward in equitable access to opportunity and a sustainable environment for now and future generations.

It's really important that when we ask taxpayers and they are generous with their funding, that we are stewards of that.

We need to deliver on the projects that people are expecting in a fast, efficient, and affordable way.

And Chair Saka, you spoke this morning about one of the most important reasons of all, that our transportation system reflect our core values, starting with safety.

that we have no toleration for harm, violence, or loss of life in our transportation system or elsewhere.

So I am grateful for the opportunity to help move these important policy priorities forward and to bring what I know about the transportation system to serve the public of the people of Seattle now and in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the agenda is Chase Kitchen.

Hi, I'm Chase Kitchen.

I want to thank you for having me here today, and thank you for the consideration of my nomination.

I'm excited about the opportunity to join the Levy Oversight Council.

I've been fortunate to spend my career in public service helping to build more sustainable, equitable, and just communities.

That includes a time, maybe too long of a time, as a legislative staffer in Congress, a policy advisor here for the city of Seattle, and most recently been helping local, state, and provincial leaders put passenger rail to use for their regional mobility needs.

I'm a volunteer board member with Commute Seattle, where I serve as treasurer.

I'm also a volunteer member of the board for the newly formed Manufacturing, Maritime, and Industrial Association advocating for the well-being of Seattle's industrial areas.

I'm also a volunteer with Cascade Bicycle Clubs pedaling every week.

If confirmed, I look forward to applying the principles that I've seen bring success in these previous roles.

That's being a consistent, firm commitment to transparency, encouraging greater accountability for programs and decisions, and retaining a relentless focus on ensuring investments in programs benefit the end users of those programs and not just the programs themselves.

If confirmed, I'd be honored to play a role in contributing to a levy oversight committee.

that ensures taxpayer funds are used wisely, fairly, and for the maximum benefit of our collective well-being.

Thank you.

Next is Stephen Pumphrey.

Thank you.

I think many of you sitting here today recognize me.

I've been before the council advocating for safe streets for a number of years now, specifically for the use of technology to aid our enforcement and also for redesign of the environment that streets and parks create.

I have 35 years' experience in the financial services industry and high leadership positions, and I understand financial statements, I understand the budgeting process, I understand budget variances, I understand how costs are allocated to budgets, and I think I can bring that understanding to the committee.

Do I understand everything that goes into SDOT's work?

No, I don't.

But I know how to ask questions to find out in a collegial way, and I look forward to learning more about what SDOT really does in this city.

I'm a proponent for SDOT, I'm a supporter for SDOT, but I'm also a healthy skeptic.

And as I told someone on the council when I was asked about this position, if it's merely to rubber stamp SDOT, decisions that I'm probably the wrong person to have, but I am willing to listen and learn and contribute.

I'm a community advocate.

I have a keen interest in public safety, a clean and safe welcoming Seattle, and I look forward to serving on the board.

Thank you.

Next we have Kate Nye Ray Tipton.

Members of the council, good morning.

My name is Caden E. Ray Tipton, and I use he, him pronouns.

I'm honored to be here today, selected as an appointee to the Transportation Levy Oversight Committee.

I was raised in Kent, and I grew up with limited public transportation access.

After moving to Seattle for college, I fell in love with the bus.

My license-less self could finally get around without having to walk miles or rely on friends with cars.

From exploring our beautiful city to having access to employment opportunities, I know what it means to have transit be your primary mode of travel.

I'm eager to serve on this committee because now looking back through previous LOC work, I can pinpoint specific projects that helped to make a difference in my life.

Like the members in the two previous committees, I want to support the levy to ensure current and future residents of our area benefit from improved mobility in the city of Seattle.

Thank you for your time today, and I look forward to working alongside you all.

Thank you.

Next, we have Nafiso Samatar.

My name is Nafiso Samatar.

Hello, counsel.

Yeah.

My name is Nafisa Samatar, and I'm a Somali Independent Business Alliance Executive Director and the President.

I've been working with this community for the last 25 years.

Through my work at CBOA, I have involved a transportation-related project, like supporting track drivers, navigating a program like the City of Seattle Electric I have been also led a community awareness and engagement initiative that are greater toward transportation pollution, reduction, and environmental justice.

I'm passionate about the importance of Seattle transportation and making sure public funding is used wisely and community benefit the most.

I'm interested in transportation because it's directly affected community access jobs, schools, and the daily needs, especially for the community that we're working with and supporting every day.

Therefore, it's an honor for me to be here and serving the levy oversight committee.

Thanks for Mr. Mayer appointed me and understanding the community involvement and important to being here.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next on the agenda is Tyler Vasquez and he's unable to be here today, but I do have a letter if I can from him.

So dear Seattle city council members, I am honored and excited to be nominated to the levy oversight committee.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to council member Joy Hollingsworth for the opportunity to serve in this capacity and to represent district three.

Growing up in a neighborhood divided by a freeway, where I couldn't safely walk to school because of a four-lane arterial, I came to understand early how transportation decisions shaped daily life.

Back then, using a car was the only viable option for getting around, and I often wondered why things were built that way.

Now being nominated as a member of the oversight committee, I hopefully have the opportunity to be a part of the answer to those childhood questions.

I'm grateful for the chance to contribute my lived experience, academic background, and professional knowledge to help make Seattle streets safer, more accessible, and more equitable for all.

I look forward to learning from my fellow committee members and working together to ensure the levy delivers meaningful improvements for every Seattle neighborhood, including the ones like mine where infrastructure has long fallen short.

Sincerely, Tyler Vasquez.

Awesome.

Thank you.

And then finally, we have Jack Wisner.

Good morning, Chair Saka, members of the committee.

My name is Jack Wisner.

I was born in Old Ballard Hospital.

I now live in Ballard.

I grew up in Shoreline, and I've been living in Seattle since 1980 when I went to grad school.

I became an economist, so I still think like an economist.

I've had positions like this one several times, once for the shoreline schools, once for SDOT, and once for Metro Transit.

I've been a political activist since about 1970, and I served on the boards of nonprofits that were transportation related, Transportation Choices Coalition, and Feet First.

With regard to the levy, I think I'm primarily interested in pavement management and sidewalks, and I'm very keen to see that both funds and right-of-way are scarce.

Chair Saka just talked about Pine Street and 14th Avenue South.

Both have frequent transit service, so we need the answers to be both safe and to not choke transit too much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bwizner.

All right.

First off, I wanna thank everyone for their willingness to serve.

This is really important work and appreciate your willingness to serve your city in this way.

Tremendously impactful.

So I wanna turn it over in just a moment to my colleagues to the extent they have any questions or comments.

First off, I wanna make two quick notes.

So the now expired, transportation levy from 2015, I believe, move, the expired move, Seattle levy, that one notoriously or infamously got off to a slow start.

And such to an extent that there was a widely publicized reset, levy reset, a few years after implementation.

And there are a number of underlying challenges that contributed to that slow start and ensuing reset.

Some of which we worked hard as the architects or co-architects of this new levy, including the oversight mission to ensure wouldn't happen again.

For example, that's why we called on the department to issue a implementation plan.

and should before voters even have the opportunity to weigh in.

End of September I think is when SDOT issued its implementation plan that should voters approve the levy.

These are the concrete specific steps that SDOT will take and perform in order to make sure it's ready to immediately hit the ground running.

That included things like Quickly staffing up.

That was one of the underlying challenges the first time around, or during the, not the first time around, some form of transportation levy has been around for multiple decades, but the now expired levy to move Seattle, the lack of staffing and plans and hiring to actually deliver upon these commitments.

So as part of the budget process this year, led by budget chair Strauss, we ensured that the department had a plan I think 70 something employees is what it determined it will need to staff up in order to be able to effectively start delivering upon this and again, hit the ground running.

That is just one of the many things that we, features that we baked into the levy that voters approve with their generosity to make sure we avoid a quote unquote slow start.

We don't wanna reset with this levy.

The executive previously noted during this presentation a number of unique, cool, and exciting, riveting features about this levy compared to the now-expired levy, the new structure, composition.

I'll note one of them myself.

This is the first time ever in any levy oversight committee's history, as far as I can tell, certainly in the The Levy Oversight Committee now has express audit power.

What does that mean?

Well now, you can compel and seek audits and paperwork and additional documentation without having to rely solely on the good graces of the department.

You now have express audit power.

Hasn't been done before to my knowledge.

This is a hugely impactful power and tool that you all have at your beck and disposal.

And I guess me by virtue of the fact that I also sit as transportation chair.

We have our own central staff expert, Cal, Mr. Calvin Chow at the table.

Before I turn it over to questions or comments from my colleagues, Cal, do you have anything to add?

As we noted, the executive noted a few of the distinguishing characteristics of this committee.

Do you have anything else to add from your perspective as someone who worked closely with all of us to craft and design the features in this levy oversight committee?

No, council member.

I don't think I have anything new to add.

I'm here at your request to help support the discussion of the committee.

All right.

Um, cool.

Colleagues.

What do you got?

What questions, comments do any of you all have?

Uh, my share is not here.

I would, but go ahead.

Council member Kettle.

Thank you, Chair Saka.

Thank you, everyone at the table, particularly those volunteering your time.

I appreciate it.

It takes an amount of service, and now I'm reflecting on your service.

Nearly 60 years ago is Mr. Frumfrey in the Army.

But that service is really important, and bringing your various backgrounds is very important.

So thank you for bringing that experience to you.

So hopefully as well, experience with other cities.

One of the things in terms of working through our transportation challenges is you know, comparing and contrasting various cities that I've lived in.

And I think it's helpful in terms of perspective and context and ideas potentially about how to move forward.

We didn't really go into that.

But if you do have that kind of experience, I'd ask that you bring it to the table.

Also really important and alluded with the oversight piece that Chair Sokka just said is good governance.

we need to have an oversight panel, a board that's really pushing the good governance piece to ensure things are moving on a steady, proper, good timeline, that things aren't sliding.

I know things happen, but then that's when you get creative and you make things happen.

And then your oversight's going to be really important to ensure that not just that the money's being spent wisely, but on time and efficiently, and getting the most out of it as well.

Two questions.

Obviously, I chair public safety.

Well, maybe not obvious to you, to my colleagues here.

And historically, I've looked at, in this area, two different areas.

Traffic safety, where I'm primarily working with SPD, and then pedestrian safety, which is more of an SDOT function in my mind in terms of kind of bifurcating out.

Obviously, we've had a couple deaths in the South End recently, and an elderly woman, and then recently another one as well.

We need to continue our work towards Vision Zero and all that related projects that we have.

And if you can speak to any experience or thoughts related to pedestrian safety and traffic safety, I'd open up, since we have many here, open up to the table for if you have any comments related to that.

Ms. Hudson, I know you do.

I know you as well.

And I know you can answer the question as well.

Yeah.

The city over a decade ago adopted Vision Zero goals along with lots of other cities across the country, which says that we will accept and tolerate zero serious injuries or fatalities in our roadway.

And unfortunately, Seattle, many other cities across our country is not on track to achieve that goal.

And the loss of human life and the suffering that that causes to lose a beloved community member and family member is intolerable and unacceptable.

And we know that it is possible to design streets that are safe for people.

In my district, a woman was killed walking home from the grocery store about a year ago.

And so I think about that all the time.

I walk on that road all the time.

My daughter, who is 16 years old, rides her scooter to the light rail to go to school every day on that road and all of us unfortunately uh can tell tales about near misses or people uh who we loved who we have lost and um this is our chance to get it right.

What we invest in, what we don't invest in, are the choices that have public public outcomes, and this is our greatest tool to build more safety in our city and elevate Seattle as a place that really values human life.

Thank you.

Can I follow up on that really quickly?

Because I think it's important, since you've mentioned your...

By the way, I was hoping you were First Hill D7, but I believe you're First Hill D3.

I'm definitely in D3.

Yeah, D3.

Well, yes.

So I'm supportive of the bike lanes and building out that network.

And there's certain areas of the city that need more of that work now.

Can you speak to how things change?

I remember when I was on the Queen Anne Community Council getting the briefing in terms of what was going to happen with Queen Avenue North, which, by the way, just finished in front of the Marqueen Hotel between Mercer and Roy.

So big changes for bicyclists going through that area.

But one thing when that briefing was happening, I don't think anybody had an expectation regarding...

And so over the course of this levy, there's going to be things that happen that we're not really anticipating right now.

How do you see or your colleagues here at the table see, you know, the flex to ensure that we flex as a city and to ensure that that oversight is done so that we incorporate these new pieces and find a way for e-mobility to be safer, maybe leveraging the investment that we've done with the bike lanes, for example.

Can you speak to adjusting to technology and new ways of doing things?

Yeah, absolutely.

Micromobility services in the city of Seattle move millions of people every year and they are a critical part of closing the first last mile gap that gets people to the important places that they want to go and accommodating that is a really important way that we can get people get people moving and moving safely.

Your opening question was how do things change?

I think things change in two ways.

They change when we set public policy objectives and then are relentless in the pursuit of the investments that achieve them, working through community in order to make that happen.

And unfortunately, they also change in dire need of tragedy.

I think about the loss of an SDOT employee, a beloved public servant, which accelerated the build out of the Second Avenue bike lane, protected bike lane, which is now a vital part of the connectivity across our city.

So I really hope that it doesn't work, that we can solve the problem so that we don't have to be accelerated by loss of life or injury in order to have these investments come to bear.

And I really applaud the Department of Transportation for creating a policy framework, especially around the high injury network, which is something I think that we should all strive to eliminate in our city.

I wanna live in a city that doesn't have such a thing, a high injury network, and as well as the other kind of frameworks of investment.

So I really believe strongly in the good work that the department has done to get us to that place.

But I wanna make sure that I'm sharing the mic with others.

Mr. Chair, may I respond to Council Member Kettle's question?

Yeah, yeah, please do, please do.

I've followed sidewalk issues very closely in my career.

I had a day job with King County Metro Transit, so I helped implement the new route profile there in 1999. I worked on the Aurora Corridor Project in Shoreline.

As a citizen, I advocated for sidewalks on Aurora during the move Seattle Levy, but the Kublai SDOT chose not to spend money on Aurora at the time.

And so now it's very important that this levy actually fund those sidewalks.

I'd be very happy if Seattle could implement the shoreline profile on Aurora.

With regard to changes in technology, I think the e-bike and e-scooter situation brings much more speed to our bike lanes.

And so we'll have to be cognizant of that safety impact.

And I guess I'd point out that the recent SDOT data on Vision Zero showed that almost all the deaths were pedestrians, not cyclists.

And so that's where we have to focus our efforts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anybody else want to speak about traffic, pedestrian safety?

I might have a comment, Councilmember Kettle.

I've been working recently with Bill LaBoard and other members of SDOT to manage a street redesign.

I believe that certainly mobility and safety are the key issues regarding any kind of transportation in Seattle.

But I get concerned that in getting ahead of ourselves, we may forget about the impact that a project may have on joining areas.

And I'll give you a good example.

The Safe Streets project at Alki Point, it's a wonderful project.

It's created a new dynamic there.

But I don't think enough thought was given to the impact on the other neighborhoods in joining it in terms of pushing maybe the kind of traffic you don't want to have to their neighborhood, creating less parking spots in places around Alki, which I believe were inadvertent or unanticipated.

And I think that that needs to be a key thinking that goes forward with projects in the city.

believe that the danger is not just to pedestrians and bicycles from vehicles.

It's also from people with bad intention, with weapons, and with cars much like the Belltown Hellcat.

And somehow we've got to figure out how to redesign the environment in our streets and in our parks to inhibit that.

Second and third order effects.

Can I just, one last question, general question or comment slash question is oftentimes in public policy there's two things that really are tied together and one of them is transportation and housing, particularly with a comprehensive plan.

We're trying to upzone.

That really only works if we also improve our transportation.

It's a little bit of a chicken and egg conundrum sometimes.

So sometimes we're favoring one side or the other.

But in order to be successful with a comprehensive plan, we have to be successful with this levy.

Can anybody to that issue in terms of how to improve our transportation capability and how we can benefit what we're trying to do in terms of densification of our city through the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan.

Mr. Wisner.

I'll give it a stab.

I know two of you fairly well, so then I'll start.

And then anybody else would like to jump in after?

As an economist, I'm sure that you have a thought or two about this.

Yeah.

During last year, incentive program, pilot project to attract drivers, We had issue addressing changing different alternative how to drive daily, do like taking a bicycle, taking the bus or train or teaching newcomers or refugee and immigrant different ways.

I know that we have many, many cars at our home.

Insurance and everything is getting expensive.

And I was hoping if we increase the community awareness to teach different ways to thrive, different ways to transport.

I know that the culture and the language Perrier, it's hard.

Even high schoolers, during empowerment, high schoolers were taken not serious about air pollution and environmental injustice.

So I was hoping if we can add to the school, schools, elementary, middle school, and high school, and encourage and work with our teachers and professors, come up with a plan and a way to add it so people will adapt it.

way to live better, because the report that we're putting together to the state right now, because CBA is working with Ecology Department, we funded last beginning of this year, make sure that we put together a report that speaking through our leaders, the way they understand the air pollution and environmental justice, also a different way to live, and when it comes to transportation, the bed they're taking, and then we also talk telling more information about which disease and how it affects our lives.

So I was hoping if the committee think about it, environmental justice and air pollution, the way we can survive better.

Excellent point.

Building communities that have sustainable transportation and mobility options for people is my life's mission and purpose.

So I'm happy to speak to this question and thank you for asking it, Council Member Kettle.

We need to build fast, frequent, reliable transportation systems that people can access and afford.

And the city has goals around, I believe it is 80% of people living within a 10 minute walking distance of transit that is 10 minutes or better.

So a high frequency network.

Right now, over 300,000 trips are taken on King County Metro alone in our region.

And so we know that there is really unlimited demand for people for a transportation system that works for them.

I survey, 70,000 people, workers in the city of Seattle.

And it is overwhelmingly clear that they wanna live in communities where they can walk to the things, the important places in their lives and access mobility that'll take them even further afield.

And so we have created, thanks to a long lineage of leaders in roles like the ones you're in right now, have created public policy goals that deeply link transportation service and housing density.

And it is again, unlimited potential in order to maximize those co-benefits right here, right now.

And so that is through the levy implementation, that is through the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan.

The next year you have to create and pass and input to voters a renewal of the Seattle transit measure, which is about transit service investments and other priorities.

And so this is really, and then line two is gonna open, We are in the midst of an incredible moment of opportunity in order to build a city where people have affordable access to the places and the people that they want to go to and see.

Council member, I just add this.

Your earlier comment earlier about examples from other cities around the world.

these two issues land use and transportation they go together so so tightly and we do a pretty good job of them in Seattle but continuing to make consistent you know dedicated incremental improvement on both of them together creates a positive you know real feedback loop for both and we don't have to make you know dramatic changes overnight to have see success in both of them you know look at Some of the leading lights around the world, cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, the average population density in those cities is similar to Ballard.

It's a little bit less than what it is in Capitol Hill.

More communities like that that we have throughout the city just allows us to see the return on the investment, on the transportation stuff, and gets more folks taking those active transportation methods, and they really just have a great positive feedback loop on each other.

And we can do it with that kind of incremental, consistent improvement process.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

And one last note on that.

You mentioned 10 minutes.

You know, I'm a big supporter of the 15-minute city and supporting that.

So my request to everyone is support the freight program and don't let it become forgotten about because the freight program is huge in order to be successful with the 15-minute city concept.

So thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

And thank you for highlighting the importance of the intersection between transportation policy and land use policy.

And one example of that is my office working with our central staff experts right now are digging deeply into the transportation element or the transportation appendix as it's called in this proposed comp plan.

So in any event, Council Member Rank.

Your recommendation.

Thank you, Chair Saka.

And good morning to all of you.

Thank you for signing up to be a part of this important levy oversight committee.

I want to thank each of you for your willingness to serve.

And, you know, it's clear to me that each of you bring important expertise that is going to help us deliver on the promises of this levy.

So I really want to thank you at the top.

I wasn't a part of council during levy development, but I was a part of talking to our neighbors about this levy, and what was clear to me from so many of those conversations is that Seattleites want a multimodal system that is easy to use and gets them from point A to point B, and ideally, using transit, able to bike there or by walking.

And so this levy offers a lot of important projects that are going to improve access and equity in that.

And so I wanna thank you all for being a part of this.

And I would be remiss if I didn't highlight not just the work of this committee and the levy, but also the intersection of the work that's happening over at the City Light Sustainability and Arts and Culture Committee.

We have complimentary plans and efforts that we're working on from the, pardon me, transportation electrification strategic investment plan, TSIP, it's a mouthful, but it's super important when we're thinking about how we can complement the investments of the levy by supportive electrification efforts.

Again, colleagues, one of the best ways we can address our emissions in this city is by building out a system that allows folks to easily get out of their cars and onto transit on their bikes or by foot.

And so, With all of that said, I want to ask a fun question of our panelists today, our prospective levy oversight committee members.

What is your favorite project from the last levy or what is an upcoming project in this new levy that you're excited to work on or support?

I'll be happy to start.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

So I live in First Hill and it took a while, but boy, we sure got there with the RapidRide G-Line.

This has been an incredible project that has unleashed ridership and created the fastest or most frequent fixed route bus service anywhere in the state of Washington.

And it serves First Hill, which is this incredible neighborhood, high-density residential, but importantly, our region's healthcare network.

And so unfortunately, we weren't selected or moved forward with a Sound Transit light rail station several years ago.

And so this G-Line is just like an incredible way.

It's moving tons of people.

Ridership is going gangbusters.

And we're really delighted and thrilled to have this investment in our community.

I don't know that it was funded specifically by the levee, but I would say that my favorite part of my bike ride every morning to work is down in when putting the finishing touches on the connections between the waterfront and Occidental Square.

So Occidental Square is, I think, one of my favorite spots in town.

If I could wave a magic wand, I'd make sure every...

business community, a little neighborhood has a space like Occidental Square.

And just seeing the finishing touches on those kind of connections in the last couple of months has been really delightful.

I also don't know specifically where the levee tie-ins are, but I know the Rapid Ride R that is coming to Rainier Valley and Rainier Beach is going to bring some exciting changes.

It's going to obviously be a shift from the 7 line that's down there now, and there's some kind of issues at the end of the line that don't quite work well.

So we're looking forward to Rapid Ride R, yeah.

I CAN GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES.

I THINK THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE ON DELL RIDGE, PARTICULARLY AROUND THE COMMUNITY CENTER AND THE ART CENTER AND HEADING SOUTH, WERE NOT ONLY WELL DONE, BUT VERY MUCH NEEDED.

I THINK AS COUNCILMEMBER SACA WOULD TELL YOU, THERE'S STILL A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE THAT ARE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT IT'S REALLY A PRETTY NICE-LOOKING, SAFE PROJECT.

I'll give you an example of something that I think should have been done, and probably it wasn't because of the debate over where the light rail is going to go, but the work that was to be done along Fauntleroy that wasn't is very disappointing to people that live in the West Seattle area.

I think some of the improvements on 35th Avenue have been well done.

they're modest, but they made a difference in traffic.

And so things like that really do make a difference.

I can go next.

So I lived in the Washington, D.C.

area for about eight years.

And when we moved to Bitter Lake a little over a year and a half ago, we were very frustrated by the lack of sidewalks, especially because I have a young child.

So last summer, I know that the previous levy funded sidewalks on Greenwood above 125th and up to 130th, so we can walk to the library and the park more safe now with our child.

So that's great.

My favorite project from the upcoming levy will be adding sidewalks and access management and driveway consolidation on Aurora, especially between North 115th Street and North 145th Street.

Of course, We're not sure it's happened yet, but that would be my intent.

As I said, I had hoped that it would have happened with Move Seattle.

With regard to transit changes like the G line, I would hope that SDOT and Metro look at it from a network perspective, and it can be clear that the G line is attracting a lot of riders, but we need to compare the current network from 2025 against the network of 2018 and look at all the routes involved and see what the change in rides per platform hour is or has been.

So it's very complex, and it's network-based.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

I think we heard from everyone except Nafisa.

I don't know if you wanted to share something or if we missed anybody else.

Just wanted to give everybody an opportunity.

Or if not, also happy to leave it there.

Thank you all again.

Really excited to see these projects come to fruition.

And thank you for talking about your specific projects.

I think it really helps illuminate exactly what it is we're talking about when we're talking about these investments and how much of a difference they can make in the everyday lives of people.

So thank you again for your service and excited to confirm these appointments.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rank.

And I knew exactly where Mr. Wisner was going with his comments about sidewalks based off of his opening statement.

And it really delighted my heart when I heard that because I love sidewalks, sidewalk repair and the construction of new sidewalks.

And that is an exciting feature of this new levy.

It provides a transformational, generational investment in the construction of new sidewalks.

biggest investment in new sidewalks in at least 50 years in the city and guarantees the top three most impacted council districts.

So district five, where you live, Mr. Ray Tipton, followed by, I think 30 something percent, 31, 32%, if I'm not, if I'm recalling correctly, the specific data and stats followed by council district one, 22%, And the next closest council district with the, with the missing, the largest missing sidewalk network across the city is, is district two.

They get, they are guaranteed at least 19%, if I recall correctly.

And between the construction of new sidewalks and sidewalk alternatives.

So, especially if we're talking about the full curb and gutter, with the drainage sidewalks, but there are any number of sidewalk cost-effective sidewalk alternatives, 10 plus if I recall correctly, that our city is gonna be creative in helping to deliver at least 350 blocks of new sidewalks all over the city.

And by the way, there's some good money thanks to the advocacy of my colleagues for sidewalk repair as well.

So I think these are exciting, pedestrian enhancement features, exciting features for people who support and promote accessibility throughout our city.

And I'm excited to help our city bring these to life.

And that was just me answering, because I am a de facto member of the committee as well, so I took liberty with answering my colleague's question, because that's also one of my favorite things.

So in any event, Mr. Ray Tipton.

You're from Kent originally, is that correct?

Where'd you go to high school?

Kent Ridge.

Kent Ridge?

Oh, I won't hold it against you.

Kent Meridian over here with mine.

But all good, all good.

We can...

Royal power, bud.

In any event, I'm so excited to...

Let's chat offline about our shared fondness for the city of Kent.

But I too...

First off, let me just double check.

Do we have any other questions or comments from my colleagues?

Yeah, council members.

I have one comment.

Wait.

Rob.

Yep.

I would like to say that we all would like to see our streets improved, particularly in terms of safety and mobility.

But let's not get down on ourselves.

I just returned from a week in Atlanta.

Our streets are paved with gold compared to what Atlanta drivers put up with.

So let's keep a positive view of what we can do and what we've done.

Thank you, Mr. Pumphrey.

Well said.

Go ahead, Council Member Strauss.

Thank you.

And just to carry on from that, our roads are also the foundation underneath the asphalt are bricks, cobblestone, sawdust, trash.

Rotting wood.

When folks wonder why we have such issues with potholes as compared to other cities that were formed in 1952, in 1952, road construction was very different than what we find here in Seattle, the largest city in King County.

That was a digression.

Excuse me.

Thank you all for your volunteer service.

I'm not going to take too much more time.

I do want to just share my statements, which, to your point, is we don't want rubber stamps.

The Levy Oversight Committee has performed an incredibly important role in the last levy, not only, as the chair mentioned, with the slow start to implementing and getting projects off the ground, which created the issue of the reset in about 2018, 2019. It was the Levy Oversight Committee that really raised the alarm bells and let folks know that things were not on track.

And so I charge you with that same responsibility that if things aren't going well, we need to know.

There's no other way to keep the levy on track.

And so if there are programs that are not being developed, if we are missing our benchmarks, if the finances aren't looking correct, if the projects and the programs aren't serving you, we need to know.

I guess I went off my notes again just to say we need to launch quickly.

We've got to get going right now.

This is not the case that we're moving quickly.

And if it's not the case that we're serving the communities that need it most, then we need to know.

So please do tell us.

Much like Council Member Rink, fun question for you today.

And then I might ask for any closing statements if folks are interested just after your comments here.

How did you get here today?

There's no wrong answer.

Today I'll answer first just to give you that extra moment.

Today I drove to the bus and took the bus.

That's the only way I can get to the bus.

Throughout my life, I have relied solely on taking the bus, solely riding my bike, solely walking, solely driving.

Different times of life require and give us different options and opportunities.

But if you want to just go around and share how you got here today and any last things that you'd like us to think about.

Yeah, I took a Metro Flex car to the Rainier Beach light rail and came here.

And in contrast to the earlier comment from online, I felt like it was safe and efficient.

And then young people, when they drop from the train to home, I live in New Holly.

So my son, he goes to the Franklin High School, drop and take the Metro Flex.

And it was really helpful and support for the young people because the safety matters.

I am extremely proud to be amongst the 5% of center city workers and less than 1% of Americans who gets to walk to my job every day.

And so I was able to walk here as well.

And you obviously already know the answer to this question since we ran into each other this morning.

But I took my bike here.

I took my daughter down the newly finished 6th Avenue Greenway, dropped her off at daycare, and took the trail on the 4th Avenue bike lane to City Hall.

I'd like to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

All good.

All modes are welcome.

I drove.

I took the five here.

And I got stressed for a little bit when I felt like we were behind on schedule, but got here in time.

So, yeah.

This morning, I used the D line.

Most of my trips are on bicycle.

Thank you chair.

Thank you.

And for Mr. Pumphrey, I perfectly fine understandable to invoke the fifth.

I happen to know where you live and had we coordinated a little better, I would have drove down to the water taxi in West Seattle.

We could have took that together.

But this morning I, I took the bus as I usually do.

And, um, In the spirit of being truly multimodal, later this evening, I will be driving to my son's Little League baseball game and coaching that.

I think, no, no, I coach tomorrow.

Tonight I get to be a- My alternative.

What's that?

The water taxi would have been my alternative.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All good, all good.

So, all right, cool.

Well, any final questions, comments from my colleagues?

Or I see a few lingering hands.

Are those stale or any final?

No?

All right, cool.

Well, I too want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to each and every one of you for, again, agreeing to serve your city in this way.

This is a tremendously impactful committee.

We're counting on you to help be our eyes and ears on the ground, so to speak, with respect to oversight of the levy.

Importantly, we are not 100% advocating our oversight responsibility to you as elected officials in the legislative branch.

This is another perspective.

And so, but I really do, as someone who served on numerous local government boards and commissions in the past, nonprofit boards, I know that firsthand that service in this manner requires sacrifice.

And sacrifice, there's people of all ages and experiences on this.

Got a working parent here.

which I'm proud of, but just know that your service and your sacrifice are greatly appreciated, and your contributions are tremendously impactful, and I want each and every one of you to know that.

And I look forward to working alongside of you all.

on this committee, because again, as chair of the transportation committee, I get a seat as well.

So you'll absolutely see either myself or one of my staff or both at these meetings.

So thank you again for your willingness to serve in such a manner.

Let's see, I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 03149 through 03157. Is there a second?

Second.

It is moved and seconded to recommend confirmation of the appointments.

Are there any further comments?

Good luck.

Hearing and seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the recommendation to confirm the appointments?

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Vice Chair Hollingsworth.

Chair Saka.

Aye.

Chair, there are four votes in favor and zero opposed.

All right, the motion carries and the committee recommendation that council confirm the appointments will be sent to the May 27th, 2025 city council meeting.

Congratulations appointees.

Thank you again for your willingness to serve.

All right, we have reached the end of today's meeting agenda.

Our next meeting is on June 3rd at 9 30 AM.

Is there any final business to come before the committee before we adjourn?

Hearing and seeing none.

We are hereby adjourned.

It is 1043 AM.