Good morning, everyone.
Today is March 2nd, 2020. The council briefing will come to order.
If there's no objection, the agenda will be amended to remove item 3, the state legislative updates, as we have no members of the OIR team here.
no objection great the agenda is in front of us it is 9 33 and i am Teresa Mosqueda chair of um well i'm chair of finance and budget uh and housing but today i am pro tem uh due to council member Gonzalez's family leave we wish her well in her last month of family leave I wanted to note for the record, I'm joined by Councilmember Morales, Councilmember Strauss, Councilmember Lewis, Councilmember Peterson.
And Councilmember Juarez is not going to be with us today.
I understand she's feeling ill.
We wish her the speediest recovery.
And thank you, Councilmember Peterson, for reading her items this morning.
We are going to have a pretty short council meeting today, this afternoon.
Council colleagues, I had hoped to have our friends from Public Health Seattle King County join us.
Unfortunately, due to all of the breaking news, they are in multiple places this afternoon.
But we are going to have a council briefing.
I believe Council Member Herbold is interested in hosting a special meeting in her committee due to the emergency services that she oversees.
We will also plan to have our friends from Public Health Seattle King County next Monday and I'd like to have them at full council.
That was their original plan to come next Monday due to the recent news over the weekend.
We do think it's important to have an early briefing this week and then also have an update next week.
I wanted to take a few minutes to make sure that we send our deepest sympathies to the individuals who did pass away this weekend here in our region and also recognize there's a number of individuals who are feeling ill and who have done what public health has asked to notify the public health servants of their condition and to call the medical providers and let them know that they're feeling ill.
I also want to take a moment to just recognize there's a lot of people who have a lot of questions and may be feeling a lot of fear out there.
We are going to have a tremendous amount of information that will come forward from Public Health Seattle King County.
But it is also important for us to make sure that folks know a few things.
We've posted a lot of this online and we'll post some more this afternoon.
We know that the mayor's office is getting information out along with King County and Public Health.
I'll be providing copies of this information from the CDC as well on COVID-19.
Basically just information about how to protect yourself and what to do with the information.
Councilmember Herbold, thanks for joining us.
I mentioned that probably later this week you'll have a briefing in your committee as well.
A few reminders for folks as you do read the news and have questions about COVID-19.
There's a lot of things that we don't know yet about the virus, but there's a few things that we do know very well.
And that is this is just the best way to prevent it is to continue to wash your hands.
Practice the best hygiene that you can.
Continue to wash your hands for at least 20 to 30 seconds.
I like to count to 30 seconds to remind myself that 20 seconds can go by very fast.
and to make sure that you're using effective hand-washing techniques.
If you do feel sick, please stay home.
And this is for our team and every worker in this city and in this region.
Our entire state has public health at the forefront of their mind right now.
We want your health to be protected.
And if you are concerned about your place of work, please know that there is anti-retaliation protections included in the state's paid sick and safe leave law.
That applies to all workers in the state and we want to make sure that people use their paid sick and safe leave and that they stay home if they feel sick at all.
If you're concerned about retaliation or if you're concerned about missing a day's work and you have questions, please Let us know, we can direct you to the Office of Labor Standards who can answer some questions for you, and we'll be posting some more information about how to make sure you access your sick leave as well.
Finally, continue to wipe down surfaces that are commonly used.
Here in our chambers, for example, we will be wiping down The doorknobs, the tables out there where people come for public testimony.
Practice the same hygiene in your place of work and also at home.
What I try to do is wipe the banisters and the doorknobs and wash our hands immediately when we come into the house.
And then lastly, as you've seen, please try to refrain from touching your face.
I know it's very hard.
People who give that advice are often, you know, in the situation where you, just by habit reach up, but this is extremely important because it is incredibly important to keep your hands away from your eye pores, your nose pores, your mouth.
So thank you for continuing to remind folks about the importance of keeping your hands away from your face.
We also know that there's a lot of misinformation out there about masks and gloves.
So please recognize that the public health officials from the CDC down to Public Health Seattle King County have asked us not to go out and rush to buy masks.
Masks are important for people who have experienced any symptoms.
It helps to confine the particles within the individual who might be sick, but it's not actually a helpful tool for those who are healthy.
So if you are concerned about getting the virus, please leave those masks to those who are already experiencing some symptoms.
And those who have the need for gloves and masks, then they will be able to access them and we won't have I want to also make sure that folks know that the City of Seattle activated its Joint Information Center at 9 a.m.
to support operations related to COVID-19 response.
public information officers are available to answer any media inquiries.
The number to call for those inquiries is 206-233-5072.
Again, that is the public information officers able to talk about the Seattle Joint Information Center that has been activated related to COVID-19 at 206-233-5072.
I also would encourage all Seattle residents and those who work in the region to sign up for Seattle Alert.
This is available at alert.seattle.gov.
This is the city's official emergency notification system.
I know a lot of us signed up for that last year when we had and people wanted to know what the latest information was for shelters to stay warm.
This is a website you can sign up for and get alerts into the future as well.
So again, for those who are interested in getting updates, it's seattlealert.seattle.gov.
And there you can get customized real-time information, notifications via text, email, voice message, and social media during emergencies like these.
to ensure that you get the most recent public health updates.
Colleagues, thanks for taking a moment to make sure that we got that information out.
And again, we will share more information today at the 2 p.m.
full briefing and provide the most recent updates that we can from the CDC that's here, from Public Health Seattle-King County, and Council Member Herbold, we will look forward to that briefing in your committee.
Council Member Morales, did you have something to say about this?
Yeah, I just wanted to add as well for folks with school-aged children that there are currently no confirmed cases in Seattle Public Schools and the schools are monitoring health and attendance of students and staff and preparing for school operations in case there's a disruption.
But mostly just want to remind parents that if your students are running a fever or feeling ill to please make sure that you keep your children home and contact their health care provider.
Thank you, Council Member Morales.
And, you know, folks, I don't want to raise alarm bells unnecessarily.
We know that this is similar to the flu and many people are being diagnosed and will survive and that is a huge survival rate.
However, we also want to recognize that the folks who have fallen ill and have graver consequences are those who already have underlying health conditions and individuals who have compromised immune system.
It is really important for those who have healthy immune systems to do everything we can to stay healthy, to not spread the disease.
So I want to make sure that nobody undermines the importance of not spreading the disease, especially for those who have compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions.
That is why it is so important for us to all remain healthy and practice good hygiene.
Okay, thank you for that update, and we do have an update as well from this morning.
I understand just after nine, the mayor's office released a mayoral directive on the issue, and we will get that circulated.
Thank you to our chief clerk for circulating that as well, and as we read through this, we'll share more information.
In addition to making sure that we share more information this afternoon on the COVID-19 or coronavirus, we will also have a full agenda.
A preview of today's agenda includes a few items from the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee.
Thank you so much for bringing those forward, Council Member Strauss.
including the potential reappointment of Nathan Turkelson, so that'll be exciting.
We have an update as well from the four appointments for Public Safety and two appointments for the Police Commission.
Thank you very much for that update from Public Safety.
And lastly, we will be considering a resolution to adopt the Seattle City Council 2020 Work Program.
And another one adopting the statement of legislative intent for the 2020 adopted budget and 2020 to 2015 adopted capital improvement programs budget.
My committee, finance and housing, will have our next meeting on March 3rd at 9.30 a.m.
We will include the domestic worker standard boards and have a number of appointments to be considered there and briefing and possible vote on rent bidding legislation and update on that given the two-year moratorium that we have put into place.
As folks know there was an initial one-year prohibit prohibition on the use of rent-bidding platforms that was partially passed in 2018 in response to concerns actually during my first week here from the University of Washington students on the impact that these platforms would have on access to Rental units in their area given the first-in-time law that the council passed prior to my arrival We wanted to make sure that it was in compliance with that So we've done a lot of work to appreciate the Office of Housing for their analysis of these developing platforms, and we want to move forward with some possible legislation for you to consider.
We also have two executive sessions this afternoon, so we will book in time for that.
And with that, I'm going to turn it over to our council colleagues to give us an update on what's on your agenda for this week and anything that is in front of us for full council this afternoon.
Council Member Morales.
Thank you.
There are no agenda items, no items on today's agenda from the Community Economic Development Committee.
We spent Friday in the district as we always do.
Last week we were in Columbia City.
meeting with small businesses and heard lots of issues about permitting and the request to try to streamline that process for our small businesses.
Also heard a lot from folks about the need for more affordable commercial space and the need for smaller size storefronts.
that are more affordable to some of our small businesses as we're looking through development projects.
So that's stuff we will all keep in mind.
This week, we will be in the Chinatown International District.
On Friday, we'll be meeting with folks at Wing Luke and then touring the businesses there.
Friday evening, I had the great pleasure of attending Unity Day at Town Hall Seattle, where we awarded Councilmember Gossett, Councilmember Harrell, and Cecile Hansen Salute to Greatness Awards.
And I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Ijeoma Oluwa, who was the keynote speaker speaking about unity and her call to action for all of us to remember that our individual responsibility to unity is to call out bias and make sure that we are active in the desire to have a more unified community.
We, I think that's it.
Yes.
Thank you.
Council Member Morales, thanks for that summary.
Before we move on, if you don't mind, Council Member Strauss, I need to make sure that we approve the minutes.
So if there's no objection, the minutes from the February 24th, 2020 meeting will be adopted.
I would like to make a motion to adjourn the meeting.
more than 10, more than I can count on both hands of friends that are nurses.
They remind me of the importance of using sanitizer and that it does not kill oftentimes as many germs as washing your hands for 20 to 30 seconds.
So using hand sanitizer as a backup is a great way to go about it.
Also don't replace it, replace washing your hands.
This afternoon there are seven items from the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on the agenda.
I think about half of the agenda.
We've been up to a lot of work in the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee.
We have two landmarks designating ordinances, which impose controls on UW's Eagleson Hall and the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Exchange.
Two appointments to the Landmarks Preservation Board.
The reappointment of Nathan Torgelson as Director of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection.
The clerk file associated with council bill for contract rezone at 4600 Union Bay Place.
This is a quasi-judicial item.
Council members should avoid communications about the merits of the rezone applications with proponents or opponents of the projects.
If you have had communications or if you have questions about these rules, please contact Ketel Freeman of our central staff.
There are zero items on the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on Introduction and Referral.
Our next Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee will be on Wednesday, March 11th at a special start time of 10.15 a.m.
I will be attending the High Barriers Workgroup from 9 a.m.
to 10 a.m.
that morning, and so we are pushing the meeting back by The director's reports from both SDCI and OPCD will be on March 11th.
A joint SDCI, OPCD presentation on their annual RSJI work progress.
And the Seattle Planning Commission's annual report and overview.
There will also be two appointments to the Planning Commission.
I also have for council members, I believe my staff has spoken with your staff about This is an important resource in addressing food insecurity in north Seattle.
We have extra food and therefore we will donate.
They have specifically set aside actually some of the best producing portions of the pea patch and they donate 2,500 pounds of fresh produce to the Ballard Food Bank and the Finney Neighborhood Association's Hot Meals Program.
They started with the Finney Neighborhood Association's Hot Meals Program because they were providing too much food to the food bank.
I'd like to thank the Department of Neighborhoods and the 36th Legislative District Delegation for their support of this grant as well.
And I will pass this letter around for signing in an open meeting.
Last week, I attended the Fremont Neighborhood Council's meeting.
I joined the opening celebration or the press conference regarding the monorail's update.
It will be exciting to see the monorail receive the additional improvements to make that last mile connection between Link Light Rail and the Seattle Center.
Since Monorail has begun accepting ORCA cards, they've seen a 20% jump in ridership, and this will allow both trains to be used.
better elevators, it's going to be great.
On Wednesday, I attended my first meeting of the Growth Management Planning Council.
Thursday, I held my regularly scheduled district hours and we were there until about 7.15.
And this last Saturday, I went to Olympia to testify in support of the red light camera and don't block the box.
How'd that go?
It went very well.
Chief Scoggins was an amazing presenter, as usual, and was able to field many of the tough questions that he received.
And so we are hoping that this will pass out of Olympia in these coming weeks.
This week I will attend the Wallingford Community Council, and Thursday I'll be attending the Growth Management Policy Board, holding my weekly meetings in district, and Friday I'll be in Fremont doing my fourth small business walking tour.
That's all I have.
Thank you Councilmember Strauss.
Councilmember Peterson.
Good morning.
Morning.
Councilmember Juarez has asked me to read her remarks today because I'm vice chair of the Public Assets Committee and we have a Public Assets and Native Communities Committee tomorrow, March 3rd at 2 p.m.
here in Council Chambers.
The final agenda for Public Assets and Native Communities Committee will be the reappointment of Kelly McCaffrey to the Park District Oversight Committee, and a presentation from Parks Department on the Six-Year Spending Plan and the Metropolitan Parks District Strategic Plan.
This is an important budget year for the Parks District, so it will be an important meeting to learn the fundamentals and ask questions.
If the community is interested in sharing their ideas and learning more about the park's strategic plan, there are several avenues to do this.
The parks department has organized three community meetings in the next...
couple of weeks.
The first one is actually tonight at Delridge Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m.
then Thursday March 5 6 to 8 p.m.
at the Lake City Community Center and then Saturday March 7th from 10 a.m.
to 12 noon at the Van Asselt Community Center.
The meetings will include a short presentation, discussion time, opportunity to ask questions and Please connect with Deborah Juarez's office or the Parks Department if you'd like further information.
Regarding the National Hockey League, last Thursday morning Councilmember Juarez attended a celebration for the major milestone for NHL Seattle, the groundbreaking for Northgate's new ice center, the hockey training facility and headquarters.
Regarding Sound Transit, last Thursday, Council Member Juarez attended the Sound Transit monthly board meeting.
They had a momentous vote.
The Sound Transit Board listened to the voices of neighbors and voted to move forward with a progressive build of the Northeast 130th Street Station.
In early 2021, they will reconvene as a board for a final vote on the actual open date, which will be much earlier than originally envisioned.
Earth Day.
So Earth Day is coming up April 22nd, and Council Member Juarez has a letter that she'd like me to circulate.
Her staff had circulated it earlier.
It's the 50th anniversary of the original Earth Day, and we have an opportunity to set a standard and sign a pledge to support policies that advance sustainability.
I've already signed the letter myself.
An organization called Earth Day Northwest 2020 is preparing for this 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Again, it's April 22nd, 2020. The co-chairs include Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and President of the Quinault Nation Fawn Sharp.
And they have asked if we would all join with these other elected officials across Washington State to sign this pledge.
For the public's benefit, the six key points are supporting innovative partnerships that advance sustainability, create adaptive governance models to advance sustainability, adopt policies that reduce our respective jurisdictions' carbon footprint in five years consistent with state law, prioritize energy efficiency through transportation, land use, and other policies, align purchasing priorities with sustainability goals, and inform and engage residents to be part of the solution.
So we're circulating this now.
We appreciate your support.
that we're gonna shift from District 5 to District 4 here.
Thank you so much for providing that on behalf of Councilmember Juarez.
Councilmember Peterson, looking forward to your update.
Thank you.
Well, my first comment is to thank Councilmember Juarez for circulating the Earth Day letter.
Excellent.
We have a, regarding climate, a lot of us are working on different things.
We obviously have the Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee, chaired by Councilmember Sawant.
We have the I've got the summary and fiscal note expansion, which will take a look at two climate questions.
That's going to come to the Governance and Education Committee in April, looking at all legislation through a climate lens, both carbon emissions and adaptation to the crisis of climate change.
So I look forward to working with my colleagues on that.
Transportation Utilities Committee, there are no items on the full council agenda today.
We meet the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
So we're meeting this Wednesday.
And this Wednesday, we've got 11 items on the agenda.
which just to give you a quick preview of the Transportation and Utilities Committee, several appointments to the Technology Advisory Board because Seattle Information Technology is part of the committee as well.
Appointments to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board.
Then we've got a briefing on street vacations.
There's an ordinance to grant University of Washington permission to maintain and operate five existing pedestrian sky bridges.
There's an ordinance vacating portions of alleys in West Seattle.
And there's also the resolution again about energy conservation projects.
So in District 4 last week, it was a big public safety focus.
I met with Captains Mahaffey and Allen in the West.
They cover the West Precinct because that covers East Lake, which is part of District 4. And we discussed how the Seattle Police Department is trying to serve East Lake community.
They have acknowledged that they've received additional resources from other parts of the city to help downtown in the wake of the Third and Pine shooting.
Later that day, I met with the head of the North Precinct and the University of Washington Police Department.
We met in the University District at, I think, one of Council Member Straus' favorite coffee shops, Cafe Allegro.
Indeed.
Excellent.
So we talked about concerns about public safety in the University District.
met later with the University Temple United Methodist Church that houses several services in the U District, social services, and they are actually, and small businesses are paying very costly private security to supplement police in the University District, and so the social services agencies, it's hard for them to afford that, extra security and so they they look forward to the community police officers and the bike patrol coming back to the university district full-time and There was a lot of talk about high barrier individuals.
So I look forward to hearing what the high barrier individuals working group You know their progress on this issue.
Thank you Thank You councilmember Pearson councilmember Lewis
Thank you so much, Council Member Mosqueda.
Not as much going on this week for me, fortunately.
Last week was quite busy.
But there are some things that I am looking forward to this week.
First, I want to thank everybody for coming and engaging in a lively discussion on Wednesday for the Select Committee on Homelessness Strategies and Investments, where we talked extensively.
I got an update from the navigation team and I'm sure there will be some action items following that conversation.
I look forward to continuing that with everybody here at the table and the rest of my colleagues on the council.
There is nothing on the agenda this afternoon from the Select Committee on Homelessness Strategies and Investments.
I do want to briefly say that I look forward to voting for the landmark designation on the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Exchange this afternoon, also known as the Masonic Lodge at 1608 4th Avenue West in my district.
It's a building I walk by frequently.
It adds a lot of essential character to the neighborhood.
I think it also sets a good precedent for what I would like to see as a broader strategy in our historic designations where We protect old buildings with a lot of character in our single family neighborhoods, but also carve out space for multiple housing units within them to not only preserve character, but add much needed density and housing options for folks in neighborhoods where housing options can sometimes be limited.
So I do look forward to voting on that in favor of that this afternoon, and did appreciate the presentation and the folks who have brought that forward have for that property.
Going forward to the rest of the week, or actually one more thing that I did have the opportunity to do over the weekend, I was proud to be the guest of the Seattle International District Rotary Club for a fundraiser last night in the International District.
Definitely encourage everyone watching at home and my colleagues here on the council, please continue to go out and patronize businesses in the International District.
They are having a tough time with a lot of the conversations around the coronavirus and a lot of assumptions about where the coronavirus comes from and who it impacts.
Almost certainly, the International District is seeing a decrease in patronage.
That's awful.
There's absolutely no reason to think that going to the International District and patronizing our small businesses is going to put you more at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
So it was good to go spend some time with the International District Rotary Club and hang out at the Jolly Seafood Restaurant for that event last night.
Later this week I'll be speaking at the West Edge Neighborhood Association on Wednesday to give them updates on issues related to downtown and more broadly the work of this council for our first two months and I look forward to that conversation.
On Thursday night, I'm going to speak at a Rock the Vote event at UW, encouraging folks in a politically neutral way just to turn out and vote in the upcoming primary regardless of party or candidate preference that will be occurring in Washington on March 10th.
On Friday morning, I'll be attending the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center's annual Be Loud Breakfast, a great event for a really indispensable resource located just across the street that helps so many folks that have experienced sexual violence and have found KSARC to be a great resource for finding support and finding assistance.
So I'm definitely looking forward to attending that event.
And directly after that, we'll have office hours on Friday morning in Queen Anne, starting at 8.30 AM at El Diablo.
coffee, these sessions, and I think my colleagues who are holding office hours would agree with me, have been one of my favorite parts of having this position and the ability to have that direct connection with constituents and bring their issues back here to the table has been very rewarding.
So I look forward to this next session in Queen Anne on Friday.
Otherwise those are my updates and look forward to another week working for the people of District 7.
Thank you very much, Council Member Lewis.
And I just want to take a second to thank you as well for your leadership in the committee last week.
I appreciate you having a robust conversation in the Select Committee on Homelessness Strategies and Investments.
And I think we are in a good position with your leadership to continue to get the data that we need and help to make sure that we're using the public's dollar wisely to make sure we're addressing those who are unsheltered and on the verge of experiencing homelessness.
allowing for that robust discussion and your leadership there.
Thank you so much.
Councilmember Herbold, welcome.
Thank you and good morning everyone.
Good morning.
On full council today, we have a number of items from the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, namely four new appointments to the Community Police Commission.
Two of those appointments are from the mayor and two are from the council.
I'm really pleased to have had the opportunity to appoint someone who has served in good standing with the Community Police Commission, Emma Katage.
She's a fantastic leader, has done amazing work.
The Community Police Commission is one of those commissions that really demands a lot of people's time and energy.
She has a robust attendance record, and as I mentioned earlier, her ability to represent her community in important conversations around police reform is beyond reproach.
We also have two reappointments to the Community Police Commission, one reappointed by the Community Police Commission, and actually they're both Community Police Commission appointments.
Those two individuals both originate with the CPC.
I have no regular Public Safety and Human Services Committee meeting this week.
I do have a regular meeting next week on the 10th at 9.30 a.m.
We are looking to scheduling a special committee meeting of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee either Tuesday or Wednesday.
My office is coordinating with the executive, the Office of Emergency Management, Department of Health, Public Health, and other local and state partners to ensure alignment in response to the coronavirus, COVID-19.
Appreciate the thorough briefing provided by Council Pro Tem.
this morning and just want to give folks the opportunity prior to a further update from the departments to send questions that they think are really important to address to my office.
I'll be collecting them.
I know that we all have different areas of focus.
Council President Gonzalez has identified her interest in getting some special specialized information out regarding how the how the region is working with our non-english-speaking residents to make sure that they have the information that they need as well as she's raised the need to really have a unique focus on the members of our community that are in experiencing homelessness.
So if you have other specific areas of focus that you would like to be included in a briefing, please do let me know.
As far as items coming up this week, tonight I will be attending a Parks District planning meeting in District 1 at the Delridge Community Center.
Friday, I too will be at the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center breakfast, the Be Loud breakfast.
And then Friday, Friday's a really busy day.
I have a Dowridge Neighborhood District Association fundraiser, an Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance fundraiser.
Those are both in District 1. And then Saturday, we have Medic One's 50th anniversary dinner.
Last week, I held in-district office hours on Friday at the West Seattle Senior Center.
I was in-district between 12 and 7 p.m.
I also, on Tuesday evening last week, attended a focus group with the organization that calls itself the Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition.
They are conducting focus groups to really strategize about how to move forward on three of their major areas of focus, one being a focus on preventing displacement by ensuring that housing is preserved in South Park.
Another relates specifically to the building of new affordable housing.
And the third relates to ensuring that projects that come to South Park have an economic development component.
Also, last week, Thursday morning, I attended the Regional Law, Safety, and Justice Committee, and that was a focus at this meeting, specifically on school safety, and we heard presentations from across the region on efforts that are really focused on school safety, both as it relates to the vulnerabilities that students face, as well as ways that some schools have looked at improving the public safety in and around school campuses.
And I think that's all I've got for today.
Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.
I want to make sure that folks who are here.
Oh, you have one more?
Okay.
For folks who are here, if they are here for the executive session, I hope they can hear me outside, please do come on in as we're going to transition to that in a moment.
Councilmember Herbold, please continue.
I'm sorry, I knew I was forgetting something.
In the wake of last week's announcement as it relates to acting director Jason Johnson, I did want to share with council members a reminder to council members who have been here and what might be new information to new council members about what the process is for city council confirmation of department heads.
This is a process that was adopted by this council by resolution 31866, and it identifies the steps that the council intends to be followed, both by the executive in selecting and interviewing, but also the standard by which we will hold ourselves for doing engagement and outreach around new appointments and reappointments.
So I just want to share that with folks and look forward to talking to you more about your thoughts and your priorities for filling this really, really important position.
Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.
Council colleagues, thanks again for your updates on this week's activities and items that are going to appear on today's full council agenda.
I do also want to remind folks that we will have a briefing again this afternoon on the coronavirus or COVID-19 in terms of updates and later this week Councilmember Herbold, she's going to announce when we're going to have that special meeting in her committee.
As a reminder before we wrap up this public session component, if you do feel any flu-like symptoms, please do not leave your home if possible.
Please stay home and practice good hygiene.
And if you feel any symptoms at all such as fevers, chills, coughs, shortness of breath, please contact your medical provider.
And if you have any questions about how we can get the information out, or I'm sorry, if you have any concerns and want to know more, we are getting information out through the public line that's been provided from our public information officers to the media at 206-233-5072.
For members of the public who want to stay aware of any updates, again, the Alert Seattle system is at alert.seattle.gov where you will get notifications via text, email, voice message, or social media.
So please continue to track that information.
Council Member Herbold, you mentioned you're collecting ideas that folks are interested in.
I want to flag for the council colleagues, we've also inquired already with some central staff folks about what it would take to get additional hand-washing facilities out into the community.
As folks remember, this is a huge issue that myself and Councilmember Bagshaw had constantly said in the last few years, we need more hand-washing facilities across our city.
This is a great example of where we should be able to deploy that soon.
So we'll coordinate with you to see if we can get that information as part of our alerts.
Lastly, we're going to be going into executive session here in a moment.
Thank you so much.
As presiding officer, I'm announcing that the Seattle City Council will now convene an executive session.
The purpose of executive session is going to be discussed during that time.
We are going to have about an hour and 15 minutes that we will have for executive session.
It is my intent to have us wrap up in an hour and a half, and we have legal counsel that is present in case we need to go over.
We will announce at that time.
So an hour and 15 minutes, colleagues, would put us at 1128. If we need additional time at that moment, we will come out of executive session and we will announce what additional information is needed.
At this moment, we are going to end our public morning briefing and go into executive session.
If we can have the room cleared of anyone who's not here for the executive session, that'd be great.
Otherwise, thank you for starting us up.