Economic Development, Technology & City Light Committee 42623

Go ahead.

Good morning, everyone.

The April 26, 2023 meeting of the Economic Development, Technology, and City Light will come to order.

It is 9.31.

I'm Sarah Nelson, chair of the committee.

Council Member Herbold has asked to be excused.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council President Hibariz?

Here.

Council Member Sawant?

Present.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Chair Nelson.

Present.

Four present, one excused.

Okay, there are five items on today's agenda.

First, we'll have a briefing discussion and possible vote on three appointments to Seattle City Light's review panel.

Then we'll have a briefing discussion on Council Bill 120556, authorizing a transfer of funds into Seattle City Light's rate stabilization account.

And then finally, we'll have a briefing discussion and possible vote on Council Bill 120537, establishing a new 10-year business improvement area to be known as the Metropolitan Improvement District, or MID.

We did have two presentations, one from OED, one from DSA last meeting, and we had extensive public comment.

So today's Today will be a finishing touch and a possible vote on that, but there will be opportunity for my colleagues to ask questions.

Okay.

Are there any objections to the agenda?

Seeing none, the agenda is now adopted.

With that, we'll move into public comment on the items listed on the agenda.

Good morning.

And when you hear the chime, you will have 10 seconds to you'll have 10 seconds left per usual.

If you exceed the time, your microphone may be cut off and we'll move on to the next speaker.

So we normally start with in-person speakers, but I'm going to make an exception for one remote speaker today because And that person's name is Steve Horvath.

At our last committee meeting he chose not to comment on the mid reauthorization during regular public comment out of respect for my request to wait until the official public hearing mid supporters who did speak during that public comment period got two minutes.

I had no idea how many people would show up to provide testimony, and the meeting was running late so I cut the amount of time for public comment from two minutes down to one minute, leaving Mr Horvath with simply one minute, and that was an unfortunate result of him.

following my request.

So today we're going to begin with him and provide three minutes.

So I will, which is an additional minute from last time and two minutes this time.

So with that, I will move into that portion of our public comment and then we'll proceed with in-person.

Okay.

So we do have Mr. Horvath present.

Go ahead.

You have to press star six.

Good morning.

Thank you, Chair Nelson and committee.

I want to confirm you can hear me before I proceed.

Yes, I can.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, my name is Steve Horvath.

I am a resident of Belltown in downtown Seattle and One of the thousands of folks who own a condominium in the downtown area and pay into our rate payer assessments, each of us has been assessed over the past 10 years, roughly $1,000 or so per unit collectively for that 10 years.

And the reason I feel this comment so important overwhelmingly, we've all seen positive effects of having the MID and spending this extra money.

But the draft ordinance you've been presented for the next 10 years and that you're possibly voting on today was prepared by the program manager through Brian Scott from BDS, who you heard from during your last meeting.

That's the same consultant who drafted the 2013 BIA ordinance.

And per his own testimony to you during your last meeting, Brian Scott apparently drafts nearly all of the BIA ordinances for the city, which is very interesting.

This draft that you have before you borrows extensively from the 2013 ordinance to the extent that the way apartments and hotels are parceled as rate payers will continue to exclude them from being assessed for the same commercial and retail uses that are clearly identified by King County that condominiums have paid for the last decade and more.

Excluding those particular parcels and rate payer uses from the assessment pool will create an estimated loss of revenue exceeding $5.5 million over the next decade.

And it has already caused the rate payers a loss of over $2 million over the past decade.

There are well over 185 unique condominium and co-op associated commercial unit uses that are deemed unique rate payers that were assessed over $160,000 each of the last two assessment years.

And the rate payers that are currently excluded would have been assessed over $300,000 each of the last two assessment years.

Again, this totals over $5.5 million over the next decade.

I haven't seen any amendments on your proposed agenda here.

I don't know what will happen to the full council.

This is one of a number of equity concerns, but it seems to be the most prescient, and I am extraordinarily concerned that if this isn't corrected, you are essentially condoning the status quo, which is you have a condominium on one side of the street sitting next to an apartment next to it on the same piece of parcel, essentially, block, and you're You're saying that one rate pair is benefited differently than the rate pair next to them with exactly the same uses.

Thank you so much for considering my testimony.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

OK, there are no more people signed up to give comment remotely, so we'll move into our in-person public comment, and we've got 10 speakers signed up right now.

I'll start with the first two, who are Lloyd Gregory and Tammy Caravan.

Good morning, council members.

Thank you for having this hearing.

I wanted to speak on behalf or in favor of renewing the MID.

I've worked downtown for basically my whole time in Seattle between Pike Place Market, Westlake, and now Pioneer Square.

And what I found is a consistency in spirit.

There's like a energy in those neighborhoods and one thing even with the pandemic that was consistent throughout all of that when so many people stayed home so many of us came down every day to love our city and make sure that it was cared for and and the constant throughout the whole time was mid like the downtown ambassadors and I've been blessed to work with them, to walk with them as a Pioneer Square community member.

I run office space down there.

It's for me and my coworkers to still meet.

And it's this spirit, it's this spirit that keeps me back, coming back.

And I want you to continue to help them care for the city because people will come back, but we're going to still need them to smile at the visitors.

And I just hope you can, you know, you allow them to continue to do their work another 10 years and maybe even grow the program.

That's it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Tammy Blank-Canavan and I am the president and CEO of Visit Seattle.

Tourism brings 35 million annual visitors to Seattle and they spend nearly $8 billion in our economy.

They generate $700 million in state and local taxes.

These visitors come expecting the Emerald City, a beautiful waterfront location with iconic places to visit like Pike Place Market and the Space Needle and cultural and sporting events, water cruises, amazing restaurants, all of the things that we appreciate as residents.

Without the MID, this benefit to our community would be absolutely impossible.

We would not be able to reach our potential.

We rely on the work of the MID to make sure downtown feels safe and vibrant.

Their work is necessary.

And we are grateful to the DSA and the MID for their community partnership and their leadership.

So please reauthorize the MID.

You're a critical part of our downtown's viability.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we'll have Dawn Blakeney followed by Lizbeth.

And please make sure that the microphone is close to you.

Excellent.

Good morning, Council Members.

Thank you for having me.

I'm Don Blakeney.

I'm the Executive Director of the U District Partnership, and I'm here today to ask that you renew the Metropolitan Improvement District for another 10-year term.

I've spent the lion's share of my career working for business improvement areas because they provide critical community capacity and leadership and offer a framework for stakeholders to engage in the issues that shape our neighborhoods.

The MID provides essential investments in maintenance and activation over an impressive 285 square blocks in six downtown neighborhoods.

I've spent 10 years working, I have spent 10 years of my career working in downtown with and for the Metropolitan Improvement District, and I've seen firsthand the impact that these BIAs have had on homelessness, public spaces, transportation, and our local economy.

The funds and leadership that this organization brings to our city are important in normal times, but even more critical today as our city works to climb back out of the pandemic and address the deep impacts it's had on downtown.

The MID was renewed in 2013 and must be renewed again this year to remain in effect.

And I urge the council to move forward so that we can have a healthy, vibrant and downtown for all.

Thank you.

Is Liz here?

Lizbeth followed by Reza.

All right, well, they might be regrouping.

Go ahead.

Liz is not here right now.

So go ahead, please Sure.

Thanks.

My name is reza marashi.

I'm director of government affairs for kilroy realty corporation I appreciate the opportunity today to come and chat with you again council member and nice to see you council member straus I thank you both for being here in person, by the way, you know government cannot maximize the efficacy of its efforts for its constituents By doing it remotely.

So it's great to see you guys here in person Um, I am here to ask you to please reauthorize the mid The last time I had the opportunity to chat with you guys, I emphasize this mental exercise, this vision of what would downtown look like without the MID.

And it's not a very hard thing to imagine.

So rather than go over what I said last time, I just want to emphasize that oftentimes in your line of work, you're not presented with no brainers.

And here one has fallen in your lap.

So please reauthorize the MID and let these good people continue to do their good work.

Thanks for your time.

Well, I love no brainers.

Okay.

Go ahead, please.

Yes.

Morning, Council, and thank you very much for your work.

Seattle is such a beautiful town.

I'm here this morning in support of the MID, and I'm here for personal reasons, too.

live in Belltown, have for five years, came back to this city voluntarily to retire because I love it.

And one of the things that you can tell every day is that the downtown ambassadors are out there cleaning us up and making us look good.

But in January this year, we had a large windstorm that got me trapped up on First Hill.

looking for some way to get to my next appointment.

It happened that downtown ambassador, Aubrey Brewer, was in the area working with his bike.

He got off his bike, walked me across the street, walked me to my bus stop, and got me home safely.

I'm here to talk to you guys today because of that.

The downtown ambassadors keep us clean and green, and they help our visitors, who we want a lot of, feel like this is a comfortable, safe, clean city, where they're going to have a good time.

And they encourage people to come back here.

So let's be international.

Let's go for 10 years.

And let's get these guys funded with their full budget.

Thank you so much for your work and time.

Please state your name.

Can you stay at the mic?

Excuse me.

That was that was Liz Beth.

All right, next on our list, we've got Julia Trillingham, followed by Paul, then Jane, then Tony, then Gabriel.

I'll repeat that later too.

Hi, my name is Julia Turlington, and I'm a resident.

I believe I'm a boundary resident of the mid downtown I'm just right next to the Convention Center.

I also am someone who's worked almost my entire career for elected like you and and government, so I can't tell you how nervous it is to be on public record right now.

Also, it also shows how incredibly important it is for me to be here to support the MID as a resident of this neighborhood.

I spend every day walking through this area and I can't tell you how incredibly supported and safe I feel when I see folks like this who walk by me and my retriever, if you ever see someone with a black, very friendly retriever, it makes me really appreciate how much the city values this type of organization.

So I'm here just simply to say, I value the MID.

and what it does to this community, and I really hope you reauthorize it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Paul, then Jane.

Good morning.

Good morning.

And please make sure you're talking into the mic.

My name is Paul Costello from the MID.

My comments are in support of renewing the Metropolitan Improvement District, Council Bill number 120537. The MID provides services that are essential to the day-to-day livabilities and health of our city and are critical to the future of downtown's recovery.

Through the course of my day, I see tons of trash, needles, byways, and tin foil from drug use.

Without the M.I.D., who will clean this mess?

Who will pick up the trash after a baseball game or a special event?

Who will clean the doorways of a small business who does not have the resources to clean?

It is the M.I.D. who will provide these services and much more.

As a resident of Seattle who was born and raised here, I would hate to see what would become of Seattle if the MID was not renewed.

Please renew the MID.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Jane, then Tony, then Gabriel, and please be ready to just assume the mic when the last person is done.

Morning council members.

My name is Jane Chetinchalik.

I've been the Mid-Ambassador for over 20 years.

I love my job very much and I just want to say downtown wouldn't be the same without our ambassadors.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you for your work.

Hi there, council members.

My name is Tony Peterson.

I've been with the MID for two years now.

Not only does the MID help the city, the MID also gives opportunities to other individuals like myself.

I was homeless for over 10 years on these streets.

I've slept in many doorways.

That I've approached people and talk to them to see if they need help.

All right, that's I've been given skills to be able to help people out here.

And I wouldn't have been given this opportunity if it wasn't for the mid, and all these good people here.

The work that we do out there day in and day out.

is invaluable to this city, whether it's cleaning things, whether it's helping people or whether it's over, I think we're at about 60 people that we have saved from overdoses through our use of Narcan that we do now.

So it's a lot of lives saved.

So I just please ask that you guys continue to help us and help the city and renew the myth.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Gabriel Newman.

Good morning, I am Gabriel Newman, Policy Counsel and Government Relations Manager at GSBA, Washington's LGBTQ plus Chamber of Commerce.

I'm happy to testify in support of downtown Seattle's MID program.

When I ask members to envision a neighborhood that best meets their business needs, they tell me they consistently paint a picture of a safe, clean retail core.

MID services have been essential to the realization of this vision.

Their stewardship of downtown retail core strengthens Seattle's reputation as a major metropolitan destination, which drives customers to explore further into the city and support our diverse neighborhoods made street cleaning and public safety initiatives are essential to the revitalization of our city's small business landscape.

MADE also plays a key role in highlighting Seattle's diverse communities.

By improving walkability through their parks and public space management, in addition to outdoor events and activations, MADE ensures there is always something to draw people to our city's economic hotspots.

Their attention to hosting events for a multitude of different organizations highlight the city's diversity in a way that allows Seattle's personality to shine.

The diverse programming ensures both Seattleites and tourists continue to have reasons to visit downtown Seattle throughout the entire year.

These efforts feed economic activity directly back into our community and allow our city's unique personality to shine.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I believe we have one more speaker who added their name.

This is Jill Big Eagle.

Good morning.

As you mentioned, my name is Jill Big Eagle.

I am the Assistant Director for Corporate and Foundation Relations at the Fifth Avenue Theater.

I reached out to my colleagues to say, I'm going to go talk.

What should I say?

What interactions have you had with The Mid?

And I got so many responses.

Let me just say, the Fifth loves The Mid.

But I found one that I thought might be really compelling, which is, here's a fun fact.

The entrance to the Fifth Avenue Theater is in an alley between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

An alley in downtown Seattle might not be the cleanest place in the world.

But apparently, we have a very, very clean alley.

And I'd like to say that's because of the Fifth.

But we're actually busy inside the building.

So we rely on the Mid to help us keep that clean.

Most importantly, we do our program every year.

And it happens this year from January to March, where we mentor 50 to 100 high school students who come into the theater through the alley every single day.

And I think it's a testament that in three months, we did not get a complaint from a mentor, a student, or most importantly, a parent that anyone was coming in through that alley.

And that is because we have the cleanest and safest alley because of the MID.

So I ask you to please consider continuing the funding because we really love them.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

Okay, checking online form, there are no more speakers.

So thank you very much for coming out again and sharing your comment with us.

I really appreciate you coming into chambers and especially because you all have very busy jobs as we know outside.

So moving on, I will now close the public comment and ask the clerk to please read item number one into the agenda.

Just a second here.

Yes, the first clump of items is going to be three reappointments.

So go ahead, please read those items into the record.

Agenda item number one, appointment 02520, appointment of Oksana Savolyuk as member of the City Light Review Panel for a term to April 11th, 2024. Agenda item number two, appointment 02521, reappointment of Scott Haskins as a member of the City Light Review Panel for a term to April 11th, 2026. And agenda item number three, appointment 02522, reappointment of Timothy Skeel as member of the City Light Review Panel for a term to April 10th, 2026. briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you very much.

So present.

Yeah.

So Libra from City Light will is here to introduce our appointees.

Council members can pose questions or make comments about each of the individual appointees after they are presented, but we will move them and then vote on them as a group.

So please go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

Lee Baraka, City Light.

We have two reappointments to second terms, and that would be Tim Skeel, who is our economist in position number one.

That's a mayoral appointment.

This will be his second term on the panel.

The second is position number two, Scott Haskins.

He's our financial analyst on the City Light Review Panel, and that's a council appointee.

This will also be his second term.

They've both been very active members of the panel, both prior SPU employees, so they came to the panel with a lot of background in utility, city work, and what have you.

Thank you very much.

Can you explain a little bit about what the review panel does?

what the review panel does.

Yes, the review panel was established in 2010 to advise, it's an advisory panel to advise City Light on our strategic plan and our rate trajectory.

So we work with them very closely during especially the strategic planning process to ensure that we're all on the same page in terms of priorities, city priorities, and then there's a good understanding of the rate path that accompanies the strategic plan.

That's their primary focus for us.

And I must say that as an elected leader, it's important that I have that outside perspective when it comes to making decisions about utility bills.

Absolutely.

And as part of every strategic plan package, there's a letter that accompanies that package from the review panel speaking to how they feel about the proposed strategic plan and right path.

So that has been very useful in the past when we present to council.

Thank you very much.

So we have a third appointment, and this is a new appointment.

This is Oksana, and I'm going to say her last name probably incorrectly, so when she has a chance to speak, she's on virtually.

Oksana Savlyuk, she is a mayor appointee into the low-income advocacy position, and that's position number seven.

Her first appointment would be a partial first term because we had opposed the past low-income advocate, customer advocate leave the panel.

So this would be for a partial term and then hopefully reappointing her.

Oksana has a long history with City Light, working in the low-income advocacy community.

So I'd like to let her speak.

Please.

Thank you.

Hello.

Good morning, everyone.

Can everyone hear me?

Yes.

My name is Oksana Savolyuk.

I'm the Energy Assistance Director at Multi-Service Center.

We serve low-income community throughout South King County.

I have been with the company for a little over 26 years.

I grew up in an immigrant family.

We immigrated to U.S. from Ukraine back in 1992. I remember as a child I remember the struggles and hardship my family went through as a low income.

So I have a compassionate and I look forward working and it's an honor to work with Seattle City Light representing low income communities.

So thank you for considering me.

Thank you very, very much for your willingness to serve.

I noticed from your application that you started a new position at the Department of Commerce.

So congratulations for that.

I know that you, as all of the members, have very busy professional lives and really appreciate the special perspective that you will bring and your time.

So with that, are there any questions or comments from My colleagues.

Okay.

Seeing none, if there are no further questions or comments, I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 02520, 02521, and 02522. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend confirmation of those appointments, 02520, 21 and 22. Are there any further comments before we take a vote?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll?

Council President Juarez?

Aye.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Chair Nelson?

Aye.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

Thank you very much and congratulations.

Appreciate it.

So the motion carries and the committee recommendation that appointment 0252021 and 22 be confirmed will be forwarded to the city council for final consideration on May 2nd.

Let's proceed with agenda item four.

Agenda Item number for Council Bill 120556 an ordinance relating to the city light department authorizing the transfer of certain funds in the light fund into the rate stabilization account in 2023 and superseding certain provisions of subsection 21.49.086.e of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Thank you very much we have a panel of folks that will that will introduce themselves just some opening comments we're having a briefing and discussion of this bill to authorize city light to transfer cash that it has available in its light fund for debt service coverage to the rate stabilization account RSA in June, 2023 and again later in 20 in in then again later.

in 2023 if necessary.

City Light will give a more thorough description in their presentation, but for now, I just want to note that RSA serves as a reserve fund for the city to decrease the need to adjust customer rates that would otherwise result from extreme conditions that we find ourselves in, extreme swings in City Light's wholesale revenues.

Now city light just has extensive and and very very strong and detailed long term planning, but you can.

account for the short-term changes in conditions.

And so I just want to say that we've heard several presentations on their long-term resource planning.

And I just want to say that this is something that we cannot account for in those plans.

And so I invite you to introduce yourselves and then begin your presentation.

Good morning.

I'm Kirstie Granger, Chief Financial Officer for Seattle City Light.

Good morning, I'm Mecca and now energy innovation and resources officer at City Light.

Good morning, Karsten Kroff, manager of financial planning and rates at City Light.

Good morning, I'm Eric McConaughey.

I'm the council central staff.

Thank you very much.

Go ahead.

We have a presentation for you today.

So as you intro, this will make the first slide quite easy.

Should we go to the first?

There we go.

As you said, Council Member, we are here today because at the end of March, City Light triggered a 4% RSA surcharge which absent Council intervention would go into effect on June 1. The legislation that we are proposing authorizes the transfer of cash from the operating account into the RSA so that this surcharge doesn't need to be implemented.

So the presentation we have for you today talks through a little bit about the RSA, to describe the wholesale market conditions that led us to where we are today, and then review our financial position and discuss why City Light believes that we have surplus cash And that the best and prudent action is for us to use the surplus cash to avoid the surcharge.

And that's the best thing for our customers and a prudent move for us financially.

All right, so a little bit of background on the RSA.

Obviously City Light's purpose is to deliver our customers the electricity that they need every hour and every day.

And so this means that City Light is constantly buying and selling power in the wholesale market to balance our supply and our demand because electricity is difficult to store.

Um, on the supply side, in addition to some long term, uh, power purchase agreements, and you can see this in the chart on the right.

Um, much of our power comes from the generation that, uh, the generational resources we have with Skagit hydro project and the boundary hydroelectric project.

So these are hydroelectric projects owned by the city of Seattle that provide much of the electricity that we serve our customers.

And so the hydroelectric generation varies with weather, hydro conditions, snowpack, precipitation.

And under normal, typical circumstances, City Light has more than enough power to serve all of the needs of our customers.

And in this situation, as you can see on the left side of the chart, we would sell the surplus power into the wholesale market.

However, if conditions are dry, and also if we see more demand than would be normal, City Light might be purchasing power in the wholesale market to help meet that demand.

And so these are financial risks and uncertainties that City Light is exposed to from our activity in the wholesale market that we can't avoid.

And so in 2010, city council established the rate stabilization account.

And this is a mechanism that protects Sea Light's customers from much of the financial uncertainty that's coming from our activity in the wholesale market.

And the RSA is $100 million cash reserve.

As we are purchasing and selling power into the market, we're using the RSA to deposit and withdraw funds to balance that out.

And if the RSA becomes depleted, that's when these automatic surcharges come on to replenish it.

This is another illustration of those same financial risks and the financial impact.

We talked a little bit about the supply and demand balance, and that determines whether or not City Light is a seller in the wholesale market or deficit in any given hour.

The other part of the risk is the market price.

And so as we are buying or selling power, the market is going to determine what the price for that power is, and you multiply the volume by the price, and then that determines our financial impact.

And what I want to point out in this picture here is that those arrows on the outside, precipitation runoff, economy, the weather, even global impacts that are driving the prices of oil and natural gas, these are all, as you rightly pointed out, risks that are uncontrollable and that the utility is exposed to.

So, I'm going to turn this over to Mac and he's going to talk a little bit about how the, you know, these risks played out for city light this past winter.

All right, thank you, Christy.

So, I'm going to walk through last winter and talk a little bit about how it impacted our hydro resources.

So the map shows on here the runoff as recorded by the Northwest River Forecast Center, which is an arm of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

So it's a federal agency that provides forecasting.

And as you can see, these averages are low compared to historic normal flows.

That's what the diagram shows.

And so the sites that are circled are just upstream of Sea Light's hydro projects.

So as you can see, those numbers at 55% and 53% at Skagit and Boundary, respectively, are below normal.

Flows really have been below normal since the start of the water year in October, which is when the water years start.

And up through April, right now, we're still seeing lower than normal flows.

So, on this next slide, you can see, as I talked about, these dry winter conditions meant that generation of both skagit and boundary was far below normal for November through March.

So, to give you a sense of scale, 100 average megawatts for one month in an $80-megawatt market costs about $6 million, and costs have largely been above this level since the fourth quarter of last year.

And the size of these deficits is not the only story here.

The timing of deficits is also a factor.

As Christy said, storage is not really an easy thing to do.

So really, you're trying to respond to demand in real time and in sort of short periods.

And so the timing of those deficits is a factor with market price movement, as you'll see later.

Slide, please.

So this next diagram sort of shows what we were looking at in terms of the weather.

It was a cold winter.

We saw high demand for electricity.

And actually, it's about 4% higher than forecast over these six months.

And because we didn't have the hydropower to serve this demand, given the conditions as I described, we had to buy power on the wholesale market at high prices, which was expensive.

But generally it's worth noting that strong retail demand is a good thing.

We shouldn't lose sight of the big picture because really high retail demand means a strong economy and probably is indicative of a robust pandemic recovery underway with respect to the work that we do.

And so those retail revenues and this extra demand increased the retail revenue.

And that's one of the reasons why City Light can afford the cash transfer the legislation is proposing.

Stop there for a second.

And so that October, red splotch right there.

That is indicating warm weathers but it's also indicating extremely dry soil so is that there is there is certainly a correlation there I think the other part of the warm weather as well is.

Again, with the seasonality, the way the prediction works is you're you're trying to you're looking at sort of what the normal weather would be and you're matching your resources to that.

And so if the weather is warmer than normal and there's either more cooling or or other things like that going on, that can impact the demand as well.

Thank you.

And so overall, again, these conditions drove up not only our demand, but also market prices as the whole region saw higher demand.

So to the point about high market prices, market prices for electricity right now are the highest we've seen in over a decade.

Part of this has to do with the price of natural gas, which is affected by the cold weather as well.

So natural gas for heating in addition to for generating electricity impacts that price.

And over the last four years, the average market price was about $34 per megawatt hour.

But over this winter, we regularly saw prices in the $50 to $100 range, even spiking to $200 to $300, over $500 per megawatt hour.

You can see the spike in December that kind of shows that.

So because we have the responsibility and obviously what we do is we serve our customers' electricity needs.

This is the market that we went into to make sure we had the resources to meet those needs in the winter cold snaps.

And so that's the work that we do and the environment that we were doing it in.

And now Kirstie will pick up here and talk about how this has impacted the RSA.

All right, thank you.

So, you know, as you mentioned, the RSA is this cash reserve.

And you can see that for most of last year, the RSA was full at $100 million or more.

And then as Emeka mentioned, you know, into the conditions through the winter, the RSA, we withdrew from the RSA each month from November onward.

And then that brought us to the point where as of the end of March, the RSA was at $46 million, which is below the $50 million threshold that would indicate the 4% surcharge.

And you can see from the chart, we have two checkpoints for the RSA surcharges per year, once at the end of March, and the next one would be at the end of September.

Okay, so the surcharge has been triggered.

So the proposal is to deposit cash into the RSA to avoid the surcharge.

And, you know, just to take a step back, we've talked a lot about the utilities challenges in the wholesale market.

It's been a very expensive winter for us.

But just to kind of take a step back in the big picture, I want to stress that this is not a utility-wide financial crisis.

The utility is very financially sound.

Our financial performance last year overall was excellent.

We had debt service coverage of 2.5 times, which is the highest I've seen since I've been at City Light.

We're in good shape.

And part of this means that we have over $350 million in the bank and operating cash.

And this is more than we had planned.

And part of the reason, as Ameka mentioned, is that we're seeing strong recovery in Seattle coming out of the pandemic.

So that's good.

People are using electricity.

You know, and also the same factors that the cold weather that we saw in the winter that caused us to have to purchase power in the market translated into higher retail revenues for us as well.

So all these put together, City Light's in a very strong financial position, even stronger than we had planned for coming out of 2022. So what we're proposing to do is to deposit some of this surplus operating cash into the RSA.

And, you know, this will have some risk.

A transfer into a restricted reserve behaves like an expense.

And so it'll count against our 2023 financials.

And so the one thing that we're going to want to keep an eye on is that we would not want to transfer so much money into the RSA that we weakened our 2023 financial results because this could have potential credit rating impacts.

So, you know, you can see on the chart here on the right, we would not propose to go much more below one, we would not propose to go below 1.85 times, which is approximately $49, $50 million, given our current financial forecast.

And so that's just something to keep in mind as we look ahead to September, and we're making a determination about what we can do at that time if another surcharge is cropping up.

Okay, so everything that we've talked about so far has been kind of backward looking and we're going to shift the presentation now to talk a little bit about the 2023 calendar year and what we're projecting for the runoff season and towards the end to the end of 2023. So this is a chart showing our forecast of net wholesale revenues for the 2023 calendar year.

And as I mentioned, City Light is usually long power surplus.

And so this is a revenue in our books.

The different color forecasts, they represent the vintage of the forecast.

And you can see that back in November, we were projecting very high revenues for this year.

And over time, that has declined to the point where now we're projecting basically zero.

It's actually our latest forecast was a negative $4 million in net wholesale revenues.

So I'll turn it back over to Mecca to talk a little bit about what what the drivers are behind this decline in the outlook for 2023.

Thank you so um as the slide shows here, you can see where we're looking forward now into the spring and summer runoff season and looking at the.

What we what we anticipate for our projects and, as you can see at those same gauges were you know 89 and 80% of normal, so we are still below normal but.

What's been true is that the snowpack remains certainly better than what the liquid precipitation has been to this point.

So we are watching it really closely.

We are certainly recognizing that a lot depends on the timing and intensity of the runoff and sort of how that sort of materializes and the duration of it.

So there definitely is still uncertainty in the year and we are planning around that and really keeping a close eye on that.

So next slide shows really what has happened with wholesale market prices.

Again, the prices are high and have been high since the fourth quarter of last year.

They really started to drift upwards in about the last year and became really volatile late last year in December with the spikes that you see.

Prices do seem to be stabilizing somewhat, but as you can see, there's still some uncertainty.

And market analysis does still project higher than historically normal prices for the balance of the year.

So the other thing to note about this is the trajectory hopefully depicts how the exposure can be really very volatile and very time-based.

And so with that, I'll hand it back to Kirstie and we'll move into our wrap-up.

All right, so this is a monthly version of the color bar slide we saw earlier.

Again, you can see January, February, March, the negative revenues that we saw there.

As we move into the runoff season, and it hopefully finally starts to warm up, we're hoping to see some water, some generation in May and June.

The summer is another time where there's a lot of variation in supply and demand because of cooling demand.

You know, especially in August, you can see there that's reflecting that.

And then the water year will reset in the fall, and we'll go to the end of the year.

So, you know, this is what we'll be watching as we move through the runoff in the summer heating season as we move towards that next RSA checkpoint at the end of September.

So the legislation that we have before council is to request your approval for this cash transfer that will forestall the June 1 surcharge.

And it also authorizes a potential transfer later in the year if it is needed and if our financial support it.

Our next steps also include work we'll be doing within the department to manage our wholesale risks.

And so I'll turn it over to Mecca to close this out.

Yes, thank you.

And so this last part really is sort of, again, continuing to look forward.

We're monitoring the runoff, as I said, and refining our hydro generation forecast.

We are trying to be attentive to the trend that we've seen, which is that things have been drier than predicted.

And so that's meant that we are doing some forward purchasing to make sure that we are securing in advance some resources to help us make it through that summer, depending on how things go.

The current situation is a near-term shock, but as the Chair said at the beginning, most of our solutions, our durable solutions, are long-term, because we do see this as being indicative of a longer-term shift in the marketplace.

And so one of those solutions is something that we've talked about here before, which is the work we've done on our integrated resource plan, which called for us to acquire some new resources.

We issued an RFP for those resources at the beginning of the year, and we're working through right now sort of the evaluation process, hoping to move into contracting for some of those new long-term resources in the balance of the year.

We're certainly continuing to stay nimble and attentive to any other sort of bridge opportunities as well.

So if we find opportunities to help us secure additional resources, we're continuing to do that.

And then the other piece is really the broader marketplace as it's changing.

We talked about markets, we talked about the Western Resource Adequacy Program, certainly our engagement in the Western energy and balance market.

These are all things that help us really improve our visibility and access and our skills in managing around a changing marketplace.

And in general, I think most of us think that these large organized footprints will really help the volatility issue and provide some some more clarity for all of us kind of trying to navigate the energy transition.

And I think that's what we've got.

All right, well, that is the why before us.

And that is, thank you very much for your presentation.

It explains the tension that we have to always, that affects us between the short and the long term.

And Eric McConaghy of central staff did circulate a memo that goes into detail as well.

Do you have anything to add to this?

Thanks for thanks for asking, just to note that the RSA as a mechanism and I think you're see pointed this out exists to help out with this very thing.

In this case, city lights in the position where they have cash available and proposals before you to use that cash to forestall the surcharge, but I just like to emphasize that I from analytical point of view, having that RSA is to the advantage of the utility and the rate payers.

And it's a machine that would function if we were in a circumstance where City Light didn't have that cash surplus.

So that, I think, underscores some of the things that Mecca and Kirstie were saying about the general viability and strength of utility as it stands right now.

It's a so-called rainy day fund in a sense.

And it was, I had a question.

It was mentioned that this was formed in 2010. Do other public utilities, is that a common practice, at least in the Western region?

Um, I think that it's pretty common for electric utilities to have some kind of power cost adjustment mechanism.

Um, you know, maybe city light is a little bit unique in that so much of our power comes from hydropower.

Um, you know, whereas maybe for like Puget, I think their, their power cost adjustment has more to do with the cost of natural gas for their, their gas fired plants.

Um, but yeah, it's, um, I think that, uh, you know, these outside risks are something that all electric utilities, um, face in some way or another.

Thank you.

Okay, at this point, I would like to open the floor up for questions from my colleagues, because we're not going to have our vote until next meeting.

So now's the time to get your questions on the table.

Go ahead, Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you all for coming and presenting.

I find that this is a prudent use of our RSA funds.

This is actually the very purpose that this fixed fund is set up for.

Christy, I appreciate your nuanced explanation about the difference between the fixed fund and the general ratepayer fund.

And the tension there to make sure that we have because we do have strong financial outlook.

And how do we maintain that and ensure that we're not adding surcharges to our residents.

Because we set up the RSA to do just, just this.

Thank you for bringing this forward to us.

And I don't know who's controlling the slide but maybe if you could pull that back up to just look at our.

different forecasts, because when we were having the conversation ahead of this briefing, we were talking about not only the snow pack, the cool weather, and then the warm weather, but then also the influence of when the snow melts very rapidly and we have flooding.

Because, you know, just coming into work today, I had the choice of wearing my down winter coat or my spring coat.

I think today was the first time I chose the spring coat, and I'm not sure it was the right choice.

And we're at the end of April.

We're basically in May.

And so we've had a very cold summer, and we went from a very warm fall to a cold winter And it seems like we're making that drastic transition again.

The reason I bring this up is because I believe it's the Army Corps of Engineers takes over our dams during flooding.

And maybe you could explain just a little bit about how flooding and rapid melting of snow can actually cause problems for us.

Yeah, I can try to provide some color there.

You know, a couple things that we watch, as you said, how the snowpack melt, how the snow melt sort of materializes is very impactful.

We have responsibilities around our projects with respect to managing flooding.

So that's part of the function of our hydro projects.

And so, for example, around Skagit, as you mentioned, right, there are conditions under which the Army Corps of Engineers of engineers actually takes control of the flows to help manage flooding.

And so, you know, we, we are still, you know, sort of watching that really closely, it remains to be seen sort of how quickly the weather will warm up and how quickly, you know, as we talked about earlier soil conditions, how much of that will seep into the ground, how much of it will run off.

And so that's all in play, and we have to manage around that we certainly don't want an overly rapid melt that leads to us spilling a lot of that sort of water, which is our fuel, obviously, for generating electricity.

But trying to have that happen in a way where we can manage the flooding, we're not having to spill a lot, but we're also able to generate.

That's great.

I'm just going to take it another level, which is that we have very dry soil, which means that it can't soak up water rapidly.

When we have, you know, very wet soil, we're able to soak that melt up quickly.

So when we have dry soil, it all floods into the lakes.

which then the Army Corps of Engineers tells us that we have to release our storage whether we want to or not, which, you know, so we see a good snowpack up there right now.

It's not as bad as it could be, but we might not be able to retain all of that snowpack because if flooding occurs, then we have to release our storage.

And at the very same time that our customers are using more electricity to stay warm, and then rapidly transitioning to using more electricity to stay cool.

I just this is a very.

Interesting intersection and your ability to plan for this with so many unknowns is just incredible.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I think the unknown will be the operating principle going forward because we're seeing that the exception is becoming the norm in seasons and season year to year.

I'll note that in my real life, I noticed this because in October, there were no mushrooms or November.

And I am a card carrying member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society.

And there were very few samples at our mushroom show.

from the western side of the mountains.

So that's how I noticed it.

Anyway, are there any other questions or comments?

All right, we'll continue this at the next meeting.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate you coming forward and providing this presentation.

Thank you.

I like mushrooms too.

Okay, well, Would you please read the next item into the agenda?

Agenda item number five, Council Bill 120537, an ordinance relating to downtown business improvement areas, establishing a new 10-year business improvement area to be known as the Metropolitan Improvement District, levying special assessments upon owners of commercial property, multifamily residential property, and mixed-use property within the area, providing for the deposit of revenues in a special account and expenditures there for therefrom providing for collection of and penalties for delinquencies, providing for the establishment of a rate payers advisory board, providing for an implementation agreement with a program manager, disestablishing the existing Metropolitan Improvement District that was established by ordinance 124175, the 2013 mid, suspending the issuance of assessments and providing for the continuity of services under the 2013 mid, providing for the transfer of any remaining funds from the 2013 confirming certain prior acts, briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you very much.

That reminds me that watching the hearings in Olympia this past week, I noticed that they have a tradition of saying last line.

So, in any case, we also have some presenters.

Please introduce yourselves.

Good morning, Council Committee Chair Nelson, committee members.

It's a pleasure to be here.

My name is Preeti Sridhar.

I'm Deputy Director of Office of Economic Development here representing Markham McIntyre, who's our director.

I'm also here with our staff persons and I will have them introduce themselves.

Just very happy.

Also here with members of the Downtown Seattle Association and will have them represent.

This is a wonderful opportunity here to discuss the renewal of the Metropolitan Improvement District, also known as MID.

Good morning, Council Members.

I'm John Scholes, the Presidency of the Downtown Seattle Association, the Program Manager for the MID.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Philip Sid, also here from the Office of Economic Development.

I am the Business Improvement Area Advocate.

Thank you.

Hello, good morning.

I'm Jasmine Marwaha with Council Central Staff.

Thank you very much.

So at our last meeting, I opened with a thought experiment, which other people engaged in as well.

Basically, the question was, what would downtown be like without the MID?

And I just want to pause for a moment and throw up the slide number seven of DSA's presentation last time.

There it is.

I was, I was mentioning the lights in the in the programming and this is what we, what we saw in their presentation, mid was able to accomplish the mid was able to accomplish just in March of this past year.

And this work has been going on for the past 24 years the mid ambassadors have been doing have been cleaning rendering service and helping with the engagement of our urban spaces and making downtown a better place for everybody for.

for the past 24 years, and what we have before us is a reauthorization of the Metropolitan Improvement District.

This version will expire on June 30th, and so we're renewing the legislation before us.

We'll renew the authorization for another 10 years.

You know, when I was talking about how lucky we are as a city to have this resource that is really providing essential basic services to the people of downtown and its visitors and workers, I really emphasize the point that the property owners have chosen to steward our downtown spaces for us and I, as a city, leader are, I am very fortunate and I think that we should all feel very grateful.

And I was not alone in those sentiments.

I just want to put in for the record that during public comment last meeting on April 12th, nine people spoke in person and one person spoke remotely in favor of this legislation.

During the public hearing section, 37 people testified in favor and one person spoke remotely in opposition.

And so I just want to put on the record that we also have a room full of people here saying your signs read, we need the mid I love the mid.

And so there is a lot of enthusiasm for this, this legislation going forward.

I want to provide an opportunity now for folks at the table to say a few words.

I'm happy to respond to any questions, Council Member, but I think just in summary and following up on the comments and presentation from April 12th, would just offer that the downtown property owner community is enthusiastically willing to continue investments in a range of services, actually investing more in the proposal.

Before you then, what we will collect this year, about approximately $3 million more in services.

And the great people behind me and those out on the streets, want to continue to provide the great service that they do each and every day.

We believe these services, these investments, these programs are critical and foundational to the further revitalization and recovery of our downtown and everybody benefits from them.

certainly the folks making the investment, but folks coming to shop and live and visit and those folks that are coming from throughout our city and region.

So happy to answer any additional questions that the committee may have on the business plan before you, but want to reflect the strong support in our community and among the property owners and the deep commitment from our team to continue to show up every day and provide this critical service.

Thank you and you did mention the additional in additional investment, the, the budget for this year, I believe will be 18 million and 18.3 million annually.

That's based on fiscal year 2023 $2024, and curtain that's an increase from 15.5 million.

And so where does that money come from the reauthorization does add an additional 20 properties by moving the southern border of the mid a little bit south and it the, there are some changes to the rate structure hotel.

Their, their room rate will go from 97 to 125. And the residential rate for condo owners is increasing from 152 to 195, phased in over two years.

So those are some of the main changes, and that money will primarily be spent on additional cleaning services and additional investments in wages and benefits for our ambassadors, and also pay for some additional security, as I understand it.

Are there any questions or other comments from presenters?

Go ahead.

Council Member Juarez.

Oh, thank you very much.

Council President Juarez.

Thank you.

I'm glad you can see me.

First of all, I want to thank, well, first of all, thank everybody for your leadership on this, Madam Chair.

On the mid, I don't think anyone's, actually, I haven't heard anyone against the whole proposition of the 10-year and the renewal and the expansion.

but thank Jasmine for the memo that she had provided us that went through the whole analysis and the background and the establishing.

But I have three questions really just briefly, and I apologize if I didn't quite understand.

On the council bill itself and what it would establish, I see that it's gonna establish, I have three questions for you guys.

Number one, is this the first time that we've established an advisory board?

And number two, When would we get an update of the actual board?

And number three, what type of public agencies were you contemplating that might be possible or have representation on the board?

So I can take the first question in terms of there is a rate pair advisory board established with each business improvement area.

And that is generally recommended by the current program manager of the BIA.

And annually, the program manager of the BI will let the city know who's going to be nominated and appointed to be on the repair advisory board.

John, would you be able to take question number three, which is what other organizations are part of the mid repairs board?

Yeah, the ratepayer board that consists of 35 ratepayers today reflects the diversity of property ownership and types of property within the district and the diversity of neighborhoods.

And then we often have participation and involvement from relevant city agencies from the Seattle Police Department or OED or other agencies as presenters and participants in those in those meetings.

But the board itself I think this is consistent with how the other BIAs are structured and the other advisory boards around the city are structured is really representative of the of the property owners or the business entities paying in and so the ordinance structures it in that form and fashion Council Member.

Well if I can have a follow-up Madam Chair.

Yes.

So when you say I'm looking at, I'm actually looking at Jasmine's memo and Jasmine, you didn't put page numbers on your memo.

Oh, yes.

Well, I can't find it anyway.

Yes, she did.

Page four when it says and may include public agencies.

I guess why that caught my eye with the expansion of this mid, if you had any public agency in mind or if we had other meds or BIAs that had public agencies or nonprofits.

So that's just kind of what I was getting at.

I don't, if you don't have an answer, or there isn't an example, that's fine too.

That just kind of was a question that I had.

So thank you had representation from public agencies that have been voluntary rate payers that aren't legally obligated to pay an assessment but but pay anyway, the convention center has been one of those entities they've served on the board.

The port of Seattle contributes the Seattle Art Museum, and those entities, along with the Pike Place market have had representation on the board so I think that would maybe answer your question, Council Member, because of their status as a voluntary ratepayer, those entities which are publicly owned entities have served on the ratepayer board in the past, and a few of them continue to serve today.

Well, I have an ulterior motive, too.

As you know, I'm pushing hard for a BIA in the North End and working with OED and those folks because I think we only have one, and correct me if I'm wrong, maybe two BIAs north of the Ship Canal.

And with the explosion of economic development and the footprint that we have going on at Northgate and light rail and transit-oriented development and housing and all the economic engines that are springing up everywhere in our conversations, I'm looking at this memo and the blueprint of what you're doing.

So not only can we have a BIA type opportunity in the North end, I'm just trying to explore what other types of public agencies, nonprofits, besides business owners that would be a part of this, that would contribute to this, that we desperately need in the North End.

So thank you for that.

You did you want to provide me?

Go ahead, Jasmine.

No, but since I got a shout out, I might as well just just emphasize that the legislation requires that the composition of the board shall be representative of the varying rate payers, including property owners, residents and business tenants within the mid and may include public agencies.

So that sort of speaks to consistently consistent with what?

Well, since we're there, I'll just be frank with you.

The other issue is we are contemplating economic development and tribal participation in the North End with all the economic opportunities that tribal communities, not just casinos, have provided, as well as hotels and restaurants and owning teams and, you know, just about everything else.

And the buildings that they just bought in District 4, the Muckleshoot Nation did.

So I'm trying to like structure this so that we're I hate saying this because it sounds so corny, more inclusive.

If I say centering or uplift, please somebody hit me.

So that's where I'm getting at, the expansion of that.

So that's just where I'm headed.

So before I leave, I think it's 250 days, I'm trying to get that in place.

So just know that.

Thank you.

Noted, loud and clear.

All right, I, I'm going to move the bill and then provide one more option.

Oh, yeah, sorry I'm using my I'm using zoom.

Are you able to.

Is this a good time.

Yes, please.

Great, great, great, great.

Council President, are you counting.

You know I am.

Come on now.

Oh, man.

Look, I've worked downtown throughout the pandemic.

I think that there were only a couple months during that deep pandemic that I didn't come downtown for.

And I've seen everything shift.

You know, we worked really hard to get City Hall Park in a really good place before the pandemic and all that disappeared in two weeks.

It was really heart wrenching.

And I've seen you down here this entire time when there were so few people downtown, the mid was here.

This was incredible.

I've worked from my office five days a week for as soon as I could, well over a year at this point.

And part of this is because downtown is bigger than any of us.

Downtown is our regional center, it's our city center, it is if you're from Bellevue and you're traveling abroad, where do you say you're from, from Seattle.

Because downtown is bigger than any of us, it really takes all of us for the success to be bought in.

It doesn't matter if you live in the city.

It doesn't matter if you live in a neighborhood.

It matters if you're from somewhere near here.

Downtown is bigger than any and all of us.

And you're our front lines.

just really candidly.

You're our front lines for our city, for our region, for anyone who supports any of our sports teams, Seahawks, Mariners, Kraken.

You know, when you go, when you travel throughout the region and you say you're from Seattle, we want to be proud.

And it's because of the work that you do.

To keep our downtown clean.

I mean, we heard from the fifth that was a testimonial.

It's hard to stand against.

So I just want to take this moment to thank you for what you do.

I see this in my district and district six, I represent Ballard Fremont Finney Green Lake Greenwood Crown Hill, and many other micro neighborhoods and I've got a district office in downtown Ballard.

We don't have the mid in downtown Ballard.

And so when I show up to my office, I also clean up.

So I've got my, it's not as good of a, I wish that I had a little trike that has a pressure washer and all the rest.

I've got a trash bag, a litter pick kit and a dust pan.

And I can tell you, I've picked up things that I didn't want to touch.

Some days are hard.

And once it's clean, it creates a more inviting environment for everyone.

And I couldn't do it without the BIA in Ballard.

When the BIA contracted with Uplift Northwest, it was night and day.

And it's not just trash.

It's the leaves.

It's just the presence.

It's having our community together.

When I come downtown, you, the ambassadors, are who I see when I get off the bus, when I walk to lunch, and your services last past 5 p.m.

I see your benefit when I stay late for a Kraken or a Mariners game.

I see your benefit last when I stay late to go to the Fifth Ave or to the Act Theater.

And if you can keep a downtown alley free of complaints, you can do anything.

And I'm very excited to support you today.

And just when you're having a hard day, when you showed up early, and you're picking up and touching the things that you don't want to touch, I'm right there with you.

That's how I start a lot of my days too.

But you do it all the time.

Mine are duties as otherwise assigned.

And when you're having those hard days and you're feeling grouchy because you're touching and cleaning up the thing that you've done a hundred times over this year, just know that you are representing our city.

our region, and it's bigger than all of us, and you're our front lines, and we appreciate you and all the work you do.

John, thank you for bringing this to us, and thank you all for all your work.

Go ahead.

I just want to say that when we were here last time making the presentation, for the first time since the pandemic, every chair in the chamber was full.

And thus the energy in this room to support this renewal was outstanding.

There were members from every part of the community, business, residents, just, you know, the vibrant energy to say, you know, how the MED has helped and how, you know, during the pandemic they were there.

to help with the recovery.

But it's not just what has happened until now, but the future.

And we have been talking about how critical downtown is for our future.

And that's where the importance lies.

So we were seeing that in front of our eyes, you know, that unfold and that commitment.

So I just, you know, wanted to kind of share that.

That's still, I think, resonating with many of us.

And I wanted to take this opportunity again to thank John for being a catalyst in making that happen.

Thank you very much for that.

I was trying to put a collage.

I pulled some photos from DSA's Twitter feed and was going to show the room.

And I would like to get to the point where the room is visible to our audience in TV land.

But you're absolutely right.

And thank you very much for underlining that point, and for folks who are wondering who is john I want to remind people that that john schools is is head of the downtown Seattle Association which is the agency that manages the mid so again two separate entities.

But thank you very much john for all the work that you have done to get us to this point and I noticed.

Your staff have been working very closely with our office as well because, and I just want to say that DSA does a lot more than manage the mid I mean you are you advise the city on policy initiatives, and you provide us data for what's really going on in the street how many people are back in the office and you help us plan for the future and I'll have some more comments about that but I just wanted to say to note that that is why you are sitting here at the table as well so thank you very much.

Well I appreciate all that I do want to just impart this really is a proposal from the downtown community the downtown property owner community to you and the great work is really all the people behind me I'm sort of the messenger here relaying that support of what's before you and the support behind it and what's being proposed.

But it's really the downtown community here coming together to say we want to continue to make these investments and the wonderful people behind me that are committed to continue to doing the great work.

Thank you.

All right.

With that, I move that the committee recommends passage of Council Bill 120537. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend passage of the council bill and I will ask the clerk to please call the roll.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Chair Nelson.

Aye.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

Excellent.

The, the motion carries and the committee recommendation that Council Bill 120537 pass will be forwarded to the city council for consideration on May 2. All right.

So this is a big day.

And before we part, I want to say that the mayor on Monday released a downtown activation plan and and called out the mid and this proposal passing and additional investments.

And that was something that you called out in your letter in DSA and the chamber's letter to the mayor.

I want to note that I do believe that to the extent possible, and I don't know if that is possible, that the city should somehow find a way to contribute to the work that you do while we are still trying to navigate the uncertain financial times that we have before us.

Because downtown is not an afterthought.

It is a neighborhood, but it is also the neighborhood that happens to be the engine of our regional economy.

And so it's all hands on deck and to make sure that we recover and that we continue to be the city that everybody loves to work, live, play, visit, etc.

And we have so many assets going for us.

And so the future is bright for downtown.

And I just want to say that this is a big milestone in our future.

So thank you very much.

All right.

I believe that we are at the end of our agenda, unless there is additional business that my council members would like to address.

And I am looking at the Zoom.

I must note that in a hybrid world, it is hard to see the Zoom screen and my notes and also make eye contact with people in the audience.

So I'm looking forward to I'm looking forward to not having to do that as often as anymore.

Anyway, this concludes.

We will always go forward with the hybrid model.

I'm just making the case that it is difficult for me.

I'm going to stop talking right now.

This concludes the April 26th meeting of the Economic Development Technology and City Light Committee.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10th, 2023 at 9.30 a.m.

and there is no further business.

It's been indicated by my screen over here.

So hearing no further business, it is 10.50 and this meeting is adjourned.

Wake up, President, Madam Chair.

Don't forget, go Kraken.

Let's do this.