Seattle City Council 5/14/2024

Good afternoon, everyone.

The May 14th, 2024 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 201. I am Sarah Nelson, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Saka here.

Council member Strauss present.

Council member Wu present.

Council member Hollingsworth here.

Council member Kettle here.

Council member Moore present.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you very much.

To begin, Council Member Moore has a proclamation proclaiming May 13th through May 17th to be Affordable Housing Week.

Council Member Moore will share some comments on the proclamation, then I'll open the floor to comments from Council Members, and then after Council Member comments, we'll suspend the rules to present the proclamation to our guests and allow our guests to provide brief comments.

So, Council Member Moore, you're recognized to speak.

Thank you very much, Council President.

So, colleagues, thank you.

We have before us today a signed proclamation for this week, May 13th through the 17th, to be Affordable Housing Week.

And thank you to everyone who was able to add their signature.

As I noted yesterday, the Growth Management Planning Council has outlined the need for over 7,000 new permanent housing units in Seattle by 2044 for households between 50 and 80 percent of area median income.

and almost 20,000 new permanent housing units in Seattle by 2024 for households between 30 and 50% area median income.

So everyone benefits from affordable housing, including the people who reside in these properties, their neighbors, businesses, employers and the community as a whole.

Affordable Housing Week is an opportunity to unite with other cities, organizations and communities throughout King County in celebration of our shared goal to create momentum for investments and policies to build affordable, thriving and equitable communities here in Seattle.

I want to thank Patience Malaba from the Housing Development Consortium for bringing this proclamation forward.

And I am honored to present to you Seattle's proclamation for May 13th through 17th to be Affordable Housing Week.

And I would ask my colleagues if there are any questions or comments before presenting the proclamation.

Are there any questions or comments?

All right.

Well, I will repeat, thank you very much for bringing this forward.

And thank you very much to the Housing Development Consortium for all the work that you do.

All right.

If there's no objection, the council rules will be suspended to present the proclamation and allow our guests to accept it and provide remarks.

Hearing no objection, the council rules are suspended.

After the proclamation is presented, Patience Malaba and Jesse Simpson from the Housing Development Consortium will provide some brief remarks to the council and members of the public.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I'll go ahead and give some remarks.

Thank you Housing Committee Chair, Council Member Moore.

Thank you Council President and the full Council for proclaiming this week as Affordable Housing Week.

Now I wanna say just a few words speaking from my personal experience.

As introduced, I am Patience Malaba.

I have the honor of serving as the Executive Director of the Housing Development Consortium.

And for my personal story, I grew up with both my parents living in two different cities, and I had the pleasure of being brought up by my grandparents, who took care of me, my brother, and many other cousins in a village in Zimbabwe.

And in all the work that they did, they were both subsistence farmers who worked hard to bring a harvest enough to feed us, enough to sell, and enough to help our community that was facing countless droughts each year.

And I remember how hard it was, because I often emphasize that life for me ain't be no crystal stir.

But what I remember most vividly is the ethics that they taught me, the hard work that I saw them put forward, the community-driven spirit that they led with, and the commitment that it took to do that.

And those values, lead and are the bedrock of my work as the Executive Director of the Housing Development Consortium.

HGC as an association of 200 plus member organizations working across the King County region were all committed to the goal of ensuring that people can access affordable, safe, healthy homes across the region.

We're united in the mission of ensuring that families and individuals across our region who are locked out of accessing market level housing, whether that's rent or homes, have that access across the board.

Today as we stand here, we know that there are stark realities We need a million more homes, as has been projected by the Department of Commerce across the state of Washington.

But as daunting as that may be, we know what works.

We know we need more homes.

We need more permanently affordable housing to be built across our communities.

And we need more investments in supportive services for people to thrive, especially at this time of crisis.

And we're counting on your leadership We have been honored to watch you take on your helm and do this work as council members.

And we stand here ready to collaborate deeply with you and work on advancing change for affordable housing.

Just yesterday as we launched Affordable Housing Week, we put out a letter that is edging our council members as well as the mayor on the comprehensive plan to be robust.

This is a bold and transformative opportunity for us to shape a brighter future for Seattle.

We also know that you have very difficult work in front of you as the budget process kicks off in not too long.

And I will ask while I'm here, and I know many of you have given this affirmation to us, that we must defend affordable housing investments.

We know you have to triage and assess where to cut, where to consider expansions, but affordable housing resources have been hard fought for, and we ask that we protect those resources and invest deeply in affordable housing.

And with that, we are looking forward to the continued deep collaboration and relationship cultivation that we have with all of you.

Thank you.

All right, colleagues, at this time, we'll open the hybrid public comment period.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

We have nine in person and 25 remote.

Okay, we will allot people one minute to speak.

We'll start with the in-person speakers, alternate 5-5 or so.

Would you please read the instructions and begin?

The public comment period, Is up to 20 minutes.

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

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

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time and speakers mics will be muted if they do not in their comments within their allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

I will now move into public comment.

Our first speaker is Chris Coronado and then it'll be Brian Phillips and then Ariana Riley.

And there's two microphones, please.

Hi, my name is Chris Coronado and I'm here to urge the city council to reject this cop contract that's coming up.

We do not have the budget for this.

This 23% retroactive raise is going to increase the deficit by 26%, which is to me unconscionable, but it also puts the cops in complete adversary to our other budgets, which include schools, which we are trying to close, which include libraries, which are currently alternating days and which include affordable housing as it's an affordable housing week.

We have all these other priorities, but we're going to give police 23% retroactive raises for the past three years.

In addition, this is not providing us with the accountability that we do need.

We are hiring police who are pulling over buses because the bus honked at them when they cut them off, and this cop had been fired from Tukwila.

We have a lot of cops who need to be accountable and we do not have this in the new contract.

Please reject this contract and send it back for renegotiation.

Thank you.

Next we have Bryce Phillips and then Arianna Riley and then Alex Kim.

Good afternoon.

My name is Bryce Phillips.

I'm a member of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union.

I make at best about $30,000 a year serving the public, serving mail for all of you.

I guess the cops are going to get retroactively get $103,000 to...

Do what exactly?

Does anyone see the Seattle police responding to crime or solving crime?

I haven't seen it in a long time.

I see them murder people like John T. Williams and I see them use to suppress protests.

This council's like the last person who spoke, this council is serious about actually building affordable housing as opposed to having some kind of affordable housing week.

Like you cannot afford to fillate the police with this ridiculous contract.

And it looks like you guys don't like democracy and you want to build some kind of army to protect you from having to listen to the people.

So let's get this new council started on a good foot and reject this absurd criminal contract.

Is Ariana Riley then followed by Alex Kim?

Good afternoon, my name is Arianna Riley and I deliver with Uber Eats, Amazon Flex and DoorDash.

I want to repeat something that Councilmember Strauss said about city workers a couple weeks ago, quote, you guys need to be compensated in a way that allows you to live, work, play, to thrive and not survive.

All delivery drivers are asking for is that we be allowed to survive.

I'm not making enough now to buy my dream 1985 S10 Chevy Blazer.

I'm simply making enough now to afford gas and tires on my Prius.

The lower rates proposed will not allow me to do that.

You all voted unanimously to increase wages for city workers, yet on Thursday, four of you voted to decrease wages and remove protections for delivery drivers.

All companies in our city should have to pay minimum wage.

This includes DoorDash and Uber.

Please vote no on the authorized pay-up legislation.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alex Kim, and then the last in-person speaker for the set will be Ivan Daniler.

That was taken.

Good afternoon, council.

My name is Alex Kim.

I'm a food delivery driver and District 2 resident.

The council says you want to change the pay up ordinance quickly so you can help people who aren't making enough money.

That's mostly bike couriers and not drivers.

Have you heard of the phrase haste makes waste?

If you wanna help bikes, you need to understand exactly why they are disadvantaged.

It is actually not because of the ordinance, but it's because of how the apps have implemented their fee structure.

So they say the fees go to pay workers, but whether a restaurant is zero miles away from a delivery or six miles away, the fees are exactly the same.

So for example, a $20 order on Uber has $15 in fees for customers both zero miles and six miles away.

The zero miles delivery will likely be given to a bike, six miles to a car.

The bike gets paid $5.

That's 33% of the fees.

The car gets paid $14.

That's 90% of the fees.

So the companies are basically exploiting bikes to subsidize payments to cars.

That absolutely needs to change.

However, the current revision doesn't do anything to address that.

Yes, is it Ivan?

Yeah, please.

Yeah, so he doesn't speak English, so I'm gonna read his statement for him.

So this is Ivan.

Hi there, my name is Ivan.

I'm a courier and I'm totally against the pay cut that is being considered.

There's nothing good about it for us couriers.

In the new amendments, all I saw was how delivery companies were trying to take advantage of couriers.

Restaurant owners have these signs with delivery charges written on them, but ask any courier whether they get that much for those orders and they'll tell you no.

Companies lie to customers about how much they charge for delivery, saying it's all for the courier's benefit.

That's not true.

Because of these policies, people get angry with couriers and order less delivery.

They deceive customers and their couriers alike.

Why don't companies provide accurate statistics and payment schemes?

Because their deceit would be obvious.

I understand companies want to make money, but it's based on an unfair attitude towards us couriers that I don't understand.

$19 an hour as a courier is ridiculous.

You need to spend money on gas, car maintenance, and repairs.

With that kind of pay, it's better to look for other jobs where you won't have to worry about those extra costs.

Thank you.

Our first remote speaker will be Howard Gale.

Howard will be followed by BJ Last.

And for our remote speakers, please remember to press star six when you hear the message that you have been unmuted.

Go ahead, Howard.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale.

The SPA contract before you today will be giving Seattle police a 15.3% pay increase for 2023 despite continuing abuses and sexism.

We're retroactive in 2024, Police pay increases will cost over $96 million while we face a $230 million budget shortfall.

This contract continues a practice prohibited by most other cities and prohibited by the independent Washington State body that investigates police misconduct.

Specifically, the contract requires that active SBD officers investigate, quote, any case that reasonably could lead to termination.

That is, any serious abuse case requires that an SBD cop investigate their fellow officers.

Four years after George Floyd, we are one of the few major cities that prevents civilian control of policemen's conduct investigations in discipline.

Bottom line is every single aspect of the 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance, if it had been in place during 2020, there would still have been all the abuse that we saw and all the escape from accountability.

Thank you.

Our next speaker.

Excuse me.

Our next speaker is BJ Last.

BJ will be followed by Castille Hightower.

Go ahead, BJ.

Hi, my name is BJ Last.

I'm a Ballard resident.

I call on council to reject a proposed FOG contract.

The proposed contract continues to disenfranchise the people of Seattle via Section 18.2, which states the contract supersedes city law.

This means the people of Seattle have no control over the police.

We've seen this with accountability measures like the wildly popular 2017 accountability ordinance that was killed before went into effect by the SPOG contract.

We see this with SPOG blocking deployment, scaling up of non-police responses that people have been begging for since well before 2020. Even though SPD's own data shows that 80% of all calls are non-criminal and half can get transferred to non-police response immediately.

Daniel Alderer, who laughed about Genavi playing worth $11,000, gets more than $60,000 in retroactive pay, plus a 20% raise while libraries do rolling closures.

Jason Atofu, who waited 23 minutes to respond to a 911 call about an active shooter, gets $144,000 plus a 23% raise while summer camps for kids with disabilities get cut.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Castille Hightower.

Castille will be followed by Shannon Chang.

Go ahead Castille.

One moment.

I would like to remind folks in the audience to please hold your applause.

If you would like to show appreciation you can do so with hand motions but we're trying to move through these speakers and and this is something that I forgot to say at the top.

Thank you.

Go ahead now.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Castille Hightower.

Go ahead, Castile.

You should be good now.

I see that they are unmuted, but I'm not.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you now.

Thank you.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

My name is .

Okay.

My name is Tessa Hightower, and I'm the sister of Herbert Hightower Jr., who was murdered by Seattle Police.

I was also the project manager for the Affected Persons Program Workgroup, or APP, which was dedicated to providing direct resources such as burial and funeral costs of victims of police violence and their families so others wouldn't have to struggle in the same ways my family had.

However, while you are discussing whether to back pay a whopping $96 million to Seattle police officers who have a history of racism and brutality, the city is simultaneously blocking three months of back pay that you owe me and the work I already completed for the APP, compared to you cutting it a second time and putting me at risk of houselessness.

Continuing to withhold my back pay and with the vote approving the current strong contract, you are sending a clear message that you not only want to continue over-inflating the police budget at the expense of critical community programs such as APP, but you want to devastatingly punish those of us who are made victims of those very city employees, the police, and your bureaucracy.

The community deserves better.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shannon Chang.

And following Shannon will be Dylan Rowling.

Go ahead, Shannon.

Hello.

Shannon Chang, chair of People Power Washington, speaking in opposition to the SPA contract.

December 2019 was the last time we had an opportunity to speak on these current contract negotiations.

It's ridiculous we only have one minute.

Lately, discussion about public safety has been about addressing a, quote, permissive environment around crime.

I would argue that the permissive environment that really needs to be changed is the one that the SPOG contract enables.

This permissive SPOG contract hampers Seattle standing up a civilian-led alternative crisis response for situations where an armed response isn't necessary.

This permissive SPOG contract lets officers and sergeants get by without accountability that their lieutenants and captains have accepted.

This permissive spa contract enables a toxic workplace culture to fester, impacting SPD's recruitment and retention of good officers, despite all the city resources that have been thrown at it.

This permissive spa contract locks up a quarter of the general fund in the SPD budget.

Counter to misinformation from the last several years about SPD getting defunded, it is SPD that is defunding everything else.

Reject the spa contract and do better.

Thank you.

Our last remote speaker for this group will be Dylan Rowling.

Go ahead, Dylan.

I'm really disappointed in the council voting last week to lower gig worker pay.

And let's be clear, that's what it is.

To frame it as health is ridiculous.

Paying drivers less per minute is not health.

Paying them less per mile is not health.

The majority of drivers and citizens do not want this.

The only ones that do are the companies like DoorDash and Uber and those doing their bidding like Drive Forward and Sarah Nelson.

We know with vehicle expenses, this bill would put drivers back well under minimum wage.

Do you really want people in their cars 15, 16 hours a day?

It's not decent.

It's not safe.

The bill does nothing to address the insane fees these companies charge, which is no surprise since it was written by them at the expense of the workers.

Stand up for your own citizens and pump the brakes on this bill.

Our next in-person speaker is Justin Taylor, followed by John Strandstand.

Hello?

Okay.

Hi, my name is Justin Taylor, and I'm a gig worker opposed to the proposed changes to the app-based worker minimum payment ordinance.

In a July 4th special article to the Seattle Times, Sarah Nelson wrote, Under my leadership, this council won't externalize our policy-making authority.

We will consider perspectives from people on all sides of an issue, and before referring new policy legislation to committee, I'll confirm it has gone through a robust stakeholder process.

This process has not occurred yet.

Now, there is a fundamental flaw in both the current and the proposed legislation, a flaw that has unintentionally angered the one group in the entire city you don't want angry.

There is a way forward, and an actual robust stakeholder process will create an opportunity to address this and other critical issues.

Our next speaker is John Stramstown, followed by Jessary Jason Agulink.

I live in District 3 and fully support CB 120-775.

Negotiations are good, but please don't water down this bill to the point that it is pay up light and the fees stay about the same.

Two months ago, I said here that that was my worst case scenario.

My orders would need to increase 400% to get back to where I was before January 13th.

This requires big change.

The pay up bill does not need minor changes.

It needs an overhaul.

It was poorly conceived.

CB 127.75 fixes many of these issues.

We don't need to increase theoretical pay that we aren't even receiving.

We need to increase orders dramatically.

Bring back orders to restaurants and the market will take care of the rest.

We would all love to be paid more, but the consumers have spoken and they will not support high fees.

Jason Ogulink and then followed by Jonathan Johnson.

My average pay for the previous week is $11.56 per hour, far from the promised $26 an hour, even the city's $19 minimum wage.

An unexpected $50 expense should not be a hardship that can sink a Seattleite.

But if your wage is $11 an hour, it can.

Every hour spent not working has become a calculated risk.

But I come here every week, sometimes twice, because this law has created severe negative consequences for the local economy.

Disabled and middle class customers have been priced out of an essential service.

Restaurants are facing a 50% drop in order volume and have started to lay off employees.

Some have closed.

More will follow.

The cost of the service needs to be lowered to bring back order volume.

To take no action is to fail not only the city, is to fail not only the customers, couriers, and restaurants, but the city as a whole.

The last in-person speaker for the set is Jonathan Johnson.

All right, I don't see Jonathan Johnson, so you can move forward with the remote public commenters.

Our next remote public commenter will be Joe Kunzler, followed by Austin Herman.

Go ahead, Joe.

Hello.

Hello.

Can everyone hear me?

Yes.

All right.

Let's get this party started.

Joe Kunzler here.

A couple of topics.

First, I want to support the SPA contract, but the sheer pay increase for them versus the firefighters.

Those brave heroes who run into buildings and pull people out of fire, I think that's a little out of whack and I think some questions need to be asked.

How come police are getting such a larger increase when law enforcement cannot shut down the anti-Semitic encampment on UW?

Perhaps we need some paramilitaries to go in and deal with it.

I hope not.

Moving forward, I understand you have a letter before you, honorable council members, about the density.

I wish I could have signed it because I think you need to redo your comp plan from scratch and permit a lot more density because when Seattle exports its housing deficit to other communities, everybody pays more.

And there are fewer good jobs for everyone.

So I'm going to ask you, please restart your comp plan from scratch and work with the urbanists and other pro density groups to protect the environment.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Austin Herman.

And following Austin will be Matt Offenbacher.

Go ahead, Austin.

Hello.

Hello.

Hi.

My name is Austin Herman.

I'm a gig economy worker.

I work for Instacart.

I'm a shopper.

I support pay up.

My demand has gone up.

My pay has increased.

I have been able to afford repairs on my car that were not as easily to come by or required a lot of over budgeting with increased rents and other things going on in the city.

I have overwhelmingly benefited from pay up.

I know Sarah Nelson claimed that this was untested legislation.

However, California and New York already operate similar ordinances with a multitude of success and even get that with paying more.

to their workers in higher minimum wage.

I oppose that these changes that were drafted by Drive Up, they are including board members that are paid by Uber and DoorDash.

I'm a constituent, not a corporation.

I would ask that Sarah Nelson, if she feels dismayed about that, simply remove this legislation.

Yeah, thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker

Hello, council members.

My name is Matt Offenbacher and I live on Capitol Hill and have a small business in Soto.

I'm calling to urge you to reject the proposed police guild contract, send it back for more bargaining.

It's a bad agreement.

In these negotiations, you're supposed to represent us, the people of Seattle.

And we've been saying for years, we want meaningful, robust, civilian-led police accountability and oversight.

And this contract fails to deliver.

We've also been saying for years that we want many of the current functions of the police to be turned over to civilian responders.

And we do finally have a start on this, which is great.

But this contract and the MOU you all signed a while back will stunt and block these fledgling efforts.

And the 23% retroactive raise is really, truly bewildering to me.

I mean, seriously, in this year of budget crisis, hiring increases and barely cost of living increases for other key city employees.

Council members, please take your duty to represent the people of Seattle seriously in these negotiations.

Vote no on this very flawed contract and send it back into bargaining and insist on something better for our city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I believe our next speaker, was that Robert Engel?

I'm sorry.

I believe our next speaker.

OK, thank you.

Our next speaker is Robert Engel, followed by Lauren Kay.

Hi.

This contract is garbage.

How can you possibly justify paying cops six figures minimum at a 23% raise in a $6 billion budget while withholding $100,000 for the people most impacted by the brutality and when they're pushed onto the street?

The same people who pay your salary are making a pittance, and when we're unlucky enough to lose a brother, sister, partner, child, loved one to some trigger-happy racist killer, your main priority is to pretend we don't exist.

How can you talk about making the police feel safe when being a cop isn't even in the top 20 most dangerous professions?

How can you possibly talk about making cops feel safe when cops are the danger?

I know you don't talk to regular people, but I do all the time.

And when I tell them about what this city does to victims of police violence, they're outraged.

If you don't fight this contract, if you approve this contract, you're guilty of the next police killing, and you will regret it.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lauren Kate.

Following Lauren will be Drew Batchelor.

Hello, I'm Lauren, one of the six people SBD arrested during a sit-in at council chambers earlier this year about police surveillance tech and asylum seeker housing.

It is council's duty to reject the proposed Officer Guild contract.

This contract illustrates the contempt SBD has for any kind of independent oversight or accountability.

Member Officer Auderer's callous mockery over the death of Janavi Kundula, Castle Hightower, whose brother Herbert Hightower died at the hands of police, already spoke about the city's disparagement of her trauma and her heroic efforts.

Fin of Affordable Housing Week.

Herald and council members who favor the proposed Policy Guild contract's bloated retroactive wage increases seem to think that affordable housing only applies to cops.

Harold's comprehensive plan includes generous housing subsidies for cops.

Do not insult your constituents with empty symbolic gestures.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Drew Batchelor.

Following Drew will be Claire Baumkamp.

Go ahead, Drew.

Okay it doesn't look like Drew is able to unmute so we will move on to Claire Baumkamp and following Claire will be Casper Sparks.

Go ahead Claire.

Hi my name is Claire.

I live in District 5. I'm calling to ask the council to reject the proposed squad contract.

This contract does little to nothing to improve public safety and police accountability while just throwing money at STD.

The council and the mayor like to talk about how they want to see more accountability from SPD, but if they approve this contract, they'll be letting us know very clearly that those are just empty words.

Maybe you're telling yourself that you're voting for this contract because you're concerned about homelessness and substance abuse in our city.

These are not issues we can solve by treating the most vulnerable members of our community like problems to be swept under the rug.

Instead, we should treat them like our neighbors and start adequately funding things like public housing, mental health services, treatment for those struggling with addiction, and so on.

All that money the council wants us to throw at SPD, there are so many better uses for it that would mean we have less of a need for so many officers in the first place and would actually keep people safe.

I would also like to thank Councilmember Morales for making sure the community has a chance to weigh in, even if it's just one minute.

And to Councilmember Nelson, who tried to push this vote through without public comment, we see what you're doing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Drew Batchelor, and following Drew will be Casper Sparks.

Okay, we'll move on to Casper Sparks, and following Casper will be Aiden Carroll.

Go ahead, Casper.

Good afternoon.

My name is Casper, and I both live and work in Seattle.

I'm calling today to voice my opposition to the proposal to give SBD retroactive raises.

As a taxpayer, I would much rather see my money go toward paying Castiel Hightower the salary she is owed, keeping libraries open or funding public schools or housing the asylum seekers or housing people living on the streets in tents and campers.

This is the same police force that so badly brutalized our citizens that the city, and by that I mean the taxpayers, had to pay out a $10 million lawsuit.

The same police force that made international news when Spog Vice President Daniel Otterer was caught making jokes and having some laughs.

over the killing of John B. Kandula, the same police force that is currently being sued by four of their own officers for gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

I don't think that the public relations and hiring issues SPD is facing will be solved by giving them more money.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Aiden Carroll, and following Aiden will be Emma H. Go ahead, Aiden.

Hi.

The Spog contracts should be rejected for any number of reasons.

I'm going to go back to basics and wonder how many years we will have to be explaining that anything good police can do, we the people, can do better for them for less funding.

That any problem caused by an encampment can be resolved without moving the encampment.

Unless it's something like DV that wasn't related to homelessness in the first place.

And that the...

The overwhelming majority of crimes can be traced back to poverty or the trauma that results from it.

Now, of course, not everyone in the same situation of poverty commits the same crime or a crime, but two children who both experience the same violence or witness the same trauma, one may become very quiet and one may become aggressive and defiant.

Humans respond in different ways.

It doesn't change the fact that the trauma caused the behavior and the poverty caused the crime.

You can solve this.

You don't want to.

We are going to solve it for you eventually, whether you like it or not.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Emma H., and following Emma will be Michelle Balzer.

Go ahead, Emma.

Hi.

I'm a part-time bike courier.

This previous week I made $25.50 an hour, including TEPs before expenses.

The pay-up revision on the agenda for the 28th will markedly worsen the experience for couriers, especially those of us on bikes, without any guarantee of reduced fees or increased orders.

It strips nearly all worker protections achieved through compromise between workers and app corporations.

As another driver stated, the apps are not charging a fee that is representative of the time or work required to complete the delivery.

Customers have no idea what portion goes to workers or if they're subsidizing other orders.

This will not change.

Despite finding my own niche on my bike, this revision does nothing to address the disparity in how orders are sent, and I know some bikes are still having a tough time.

You can fix that by giving different mileage reimbursement rates to incentivize app corporations to use greener delivery methods.

This revision fails to do even that much.

Councilmember Nelson, I genuinely hope you were sincere when you stated that you would support more worker-friendly alternatives should they be proposed.

You all will have the chance to show if you value.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michelle Balzer followed by Jonathan Diker.

Go ahead, Michelle.

Hi, I just wanted to address a few things from the last few weeks.

Councilmember Stocka, last week you made a big issue about not passing legislation based on supposed to be eased.

Since Nelson's amended ordinance is rooted in hopefully as an eliminating fees, I'm guessing you're okay with laws based on hopefully but not supposed to be eased.

I'm not sure there's a difference.

Or is it just because it's Nelson's amended?

Council Member Kettle, during your campaign, you made a governance pledge.

As part of this, you stated, my role is to serve the public interest.

I will not allow outside interest groups to control the drafting of legislation.

You would work to restore the trust of Seattle's public.

I'm confused on how you plan to do that.

Last week, you voted to pass legislation that you specifically identified as the exact thing you wouldn't support.

So I ask, how are you planning to restore trust if you revert your words first chance you get?

Council Member Nelson, you've continued to disregard all the people who support pay up and against your proposal.

In fact, last week, you referred to us as all that noise.

I found that kind of disgusting and really disrespectful.

It's also another way that you're biased.

You continue to rely on a report four months old from people who were paid to be there.

This has got to stop.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jonathan Deiker.

And following Jonathan will be Alberto Alvarez.

Go ahead, Jonathan.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm Jonathan.

I'm a resident of District 6 and I would like to ask the Council to vote no on the SPV contract and to go back to renegotiation.

A lot more strict guidelines to protect the City and the residents from this predatory contract.

You're proposing raises and $96 million in back pay during the budget shortfall where elementary schools and libraries are closing.

affordable housing is on the chopping block and other, other city departments are facing worker shortages.

Um, this is like, Hey, how can you, how can you possibly justify that?

That's, um, you know, it's just irresponsible at your job.

Um, please anyway.

Okay.

So, uh, we need a police accountability in this contract.

Uh, we need to not criminalize poverty.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alberto Alvarez.

Following Alberto will be Andrea Paz.

Go ahead, Alberto.

Sarah Nelson is treating this council like a pressure cooker, pushing legislation and rushing past the important details that she has often said are important, as well as ignoring the people who live and work here.

The Vice President of the Officers Guild said John V. Kondula had, quote, limited value.

A young South Asian woman killed by a police driver.

The same guild who is now asking for a retroactive pay increase while their standards for bias have fallen.

A strong police force is only viable if they are accountable to the people.

SPOG is acting like a mafia.

shaking the city down for more protection money with few safeguards and oversight.

One bad apple spoils a bunch.

Throwing more money and recruits into the rotting barrel does very little.

Better pay only for better cops.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Andrea Paz.

And then we will try one last time for Drew Batchelor.

Go ahead, Andrea.

Hi, my name is Andrea.

I'm a social worker.

I'm from District 7 and I'm ashamed that the contract has gone this long.

So many people have already mentioned by signing this contract, we give up the city to clog.

You cannot have police accountability.

There are police that drive drunk and then they get maybe suspension.

without pay for like six hours.

Look at the Office of Police Accountability.

Look at diverse SPD.

Look at bad apples on the strangers.

You want to give those people more money?

Do they get extra money when they went to January 6th?

And there's no rule that says that you can't clap.

So you can clap because this is not okay and it's anti-democratic.

Thank you.

And our last speaker, if available, is Drew Batchelor.

Drew, you may need to press star six and go ahead if you're there.

Hello, my name is Drew Batchelor.

I live in D6, and you should vote to reject the new SPOG contract.

First, it's awful that you're trying to ram through this huge controversial expenditure without having full public hearings.

I understand why you don't want public hearings, because you don't want people to see that you're giving an officer who made $418,000 last year $160,000 in back pay, covering the years she was still sleeping in her police car while blocking the bus lanes.

In the years that an officer hired despite a well-known troubled history ran over a 23-year-old grad student and then the officers laughing at her death made national news, you're going to reward them with a huge bonus?

In a year where crime is plummeting around the country but housing prices and income equality are still sky high, this is your solution?

You are failing as leaders.

You have zero vision for less racist, more effective ways to increase public safety, even though these methods have been implemented and work in other places.

Seattle is an innovative, modern city, yet you keep reverting back to the same violent, racist system they used in Alabama years ago.

Seattle deserves better.

Vote to reject this new police contract.

Thank you.

And, Council President, I believe that's our last public commenter.

Thank you very much.

Do we have other in-person?

Go ahead.

Now?

I can speak now?

Okay, thank you very much.

Give me five seconds, put my name.

Charity, if you can pause that timer really quick, please.

One minute?

Okay, no problem.

See, hi, my dirty damn Nazi fascists.

Yeah, bandito and killer.

My name Alex Zimmerman, I'm president of Stand Up America.

I want to speak with you about something what is make absolutely idiotic situation.

You are doing something what is not only half sense, you're doing something what is people enemy.

It's one minute, it's a nightmare, and I'm talking about this for many years.

Open better room in city hall, give everybody one day, what is everybody can come and talk for three minute, feel real American citizen.

Why you doing this one minute?

It's okay, you doing one minute, you have right, but.

What this mean?

Why you not open Bertha room?

Why you scared?

Open Bertha room.

For 10 plus year, what is I talking in my statement when I go to election?

No one.

No one, consul, talk, come on.

It's for free.

Bertha room always empty.

You acting like a real Nazi Gestapo bandita.

Open Bertha room.

It's simple.

It cost nothing.

We have now reached the end of our list of registered speakers.

The public comment period is now closed.

Thank you very much for your comments today.

If there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

Next, I move to adopt the agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the agenda.

Are there any comments?

Council President.

Yes.

I move to amend the agenda by removing item one, Council Bill 120783, to give more meaningful time for public comment.

Are you going to call for a second or shall I?

Oh, go ahead.

Is there a second?

I'll second this in the interest of moving this along.

I don't support it, but...

It's been moved and seconded to remove Item 1, Council Bill 120783 from today's agenda.

Council Member Morales, would you like to address the amendment?

Sure.

Well, as I noted in briefing yesterday, I did request to delay a vote on this contract.

We haven't had a single public hearing, and this is our first opportunity to have public comment since the bill became available.

And I do think that the community deserves a chance to have their voice heard.

This is a negotiated contract.

that asked taxpayers to pay $96 million for back salary and benefits.

And there are several accountability flaws in this contract.

So I would ask that we delay the vote and give folks a chance to understand better what's in it.

Thank you.

Are there any comments on the requested amendment?

I have a question.

Go ahead, please.

I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at my screen.

Okay, thank you.

I'm just curious, Councilman Morales, I appreciate the intent of wanting to have additional public comment, but I'm just wondering what the ultimate, the goal is there in terms of...

having that public, is it just an opportunity for people to be heard in a longer period of time than we've provided today, or just curious what the situation is?

Sure, I mean, I think I can, I was going to do this later, but I can enumerate many of the reasons why I think folks should have a chance to understand this better.

It's been out for just a few days, so the contract limits the power of civilian investigators in OPA.

It allows the chief to overrule OPA findings and officers who are not liable for a conduct that amounts to misconduct.

It continues to use an opaque, elevated standard of review that makes it harder to fire officers.

It keeps a problematic provision in place that prohibits discipline against officers if OPA's investigation takes more than 180 days to complete.

It keeps Seattle's broken police arbitration system in place with only minor changes.

The contract limits the police department's ability to put employees on leave without pay prior to a full OPA investigation, even in the most serious instances of misconduct, and requires OPA's investigative files to be purged after a number of years.

I believe this contract as bargain does not protect the city, and the lack of accountability measures puts us in continued violation of the federal consent decree, and the contract isn't compliant with the legislation that this city council passed to ensure police accountability.

As many of the callers have said, in a moment when SPD is being sued by its own employees because SPD leadership did not keep them safe from discrimination, SPD is being sued by constituents for permissive culture of demeaning victims of violence in their language and mocking victims in their break rooms.

They've had a recruitment and retention issue since 2018. This is not a new issue for the department.

And management is actually responsible for improving morale and holding each officer accountable and drafting a contract that affirmatively complies with the federal consent decree.

These are issues that the council cannot control.

Management of the department, setting the tone and changing the culture are all issues that are the responsibility of the chief and of the executive.

City Council's job is to approve the budget and to ensure that the city is compliant with the law.

And this contract undermines our obligation to balance the budget and to ensure that our policing is constitutional.

And I believe that the public has a right to explore this legislation more carefully and to be able to comment on it.

And 20 minutes at the beginning of full council when we're talking about $96 million and what that adds to our budget deficit is not sufficient time.

Are there any other comments?

Yeah, just respond to...

So I appreciate all the concerns that you've raised about the contract.

And I think many of us, I speak on behalf of myself anyway, share similar concerns.

Part of this is...

flaws in the process of how these contracts are arrived at.

And I think at some point, not today, but I do think at some point we need to go back to the drawing table and figure out a way that we can have an honest conversation with the public about what collective bargaining looks like, particularly what collective bargaining looks like vis-a-vis law enforcement contracts.

Because there's a lot that we are not able to talk about.

legally we are not allowed to talk about, which is unfortunate because the public does not really have a full view of the, doesn't have a full understanding of the picture and all of the due consideration that has gone into this particular process.

So at some point I would like to work with council president and central staff and law to figure out a way that we can do a better job of educating the public about collective bargaining and the rules that guide it and constrain it.

And we also need to do a better job of being able to talk about where collective bargaining vis-a-vis law enforcement needs to be changed at the state legislative level.

because many of the constraints that we have here around accountability and discipline are because those pieces are allowed to be collectively bargained.

And this issue has been brought before the state legislature.

So far, we have not had labor support to carve out a very narrow exemption from collective bargaining for law enforcement accountability and discipline.

And we absolutely need to be able to do that.

And we need to be able to educate the public about that and put pressure on our state legislature to take the steps necessary to have the kind of fulsome accountability that you are calling for today.

And then I think many of us share.

So thank you.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

And I just want to echo the statements made by my colleague, Council Member Moore, and to a certain extent, to a large extent, though I think we arrive at a different outcome for today, Council Member Morales.

Yeah, this is an imperfect contract.

And again, just emphasizing I agree 100%, all those things you said, you mentioned a moment ago, Council Member Moore, we need to do a better job of exploring what's truly feasible here and educating the public.

And we need some state action as well, otherwise we're gonna continue to be, localities including Seattle are gonna continue to be frustrated by expanding civilian oversight and having stronger officer accountability provisions.

All that said, and I hear those concerns, and I take you at good faith, and you are just truly interested in making sure that we have a better, more fair process, and I totally sign off on that principle.

But based off of where the current Legal and regulatory environment, I think we need to proceed as we, on this current path we're on.

I am aware, as an aside, I'm aware of some non-trivial legal and labor and regulatory reasons why we should not deviate from and kick the can further down the road from voting on it today.

But that said, you know, like, we do need to do something along the lines of what Councilmember Moore just mentioned to address the issue more broadly.

And, again, you know, past labor contracts have followed the— I note that the past labor contracts have followed the same exact procedure and schedule, and we are entirely consistent.

If we want to change the rules, which I'm not ruling out— should not be a moving the goalpost scenario where we do it the last minute, the last time.

So let us address, let us have a level and fair playing field and do it so we're all on the same page.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I, like Councilmember Saka, I echo the sentiments of my colleague, Councilmember Moore.

I also wanted to add that this interim agreement bridges the gap between 2021 and now so that officers Because officers have been working without a contract for the past three years the city is going to continue negotiation once this agreement is finalized And as part of that ongoing Negotiation it is important to address accountability And wages both of which are critical to a functional police department in a safe city so the city needs to continue to work toward the accountability required under the consent decree and And as I said earlier, this just bridges the gap between now and the continuation of the contract.

So I wanted to flag that as well, that I am allowed to say, Council Member Moore did rightfully point out that there's some things that we can't say legally.

But I can say that this is an agreement to bridge the gap as we continue negotiations with this contract.

Thank you.

Are there further comments?

All right.

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the amendment to remove the item one from the agenda.

Council Member Saka.

No.

Council Member Strauss.

No.

Council Member Wu.

No.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

No.

Council Member Kettle.

No.

Council Member Moore.

No.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

No.

Council President Nelson.

Nay.

1 in favor 8 opposed.

The motion fails and item 1 Council Bill 120783 is not removed from today's agenda.

Are there any further comments on the agenda as presented.

Seeing none will the clerk please call the roll on the agenda.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

I will ask the gentleman to please refrain from speaking out of turn.

The public comment period has ended and the rules apply to everybody here.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the agenda is adopted.

According to council rule, 11 D one outburst from other members of the public who have not been recognized by the presiding officer for public comment constitutes a definition of disruption.

So please refrain.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar, which contains the minutes of May 7th, 2024 council bill 1 2 0 7 8 5 payment of bills resolution 3 2 1 3 4 from the sustainability city lights and arts and culture committee for appointments from the housing and human services committee.

three appointments from the Libraries, Education, and Neighborhoods Committee, and eight appointments from the Parks, Public Utilities, and Technology Committee.

And then finally, six appointments from the Sustainability, City Light, and Arts and Culture Committee.

Are there any items that council members would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor.

None opposed.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf.

Okay, with that, will the clerk please read the title of item one into the record?

The report of the City Council, agenda item one, Council Bill 120783, related to city employment, authorizing the execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers Guild for the period from January 1st, 2021 through December 31st, 2023, authorizing the execution of a memorandum of understanding between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers Guild and ratifying confirming search and prior acts.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120783. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

So before I open the floor to comments from the Chair of Public Safety and then to anyone else, I'm going to recommend that the rules be suspended to allow Council Central staff to provide an overview of the bill.

And I want to explain to the public why we're doing this.

And the comments before about removing this agenda item were correct when talking about the process by which labor contracts are approved once they finally get to full council.

And that is that the Labor Relations Policy Committee is a committee that's made up of executive and council members.

And the specifics of contracts are negotiated in private, in that room.

And so I have asked Council Central Staff Greg Doss who has been, he's been part of the process that has been negotiating this contract for years to give a brief overview and then I will also call up Central Staff Director Ben Noble to address the the impacts on this year's budget.

So I am asking that we can suspend the rules to allow that additional education, not just for council members that are not on that committee, but also for the public.

All right, seeing no objection, the rules will be suspended to allow central staff to address the council to provide an overview.

Okay, so go ahead, Mr. Doss, please begin your overview of the legislation before us.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the council.

Greg Doss, central staff for the record, here today at the request of the council president to talk about what the interim agreement is and the process that led up to your discussions today.

By way of background, in 2021, the City's Labor Relations Policy Committee began development of contract parameters consistent with the process that is established in the SMC, Section 4.04.

In doing so, the Council held on December 5th, 2019, a hearing in which representatives of Seattle's accountability agencies and members of the general public provided input on the effectiveness of Seattle's City of Seattle's police accountability system.

and other priorities for negotiating with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Immediately following that hearing, the city's Labor Relations Policy Committee began the development of parameters under a new process, which now involves representatives of the city's accountability agencies, which are the Office of Police Accountability, the Community Police Commission, and the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety.

Additionally, representatives of the OPA and OIG have acted as advisors throughout the process.

Negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement have been ongoing since that time and will continue to be ongoing after your discussions here today.

The interim agreement that is before you today and would be adopted by Council Bill 120783 allows the City and SPOG to address wage, hiring, and accountability issues to which both sides can agree to at this time.

The agreement is interim in nature in that it covers three years, 2021 through 2023, that have passed since the prior collective bargaining agreement expired.

It is also interim because the parties have agreed to keep negotiating on a forward-looking contract that is based on their original proposals presented three years ago.

Such a contract could cover the existing years and potentially future years based on decisions of the party.

While the parties continue to negotiate, it is worth noting that since December of last year, a mediator appointed by the Public Employees Relations Committee has been assisting with the negotiations.

The parties will continue to negotiate over officer wages, hours, and working conditions, including SPD's disciplinary and appeals system.

If negotiations do not resolve these issues in a timely way, then state law governing collective bargaining, RCW 4156, requires that the parties submit unresolved issues to a third party arbitrator who will hear the proposals from both sides and make a binding decision.

The interim agreement and its effects on wages and accountability are fully described in the central staff memo that was distributed on May 3rd and is online right now.

So with that as context for your discussion, turn it over to Central Staff Director Ben Noble to answer or to talk about finances.

And I'm open to your questions.

Thank you.

So on the financial side, the overall impacts are significant, but I think they should be put in some context.

And so I'll start by pointing out that the salary base for 2020, and that's the last period for which there was a negotiated contract for SPOG membership, is approximately $170 million, slightly over that.

As described in Mr. Doss's memo, and I think even mentioned here today, the agreement provides for, on a compounded basis, actually a 24% wage increase.

If you add up the annual amounts, it's 23%, but they multiply, so effectively it's a 24% increase.

So on a salary base of $170 million, the annual increment going forward will be $39 million, again, rounded slightly.

So the annual impact is $39 million, but again, this is off a considerable salary base of $171 million.

In addition, though, there is retroactive pay due for years 21, 22, and 23, consistent with the wage increases, which, looking at my notes, were 1.3% for 2021, 6.4% for 2022, and then 15.3% for 2023. That sum of those retroactive payments is $57 million.

So that is amount that would be needed to make retroactive payments.

And then going forward, it's essentially $39 million on an annual basis.

Because we've been in negotiations, the city has been in negotiations for this period of time and anticipated that we would reach a settlement and that that settlement would obviously have financial implications.

The city has been saving money, if you will, building reserves to address these potential expenditures.

Obviously, the exact amount wasn't known through that period.

And at this stage, the...

the reserves that are in place to pay for the cost of this agreement, both the retroactive for through 2023 and prospectively through 2026 or planning horizon, those reserves are $9.2 million less than the actual costs and the projected costs.

So there is a marginal contribution or impact rather to the projected deficit over that period of again, $9.2 million.

So the details are in the fiscal note, which is also attached.

That's largely what I've been quoting from.

If there are any questions, happy to answer them.

I'm not seeing any.

I'm going to turn to my chair.

Thank you very much for that background and context.

Okay, as is customary, the contracts that come out of the Labor Committee come to full council, and I am listed as the chair.

However, I am going to give the floor now to our public safety chair to provide comments on the legislation before us.

Go ahead, Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

First, I'd ask to be a co-sponsor on the bill with you.

Noted.

Thank you.

Yes.

I wanted to note yesterday, I had a meeting in the Belltown community on Second Ave late yesterday afternoon with King County Council Member Jorge Barron on the public safety challenges they face.

It was an incredible testimony, incredible testimony.

One man spoke about being attacked with a hatchet last year.

There's a lot of discussions about smash and grabs and the attacks on businesses and people, the assaults, the drug dealing.

Where we're located was right nearby was a vacant building and lot, another issue that we have.

In fact, I saw a drug dealing going on as I was there at this committee meeting with the community.

It was very impactful, and it highlighted the permissive environment that impacts those neighbors day in and day out.

And the thing is, it's not just in Belltown on 2nd Avenue.

It's in other places across the city, throughout District 7, and again, across the entire city.

Key to this is to improve SBD staffing.

Today is an important day because it shows our commitment not just to the men and women of the Seattle Police Department, but also our commitment to improving our public safety posture.

The market shows our department has dropped to 15th in the state, many within the three-county area that we have lost officers to over the years and against whom we compete for officers.

Yes, it is expensive.

Yes, it is a challenge for our budget.

But if we don't compete in this labor market, we won't accomplish our goal of achieving a safe base in our city.

So important for our neighborhoods, our businesses, our parks, and our city.

This agreement is an interim agreement, a partial agreement, something that everybody should understand.

This is not...

This is as noted in the other testimony.

This will continue to include the testimony by central staff.

This will continue.

This is an interim or partial agreement, which, by the way, expands civilian public safety responses directly related to achieving our public safety goals, something that should be taken into account.

And often, when those are speaking against us, they do not note that.

This interim agreement also furthers police accountability in many areas.

More civilian investigators for OPA.

It strengthens the disciplinary decisions.

It improves the appointment process of arbitrators.

It expands protections for OPA investigations.

I've had many conversations with Director Betz of OPA, also Inspector General Judge from OIG, not to mention the commissioners and the leadership of the Community Police Commission.

These are what we're building on.

And it's important to note that we do have a strong ability system built on the hard work through the consent decree process.

I have been to all five precincts.

I've been to roll calls in all five precincts.

I have spoken to the officers in our Seattle Police Department.

I have brought up the consent decree every time.

I note every time why we have a consent decree.

I start that.

And I also note all the progress, all the hard work since the discant decree has been but in place that has made our force so much better.

That part often is not acknowledged, particularly those who are against this agreement.

It does not acknowledge the advancements that we have done over the years, which has been confirmed by the consent monitor and the judge, presiding judge, too.

Each time at these meetings, each time at these meetings.

I will say one, pause please, council member.

Please refrain from outbursts.

That is disruption of our council proceedings and I ask you to stop.

Go on, please.

Each time at these meetings, after I make that point, I say that I have high standards and high expectations for our police force.

And it's not just I.

It's our committee and our council that has that.

And tied to that is strong accountability.

You can't have one without the other.

And that is something that should be embraced.

I tell the police officers that's something you should embrace.

You should take pride in being the top force, building on all the progress that's been accounted, you know, under the consent decree, and the idea that we need to continue to improve.

And we will continue to do this improvement.

That is something that I pledge as the chair of the Public Safety Committee.

This agreement will further accountability, and this council will continue this accountability process moving forward.

And again, as Chief of the Public Safety Committee, I make that commitment to my fellow council members on the committee, but also this council.

I make this commitment to the community.

I make this commitment to our accountability partners, of which I include us as part of, CPG, OIG, and the OPA.

With that, thank you, Council President, for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you very much.

Are there any further comments?

I will say that I have spent much of the last month or so, a couple months, advocating for, well, crafting, presenting, talking about, and advancing legislation to improve our recruitment and hiring processes in order to build back up the ranks of our police force, which is at historic low levels, and that is impacting public safety across the city and also the ability of our officers to respond to emergencies.

And so there's a lot of talk about hiring.

We also have to talk about retention.

And on April 2nd, this council passed the legislation that renewed the contract, the labor contract with the coalition of city unions, which included wage increases to bring to bring wages up to up to par, and we have another piece of legislation on the agenda today which also follows the same parameters of the Coalition of City Union contract that we'll be likely voting on later on.

Again, renewing the contract and increasing wages.

And this is the important piece that I want to emphasize, that hiring new officers is not as efficient as retaining the officers that we do have.

And we have been losing officers to neighboring jurisdictions, partly for many reasons that I will grant, but one of the reasons is that our wages have not kept up with neighboring jurisdictions.

And so if we have to attack our staffing crisis from both retention and recruitment and hiring, angles and this is an important piece of legislation to accomplish both of those goals because it will also help attract new officers to the force and facilitate our recruitment efforts as well.

So with that, I will let one more opportunity for people to make comments.

No?

Okay, I know you can't resist, come on.

Yeah, well, I mean, thank you, Madam Council President.

I mean, I've shared a few initial thoughts, but that's part of the story.

And, you know, this whole contract is like every single policy challenge that we are confronted with on a daily basis.

It's complex and it's nuanced, and there are many interrelated working parts and constituent groups that all have important views that we must consider.

But yeah, we all know that this contract was a long time coming.

So I want to thank all of those that were involved in the negotiations, those who negotiated in good faith to land this very important interim agreement.

Those on the labor LRPC, the mayor's office, current and former members of the LRPC, because this was many years in the works and it's various iterations of the LRPC set the negotiation parameters for the city on this.

So there's a lot of stakeholders involved and that's kind of how it landed where we're at today.

And I recognize it was a, and want to thank the staff members.

It was a heavy lift.

And all stakeholders really have to come to the table to give and take a little bit.

I mean, that's the essence of every deal-making process.

It's imperfect.

The final result is necessarily so as well sometimes.

But I support this contract, and I want to acknowledge it is a great first step.

We will continue to build upon this and work together to improve this contract.

future contracts, and the department as well to make sure that it is a top-tier department, not just in the region, in the state, but in the nation.

It's a true partnership.

It takes everyone to lock arms and work together, including, again, the many diverse constituent groups and interest groups and residents across our great city.

But competitive pay is a critical component.

Moving our police from 15th to 19th, or excuse me, 15th of 19 local jurisdictions, police wise, police compensation wise, to one of the highest paid officers in the region.

It's a strong statement and an important first step I also believe that it's just competitive pay and compensation is one important factor and recruiting and retaining our officers is also instrumental.

So there are other important factors involved and we'll continue to address them in parallel through our other legislative efforts.

And, you know, again, I also, to emphasize some comments I made earlier, I believe that we must look for ways to continue to strengthen civilian oversight and individual officer accountability on a going forward basis.

We'll look for opportunities to continue to do just that and make sure, you know, as we continue to negotiate with our partners that, in this case, SPOG, that future contracts, as much as possible, resemble the negotiated Oversight and accountability provisions that SPMA agreed to previously so but great first step and Let us do more.

Thank you.

I See you councilmember Strauss you are recognized to speak

Thank you.

Council President.

Thank you colleagues for letting me take this meeting from my district 6 district office.

We have an international economic summit occurring right now in district 6. which is why I'm here today.

Speaking to the bill before us right now, this agreement, while not perfect, does help us recruit the best officers in our region.

When an annual salary across Lake Washington is higher than ours, we can't expect to recruit the number and quality of officers we need for our city.

To hire the best candidates, we need to be competitive in paying compensation.

And this, like other labor contracts, does have an impact on our budget.

And again, it is important to have competitive wages to recruit the best candidates to serve our city of Seattle.

Without our city employees and our officers, we can't deliver the basic services Seattleites want and rely on.

I believe passing this interim agreement today is a prudent decision for a couple of reasons.

I've already mentioned the need to be competitive compared to our other jurisdictions.

We will continue to have recruiting issues if departments on the other side of Lake Washington pay their officers higher wages.

And this agreement includes many important civilianization components.

It allows us to use our non-commissioned officers to complete jobs and tasks that are not legally required to be completed by an officer.

These civilian components will help our current officers do more.

By agreeing to allow civilians to complete more roles and tasks, we allow our commissioned officers to do what only they can do, addressing criminal activity.

There is still more work to do between now and the final successor agreement to this interim contract, and it will be important for us to use this work to make policing better and safer here in Seattle and for our Seattle residents.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you very much for your comments.

Several people have mentioned the executive, and I do want to reiterate that this is only half of the process that brought us to this point.

And they are not in the room right now for me to recognize the work that you put in, because ultimately the police department, the police chief, and accountability fall under the mayor's direct oversight.

So the mayor's been in these negotiations with Spog well before this council got elected, and the mayor says this is, the mayor reiterates the point that has been made by many of us, or probably said it first, that this is what he needs to hire more police officers and hold them accountable.

And it's our job to hold the executive accountable for achieving those goals.

And so this is a group effort to attain, to improve the public safety system in this city by, from my perspective, making sure that we have the officers that we need to keep, to respond to emergencies, et cetera.

So without any further ado, if there are no further comments, just wanted to make sure that I put that in the record.

Thank you very much.

If there are no further comments on the bill, will the clerk please read, please call the roll.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

No.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Eight in favor, one opposed.

Thank you very much.

The motion carries and the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Sir, pardon me?

I would, sir, you continue to disrupt the council proceedings and you've been asked to stop and you've continued.

So please, would you please follow?

Yes, please.

Will the clerk please read item two, the title of item two into the record?

Agenda item 2, Council Bill 120784 relating to city employment authorizing execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Seattle and the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 21SP for the period from January 1st, 2023 through December 31st, 2026 and ratifying conformity search and prior acts.

Thank you very much.

I move to pass Council Bill 120784. Is there a second?

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

I am the sponsor of this bill.

I've already addressed basically what this does.

This renews and this is a renewal of a contract that maintain...

Hold on a second, please.

I am going to stop talking for a moment.

I will call a recess of 10 minutes.

Good call.

Seattle Channel, please keep rolling.

We are going to be in recess for 10 minutes.

Thank you.

Good call.

Good call.

Go free.

I love how you don't talk about disbursement.

What country are you from?

Did you graduate high school?

Did you graduate middle school?

Do you know anything?

Yes.

I don't know.

And those of you who are close to work,

I don't know if you can tell them, but I do elect them.

you

We will now come back to order.

The council meeting of May 14th will now come back to order.

It is 3.37 p.m.

I'm Sarah Nelson.

And will the clerk please call the roll of the city council.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Excuse me.

Yes.

Okay.

Sorry.

Here.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Councilmember Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Wu.

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Here.

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Moore.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you very much.

We're going to take Item 2 from the top.

So will the clerk please read the title of Item 2 into the record?

Agenda Item 2, Council Bill 120-784, relating to city employment, authorizing the execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Seattle and the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 21SP, for the period from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2026, and ratifying confirmed research and prior acts.

Thank you very much.

As I was saying, this essentially brings up to parity the members of this union with the parameters of the union, the Coalition of City Employees Union.

Let me say that again.

This brings up to parity the members of these unions up with the members of the Coalition of City Unions.

The parameters are essentially the same in terms of salary increases and other measures in their contract.

And so I will now move to pass Council Bill 120784. Is there a second?

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to pass the bill.

As a sponsor of the bill, I've already addressed it, and I will now open the floor to anybody who would like to make comments.

All right.

Seeing no comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, everyone.

The motion carries.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

Thank you very much.

Will the clerk please read the title of item three into the record?

The report of the Land Use Committee, agenda item three, council bill 120749 relating to land use and zoning, amending section 23.47A.012 of the San Luis Obispo Code to provide a 10-foot height limit exception in commercial zones in a portion of the Georgetown neighborhood.

The committee recommends it will pass as amended.

Thank you.

Council Member Morales is chair of the Land Use Committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you.

Colleagues, I did mention this yesterday in council briefing.

This bill would allow an additional 10 feet of height in the commercial zone along 4th Avenue South.

The idea here is to create an arts community that's centered around workforce housing and community services for neighborhood workers and artists in the Georgetown community.

The provisions that are required in order for developers to take advantage of the height incentive include commitment to developing a green building, at least five residential floors that could create up to 900 units of workforce housing, providing residential units with sound insulating windows and air cooling and ventilation systems that are designed to improve internal air quality, and dedicate at least 20% of the street level street frontage to neighborhood serving uses that are intended to attract and support pedestrian activity, as well as providing space with at least 20 foot ceilings for use at street level.

And again, this is to accommodate the artist maker space and live work spaces.

The legislation passed out of the land use committee with a unanimous vote and I'm asking for your support.

Thank you very much.

And I would like to thank you for advancing this legislation.

I've been watching from the sidelines as it was developed and deliberated.

And I thank you very much and I do support this project.

So thank you for putting it before us.

Are there any comments from my colleagues?

Go ahead, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Council Member Morales, for bringing this forward.

I also want to note, and very importantly, that this height provision brings this particular section of Georgetown up to the same height standards or requirements, not requirements, but allowances.

as the buildings surrounding this area.

So it really, the buildings surrounding are already at this height allowance.

And so this brings this particular area up to that height allowance as well.

So it brings parity to that section of the neighborhood along with the neighboring buildings that are there.

Thank you very much for that.

Should I repeat?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you for that added detail.

All right, if there are no other...

Go ahead, Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

I support this bill, but I also wanted to take advantage of this bill to highlight the many conversations I've had with the Port of Seattle, the commissioners, executives, the labor side, in terms of the importance of the Port of Seattle to our city and the need for the port to highlight what it needs to be viable 100 years from now, because we've been a port city for the past 100 years and will be a port city for the next 100 years and to the, you know, the port's bicentennial in 2111. And it's important to know what the requirements are, particularly in SOTO and this area, in addition to Interbay.

And so I just wanted to take this opportunity to highlight that because, you know, the heavy hauled networks, the road and rail, the pieces to this, you know, what will be future infrastructure requirements, like particularly related to electrification, you know, knowing what that footprint's going to be is very important.

And again, this Georgetown piece is not part of that, but it's part of the general area.

And I just wanted to highlight that point and also thank for my team and others who have supported to do the checks, the due diligence to ensure that this Georgetown piece is good in respect to that point and to move forward for the Georgetown community.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Moore.

That's okay.

I changed my mind.

Okay.

Are there any other comments?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

All right, moving on to item four.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item four into the record?

The report of the Parks Public Utilities and Technology Committee agenda item four, council bill 120780 relating to Seattle Public Utilities authorizing the acquisition of real property by negotiation or eminent domain of seven separate parcels of land or eminent domain of leases.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hollingsworth is chair of the committee.

You're recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President Nelson.

Colleagues, this is for our Seattle Public Utilities to purchase seven partials in the Duwamish Riverways to help protect flooding, climate change.

There they will...

build infrastructure and pump stations to be able to protect that neighborhood in South Park.

There is a small business owner who occupies one of the lots and they will be paying for, you know, relocation costs and mitigation.

I would like to...

I acknowledge that Council Member Strauss offered District 6 as a place for this new business to operate in Ballard.

I would love for the business owner, obviously, to stay in Seattle.

That was one of the things.

I didn't care which district it was.

I want them to stay in Seattle for our small businesses, which is incredibly important.

I'd also like to thank Silver Bay Lodging.

They donated four parcels of land, I think it was.

Appraised value was $9.75 million.

That's why you see the difference of the appraised value versus the total amount purchased.

Funding for this is because they did receive that large donation.

And it passed out of our committee five in favor and none opposed.

And looking forward to earning your support.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for your comments about that small business.

I believe that business recycles drywall.

Yes, recycles drywall, yes.

Yes, all right.

And there's a home for you in District 6. Anyway, if there are no other comments on the bill, oh, Council Member Kettle.

Clarification, District 6 or District 7.

I was wondering if there was going to be any competition.

Any fight.

Well, it can't be District 3. I don't know if we have enough port, you know, we don't have any port space for them.

But District 6 or District 7, Councilmember Strauss and Councilmember Kettle can fight over it.

Thank you.

That's a good reason to preserve our industrial lands, correct?

Correct.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

My hand went up at the same time Council Member Kettle's hand went up because the Ballard Innovative Manufacturing Industrial Center is shared by both District 6 and 7. And I know that we've got some great parcels that this business could come into.

So partnering, not fighting.

Thank you, Council President.

It's nice to feel wanted, isn't it?

Okay.

Seeing no other comments, will the Clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

All right, item five.

Will the clerk please read the title of item five into the record?

I report the Transportation Committee agenda item five, Council Bill 120764, granting Fred Hutchinson the Cancer Center permission to continue maintaining and operating an existing SkyBridge over and across East Lake Avenue East, north of Aloha Street.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to provide the committee report.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Council President.

And our Transportation Committee supported and unanimously adopted these two important bills, and hence here we are today.

So what they do and what they accomplish, they renew approval for the Fred Hutch Cancer Center's Sky Bridge, so that's Council Bill 120764. And a tunnel, Council Bill 120765, over and under East Lake Avenue East.

And the Sky Bridge and tunnel connect Fred Hutch's East Lake building to the rest of the sort of broader Fred Hutch campus, and support Fred Hutch's research functions and mission.

So together, these bills would allow Fred Hutch to continue using the SkyBridge and tunnel for a 20-year period after adoption.

And so, you know, again, they sailed past our council, or excuse me, our committee meeting, and I welcome any other questions or comments from you all on these bills.

If any.

Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Chair Saka, for this bill and a very important topic, very important to support the Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

Fred Hutch has gone through an incredible transition to going from just being a research to being a care facility as well, a combination, you know, in partnership with UW and the Seattle Children's, you know, that continues.

to varying degrees, but it's a crown jewel for us as a city.

And really highlighting the medical services piece of this and what the SkyBridge and the tunnel in addition bring for that.

Generally, I'm not in favor of SkyBridges in our city, but when it comes to medical facilities and the like, this is something that, or services, that is an area that we really should support due to those unique circumstances.

And so I definitely support this bill and the point about supporting those kind of medical facilities or facilities that have a medical services aspect to them.

So thank you.

Very well put.

Okay.

Well, if there are no other comments on this particular bill, and we will we will both bills have already you have already spoken to both bills, but we're going to take a vote on this one and then we can move to the to the next one.

So just for the record, this is a vote on Council Bill 120764. Will the clerk please call the up?

Council 120765. Excuse me.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

I'm sorry, is this on Council Bill 120764?

You are correct.

That's what I thought, but okay.

Madam Council President, I mucked it up a little bit with my conflated discussion.

They are separate agenda items, but if given the opportunity to speak on Council Bill 120764, I would just cross-reference everything from the Council Bill 120780. It's a lot of numbers, but yeah, I think we're...

officially voting on the first one.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

We're officially voting on 120764. Please call the roll.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Wu.

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?

All right, last item, item six.

Will the clerk please read the title of item six into the record?

Agenda item six, Council Bill 120765, granting Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center permission to continue maintaining and operating an existing service tunnel under and across East Lake Avenue East, north of Aloha Street.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you very much.

Council Member Saka, do you have additional comments you would like to provide for this piece of legislation?

No additional comments, Madam Council President.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Anybody else?

All right.

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore.

Aye.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

All right, the bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

All right, folks, there were no items removed from the consent calendar.

There is not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any other business to come before council today?

Councilmember Moore.

Yeah, thank you.

I just didn't slip my mind, but I did want to call out Greg Doss of Central Staff and thank him for his excellent analysis of the SPOG contract.

I thought it was very, very legible and very, he took a lot of difficult information and made it very readable and understandable.

So I just wanted to call him out for that help.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for saying that.

And I was remiss myself for not recognizing his really hard work in the many years that he spent on this.

So thank you very much for recognizing the work of Greg Doss of Central Staff.

All right.

It looks like there is no further business before council, so we've reached the end of today's agenda.

The time is 3.55.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be held on May 21st at 2 p.m., and today's meeting is adjourned.

Thank you, everybody.