Seattle City Council 5/28/2019

Good afternoon, thank you for being here.

The May 28th, 2019 City Council, the full City Council will now come to order.

It's 2 o'clock p.m.

I'm Bruce Harrell, President of the Council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Juarez?

Here.

Mosqueda?

Here.

O'Brien?

Here.

Pacheco?

Here.

Sawant?

Here.

Bagshaw?

Here.

Gonzalez?

Here.

Herbold?

Here.

President Harrell?

Here.

Ake present.

Thank you very much.

At this point, I'll move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar, but I believe Council Member Gonzalez has some changes she'd like to propose.

I do.

Thank you, Council President.

I would like to move to amend the proposed introduction and referral calendar by introducing Resolution 31889, entitled, A Resolution in Support of the Right to Bodily Autonomy and the Right to Access a Safe and Legal Abortion and Affirming the City of Seattle's Commitment to Act Consistently and Proactively in Support of Those Rights.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction referral calendar to add that item, and I look forward to that discussion on that resolution.

So this is just to put it on our agenda for today.

All those in favor of that amendment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

That is amended, and Council Member Gonzalez, you have another one, I believe.

I do.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to amend the proposed introduction and referral calendar by introducing Resolution 31890, entitled, A Resolution Affirming the City of Seattle's Commitment to Fostering a Welcoming Community that Protects All its Residents and Declaring its Support for Providing Permanent Protection and Path to Citizenship for Immigrant Youth and Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure Recipients for Whom the United States is Home, and be referring it to the City Council Meeting as Agenda Item 2.

Okay.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction referral calendar as stated by Council Member Gonzalez.

Any other questions?

All those in favor of the amendment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

So we have these two items on today's IRC for consideration.

Any other additions or comments on the introduction referral calendar?

Okay, I'll move to adopt the introduction referral calendar as amended.

All those in favor of the amended introduction referral calendar, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it, and those two matters will be discussed this afternoon.

If there's no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

There are no minutes for presentation today or for signature today.

Presentations, we do have an exciting presentation by Councilmember Pacheco.

Councilmember Pacheco, you have the floor, sir.

Thank you to my colleagues for signing this proclamation declaring the month of May as Bike Everywhere Month.

And thank you for my staff for pulling this together last week.

Just want to celebrate Bike Everywhere Month during the first few weeks on the council.

and take this opportunity to promote biking as a more sustainable and fun way to get around our city.

The future is scooting, as Council Member Mosqueda says, so this will be the first step of what I think the future will be for our city.

All that to say, as well as the first few weeks on the council, biking every morning as well as after work has probably been the biggest mental and emotional relief of the day, but Definitely supporting folks to get around by bicycle.

So all that, I want to read the text or read a part of the text saying that May has been declared National Bike Month for each of the last 63 years and is so again in 2019. Therefore, let it be proclaimed by the City of Seattle that month of May 2019 is Bike Everywhere Month.

And I will be presenting this proclamation to Vicky Clair from the Cascade Bicycle Club and Santa Claire Canner from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Any further comments before we suspend the rules and hear from our guests?

Any further comments?

We're good?

Okay.

If there's no objection, we'll suspend the rules.

We'd love to hear from our guests on this matter.

Council Member Pacheco is the recipient here.

Yes, she is.

First time.

Hi, my name is Tamar Schuhendler.

I'm here on behalf of Vicki Clark from Cascade Bike Club.

I'm the community organizer at Cascade and Washington Bikes.

I want to thank the council for recognizing Bike Everywhere Month.

A little bit of history, it used to be called Bike to Work Month, and we changed that in recent years to reflect that People don't just bike to work, they bike everywhere.

We also host a Bike Everywhere Challenge yearly, and this year participants have logged over 76,000 trips, totaling more than 827,000 miles ridden and saving 275,000 pounds of carbon.

by not driving, which is definitely something to celebrate.

We again want to thank the council and we look forward to continuing working with you all to make sure that we get more people on bikes, get people where they need to go and make sure that our city is sustainable, helpful and fun for all of its residents.

So thank you again.

Thank you.

And my name's Clara Cantor.

I'm here from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.

And I just want to thank Council Member Pacheco for presenting this today and for acknowledging May as Bike Everywhere Month and the entire rest of the council.

I may be preaching to the choir here, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Biking is a fantastic way for everyone to be able to get where they need to go.

And for those who aren't able to get on a bike or don't really want to, Having safe, comfortable places to bike on a street will make all users of that street safer, whether they're walking, whether they're in a wheelchair, whether they're taking the bus or driving.

And having a safe, connected network of places to bike to get around our city makes us happier, it makes us healthier, it gets people where they need to go in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

So thank you very much for this and have a great day.

Thank you.

And thank you again Councilmember Pacheco for that presentation.

So this time we'll take public comment on items that appear on today's agenda or our introduction referral calendar or our 2019 work program.

I'll call you out in the order with which you've signed up and we have two speakers who would like to address us and that first be Marguerite Richard and she'll be followed by David Haynes.

Yes, good day everyone.

One particular resolution is dealing with people, I guess, telling other folks how to man things.

And usually when I go other places, I just speak.

And I think it's a crying shame that I think recently Baltimore had to come up with a resolution against racism and discrimination because they had to declare it a public epidemic because people were getting so sick and that the blacks there weren't really elevating.

they were going further down, you know, you've seen neighborhoods like that across the country.

So I'm speaking against this resolution because I feel that it's wrapped into the cesspool of racism that we must continue to drive out because it's an evil that keeps working against people, like they said, there's only one race, the human race.

Do you believe that?

If that's so, then how could myself end up with four trespass notices for just speaking?

You didn't like it?

Didn't say nothing wrong?

I don't get it.

And I keep asking people, how do you get it?

And they say, just keep on speaking.

If they want to put you on the front page of the newspaper, if they want to give you $8 million too for being vindictive against a person that's black.

Let them go on, because the nation is waiting to hear from people like me.

Every day, somebody is rising up to speak against this.

I don't know.

I don't even have a name for it.

But I bet you Zimmerman can come up with one, huh?

He calls it fascism.

So we'll see what's going to happen next.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is David Haynes.

Mr. President, City Council, please don't sign the resolution 31888 that has to do with the permanent tiebacks.

Reject this permit and force them to make a 21st century world-class arena, not a leftover Cold War piece of 60-year-old or however old cracked concrete that's like a slab of architecture already cut away, causing and creating cancer inside and outside that arena.

Did council go to folklife?

Luckily it rained early to dial down the toxic breeze, though children and adults were sneezing uncontrollably.

The setbacks are a danger because the whole structure has been left vulnerable after the government gave a hundred million dollars to dig a 15-foot hole in the middle of that arena.

Would you rather have a thousand workers creating a brand new, safe, fresh air, advanced, world-class, 21st century, billion-dollar arena the NBA and the NHL could really, you know, actually use proper?

Or would you actually come to, or would City Council capitulate to a union working a pay plan, cheating us all, while empowering a low-class billionaire who already bought the City Council with others conspiring kickbacks off this shady deal.

Setbacks of this magnitude should force City Council to realize that at least a one-week delay to maybe like reassess the memorandum of understanding and you know clarify that we're getting ripped off and used as a billion dollar write-off and denied a world-class 21st century safe and new and properly propped up without setbacks that actually take place of a flawed foundation.

In addition, in a separate issue, please, City Council reject the Catholic Church as a beneficiary of the Fort Lawton redevelopment.

They're not qualified to build any more subhuman, dilapidated, center block housing, real estate empire.

Thank you, sir.

That will conclude our public comment unless anyone neglected to sign it that would like to speak.

Okay, we'll conclude that section.

Please read to please read the payment of the bills the title of the payment of bills section, please Council one one nine five thirty two appropriate in mind to pay certain claims and ordering the payment thereof I'll move to pass council one one nine five three two and moved and seconded the bill passing for the comments not please call the roll on the passage of the bill I

Juarez?

Aye.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzales?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed, the chair will sign it.

Please read the first agenda item.

From the amended agenda, new agenda item one, resolution 31889, in support of a woman's rights to bodily autonomy and the right to access a safe and legal abortion, and affirming the city of Seattle's commitment to act consistently and proactively in support of those rights.

Council Member Gonzalez.

Thank you, Council President.

I'd like to start by requesting that the Council rule, I would like to request that the Council rules be suspended to allow consideration of a substitute to Resolution 31889, which has been distributed to the Council and should have been at your seats when you arrived this afternoon.

It's been moved and seconded that we suspend the rules in order to consider this, and I think there was a a change that would suggest that we suspend the rules.

So I certainly support that.

All those in favor of suspending the rules, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Rules are suspended.

Council Member Gonzalez.

Great.

So I'm going to speak to some of the changes that we made to Resolution 31889 that required us to go through that substitution process.

We had an opportunity to share a draft of Resolution 31889 with representatives of both NARAL Pro-Choice and Planned Parenthood, got some feedback, and incorporated that feedback.

So the substitution version that you have before you, which should be version D4, incorporates many of those changes.

Primarily what we did is change the recitals to reflect a more gender inclusive aspect to the language of the resolution.

So I want to thank our partners over at Planned Parenthood for They're a thoughtful addition and modifications to the underlying resolution.

In essence, what this resolution does, and I know many of us were at the rally on Tuesday last week that was organized by NARAL Pro-Choice, Planned Parenthood, and others.

And I know we have representatives from NARAL Pro-Choice here in the audience.

So thank you, ladies, and everybody else for being with us.

Really appreciate it.

And, you know, really what I think is important for us is to affirm our ongoing city's commitment to ensure that all of the investments that we're making and all of the policies that we're supporting both here at home and abroad are consistent with what I believe the vast majority of our constituents believe, which is that people deserve the right to have bodily autonomy and the right to access safe and legal abortions.

A lot of us had an opportunity to speak at last Tuesday's rally and really take a strong, firm statement on how the city of Seattle will continue to stand in solidarity, not just with the people here seeking a right to bodily autonomy, but everywhere and anywhere in this country and in this world.

And we are seeing a lot of incredibly scary laws coming out of other states that effectively ban safe and legal access to abortions that is really, really dangerous and we should make no mistake of it, it is a direct attack on the reproductive rights and on the movement for reproductive justice for all people.

And I feel really strongly that this is a good use of our time and a important policy statement for us to make on the record to continue to stand in solidarity with people across the country who aren't as fortunate to live in a state like Washington and in a city like Seattle that really has spent a considerable amount of time prioritizing the right to bodily autonomy and to reproductive justice.

And I mentioned this morning at council briefing that one of the things that we do here at the city of Seattle is that we partner with King County Public Health to deliver services in the space of reproductive health.

And so we do have a stake in the game here.

If Roe versus Wade were to be overturned, that would create significant questions in terms of how we deliver public health services to people in our county and in our city in the space of reproductive health.

So I feel really strongly that it's important for us to share our position with our congressional leaders and with our community that we will continue to stand firm in this movement for reproductive justice.

Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez.

Councilman Bakeshaw.

Yes, thank you, and thank you so much for your leadership, the words that you have given us, and all of just the stalwarts that you are, both personally and over the years.

I really respect that.

And I want to acknowledge one of the sentences here that I feel so strongly about.

And I'm Council Member Gonzalez for your leadership.

And this statement is at the bottom of page two where it says, policy makers should instead focus on the maintenance and expansion of supportive services whose aim is the reduction of unintended pregnancies, the minimization of sexual violence, and the success of all families by investing in comprehensive sex education access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, and quality, affordable child care.

Now, this all makes so much sense to me.

I am completely appalled that we have a president that is trying to roll back all of the gains that have been made.

But if nothing else, if you want to stop a procedure that you feel strongly about, then for goodness sakes, make these kinds of investments.

in child care and in comprehensive contraception and make that available to everyone.

Most recently, I was talking with someone from our public health department about LARCs, the long-acting reversible contraceptives, how important this is for women to have access to.

And it's talk about one of the best investments that we can make for people who need this kind of work and kind of help and support.

I also want to acknowledge Seattle Public Schools And our Department of Early Education, we put money in to support the Nova School.

Nova needed to have a, and still does, need to have a healthcare facility on site.

And I want to recognize that we can be partners with Seattle Public Schools, all of you that are here.

This is incredibly important.

Of course, the work that we're doing around Roe v. Wade critical, but I'm just like so strongly in support of making contraceptives available to everybody who needs them and to have that support.

So thank you and thanks for your leadership on that.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Councilmember Bakeshaw.

Any other comments?

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Thank you Mr. President and thank you Council Member Gonzalez for bringing this forward and to the folks at NARAL and Planned Parenthood for your commitment to this issue.

We talked about this last week, we've talked about this the last year, we've talked about this the last few decades that women's health care is health care.

And we need to stop parsing out reproductive health care from actual health care because comprehensive health care should include access to contraception and abortion services to make sure that health care is truly comprehensive.

I think one important note from last week was that I got some pushback for using the word control.

This is about control, and we should have no doubt in our minds that those who are pushing the legislation that this resolution comments on in other cities and in other states, that this is about control, and control over our bodies, control over our destiny, control over our economic stability, control over our self-determination.

And those who are pushing this agenda to restrict our access to choice are quite frankly, doing this at the very time when women are continuing to speak up.

People who are identifying as female continue to speak up for our rights.

And in many ways, they can't stand it that we're speaking up, speaking truth to power, and sitting in seats of power.

So, this should be a signal that we will not sit down, stay quiet, or shut up.

This is about healthcare, this is about public health, this is about justice, and I'm incredibly proud of our city and for all of you who have been advancing this call for action for not only the last few years that we've seen more and more attacks against healthcare access, but also for the incredible tenacity that it's taken for decades of work for us to continue to stand on the shoulders of those who've come before us to fight for access to comprehensive health care.

One additional note that I'll make is Councilmember Gonzalez mentioned our partnership with Public Health Seattle King County and as we continue to stand up and act as a sanctuary city here, in a sanctuary area, part of what I think we will be called upon to do is provide sanctuary to providers and have no doubt that this city and this county stand ready to offer that sanctuary to individuals in need of health care, but also to the providers who we so desperately need as well.

Looking forward to working with all of you as we continue to stand up for this basic human right and access to health care.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.

Council Member O'Brien.

Thank you.

I also thank Councilmember Gonzalez for your leadership on this and thank my colleagues who have spoken on this.

It is maddening that in 2019 we're still having the discussion and it feels like we're losing ground.

I'm honored to be part of a body that has fought for these rights for so long and stood up for them.

And I want to concur with Council Member Musqueda's comments about this is about control.

It is maddening to watch male-dominated legislative bodies around the country spend an inordinate amount of time trying to pass legislation to control the rights and the ability of women to choose what they do with their body.

while at the same time completely ignoring the other side of the equation and how health care for men plays out.

And that hypocrisy has to stop, and we need to get to a fairer system.

Unfortunately, the way things are in some states in our country and at the national level, we will likely be having these conversations for a while at City Council, but I'm grateful that there are amazing leaders here to do that work, including community members who continue to make sure that we understand the dynamic out there.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor O'Brien.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

I just want to add my thanks to Council Member, not my thanks to, but my thanks for Council Member Gonzalez's efforts in this area, as well as the efforts of community organizations like Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

Every few years, we here on the Council pass resolutions in support of 1973's Roe v. Wade and are stating our ongoing commitment to the principles in that ruling, and often we are attacked by observers of council activities is saying that we are taking symbolic gestures that don't have meaning and the fact that we are here today and we are faced with these draconian laws being considered in states of our union says to me that the actions and the vigilance of organizations like yours on these issues is not symbolic.

It's incredibly meaningful and It's so important that we keep our eyes on the ball and that we stand strong in favor of women's right to choose and that we recognize that this is actually, in fact, all about control.

So thank you so much for your work on these issues.

Thank you, Councilman Herbold.

Okay, I think the way we'll proceed is I'll actually move it and then once it's, moved and seconded, then I'll ask Council Member Gonzales to potentially amend it to substitute the version 5A for 4. Okay, so I'm gonna move the resolution as originally presented.

Is there a second?

Second.

Okay.

And so now I'll entertain a motion from Council Member Gonzales for a substitution.

Thank you.

I move to amend resolution 31889 by substituting version 5A for version 4A.

There a second?

Four, sorry, it's just version four.

Okay, so we're just voting on the motion to substitute version 5A for version four.

All those in favor of the substitution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

So now we have a substituted version we are vote for.

Council Member Gonzalez, did you want to close debate or are we ready to vote?

I would, I just wanted to close with one point of information that occurred to me as folks were providing their comments in support of this resolution, which I really appreciate.

And so one of the things that I wanted to point out is that even though we are seeing state legislatures across the state passing these draconian laws that would severely limit access to health care for certain people in those states.

I also want to remind folks that here in the state of Washington, although those efforts have not been successful, they are still very much attempted every single year.

And so this is an incredibly relevant issue for us as representatives of of the most populated city in the state.

And I will remind folks that just this last regular session, right here in the state of Washington, there was the introduction of House Bill 2154 in the state legislature that would have, in effect, prohibited and banned abortions right here in our own state.

and it would have also criminalized any provision of those services.

And so it is very similar to the law that was just recently passed out of the Alabama state legislature.

And so I want to make really clear that these attempts are movements from the other side that are designed to chip away at the right to bodily autonomy.

And certainly here in the state of Washington, We currently enjoy the privilege of being able to fight against the successful passage of these draconian laws, but we have to continue to be vigilant and to continue to take really strong positions.

And as the city of Seattle, we are, I like to believe, a city of influence on our colleagues in the state legislature on these types of issues.

And so I think it's absolutely important for us to continue to speak up and to also remember that we are not immune from these sentiments and this ideology in our very own state and in our own legislature.

So really proud to be able to take a final vote on this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez.

Okay.

I'm going to call on the vote.

Those in favor of adopting Resolution 31889 as amended, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed vote no.

The motion carries.

The resolution is adopted and the Chair will sign it.

Excellent.

Please read the next agenda item.

New Agenda Item 2, Resolution 31890, affirming the City of Seattle's commitment to fostering a welcoming community to protect all its residents and declaring its support for providing permanent protection and a path to citizenship for immigrants, youth, and temporary protected status and deferred enforcement departure recipients for whom the United States is home.

Councillor González.

Thank you.

This resolution is in support of legislation introduced in Congress that will create a legal pathway for DREAMers, as well as individuals who are currently eligible for temporary protected status and deferred enforced departure.

The American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, or HR6, would put 2.5 million DREAMers and immigrants eligible for temporary protected status or deferred enforced departure on a pathway to citizenship.

Individuals who are eligible for protection under this bill have typically lived in the United States for much of their lives.

The average dreamer came to the United States at the age of eight, while the average TPS or DED eligible person arrived as early as 1997. This is an issue with bipartisan support at the federal level and one that will transform the lives of millions.

It'll also be life-changing for their families, and it will go far in helping to strengthen our communities when DREAMers and others can go from second-class citizens to fully becoming an American.

According to the Center for American Progress, who put out a fact sheet on the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 and its impact in Washington State in particular, there's a few data points that are highlighted by CAP.

The first is that Washington is home to 52,200 immigrants who are eligible for protection under the Dream and Promise Act.

These individuals live with 121,200 family members.

Among those family members, 23,500 are U.S.-born citizen children.

Dreamers in Washington State who are eligible for protection under the bill arrived in the United States at the average age of eight years old.

TPS and DED-eligible immigrants in Washington who would be eligible for protection under the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 have, on average, lived in the United States since 1996. And when we look at the largest eligible communities under the American Dream and Promise Act, in terms of our own numbers here in Washington State, Seattle has the fourth largest population of eligible communities across the state.

And so we come in at about 4,300 people right here in Seattle that would be eligible to find a pathway to citizenship if Congress adopts the Dream and Promise Act of 2019. So, again, I feel this is very much aligned with what our constituents expect from us and look forward to having the support of my colleagues.

Thank you, Councilor Gonzalez.

Any other comments or questions before we vote on the proposed resolution?

If not, those in favor of adopting the resolution, please Vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries the resolution adopted and the chair will sign it.

Thank you Council Member Gonzalez for this.

Thank you.

Please read the next agenda item.

From the regular agenda, agenda item one, the report of the select committee on civic arenas resolution 31888 amending resolution 31857 providing conceptual approval of a significant structured term permit to Seattle's arena company LLC to include the construction of permanent tensioned tiebacks and portions of Thomas Street east of 1st Avenue North and west of 2nd Avenue North and a long-term occupation of those permanent and tensioned tiebacks and the right-of-way to enable the renovation of Key Arena at Seattle Center.

Can we recommend the resolution be adopted as amended?

Thank you, and I did want to mention that Councilmember Mosqueda had a pre-arranged meeting that requires a conflict at this point on an agenda, so

Does he have to?

So she doesn't need a formal excuse, but she had to go.

Okay, so I will move to formally excuse Council Member Mosqueda from the remainder of the meetings.

Is there a second?

All those in favor of excusing Council Member Mosqueda, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Okay, so I'll now proceed with the resolution in front of us.

So as you may recall, we did form a select committee on civic arenas and dealing with the key arena construction.

Council Member Juarez and her leadership, did the lion's share of it.

She was kind enough to allow me to share one of these small, insignificant issues on tiebacks, but nonetheless, I shared it.

Thank you for that.

But this resolution basically gives conceptual approval of what's called a significant structured term permit to the Seattle Arena Company to construct, maintain, and operate a permanent tension tieback required to operate a tunnel under under and across Thomas Street.

Basically, the arena company that's in charge of the construction revised its construction plans, include these permanent tension tiebacks, and they'll remain in Thomas Street.

They're necessary for the sort of the feasibility of the construction project.

They also, during the meeting gave us a status report on the project and everything is going as planned and they are very pleased as are the central staff members of ours and our department is very pleased with how that construction project is going.

So basically if this resolution today is adopted SDOT will continue the work going down that road and they will draft an ordinance that will grant final approval of the term permit and will describe the proposed conditions of approval at that point, which will include the annual fee and the maintenance obligations and the indemnification provisions and the insurance and the bond requirements.

So, again, this resolution is necessary to allow continued work.

Any questions on the resolution?

Okay, those in favor of adopting the resolution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries, the resolution is adopted, and the chair will sign it.

Thank you very much.

Please read the next agenda item.

The report of the Governance, Equity, and Technology Committee, Agenda Item 2, Resolution 31886, Revising Certain General Rules and Procedures of the Seattle City Council, Amending Attachment 1 of Resolution 31806, Chapter 11. The committee recommends that the resolution be adopted as amended.

Thank you very much.

So this is an amendment to the chapter 11 of our rules, section B3, which basically adds a disruption provision during the public comment section of our public hearings or any time within the chambers.

And basically it adds a new section relating to abusive and harassing behavior, much of which can also be described as criminal in nature.

But certainly we don't condone that in council chambers during public hearing, before public hearing, or after public hearing.

So these changes are allowed to address that issue.

We circulated these changes to several bodies that sort of watch our rules, make sure that they're not only constitutionally sound, but consistent with good sound public policy.

And looking at chamber decorum, and we've had no objections.

So that's what this resolution does.

It adds that section to talk about the prohibition of threatening and assault-like behavior.

Any questions on this resolution?

Okay, those in favor of adopting the resolution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries, the resolution's adopted, and the chair will sign it.

Please read.

Items three through 11, and all of them, please read the short title.

Three is actually separate.

Yeah, so you read them separately, but the short title for all of them, but certainly read them all individually.

The report of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee agenda item three, Council Bill 119520, granting KR Westlake LLC permission to maintain an operated pedestrian skybridge.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Council Member Bryan.

Thank you.

Everyone get buckled in.

We got a lot of fun stuff coming out of Sustainability and Transportation Committee today.

We're going to jump around a little bit, but this first one is simply an extension of an existing permit for a skybridge that covers an alley in South Lake Union.

It was originally passed a little over 10 years ago.

They have two 10-year renewals.

Normally, these don't come back to committee, but they made some insurance changes that they thought required came to committee, so we approved that, and I recommend your support.

Any questions or comments?

If not, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Juarez?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzales?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Seven in favor and none opposed.

The bill passed and Chair will sign it.

Please read the next agenda item.

Agenda item four, Council Bill 119521, accepting various deeds for street or alley purposes.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Council Member Bryan.

Council Member Harrell, I'm going to speak to the next six items together.

I can speak to them and then read them in one at a time or whatever is best for you.

So, why don't you speak to them all and then I'll have the clerk go back and read each one individually and we'll vote on them individually.

So these next six items, folks, are six separate ordinances, each accepting various deeds or easements for 20 parcels.

So the six bills combined, it's about 120. property or easements changes.

We've talked about this a few times, but for the public, I'll just state that oftentimes in a new development or redevelopment, there's minor changes to property lines that need to be made where the city will acquire additional right-of-way or other easements for access.

These parcels are often very small, maybe a couple square feet.

to allow the proper width of a driveway or sidewalk or other cement or access to sometimes utilities and those types of things.

There's a requirement in our charter that whenever we do something with property, it has to come to city council.

But on these small things, we let the department accumulate 20 at a time to put them in a bill because of the pace of construction in our city.

We were in the last few years have been seeing multiple ordinances at a time with 20, and this is a rather big one But all fairly straightforward Okay, so that's number that's all of them But we'll I'll just you've already read number four into the record so we'll vote on that and you can just read the other ones in so Okay, any comments on a gin item number?

Section number six, I guess but my council bill one one nine five two one any other comments Please call the roll on the pass of the bill

Juarez?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzalez?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Eight in favor and none opposed.

The bill passed and the Chair will sign it.

And then Madam Clerk, just read the item in and if you need to make comments about an individual one, just sort of speak up.

Otherwise, I'm just going to vote on them since Council Member O'Brien described them all.

Go ahead, Madam Clerk.

Agenda item five, Council Bill 119522, accepting 20 limited purposes easements for public sidewalk street or alley street, excuse me, street and alley turnaround and traffic signal purposes.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Any questions?

Please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Juarez?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Swant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzalez?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Eight in favor, nine opposed.

Bill passes, the Chair was silent.

Please read the next one.

Agenda item six, Council Bill 119523, accepting various deeds for street or alley purposes.

Can we recommend the bill pass?

Okay, if there are no questions, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Juarez?

O'Brien.

Aye.

Pacheco.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Gonzales.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Aye.

Eight in favor, nine opposed.

Bill passed and the chair will sign it.

Please read the next one.

Agenda item seven, Council Bill 119524, accepting 20 limited purposes easements for public sidewalk, alley or street and alley turnaround purposes.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

There are no questions.

Please call the roll on the pass of the bill.

Juarez.

Aye.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzales?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and the Chair will sign it.

Please read the next one.

Agenda item 8, Council Bill 119525, accepting various deeds for street or alley purposes.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

If there are no questions, please call the roll on the pass of the bill.

Juarez?

Aye.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Pacheco.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bakeshaw.

Aye.

Gonzales.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed in Chair of Senate.

Please read the next one.

Agenda item 9, Council Bill 119526, Accepting Various Deeds for Street or Alley Purposes.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

If there are no questions, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Juarez.

Aye.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Pacheco.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Gonzalez.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and Chair will sign it.

Please read the next one.

Council Bill 119526 accepting various deeds for street or alley purposes.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

If there are no questions, please call the roll on the pass of the bill.

Warras.

Aye.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Pacheco.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Gonzalez.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Eight in favor, nine opposed.

Bill passed, Chair will sign it.

Please read the next one.

Council Bill 119527, Vacating the Alley in Block 19, Heirs of Sarah A. Bell, 2nd Edition, in the block bounded by 6th Avenue, Blanchard Street, 7th Avenue, Lenore Street, of the petition of a current development LLC.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, this is the final action on alley vacation that we conceptually approved a number of years ago.

This is one of the first three Amazon blocks in the Denny Triangle area.

This particular block is the block with the spheres on it.

As you may recall, a number of years ago, we did an alley vacation for each of those three blocks, the combined public benefit that included accessible open space and an additional streetcar for the South Lake Union, plus operating money for that.

Once the conceptual approval is done, the projects move forward with construction according to those designs.

When the project is completed, and this project has been complete for a couple of years, they eventually come back to the city to confirm that they did, in fact, build the project as designed, including the public benefits.

We have checked that off, and the recommendation to committee was to support this.

This is the second of the two blocks that we're finalizing the alley vacation on.

The third parcel is projected to open up for occupancy sometime in the next couple months, and we will likely see that either by the end of this year or possibly early next year.

Thank you, Council Member O'Brien.

Any questions or comments?

If not, please call the roll on the pass of the bill.

Juarez?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Gonzales.

Aye.

Herbold.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed, Chair will sign it.

Please read the next agenda item.

Agenda item 11, Council Bill 119512 relating to the city's 2019 budget authorizing acceptance of funding from non-city sources.

Committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Council Member Bryan.

Thank you.

For the public, just to let folks know, the city goes through our budget process every year and we approve spending authority for the things that are in our budget.

But in addition to that, throughout the year, the Seattle Department of Transportation and other departments will go out to try to get grant funding for projects.

Specifically in the transportation area, we're often competing for federal grants, state grants.

or local or regional grants, including from the Puget Sound Regional Council.

As those grants come in, it requires a comeback to council for us to amend the budget to approve that they accept and can spend that money.

And so that's what this ordinance does.

It's typically good news when we hear from When we hear from us on this and that we have been successful at winning other funding for projects that are already on our capital project list I will say that in addition to accepting grants how we do traditionally we did make an amendment in committee to this which is fairly unique.

There is a project on, let's see, that's going to be East Marginal Way, that we are looking to break into two separate projects.

One's part of the heavy haul corridor and then also a bike facility.

on the, that would be the east side of East Marginal Way.

And there's a chance that we may get some additional funding from Puget Sound Regional Council as that project is currently on the top of their contingent list.

And so in addition to approving grants that we have already won and received.

We also amended this legislation to offer conditional approval to SDOT to accept that grant if in fact they do win that, and we would likely know in the next few weeks if that comes through.

I mention that just because it's a project that for folks commuting by bicycle across the West Seattle Bridge into downtown Seattle, it's a major route and it is Not a very friendly route.

There's a lot of heavy traffic on that.

The lanes or the road is not in great shape.

Because of the traffic, folks are often trying to get around people and the delineation for both bicyclists and cars and the big rigs that are down there.

is complex and it feels very unsafe.

So even moving forward, just a portion of this project, which this would do for a successful, will allow for a much safer experience for folks bicycling.

And it'll also, I believe, improve the condition for all roadway users because it will be a clear delineation where cars and big rigs are supposed to be and where bicyclists are supposed to be.

I hope, got my fingers crossed, that something will happen at PSRC where that funding will come through and we may get to final design later this year and construction shortly thereafter.

Very good.

Thank you, Congressman O'Brien.

Any questions or comments on this bill?

If not, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Flores?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Pacheco?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Gonzalez?

Aye.

Herbold?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and the chair will sign it.

Please read the next agenda item.

Agenda item 12, clerk file 314380, petition of Trinity Trailside LLC for the vacation portion of Northeast 48th Street, lying between 24th Avenue Northeast and the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The committee recommends that the petition be granted as conditioned.

Council Member Bryan.

Thanks, so we're back to street vacations.

This one is the conceptual approval.

So we heard from the project, which is just to the, let's see, just to the east of the Burke-Gammon Trail, just east of University of Washington campus, and to the west of University Village.

There is a street there, 24th Avenue Northeast, that is a dead end.

It dead ends at the trail.

And it previously accessed apartment buildings that are being cleared for this new project, which is a few hundred units of private student housing to go in there.

The street is no longer necessary.

It would only access this project.

And so they are asking to vacate that and paying the fee for that.

And as part of the public benefit, they're gonna produce a new connection between the Burke-Gilman Trail and the University Village.

Sorry, I mentioned 24th Avenue Northeast.

The street we're vacating is Northeast 48th Street.

This would access 24th Avenue Northeast.

For folks that are familiar with the Burke-Gilman Trail up there, the trail's heading north.

This is where there's a number of overpasses that cross over to to the Hecad Pavilion, sorry, is it Alaska?

Council President Harrell?

Alaska Airlines, Hecad and Cort.

Yeah, known as the Hecad Pavilion, correct.

And then to the parking lots to the further north of that.

As you get further north on the Berkman Trail, if you're running or bike-slinging or whatever, you can kind of sense that the University Village is off to your right there, but there's really no good way to get there.

There's a little footpath that winds down through the dirt there.

and then you wind around to the north.

What this would do is it would create a very visible and open graded trail, it would be ADA accessible, that heads all the way down to 24th Avenue Northeast.

There's another project that will be making improvements in 24th Avenue Northeast to make a much safer pedestrian crossing over to University Village.

In addition to providing that new public trail access, they'll be providing a bicycle repair station, like we see at some number of places, and also a water bottle refilling station there, in addition to some seating.

Actually, it seems like a really great public benefit for this location.

I really appreciate the proponents coming up with some creative ideas, and of course, thanks to the folks at SDOT, in particular Beverly Barnett.

for her work on helping them guide them through the process and making sure that the project came up with public benefits that are in the interest of the whole city.

This is the conceptual approval.

So this is where we essentially give our thumbs up.

It's just a clerk file, but we will be committing to grant the ultimate vacation likely in a couple of years when the project is complete and they've built this according to these plans.

Very good.

Any questions or comments on this clerk file?

Okay, those in favor of granting the petition as conditions, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries.

The petition is granted as condition and chair will sign the conditions of the City Council.

Please read the next agenda item.

Agenda item 13, appointment to 1353, appointment of Bryce Colton as member of Seattle Transit Advisory Board for term to August 2nd, 2020. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Council Member O'Brien.

Thank you.

Bryce will be a great addition to the Seattle Transit Advisory Board.

Bryce has a software engineering background but is active in urban issues including transit.

We had a great discussion at committee about just questioning him on some ideas for how we improve transit access moving forward.

I think he'll be a great addition and look forward to and appreciate his time commitment to be part of the transit committee.

Any questions or comments?

Those in favor of confirming the appointment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries.

The appointment is confirmed.

Please read the next agenda item.

Agenda item 14, appointment 1352, appointment of Paul Sherman as member of Sweden Beverage Tax Advisory Board for term to August 31st, 2021. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Council Member O'Brien.

This is the last you get to hear from me today, folks, so I'll make this really long and drag it out.

Dr. Sherman serves as the interim chief medical officer of Community Health Plan of Washington, has a background in public health, and he will be a great addition to this advisory board.

This advisory board, as folks are familiar, is focused on both education, but also public health for communities most impacted by By the over consumption of sweetened beverage and we know that the sugary beverages disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income communities in our city And as we move forward collecting the sweetened beverage tax It's critically important to me that we have both community experts and public health experts helping us guide those investments back into those very communities that are disproportionately impacted so they have alternatives healthier alternatives than soda pop so that they can improve their health outcome and hopefully avoid paying the sweetened beverage tax going forward through our investments.

Very good.

Thank you, Council Member O'Brien.

Any other questions or comments on this appointment?

Not those in favor of confirming the appointment.

Please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Okay, that concludes our agenda.

Is there any further business coming for the council?

If not, we stand adjourned and everyone have a great rest of the day.

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