Seattle City Council 5/10/2021

recording.

Thank you, son.

Good afternoon, everyone.

The May 10th, 2021 meeting of the Seattle City Council come to order.

It is 2.01 PM.

I'm Lorena Gonzalez, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mosquera?

Present.

Peterson?

Here.

Sawant?

Present.

Strauss?

Present.

Lewis?

Present.

Juarez?

Here.

Morales.

Here.

Council President Gonzalez.

Present.

Eight, present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Colleagues, in presentations, we do have one presentation as we discussed this morning at council briefing.

Council Member Mosqueda is presenting a proclamation on Affordable Housing Week, and then we will open the floor to comments from other council members.

After comments from council members, we will invite our guest to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

So Council Member Mosqueda, I'm going to hand it over to you to present the proclamation.

Thank you very much, Council President and colleagues.

It's really my extreme pleasure to be able to bring forward this proclamation.

I want to thank each and every one of you for signing on to the proclamation that was sent around this morning.

This is a proclamation honoring affordable housing.

Council Member Mosqueda, you're breaking up a little bit.

It's really hard to hear you, so I don't, before you get started, want to correct the audio issues.

Hello, hello.

Unless you're doing that for dramatic effect.

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me better now, Council President?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's much better.

Thank you.

Throw up your hands if you can't hear me.

Still can't hear me.

Yeah.

It's just that you're fading in and out.

So I'm not sure if there's something on your computer, like a piece of paper or a Post-it.

Hello, hello?

OK.

That sounds good right now, but we can try.

Okay, I thought you were perhaps waving and saying you were good last time, but you were waving and saying no, stop.

So, am I good right now?

It sounds like we got you good now.

Go ahead.

Okay, thank you for bearing with us, members of the public and colleagues, as well as our esteemed guests here today.

Again, it's my extreme pleasure to be able to bring to you the proclamation for Affordable Housing Week.

Thanks to each and every council member who signed onto this proclamation this morning.

I appreciate your unanimous signatures on this proclamation.

This is a request from our friends at the Housing Development Consortium, and this proclamation is in concurrence with other cities across the country who are declaring this week Affordable Housing Week.

Colleagues, in the proclamation that you saw this morning, it really is an opportunity for us to highlight the importance not only of Affordable Housing Week each year, but to especially honor it in this context during COVID and the crisis that is presenting itself.

Um, in the streets and n Seattle, but across the c and more folks who have lo their small businesses an for them to provide for in more individuals falling into homelessness and fewer people being able to afford affordable housing.

The crisis that we had in the city of Seattle and in our region prior to COVID has only been worsened in the last year due to COVID.

So it's really an important proclamation each year, but it's especially important this year.

I want to read just a few of the whereases before I turn it over to the council president, our colleagues, and our esteemed guests.

The proclamation recognizing affordable housing week states, whereas all people should have access to safe, healthy and affordable homes within communities that provide opportunities, whereas housing stability and staying socially distant from those outside of our households has become our state's core public health strategy.

And whereas the governor has recognized that the correlation between housing access and vulnerability has extended a residential eviction moratorium, through June to prevent families and individuals from losing their home.

And whereas the CDC recognizes safe, healthy, and affordable housing within communities of opportunity as a key to improving social determinants of health.

It goes on to note that in 2018, the Regional Housing Affordable Task Force found that King County needs upwards of 150,000 more affordable homes today and another 88,000 affordable homes by 2040. to just ensure that all of the existing low-income families in King County have a safe and healthy place to call home that is less than 30 percent of their income, and that everyone benefits from affordable housing, including people who reside in those properties, their neighbors, our schools, our businesses, employers, and community as a whole.

And it is because of many of the components that are outlined in this proclamation that tie public health individuals' health and safety to the right to be able to have access to affordable housing, that the City of Seattle is endorsing the goals and objectives of the purposes of Affordable Housing Week, and in doing so, firmly recommits itself to ensuring that our community's recovery from this crisis at hand is equitable and that all people in Seattle can live with dignity, be safe, and healthy in affordable housing throughout our city.

We are declaring the week of May 9th through May 15th as Affordable Housing Week.

Thanks so much to Patience for being here with us today, the Housing Development Consortium, and all of the advocates who continue to push for more affordable housing across the city, housing of all types in all of our neighborhoods.

And we'll continue to do so as that was our mandate to do under the emergency prior to COVID, and is even more important to do now.

Thanks as well to Andrew Houston for his work on this proclamation in front of us.

And with that, thanks again for your signature this morning.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, for bringing forth the proclamation.

Colleagues, are there any comments from you all before we suspend the rules?

All right, I don't see any other comments from colleagues, so if there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow Patience Malaba from the Housing Development Consortium to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Hearing no objection, Patience Malava, welcome to the City Council meeting.

You are recognized in order to provide remarks to the City Council and to the viewing public.

So welcome.

So good to see you, Patience, and we're really happy that you are here with us to be able to accept this proclamation.

Thank you Council President and thank you Council Member Mosqueda and Council Members for proclaiming May 9th to May 15th as Affordable Housing Week.

This is a week every year where as affordable housing advocates alongside elected officials and regional partners, we really come together not only to talk about the housing and homelessness crisis, but the solutions to it and what we can be doing.

This year we are recognizing the deep connection between housing and health care, especially during this time amid a public health emergency.

that is overlaid on a crisis that we know was preceding this crisis.

We knew that people were experiencing homelessness way before COVID-19.

And at this point, it has been exacerbated.

We know that as a city and as a region overall, you have met the historic challenges that have come with this time with robust actions.

You've taken bold measures in passing legislations and programs to support affordable housing and also to address homelessness.

You adopted the historic Jump Start Seattle legislation.

You adopted exemptions for affordable housing as we moved through the stay-at-home order.

So there's been a lot of work that has happened.

But despite the great efforts that you have shown as leaders, as agencies across the region, we continue to have this need that is outpacing our work.

So as we move forward through Affordable Housing Week, we're inviting everyone to collectively come to the table in thinking of solutions of how do we support those who are most in need in our community as we move forward.

As you also look at the resources that you have and you're distributing them, we urge you to prioritize those who are most in need.

We also urge you to support folks who have been at the front lines of this challenge.

who have been holding our community together throughout this time.

And we also urge you to consider key priorities that can really help us as we come out of the COVID-19 emergency to have a fully equitable recovery by continuing to find ways to increase housing choices across our city, while at the same time, making sure that we're making available key resources that can really help us dig out of this recession that we find ourselves in.

With that, I want to thank you once again for proclaiming this week to be Affordable Housing Week and for joining us as we kick off the week today.

Thank you, Patience, so much for being with us.

Really appreciate it.

And thanks again for all the work that you do and for all the work the Housing Development Consortium does in our community.

We really appreciate the partnership.

Congratulations.

Thanks so much.

Okay, folks, we're going to move to other items of business on our agenda.

The next item is approval of the minutes.

The minutes of the City Council meetings of May 3rd, 2021 have been reviewed.

If there is no objection, the minutes will be signed.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are being signed.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes?

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

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

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Public comment.

Colleagues, at this time, we will open the remote public comment period for items on the city council agenda, introduction and referral calendar, and the council's work program.

I want to thank everyone for their ongoing patience and cooperation as we continue to operate this remote public comment system.

It remains a strong intent of the City Council to have remote public comment regularly included on meeting agendas.

However, as a reminder, the City Council reserves the right to end or eliminate these public comment periods at any point if we deem that the system is being abused or is no longer suitable for allowing our meetings to be conducted efficiently and effectively.

I'll moderate the public comment period in the following manner.

The public comment period for today is 20 minutes, and each speaker will have two minutes to address the City Council.

Speakers are called in the order in which they registered to provide public comment on the Council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number used for this registration and using the meeting phone number, ID, and passcode that was emailed to them upon confirmation.

This is different than the general meeting listen line call information.

So for those callers who have signed up for public comment, please take now this moment of time to confirm that you are calling in to the meeting phone number with the ID and passcode that was emailed to you upon confirmation, as opposed to the general meeting listen line.

Again, I'll call on each speaker by name and in the order in which they registered on the council's website.

If you appear as registered but not present, I will call your name out.

And again, if you hear me call your name as somebody who is registered but not present, please double check that you're calling into the correct number with the exact number that you preregistered with.

If you've not yet registered to speak but would like to, you can sign up before the end of public comment by going to the council's website at seattle.gov forward slash council.

The public comment link is also listed on today's agenda.

Once I call a speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone and you will hear an automatic prompt if you have been unmuted.

That'll be your cue to press star six in order to unmute yourself and then begin speaking.

Please begin by stating your name, the item that you are addressing.

And as a reminder, public comment should relate to an item on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar, or the council's work program.

Speakers are going to hear a chime at about 10 seconds.

That means you've got 10 seconds left of your total two minutes of allotted time.

Once you hear the chime, please begin wrapping up your public comment.

And if you don't wrap up your public comment at the end of the allotted time, then your microphone will be muted to allow us to call the next speaker.

Once you've completed your public comment, we'd ask that you please disconnect from the line and if you plan to continue following this meeting, you can do so via Seattle Channel or the listening options listed on the agenda.

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

Please remember to press star six after you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted.

First up is Ingrid, oh, I'm sorry, hold on a minute.

Just give me a second here.

Ingrid Elliott followed by Joe Kunzler.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Ingrid Elliott and I represent 350 Seattle, a climate justice organization.

And I'm here today to comment on the vehicle license fee spend plan.

350 Seattle remains concerned about the future of the vehicle license fee and is committed to working with council members to make sure that it honors both the voters original intent that car tabs go towards transit, or at the very least, people and climate-friendly public modes of getting around.

Spending from the vehicle license fee should also honor the work already put into the original spend plan by people like our hardworking bike and pedestrian board members.

That said, we understand that the plan for bonding reflects the need, the real need to put people back to work in family wage jobs.

We hope to work with council members to make sure that any projects funded by the vehicle license fee and the transportation budget as a whole bring it all.

That is family wage jobs and equitable distribution of city resources.

And for the first time, a reduction in climate pollution from transportation.

On another note, 350 would like to encourage council to sign on to Council Member Hora's letter of support for the Ojibwe Nations fighting to protect their treaty rights, traditional gathering areas, and our climate, and encourage the Biden administration to shut down the Tar Sands Line 3 pipeline.

Thanks so much for hearing me out today.

Thank you so much for calling in.

Next up is Joe Kunzler and Matt Remley.

I have you shown up as registered but not present.

So again, double check that you are calling into the right number with the appropriate number.

For now, we'll hear from Joe Kunzler and then David Haynes.

Hello.

Can everyone hear me?

Yes, we can.

Go ahead.

Hello.

Thank you, Council President.

I hope all is well with you.

I, uh, I saw your press release and statement, if I, you're going to change public disclosure to the mayor's office.

Um, as someone who is, you know, uh, has requested public records from your office and address throughout the years, I, um, applaud you taking the bull by the horns on, on the issue of public disclosure, as you've taken the bull by the horns, um, on, uh, public meetings, public comment and remote access.

And that's commendable.

Um, I, um.

I do have concerns about having a mayor who can't be trusted with her own public records in office.

And I hope this considering that council member so want is rightfully facing recall that, um, there's some serious thoughtful conversations among the council members about the future mayor Durkin's tenure.

If she can't be trusted to handle her own public records, but I will leave that in your department council president.

I.

You know, I may be supporting somebody else premier as well as you.

But I really think you're a good human, and I really trust you to handle the situation as you handled everything else.

So with that, good luck and keep being awesome.

Thanks and God's best.

Thank you.

Next up is David Haynes, followed by Doug Truong.

Go ahead, David.

If you're with us, just remember to press star six.

Thank you.

City Council, I would like to address the design review board nominees.

We need an understanding right now and moving forward that everything that gets built must be 21st century first world quality with robust floor plans to accommodate personal space.

All the noise polluted warehouse, concrete, echo, and rentals are bothering people's mental health needs and needs to be noise abated.

We need a reprieve from the drive through of every block too.

And we don't need any more cosmetic prettifications on rundown, iconically dilapidated, obsolete, flaw-designed buildings that endanger present and future spit-spray concerns from one person being sick, walks into an improperly designed slum-like building, interacting, walking too close to other people while spit-spraying their mental health problems with no mask.

And we damn sure don't need restaurants seating customers in the street where Vision Zero is violated with inebriated drivers driving through Ballard Way every day, while restaurants serve in street one foot away, forced to pay bank each month an inflated rate on obsolete rentals, oppressing small businesses and workers, leading 21st century redevelopment.

We need more honest, general, qualified contractors to redevelop and rebuild this city with Carpenters Union qualified workers, and not with the accommodation of the cars driving through every block.

And, excuse me, in addition, city council needs to use any available leftover funds to solve the homeless crisis and any money that was redirected or not spent on the homeless needs to be investigated to find out who got the gift of the money by council and mayor refusing to solve a homeless crisis used for a re-election apparatus.

We don't need to be given the money to the unqualified nonprofits who saturate City Hall and organize votes.

Sometimes the organizers are really great at political power, but they're not the most qualified to build proper interpretations of homes.

You can go all throughout the non-profit.

Thank you for calling in today.

Okay.

I now see that Matt Remley is present.

So I'm going to call on Matt Remley first, and then after Matt, we will hear from Doug Troom.

Matt, welcome.

Hello, and thank you, and my apologies for technical glitch errors on my end.

But I'd like to call in and calling in today to give my support for Council Member Warren's letter in support of the Ojibwe Nations fighting the Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

I want to thank her for her support for that letter.

There's not much to add to the reasons why she laid it out nicely this morning and morning session.

I just wanted to add that the request for this letter itself came specifically from those very Ojibwe tribes and grassroots folks on the front lines put in a request and called then to see if the city council would lend its support.

They're very inspired by the work that Seattle City Council did in regards to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

And so this is, you know, the folks back in Minnesota are watching what you all are doing and very inspired by that.

That said, the issue of climate justice, whether it happens here in Seattle or across the nation, you know, we have an obligation to stand up and do whatever we can to push back against the fossil fuel industry, because as we all know, the climate crisis impacts all of us.

Thanks again, and thank you all for your sign-on support.

Thank you so much, Matt, for calling in, and glad we were able to get you in.

Okay, next up is Doug Troom.

Doug, welcome.

Thanks for your patience.

Hi, this is Doug Trum, Executive Director of the Urbanist, speaking in favor of the community vetted plan for the vehicle license fee revenue that takes pedestrian safety seriously.

Thank you to Council Member Dan Strauss for offering an alternative amendment that's an improvement and does not treat spending at least 75% of VLF revenue on bridges for 20 years as a foregone conclusion.

And the bridge maintenance backlog is a big issue, but the city failing to meet its basic responsibility to keep public streets safe and accessible is also a crisis.

24 people died in crashes on Seattle streets last year, and 10 people have already died this year.

These are preventable tragedies.

We're not on course to meet our city's Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030. And I think we have to take this just as seriously as a bridge maintenance backlog.

And spending $75 million on the backlog that's multibillion dollars is a drop in the ocean, but $7.2 million per year could make a pretty big difference on street safety.

It could also help us meet our move Seattle levy commitments, which will make renewing and potentially doubling the transportation levy an easier political lift.

It's important and commendable for the council to plan for the future, but the future takes a lot more than just bridges.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for calling in, Doug.

That does conclude all of the individuals who I see signed up for public comment.

So I'll just confirm with the IT department that we don't have any others in the queue.

There are no other public comment registrants.

Thank you so much, Son.

Really appreciate it.

Okay, colleagues, we're going to move to other items of business on our agenda.

First up is payment of the bills.

Will the clerk please read the title?

Council Bill 120064, a property amounted to pay starting claims for the week of April 26, 2021 through April 30th, 2021, and ordering the payment thereof.

I move to pass Council Bill 120064. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

Are there any comments?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight 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.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record.

Agenda item 1, appointment 1908, appointment of Sharon N. Kiyoko as a member of the working group for performance auditing.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

I move to confirm appointment 1908. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointment.

Council Member Lewis, you're the sponsor of this appointment, so I'm going to hand it over to you to walk us through this appointment.

Thank you so much, Madam President.

It's good to be here to be getting back into the work of this ad hoc committee of experts to talk about performance auditing that I convened last spring under council sanction.

Very grateful for that opportunity.

But it was put on sort of undefinite hold based on the whole world happening in May of last year and continuing through the never-ending budget cycle.

So here we are to bring it back.

The professor who's been nominated today is an academic at the University of Washington, specializing in the study of performance auditing, among other good government practices.

The former academic appointee in the interim has relocated to Chicago, so we are replacing the position, but have full confidence that the work of the committee will be able to continue along now that there's a little bit more flexibility in the schedule to complete a work plan in anticipation of We have a budget cycle this fall and the nominee will effectively allow us to do that.

I move the nomination.

Thank you so much.

Are there any additional comments on this appointment?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzales.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Will the clerk please read items two and three into the record?

Agenda items two and three, appointments 1884 and 1885, reappointment of Felix Yuxin Chang as member of Community Involvement Commission for term to May 31st, 2021, and reappointment of Carol Redfield as member of Community Involvement Commission for term to May 31st, 2022.

Thank you so much.

I move to confirm appointments 1884 and 1885. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointments.

I'm going to hand it over to Council Member Strauss, who is the sponsor of these appointments.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, these two appointments are to the Community Involvement Commission, which advises the city on outreach and engagement activities.

The commission is made up of 16 members, seven appointed by the council, with one from each district, seven appointed by the mayor, and two appointed by the commission itself.

These positions are both reappointments to the commission-filled seats.

Felix Chang is a senior design researcher at Artifact.

Previously, he worked at IBM's design division.

Felix lives in Capitol Hill.

Carol Redford is an assistant professor of nursing at Seattle Pacific University's School of Health Sciences, as well as a member of a number of boards, including the board of Hearthstone Community Living, where my grandmother's twin once lived.

Carol lives in the Finney Ridge Green Lake area.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much, colleagues.

Are there any additional comments on these appointments?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read items four through 25 into the record.

Agenda items four through 25 appointments 1886 through 1907. Reappointment and appointments of Andrew Haas, Ana Cristina Garcia, Jason Henderson, and Roy Kashal Ingram as members Design Review Board for April 3rd, 2022. And appointments and reappointments of Manuel Castaneda, Patrick Cobb, Kerry D'Agliano, Janelle T. Eckrich, Alan Farquhase, Gina Gage, Joanna Lemar, Adrian Watkins, Phoebe Erin Bogart, Timothy Carter, Alan Granger, Daniel Mayer, Jen Montresser, May so, and Tiffany Betray as members, Design Review Board for term to April 3rd, 2023.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk, for that.

I am going to move to confirm appointments 1886 through 1907. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointments.

I'm going to hand it back over to Council Member Strauss to walk us through these appointments as well.

Thank you.

And these 22 appointments to the Design Review Board are a combination of City Council Mayoral and Joint Council Mayoral appointments.

The Design Review Boards are made up of professional volunteers who serve on one of our eight geographically defined boards, which evaluate the development proposals for certain new multifamily and commercial buildings.

These Design Review Boards consider the building design, appearance, context, access, and more in making their recommendations and apply the citywide and neighborhood design guidelines that the council has adopted.

Each of these eight geographic district boards have a five-member board, each made up of a design seat, two community seats, a development seat, and a business or landscape design seat.

Because there are 22 appointments today, I will not speak to each one in detail due to us having 46 agenda items today.

I will say that these appointments were recommended to the council and the mayor through careful interview and selection process.

And then they were further vetted by my office and the mayor's office before being appointed.

And with that, I recommend approval of these 22 appointments.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

And of course, we've all had their appointment packets, so just want to note for the public record that we all do our due diligence, review the packets, and this is just an opportunity for us to highlight any features, and I appreciate you doing that.

All right, are there any additional comments on these appointments?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Mosquera?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 26 into the record.

I've reported the Finance and Housing Committee agenda item 26, Council Bill 120039, amending ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 budget, including the 2021 through 2026 capital improvement program.

The committee recommends that the bill pass.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Skiddock, you are the chair of this committee, so I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee's report.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

I just want to confirm that you can hear me okay still.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you very much.

Item 26. Council colleagues, this is the first bill for our consideration from the Finance and Housing Committee for your discussion on the carry forward legislation.

This bill allows the departments to continue programs from last year into 2021 with unspent dollars from 2020. This is not new authorizing authority.

These are existing programs and services that the council had already approved and this is not an extended amount.

This is allowing dollars that would typically be set back to the overall budget if not otherwise appropriated for the exact same purposes from the previous year to be used again to carry forward the already authorized use.

and this allows for us to carry those dollars forward into the 2021 appropriations for those discrete programs.

The committee unanimously recommended passage of this bill.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Mosqueda, are there any additional comments on the bill?

Hearing no additional comments on the bill, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 12039. Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Salant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 27 into the record.

And item 27, Council Bill 12058 relating to the Office of Housing, authorizing the acceptance of a transfer of real property in Southeast Seattle.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Council Member Esqueda.

Back to you to provide us this committee report.

Thank you very much, Council President and colleagues.

Again, this is the item that came from the Housing and Finance Committee that came to us from the Office of Housing to accept the land transfer from Sound Transit to Office of Housing for the purpose of developing for-purchase affordable homes.

There are three main points that I'd like to really highlight as you consider this legislation today.

The first is that this city is accepting this land at no cost.

This is possible through our commitment to the land disposition policies that we have seen really featured in Sound Transit first, and then what I replicated as well in our land disposition policies passed in 2018. This is our city's commitment to making sure that if we have surplus or underused land, especially starting with Sound Transit, that we make sure that this property is available for the highest and best public use.

And right now, that's housing.

The second thing to consider is that this land is located in the south end near three light rail stations, Mount Baker, Columbia City, and Othello Station, and is a response to the community's ongoing demand for more affordable housing located in these existing communities that have seen a tremendous amount of displacement and skyrocketing costs of housing over the years.

Again, with the need to make sure that we address housing, it's not just building more affordable units, but it's also creating opportunities for people to have home ownership opportunities, which this ordinance allows.

And the final thing is that this focus, as I just mentioned, is on creating a for-purchase housing.

This land provides accessible home ownership opportunities for Seattle residents, creating a path out of generational poverty and allowing folks to create greater equity in their pocket.

This is also a commitment to our equity principles for more people to be able to have a place to call home that they can own, which allows for folks to build wealth in their own community.

The last point I think is extremely important as we recognize disproportionate amount of wealth in whiter households in Seattle compared to black and brown households, which can be traced directly back to our exclusionary policies of redlining that prevent many BIPOC communities from being able to purchase their homes in the city of Seattle.

And this is not only part of our past, but it's still the living policy of our city.

So we're really trying to provide more opportunities now for folks to be able to continue to afford to live in the city.

According to a report released by Prosperity Now, the pre-COVID median wealth for white residents in Seattle was three times higher than that of Native American households.

Black residents were three times more likely to be unemployed than white residents.

And this all compounds to fewer opportunities to allow for folks to be able to own homes in this city.

This project, this opportunity is one way that the city can begin to address the past and begin to help close the wage gap as we look for many opportunities for future affordable housing, options and home ownership options to ensure that more BIPOC communities can continue to live and thrive in Seattle for generations to come.

We'll continue to do more work to close this gap, and I look forward to more funding opportunities in housing and in equitable development, and especially using our Jump Start Seattle dollars, about two-thirds of those dollars going into housing and home opportunities, especially making sure that those who don't have opportunities have a place to call home and appropriate shelter.

And this is an indication of our ongoing commitment to the need for creating more affordable and accessible housing and addressing the disparities that we see in our city.

So looking forward to this legislation being passed today.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Council Member Mosqueda.

Any other comments on the bill?

Council Member Morales, please.

Thank you.

I just want to share that I am very excited about this legislation.

This is an opportunity to create more permanently affordable home ownership, not just rental units, but home ownership opportunities, particularly in the South end.

And that means that these homes will be affordable, not just for the first homebuyer, but for the subsequent homebuyers, too.

The original homebuyer will get a reasonable rate of return when they sell, but the price is still allowing the next owner to also participate and enjoy the benefits of homeownership.

So I think this is a really important opportunity.

I do want to also note that there's been a really important community engagement process for years to make sure that this happens.

I want to thank Puget Sound SAGE for advocating and helping pass the legislation that required Sound Transit to offer 80% of their surplus property to organizations that are doing affordable housing to low-income folks.

And this is really a chance for those of us in the South End to move past the numerous fenced-off lots that have lined the light rail stations for the last 10 years.

Really excited to see that, you know, the the fenced off lots along the way are starting to be used and that this in particular will be used for home ownership opportunities.

So just want to say thank you again for sponsoring this, leading this, Council Member Mosqueda, and I do want to also thank Director Alvarado and Erica Malone for working so hard on this.

Really looking forward to more home ownership opportunities in the South End.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Councilman Morales, couldn't agree with you more.

It's important for us to do sort of the both, and obviously we all want to continue to support affordable pathways to those units in our community that are only subject to rent.

We know that over 50% of the people in the city rent, and I think the last time I looked, about 30% of those renters are BIPOC folks.

But obviously the most important critical thing that we can do to ensure that we are actually making a meaningful difference in terms of closing the wealth gap and income inequality is to allow people opportunities to have affordable home ownership.

So really excited about this bill.

Sorry that I wasn't in committee to vote it out of committee, but I am really excited about being able to support this particular council bill.

And thanks to everyone for playing a really important role in getting it in front of us.

Council Member Mosqueda, would you like to have the last word?

Thank you very much.

Just echoing the appreciation for folks who have for a long time focused on Sound Transit and the City of Seattle land disposition policies.

The 80-80-80 principle is something that we replicated in the land disposition policies that the city passed and with the things that folks like Puget Sound Sage, Africatown, and so many others who were at the table wanting to make sure that that type of principle expanded to other local jurisdictions.

This is one of many efforts that we hope to highlight in the future.

I want to thank Andrew Houston for his work also on this legislation, in addition to Director Alvarado, as Council Member Morales accurately pointed out, who's really been spearheading this within the Office of Housing, and to her team for their continued commitment to making sure that there's more opportunities like this.

Obviously, much more work to come, and we'll continue to follow up to make sure that it's not just affordable housing opportunities that we're creating for renters and first-time buyers, but that we're creating that pipeline so that people have that next place to buy, so there truly is a place to move into as people acquire additional equity and that the next generation or the next folks get a chance to move into these homes as well.

It requires us to continue building, building, building.

So thanks so much for your continued support on this and for the comments today.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

I don't see any other comments or folks with their hands up.

So will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 27 into the record?

My apologies, agenda item 28, Council Bill 12059 relating to funding for housing and community development programs, adopting annual action plan updates to the 2018 through 2022 consolidated plan for housing and community development.

The committee recommends the bill passes amended.

Thank you, ma'am, Clark.

We both caught ourselves.

Our respective scripts say item 27, but we are in fact on item 28. Thanks for catching that, Amelia.

Okay, Council Member Mosqueda, this is also an item that comes out of your committee, so I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee report.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

This legislation adopts the final 2021 annual action plan as required each year to accept grant funds from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This plan reiterates how much the city has to spend for our four grants.

That includes the Community Development Block Grants or CDBG Grants, the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS, or our HOPWA grant funds, the Emergency Solutions Grant, our ESG funds, and the Home Investment Partnership Program, also referred to as the HOME funds.

Again, I want to reiterate that these are funds that we have already accepted with the expected amount, with the expected amount.

But this legislation in front of us allows for us to update those amounts to reflect the actual amount that these dollars are worth.

in the amount of the dollars that are expected to be received at the city of Seattle now that the total amount is known from the feds.

This is just a slight difference.

Again, as I reiterated this morning, the slight difference in terms of the expected and the actual was just about $6,000.

So there was no drastic departure from what the council had already authorized.

The committee unanimously recommends passage of the bill.

Thank you so much.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Moraes.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzales.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read agenda item 29 through 33 into the record.

Agenda items 29 through 33 appointments 1877 through 1881 appointments of

F. Aworkey, T. Gabriasis, Deanna Ochoa, Tracy Taylor as members Labor Standards Advisory Commission for term to April 30th, 2023. And appointments of Alexis Rodick and Annie Wise as members Labor Standards Advisory Commission for term to April 30th, 2022. The committee recommends that these appointments be confirmed.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

Councillor Mosqueda, these are also your items from your committee.

So I'm gonna hand it back over to you to provide the committee

Thank you, Madam President.

For items number, excuse me, just want to confirm, Madam President, we're talking about the Labor Standards Advisory.

Okay, great.

My numbers got a little off as well.

I appreciate it.

It's Monday.

Colleagues, for the Labor Standards Advisory Commission appointment, the Finance and Housing Committee does have these five appointments and appreciate your consideration.

Afreward Gabresi was born and raised in Asmara, Eritrea and graduated from the University with a B.S.

in Chemistry.

After spending over a decade working in mining, oil and gas and biotechnology industries, he could no longer turn away from the horrific abuse of workers as well as the exploitation of the environment.

He fled Eritrea to escape the military dictatorship and resettled in Seattle.

He currently coordinates an employment program geared towards working families and has developed workshops and curriculum around workplace safety and workers' rights that speak to the need of low-wage BIPOC workers, especially immigrants and refugees.

Paola Ochoa was born in Sonora, Mexico, and immigrated to Washington State in 2007. As an immigrant, she faced big challenges and has experienced labor abuse and wage theft.

This motivated her to learn and get engaged in labor rights issues.

She came across Casa Latina through Mujeres Sin Fronteras program.

After she began to volunteer and facilitate programs and advocated for workers' rights, she wanted to step up her advocacy and we're really excited that she's here.

And Diana prefers to go by Paola, which is why we are referring to her that way.

Alexis Rudichin is the Director of Research and Policy for the SEIU Local 775 Caregivers Union, representing more than 45,000 workers in Washington State and Montana.

Alexis and her team have developed bold policy to address harassment, abuse, and discrimination towards caregivers, fight discrimination and discriminatory barriers to entering the home care profession, and have helped to raise standards for domestic workers and gig workers at the City of Seattle.

Tracy Taylor is the general manager of Elliott Bay Book Company.

She also owned a women and queer owned newsstand on Capitol Hill called Big Little News.

And in March of this year, she has done extensive volunteer work in the business community, Pioneer Square Economic Development Council for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the GSBA Capitol Hill Alliance.

And she currently is the co-chair of the Small Business Advisory Committee for GSBA.

Finally, Annie Wise is the Operations Director for the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, a nonprofit organization that has advocated for improving the livelihoods and lives of working people for more than 130 years.

She has helped to enact and defend pro-worker policies, to elect pro-worker candidates to public office, and is helping to build power for local unions.

She is an 11-year resident in the city of Seattle.

lives in the south end with her husband and her pug.

The committee unanimously recommended passage and inclusion of these appointees.

All right.

Are there any comments, additional comments on these appointments?

Hearing no additional comments on these appointments, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read items 34 and 35 into the record.

And items 34 and 35 appointments 1882 and 1883 reappointment and appointment of Emily Dills and Adelica Dominguez as members, Domestic Workers Standards Board for term to February 28th, 2024. The committee recommends the appointments be confirmed.

Thank you so much, Council Member Esqueda.

These appointments are also from your committee, so I'm going to hand it over to you to walk us through the appointments.

Thank you, Council President, and this will wrap up our committee section.

Thank you for your patience here, colleagues.

These two appointees are for the Domestic Workers Standards Board, which include the reappointment of Emily Dills.

This is her second term serving on the Domestic Workers Standards Board.

As you know, Emily Dills is the founder of an employment company from 1997 to current, and she has been key in helping us pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

She's a conduit for employer compliance through education and outreach.

She has advocated for workers, fair wages, benefits, and healthy working conditions, and is a former domestic worker employee in a private home of local families and currently participates in the Washington State Collaborative Task Force.

This also includes the appointment of Erika Dominguez, and she is a nanny.

She's also an immigrant domestic worker that has been actively volunteering as part of the Nanny Collective from Working Washington and Fair Work Center.

She's a domestic worker and has experienced challenges in work like abuse, bullying, harassment, wage theft, among other issues.

She is very engaged in the workers' rights movement and believes that the Domestic Worker Standard Board can bring a great impact to workers' lives.

The committee unanimously recommends passage of these two appointments to the Domestic Worker Standards Board.

Thank you so much, Council Member Mosqueda.

Are there any additional comments on these appointments?

Hearing no additional comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

All in favor, none opposed.

Motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 36 into the record.

The report of the Public Assets and Native Communities Committee, Agenda 36, Council Bill 12048, relating to the city-owned real property known as the Red Barn Ranch and to the future North Rainier Park.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

You are the chair of this committee, and I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee's report.

Thank you, Council President.

This bill removes the recreational covenant of the Red Barn Ranch property located in Auburn, Washington, Southeast Auburn.

This is the technical step that allows for future discussion on potential use and ownership.

In addition, the bill places a restrictive covenant on a separate site within the city limits at the North Rainier Land Bank site, which is planned for open space and a neighborhood park.

It's essentially a swap between the two.

Ranch property has been owned by Seattle Parks and Rec since the 1970s.

Seattle Parks and Rec has partnered with a series of organizations dedicated to youth mentorship and recreational programming.

But the property has sat empty for the last three years while Seattle Parks and Rec continues to spend money on maintenance for the property that is not within the city limits.

The Red Barn Ranch is approximately 39 acres.

The legislation required a public hearing, which was held in committee on May 4th.

We had a briefing and a discussion followed by a committee vote to pass this bill.

I want to take the time to thank the good folks from Nurturing Roots who provided public comment to support the lifting of the recreational covenant.

While this bill does not make any decisions regarding ownership and use today, there will be an opportunity in the future to engage in that piece of the conversation.

My office in Seattle Parks and Rec will ensure the public have ample opportunity and time in advance of that step to remain engaged and submit their comments and concerns or ideas for the use.

The Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends City Council pass this bill.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Moraes?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Eight 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.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 37 into the record.

Madam Clerk.

Oh, my apologies.

Go, that's okay.

Agenda item 37, Council Bill 120050 relating to Seattle Parks and Recreations, authorizing Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to execute for on behalf of the City of Seattle, a use occupancy and maintenance agreement.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Juarez, you are the chair of the committee, and I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee's report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This bill renews an agreement between the Southwest Youth and Family Services and the City to continue their great work.

The new lease is for 10 years to continue programming.

Southwest Youth and Family Services have been providing critical social and educational services to underserved families in Southwest Seattle for over 40 years.

The Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends the City Council pass this bill.

Thank you so much.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Eight 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?

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 38 into the record?

Agenda item 38, Council Bill 12033, authorizing the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to execute and accept from Seattle School District 1 on behalf of the City of Seattle a reciprocal right of entry license agreement.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Juarez, I'm going to hand it back over to you.

Right.

Seattle Parks and Seattle Public Schools seek to renew agreements to share parking at two separate locations, the Helene Madison Pool at Ingram High School and the Southwest Teen Life Center and Pool at Chief Sealth High School.

This agreement allows for Seattle Parks and Rec and Seattle Public Schools to formally share space between the two lots.

The appraisal done on the two sites show the value of the two parking arrangements.

in the agreement, renewal was equal.

That is, the public benefit certainly matched up equally for both sites for parking.

The Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends City Council pass this bill.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight 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.

Will the clerk please read item 39 into the record?

Item 39, appointment 1874, appointment of Misha Y. Averill as member of Seattle Indian Services Commission Governing Council for term to June 30th, 2023. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Council Member Juarez, I'm going to hand it back over to you.

Thank you.

This is very exciting for the appointment of Misha Averill to the Seattle Indian Service Commission.

Misha is a member of the Navajo Nation, and like me, we're from a different nation, but we were raised on the Puyallup Reservation.

Misha is also a graduate of the University of Washington.

She served as a member of the Native Action Network Youth Cohort.

She has over eight years of experience in real estate to bring to the council.

who will greatly benefit in the area of development.

She comes highly recommended by the council from the chair of the Seattle Indian Service Commission, Senator Claudia Kaufman.

Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends city council confirm this appointment.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the appointment?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

All in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Will the clerk please read item 40 into the record.

Agenda item 4, the appointment 1875, reappointment of Denise Moriguchi as member Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District Board for term to July 30th, 2024. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

As more wires, I'm going to hand it back over to you to walk us through this appointment.

Thank you.

This is a mayoral reappointment.

This is Denise Moriguchi, CEO of the convention.

I'm sorry, a reappointment of Denise Moriguchi.

I apologize.

The CEO of the convention center, Jeff Blosser, spoke to her credentials and valuable skillset as an executive leader and businesswoman.

As you know, Ms. Moriguchi is also CEO of Wajimaya.

The Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends the city council confirm this appointment.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the appointment?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, nine opposed.

The motion carries and the appointment is confirmed.

Will the clerk please read item 41 into the record.

Item 41, appointment 1876, reappointment of Ron A. Chu was a member of Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees for a term to April 1st, 2026. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Juarez, back to you.

Thank you.

This is Ron Hsu, and this is another mayoral reappointment.

Interim Chief Librarian Tom Fay introduced this reappointment.

Ron is a wonderful part of the library board.

He has a real passion for local community history and has engaged in a variety of projects that raise awareness and money for underserved populations.

He recently raised money to support a network of community clinics serving Asian, Pacific American immigrants and refugees, Ron is a principal of CHU Communications, where he documents local community history through oral history and multimedia projects.

He is a wonderful leader, and I look forward to continue to work with him in the near future.

The Public Assets and Native Communities Committee recommends council confirm this reappointment.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the appointment?

Hearing no additional comments on the appointment, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Aye.

Peterson.

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Aye.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

The motion carries, and the appointment is confirmed.

All right, we're going to switch gears over to the Transportation and Utilities Committee.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 42 into the record?

I report of the Transportation and Utilities Committee, agenda item 42, Council Bill 120042, a many ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 budget, including 2021 through 2026 capital improvement program.

The committee recommends the bill passes amended.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Peterson, you're the chair of the committee, so I'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, last week, our committee amended and then unanimously approved Council Bill 12042. This legislation is the recommendation from the Seattle Department of Transportation on how to invest the additional $7 million each year that we expect from the new $20 vehicle license fee this council authorized as soon as we could a few months ago.

The amended council bill implements SDOT's recommendations for 2021 and then asks SDOT to return to the city council at the start of our budget deliberations this fall with information we would need to consider going bigger and bolder with bonds to support Seattle's aging transportation infrastructure.

Our infrastructure includes our city's older bridges that connect our communities, enable mobility for all modes of transportation, and keep our economy moving, especially as we strive to emerge from the COVID pandemic.

to thank SDOT and the stakeholders SDOT selected to participate in the four meetings to discuss how to divide the $7 million into several transportation categories.

I hope SDOT will be able to use that additional input not just for the $7 million, but as it crafts its $700 million budget for 2022. Thanks also to everyone who took the time to call into public comment for both of our committee meetings.

A special thanks to Nicole Grant, the head of MLK Labor Council, for joining the construction labor unions and many of those in the community supporting the proposal to have us strongly consider bond financing since interest rates are at an all-time low and because we have a strong interest in boosting our local economy to build back better.

Again, our committee recommends approval of this bill.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any additional comments on this bill?

Hearing and seeing no additional comments on the bill.

No, that's okay.

We're all on a little bit of a delay this morning or this afternoon.

Council Member Mosqueda, please.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

I first want to thank Council Member Peterson for bringing forward the legislation in front of us today.

Thank you very much, Council Member Peterson, for your leadership on that.

I also want to thank Councilmember Strauss.

I was deferring to see if Councilmember Strauss had any additional comments because I know that there was a pretty robust discussion in committee.

And since I'm not on the committee, I just wanted to offer a few comments and to say thank you.

Thanks to Councilmember Strauss for the amendment that he brought forward to make sure that the underlying policy helps to get at one of the bigger issues that was really a driving interest of mine as well.

And that's to make sure that the discussion and the future conversations really involve an approach to our investments in transportation and infrastructure that recognize the overlapping opportunities, the overlapping investments between our aging infrastructure like bridges and things that we should be carrying over those bridges, including buses and safer pathways for walkers, for bicyclists, for all those who need to use a stroller of their own or to push a stroller for their kiddos.

I think that there's real opportunity here.

I just want to pause for a second and make sure I wasn't interrupting Council Member Peterson.

It looks like you wanted to say something, but is it okay to continue with my comments here?

Okay, okay, great.

Council Members and the Council President, thank you so much.

Because I did want to take a quick second to recognize all of those who have called in, who have offered public comment as well.

And for the comments that were made today about the opportunity for bonding to allow for us to put people back to work.

Putting people back to work, especially for those who've lost their jobs or their small businesses in the wake of COVID offers us a chance to front load these dollars to invest in infrastructure projects or maintenance dollars that will allow for family wage jobs as part of our commitment to equitable recovery.

And I think that by bonding in this moment, we can push forward a Green New Deal-esque type of proposal here.

It's not just New Deal-esque by putting people to work, but it could be Green New Deal-esque in that we are bringing together, I think, pillars of commitments in this revised legislation in front of us that really do complement our commitment to a blue-green coalition, bringing in labor and environmentalist perspectives to push for projects that can be part of our ongoing effort to address the climate crisis, as well as the crumbling infrastructure in front of us.

I do think that we can do a both and approach and I'm hopeful that the plan and the presentation in front of us this fall will allow for us to see that there is the pathway forward to doing so.

I know that we all are cognizant of the fact that cars and single occupancy vehicle are one of the largest source of, if not the largest source of climate emissions in Seattle.

and our commitment continues to be to reduce climate emissions.

And so as we rebuild our infrastructure, as this proposal in front of us outlines, I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to marry these dollars with our commitments to create more multimodal transportation options, and that we can have a better sense of the total universe of dollars available for this both-and approach.

When we know more about the federal infrastructure bill that is going to be passed this summer, and when we have a better understanding of the dollars that are coming from the state as well in the form of transportation and capital projects.

I do want to thank the council members who I already mentioned and the stakeholder process that brought together the initial proposal.

And I believe by allowing those initial recommendations to move forward now and not bonding against those dollars in this year's allocation, we will be able to see significant improvements in just the infrastructure in front of us in this first year.

And then when we get the report in front of us, make sure that we can complement these federal and state dollars with our intended effort here to bond.

I think that it's an opportunity for us to really put people back to work and to do so through an equity lens of making sure that those who've lost their livelihoods really do have an opportunity to come back and have an opportunity to rebuild our city.

Today's legislation is not being done in a vacuum.

The council anticipates as part of the presentation in the 2022 proposed budget this fall that the executive will be providing updates on the implementation of the Vision Zero program and other transportation strategies, including the ADA transition plan, the modular master plans for bicycles, freight, transit, and pedestrians.

and commitments made to the Move Seattle levy that we must take into consideration as well.

And it's really important from my perspective that we take a holistic look at those recommendations, because not only do we want to put these bonding dollars to use very quickly, but we need to make sure that we're honoring our promises made through the levies and keeping those commitments to voters.

So that voters see what they asked us to invest in really did get funded so there's going to be a lot of opportunities coming forward for us to I think recommit to a both and approach, and to make sure that we're fulfilling our obligations to not only move individual single occupancy cars and.

and goods, but also people safely.

My interest continues to be in examining and prioritizing infrastructure projects that can do this both and a work and put people back to work now.

And I'm really excited about the bonding opportunities that this legislation sets up.

I think it's the right things to do to look for opportunities to put people to work now.

And I'm really also interested in hearing more about the project list that comes forward and hearing more about where each project list can support these multimodal transit options and how we can put people to work.

So with that, thanks to folks from TCC, Mass Coalition, 350 Seattle, Urbanist, and our labor friends from Ironworkers, Carpenters, the Laborers, and the Seattle Building and Construction Trades.

At the end of the day, I think this is the right approach to make sure that we have a plan to make a plan.

and we have much more conversation to come this fall, but excited about the first steps taken here.

And thanks again to Council Member Peterson for your leadership and Council Member Strauss for the amendment.

Thank you so much, Council Member Mosqueda.

And I do see that Council Member Strauss has his hand up, so I'm gonna call on him next.

Thank you, Council President.

I will be brief, prompted by Council Member Mosqueda to speak.

Understanding we have 46 items on today's agenda, I did not want to...

spend too much time rehashing the things that we've already discussed.

I think that Councilmember Mosqueda put it well, which is that we need to have ready and be ready to bond against any investment or any funding source, whether it's the VLF or others.

And we need to have a good understanding of what our bonding needs are and what the schedule of those needs are so that we're not paying bankers interest on money we can't use before we're ready to use it.

And I think it's important for us all, colleagues, that when we ask stakeholder groups and departments like SDOT to run a stakeholder process, that we honor what they bring to us in their reports.

I don't find it to be a good practice for us to ask others to do work and then for us to go in a completely different direction at the last minute.

And so I just want to thank the sponsors of all of the initial legislation of the initial amendment and for everyone supporting a good way to move forward, keeping bonding on the table and asking for the information we need to make good fiscally responsible decisions.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Councilmember Peterson, as the prime sponsor, you get the last word if there's anything else you'd like to add.

Let's just vote.

I like it.

I like those last comments.

All right, folks, with that direction and the second that I'm hearing from Councilmember Juarez on let's vote, I would ask that the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight 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.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 43 into the record.

Agenda item 43, Council Bill 120045, relating to the City Light Department, declaring certain real property rights to be surplus to the needs of City Light.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk.

I'm going to hand it back over to Council Member Peterson to walk us through this item.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, Council Bill 12045 is one small property.

It's one more small property transaction needed to facilitate the extensive Georgetown to South Park Trail with its multiple benefits of environmentally friendly mobility, connectivity and open space.

This council bill involves a temporary lease for a small triangle of land along the route.

Later this summer, we expect to see the final actions authorizing construction of the trail project.

The total project costs for this trail between District 1 and District 2 is about $7.5 million, which includes about $5 million this council added to the project as part of our budget process a few months ago.

Our committee unanimously recommends this bill.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Peterson.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Any additional comments?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Speed 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?

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 44 into the record?

Agenda item 44, Council Bill 120062 relating to the Madison Bus Rapid Transit Rapid Ride G-Line project.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

I'm going to hand this back over to you.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, this item and the next Council Bill on today's agenda are important steps forward for the Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit Rapid Ride G project.

Council Bill 12062, this item, enables our Seattle Department of Transportation to accept two small easements.

And the next bill, 120063, enables SDOT to accept two grants totaling $65 million, which we had been expecting from the U.S.

Department of Transportation.

These capital improvements to that bus corridor for City Council Districts 3 and 7 include over $26 million of city government dollars that we have already approved, including an additional $5 million that we approved last fall.

The total project cost for this single corridor is approximately $133 million.

While buses already travel up and down Madison Street, this project is designed to improve speed and reliability and improve the connection to the light rail.

The revised date for construction to start is this fall of 2021, and SDOT hopes to complete the changes to the streets and sidewalks in 2024. Our committee unanimously recommends approval of both bills.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Peterson.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

All in favor?

None opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 45 into the record.

Agenda item 45, Council Bill 120063, relating to grant funds from the United States Department of Transportation for the construction of the Madison BRT Rapid Ride G-Line project.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

All righty.

Council Member Peterson, I'm going to hand it back to you in case you have anything else to add.

Thank you, Council President.

Nothing else to add except that this bill was also recommended unanimously by committee.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Any additional comments?

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

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Lewis?

Yes.

Juarez?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read the short title of item 46 into the record?

Agenda item 46, resolution 3200 relating to the Seattle Public Utilities adopting the 2021 through 2026 strategic business plan for Seattle Public Utilities.

The committee recommends the resolution be adopted.

Thank you so much, Customer Peterson.

Back to you to walk us through this report.

Oh, you're on mute.

Thank you, Council President.

Over three separate meetings of our committee, we discussed the strategic business plan and rate path for Seattle Public Utilities.

Before us today is that corresponding council resolution, which was unanimously recommended by our committee.

Keeping utility rates low is important because rates are regressive, with lower income households paying a larger percentage of their household income for utility bills.

Unfortunately, the average SPU rate increases are expected to be lower than what was originally promised back in 2017 for this time.

It's important to note that SPU's strategic plan and rate path have been endorsed by the rigorous customer review panel.

There was also a thorough article in the Seattle Times about the strategic plan and rate path, which explores all the various cost drivers for these rates, including inflation, pass-through rates imposed by King County for wastewater, environmental protection projects required by our state and federal governments, labor costs, and the utility taxes charged by our general fund.

The council examines and votes on this strategic plan every three years.

Our committee unanimously recommends approval of this important resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any additional comments on the resolution?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Aye.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Lewis.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Council President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

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

Is there any other business to come before the council?

I have some business to come before, other business to come before the council.

If there is no objection, I would like to be excused from the May 17th and May 24th city council meetings.

Hearing no objection, I am excused from the May 17th and May 24th city council meetings.

Council Member Herbold is going to serve as the council president pro tem on both the 17th and the 24th, and she will preside over the council briefing and city council meetings on those dates.

And my deep thanks to her for providing me a little bit of coverage as I get away.

Okay, any other further business to come before the council?

Council Member Mosqueda, please.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

I would also like to be excused from full council and from the morning briefing on the morning of Monday, June 14th, please.

Hey, if there is no objection, Council Member Mosqueda will be excused from the June 14th City Council meetings.

I say no.

I even gave her a heads up because of her committee.

Yeah.

All right.

Hearing no actual objection, Council Member Mosqueda will be excused from the June 14th City Council meetings.

Are there any, is there any other further business to come before the council?

All right, hearing none, colleagues, this does conclude the items of business on today's agenda.

All 46 items of business on the agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is on Monday, May 17th, 2021 at two o'clock p.m.

Again, that full council meeting will be presided over by Council President Pro Tem, Council Member Lisa Herbold, and I hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you so much, we are adjourned.