City Council 10/20/2026

Awesome.

Good afternoon.

The October 20th, 2026 meeting of the Seattle City Council meeting will come to order.

It is 2.03 p.m.

I'm Joy Hollingsworth, council president.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Rivera.

Present.

Councilmember Sacca.

Here.

Councilmember Strauss.

Here.

Councilmember Foster.

Here.

Councilmember Juarez.

Here.

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Lin.

Here.

Councilmember Rink.

Here.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Present.

Nine present.

Awesome.

And colleagues, thank you all coming back.

I know that we are in the middle of our budget season and we have this council meeting because we have a ton of legislation that we're gonna continue, that continues to happen through city council.

So we have a lot of big agenda items in the first one, and we're gonna kick it off to council member Rink because today we have a proclamation that council member Rink is proclaiming October, 2026 to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

in Seattle and recognizing October 15th as Purple Thursday.

Councilmember Rank.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, thank you so much for the time and opportunity to be able to talk about this important topic.

I know last week we had the opportunity to bring this to the forefront when we launched the Seattle Stands with Survivors campaign.

This month is particularly special and I hope you will sign on to our proclamation acknowledging and recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

To that end, I apologize.

I'm having some tech issues, so I'm unable to speak to the proclamation until I have a second moment.

But I will close my remarks there in full acknowledgement that we have some incredible organizations here to speak today.

And now my tech issues are addressed.

No worries.

You're all good.

We can be at ease.

I know that sometimes we have technical issues, so no worries.

and colleagues after Council Member Rink gets the technical stuff up, I will see if anyone else has any further comments and then we will call on for the signatures of the proclamation.

Thank you, I'm ready to go.

Thank you for that moment, Council President.

Colleagues, I did want to take a moment to read into the record our proclamation before us, before bringing on signatures and hearing from our three speakers from the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, Jewish Family Services, Project Evora, as well as hearing from the Seattle Women's Commission.

but with that I will now share the proclamation.

Whereas domestic violence harms individuals, families and communities and is an insidious and pervasive societal issue impacting millions of people from across the globe and is characterized by one partner's need for power and control by using a range of tactics including but not limited to physical sexual, emotional, reproductive, economic, psychological, or technological actions, threats of these actions, and or other patterns of abuse and coercive behavior.

And whereas gender-based violence, including domestic violence, disproportionately impacts women and girls, LGBTQIA people, immigrants and refugees were barriers, including but not limited to language, cultural isolation, limited social support, financial dependence, and immigration status related to fears that increase vulnerability.

And whereas current national conversations around campus sexual assault and sexual abuse of women and children, including those being held in immigration detention centers, should be a reminder that every person has a role to play in creating safe and thriving communities including preventing and interrupting all forms of gender-based violence, and whereas the City of Seattle currently invests in trauma-informed community-based services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human sex trafficking, and whereas the Seattle area is home to a strong survivor support network, including but not limited to the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, Chief Seattle Club, counseling and referral services, New Beginnings and Project Dvorah Jewish Family Services, and whereas Domestic Violence Awareness Month has a rich history in the United States dating back to October 1987, the same year the first toll-free national domestic violence helpline was established.

and whereas domestic and gender-based violence exact profound physical, emotional, and economic harm on victims and survivors as well as their families, friends, and the wider community, and whereas the city of Seattle celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Victim Support Team within the Human Services Department and is committed to advancing equity, justice, and safety for all residents, especially survivors of violence through prevention, improved response systems, and trauma-informed culturally responsive services.

So now, therefore, a mayor in Seattle City Council proclaim October 2026 Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Seattle and recognize Thursday, October 15th as Purple Thursday.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome, thank you Councilmember Rank.

Colleagues, are there any comments on the floor before I ask for signatures on the proclamation?

Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to thank Councilmember Rink for bringing this forward and for the work that she's doing, particularly from the human services angle.

I think it's really important.

And she spoke about every person.

I also wanted to say every organization.

That's why it's important for us to work with the City Attorney's Office, to work with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and other elements that may be more on the public safety side of things because to really move forward we have to have this balance with public safety and importantly the human services pieces of that in order to really move forward related to gender-based violence, whether it's domestic violence or sexual assault or commercial sexual exploitation.

So thank you for this and this is something that we're committed to do and to work with and partnership every person and every organization.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Any other further comments?

All right.

Oh, Councilmember Rivera.

My apologies.

Thank you, sir.

I was trying to find...

No, no, it's okay.

I was trying to find my hand.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

And I want to thank Councilmember Ring for bringing this forward.

And thank you for including my ad, the Jewish Family Services Devorah Project.

that does so much important work with domestic violence survivors.

This is such important work, and I want to thank all the organizations here who do work in this space.

We need to support victims of domestic violence, and gender-based violence in our city.

I think we're all in agreement on that and so I look forward to signing my name.

Both I look forward to doing that and it also makes me sad that we even have to have a month to bring awareness to this topic.

I wished we lived in a world where this was not the case and I think many of us, including in my own extended family, folks that we know and love who've been victims of domestic violence.

And so really wanted to say that and impact so many people and not always the people you think.

It's oftentimes silent.

And so I just want to recognize that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council Member Rank for bringing this.

And like Council Member Kettleson and Rivera, all the work that you've been doing on the human services side.

So before I call the roll, do you have any final comments, Council Member Rank?

Ms. Thank you, Council President, and thank you, colleagues, for your remarks and showing support for survivors.

It means a lot, and I hope everyone is able to sign on to the proclamation today.

I wanted to thank Councilmember Kettle for his remarks in particular, acknowledging the need to be working across different systems when it comes to tackling domestic violence and being able to provide those support for survivors.

I'd be remiss if we did not lift up also in this conversation about domestic violence, just acknowledging the backlog on investigations, acknowledging that about a third of cases that SPD is referring to the city attorney's office are domestic violence cases, and we are as a city facing a tremendous backlog in addressing those cases where survivors are having to wait years for their cases to even be filed.

In that acknowledgement, I think it's also important to recognize that not every survivor is going to seek out the criminal legal system to get justice.

Not everyone is safe to be able to do so, and so being able to lift up that there are alternative ways to be able to get accountability and to be able to improve safety is also a part of that too.

And I know the Office of Civil Rights has done work in trying to promote some of those non-carceral restorative justice alternatives too.

But across the board, we have not resourced our system to even be able to give survivors the dignity of having a choice in that matter.

And that's the thing that is on us to resolve.

So I want to thank you, colleagues, again, for your remarks and your support for this work.

And I hope everyone is able to sign on today.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Colleagues, at this time, we will take the role on finding out who would like to sign on to the proclamation.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Council Member Strauss.

Aye.

Council Member Foster.

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez.

Aye.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin.

Yes.

Councilmember Rink.

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Nine signatures will be affixed.

Awesome, so it is proclaimed October 2026 to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and October 15th as Purple Thursday.

I know that we, before, I don't know if there's any final comments, but we will go ahead and suspend the rules so we can present the proclamation with Council Member Rink.

And then I also know that we have some people from the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence.

We also have Jewish Family Services, and then we also have our Women's Commission.

if you would like to come forward and provide some comments.

Anyone can go first, don't worry.

I have $20, whoever goes first.

I'm just playing.

Oh, yeah.

See y'all running.

I'm just playing.

Go ahead.

I'll go ahead and go first and I'll keep it fairly short so my colleagues here have a little more time.

Good afternoon, folks.

Thank you so much for inviting us here.

My name is Amaranthia Torres and I'm the co-executive director of the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence.

We are proud to join everyone today in acknowledging October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Abuse is a process of objectification and dehumanization.

Survivor-driven advocacy is a process of restoring self-determination and dignity.

Survivors seek both safety and self-determination domestic violence shelters in Districts 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Many more seek the legal support, safety planning, and trauma-informed care offered at domestic violence programs in every district of our city.

Our field is made up of dedicated advocates who see physical violence, sexism, and coercive control in relationships, and instead of averting their eyes, they step towards it, seek to understand it, and walk alongside survivors every step of the way as they heal from it.

Abusive relationships have long thrived on the collective silence, looking the other way, minding one's business, that is too often the response when survivors disclose abuse.

Speaking this proclamation out loud helps to interrupt that silence, and instead sets a new norm of acknowledging our shared responsibility to shift the conditions that allow abuse to flourish.

As October comes and goes, we encourage folks to stand with us, to stand with survivors, to not avert your eyes, and to remember that survivors are surviving patterns of power and control 24-7, 365. As a coalition, we are proud to stand with gender-based violence programs and organizations and their commitment to survivors, and we are invested in ensuring that programs are steady and resourced to do this life-saving work for the long haul.

Thank you to Councilmember Rink and to the entire Council today for standing with us and for making this proclamation a priority.

We look forward to continuing the work together.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, dear Seattle City Council.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

And you speak right into the mic as well.

Just pull the mic close.

There you go.

Perfect.

Thank you, Council Member Rink, for your strong support of survivors.

My name is Natasha Wilson, and I'm the director of Project DEVORA, the domestic violence program at Jewish Family Service.

Jewish Family Service is a 134-year-old non-profit organization that provides critical support services to Jewish individuals and families, refugees and immigrants, and broader community.

I have worked with survivors of domestic violence for over 25 years.

A survivor, let's call her Rachel, once told me, My children and I would not be here today if it weren't for one advocate who was there for me.

We were huddled in a motel room that the police had rented for us three days earlier after my children's father strangled me and our seven-year-old snuck out and called the police.

It was the end of day three.

Checkout time was approaching, and I was afraid my children and I would have to spend the night on the street or in the car.

For three days, I called every shelter, every helpline, every agency in the area.

Everything was full, and no one had the capacity to help us.

We had just moved to Seattle, and I had no family or friends I could trust.

My children's father had been released from jail, and I knew he was looking for us.

He had told me that if he was arrested, he would kill me.

He often slept with a gun next to him and he would point it at me saying, don't you ever think about leaving.

I had no money and I was desperate.

And then my phone rang.

An advocate I had spoken with earlier that day said, I think I found a place for you.

Those words on that day changed everything in my life.

It was the beginning of our family's healing.

Rachel's healing journey included a safe home, trauma therapy for her and her children, countless meetings with legal aid attorneys, court hearings, and advocacy, lots of it.

Domestic violence statistics are chilling.

According to CDC, more than one in three women and more than one in six men experienced gender-based violence during their lifetime.

That is over 60 million people.

According to John Hopkins' research, in 68% of mass shootings, the perpetrator killed a family member or intimate partner or had a history of domestic violence.

At Project Evora, we ensure survivors receive respect, path to healing, and hope for accountability.

But listening is not enough.

When survivors' safety, health, and lives are at stake, services that help survivors navigate the legal system, that connect them with community resources, including advocacy and financial assistance, to help their safety and to help them rebuild their lives.

These services must be available and accessible, and we must educate people of all ages, and especially young people, about what healthy relationships look like.

Rachel's story happened more than 10 years ago.

It is our responsibility to ensure survivor services remain available tomorrow and grow to meet the need.

Thank you again on behalf of Project Evora Jewish Family Service and thousands of survivors we've supported for this opportunity to advocate for the safety and well-being of all of our community.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you so much.

Thank you, Council, for your commitment to making Seattle a safe and welcoming place for everyone.

And thank you for recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

For over 55 years, the Seattle Women's Commission has elevated community concerns and promoted programs, policies, and investments to implement community solutions.

This has included advocating for the development of a shelter for domestic violence survivors in the 70s and for the creation and ongoing resourcing of critical initiatives like the battered women's project in the 70s and 80s and the victim support team program in the 90s.

In addition to a strong history of collaboration with HSD and other city departments, we've also worked to protect women and to support survivors through diverse strategies like public events, legislative advocacy, community partnerships, and educational campaigns on specific issues like the unacceptable rate of missing and murdered indigenous women.

The Commission's gender-based violence work has often overlapped with other subcommittee initiatives around housing, family services, health, employment, and economic stability, because these issues are all connected.

And we know that addressing poverty, racism, and misogyny are meaningful ways to prevent violence.

We began this work in 1970, and today, gender-based violence continues to be a focus for the Seattle Women's Commission because this crisis remains pervasive.

This is deeply personal and urgent for me and for the Commission, and it should be for everyone listening.

The impacts of gender-based violence are felt in every district, in every neighborhood, and in every community of our city.

Whether you know it or not, you are connected to survivors of gender-based violence.

Our region's gender-based violence programs are critical partners in this work, and they need our support.

These are organizations and professionals with deeply rooted community connections, local solutions, and significant knowledge and leadership preventing harm and helping survivors.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month compels us to honor the courage of survivors and to believe them, to recognize and trust the critical work of advocates and organizations in this space.

and to be candid about the conditions our communities are experiencing.

We must recommit to building equitable systems and to investing sufficient resources to become a city where everyone can experience safety, dignity, and justice.

Healing is possible and gender-based violence is preventable, and it takes all of us to make that happen.

Thank you so much.

Awesome, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for your powerful words, and I know that we have the proclamation that we will present to you from Council Member Rank, and would you like to take a picture as well?

Yeah?

Okay, awesome.

All right, so we're gonna suspend the rules, we're gonna have you all come up, we'll take a photo, and then right after we will open the agenda item to the hybrid public comment period.

Do we have Deanna Lee here to take our photo?

Awesome.

She'll be in the front, she'll count us down, and we'll go ahead and take a photo, colleagues, real quick.

Y'all know the drill.

Good to see you, you too.

All right, we're gonna lay right in the middle.

We'll get rain.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your patience as we are transitioning, and we're gonna open up the hybrid public comment period.

Thank you.

All right, thank you colleagues.

At this time, we're gonna open up the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda.

The introduction referral calendar and the council's work program.

Just a reminder, the council cannot accept comments on quasi judicial items or on campaign related matters.

Colleagues, excuse me, clerk, how many folks do we have signed up?

We have 40 in person so far and 23 remote.

Okay.

That means that we have 63 speakers and I know more will sign up.

So because due to council rules, if we have 30 to 60, everyone will get one minute.

And clerk, I will hand this over to you to read the rules.

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

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

Speaker's mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Awesome, thank you.

I'll read the first 10 folks and we'll start lining up.

And if you are online, we're gonna do everybody in person first and then we'll come to you online and I will keep you updated regarding how many speakers that we have in person.

Right now there's 40 speakers.

So probably in about 3.15 is when you will go on if you're online, give or take some.

So I'll be monitoring that as well.

So we have Kevin, we have Blakely, we have Dee, we have Anitra, We have Shana, Hannah, Brandon, Justin.

We have Riz, R-H-Y-S, hopefully I said it right, and then we have Friday.

Welcome, Kevin.

All right, we'll get your time up a minute and then we'll start.

Welcome, go ahead and you can go ahead and start.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name's Kevin Laurencin.

I'm a long-term West Seattle resident.

So I'm speaking today in support of the city's effort to get better control of RV encampments.

However, I want to highlight an unintended consequence of this VWRAP proposal.

My wife and I own a small travel trailer that we use often.

to just two hours during the day or banning overnight parking altogether would create an immense physical and logistical hardship when we provision and then clean up traveling.

Today, I urge you to amend this proposal to include a clear, straightforward exemption for recreational vehicles parked within the 72-hour limit at the address where the vehicle is legally registered.

This keeps the parking enforcement resources expenditures in focus where it's intended, on encampments.

while allowing everyday residents to manage their RVs at home as they do today.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Kevin.

Next, we have Blakely, followed by Dee and Anitra.

Welcome.

Good afternoon.

My name's Blakely Benson.

I was born in Ballard.

I currently serve as the Director of Fleet for Trident Seafoods, a family-owned company headquartered in Ballard.

Our support center employs nearly 500 people with additional employees at our shipyard on Leary Way.

The conditions surrounding our Ballard facilities have become increasingly difficult.

Our property has been vandalized, burglarized, and our employees have experienced trespassing, threats, violence, vehicle break-ins, and deeply troubling behavior near their workplace.

My greatest concern isn't property, it's our people.

Employees should be able to come to work without worrying about their personal safety, and businesses should be able to recruit talented people to Seattle and confidently tell them this is a safe and vibrant place to build a career and raise a family.

I appreciate Council Member Dan Strauss and other community leaders who continue to work towards solutions.

Programs such as the Vehicle Residence Assistance Program represent an important effort to create pathways forward for people.

Thank you.

We need compassion and accountability in solutions going forward.

Thank you, Blakely.

Next we have Dee followed by Anitra and Shayna.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, City Council.

My name is Dee Powers, and I'm here to speak in opposition to Strauss' new plan for RVs.

I personally know how badly the proposed ban will be for people living in their vehicles.

I was priced out of my Pioneer Square apartment in 2015, and it took seven years for an appropriate offer of shelter that included my partner and my pets for me to become rehoused in 2022. I would not have survived in a tent.

I would not have survived in a passenger vehicle.

A friend of mine ended up amputating a foot because he was living in a smaller car with no room to lay down.

It's inhumane to force people to live in even more substandard conditions for the sake of the city's curb appeal.

A one-time permit process is also inappropriate.

People will continue to move into vehicles that are the best fit for their needs, and we need to be ready to help support them at every point in the future, not just once and never again.

Services should always come first, and they should be open to all, permanently, not just those who appear in a one-time census.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dee.

Next, we have Anitra, followed by Shana.

If we could...

The majority of the people living in their RVs are good people just trying to survive.

There are existing laws for dealing with people who are a public nuisance or a public danger.

Spending resources, spending money to to outreach and to help people find resources is good.

It's even better to spend money to increase the resources to outreach people too.

But spending money just to increase the burdens on already burdened people is plain wrong.

Keep the good parts of this ordinance and scrap the rest.

Put your money into helping.

Thank you.

Thank you, Anitra.

Next we have Shana, followed by Hannah, and then Brandon.

Shana, sorry if I said your name wrong.

Shana.

Shana, my bad.

It's okay.

My name is Shana, and I am currently in Seattle at a Trinity shelter.

I once did live in my car and I constantly had to move.

If you make it where people have to register their vehicles and they don't even have the money to do that, it's a one-time thing and they don't even have the money to put gas in their vehicle to move it and then they lose everything that they own.

where are they gonna go?

Because there's not enough shelters for these people to go to.

There's not enough family shelters.

There's not enough spaces in women's or men's shelters.

So you put them in a worse position than they're already in.

Next we have Hannah, followed by Brandon and Justin.

Welcome.

Is Hannah?

I see Hannah Jones.

Hannah, hi Hannah, you're next.

And then Brandon, welcome.

Hi, my name is Hannah Jones and I live in District 5. I strongly oppose the new parts of the legislation that would restrict parking for RVs and implement the permit system.

I support an expansion of safe parking lots for folks and vehicles that provide services, but in its current state, I know this legislation will cause more harm than good because I hear it from my neighbors and I see what happens when RVs get towed.

Restricting our visa to our parking and towing without notice will lead to people losing their only shelter and all their personal belongings.

Only providing one chance to get a permit and having to prove that they are the owner will exclude people from accessing safe parking lots.

I urge you to support the parts of the legislation that will increase access to safe parking.

I urge you to change offer of shelter to offer a suitable shelter, shelter that actually serves people's needs, like having a partner and pets in their possessions.

I urge you to oppose what is a ban on RVs, the changes to the city parking laws that make it illegal for people to park their RVs.

Thank you, Hannah.

Next we have Brandon, followed by Justin.

Brandon.

Is Brandon here?

Hi Brandon.

Then followed by Justin.

Where's Justin?

Justin's next, Riz and then Friday.

Welcome.

My name is Brandon.

I'm a Nicholsville participant and I live in District 2. I urge the council to vote no on the RV ban legislation.

While Nicholsville supports helping people living in RVs access services, safe parking, shelter and permanent housing, our concern is that the legislation is not is in fact a ban on RVs as it leaves too many unanswered questions.

Before the city starts towing people's homes away, we need clear answers about how residents will receive repair assistance, how people who were missed by the census or can't immediately meet permit requirements will be protected, and whether or not adequate safe lots and vehicle storage will actually be available.

Moving forward with this legislation without clearly answering those questions is not only short-sighted and irresponsible, it's also dangerous as people's lives are on the stake.

A vote for this legislation is a vote to criminalize homelessness.

Next, we have Justin.

Welcome, Justin.

Followed by Riz and then Friday.

Welcome.

Hello.

Hello, council members.

My name is Justin.

I've been doing outreach work for about three and a half years with vehicle resident outreach.

I also spent about a decade living on the street in the Ballard area.

I've seen the whole spectrum of the mechanism that is used to help people in homelessness.

And having that perspective, I can say that we need to do something different.

and although my understanding of the legislation is not complete, I can say that what I do understand gives us the working tools to take things to the next level and being able to give the services that people need and they're in dire need of it and what is in place now is moving a little too slow and I think that this will help speed things up and we are here as a team to help mediate that process.

Hopefully we can give this a try and see where it goes.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Justin.

Next we have, did I say your name right?

Reese.

Reese, my bad.

Thank you, Reese.

And then we have Friday.

Thank you, Reese.

Hello, my name is Reese.

I'm here today with my friend Maya to advocate for the transgender refugees of Seattle.

As you may already know, the city of Seattle in particular and Washington state in general is the number one destination for transgender internal refugees.

I have trans refugee friends who are couch surfing.

I have friends who are street homeless.

This community is growing and they desperately need resources from the city of Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next we have Friday.

Before you go Friday, give me one second.

I'm gonna read the next 10 to get us ready, okay?

Thank you, Friday.

Next we have Mia and Indigo, followed by Evie, Mike, Eugene, Mante, George, Steve, Evan, Beatrix, and Marta.

Okay, Friday, you're ready.

Every day we are being squeezed by the city.

Our cars get towed, our rent increases, and our neighbors get swept.

We were promised $30,000 for trans refugees back in June.

Well, here they are.

Where are you?

Shame.

Why in the midst of a homelessness crisis do you cut our housing budget?

Shame.

When the police are killing our neighbors, why do you give them more money?

Shame.

When Amazon makes billions in profit, why do you increase our burden?

Shame.

Restore the $68 million in housing funds.

Put JumpStart funding back exclusively to housing.

Double funding for housing.

Increase tenant legal services and eviction prevention.

To finish, we must put workers and tenants on these thrones.

We must oppose this Landlord Council in these budget cuts, and we must hold the police accountable.

We have Mia and Indigo.

Mia in Indigo.

Hi.

Before I get started, I wanted to personally thank Councilwoman Rink for her letter of support for the case that I'm fighting for in my wife Indigo's rights in the courts.

First of all, I'm Mia, and this right here is my wife Indigo Green.

She is inside of a little bag inside of a little box, and she is half here.

The rest of her is in Alabama, in the home of the family that she fled.

and the same family who is fighting to strip her of her name, her dignity, her identity.

We came here basically homeless.

We fought for our friends and our families to set up refugee programs and housing programs and everything.

And there's so much I could say here, Seattle is a very welcoming place for our community and we need it to be a welcoming place for us even when we pass.

Thank you, Mia.

Eugene and Mante, welcome.

All of indigo green should be here today.

I am wearing the same dress I wore the day we gathered around her deathbed on July 9th, 2025, the same boots that stood on her bloody mattress while I took down the last thing she would have seen, a bright, beautiful painting full of life just like her.

On Transgender Day of Remembrance last year, her wife and I divided her ashes.

Half of her left the state for a family that had sworn in writing to put her in the ground under a man's name.

Nobody can tell you how many of us live in this city.

Ask anyone with boots on the ground and they will tell you the ground truth.

Seattle is the most densely populated transgender city in the world.

Seattle's transgender population did not explode by accident.

We were surgically corralled here by people who wished nothing more than for us to not exist.

There were three cases at the United States Supreme Court that transgender rights in Washington states two measures on the ballot.

Amber Kim is still in solitary confinement in the men's prisons.

If we're not counted, we're...

Thank you, Evie.

Next, we have Mike, followed by Eugene.

Welcome, Mike.

Good afternoon, City Council members.

My name is Mike Stewart.

I'm executive director of the Ballard Alliance, a neighborhood improvement organization in Ballard.

I'm here to request your support today for the Complete Vehicle Resident Assistance Program legislative package.

Over the years, the Alliance has worked with Councilmember Strauss and his team to help find solutions for individuals living in vehicles.

His extensive experience has informed this legislation, which is a comprehensive solution that should be implemented in Seattle.

And what I appreciate most about this legislation is that it leads with creating a pathway to housing for vehicle residents who want support This fills a massive policy hole that currently exists in this city and at the same time, for those who are unwilling to obtain a permit, the legislation reestablishes clear guidelines and regulations and enforcement procedures for motorhomes on city streets.

Nearly every component of this package received unanimous support from the Council Public Safety Committee and I urge you all today to pass this legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mike.

Next we have Eugene.

If we could just hold our comments.

I know that in between speakers, it's hard for me to call names and we're clapping and cheering or we're booing.

So just a little bit of respect while I'm calling names so we can make sure that we can hear everyone in between so people can hear their name.

Just a simple ask.

Thank you so much.

Next, Eugene, followed by Mante.

Welcome.

Hi, I'm Eugene Wasserman from the North Seattle Industrial Association.

See, I'm overcoming pneumonia, so it's taken a long time to get better.

We're a group of business and property owners along the Ship Canal.

We're in the Bidmik industrial area.

We're part of the North Pacific fishing fleet.

And we've had RVs on our property around us for years.

We appreciate the work that Councilmember Strauss has done on this project.

It's a comprehensive way to deal with this issue.

RVs do not belong parking in the city.

We also like that the Councilmember Strauss gives people an opportunity to phase out of that and get into shelter and stuff.

The city spends a lot of money on homelessness, and I think if you have to, you could divert some more money to this program if you're running out of shelter space.

But we think it's a really creative approach to this problem, and we'd like to see you move ahead.

Thank you, Eugene.

Next we have Mante, followed by George, and then Steve.

Welcome.

You may call me Monti, and I came to Seattle fleeing domestic violence.

I will not suffer in the shadows.

Several months ago, I was at a bar when a man sexually assaulted me.

We were both drunk.

He was very cute.

We began making out, and then I told him I was done, and it was time for me to leave.

He, smiling, said no, pulled me towards him, and then continued trying to make out with me.

I broke his grip and fled into the crowd.

He pursued me, and I lost him.

In my ideal world, I would resolve this with a conversation.

I would speak to this man.

I would say to him, what you did was not OK and made me feel less safe in this bar.

I do not think this man is an irredeemable rapist, just a man who was drunk and made a bad decision that hurt me.

If I told him that, perhaps he would feel ashamed, perhaps apologize, and likely never do such a thing again.

Yet because I am a trans woman, I am afraid to speak about this.

I'm afraid to talk about this because the man who did this is also trans, and I feel collective punishment at the hands of the society.

I fear for his safety, just as I fear for mine.

For the sake of my community, I stay silent.

I'm tired of excessive punishment.

I am tired of being scapegoated, and I'm tired of my every action being ruthlessly scrutinized.

Thank you, Manti.

Next, we have George.

Welcome, George, followed by Steve, Evan, Beatrice, and Marta.

Welcome.

Can you say George?

Yes, George, you are out.

Welcome.

Well, my name is George.

I'm from Nicholsville.

You guys all know where Nicholsville is from.

And you guys have a tough job.

You guys have a really tough job.

You guys are all doing a good job doing it because it's a lot of decisions you have to make.

But this is wrong.

We all know that the RV problem is a problem here in Seattle.

It's a big problem in Seattle.

But this is not the solution for it.

to kick people out of their homes and say that they have to live in a shelter that they don't want to go to.

People don't want to go to shelters because maybe their ex lives there.

Remember the domestic violence we just talked about?

What if their ex lives there, but you're forcing them to go there to that shelter?

Because if they say no, they lose their RV.

It's ridiculous.

What about this count?

You're not going to be able to count every single buddy that's on an RV.

There's no way you can do that.

You can know that because every year they try to count the homeless people.

That's always way off.

Those people are just automatically screwed.

This right here is just, all it is is sweeping the homeless and making it another way for it to be criminalized.

We're not criminals.

No matter where we live, we're not criminals.

Some are, but most of us are not.

So this needs to be looked at, yes, but it needs to be redone.

This is not the way to do it.

Thank you.

Thank you, George.

Next, we have Steve.

Welcome, Steve.

Followed by Evan, Beatrice, and Marta.

Welcome, Steve.

It's morning I heard a poll that indicated not too many people are supporting Mr. Strauss's RV changes.

I think that most of them do have some merit, however, because we have a problem and we should be looking to solve it.

Now, there's one part of that that I am not too keen on, the Golden Pass.

I would like to see current laws start to be enforced.

Have you ever tried to remove vehicles from your street?

Do you know how long that takes if you can be successful?

Also, you've got people out there with more than one RV that are on the easy payment plan when they are taken in.

At some point, you should consider the middle 95% or more.

Now, in line to speak here, I was told I should only care about myself.

If we continue to do that, we're

Thank you, Steve.

Next we have Evan followed by Beatrice and Marta.

Welcome Evan.

Hello, my name is Evan Sanders.

I'm a transgender man, and I moved here to Seattle in April of last year.

I came here to initially speak on the trans migration crisis.

Within that and within looking at the agenda and hearing other public comments, it seems in addition to the homeless crisis, now people who are living in their cars and living in RVs are also being axed, hit at their knees.

Shelter spaces are in fact filling up and I speak from experience.

I moved here last year and I'm just now sleeping in a shelter and admittedly that shelter is at capacity every now and then.

There might be one or two beds that just now became open.

I would hate to say that I wasted my time coming here.

I could have did this anywhere.

This isn't particularly any special or different from where I came from.

Thank you, Evan.

Next, we have Beatrice and then Marta.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, council members.

Thank you for being here today.

My name is Beatrix Kelley, and I work for the Low Income Housing Institute, and I'm a resident of District 3. I'm here today requesting funding for a second RV safe lot pending the passage of the Vehicle Residence Assistance Program.

Lehigh believes strongly that a second RV safe lot is necessary.

The need is great.

You've heard it all day.

We are committed to increasing the amount of parking spots that RV dwellers can use.

And at a safe lot, a parking spot is not just a place to put your vehicle, but a place to receive case management and behavioral health services while transitioning into permanent housing.

Cities like San Diego and Eugene have had success with this model, and Seattle has the opportunity to be at the forefront of finding a supportive solution to RV dwelling.

Please consider this opportunity for all of our neighbors living on the street.

Thank you, Beatrice.

And before you go, Marta, I'm gonna say the next 10 speakers so we can get ready, before you go.

I'm gonna read the next 10 speakers.

Thank you, Queen, appreciate you.

So now we have Alexis, followed by Cassandra, Jennifer, Laura, Lucas, Nina Jackson, Christine, Mike, Paul, so.

Alexis, Cassandra, Jennifer Adams, Laura Mullen, Lucas, Nina Jackson, Christine Moreland, Mike Dunn, Paul Tomlinson.

All right, Marta, you are up.

Thank you.

Sorry, I might switch.

Yeah, any mic you want.

I'm a little short.

My name is Marta Quirana and I am the community engagement manager at the Low Income Housing Institute.

Thank you council members for taking the time to hear from community members here today.

And we greatly appreciate the efforts of council members Strauss and the full council to find a pathway for the underserved and underrepresented unhoused community living in RVs.

Lehigh will be opening our Glassyard Commons RV safe lot in District 1 very soon, but Seattle needs at least a second RV safe lot so that there is a place for outreach providers to refer people living in RVs where wraparound services are available and housing connections can be made.

We want to ensure that people living unhoused in RVs are able to be connected with the best possible service match.

To make this possible, we ask that you remember that human lives are on the other side of the decisions made here today.

Furthermore, we are looking forward to the convening of providers and best practices that will follow today's council meeting.

Again, we ask that programming and additional RV safe lot be prioritized in support of the VRAP, and I hope you understand our position.

Thank you, Marta.

Next we have Alexis, followed by Cassandra.

Welcome.

Yep, you're good.

Welcome.

Good afternoon.

My name is Alexis Diltz, and I also work for the Low Income Housing Institute and look forward to being a resident of Seattle soon.

I'm here today to also request funding for a second Lehigh RV safe law pending the passage of the Vehicle Resident Assistance Program.

LIIA has determined that a second RV safe lot is needed given the large number of RVs parking on city streets in both residential neighborhoods and industrial areas.

And we're committed to increasing the amount of RV parking spaces with the ultimate goal of getting rid of the number of unsafe and rundown RVs and moving people into permanent housing.

And once people are in an RV safe lot, people can receive wraparound services transitioning out of their vehicles and into permanent housing.

Thank you so much for being here and for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Alexis.

Next, we have Cassandra.

Cassandra's here, followed by Jennifer and Laura.

Welcome, Cassandra.

Any mic you want.

Good afternoon, Councilman.

Everybody know my name is Cassandra, and I'm with the WE RV Outreach Program.

We work with people living in RVs, cars, and other vehicles.

I only got one minute, so I gotta get my thing.

Today, I'm asking for your support in developing a WE RV Outreach resource center connected to proposed transitional housing.

Our proposed transitional housing will give people a bridge from living in a vehicle towards long-term housing and continued support in housing aftercare.

We are exploring a building on Rainier Avenue South.

Before opening, we need to confirm the building's suitability, necessary repairs, approval, and full operating costs.

I'm asking for your help.

bringing the right agencies to the table, identifying the funding opportunities and developing a workable plan.

Please help us turn this outreach experience into a consistent resource and a pathway towards stable housing.

Next we have Jennifer Adams.

Jennifer Adams followed by Laura and then Lucas.

Welcome Jennifer.

Hi, my name is Jennifer Adams.

Thank you, Council.

This is a must-needed resource.

I've been doing this work for 15 years.

I think 10 for free.

RVs don't have a place to go.

They're being chased around.

They really need the opportunity to park in these safe lots.

We need more than one, but we can start with one.

But we need to work towards getting some more.

We do pay for licensing and tabs.

I've been doing that for a long time.

That's what our organization does.

We get people up and running and keep them moving.

That's why I need six times for a permit to go out and ask somebody to get them into stable housing, to stabilize them.

This is a needed pathway.

We do not have a pathway for these RV dwellers right now.

This does not affect cars or vans or trucks.

I want everybody to be clear about that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Next we have Laura followed by Lucas.

Welcome, Laura.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi, my name's Laura Mullen.

And on December 11, 2023, my husband and I were the first residents of the first RV safe flat in Seattle.

And it couldn't come at a better time because my husband, the previous month, had had a double stroke.

My son's RV caught fire from a vehicle next to his and his RV burned down.

He moved in with his cabs into our RV and my dog ran away.

I didn't know what to do because we didn't have any credit.

We didn't have any rental history.

My husband had had a double stroke and I needed to find someplace safe for him to rehabilitate.

the Safe Plot opened and we were very grateful.

While I was there, I saw that the Safe Plot gives the residents the ability to have stability and structure to do things like get ID, security cards, take care of their health.

In the end, they found long-term housing for my husband and I and we found my dog.

Awesome.

Thank you, Laura.

and a dog as well.

Lucas, Nina, Christine, Mike, Paul.

Welcome, Lucas.

Hello, my name is Lucas and I'm a trans man who's lived in Seattle for a decade.

On June 2nd at 9 a.m.

on a bright sunny morning in the middle of a sidewalk at a bus stop with people all around, I was beaten for being trans.

A man punched me in the face multiple times and broke my front tooth in half.

I begged the people watching to call 911. They shook their heads and looked away.

When I was finally able to call myself, he was gone and there was nothing the cops could do.

We say protect trans people, but that morning I learned that when real violence happens, people are scared to get in the way.

I am here because we can no longer suffer in the shadows.

My story is mine, but violent transphobia is a reality shared by way too many.

Rising violence is the reality of being trans in the US right now.

It goes against everything we teach about how to be safe, that it can happen in broad daylight with witnesses in Seattle.

I'm scared to share this because it feels like I'm telling my community we can never be safe.

but staying silent protects no one.

We must share our stories of suffering so that maybe our names won't be counted amongst the dead.

Trans suffering is human suffering.

Our voices are stronger together.

We are real, we are human, and we demand to be heard.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lucas, and thank you for being brave for sharing your story.

Thank you.

Nina next, and then Christine, Mike, and then Paul.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Nina, and I'm a trans woman.

I have friends that have suffered violence, friends that have been killed for being my peers.

I'm not unique in this regard, and that is shameful.

Violence does not happen in a vacuum.

It's a result of societal pressures and indifference.

We need to make the city a safer place for my LGBTQIA plus peers so we don't have to carry more names of our slain in our hearts.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nina.

Thank you, Nina.

Christine Moreland, followed by Mike Dunn, and then Paul Thomason.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Hi, council.

My name is Christine Moreland.

I'm the proud executive director of The More We Love.

We support pathways out of homelessness, addiction, human trafficking, and domestic violence for women and women with kids.

I support this legislator.

I think it's a good opportunity for us to provide ourselves with a diversion tool to access the most vulnerable.

We know that there's criminal activity happening in a lot of these RVs and that we need to be able to have a tool to hold them accountable, but we also need to reach the most vulnerable.

This isn't about just pushing people around the permitting process.

There's humans in there.

They need to access services.

We do outreach up on Aurora.

We know what's going on in a lot of those RVs and it's time that we protect our most vulnerable.

Thanks, you guys.

Thank you, Christine.

Next we have Mike, followed by Paul.

Welcome, Mike.

Hi, I'm Mike Dunn.

I came because I represent the North Lake neighborhood.

We had a huge epidemic of RVs for three years.

There was no place to park for the businesses.

We were broken into multiple times.

It was a weekly break-in all along North Lake.

And the victims, the main victims, were the people in the RVs.

They were being victimized by the drug dealers, by the guys renting the RVs, by the violence between them, by the pit bulls that were running loose between the vehicles.

It was terrible to behold.

Listening to these people speak, I'm humbled.

It's a hard problem.

And I thank you, Councilmember Strauss, for this legislation.

It's not the full answer, but it's sure a good move in the right direction.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mike.

Next we have Paul.

Welcome, Mr. Paul.

President Hogensworth and Councilmember Strauss, I'd like to compliment you on getting a dialogue started.

No law is perfect, but you have to start someplace.

And this is in favor of what you're doing.

I'm sure there will be amendments along the way.

But I'm part of a group that's putting together some, I guess we'd call them networks within your communities to help support the people that are going to need support during this period of time.

We as a community have got to get together.

Progress comes by actually building relationships.

It moves at the speed of relationships.

And if we can start building those, which we think we can in each one of your districts, that we can support this law and really help the people that are there.

and I'm speaking on behalf of my family that lives in your district, Councilman Sacca, and we support this effort.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Paul.

Next we have the next 10. We have Kira, followed by M.

Smith, then we have Lydia, Eli, Chanel, Todd, Jaws, Jessica, Chloe, and then Tara.

and I apologize if I mispronounced your name as well.

So we have Kira, M, Lydia, Eli, Chanel, Todd, Jaws, or Jazz, sorry, it could be Jazz, Jessica, Chloe, and Tara.

Welcome.

Did I mispronounce your name?

Kira?

Yep, got you.

You're all good.

All right.

Hi, councils.

Thank you for having me here.

I'm just here to talk about, like, I'm a school teacher.

I work with children.

And in the past year and a half, I have seen so many trans teachers be fired and be persecuted I myself was accused of encouraging children to take clothes off when I pointed to a toddler's belly button that he was showing me and said, oh, yeah, that's your belly button.

And I said, does anyone else have a belly button?

Another kid lifted their shirt up, and then I was fired for encouraging children to take their clothes off.

When I pointed out this double standard, I was immediately silenced.

The only reason why I did not end up homeless was because I had a friend who could pay for my rent for two months.

Otherwise, I would have been right back on the streets for something I never did.

I have worked in the childcare field for seven years, and in the past year and a half, I have seen teachers be fired for transphobia reasons.

I would highly encourage you guys to take a look to see what it's doing, because it's affecting minorities more than it's affecting anyone else.

Thank you.

Next, we have M.

Next, we have M.

Smith, followed by Lydia, Eli, and then Chanel.

M. Smith, welcome.

Yeah, I think everyone in this room today has to reckon with the fact that the Democratic Party has done nothing to solve any of the problems that they claim to care about.

And they will continue to do nothing because the Democratic Party does not represent us.

They started out this meeting by declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

45% of women who are domestic violence survivors stay with their abusive partner because they can't find housing.

So why is it that at the same time these Democrats and Mayor Katie Wilson are threatening to cut $68 million from the housing budget in this city?

They passed $300,000 to fund housing and services for transgender people who are fleeing to Seattle.

That $300,000 means nothing when they are slashing the housing budget by 200 times that amount.

30% of trans people have been homeless at some point in their lives.

That's eight times more than the general population.

And Dan Strauss is trying to take away a lifeline of people staying in their RVs at the same time.

We need a new party.

We need independent socialists.

We need to get organized.

We need to fight these cuts to the budget.

And we need to fight the Democratic Party.

Thank you.

Next we have Lydia, followed by...

Give me a sec.

So...

I appreciate the support.

We still have to move through public comment in between speakers.

It slows us down just a little bit, and we have folks waiting online as well.

All right, so...

And I want to make sure we get through everyone.

Lydia, followed by Eli, Chanel, Todd, and Jazz.

Welcome, Lydia.

We will no longer suffer in the shadows.

Our voices are strongest together.

Share the stories of the trans humans we have lost.

Share your suffering so that maybe your name won't be counted among them.

Bring mementos, relics, and living dead history.

Trans suffering is human suffering.

That is the text of the flyer that brings me here today.

and I brought some mementos as it suggested.

I brought my volunteer badge from the vigil that was organized by UW Trans Collective and Seattle Trans Feminists because I was one of those organizers for that vigil.

And I brought the newspaper that sits unread on my nightstand every day because I see her face every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to sleep.

and it is something that just fuels me.

And in it, you can see these candles.

This is one of those exact same candles.

Thank you, Lydia.

Next we have Eli.

Eli, any mic you want, Chanel, and followed by Todd.

Welcome.

Yeah, hello.

Any time you start, we'll start the timer.

You're good.

But honestly, I think I'm going to give my time to give them the proper respect because you cut off theirs.

So give them, like, if anyone wants to give them a round of a pot, like, and...

Yeah, more than happy.

You want Lydia to come back up for your...

Because I'm good with, I mean, that didn't take any much time.

I'm good with, they need their respect, so...

Okay, so we'll pause your time.

Lydia, do you wanna come up and take Eli's time to finish your public comment?

Thank you, Lydia.

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

Lydia, do you wanna continue to speak?

Lydia?

Or Eli, I'm sorry, I apologize.

Eli, do you wanna come speak?

Lydia didn't want the time.

Do you wanna speak, Eli?

The mic's just cut off automatically after a minute.

Go ahead, can you speak in the mic?

How about just don't cut off people's cheering?

That didn't take any time.

I'm good at using my minute.

I know we have to get along.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you, Eli.

The mic's cut off after a minute, but I'm not cutting people off.

Usually we let just people finish their comment and trying to be respectful about that as well.

So, Chanel, followed by Todd.

Are you Chanel?

No?

Is Chanel here?

Horns?

Horner?

No?

Okay, awesome.

Todd?

Is Todd here?

Welcome, Todd.

And then Jazz?

My name is Todd Haas.

I'm with Chair of Wheels, 10th City 4. Honorable council members, it is deeply concerning to our community that with the proposed legislation, people without a permit wouldn't be able to park anywhere on city streets overnight or for longer than two hours during the day.

People parked without a permit could have their and all their belongings impounded without notice, even if they have nowhere else to go and no other way to survive, which is immoral, capricious, and arbitrary.

The funding to staff the permitting program, eight FTEs, is in direct conflict with funding in the mayor's proposed budget to establish a new safe parking lot.

Unless they come up with more money to do both, establishing the permitting program would take away funding from another safe lot.

If you just, instead of penalizing people with permits, you could spend that money on a new shelter, a new RV safe lot.

Thank you, Todd.

Next, we have Jazz.

Welcome, Jazz, followed by Jessica, Chloe, and then Tara.

Welcome.

Hi there, my name is Jazz.

I'm from Share Wheel, tent city three.

The proposed permitting system as it is currently is immoral and diverting funding away from funding necessary for more shelters and services to unjust policing and punishment of those who already have basically nothing.

It would simply exacerbate the current housing and homelessness crisis in the city and forcing campers out into the greater King County area.

Right here, I have a letter from Chair Wheel as a collective for the clerk to distribute at their leisure.

Thank you.

Could you put it in the box for me, please?

That would be perfect.

Thank you, Jazz.

Appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

Next, we have Jessica, followed by Chloe.

Welcome.

Is it Jessica?

Awesome.

Welcome.

Come on forward.

Chloe and then Tara.

Welcome.

Hi.

Hi Council Member, I'm Jessica, I'm representative of SHARE and I live on Yessir at Y2K and this RV permit is immoral, it's wrong and you're punishing people by living in your city and we need more funding for shelters or even a new 10 cities, so please do that instead.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica.

Next, we have Chloe.

Welcome, Chloe.

And then Tara Miller.

Welcome.

Hi, I work at Quest Church in Ballard, and we often have RVs parked outside our building, and sharing space with any of our neighbors comes with those highs and lows, but it still breaks my heart when I pull into work in the morning and see those orange vests and know that the RVs are getting towed again, because I know they'll just end up back in the same space in a few weeks.

It's just shuffling people around without solutions.

So I was excited when I first heard about this legislation, investing more in outreach services like VRO, the development of safe lots.

but I can admit that my opinions have changed as I've heard from our neighbors who live in RVs around our church and I hear their support for investments and more RV safe lots and more supportive outreach but I also hear the harm that will be caused by a restrictive permitting system and harsh punishments for any violations.

One of our neighbors expressed that he doesn't consider himself homeless, his RV is his home and the threat of that home being impounded is only gonna worsen the housing crisis in our city.

So I want to believe that the council can find a solution that doesn't continue to treat RVs like an eyesore to dispose of, but honor's right that every resident of the city has to shelter, while creating a safe space for everyone.

Thank you, Chloe.

Next we have...

Good afternoon, my name is Tara Miller.

I live in District 5 and I'm the Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

We ask you to create the most robust access to RV parking in Seattle and to legislate from a place of abundance.

This proposed legislation comes from a place of scarcity, a cost prohibitive permitting process, only one window to apply for permits, forcing RV residents without permits to leave their homes or face impoundment, and greatly limiting where RVs can park.

When I moved to Seattle, I worked in family shelters for five years.

One area of our work was providing preventative outreach to support families who are living in RVs or cars to be able to move directly into housing and avoid needing to stay in shelter first.

When our neighbors face economic hardship, autonomy is everything.

Trusting the people closest to the problem to know what solutions are ideal for them, as we've heard today, is how we prioritize each other's humanities in the midst of an increasingly unaffordable city and it's how we lead from abundance.

Please listen to those who are speaking today.

Thank you.

And next we have, are you Rachel?

Awesome.

Okay, so let me read the next 10. We have Rachel, Margaret, Crystal, Emma, Ashley, Sam, Guinevere, Bennett, Hannah, and Allison.

And if you are online, we have about, do we have any more speakers signed up?

Okay, so we have 13 more speakers in person, so in about 3.30-ish, we are gonna come online.

Welcome, Rachel.

Good afternoon, my name is Rachel Cattola and I'm with the Church Council of Seattle.

As we all know, housing in Seattle is deeply unaffordable.

An RV living for many people is not their first option, but a creative solution in a very difficult situation.

I have a friend, Isabel, who is from Venezuela and when she came to the US, she ended up having to leave her apartment because she was a survivor of domestic violence.

when her status was taken overnight by this Trump administration, she was not able to work and actually afford a dignified place to live.

So her creative solution was to find an RV where she and her son could live safely.

I know that we need more shelter, we need more safe lots, we need more services for survivors of domestic violence, as well as protections for our immigrant neighbors.

But when we have limited shelter, criminalizing and persecuting those in RVs is not the answer.

I ask that you slow this down and listen to the folks here today that are telling you what the solution really is.

Thank you, Rachel.

Next we have Margaret, followed by Crystal, Emma, Ashley, Sam.

Welcome.

Hi, good afternoon.

I'm Margaret Shields speaking about the VRAP RV legislative package.

So this is very challenging for the Homelessness Task Force that I'm part of in Lake City, and I hope you could read our detailed email.

Creating pathways from living in an RV on the streets to permanent housing is so sorely needed.

but the time frame is too short for the census outreach, creating safe lots, and finding appropriate housing.

That good work is going to crash right into the start of the one-time only RV permits, the parking bans, towing vehicles without notice, and that is going to put more unhoused people onto our streets and into our parks.

So the appropriation also doesn't explain how the $5 million will be spent and many costs are uncertain.

Glassyard Commons alone will cost $3.36 million and hundreds more RV spots will be needed.

So how much of the $5 million will actually go to RV safe lots and housing?

Or will the enforcement program suck away all the funds?

I greatly appreciate Councilmember Lynn's change to create a VRAP working group as a bit of a checkpoint.

Please include knowledgeable community members because we'll see the impacts in our neighborhoods

Thank you, Margaret.

Next, we have Crystal, followed by Emma, Ashley, Sam, Guinevere, Bennett.

Okay.

So last Monday, Swedish hospital in Ballard was put on lockdown for an hour, which caused all emergencies to be rerouted because there was a truck parked near the entrance to the emergency room with a man slumped over the steering wheel.

SPD decided to respond to this welfare check by bringing out a battalion of 20 officers.

And then when the man did not respond to their commands, they decided to take target practice on him with less than lethal nine millimeter rounds rather than attempt to even open his door.

The man was dead.

The SPD has graduated from murdering and shooting people who are in crisis to desecrating the body of the dead outside of our hospitals, making them go into lockdown while they engage in target practice.

How would you like to receive the body of your loved one riddled with nine millimeter holes put there by SPD after he died of cardiac arrest?

That was an act of state terrorism, and none of you have said anything about it!

So while you are bemoaning the cost of public bathrooms, none of you question anything about the community impact of SPD, about its uses of force, how much it's costing us, and millions of dollars in lawsuits, while you're selling focus on some imaginable- Thank you, Crystal.

Thank you, Crystal.

Thank you, Crystal.

And at the end of this meeting, and I'll talk to you, Crystal, outside, but I am gonna address your sign, and I will address the sign.

Thank you, Emma.

Hi, I'm Emma, and I live very near the intersection of 25th Avenue South and Rainier Avenue.

This is an intersection that should be part of a 15-minute city.

There's a subway, there's a Taco Time, there's CVS, right?

But unfortunately, there's also an encampment.

This encampment has been there for many years.

We all know what an encampment looks like.

We know that there are open fires.

We know that there are individuals screaming in the street.

There are catcalling.

There are extension cords, right?

That's why we're here talking about the tents and the RVs.

I feel very disappointed to often hear that public safety is reduced to a matter of NIMBYs or curb appeal when really public safety and a failure to protect public safety is a failure of our public spaces.

When people who have more resources cannot feel safe being in the public, being in our community.

They will drive.

They will lean on their employer-supported benefits.

They'll eat at the cafeterias.

They'll pay through the nose for these luxury apartments instead of being part of our parks because they don't want to be screamed at.

So I'm here to say that there is a community interest.

There is a compassionate interest in protecting public safety.

And please do something about 25th and.

Thank you, Emma.

Next, we have Ashley followed by Sam and Guinevere.

Welcome, Ashley.

Hi, I'm Ashley with PDA, and we have serious concerns about proposed Amendment C related to VRAP.

Criminal convictions already come with plenty of consequences, including jail time and fines, and it's not constructive to impose additional collateral consequences, especially for people who are actively working towards stabilization, which is the goal of these permits.

If people aren't working with case managers, they already lose their permit under the current legislation and we don't evict people from Seattle Housing Authority or pull their fresh bucks based on criminal conviction.

This amendment proposes even pulling a permit when a person has entered a diversion or deferred prosecution agreement.

Officers divert people and prosecutors enter them into deferred agreements and courts approve them.

Often with the expectation that people follow through on certain requirements, it would be incredibly destabilizing if after they enter into one of the agreements, they're asked to abandon where they're living or regularly relocate.

So please vote no on Amendment C. Thank you, Ashley.

Next we have Sam followed by Guinevere.

Welcome, Sam.

Hello, counsel.

My name is Sam Wolf, also with PDA, and I'm here for VRAP.

I have concerns about the amendment to deny permits based on criminal history.

Convictions included in the amendment are not used as grounds for exclusion from other services, and very notably, don't necessarily make one ineligible for the shelters that VRAP seeks to connect people to.

If we can't make decisions based on individual situations, then the system will be inaccessible to people who need it.

To that end, I appreciate the space that Councilmember Strauss has held to discuss the design of this policy.

It's extremely important that these discussions continue, and for that reason, I strongly support the proposed pre-implementation work group.

We need to work to make this system accessible for people who will face barriers in the permitting process.

We need to fund safe lots for RVs to stay in, and we need to ensure that shelter offers are appropriate and meaningful.

Our system must be accessible, and we must connect people to the services that they need.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Next, we have Guinevere followed by Bennett, Hannah, Allison.

Welcome, Guinevere.

Thank you, counsel.

My name is Guinevere Godstutter.

I'm a resident of District 5. I'm a survivor of gender-based violence.

I was maced while waiting at a bus stop in the U District just for being visibly queer.

I'm regularly threatened with violence and harassed for being visibly queer in Seattle.

A man called me a dyke cunt who looks like a man and threatened to break my fucking jaw on the 75 bus.

Your proclamation doesn't mean anything when SPD is primarily staffed by domestic violence perpetrators.

Speaking of which, Bennett Hasselton, also known as Bennett Hayes, he comes here all the time.

He's wearing a blue button-up and a blue tie.

He should be behind me.

He works with Brandi Cruz.

Bennett is a transphobe and a Zionist who's friends with an active duty IDF soldier committing genocide in Gaza.

He cosplays as a liberal and he comes here all the time.

He works with those who are trying to kill us.

He's a transphobe.

He cosplays as a liberal.

Thank you.

Thank you, Guinevere.

Next we have Bennett, followed by Hannah and Allison.

Bennett, you are next.

It was Guinevere.

We have Bennett, Hannah, and then Allison.

and if you're online we have one, give me one second Bennett, we have one, two, three, four, five more speakers left and then we'll transition online.

So about 3.30 we will transition online.

Bennett, welcome.

Good afternoon, Council.

So two...

Oh, time.

Go ahead.

We'll...

He hadn't started talking.

We'll start at one minute.

All right.

Go ahead, Bennett.

All right, so two weeks ago, Councilmember Rivera had mentioned hearing about anti-Semitism and some protests going on the day before.

I actually went to the event at Cal Adderson Park that was called Long Live October 7th.

I brought a sign with me to stand next to the crowd saying, please stop cheering for October 7th.

Many innocent people were murdered that day.

Rally for Palestine, not for October 7th.

With love, be better.

So I did that because I believe in the importance of dialogue.

There's Al-Qazam make us proud, meaning military wing of Hamas.

Take another settler out, meaning Israeli civilian.

And in case there's any ambiguity about what you think they meant...

Every Israeli deserves to die a brutal, bloody, merciless death.

This is not good.

This is not normal.

Thank you, Bennett.

Next we have, I believe, number 35 is here, Chanel.

Chanel is here.

Before you go, Hannah, give me one second.

I think we had...

Give me one second.

Is Chanel here?

Okay, awesome.

Let's go Hannah and then Chanel.

Okay, welcome, Hannah.

Hi, I'm Hannah Ziff from Pioneer Square.

Seattle is a peaceful place.

We are the city of Goodwill, the Emerald City.

We've got the Seattle Freeze, Seattle Goodwill, and Seattle Mind Your Own Business.

The city is a corporation with obligations and vision for the future, and it's delineated to certain aspects of our lives, especially business.

A very wise man said to me this week, remember who's the majority and everyone else is minor leaguers.

Here we believe in our local government and its cohesion with the people.

I speak to the people who will be appointed to the housing levy today when I promote the idea of Seattle selling bonds to meet our demand for over 100,000 more multifamily housing units in the metro area.

Please consider partnering with the Wren Technical College and Bellevue Community College to obtain more blue-collar workers to actually fulfill our construction demands.

Council members, please be prudent, responsible, and frugal when making expenditures and investments because filling in plots will connect lots downtown.

Thank you.

Thank you, Hannah.

Next we have Chanel, followed by Allison.

Is Chanel here?

Awesome.

Welcome.

And is Allison here?

Awesome.

And then you are next, Allison, after Chanel.

Welcome.

Okay.

I'm not against help.

I'm against trading my home for a promise.

This permit is a one-time offer.

If we turn down the shelter offer three times, then my RV gets towed and I don't get it back.

That's not support.

That's a deadline with consequences.

And the safe lot doesn't fix that.

We've seen it.

People go in, get exited, and then end up worse off than before.

So before you ask yourself this, how many of us have to lose everything before somebody in this room is held accountable?

Thank you.

Thank you, Chanel.

Next, we have Al...

thank you, Chanel.

Next, we have Allison, and then after Allison, before you go, I'm gonna read the next speakers real quick, so give me one second.

We have Yvette, followed by Arthi, Arthi, Erthi, and then Evie.

Sorry if I said your name wrong.

All right.

Welcome, Allison.

Good afternoon.

Allison Isinger, Director of the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness.

People who live in RVs, other vehicles, and without any shelter need better places to be.

So we support the proposal elements that would allow the city to store RVs and we support more investment in outreach for people who rely on vehicles as shelter.

We cannot support the package as a whole, which would create a draconian ban on RVs, redefine what constitutes a junk vehicle of any type, and fail to address specific instances in which criminal activity is taking place out of an RV.

Even if Lehigh opens the long-delayed lot next month and this council funds the 92 RV safe parking program that's part of the proposed budget, there won't be enough designated places for the undercount of RVs that has been used to base this proposal on, let alone other types of vehicles.

We urge you to vote no on three elements you've received an email from us detailing our recommendations and our rationale.

The permit proposal, hiring eight new city

parking rules and to the definition of junk.

If today, I just wanna briefly- Thank you, Alison.

Spending millions to create a new exclusive permit bureaucracy that by design cannot work for all other people and doesn't increase shelter or housing- Thank you, Alison.

Priority for our limited- Thank you, Alison.

Next, we have Yvette.

Miss Yvette.

I know I butchered your name, so I apologize, and then Evie.

Miss Yvette.

Good afternoon.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Also, I want to speak in favor of the RV Council Bill 121283. It's a start.

It's a start.

I'd also like to see funding for those who can't afford the permit so that they can not directly be affected as as it could be as long as they can stay for more than 24 hours in a spot.

And I also wanted to give kudos to Lehigh, the low income housing institution.

I work with several of the tiny house villages in my neighborhood and they do an excellent job.

They're well run, they're clean and they're law abiding.

So I appreciate the work they do.

And Dan Strauss who's a budget chair, hang in there buddy.

You got a lot of, you guys got your hands full with the budget process and I appreciate how hard you work to spend our money.

Thank you Miss Yvette.

Next we have, I know I butchered your name, Arthi, is it Arthi and then we have Evie.

How did I, how do I say your name?

It's Arthi.

Arthi, awesome.

Let me know when to go.

Anytime you start, clock starts.

Awesome.

Hey, all.

I'm Arthi.

I used to work at a homeless shelter.

And let me tell you, the hardest thing is to go from being homeless to having stable housing.

And I have helped people, but I could not do what they do.

I don't know if any of us could do what they do.

but you know who could?

My friend Sky.

My friend Sky got laid off from their job when they became disabled after long COVID and because they're trans they didn't have family support.

They would have been homeless.

They stayed with me until they could get on their feet and now they are living in an RV they have a job that they can keep doing even being disabled and that is a much better outcome than living on the street, maybe dying on the street.

I've also spoken with an officer who is in charge of these sweeps and he candidly told me that he and his officers, they play ping pong.

They ping pong people around and do it indefinitely.

$68 million is at stake here.

Do you want to give it to someone who plays ping-pong with human lives or someone who's trying to get themselves off the street and on their feet?

Evie, Evie, Evie, Evie.

Online will come to you next, so online, give me one second, Evie, then we're gonna go online and Samuel Dixon, you are up, and then Ben Tog, you are next.

So if you are hearing me online, can you go ahead and bump Samuel online so we can go directly to him?

Welcome, Evie.

We are humans, you are humans, and when a human comes up here and shares the trauma of a trans woman who was stabbed over 40 times with relics and artifacts, living history from them, you put decorum the fuck aside and you let them finish.

We are humans, trans suffering is human suffering.

in Calinerson Park on Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20th, members of the transgender community and our allies will come together to coalesce a quilt for every trans person who made it here, for those who didn't, the lost, the murdered, Juniper, blessing.

The victims of state violence, release the $500,000 now, recognize the moment, and fund what it takes to keep us alive.

If we are not counted, we are erased.

Thank you, Evie.

Next we have...

Next we have Samuel.

Please press star six to unmute yourself if you're...

We have to go online, Miss Yvette.

All right, thank you.

Next we have Samuel, and then Ben, and then Alice.

Hi, Samuel, star six, unmute yourself.

Do we have Samuel online?

We see you, star six, unmute yourself.

You're still on mute, Samuel.

There we go.

Hi there.

Sorry, I had a minute to unmute there.

Hi, my name is Sam Dixon.

I am commenting about resolution 32216. I'm a local resident here in District 7 and I wanted to say that this van permit bill is a bad piece of legislation and it is not going to accomplish what it claims it's trying to address, which is the housing crisis.

This just punishes people for living in their vehicles.

It is structurally just adding bureaucracy to a problem that doesn't need bureaucracy.

People need autonomy.

They need support.

And I think this bill is a very bad faith way of trying to adjust housing shortages.

I think we need more robust solutions and we need to put this bill down.

Thank you.

Thank you, Samuel.

Next we have been followed by Alice Lockhart and then large Star six unmute yourself, Ben.

Good afternoon, council.

Good afternoon, council.

My name is Ben.

I'm here to urge the council to approve VRAP.

The two reasons why I support this program, so one, the junk unoccupied vehicles that are parked on the street, there are people who are gaming the system and are wasting the city's time and resources.

If parking enforcement comes and tags the vehicles with a 72-hour sticker, all the owner has to do is move that vehicle down one block and the process starts all over again.

This part of the process is completely broken and there needs to be an amendment to this process and VRAP addresses this.

The second reason is as a result of these abandoned vehicles, it is opening the door to unhomed people to park and live next to these junk cars.

There are people living in their cars using drugs and selling drugs from their vehicle.

I can only report them as an abandoned vehicle, but they will just temporarily move and come right back.

So council, I'm pleading with you to please take action on this.

Thank you, Ben.

Next we have Alice followed by Lars.

Star6, unmute yourself.

Hey, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Hello?

Yes, hello.

Oh, cool.

Hey, this is Alice Lockhart with 350 Seattle and Seattle Solidarity Budget, and I literally cried when I read about the rent ban.

If after it passes, and I'm sort of putting myself in this position, if after the rent ban passes and the safe lots are full and I lose my house due to medical debt and move into my RV, I would be forced to leave the city I've lived in for 35 years or risk losing my only remaining thing of value with all my other possessions inside.

If I then left the city, I couldn't return to visit again without losing everything.

Even people who get a place in one of the proposed safe lots face the prospects of losing their only property in exchange for housing that could not turn out to be permanent.

If they should then lose that housing for any reason, which we know happened, blam, on the street in a tent.

I hope that none of you, even Mr. Strauss, when you give it second thoughts can come in, can in good faith vote for this after considering these ramifications.

Don't take away people's only property and only home.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alice.

Next we have Lars, followed by Allison and then Rose, star six.

Welcome Lars.

Good afternoon, council president and council members.

My name is Lars Erickson.

I live in district three and I serve as the senior vice president of public affairs and communications with the Seattle Metro Chamber, representing more than 2,600 employers across our region.

Today I'm testifying in support of the VRAP pieces of legislation.

Our members want to see more people connected to shelter and housing, and they want to see progress on reducing unsheltered homelessness in our neighborhoods.

What stands out about this proposal is that it focuses on outcomes.

It expands outreach and support services, creates clear pathways to housing, and helps people move indoors while providing greater predictability and accountability for public spaces.

No single piece of legislation will solve homelessness, but this is a meaningful step forward.

On behalf of the Chamber's 2600 members, we urge you to support this legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lars.

Next we have Allison followed by Rose and then Kate.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Allison Bailo.

I'm a staff attorney at Columbia Legal Services, a nonprofit legal services organization in Washington.

I've worked with people living in vehicles for many years.

I was co-counsel on the state Supreme Court case, City of Seattle v. Stephen Long, and I was also a member of a state legislative work group on vehicle residency.

I strongly urge the council to vote no on the permitting, enforcement, and junk vehicle provisions of the proposed legislation.

These sections are legally and constitutionally problematic.

Restrictive and arbitrary permitting and impoundment will only further harm and destabilize the vulnerable members of our community that live in shelter and larger vehicles.

The city's resources should be targeted towards expanding shelter, housing, safe lots and vehicle storage options.

This can be done without resorting to the punitive enforcement and impoundment measures that are in this legislation.

Thank you.

I am terrified for the coming winter.

That is what one of my friends told me in Cal Anderson the other day.

Her, like many others, are suffering in Cal Anderson where there are sweeps that happen nearly every morning just like they happened this morning with not but five minutes of notice before all their belongings are thrown away in a dumpster truck and taken away.

This is unexcusable.

Why is it that we are focusing on how to take more housing away from homeless people when we are already struggling with what we have?

We have individuals that are afraid that they are going to freeze to death this winter.

My friend is a trans woman of color that supposedly the city stood for her when they signed the proclamation in June, but when it comes to make sure that she doesn't freeze to death in December, there's nowhere to be seen.

We need you all to be there for us, not just when it is easy in June, but when we are actually struggling and fearful of the fact that we might freeze and we might die when it comes to the winter months.

This is dangerous and this is terrifying.

We need you to stop this.

Thank you, Rose.

Next we have Kate.

My name is Kate Rubin.

Go ahead, Kate.

We'll restart your time.

Wait, give us one second.

We'll go ahead and restart your time.

And then when you start, we'll start it.

Go ahead.

My name is Kate Rubin.

I live in District 2, and I'm the co-executive director of B Seattle.

During the pandemic, we did outreach to RV residents, most of whom had experienced eviction.

Seattle doesn't have nearly enough shelter or housing for our unhoused neighbors, and evictions are now at record highs.

I appreciate Councilmember Strauss' work to create safe laws and pathways back into housing, but we're concerned about the one-time permitting system as more people lose their homes.

Compounding RVs won't make homelessness disappear, or address the conditions that concern the public.

We will further destabilize people who have nowhere else to go, pushing them into parks and other public spaces.

I'm going to account for 42% of people living in vehicles, compared with 22% of those sleeping outside and in tents.

RVs provide additional privacy, sanitation, and importantly, protection for those facing heightened risks of violence and harassment.

We support the efforts in VRAP to connect vehicle residents with housing services, and we want to make sure the permitting restrictions don't put them at greater risk while they wait for housing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kate.

Next we have Elizabeth followed by Rubai and then Mira Starsext, unmute yourself.

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Arshandle.

I live in the South Lake Union neighborhood and today I want to speak in support of the reasonable parts of today's RV legislation.

One of the reasonable parts, of course, is the RV proposal to have safe spaces for RV parkers to camp at.

Also, an additional staff to help manage the safe spots.

The unreasonable part is the restrictive timeline for getting permits, which only, at present, happens once a year.

If people miss that once a year, they are not allowed to reapply any other time.

So I'm urging that council vote on the good part to leave out the unreasonable part and also to increase the number of time and or opportunities to get the permit.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Next we have Rubai followed by Mira and Andrew Lynn.

Good afternoon, Seattle City Council members.

My name is Rubai Aurora and I'm here today representing Woodland Park Zoo, a beloved community asset for residents across Seattle.

If you've had the chance to visit the zoo recently, you likely noticed the RVs parked along Finney Avenue directly in front of our west entrance.

We've come to understand that most of these vehicles are not being used as housing, instead are being collected and stored by one or two individuals.

Beyond the issue of illegal parking, these vehicles often create visibility and safety concerns for our guests.

We've also seen them result in serious conflicts with neighbors and pedestrians near our entrance.

That's why we're here to support Councilmember Strauss' legislative package.

It offers a balanced approach that will help vulnerable individuals access the services they need and increase public safety.

Thank you for your consideration and your leadership on this important issue.

Thank you Rubai.

Next we have Mira followed by Andrew Lynn and then Sarah and then Reed.

Hi, my name is Mira.

I have been a Seattle resident for 12 years and I'm lucky enough to be housed in District 4. RVs represent shelter, resources, dignity and independence in the lives of vehicle residents.

About 57% of RV residents live with a disability.

A third of them own pets and for many having a secure and private space is essential for physical and mental survival.

Many shelter options offered by the city are not viable for this group of people.

Please pass the parts of the legislation that support development of safe lots and shelter storage and reject the RV permit program.

Everyone who's spoken today agrees that Seattle's housing crisis is having brutal negative impacts on all the city's residents, but this part of the legislation will not solve it.

It's an expensive paperwork program that will do nothing but generate one more avenue to find people, confiscate their property, and push them out of the city limits or onto the streets.

Please say no to the permit program

Thank you, Mira.

Next, we have speaker number 13, Andrew Lynn, followed by Sarah, Reed, Graham, and Joe.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Hello?

Oh, yay.

Okay.

Well, hello, council members.

My name is Angelina Sciarro.

She heard from Pierce County District number two.

I'm speaking to you today to inform you about an extremist, racist, and sexist group from most of the state of California, but also here in our state of Washington as well, who have an agenda of legalizing rape and slavery.

They're focusing on women, hence the reason why I mentioned sexism, but also the other characteristic of Hispanic, which is racist, please believe me.

They're known as Marvel, with their partners from their official and unofficial rosters, and entirely public with who they associate with.

They want to be global dominators in which they save the world as they try and make it out of the universe.

They use several online aliases and have lived double by performing illegal experimentation.

They are part of a national and international human trafficking ring called Forge Rapists exercising operations in all these branches of violence, focusing especially on sexual violence.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Now we have Sarah followed by Reed and then Graham.

Hi, my name is Sarah.

I've been involved with mutual aid volunteering services for our in-house community members in Seattle for over three years.

Specifically, I seem to be on speed dial for several city-employed unified care team members who frequently call me when they know that they are not providing housing for folks living in their vehicles and their homes are being imminently impounded by the city.

And I've seen firsthand how our current process of stealing people's homes literally ruins lives.

As it stands, this RV ban is inadequate and will continue to ruin lives.

Of course, I'm in support of providing RV safe plots where people can access services within city limits and their belongings are safe and retained and they have a path to real affordable housing, not inadequate shelter.

I encourage you to direct any funding in this legislation to more RV safe plots and community outreach, not towing people's only resources and property.

This current legislation will push people into tents and passenger vehicles, which will increase deaths on our streets and lifelong health impacts.

This permitting process is is absolutely insane.

And if this passes, we'll have detrimental impacts on our own health.

Thank you, Sarah.

Next we have Reid Meyer followed by Grant.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, council members.

You claim this legislation is what your constituents want.

I'm here to remind you that vehicle residents are your constituents too.

We pay the hefty fuel taxes, the 10.5% sales tax, all the sin taxes, the sweet drink taxes, the bag taxes, and endless city fees.

We pay into the system and we deserve representation, not dehumanization.

Forcing us to register, give up our privacy, and submit to an invasive government program just to keep our own homes is inhumane, especially when our only quote-unquote crime is being too poor to afford Seattle's astronomical rents.

And many of us have sought help from the system but were either denied, offered substandard options, or left on endless wait lists.

We live in vehicles because the broken system has left us no other choice.

Stop prioritizing urban aesthetics and gentrification over human survival.

What you see as an eyesore is our protection from hypothermia, pneumonia, and literal death.

Thank you.

Thank you, Reed.

Next we have Graham followed by Joe and then Anne.

Graham, Joe, and then Anne.

And it looks like before you go, Graham, we have about 11 speakers left.

Welcome, Graham.

Good afternoon, council members.

I'm Dr. Graham Press, a UW anthropologist, former Seattle Safe Parking Outreach worker, and executive director of the National Vehicle Residency Coalition.

We organize the nation's largest network of vehicle residents, parking program operators, and policy advocates for mobile housing.

For nearly two decades, I've worked with thousands of vehicle residents, particularly in Seattle, veterans, seniors, workers, families, people with disabilities, and people escaping violence or homelessness.

These are our neighbors, not problems to be solved.

All of them deserve a safe home.

We urge you to vote no on Bill on 121-280-281-1288.

We urge the development of inclusive parking for RVs as emergency, transitional, and permanent housing.

And we support funding outreach, legal parking, sanitation, and infrastructure through 282. But the other ordinances in this package will displace people from your communities.

Simply put, you have constituents living in RVs who will...

Thank you, Graham.

Next we have Joe, followed by Ann.

Thank you, President Hollingsworth.

Joe Kunzler here.

Thank you for carrying me in hot today.

A lot of thoughts.

I'm going to try to talk a little fast because I've got a printer to set up and we've only got a minute to talk.

But first, I want to lend my voice of condemnation to all the violence against our trans neighbors.

I may have voted proudly to make sure that natural girls sports are natural girls sports, but violence against our trans community is violence against humanity, and it must stop.

I also strongly support Councilmember Dan Strauss' cunning plan to deal with the RV problem but that should be coupled to a second RV safe lot I think it's important to be humane about this but it's also important to keep Seattle clean and awesome as Seattle is a great city with a great city council president I also want to thank Mayor Katie Wilson for condemning anti-semitism and condemning the recent mob that we all had been at play Those mobsters belong in prison, along with Israel, along with Seattle.

Thank you, Joe.

Next we have Anne, followed by...

Before you go, Anne, we have people who have signed up that are not present.

We have Al, Cedar, we have Lang, Gina, Aiden, Rebecca, and we have David Haynes, we have Em, and then we have Alfonso.

Welcome, Anne.

Hello, my name is Anne.

I'm addressing the recommendations of the Public Safety Committee today.

Council members, I urge you to approve all measures on today's agenda pertaining to vehicle residency in Seattle to ensure community safety.

As a homeowner in North Seattle along the corridor, I can attest myself, my husband, and our neighbors have witnessed firsthand both violent crime and property crime committed by individuals living in recreational vehicles, including the sale of drugs and sex from those same vehicles.

I've never felt more afraid in my own home than during the period where these crimes took place out of RVs.

The very worst included a shooting that took place in broad daylight inside of an RV, as the Seattle Times reported on September 9th, 2023, a man charged with murder of an RV intruder in North Seattle.

During one response from the police to our community after a crime was committed by an RV resident, the officer advised the community to install barricades on the public road to prevent RVs from parking.

The officer's comments were recorded on his body camera.

After barricades appeared later in multiple locations where RVs had previously parked, the crime stopped.

The current laws and approach to parking enforcement are not enough to the rent scenario of individuals living in RVs.

Thank you, Ann.

Next we have M.

If you're not present, Al, Cedar, Lang, Gina, Aiden, Rebecca, David, and Alfonso.

Last person we have is M.

That is present.

star six, unmute yourself.

We see you online, you might be, there you go.

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Oh, thank you.

I'm Em Bredal, speaking for Seattle.

Seattle has become a sanctuary city for many trans individuals who fear for their lives in this country when there is so much disillusion, misinformation, and demonization of trans people.

Lately, viewed on the streets, on television screens, by politicians, in order to disrupt and pit people against one another, I have seen many people, friends, peers, suffer and die in a system that is made to make them an enemy, where they struggle to find safety, find housing, find jobs, or abuse, discriminate events, and suffer from addiction, suicide, and murder.

Please hear our voices.

In a world that attempts to erase us from existence, we have always been here.

There will always be people like us just wanting to survive, stand with us in unity.

Every single person in the world is unique, and there is more diversity in gender, sex, sexuality, culture, greed, and human form than we are taught.

We are not so different.

For all people, we have strength in our diversity and respect.

Thank you, Em.

And I'm gonna go ahead and give another call to folks online and double check if we have anyone else signed up in person.

So we have Al, Cedar, Lang, Gina, Aiden, Rebecca, David, and Alfonso.

They are not present and we have no one else signed up online.

All right, so we're gonna go ahead and close the public comment period.

first off I want to thank everyone for taking the time for coming down for public comment period I also want to make sure that I try to do a really good job of not cutting people off while they're finishing their thought I try to be incredibly respectful while I know that you all took a lot of time to come down here and speak and so I do apologize if anyone felt disrespected that we cut them off or anything of that nature because we try to do we try to manage all the speakers that are here, also the folks that are online that have been waiting for hours as well.

You can imagine what it's like to wait on the phone for hours.

So just wanna thank you all for coming down, telling us your public comment.

We try to do a job of moving through the comments as respectful as possible, but really appreciate the feedback so I can get better as I'm managing a lot of people.

So just wanna thank you all for your comments as well.

I also we're gonna now move into our agenda colleagues as well and so if there's no objection the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted seeing no objection the introduction and referral calendar is adopted and I move to adopt the agenda is there a second second Thank you, it's been moved and second to adopt the agenda.

I also know that Council Member Lynn, am I turning to you?

um sorry thank you council president um there is one item that we need to remove from the consent calendar this is a institutions zoning that passed out a committee but we had to send notice to the state and notice was sent by sdci but it was sent by mail and and usually it's electronically so they still needed more time to review and so I would like to move to amend the agenda, remove consent calendar item 12, council bill 1276.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and second to amend the agenda by removing consent calendar item number 12, council bill 121276. Council member Lynn addressed the item.

Is there anything else you wanna say?

Just said it would have to go on a future calendar.

So hopefully next month, assuming there's a time, but it'll come back.

All right, welcome back, Council Bill 121276. All right, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amendment to remove Council Bill 121276?

Council member Rivera.

Council member Sacca.

Aye.

Council member Strauss.

Council member Foster.

Yes.

Council member Juarez.

Aye.

Council member Kettle.

Councilmember Lin.

Councilmember Rinke.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the removal of Council Bill 121276 is removed.

Are there any further comments on the agenda as amended?

If there's no objection, the agenda as amended will be adopted.

Awesome.

We're now gonna consider the proposed consent calendar.

The consent calendar is pretty hefty colleagues.

We added as much stuff as we could to make sure that this meeting could go smoothly.

So the minutes of September, 2022, 2026, we also have council bill 121302, 121303 and 121304 that is payment of the bills.

We also have two bills from the governance and utilities committee, as well.

We also have four bills from the Human Services and Labor Economic Committee.

We have one pay compression correction.

We have one civil service exemption bill and two employment bills as well.

We also have one bill from the Land Use and Sustainability Committee that has been removed from the consent calendar that we just voted on.

And we have 12 appointments from the Housing Arts and Civil Rights Committee.

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

Thank you.

Item 12 was recently removed at the adoption of the agenda.

So I'm gonna move to adopt the consent calendar, excluding item 12. Is there a second?

Second.

Awesome.

It's been moved and second to adopt the consent calendar, excluding item number 12. Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Sacca?

Councilmember Strauss?

Councilmember Foster?

Councilmember Juarez?

Councilmember Kettle?

Councilmember Lin?

Councilmember Rink?

Council President Hollingsworth?

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Awesome, the consent calendar items excluding item number 12 are adopted.

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

Clerk, will you please read item number one into the record?

Agenda item one, Council Bill 121-299 related to the Seattle Department of Transportation authorizing the Director of the Department of Transportation to execute an interlocal agreement with Seattle Public Schools for bicycle and pedestrian safety education and training services.

I'm gonna move to pass Council Bill 121-299.

Is there a second?

Second.

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

Councilmember Saka, as sponsor of this bill, you're recognized in order to address it.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

Colleagues, this legislation approves a renewed interlocal agreement between the City of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools, specifically to continue delivering bicycle and pedestrian safety education for students in grades three through eight.

It helps ensure that the let's go and let's go further programs can continue operating across all elementary and middle schools.

This critical partnerships strengthens our vision zero and safe routes to school goals by giving thousands of students, including those with adaptive needs, the skills to walk, to safely walk, bike and travel in their own neighborhoods.

Ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sacca.

Are there any other comments regarding this item?

Awesome.

Council Member Sacca, any closing remarks?

All right, awesome.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member DiVetta.

Councilmember Sanka Councilmember Strauss Councilmember Foster Councilmember Huatiss Councilmember Kettle Councilmember Lin Councilmember Rink Council President Hollingsworth Councilmember Rink Council President Hollingsworth Bill passes.

Chair will sign and will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Will the clerk please read item number two into the record.

They report the Governance and Utilities Committee, agenda item two, appointment to 3594, appointment of Shannon Smith as Chief Technology Officer, Sail Information Technology Department for term to July 1st, 2030. The committee recommends that the council confirm the appointment.

Awesome.

As chair, as the committee, I'm gonna present the report.

We held two committee meetings on Chief Technology Officer Smith and received robust responses to our written questions.

Chief Technology Officer Smith is a technology professional and we're incredibly lucky to have her leadership.

I could go on and on about her expertise.

One of the things that probably One of the things, just to tell you about a person that she is, this weekend I had the opportunity to attend the AI Equity Summit at the McKinney Center and that summit was about two hours and Chief Smith stayed the entire time, engaged with community, talked about AI in the things that I see pointing down about AI, I get it, but talked about the equity component and what it could do to communities to unfortunately cause harm potentially to some of the equity pieces and exacerbate digital equity as well, but also tools in which we could be able to be successful as well.

And so that was a great introduction into our community, how she engaged with community members, connected with people, took the time to answer questions and have that outreach as the type of leader that I wanna see from our city departments, just to spend that one-on-one time with people and not just through an email or a phone call, but face-to-face time colleagues and really appreciated her presence there at that summit.

So I don't have anything more just to say I'm very excited to vote on this confirmation in full council as it passed out of our committee and very grateful for her leadership.

And I know that will continue to move in a direction that's very, very intentional with our city for technology and how we enhance people's experience towards it that we don't rely on it as well.

And we'll close the digital equity gap as well.

So really excited about that colleagues.

At this time, I'll pause to see if anyone has any comments before we call on the roll to confirm the appointment.

Easy money, all right.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Sacca?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Aye.

Council member Foster?

Yes.

Council member Juarez?

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Appointments confirmed.

Congratulations Chief Technology Officer Smith.

You're welcome to join us right here if you want to make some brief remarks as well.

Thank you so much and congratulations.

Thank you, Council President Hollingsworth and fellow council members.

I am so honored to join the City of Seattle as your Chief Technology Officer.

I'm excited to partner with you all on the mayoral and council priorities.

My public servant heart is very happy today.

Thank you again.

I look forward to working with you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Chief Smith.

Chief Technology Smith.

Really appreciate it and looking forward to working with you as well.

All right, will the clerk please read item number three into the record?

The report of the Public Safety Committee, agenda item three, Council Bill 121-279, relating to leases, updating the Director of Finance and Administrative Services authority to execute leases when the land is at use for transitional encampments, outdoor storage for any vehicle or overnight respite areas for drivers.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Awesome.

And Councilmember Kettle, as chair of the committee, you're recognized in order to present the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Today, I would like to pass this to Councilmember Strauss, who is the lead on this, actually, this series of legislation.

Councilmember Strauss, you're recognized.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

I'm going to address the entire package first, and then so each bill we go through, I can just speak to the individual bill.

Through this process of developing this legislation, centering humans has been incredibly important to me and what we've done throughout this entire process.

This legislation and this package is about centering human beings that are caught in the middle of updating regulations about our city streets.

Our current system is failing, and doing nothing is not an option.

We need to do better for the people who are living in vehicles, and we need to do better for our entire community.

The majority of this package are support structures available to people living in any type of vehicle.

The regulations within this package are contained for just RVs and travel trailers, and they come with a pathway to staying on the street if we don't have enough safe lots open, of the city, providing them that place to stay stable on the streets until we can get them inside, until we can get them the resources they need, a more stable situation so that they can have the life they dream of and so that they can succeed.

I want to talk about time.

We had this legislation discussed in August publicly, and then in September.

we have an important amendment offered by Councilmember Lin called Check and Adjust.

As you all know, typical legislation has an effective date of 30 days from now, but the regulations contain this because it's important to get those resources out the door.

But for the permitting and the additional regulations, we have set the effective date for next April, followed by a 90-day warning period.

For those who like red light cameras or speeding cameras like I do, you know that those warning periods are only 30 days.

So this is, again, three times as long as a standard warning period.

This time is incredibly important for understanding what rules have changed, for hearing digesting and learning about the concerns that we've heard from some today to ensure that if we need to change this legislation before the April effective date, that we're able to.

Time is important to get people's titles in their hands.

We heard from public comment today there's more than one organization in this room that has been working and still works to help people who live in vehicles that they own but do not have their titles to do so.

This is not new.

In fact, some people have been doing it for free for a while.

And we can't start this work without taking this step today.

and I say that because for people that implement laws and implement budgets, they have said to me even over the last few weeks, we can't start work on implementation or we can't start work to implement the budget so that we can fund the resources that we know that we need until it is passed.

That's what today is about.

This time is still very important because between now and April, we have that time to be able to make the adjustments that are needed.

If we haven't centered humans well enough, we have the opportunity to do so.

I've heard universal agreement today that something needs to be done.

This is the proposal I have worked on with many to create that centers humans.

If you have a better solution, I'm all ears.

My doors are open.

we have until April to make some changes.

But doing nothing, that's not an option for us today.

I'm going to quickly speak about this entire package in three different ways.

The Vehicle Resident Assistance Program contains three parts.

It provides increased funding for services with an additional safe lot, city outreach workers, expanding the number of contracted outreach workers, hiring mechanics, helping people living in their vehicles, whether it's getting license plates, tabs, minor repairs, gas, or other services that they may need.

Through this process, we have received additional information about the one-time costs of this proposal.

That's ballooned to about $8.5 million.

And we have that $8.5 million here.

but that means if we spent all that money, we wouldn't have a safe lot this coming year, which means, which is why I submitted a budget proposal earlier today to fund an additional safe lot next year in addition to the funding that we have.

The second part of this is the administrative changes to making leasing shelter locations easier, changing land code to create the shelter storage program, and clarifying the junk vehicle ordinance to address vehicles that are not lived in.

I've heard a number of people say today that they're worried about the junk vehicle standards changing because they're worried about the folks that live in their vehicles.

The junk vehicle standards are not about vehicles that folks live in.

They're about the vehicles that are hoarded on our streets by a very limited number of individuals.

It's an inappropriate use of public space.

And that's what that focuses on.

And the third part creates the Vehicle Resident Assistance Permit, which provides greater stability and pathways to shelter and housing, and to create better connection to outreach workers for people who live in their motorhomes while also limiting the time non-permitted motorhomes are allowed on our city streets for two hours at a time.

This is accomplished in a number of ways.

It's accomplished by creating a city vehicle team which will work directly with contracted outreach to assist vehicle residents accessing city resources, shelter and housing.

It expands outreach contracts to hire mechanics, additional workers to reduce caseloads, and includes capacity building, as well as additional resources to assist with these repairs, getting registration, license plates, other needed improvements, all before the effective date of this legislation.

But if we don't pass the budget today, then that ties our hands.

in unfortunate ways.

This is accomplished by funding an additional safe lot.

It's accomplished by creating shelter storage.

This is a new program to store vehicles for people when they enter any shelter space or housing in our portfolio so they don't have to risk giving up their vehicle in order to enter shelter, which is the case today.

This package accomplishes the outline goals by creating the vehicle resident assistance permit for people living in motorhomes and travel trailers.

To be eligible for this permit, the person must be the registered owner.

They must be on a wait list for shelter or housing.

They must remain in contact with our city or contracted outreach and follow some standard rules about taking care of themselves and their neighbors.

It also creates new regulations that are only applied to the unpermitted motorhomes and travel trailers.

Again, allowing them to be on the city streets for only two hours at a time effective April 30th, 2027 and enforced no earlier than essentially August 1st of 2027. And lastly, clarifying the junk vehicle code for the not lived in vehicles to create better clarity on what is and what is not a junk vehicle.

All of this is done through six pieces of legislation.

That's why I'm talking about everything all at once so we can go through these one by one.

There's a resolution that we'll vote on last, which is interesting because the resolution is what ties it all together and creates that narrative.

There's an appropriations bill.

The appropriations bill today is only on the 2026 funding.

So the conversations about ongoing and what are we doing in 2027, all of that needs to be carried forward into next year.

And what we know today is that we need to expand our contracted outreach contracts.

We need to expand the services, the funding for the services that they provide to people living in their vehicles.

And we don't need to do it now, we needed to do it two months ago.

That's the importance of passing the 2026 budget proviso change today.

I considered bringing it during the supplemental budget process, but I felt it was more important to keep it tied to this entire package.

That's already left us a step behind, which is why it's important to pass today.

The appropriations are for, if you look at 2027, it is $8.5 million and currently in 2029 it's $3.5 million, 2028 it's $3.5 million.

The funding that I'm talking about for an additional safe lot would be in 2027, and so it would be in addition to what we have set aside.

The fiscal notes that we've received from executive departments I think are a little bit large, but I also asked them to give me their frank response.

So I think that there is room to reduce that $8.5 million.

I think that there is room to have additional efficiency and and so that number might come down.

But what I don't want to do is pit us all against each other.

I don't wanna pit one idea for another.

We know that we need to provide right now our city's structure.

Oh, this is where we're getting to.

Right now there are very few resources designed and dedicated to helping those people who live in their vehicles build pathways to housing.

We have no dedicated city teams focused on helping people who live in their vehicles.

We're literally relying on the people who provided public comment today.

Thank you.

We currently have no safe lots open.

We are overloading the small amount of contracted outreach and assistance, the small amount of contracted outreach and assistance we do provide, often leaving the very few case workers we do have to work with hundreds of clients at a time.

I think the numbers I was doing, the math that I was doing was you could talk to one client for one hour once every two weeks and that doesn't include travel time.

We know the city's approach to RVs is not working.

We are failing to provide pathways to housing for people in need and who are living in their motor homes.

In short, we have no coherent strategy to help people living in their vehicles come inside and that is unacceptable.

This legislative package, the Vehicle Resident Assistance Program, or VRAP, aims to change that.

The resulting VRAP package strikes an important balance between creating new resources to help people build pathways to housing, cutting red tape that often leaves us waiting for years for services to come online, and updating our regulations to better meet the moment our city is in.

There are no similar solutions.

No one action the city can take alone will solve vehicle homelessness.

It's well past time that we have a serious conversation about addressing the needs of people living in their vehicles.

We have dedicated services and resources for youth homelessness, for family homelessness, for people who need to stay sober, for people who need to continue drinking, for people who do drugs.

but we have no services dedicated and built for people who live in their vehicles.

We had a public commenter come up and say the person that they knew that lived in their vehicle didn't consider themselves homeless.

That person still needs our services.

This legislation is about ensuring people who live in their vehicles are not forgotten, but that they are cared for.

and that they have a clear road to a more stable life and to receive the supports that we can provide them so that they can come inside into housing or shelter that is appropriate for them, that meets their needs.

This is me going off on a tangent about appropriate shelter.

It's not appropriate to offer somebody shelter for a single, if they're a couple.

even though they're a couple, they may still need two single units, but it's not appropriate to offer somebody shelter that doesn't accept a dog if they have pets.

In the same way, so often the shelter storage program that we have in this legislation, right now we offer people shelter in buildings that don't have parking.

We build permanent supportive housing that doesn't have parking because we're choosing to build more units than we are parking spaces, and that makes sense.

but that means that those shelters and that housing is not accessible to people who have been living in their vehicles.

So this legislation, this package is about ensuring people who live in their vehicles are not forgotten and that they are cared for and that they have a clear road inside into housing.

That's the package, colleagues.

This first bill that we have before us is signing authority.

We have heard so many times.

Anyone got a count on how long it's taken in Glassyard Commons to get open?

Anyone got a count?

Three years, two years?

two years, five months.

I mean, it is way too long.

Granted, there have been some issues, but there's also red tape that we can cut, and that's the signing authority.

This legislation is about bringing resources online to help people get out of homelessness faster.

Earlier this year, we passed similar legislation to bring non-congregate shelters like tiny home villages online faster.

This legislation does the same.

The legislation we passed earlier this year does not apply for safe lots or shelter storage.

It only applies for tiny home villages.

And so this legislation helps treat our homeless emergency like the emergency it is to cut red tape that often stands in our way of giving somebody a more stable place to live.

So that's what this legislation does.

Simply allows the FAS director to sign leases on larger spaces.

I urge your support, colleagues.

This one's not controversial.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Councilmember Rank.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I'm hoping that to save us time today, instead of commenting bill by bill, I wanted to offer my overarching comments on the package before us.

So to that end, first and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has come out to public comment today for making your voices heard.

In particular, those who have lived experience of homelessness, thank you for coming and sharing your story.

Your experience matters.

You're a constituent here, and I'm so grateful you've come forward today to voice your perspective and share your story.

And I also want to thank our outreach workers who have come today to also share about the realities of their work, and I thank you for your work that you're doing every day to walk alongside people who need support in our community.

A quick anecdote, the first policy effort I ever worked on with the City of Seattle was on vehicle residency.

And in a policy memo to then-Mayor Durkin, one of our recommendations back in 2018 was to establish an RV safe parking lot with robust wraparound supports.

That's why I am glad that we are taking some overdue action today to bring online safe parking for RVs, to give folks a safe place to park, and to get them connected to services.

That part I am excited about, and that is part of the broader package before us.

And unfortunately, I am unable to support the six-bill package in its entirety today.

I want to touch on just a couple of reasons why.

Um, noting first on the legislation related to updating the code for junk vehicle definitions, I want to note that I've long been concerned about the ambiguity in our code that results in far much, far too much impounding of people's vehicles.

their homes.

And I had hoped that these code definitions would create some clarity and prevent people's homes from being towed or impounded, but the new conditions as written could lead to a significant number of vehicles being declared as junk.

Columbia Legal Services weighed in on this matter and concluded that this would lead to more vehicles that may be serving as people's homes being subject to impoundment and high penalties.

On the bill related to the permit program, I have previously voiced my concerns about a one-time census and what that means for those who do not have access to a permit.

Under this, people who lack a permit cannot legally park overnight.

If they cannot access a safe lot, there would be nowhere for them to go.

It is that paired with the legal issues raised by the ACLU and Columbia Legal Services, as well as some of the implementation challenges with this bill that I'm concerned about.

And it's my concerns over this permit program, which is why I cannot support the appropriations legislation today, which would fund eight new positions to implement that permit program.

and it is my disagreement with the approach taken here with three of the six bills in this package, which is why I will be a no on the overarching resolution as well.

However, I do wanna say this, that however today shakes out whichever bills are a part of the package that is ultimately removed, my focus remains on this and it's getting our neighbors housed.

and bringing online additional safe lots to be able to do so is going to be really important here.

So while I am dissenting today on parts of this package, I am not engaging from this policy matter because people living in vehicles need our attention and support and investment in order to bring online the housing that we need and get folks housed.

And the check and adjust component that was adopted via an amendment in committee, this is critical for being able to evaluate and make changes to the program.

So I will say as Human Services Chair, I will be following implementation closely and advising on changes.

and I sincerely hope that we listen to those who will be most impacted by the decisions we make here today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

I see Council Member Juarez.

and colleagues because we do have a lot of bills in front of us.

We have five, six, six, thank you, six.

And one of the items has three amendments.

You can take this time to speak on the whole package.

because we will move through the bills fairly quickly.

So just wanna say you can take this time if you want to address it, but I also will recognize you at the end if you wanna address it at the end as well.

But it's just a courtesy I'm offering everyone.

All right, Council Member Juarez followed by Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Is it okay if I stand?

It's not that I'm important.

I just need to stretch my legs.

Go right ahead.

You're all good.

I don't want people to think I'm grandstanding out there, God forbid.

So I want to just give a little bit of, as you all hear me say before, some context.

We've been working on this bill and talking about it and we first heard it on August 11th in public safety through Councilmember Kettle's committee and Councilmember Strauss brought it forward and then again on September 22nd in the Public Safety Committee and now we're in front of full council and in that time and still was seven separate pieces of legislation with well over, I think, 12 or 13 amendments.

And the bill passed out of committee five to zero, and then the resolution passed as well.

And I can say that in all of these forums that we were all engaged in extensive discussion, debate, and advocacy for and against this particular legislation and what we were trying to achieve by it.

So today, in front of full council, I will be supporting this and I will tell you why.

And I've said this before, I can't allow the perfection to stop the progress.

I think that this bill is a first step, the first step, that embodies empathy, accountability, and a comprehensive solution.

And as Council Member Strauss pointed out, we have comprehensive solutions, good, bad, or ugly, as we saw at the King County Regional Homeless Authority.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but we have never had and tried to target those folks living in their cars and RVs.

So again, and I heard some of our friends who came and spoke, and I can't think of your name right now, I'm looking right at you, that what I've said, and I've said before, and many people have articulated this, that this is a pathway to transition from RV living or in your car, which is not humane in our city streets, neighborhoods, greenways, underpasses, to a stable, healthy, environment with a social safety net to help support our relatives.

And I see our people as not just constituents, but as our relatives.

I believe that we are not, and I've heard this for the last 11 years, I don't believe this legislation is, and this is my opinion, I do not believe we are criminalizing the homeless.

We see you.

I believe that we are not punishing the homeless.

We see you.

We want to help you.

Our first step is leading with empathy to help people move from a recreational vehicle that was not meant to live in on a city street to transition to permanent housing.

where you can get stabilized, get the treatment you need, get your driver's license, have a stable address, be able to get your mail.

Just the basic dignity of living, that's what we're getting at here.

So I was around then, as you'll hear me say this before, in 2015 when Mayor Murray did his, we're gonna end homeless in 10 years.

Well, that was 11 years ago and we haven't.

But again, I'm not saying this to poke fun at Mayor Murray.

I'm saying that that was the fever pitch that we were concerned about.

So we went through so many different programs.

the navigation center, the policies of do no harm, housing first, tiny house villages.

We changed the law for ADUs and DADUs, so people could age in place and also build more and have more density so we could have our relatives come live with us.

we wanted to and we continued to say let's meet people where they're at.

We implemented street and park ambassadors to give people wayfinding to services and safe lots.

Council Member Bagshaw was a big proponent of that.

I can count off the top of my head three experts that we hired, including Barb Papi, about the study of homelessness and the number two or three issue was people living in their cars and RVs.

And we couldn't address it back then because we were trying to get to the emergent issue of funding and building tiny house villages.

So it's kind of like, you know, the cure for cancer.

No, we don't have a cure yet, but we don't stop trying So I think Cassandra, that's her name, Cassandra said this.

I loved what you said, Cassandra, that this is another step that we build on in success and our failures, that it's a pathway, that it's a bridge, that it's transition, that it's a hand, that it's a lift up to recognize this.

Now, I know some folks have made these statements, and I am not a performative politician, but I don't see RVs as a eyesore.

What I see is people living in RVs on our city streets, public property, parks, greenways, et cetera that I believe are in trauma.

They simply can't live there.

I see people who not only need a safe lot but a pathway, a bridge, a transition again to a permanent home, a social safety net with services and a helping hand.

and if that's a bad thing and you're mad about it, then go ahead and be mad at me.

Wouldn't be the first time.

So I wanna say this on a personal note, which I don't always share a lot of personal things.

I have, my family has, many of my relatives have either experienced homelessness, evictions, lived in primitive supportive housing, and when I say HUD homes, it's H-U-D, HUD, get it right, reporters, Housing and Urban Development, which is big on reservations, which are usually substandard, subsidized homes, uninhabitable homes as a public defender, I represented and also as when I was at Legal Services, those folks that had landlords that did not make, that rented out uninhabitable homes to tenants knowing they had no power.

And this council and three of them before me, four of them, we changed that to try to balance the playing field, if you will, level the playing field, if you will.

So tenants have power to say that this landlord is doing this, this place is uninhabitable.

As elected officials on the ground, first responders here to the city, yes, I care about global issues and national issues, but I was elected to deal with the city issues here in real life, in this world, on the ground.

So as I was sharing on a personal note, not just subsidized homes, uninhabitable homes, Section 7 homes, I mean, I grew up in that.

So I understand the lack of housing and I also have and witnessed, again, this is the truth, relatives who have died in their cars, who have died on the streets, in alleyways and in parks.

Now, I'm supporting this knowing that, yeah, there's going to be some work to be done.

And if this passes today, then what we do, like we've always done, what you do in a democracy, is you build upon not just the successes, but you build upon the failures.

We will find out what doesn't work.

I think Councilmember Foster brought a really good amendment, but I think we did end up not passing it when she wanted to do another.

Was it an inventory?

Can you help me out here, Councilmember Foster?

What was it again?

I'm sorry, Council President, can I ask Council Member Foster?

Council Member Foster.

I'm sorry.

Thank you so much, Council Member Waters, and thank you for supporting that amendment in committee.

It was an amendment that would have allowed the census to take place more than once, and I'll be speaking to that as well, but thank you for supporting that.

And I did support it.

You know what?

It didn't pass, but you know what?

That doesn't mean it's gone.

It doesn't mean it wasn't a good idea.

but sometimes you got to get the legislation in the door and get it passed and then you start building on it.

Now we've had some failures, no doubt about it, but we also learned a lot, as I tell my kids, you learn a lot more from your failures and losing than you do from winning.

As Justice Smith used to tell me, people know what a winner looks like and how they act, but what people pay attention to is who you are when you don't win.

that's when character and integrity comes out.

And I guess today it's just been sitting here too long maybe.

I don't think personal attacks are necessary.

Everyone here cares about our relatives living in RVs.

It isn't just a NIMBY thing.

So with that, I will be supporting this legislation.

I will have some comments later on some of the amendments.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay, thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council, and just a heads up, you all can make comments about the legislation before us.

Some council members wanna make comments regarding the individual bills, which is totally fine, but Council Member Rivera, you are up next.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I'm willing to try this legislation because this is what we have before us today to manage the issue of RVs parking for long periods of time on city streets and especially for managing for the smaller set of RVs engaged in illegal activity in our neighborhoods.

While I understand and appreciate that this is not all RVs in the city, there are some and we need to be able to address those as well.

But overall, I have reservations about this legislation writ large.

While I appreciate my colleague, Council Member Strauss, for working to draft legislation to address these concerns.

We have an enforcement problem that is not addressed in this package.

We're grappling with staffing shortages at SPD, including a lack of parking enforcement officers by which to enforce this legislation.

Neither of these issues have been sufficiently addressed in the Mayor's proposed budget.

So we're left with a lack of enforcement of RV rules today and we will be left with a lack of enforcement when this permit goes into effect.

This is a problem.

This legislation also does not change the fact that we're short on shelter.

Part of the work here is to offer much needed shelter to folks that are living in their RVs, but we simply do not have enough shelter.

I know that the mayor's budget includes an expansion of shelter, but we don't know when these will be operational.

I do appreciate that this legislation has the outreach elements included, but the unified care team already does outreach.

We can only offer the shelter and services that we have available.

I have questions about how we will manage for the RVs who come into the city after the census has been conducted.

This goes back to our ability to enforce the laws.

I do not know where our abilities are legally to remove any RV that it's unwilling to move, especially if there's a person living inside the vehicle, because we know that those RVs are difficult to move.

When I look at some of the RV illegal parking sites, like the Woodland Park, at Woodland Park, where high school kids have to endure some harassment from some of the RVs as they're practicing for track, I do not know how this legislation will fix that problem.

Again, I know that this is a smaller number of RVs engaged in this behavior, but it is happening and we need to be able to manage for that.

And finally, I'm concerned that we're giving constituents a false promise, the false promise that we will be able to find appropriate shelter for folks, one, and then the false promise that we're gonna be able to enforce these rules and that the RV situation will get better, both for those living in the RVs and then also for the neighbors that are living near RVs that are engaged in legal activity.

All of this said, I will be supporting this legislation today because we need to address RVs and this is the option before us today.

And I am willing to try this.

In time, we will see if this new program works.

And as I have often said, if the program does not work, then we will need to pivot to something different.

The reporting aspects of the bill, and I appreciate that those are in there, will provide that needed accountability and allow us to review the program so that we can determine if we need to make any changes or if we need to end the program entirely and start anew.

Related to the amendment that I'm bringing today, colleagues, as I said earlier, I know not all RVs are associated with crime, that is true, but it is also true that there are RVs in our districts that are associated with criminal activity, including dealing drugs or sex trafficking.

And that is not what we're trying to permit.

You have heard me talk about a constituent living at Magnuson Park, whose teenage daughter OD'd after buying drugs from the RVs that were stationed at Magnuson Park for a few years now.

And since I arrived to this council, I've been working to move those RVs along, both for the folks that are living in low income housing there, as well as to our folks who are living in permanent supportive housing who are recovering from addiction and who do not need this type of behavior and these RVs near them.

Colleagues, I will be offering a verbal amendment to my amendment to remove the language referring to, quote, deferred sentence or deferred prosecution or statutory or non-statutory diversion agreement, end quote, to limit to the amendment to convictions.

I understand that for anyone arrested, engaged in these behaviors, dealing of drugs or sex trafficking, solicitation of minors, will have to be engaged in some program to address their crime.

I will therefore change the amendment to limit to individuals that have gone through the court process and have been convicted of these serious crimes.

I know we're on time, so I'll see those.

I'll be done there, Council President.

Thank you.

Okay, awesome.

No worries.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I, too, will make my comments here fairly brief, and then I'll make them at the outset in the interest of time.

But first off, I want to thank Councilmember Strauss for your leadership in this very comprehensive package of legislation.

I want to thank you not only for your leadership, but I want to thank you for tackling such a difficult issue that has frustrated Seattle and jurisdictions across our city, across our region rather, for far too long.

Our approach to RV homelessness simply isn't working by any stretch of the imagination.

And doing nothing is not an acceptable alternative.

In District 1, we see the consequences every single day in residential neighborhoods, near schools, parks, and public spaces.

These impacts are real and our constituents deserve meaningful relief.

I'll be voting yes today as I did during the committee because at a high level, I believe it strikes a good balance between compassion and accountability.

But I also wanna be very clear on one thing, Passing legislation is not the same as solving a problem.

That said, this package of legislation does reflect the principal exercise of the powers that we do have as a legislative body.

Power of the purse, power to write laws.

So that's why I commend Councilmember Strauss for exercising every single power that we do have as lawmakers.

However, I do have questions about implementation, enforcement, and whether this approach will actually reduce neighborhood impacts rather than simply move them somewhere else.

We also cannot continue concentrating a disproportionate number of Seattle's RV challenges in certain neighborhoods, in a handful of neighborhoods.

Geographic fairness does matter.

I welcome additional ideas, including competing or complementary ideas from the mayor.

The theme I've heard so far, this should not be the final word.

Couldn't agree more.

Ultimately, success won't be measured by the number of bills in a particular package that we pass.

It will be measured by safer neighborhoods, fewer problematic RVs, more people moving into stable housing, treatment, services.

That's the most impactful standard of all, and that's the most impactful standard that we should hold ourselves accountable to.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

So colleagues, before us, we have six bills and we're gonna be moving through them.

You can raise your hand at any point in time in between bills to do a comment.

But before we start voting on this legislation, I wanna know if Council Member Strauss, if you have any remarks before we start.

Thank you, Council President.

Just moving right into the FAS Signing Authority at large in this entire package, there are no prohibitions on vehicle residency.

There's only support.

For RVs, there are greater regulations with pathways to staying in place and a pathway inside.

I am glad to receive the concerns from many today because those concerns are from a place of help.

Those concerns are a place of making sure that for the one person that might get caught in the middle, that there's a plan for them because those concerns need to be addressed.

but doing nothing is not helping anyone.

And so looking forward to cutting red tape with this FAS Signing Authority.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 121276?

Council Member Rivera.

My apologies.

Hold on.

Let me restate that.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill, which is Council Bill 121279?

Thank you.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Sacca?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

Aye.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read item number four into the record?

Agenda item four, Council Bill 121-280, an ordinance relating to the traffic code revising the definition of junk motor vehicle.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Council Member Kettle, I know you're chair of the committee, but I know you'll defer to Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

And yes, over to Council Member Strauss.

Thank you.

The City of Seattle's existing junk laws were last updated 25 years ago.

I think that was two years after this building was built.

This legislation provides greater clarity to parking enforcement officers to better address vehicles that have been abandoned or are improperly stored on Seattle streets.

This bill is not intended to be focused on lived-in vehicles, period.

I'm very glad that people are concerned about having other people's homes towed because we shouldn't do that.

This bill is not about lived-in vehicles.

This bill is about the vehicles that are stuffed so full of stuff that you can't get inside and that five of them are owned by the same person.

because the ambiguity in current code does not allow us to properly address this right now.

If anyone wants to go look at Gilman Way over in Magnolia, if anyone wants to go look at 8th Avenue, we're not talking about necessarily RVs here.

We're talking about all the police interceptors from the early aughts.

We're talking about the flatbed truck that has three flat tires for the last year that's stacked with pallets.

We're talking about the one RV that is so packed full of stuff you can't get inside and has a smash-up windshield and the engine doesn't run, but it's getting towed around the block to stay in compliance with our 72-hour code.

These aren't people's homes.

These are possessions that are probably don't have high monetary value.

but for whatever situation we've got a few people who are keeping these vehicles on our streets and having worked with parking enforcement to try to use the existing code to address some of these vehicles, the answer is they haven't been addressed and that's why I'm bringing this code change forward.

You will notice that in the the vehicle permit program.

And within this bill, vehicles that are on, lived in vehicles that are on the permit program, even if they are within the definition of junk vehicle, they are exempt from being enforced under the junk vehicle standard.

Because again, this bill is not about the vehicles that people live in.

This is about the vehicles that people are inappropriately storing on our city streets.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

Colleagues, are there any comments before us on Council Bill 121280?

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I will be brief.

There are parts of this bill, or excuse me, parts of the package that I'll be supporting today and parts that I'll be voting against.

This is one that I will be supporting and I will just say one thing for me in making this decision was around the enforcement for the PEOs but also given the way that this bill is written for 121280 that we still have the ability, excuse me, that a junk motor vehicle needs to meet one of the, excuse me, three of the following requirements that are in the bill.

which I think for me allows us to hit sort of the intent from the bill sponsor for vehicles that have been junked, but for PEOs that are unclear about whether or not that vehicle meets the goals of the legislation.

So I will be supporting this one and I'll have comments about other parts of the bill later.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Are there any comments regarding Council Bill 121280?

All right, Council Member Strauss, back to you for any closing comments before we vote on this bill.

Nothing further, thank you.

All right, awesome, thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Sacca?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Aye.

Council member Foster?

Yes.

Council member Juarez?

Aye.

Council member Kettle?

Aye.

Council member Lynn?

Yes.

Council member Rink?

No.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Eight in favor, one opposed.

The Chair will sign it.

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

Will the Clerk please read item number five into the record?

Agenda item five, Council Bill 121-281 relating to land use and zoning, adjusting the definition of recreational vehicle, adjusting the definition of outdoor storage to include outdoor storage areas for certain unoccupied vehicles, including recreational vehicles, adjusting the definition of flexible use parking to exclude storage of recreational vehicles.

Committee recommends the bill pass.

Councilmember Kettle.

I know you're going to defer to Councilmember Strauss, but I'll let you do the official Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

And yes, so we're aligned with our clerks.

I will then now pass to my colleague, Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President, Councilmember Kettle.

Did you know that if A shelter or if a shelter housing unit publicly supported has an open lot next to it that we could rent that lot and provide parking, that's how we can do it under the current code.