Seattle City Council 5/27/2025

I need to sign on.

I'm so stupid.

Sorry.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you all for coming.

The May 27th, 2025 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order, and it is 2 0 5 p.m.

I'm Sarah Nelson, Council President.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Kettle.

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Moore.

Present.

Councilmember Rake.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Saka.

Council Member Solomon.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Thank you very much.

There are no presentations today.

So before we begin our meeting today, I just feel like it's important to address the events that unfolded this past Saturday at Cal Anderson Park and simply say that here we are on the eve of Pride Month and I want our LGBTQ plus community to know that, again, we stand in full support of you and we're unwavering in our commitment to providing a safe and inclusive environment for everyone in the city.

At this point, colleagues, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar and the council work program.

Clerk, how many people are signed up today, please?

So far we have about 40 in person and 15 remote.

Okay, we will be, we will give everybody one minute.

We have a very important piece of legislation that we must pass by the end of May to comply with state law HB 1110. I will be limiting public comment for an hour.

So we will begin with 10 public commenters in person, move to the phone.

Seven, we will continue with public comment for one hour ending at 3.08.

Well, once you read the instructions, then we'll count back an hour.

Go ahead.

Great, thank you.

Phil, if you can read the instructions, thank you.

Public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

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

We will start with in-person speakers and those remote speakers.

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

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

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the amount of time to allow us to call the next speaker.

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

All right, it's 2.08 p.m.

Thank you very much.

And before we begin, just simply, I just will remind folks to please do not interrupt the ability of people to begin speaking when your turn is over.

Please use jazz hands or snap fingers in between if you must show support.

Please go ahead.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

You are engaging in disruptive behavior that is against our council rules.

Please proceed.

Speakers one through 10, please line up.

There's two microphones.

Thank you.

Speaker one, please.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Good afternoon.

My name is Travis Pardo.

I'm the research fellow with the Family Policy Institute of Washington, the largest voice for politically active Christians in Washington state.

We are grateful to the Seattle City Council for standing against defund the police efforts.

And we give thanks to our Seattle Police Department for their courage and protection at Cal Anderson Park.

We stand in support of the peaceful worshipers who wish to live out their faith without fear, without intimidation, and without violence.

Now such fundamental rights need your protection.

We have compassion toward all people, and we defend the innocence of children.

We respectfully ask the City Council to continue to stand in defense of religious freedom and the freedom of speech.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Speaker two.

Please go ahead.

My name is Jared Houston.

I'm a member of Freedom Socialist Party.

I would argue that after Seattle police brutally assaulted, pepper sprayed, and arrested 23 peaceful protesters from the trans and queer community on Saturday, it would be simply wrong to call this city welcoming, as it says in your agenda.

I attended this demonstration against the bigoted Mayday USA as a proud unionist, socialist feminist, and a supporter of my LGBTQIA plus friends, coworkers, and family members.

At no point did I see any actions from our side that warranted the disproportionate and excessive response by Seattle PD who were clearly eager to deploy the less lethal arsenal that was recently returned to them by this council.

Instead, I saw police officers charging peaceful demonstrators, shoving them over, and firing pepper spray at will, sometimes while protesters lay helpless on the ground.

Bruce Harrell was right when he said violent infiltrators disrupted the protest.

It was Seattle PD.

And I know you said that you all support the LGBT community, but we need action, we don't need words.

Speaker three.

You give me 18 trespasses, give one trespass to them, you're a Nazi pig.

Speaker number three, please.

Hello, my name is Amiya Ebdi.

I'm a member of this community.

Seattle claims to be a city that accepts and protects the trans and gay communities.

What I saw Saturday was the opposite of that.

On Saturday when a known hate group by the name of Mayday USA organized with Matt Shea, who by the way, published a manifesto saying if people do not follow biblical laws, they should be killed.

You can research this, you can look it up.

So they were anything but peaceful.

They were a violent group who advocates violence against the trans and gay community.

What I saw was police drag nonviolent protestors by their ankles face first over metal barriers.

As they lay their handcuffed and helpless, the police sprayed them in the face with pepper spray.

Seattle claims to be a safe place for us yet when we exercise our First Amendment rights you beat us up.

There is no excuse for this kind of police brutality.

Shame on you.

You are engaging

I'm a renter here in Seattle and a member of Worker Strike Back.

A few years ago, when moving out of an apartment owned by one of the biggest corporate landlords here in Seattle, Gray Star, I had my security deposit illegally taken from me and additional move out charges tacked onto my account, amounting to roughly $700.

I took them to small claims court and eventually won all of the money back, but it took over two years in court to get that back.

This is not a story unique to me, and it certainly is far from the most egregious story of a corporate landlord stealing money from their tenants in the name of profit.

Graystar is one of the biggest corporate landlords here in Seattle, a city where corporate landlords make billions in profit every year.

Sarah Nelson has taken money from Graystar.

which not only has personally taken money from me, but is also facing charges from the FTC and state-level class action lawsuits for charging exploitative junk fees.

Joy Hollingsworth, Bob Kettle, and Maritza Rivera have each taken over $50,000 from the National Association of Realtors, which represents corporate landlords.

The rollback of these ethics codes represents the council Democrats in front of us doing the bidding of these rich corporate landlords that they have taken so much money from.

The Democratic Party is bought and paid for by the landlord lobby.

Working people need a new party of their own.

Speaker 5. Speaker 5.

My name is Oscar.

I'm 19 years old, a student and a worker here in Seattle.

I'm making public comment once again to restate how absolutely disgusting it is for any of the city council members to be attempting to repeal the ethics laws in order to then attack renters' rights.

I also want to make it clear that we will make sure this whole city knows who is leading these attacks and voting to repeal the ethics laws.

And we will drag you out of office in your next elections.

These types of attacks are not at all unique to Seattle.

Democrats and Republicans across the country have been carrying out historic attacks.

on workers and oppressed people alike.

We need to break from these rotten parties of the billionaires, and we need to build a new party for working people.

We need to build a mass movement of working and oppressed people in order to fight back against the billionaires and fight for things like Medicare for all.

If anybody in this room today wants to build this fight, you should join Workers Strike Back today.

Thank you.

SPEAKER 6. SPEAKER 6.

Kathy Moore!

Who needs to be turned out?

Kathy Moore!

Failure to comply with council rules is disruptive in delaying the orderly progress of this meeting, and your outbursts are interrupting the time that other people will have to speak in our limited hour.

SPEAKER 6.

All right, good afternoon, council members.

My name is Alex Olson.

I'm a renter in the U District, and I'm a member of Workers Strike Back.

I'm here again for the third time in the last week to speak in the strongest possible terms against any repealing of renters' rights or of the ethics code.

To even consider an attack on renters' rights when Seattle faces a growing housing and homelessness crisis is not just bad politics.

It is abhorrent.

In 2022, nearly half of all renters in and around Seattle spent over 30% of their income on rent.

But this council, owned and operated by corporate landlords, isn't working to relieve this burden on working people.

Instead, they're working to enrich themselves and their big business cronies.

to repeal your own ethics to carry out this agenda tells us everything we need to know.

This is nothing more than naked self-interest.

It is no surprise that just about the only people who have come out to comment in the past in support of this have been Republicans.

This is exactly the kind of attack that Trump is pursuing at the federal level, targeting the most disadvantaged groups to benefit corporate interests.

When you are up for reelection, the working class of this city will not forget that you chose to betray us.

The immigrant communities, the working families, the single parents who end up on the street will not forget what you do here.

Hands off renters' rights.

Hands off the ethics code.

Don't let landlords write the law.

Thank you very much.

Your time has expired.

Please do not interrupt the ability of other people to speak.

and here to speak out against the proposed changes to the ethics code.

Disclosure without recusal doesn't prevent corruption.

It just makes the corruption more brazen and obvious and further betrays and erodes an already dwindling public trust.

Ostensibly, this bill is to allow council members to better represent their constituents in their district.

But that this bill continues to move forward despite overwhelming public outcry against it does not suggest that most on this council are interested in truly representing the will of a majority of those in their districts, but rather the will of a minority of wealthy donors who line their pockets to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, all at the expense of the working class renters in this city.

In particular, Sarah Nelson took money from Greystar, which is facing class action lawsuits, as well as charges from the FTC for charging exploitative junk fees.

This bill does nothing to accomplish what it is purported to do, and instead opens the door for the millionaire and billionaire class to further attack and erode hard-won and necessary renter rights and protections, and anyone voting in favor of it should lose their council seat.

Again, I will remind you that you were elected to serve the people of the city, not to sell them out to the highest bidder.

When renters' rights are under attack, what do we do?

Stand up!

When renters' rights are under attack, what do we do?

Stand up!

Hey folks, my name is Gabriel Jones.

In the box, I was a medic at Cal Anderson Park protest on Saturday.

I've been doing street medic work for years now.

When I show up in this role, it is my job to ensure that everyone gets home safely in the night.

At 1.30 PM, we were alerted to the crowd that pepper spray was deployed on protesters.

Because of the very dense crowd SPD forced the crowd into, we expected and prepared to treat pepper spray inhalation for people who were not targeted but would still feel the effects.

As I stepped into the counter protest area provided by SPD, ready to move people further back so they could receive treatment, I was very abruptly tackled from behind.

There was no warning, no lawful order.

There was no warning to a lawful order, just me being tackled to the ground while attempting to treat patients.

After being tackled, I was very quickly punched in the face numerous times.

As I laid there on the ground, not resisting, flinching with the pain from the officer's fists raining down on me, I screamed loudly, I'm a medic, I'm a medic, I'm trying to help, my left hand trapped behind the comrade screaming in pain next to me.

The officer depreated to punch me again, telling me, fuck.

hands behind your back.

I told the officer I can't, which probably caused the officer to punch me multiple times, asking me, do you want me to fuck you up?

To which I informed the officer my hand was trapped.

After my hand was freed, I continued to follow orders and not resist, keeping my hands behind my back, after which I stood.

Thank you.

Your time is up, please.

You have now, your turn is over.

You are going over your time.

It has now been about 23 seconds.

Let the record show that you are depriving other people of their time.

Thank you.

who are engaging in disruptive behavior and disrupting the progress of this meeting.

Speaker 9, Speaker 9, please.

I'm Justin.

I'm a renter in Queen Anne, Bob Kettle's district.

First of all, I want to say the police brutality against trans people on Saturday was absolutely unacceptable, and that's on your hands.

I also want to talk about the Downtown Neighbors Committee PAC that supported Bob got thousands of dollars from groups like the Washington Multifamily Housing Association.

This association is not a downtown neighbor.

It's a ruthless lobby group that fights against renter protection laws across the state of Washington and maximize the profits of corporate landlords.

These Democrat politicians are openly trying to roll back the ethics laws to pave the way for rolling back our renters' rights in order to serve the interests of the rich and big business at the expense of working renters.

This actually reminds me of news I heard today where Trump pardoned a guy who donated to his campaign who cheated on his taxes.

What you're doing is exactly the same.

important victories with movements led by Shama Sawant's Socialist City Council Office.

We need that leadership again now.

Join workers' strike back to continue building this fight.

When renters' rights are under attack, what do we do?

Time is expired.

Speaker 10.

Mr. Zimmerman, you are interrupting.

You are both engaging in disruptive behavior.

Please be quiet so speaker 10 can speak.

Your mic should be louder.

I'm a little nervous, but okay.

My name is Robin Balcon.

I am a mother, a grandmother, and I'm a woman of faith.

I'm not a fascist.

I'm not a bigot.

I'm not a homophobe.

I'm not an extremist.

I'm not a hater of anyone.

I'm not.

I believe in the freedom of speech, and I believe in the freedom to express my faith without persecution or without intimidation.

And I believe in protecting children.

And as a mom, I can define what that is.

That doesn't mean I hate anyone.

I believe adults can do whatever they want.

So I just came to say thank you for letting there be freedom of expression.

This is obviously an intimidating, at times, circus.

So thank you.

Thank you.

We'll now proceed to remote speakers.

All right, our first and foremost speaker will be Howard Gale, followed by Kylie Ault.

Just a reminder, please press star six when you hear the prompt that you have been unmuted.

Go ahead, Howard.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale.

This council has spent the last 17 months praising the SPD while vastly increasing their pay, increasing officer quantity with disregard to quality, abandoning any actual police accountability, removing prohibitions on the use of weapons against demonstrators, and showing zero concern when police recently killed a man in crisis.

Is anyone then surprised by the police violence on Capitol Hill three days ago?

Is it possible to ignore a brutal police killing of a man in crisis two months ago and then expect police to be shy about beating and falsely arresting protesters?

The videos from Saturday could have been filmed at the WTO in 1999 or George Floyd protests in 2020. You cannot change police culture for the better with just policies and words, though the wrong policies and words can sure as hell encourage its worst impulses.

This you have done.

My advice to all those harmed and falsely arrested on Saturday is to be sure to include in your lawsuits against the SPD all the council members who voted in February to allow police to unleash weapons on protesters.

Next speaker is Kylie Ault.

After Kylie will be Katherine Dawson.

Please, you are engaging in disruptive behavior.

You are impeding our ability to hear the people that are speaking on the phone.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kylie Auld and I live in Capitol Hill.

I'm here today to speak on the misuse of public safety funds and lack of oversight of officers this weekend in Cal Anderson Park related to Resolution 32168. hate group from across the state was given carte blanche to preach their anti-queer message in the historically queer neighborhood of Capitol Hill in a park named for the first openly gay Washington state legislator.

Right wing groups have historically always abused the freedoms of a liberal society in order to seize power and once they have it will in short order work to destroy those freedoms.

We can see this happening at the national level and I see no reason why we should be helping them here at the local level.

The same group will be on the steps of City Hall shortly after this meeting to demand an apology from the city that they do not deserve.

Additionally, another permit has already been issued to a similar hate group to the voters and taxpayers of this city before the demands of hate-filled external agitators who only wish to use our community.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Catherine Dawson and then Johnny Townsend.

Hi, I'm Katherine.

I'm a renter in District 3, and I'm calling to voice my strong opposition to the changes to the City Council ethics rules.

And like other speakers, I'm also horrified by the actions of SPD this weekend, which has been enabled by City Council support.

Council members should not be allowed to vote on issues that benefit them financially.

The attempt to repeal those existing protections is shameful.

This amendment is obviously connected to the City Council's attempt to roll back renter's protections.

Supposedly, you take public office to serve the people.

but we know landlords do not hold or represent the interests of Seattle residents.

The majority of Seattle residents are renters like me.

The majority are rent burdened already.

We need to keep existing renter protections.

We need to push for more.

City council members, you've positioned yourselves as progressives and opposites to Trump, but this was an incredibly Trumpian move on your part to repeal the ethics law in order to maximize your personal profits and corporate profits at the expense of the majority of your constituents.

We know housing is a human right, not a commodity.

Do not repeal the ethics laws.

Democrats have landlords back.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

Democrats have landlords back.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

Next speaker is Johnny Townsend.

Go ahead, Johnny.

My name is Johnny Townsend and I'm speaking about your repeal of ethics rules and renters rights.

I'm a climate crisis immigrant moving to Seattle from New Orleans after losing my job and my home to Hurricane Katrina.

One of the many things I did in setting up a new life was find a dentist here.

During my first exam, he pointed out three cavities I needed to fill and said I needed a Rook now.

I hadn't had a cavity in 25 years.

So I got a second opinion.

It turned out I didn't have any cavities and I didn't need a Rook now.

The dentist had a conflict of interest.

Serve the patient or serve himself.

He chose to serve himself.

When you try to repeal the ethics rules to allow you to serve yourselves and not the people of the city, to serve yourselves as landlords by eliminating renters' rights, We see what you're doing.

Don't be self-serving.

Keep the ethics rules and protect vendors' rights.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Eleanor Stein again.

My name is Eleanor.

I'm a member of Working Strike Back.

To the council, if you repeal the ethics rules, We know your next move is to toss out the $10 cap on late fees and a ban on winter and school year evictions, among other renters' rights that we won through Shama Salwan's Socialist City Council Office.

People, including children, will be forced to live in cars and RVs.

Families will be broken apart.

People will be forced to live with their abusers.

And some people will die because evictions increase mortality by 40%.

If you vote yes, you deserve to be thrown out of office.

If you abstain, you are a coward, refusing to stand up for workers when we're being attacked by both Democrats and Republicans.

And you deserve to be thrown out of office.

Voters will remember the stance you took on this bill in upcoming elections.

To the people who showed up to fight back, thank you.

Become a member of Workers Strike Back if you're not already.

for the thousandth time.

We can see the Democratic Party is absolutely no friend of labor.

You think people need a new party?

Next speaker is Alberto Alvarez, and then Emma Hall.

Vote no on ethics rollback.

Council member Hollingsworth, there is no middle ground in protecting the profits of the wealthiest landlords at the cost of bleeding people from rent money, families on the streets.

Council member Kettle, a blue ribbon committee could brainstorm a rollback of ethics rules.

However, such a seismic change should be put on the ballot for all of Seattle to decide.

Councilmember Saka, the cabal in those clickbait articles you mentioned is real, only it's not secret or cloak and dagger.

It's public and obvious.

In Sarah Nelson's bill that endangered the viability of our shipping port, all to benefit one wealthy investor.

This legislation is vile and will unleash levels of corruption that will last generations.

Vote no on ethics rollback.

still real courage and defend the stability of over 300,000 Seattle residents.

Thank you and have a good day.

This is Emma Hunt, and then we'll come up.

When rancher's rights are under attack, what do we do?

Stand up like that!

When rancher's rights are under attack, what do we do?

Stand up like that!

Go ahead Emma.

My name is Emma Hunt.

I am a constituent in Madison Park, unfortunately represented by Sarah Nelson, and I am here to comment on the ethics rollback.

It is not acceptable for city council members to position themselves to prioritize their personal financial interests over the well-being of constituents.

It is embarrassing that we even have to ask council members to uphold the absolute bare minimum ethics rules, especially when it comes to protecting the right of safe and dignified housing to the working families in the city.

According to Forbes, in January of this year, Seattle ranked in the 25 worst cities for renters based on income to cost ratio and housing availability.

Seems like a cool game of seeing how much worse we can be squeezed as renters.

The answer, it's not much more.

We are watching and we are voting.

Council members who vote to dilute their ethical obligations to the economic backbone of the city, the workers, will feel it in the cold.

They will feel it reputationally.

The council is already failing the vulnerable of the city.

Is this some kind of sport to see how much horsey can make it?

King County already has the country's first largest house.

Next speaker is Inye.

After Inye will be Elaine Wiley.

Hello, my name is Inye Wakoma.

I am a Central District resident, legacy black homeowner.

I'm also the co-director for Wanawari.

And I would encourage council to support the interim bill, House 1110 legislation, and council members Amendment 2 for anti-displacement measures.

So please vote yes today to implement Amendment 2 immediately through the pilot programs that treat housing as our community's cultural infrastructure.

Current daddy size limits prevent the extended family configuration, central to black community resilience, and cultural preservation.

This legislation will help establish policies that empower our communities to develop their own properties, house more extended family, nurture our vital community social infrastructure, and support the growth of generational wealth.

Our community's cultural survival depends on family's ability to adapt in place while maintaining connections across generations.

Please support this legislation today.

Thank you.

Next speaker, that's Elaine Wiley.

After Elaine will be Andrew Lashio.

Elaine Wiley here, trans rights activist.

As you consider your vote today on resolution 32168 in supportive diverse communities, Mayor Harrell signed legislation March 31st, further protecting trans people in the city.

I'm here to state today that the city has made claims with words that its actions cannot back up.

Seattle Parks, along with the city's Office of Economic Development, allowing a group with discriminatory and hateful speech to book an event in a park dedicated to the memory of Washington State's first openly gay legislator, Their openly stated goal was to create the kind of controversy that erupted over the weekend.

This was reprehensible and, unfortunately, predictable.

Free speech has consequences.

The consequences of your abdication of responsibility with conflict, strife, injuries, and arrest, an outcome that was totally preventable with a more conscientious attitude towards upholding the community you purport to protect.

You have to want to see both of those outcomes instead of sacrificing one for the other.

Don't follow what the SPOG said.

The calendar sent is an...

Next speaker is Andrew, who will be the last on this side of remote speakers.

Go ahead, Andrew.

Your failure to comply with the council rules is destructive, and all you're doing is interrupting the time that other people had to speak.

Hi, my name is Andrew Ashofer, and A couple of years ago, during the last recession, I was homeless because I lost my job, and then I was diagnosed with a terminal sickness.

We're approaching another recession.

For the last few weeks, I had been on health because I could not afford my rent, and due to the cuts in federal funding, I'm losing my job.

I don't want to go through what I go through, and I want to look up to my city council to be able to support and help me and not look out for selfish interests.

As we said earlier on this month, what does it profit a man if it gains the whole world and loses his soul?

Please vote no against the ethics change.

Thank you.

move back into in-person public comment and we're gonna go to speaker numbers 11 through 20. If you can please start lining up 11 through 20. Go ahead.

All right, I'm a teacher.

I'm born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.

Today's proposed ethics rewrite is horrible.

It would allow members with direct financial interest, for example, owning rental properties, to vote on legislation that could personally benefit them, so long as they disclose the conflict.

And that's not ethics.

received $284,000, and Rob Saka received $230,000 from real estate backpacks.

And now this body not only voted 6-2 last year against the rent control trigger law, but is now entertaining roles that would make such conflicts of interest perfectly legal.

This is a betrayal of public trust.

And with Seattle facing record housing instability, the people need leaders who represent them and not the developers.

Ethics rules are supposed to guard democracy, not grease the wheels for self-enrichment.

I urge you to vote no on this rewrite and prove to your constituents that public service still means nothing, or means something, and that you're not MAGA.

Thank you.

Don't, Republicans and Democrats, we need a party of the working class.

Don't, Republicans and Democrats, we need a party of the working class.

In this room, please.

Hi, I'm Paul Glumaz.

I ran for city council and I'm on the board of the King County Republican Party.

I wanna say God bless you all, especially anarchists here, socialists as well.

I'm here to encourage you to be firm and not being bullied.

These individuals are owned by the not-for-profits.

They are here to intimidate the not-for-profits that own them is the Homeless Industrial Complex crowd.

And Housing First, Housing First.

and so forth.

And because of that, only treatment first will work.

Only treatment first will work.

So I'm hoping you will move in that direction.

You do not interrupt.

Please proceed.

Stand up, fight back!

Stand up, fight back!

Stand up, fight back!

All right, speaker number three.

All right, I just want to start out by saying that I hope transphobes continue to feel unwelcome in my neighborhood.

Yeah, that's supposed to be a safe space for gay and trans people, so.

Yeah, I just want to start out by saying, Kathy, Sarah, would you give me some eye contact, please?

Yeah, still refusing to look at me.

So I just want to say that your facial expressions betray you, and it's clear that you don't give a shit about public comment.

That's right.

Right?

You talk about caring and protecting public comment, right?

But we've spent more time over the last two weeks discussing public comments and these interruptions, right, and this expression than we have actually doing public comment.

I've been prevented from speaking the last two times.

I've taken time out of my workday to speak up, right?

Now I have 15 seconds left to say that we, it comes down to basic ethics, right?

Don't be corrupt.

It's simple expectations.

I'm a District 3 voter.

Joy, I'm watching you very carefully.

I'm a professional canvasser, and I will dedicate my life to making sure you don't win another election if you've

What do we do?

Stand up like that.

When Winter's right side attack, what do we do?

Stand up like that.

Let's go.

Republicans in the right wing shamelessly are hostile to LGBTQ people, communities of color, and every oppressed community, not to mention working people as a whole.

Democrats are also just as hostile, but they have performative gestures.

When they are under pressure, they'll utter platitudes.

Sarah Nelson said she's interested in safe and inclusive communities for trans members.

This is completely performative.

Did these council members do anything at all to stop the police from horrifically attacking the peaceful protest?

Did Sarah Nelson so much as send out a tweet condemning the violence by the police?

And what about the fact that trans and LGBTQ people will be some of the most vulnerable to evictions if these renters' rights are repealed?

That's right.

That's right.

Solidarity with the workers who are members of SCIU 1199 Northwest, who are going to be voting today for a strike authorization against Virginia Mason.

But let's be clear, the labor leadership keeps endorsing enemies of labor like Hollingsworth, like Bob Ferguson, like Kathy Moore.

We need a new .

So go back to 14.

Most council members here are bought and paid for by the landlords.

Corporate PAC spent a million and a half dollars in 2023 to stack this council.

The biggest donors were developers, the hotel industry, and the corporate landlords themselves.

A notable individual donor was the notorious Carl Haglund, who once sued the city because we called him a slumlord and appropriately named a renter's rights law after him.

He lost.

Why all that cash?

Because landlords are infuriated by Kshama Sawant's Socialist City Council office in our movement, winning one renter's rights law after another, and they want them gone.

This is also why they're trying to rewrite the ethics laws to attack those same renter's rights.

Lobbyist Jamie Durkin once complained that all the real estate lobby's money was being wasted because Democrats said all the right things in private, but it fell apart in chambers because they were afraid of quote-unquote Sawant's army.

Well, we're back.

We're back to make you afraid again.

And we're also curious because the attacks on trans people this weekend had a huge helping hand from this rotten council, including with their recent repeal of the law that Kshama and the BLM movement won banning exactly these weapons being used by the cops.

We're at number 16.

Number 16.

Thank you.

It's number 16 here.

My name is Superlib Morgan.

I am a low income renter, tenant, intersex, disabled renter.

I oppose the rollback of the ethics rules because it will betray and hurt us LGBTQI renters, and it will cause harm to us if we are unhoused on the street.

And what happened on Saturday was absolutely torocious and wrong.

We need to not allow this.

We need a party for the working class.

all right so um i'm brandon from renter from district two and i will have been appalled by by the fact that our public comment time has been shortened on numerous occasions we need public control over democratic processes.

And that involves the public being involved in discussions and debates over how we should run our city.

And by rolling back your ethics guidelines to enable further repealing of the renter's rights that were won through democratic processes, That just shows everyone what side we all stand on.

If you want to roll back the ethics guidelines, we will make sure you are voted out next time.

Thank you.

17.

What do working people say?

You are engaged in disruptive behavior.

You are inhibiting the proceedings.

So please go ahead.

Number 17. Hello, I'm a renter from District 5, Representative Morris District.

First thing I wanna say is that what happened Saturday was obviously horrible and council is responsible for repealing the law that banned less lethal weapons and it's unacceptable.

We are watching and we are paying attention.

I'm here today to speak to you, to urge you to preserve existing renter protections and keep the existing ethics rules in place.

It is never a good time to roll back hard fought renter protections, but it's particularly cruel to do it right now in this type of instability.

From federal worker firings and tech sector layoffs to yet uncertain impacts of an on and off, again, federal tariff policy, you're facing unprecedented times for a large portion of the workforce in Seattle.

renters deserve stable housing.

That is why protections like the six month notice before rent increase, cap on late fees, and eviction protections are essential.

If we don't keep these renter protections, we'll see homelessness increase year over year as we have been in this city.

I urge you to do all that you can to preserve and increase

Number 18.

What do we do?

Stand up like that!

What do we do?

Stand up like that!

For the course of multiple meetings, you continue to inhibit the proceeding of these meetings.

Please.

18.

We've got 19. Is that OK?

18?

This person was 19. Or sorry, this last person was 18. OK, thank you.

19. Are we good?

All right.

Hello, council.

My name is Evelyn Kestrel.

Joy, I think you're my representative.

I'm from Capitol Hill.

I'm not supposed to be here.

I should still be living in Missoula, Montana.

I'm from Montana.

the reason I don't live in Montana anymore is because we let people like this have the microphone.

And they continued to take that microphone until they wanted to silence all the other queer voices we could possibly have.

The reason that this has caused such an disturbance in our community, the reason you saw the response that you did on Saturday, is when we give up a little bit of ground, they continue to take it and take it and take it until we don't have safe spaces.

I love Montana.

Don't get me wrong.

You guys have a pretty state, nice big mountains.

Good job.

Well done.

The whales are cool.

But I miss my mountains.

I miss my land.

And I had to leave because it was unsafe.

And so I'm asking you, you are, everybody in the country is looking to you as the city that's going to protect us, do your job, protect us.

That's right.

We're at number 20, then we'll move back to remote speakers.

My name is Marilyn Flynn.

I have been a citizen of Seattle for my entire life, and I have lived on Capitol Hill since 2019. This past Saturday, I attended a counter protest at an event put on by Mayday USA, a known homophobic and transphobic right wing organization.

This event was also responsible for platforming former lawmaker turned right-wing extremist Matt Shea, who was accused of domestic terrorism in 2014, 2015, and 2016. I frankly find it reprehensible that the city allowed this event to take place and allowed this event to take place in a historically queer neighborhood.

Then, after allowing this to happen, giving SPD the green light to violently attack We are citizens of Seattle who showed up to defend their right to feel safe in their own communities.

I urge the city council to take action to ensure an event like this is never allowed to happen again in Seattle.

Stop allowing SPD, the mayor, and other city officials to point the finger and say they have no idea how or who was responsible for letting this happen.

The person who approved this event has a name and a job title, and we demand that they be held accountable for the anti-queer violence they allowed and encouraged.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Kate Rubin followed by Wilma Vee.

I cannot hear what's happening.

My name is Kate Rubin.

I'm the co-executive director.

My name is Kate Rubin.

I'm the co-executive director of V-Seattle and a voter and renter in district two.

At last week's committee meeting, Council Member Moore defended this ethics rollback by listing 16 states with similar ethics rules.

But most of their largest cities are actually smaller than Seattle.

Most of them are significantly smaller.

The two that aren't, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, don't support her case.

Philadelphia has stricter rules than the state, more like what Seattle already has.

Jacksonville is a red city and a red state.

In fact, nine of the states she cited voted for Trump.

These are not the models that we should be following in Seattle.

This is being rushed.

Council members were cut off from questioning Director Garnett, and the full council vote is scheduled before the SCEC has even reviewed amendments or taken an official decision.

Seattle officials should be held to the highest ethical standards, especially now that we are facing instability and corruption at a federal level.

Vote no on this bill.

Thank you.

Next is Paloma V, and then Katie Gendry.

Can you hear me okay?

Between speakers.

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay.

I'm in support of the bills that were passed previously, protecting renters' rights.

I am such a renter.

I view my home city as somewhere that I can feel safe, and I just don't feel safe.

this current environment anymore please protect us i'm sorry that i can't give you a like a grounded argument about this but it comes down to that thank you our next speaker is katie gendry

Hi, my name is Katie Dundry, I live in D6.

Thank you, Council Member Rink, for Resolution 32168 and for being the only moral and principled council member and for openly condemning the anti-queer hate rally that occurred this past weekend on Capitol Hill.

We all need to work together to move the new hate rally that has been scheduled for August 30th to a different park, not Cal Anderson, to avoid more violence.

Transphobic rhetoric and hate speech are not welcome in this city, especially in places that symbolize inclusivity and safety.

I believe in everyone's First Amendment righteous free speech, and I'm appalled and angered that our city leaders and parks allowed this hate rally to be held in a historically queer neighborhood and park, knowing that this would bring public clashes and potential violence.

Quote Robert Jones, Jr., we can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.

Unshockingly, the Seattle Police Department was the greatest agitator and violent presence at this rally, displaying a predictable and unacceptable overuse of force and explicitly targeting our queer neighbors.

Each of you council members...

Next speaker is Sarah Moore.

Go ahead, Sarah.

Are you there?

There, your phone may be muted.

Can't hear you.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you now.

Thank you.

I was an attendee of Saturday's protest against the hate group, and the blame is at the feet of the council members here.

They voted recently to give the weapons back that were used on the queer community.

I showed up months ago and I told you exactly what was going to happen.

I told you it was going to be used against our trans queer brothers and sisters.

And guess what happened?

I look at Joy Hollingsworth.

He said that the police would have to fire black balls at the feet.

But guess what?

We told you they would be fired at the chest.

And guess what happened?

They got fired at the chest.

This is each and every one of your fault, and I urge you guys to look outside, to the right of the council chambers, outside their windows.

You see the hate group setting up right now to speak.

They do not care for us.

They do not want this.

Why do we care in our system?

Why are we trying to respect the system that wants me and my comrades dead?

Absolutely do not respect the council.

We need people to fight for us, not them.

When renters' rights are under attack, what do we do?

Thank you.

That was the last one shared.

We have one more.

Thank you.

Sorry, David, please proceed.

Hi, thank you, David Haynes.

It's a telltale sign.

We need a Department of Justice investigation into city halls watering down of the integrity of what constitutes a conflict of interest, also known as an impaired judgment.

Last week, the Governance Accountability Committee continued to lobby and browbeat the ethics board director while not allowing an at-large council member to speak on the amendments till after the vote while allowing a landlord who's not on the committee to introduce an amendment to another council member who has a conflict of interest too and probably should recuse as well.

While the non-member council with a landlord conflict got to speak on the item a multitude of times using another landlord with a conflict of interest to introduce the amendment coming to at least six landlords involved in rushing changes to what constitutes a conflict of interest because we have self-dealing concerns about heavily mortgage debt servicing a bad investment of a $790,000 rental home trying to make $29,000 a month.

Please continue.

You are only taking time away from additional speakers.

Please stop.

We are now at numbers 21 through 30. 21 through 30. 21.

2, 1, 6, 8. The May Day USA event under the slogan, Don't Mess With Our Kids, was led by a man, Matt Shea, who was found by an independent investigation opened by the Washington State House of Representatives to have planned in, engaged in, and promoted three armed conflicts of political violence in 2014, 2015, and 2016. The violence that occurred last Saturday was not just some unfortunate byproduct, another intentional incitement by a man who has had extensive experience doing this in the past.

This was an incident that did not have to happen.

Those who allowed this hate group space to promote themselves in Seattle and the beating heart of a historically LGBT neighborhood share full responsibility for any violence that occurred and any physical and mental cause to this community and its people.

If you care about the well-being of this community and of the LGBTQ community of Seattle at large, you need to hold accountable those who allowed this to happen and make it clear that hate groups such as Matt Shea's are not welcome and not given space to promote themselves in the city.

Thank you.

What do we do?

No justice!

No peace!

No justice!

No peace!

No justice!

No peace!

Disruptive behavior is defined as failure to comply with the allotted time, outbursts, and comments that are not in compliance.

Number 22.

I'm here today speaking in regards to Resolution 32168. On Saturday, May 24th, a far-right, fringe, anti-LGBT church led by Matt Shea, a man who wrote a manifesto titled The Biblical Basis for War, and whom a report commissioned by the House in 2019 found to have incited violence against minority groups on at least three separate occasions.

was permitted to hold a rally in Cal Anderson Park, which lies in the heart of Seattle's LGBT community.

In response, the community came together to show up and ensure that our neighborhood remains a safe place for the LGBT community, an event of which I am very proud to have been a part of.

The violence that our community suffered on Saturday was unfortunately all too predictable.

I was there on Saturday, and I was terrified and saddened.

My neighbors were terrified and saddened.

And some of the SPD that we were facing on the fence line looked saddened that they were dispatched to this event in the first place and what that would mean for their community support.

I am not here to bemoan this council about how atrocious this was.

I hope all of you, knowing what you know now about this group that we invited into our city, regret that it took place in Cal Anderson in the first place.

Instead, I am here to suggest a solution, the one that will protect people's rights to free speech while centering the safety of Seattle residents.

Thank you.

Your time has expired.

Thank you.

You have spoken beyond your allotted time.

Please finish.

We're at 23.

Hi.

My name is .

I'm a musician here in Seattle, Washington.

I come from a long line of musicians in Seattle, Washington, born raised here, people who have been pivotal in the 80s and 90s music scene.

I've always been someone that's taken a lot of pride in the Seattleite.

As a musician, as a trans woman, I've always felt like this is somewhere I can be safe.

That being said on Saturday, that pride in Seattle has been totally shattered because I don't feel safe here anymore.

If I'm knowing that people are going to be coming in here and doing stuff like that, I can't feel safe here anymore.

That's all I have to say.

24. What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

The trans rights are under attack.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

The trans rights are under attack.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

You are engaging in disruptive behavior.

Stop.

What do we do?

Stand up, fight back.

You are interrupting someone else's.

Hello.

Hello, I am Victoria Palmer, a member of the executive board of the King County Republican Party.

I'm here today to speak out against Mayor Harrell's comments regarding the events on Saturday at Cal Anderson Park.

blaming the Christian group gathered there for prayer instead of holding Antifa aggressors accountable for their behavior.

I am a non-Christian, pro-choice Republican, but I am an American, and I will fight to uphold!

No justice!

No peace!

No justice!

No peace!

No justice!

No peace!

You are interrupting someone's right to free speech.

You must stop.

No peace!

You are engaging in disruptive behavior.

Please be quiet.

We can hear you!

We can hear you!

for a worker strike back.

I just want to say it's shockingly hypocritical that just last week the city council passed some toothless resolution affirming Pride Month, as if any of us need your approval, only for this council to turn around and repeal the ban on chemical and crowd control weapons that we won with Shama Sawant's Socialist Council Office to unleash a police to attack trans and queer people on the streets, and the city council is trying to repeal the renters' rights protections that we won to empower corporate and greedy landlords to turn trans and queer people onto the streets along with struggling working people.

Big business spent $1.4 million in the last Seattle election to buy the council that they wanted, and their real estate and landlord lobby were the biggest donors.

Sarah Nelson, Bob Kettle, Rob Saka have all taken money from Carl Hagelund, a slumlord so notorious we got a law named after him.

This is who the Democratic Party works for, not us.

If we want affordable housing, if we want Medicare for all with free, gender-affirming care, and the things that we working people need to live, we have to fight for it.

Ourselves, an independent working class movement.

We need a new party for working people.

Join Workers' Drive Act today if you want to win these things and take the fight.

To the billionaires and the landlords.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

Stand up, fight back!

When trans rights are under attack, let me do stand up, fight back!

About four more speakers 26 go for it

Hi, everyone.

My name is Rick Harrison.

I'm a health care worker at Virginia Mason Medical Center down the road.

I'm here accompanied by my colleague Nathaniel.

We're representing two of 900 people who voted to form their union back in January 2024. Since then, we have been in bargaining negotiations with our management team to gain our first contract.

We're fighting for things like reasonable work conditions, adequate pay, and overall the health and safety of our patients.

So far, it's been about 16 months we've been in negotiations, and management is not coming to the bargaining table prepared.

They're not bargaining in good faith.

We filed at least six unfair labor practices against our management team, and starting this morning, the union members are voting to take public action and...

And we are asking for your support that if it does come to a strike, that you will come and support us in our movement.

Thank you.

My name's Summer.

I'm a renter in District 3. Joy Hollingsworth, how dare you pretend to represent renters in our districts when you sit up there and attack the basic rights that renters have won with the leadership of someone who actually represents us, the person who used to sit in your seat, council member and worker strike back founder Shama Sawant.

You were backed by major labor unions like UFCW, and what did you do with that support?

You tried to attack our $15 per hour minimum wage victory.

You tried to deny raises to over 200,000 workers and relegate them to a sub-minimum wage.

Workers strike back, fought back, and defeated that attack.

And you should have been driven out of office then.

And if you vote to repeal this ethics code, working people should double our efforts to drive you out now.

You introduced all sorts of supposed amendments to this ethics bill Thursday.

All those amendments are smoke and mirrors.

They don't do a thing to stop the ethics rollback and working people aren't going to be fooled.

You can carry water.

You are carrying water for corporate landlords who made billions in profits last year.

Hollingsworth doesn't represent renters.

She represents her corporate landlord donors.

She took over $54,000 from the National Association of Renters, one of the biggest real estate lobbies.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

She also took over $3,000 in district campaign donations from landlords and real estate corporations.

These are the same landlords.

Thank you very much.

Please let the next person speak.

She's not on the side of renters.

by the landlord class.

We won't allow anyone who tries to dismantle our victories to ever speak in the name of- You are speaking past your allotted time.

This constitutes a disruption.

If order cannot be restored, we will have to move to another.

If you do not- This is the last speaker.

Number 28.

Hello, my name is Jeff.

I am a renter here in Seattle.

I'm also an artist.

I'm also a disabled person.

My SSDI application has been put on hold for four years.

It sat in the SSDI office here for six months before they told me it hadn't been reviewed at all.

I was struggling with living expenses during that time.

I have been here seven years and have moved eight times.

I have not lived in a place longer than a year and a half in this city.

That is simply due to the lack of protections that renters have here.

We have no real rent control.

The affordable housing market starts at $1,200 for a 250 square foot studio.

Nevermind the fact that when you become homeless, resources become impossible to access.

Just the other Christmas Eve, I helped a blind man off a bus into a gas station because he had been blind and homeless for 10 years with absolutely no support.

If you roll back this ethics law, people are basically as good as fucking dead.

And I hate to cuss, but I absolutely mean that.

We have reached the end of our allotted time for public comment today.

The public comment period is now closed.

Thank you all very much for your comments today.

Members of the public are encouraged to either submit written public comment if you didn't get a chance to speak on the Senate.

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

We will now proceed to the next part of the agenda.

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Let us speak!

Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President, Council President,

Let us be!

Let us be!

Let us be!

Let us be!

Let us be!

Let us be!

You cannot hear me and I cannot hear you because you are engaging in disruptive behavior.

It is 3.10 p.m.

We will recess for 10 minutes and continue this meeting remotely from our office.

We will reconvene by 3.20.

you you Bye.

Bye.

I'm going to show you how to do it.

Oh Oh

There we go.

There.

That's one more.

House member Ring.

Present.

House member Rivera.

Present.

House member Salka.

House member Salka.

Here.

House member Sullivan.

Here.

House member Strauss.

House member Hollingsworth.

Present.

Thank you very much at the time is now 3 23 we are convening our City Council meeting of May 27th 2025 I apologize to my colleagues and to the public for for interrupting the the meeting to again reconvene remotely I don't like doing this council president Let me finish what I am saying, and then we will proceed.

I certainly do not like having to do this procedure, but I also don't like having to try to clear the room when people are not following the instructions against disruptive behavior.

I had to set a time limit of public comments so that we could proceed with the council meeting in a way that was predictable for everybody involved.

That is why I did that.

And yes, I understand that there were other people that were not able to speak.

However, I had to stick to the timeframe that I had established.

We will now proceed with our rest.

I am sorry.

I am going to, no.

Point of order, I'd like to move to suspend the rules to reopen public comment.

There were 17 people left.

We would have been through all of those public commenters.

There looks like two people left, and order has been restored in chambers.

Second.

It is that I understand.

when i closed public comment that that meant that people who were listening or who were present who are who have now left the room now do not have that opportunity to continue and that is not a fair situation either i had to make a job you are interrupting please let me finish what i was saying The unfortunate thing is that it is not fair to the people to reopen who have left.

I ask that we just continue with the plan, but I am fine having it go for a vote.

All in favor of proceeding with public comment, say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Nay.

Nay.

uh this is a vote do you want shall i take a voice vote please council president okay please call the roll on proceeding with public comment i will say that um we have vote to get to and um we also have council members that have hard stops and so before you know uh and we will extend the two-hour time period.

That is something that I am concerned with.

So go ahead and call the vote on extending public comment.

Member Gettle?

Member Gettle can hear that.

I think something's wrong in your audio.

I can barely hear you.

And to repeat, no.

Sorry about that.

Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

No.

Councilmember Salka?

No.

Councilmember Solomon?

Yes.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Owingsworth?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

No.

Four in favor four opposed.

The motion fails.

We will now proceed with our agenda.

Does it?

That's correct.

A tie vote fails.

Thank you.

We will now proceed.

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

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

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

I'm looking around to see hands raised.

I'm not seeing any hands raised.

The agenda is adopted.

We will now consider the proposed consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar include Council Bill 120983 and Council Bill 120987, which is the payment of the bills, seven appointments from the Council, and nine appointments from the transportation committee.

Are there any items that council members wish to remove from the consent calendar?

Looking to see hands raised.

I don't see any.

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

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

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

Petal?

Aye.

Alternative Moore?

Aye.

Alternative Rink?

Yes.

Alternative Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Sullivan?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Aye.

In favor, not opposed.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

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

The report of the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan, Agenda 1, Council Bill 120969, will lead to land use and zoning, implementing interim controls to comply with various state laws, establishing findings and adopting a work plan for permanent legislation.

The committee recommends the bill passes amended.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Hollingsworth, as chair of the committee, you are recognized to provide the committee report.

thank you council president thank you colleagues um it i want to thank central staff as well our staff your staffs everyone for your collaborative approach um during this process and i believe and i don't want to be out of order or overstep but council member rivera has her hand up, and I think it's because we have a potential amendment to the work plan before we take a vote on it.

So I don't know what order that is, Amelia, but.

Council member Hollingsworth, you're recognized to address the bill as the committee chair.

And then after that, the council president will facilitate discussion of that amendment.

Great.

Thank you, Amelia.

I appreciate the clarification.

Colleagues, our work plan reflects a council-inclusive approach rooted in livability, sustainability.

It is a collection of all of your priorities from start to finish.

Each council member has their own priorities for their districts, from affordable housing to stabilization, anti-displacement.

environmental sustainability walkability prioritizing walkability and prioritizing pedestrians as well this collective work plan will include a robust uh has included a robust community engagement in analyzing zoning and infrastructure capacity um coordination with city departments and and uh and also um for communities most vulnerable to displacement and equitable access to new housing opportunities.

So I know that this is only the interim legislation and it took a long time for us to get here.

And after we pass this as a council, we look forward to the permanent legislation of House Bill 1110 and phase one of a comprehensive plan.

that we will be taking on as a council.

Looking forward to that.

So I will say this, and I know that we've had last minute amendments, we've had additions, and I think we've been very gracious of office of allowing that and making sure that everyone feels inclusive.

However, when we do the permanent legislation, and I've talked to individual council members about this, that our timeline is going to be a little bit more strict.

So we're going to have to make sure that we get things on time and that we're you know, just clean up some stuff just a little bit better.

So we are on time and that council members have the adequate time and enough to be able to take on some amendments or last minute additions to things.

But in the spirit of collaboration, this is where we are.

And I look forward to working with each and every one of you during this process.

So thank you.

Thank you very much for that introduction.

I'll have more things to say about the underlying legislation, but I see that Council Member Rivera has her hand up.

Council Member Rivera, please go ahead.

Thank you, Council President.

I move to amend Council Bill 120969 as presented on the recently distributed Amendment A. Second.

Second.

Thank you.

It's moved and seconded to amend the bill as presented on Amendment A. Councilmember Rivera, as sponsored, now you're recognized to address it.

Thank you.

Colleagues, I last week made mention of bringing an amendment this week.

I had originally intended for it to be a freestanding, but given my conversations with central staff, they felt it probably made more sense to include it in the Chair's work plan.

I really want to thank Chair Hollingsworth for your willingness to add this into the work plan, which is basically we're going to be exploring National historic districts are exempt from some regulation under a recently passed House bill at the state 5571 related to cladding.

and it being consistent with the rest of the buildings in the neighborhood.

There is an exemption under that bill for National Historic Districts, or basically neighborhood historic districts that have been recognized at the national level.

And so this is in here as a work plan because Central State is gonna help in the permanent legislation figure out a path to make sure that that exemption is preserved as part of the work that we do in the comp plan so happy to answer any questions but that is what this is this one sentence that got included in the work plan is about and if there are no questions i hope question oh go ahead

From my knowledge, could you please read that one sentence?

Sure.

It says, clarifying the scope of provisions for NR zones do not preclude regulation of cladding materials for qualifying historic districts and landmarks pursuant to HB 5571. And this is because I had some constituents in the district that the original HB 1110 had some language in there about the housing looking like other housing in the neighborhood or on the block, basically.

But then there was a new Senate bill that is precluding us from legislating regarding cladding, except with some exemptions.

And one of the exemptions are nationally recognized make sure that that language that's already in the state bill is included in the permanent legislation, as has been requested by constituents in the district I represent.

There are two nationally recognized historic districts, one in Wallingford, one in Ravenna, and then there's one actually in Councilmember Solomon's District in Mount Lake.

And full disclosure, I live in one of those.

This is not something that I'm bringing.

I don't get any financial benefit from living in that district.

I just happen to live there, but it's something that my constituents have requested, both in Wallingford and in the Ravenna neighborhood.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rank.

Thank you, Council President.

And thank you, Council Member Rivera for bringing this amendment forward.

I wanted to offer a minor friendly amendment to this amendment, just in noting that we've received this today.

And if we had a little bit more time, I think I would have raised this earlier, but I do wanna make note that this should be named as a Senate bill instead of a House bill.

And so I want to propose a minor correction just to make sure we make that change so we can accurately reflect the bill that we're making reference to.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink.

I'll let central staff know that that change needs to be made.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Council President Nelson, for that change to be reflected, we would need an oral amendment to the amendment A to reflect the change on item number 10.

Does that mean that Council Member Rivera needs to reread her amendment with that change?

Well, I think, Amelia, I move to amend my amendment to say, sb instead of hb um 5571 second and now amelia we vote to accept that and there's no further comments you can move on to your vote yes are there any further comments on this amendment itself i am not seeing any hands raised

Would you please call the vote on amendment?

Well, have we already?

Yes, we have moved it, correct?

This is the vote on the amendment to the amendment to change the HB to SB.

Okay, we are now going to vote on an amendment to the amendment changing HB to SB.

Please call the roll.

Thank you.

Council member Moore?

Aye.

Council member Rank?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Taka?

Aye.

Council member Sullivan?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Not in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and amendment A has been amended.

Now we will call the language that we already discussed on the floor.

Now I am asking if there are any further questions or comments about amendment A before we vote on it.

Council member Rivera, is that a new hand?

No, sorry.

Okay.

I see no other hands.

So could you please call the roll on amendment A?

Okay.

Aye.

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Salka?

Aye.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor and none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The motion carries and amendment A is adopted.

Okay.

Are there any further comments on the bill as amended?

I always have to move my script so that I can see the screen in case you always wonder why it takes me a while to continue.

I am not seeing any hands raised.

I would like to make a comment.

Council member Hollingsworth, what I would like to say is that you have led this process with aplomb and collaboration and good spirit, if that is possible, with a piece of legislation that is quite complicated.

I really appreciate how well you've led this process up to this point.

And the schedule has changed and you have dealt with uncertainty and also eight of your colleagues who all have different thoughts and ideas about how we should proceed.

So I just wanted to say thank you so much for how you've gotten to us to this point.

We still have a long way to go.

This is just interim legislation, but I just want to thank you very much and also central staff for everything that you've done to help the Hollingsworth office get us to this point right now.

All right.

I am not seeing any hands raised.

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

Council member Kettle?

Aye.

Council member Moore?

Aye.

Council member Reek?

Yes.

Council member Reek?

Yes.

Council member Farah?

Aye.

Council member Stoppin?

Aye.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

House President Nelson.

Aye.

Not in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes as amended and the chair will sign it.

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

All right.

Thank you.

Now, just for the record, that vote had to happen by the end of May.

And so we just got it done under the wire so that it can go into effect by the end of June.

And so thank you very much, everyone, for making that possible and getting it done.

Please read item two into the record.

The report of the SECT Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes, Agenda Item 2, Resolution 32168, reaffirming the City of Seattle as a welcoming city and committing to maintaining policies that support all Seattle residents, regardless of ancestry, race, ethnicity, national origin, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, moral status, physical or mental disability, religion, or immigration status.

The committee recommends the resolution be adopted.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Rink is chair of the committee and recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, thank you for your feedback on this resolution over the past few months.

We are so proud to bring this resolution that passed unanimously out of the Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes before us today.

This resolution, as previously stated, committed to maintaining policies that support all residents to ensure protections for all historically marginalized populations.

Colleagues, the hate-based event of this last weekend, targeted within the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, the gayborhood, combined with the first few months of the Trump regime's war on immigrants, trans people, and working people demonstrates the dire need for this resolution to show our support for our constituents.

This resolution requests that the city attorney's office continue to comply with the courts open to all act.

This resolution seeks to continue to balance our budget in a way that minimizes adverse impacts to city departments that serve impacted populations and to commit to drafting and considering an amendment to the 2025 adopted budget that would add 300,000 to emerging needs and serve as a response to the inhumane immigration enforcement that we continue to see from the federal government.

Seattle must stand as a beacon of hope and resilience, and it is incumbent upon us to stand up during these times.

So colleagues, I ask for your support today and vote yes on this resolution for a welcoming city.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Are there any comments?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Rank.

for bringing this legislation together and the colleagues for signing it.

I just wanted, just because we have this legislation in front of us, wanted to say something about the actions that happened this past weekend in the spirit of this being a welcoming city.

And I will say as an elected official, I get the opportunity to represent every neighborhood in our district, and I believe our foremost responsibility is to keep people safe.

And this weekend, I think we fell short of that basic obligation.

Logistically, we did not meet the moment.

Seattle is a city that aspires to protect freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and the freedom to who you choose to love.

This weekend, we reopened Deep Loans in our historic LGBTQIA community.

And I'm going to speak to you as a daughter of the district, not as a representative.

I'm also representative, but I'm a daughter of the district, a gay woman and a lifelong member of First Amy Church, which is just blocks away from Cal Anderson Park.

I carry with me a faith rooted in love, grace and mercy, and I serve a God who is the Prince of Peace and I hold close the commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself.

I will only lead with love, and that's the Seattle I know, that's the one I grew up with, and no one incident disagreement will divide us, not our communities, and certainly not our faith in one another as Seattleites.

This is not about right versus wrong, good versus evil, darkness versus light, all of that.

This is about how we, as adults, figure out how we set aside one another, work together, live together, and love one another and coexist in the city we all call home.

Hate speech is not tolerated in Seattle.

And the majority of Seattle wants peace.

And I will continue to work every day to model that peace and move us forward because that's what I was taught in church from day one.

And I believe that with all my heart, soul, and mind.

And so as a working representative of the district, and then also a proud Christian woman, my intersexualities of my gayness, my religion, my blackness, all these different things intersect.

And you can have all of them working in conjunction.

And I just want people to know that from my perspective, just because you choose to love who you do doesn't mean that you're evil, you're dark, you're hate.

Those were the comments that were coming out of Cal Anderson.

And you were not that.

God loves me and loves you, too, and everyone.

And so I just had to state that for the record as a representative, but also a person of faith.

because that's what's right now is happening in our city.

And I wanna make sure that Seattle upholds their values.

We uphold our freedom of speech and we uphold our love for one another.

Thank you, council president.

And I look forward to signing this proclamation and protecting it as well.

Thank you.

Thank you for those words.

They serve as a moral reminder to us all.

Thank you very much.

Council member Rivera.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you Councilmember Hollingsworth for your words.

They are very meaningful to me, and I stand by you and with you.

So much to say.

want to say that I, Council Member Rink, thank you for your work on this resolution.

I support the overall spirit of this bill, and because of that, I will be voting for it.

However, I do want to say that I'm unable to commit to the funding aspects of this resolution given we have not seen the executive's 2026 budget and we don't know what is contained therein but we know we have a large budget deficit and we will need to see how that gets addressed in the budget before committing to specific requests of course i am supportive of immigrants i'm supportive of lgbtqia plus rights i support women and minority-owned businesses um And I am outraged that the federal government has put us and other cities in this position that they have taken funding away from the most vulnerable funding provided by taxpayers, including Seattle taxpayers, knowing that cities cannot possibly backfill all of that federal funding on their own.

That is not okay.

I am just, I mean, apoplectic about it.

And it's not okay.

We need to continue to work hard to get our constituents money back to the city where it belongs to fund the populations and our vulnerable populations that need it.

So I want to make sure that that is a part of this work that we are doing.

because we cannot let them get away with keeping our Seattle City dollars in D.C.

for their own purposes and not for what our taxpayers need right here in Seattle.

And like I said, particularly our vulnerable populations.

So I will vote to support this.

Can't commit to the budget pieces until I see in the fall what the budget will look like.

But of course, support the overall spirit of the bill.

Thank you very much.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I BELIEVE THAT COUNCILMEMBER SOLOMON, YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP NEXT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNCIL PRESIDENT.

JUST A COUPLE QUICK THINGS.

THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER RINK, FOR YOUR WORK ON THIS.

I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO BE SIGNING ON IN SUPPORT uh it is important that we reaffirm our commitment to all of our community our lgbtq plus community our immigrant refugee community those who are the most disenfranchised especially by efforts going on on the federal level um I also want to say thank you to Councilmember Hollingsworth for your words, your wisdom, your spirit for how you frame this and how it impacts you directly.

And finally about what occurred this past weekend from those that I've heard from who were there, what occurred was unacceptable.

And we need to ensure, as we heard in commentary today, that those kind of events that impact those who are peacefully protesting don't happen again.

And again, I'm basing a lot of what I'm thinking about from the folks that I've heard from directly that were there directly.

I'm not going off a video.

I'm not going off of he said, she said, or some social media post, but from hearing from folks who are directly there.

And I think that's an important distinction.

So again, I want to thank you, Council Member Rink.

And I want to thank you, Council Member Hollingsworth.

And I want to thank this council and let's move forward together to ensure everyone can enjoy their expression of speech, their expression of identity, and their expression about who they choose to love.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Councilmember Rank, for this resolution.

Thank you for adjusting the edits that were made, consultation with my staff and other staff.

I really appreciate that.

I'm going to public safety pieces.

Separately, I wanted to say, and I've said this before, the LGBTQIA plus community has a home here in Seattle, and that's important.

And it's important to hear from those like our colleague, Councilman Hollingsworth, thank you so much for your comments.

It's so important for us to hear that.

And it's also important that this home not be limited to Seattle.

We've heard that in public comment today.

The challenge is that, I'm from the LGBTQ plus community face in other parts of the country.

It's something that we should be noting and highlighting that, you know, this home should not be just in Seattle.

I do believe that we know the city can be a safe space.

And as I say, it's safe base.

Clearly, we need to look at events from this weekend on this point and I spoke to this in public safety committee this morning.

And we will follow up, for example, with the mayor's statement that talked about after action reports and we'll do that in the committee.

the bottom line is that we need to be the example the example for our nation as it relates to LGBTQ plus rights separately related to this resolution I wanted to note as the son of immigrants I know the importance of our immigrant communities and their labor and its labor to our nation to our state and to our city something that is cemented by my experience with immigrants here in Seattle I know the actions of some immigrants, individuals, are seized upon to denigrate the entire immigrant set as a whole.

This is wrong.

This is wrong.

Yes, individual cases need to be addressed, but the narrative that America is made better by immigration and the contributions made by immigrants help form a more perfect union needs to be reaffirmed, and I want to say that here today.

At the end of the day, I think of my father, who came to America on October 4, 1964, and my mother, who arrived three months later on January 24, 1965. Their dreams and the dreams of immigrants here in Seattle are something to be embraced, for they helped build the American dream.

They help build the American dream.

I think that's some important to note and not to be forgotten in this climate, as noted by my colleagues, Councilmember Rivera, Councilmember Excellency, everybody here in terms of what's happening at.

So thank you, Council President.

And also thank you, Councilmember Rick, for the resolution.

Thank you.

Councilmember Moore.

Thank you, Council President.

I too wanted to express my gratitude to Council Member Rink for bringing forth this resolution and for working with Council offices for provide feedback.

It is unfortunate that we actually need to bring forth such resolution.

It speaks to the difficulty of the times in which we find ourselves.

And so I am So grateful that all of us are so firmly committed to the values that are espoused by here and that have been brought forth by Councilmember Rink.

I very much appreciate the words of our colleague, Councilmember Hollingsworth.

No one person has a monopoly on God's love, or if you don't believe in God, the universe is love.

And so I so appreciate hearing that reminder.

and bringing it really home personally.

So thank you for that.

I am looking forward to making sure that the events that happened at Cal Anderson never happen again.

I know that there are going to be many opportunities for provocation, both around LGBTQ trans issues and also around immigration issues, reproductive rights, all of the sort of hot button societal culture awards and uh it's going to be important that we stay the course and i am utterly convinced that we will do so and that we stand strong and unified in our support for the rights of all in this city so thank you again i will be voting for this i'm looking to see other hands up

I don't see other hands, so I will simply say that I thank Councilmember Rank for bringing this forward as well.

I agree with the spirit of this resolution, so I'll be voting yes today.

Seattle has been and will continue to be a welcoming city.

And I echo some of the thoughts of Councilmember Rivera that it is Beyond unfortunate, it saddened me that we have to pass a resolution to make real the values that Seattle stands for and also restate our commitment to some of the funding commitments that are listed in this resolution.

They are the right things to do and I also stand by them.

i also recognize that we are facing a budget deficit and we've got a mid-year supplemental budget to get through and then also a an end of the year budget to get through for the following year and so we don't know what kinds of choices we will have to make um when the mayor sends down his his proposed budgets and so i am simply saying that um i i normally this is a resolution and as such, it serves as a statement of legislative intent.

And we will unfortunately have to be making difficult choices in response to the budgets that are sent down by the executive.

But in the meantime, I want to say that the spirit of this resolution stands in my heart.

And so that is why I will be voting yes.

And thank you again very much for going through the work of bringing this forward.

Let's see.

I am not.

Would you like to have any last comments before we take a vote, Council Member Rink?

The solution is an important first step, and we need to ensure that we take up action on behalf of our residents following today.

And with that, thank you all for your for your support.

Thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

We're at over.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore?

Aye.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera?

Aye.

Councilmember Socket?

Aye.

Councilmember Solomon?

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Councilmember President Nelson?

Aye.

All in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, there were no items removed from the consent Councilmember Alexis I just saw your hand.

Yes, I was hoping to share something for the good of the order as appropriate Council President.

Okay, we've we've still got a couple items on our agenda to get through.

Do you want to, uh, council member Strauss?

Uh, thank you, council president.

Have we reached the conclusion of our agenda or you just mentioned that there are more items, but I didn't seem on the agenda.

No, we have not reached the end of our agenda.

Reflect.

I have items for the good of the order.

So once we get there, I'd like to speak.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right, there were no items removed from the consent calendar and there is not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Council member Solomon has a proclamation recognizing 2025 as Wing Luke year for signature today.

So I will ask council member Solomon to introduce the proclamation and seek any final feedback or input on the proclamation before requesting a roll call for council members to affix their signature to the proclamation.

So Council Member Solomon, you're recognized in order to address the proclamation.

Please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Council President.

Bringing forward this amendment and hopefully everyone has been able to see this.

Claiming today for asking for signatures onto this proclamation declaring 2025 as Wing Luke year in Seattle to honor the former Seattle City Council member and his extensive legacy for our community.

On February 18, 2025, Mark would have been his 100th birthday, and so proclaiming 2025 as wean week year seems a fitting tribute to an extraordinary public servant.

This proclamation was circulated to each council member's office on May 16th, and we want to thank everybody for their input.

Lastly, we want to thank the team at the Seattle Municipal Archives for their invaluable research and assistance with this.

And not only, and I do also want to point out this not only honoring Wing Luke, but it's also honoring in the recitals every council member of Asian descent that has served on this council from Wing Luke to Lem Ng Toa Pai to Shaman Sawant to Bruce Harrell.

So all of them are recognized in the recitals this I do ask for your support For this proclamation which will be presented hopefully at the councilmember on Tuesday, June 3rd.

So ask for your support and your signatures Are there any questions or comments?

I will simply say thank you very much for bringing this forward, Councilmember Solomon, and for representing and advocating for your district, District 2, in which the Wing Luke Museum exists, and that where Wing Luke's legacy is perhaps alive and well and felt and lived every day, perhaps most strongly in the city.

So thank you very much for bringing this forward.

i'm not seeing any other hands up so will the clerk councilmember strauss sorry no keep going unintentionally rose uh raised my hand but i do want to thank councilmember solomon for this proclamation it was very well written very well researched and really shares an amazing cultural history of seattle thank you councilmember solomon

And I meant to say when I was talking before that I am proud to have fixed my signature for the Wing Luke Proclamation and I'm honored to have worked back last spring to secure a $50,000 grant to distribute to the Wing Luke Museum due to the criminal hate crime that occurred.

So again, thank you very much for bringing this forward, Council Member Solomon.

And I'm not seeing any further hands up.

will the clerk please call the roll for council members to raise their hand that they will fix their signature to the proclamation.

Council member Kettle?

Council member Woodmore?

Aye.

Council member Rink?

Yes.

Council member Rivera?

Aye.

Council member Saka?

Aye.

Council member Solomon?

Aye.

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine signatures will be fixed to the population.

Thank you very much.

IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL?

YES, COUNCIL PRESIDENT.

COUNCIL MEMBER STRAUSS.

THANK YOU, COUNCIL PRESIDENT, FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER.

COLLEAGUES, LAST WEEK IN THE FINANCE NATIVE COMMUNITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS COMMITTEE, WE WERE BRIEFED ON TWO BILLS.

THESE TWO BILLS WILL BE COMING TO THE SELECT BUDGET COMMITTEE NEXT WEEK.

WE WILL BE VOTING ON THEM NEXT WEEK.

I ASK THAT YOU REVIEW THE LEGISLATION.

and also be briefed either by central staff or by the appropriate department.

One is paying off of a loan early and the other is exceptions ordinance allowing the two departments that overspent their budgets unintentionally last year to be to have those books made correct to reflect these overspends.

So, colleagues, I'm going to ask that you receive the briefings on these two bills before we vote on them next week.

If you are not a member of the Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee, you are the ones that I'm talking to.

Thank you all so much, and I hope you have a really great day.

Thank you.

That translates to be prepared.

So thank you very much for that for for that business.

Councilmember Rank.

Thank you, Council President.

I wanted to save my remarks in response to the events that happened over the weekend for today's good of the order.

This weekend, I was at Cal Anderson throughout the events on Saturday in opposition to the far right anti trans extremists who attempted to intimidate our community.

I put out a statement that evening that highlighted how the city's permitting process may have played a role in this unnecessary trauma, and there is real harm caused by when hate groups are able to invade spaces meant to celebrate our community's vulnerable populations and lift up their contributions to the city.

Cal Anderson Park is named after Washington's first openly gay state legislator, and Capitol Hill continues to be a home and refuge to the LGBTQIA2 spirit community for the city and for our country.

And today I wanna highlight my experience being on the ground with witnessing firsthand the implementation of our new crowd management policy, the policy this council approved in a 6-3 vote with myself, Council Member Hollingsworth, and Council Member Moore voting against it.

I witnessed a lot of troubling conduct, and I was in proximity when I inhaled a lot of pepper spray on Saturday afternoon.

My chest has finally stopped hurting, and I was at least 15 feet away from those who were directly sprayed with pepper spray.

Chemical weapons are weapons.

They may be less lethal, but they are weapons nonetheless.

Throughout the event, I was monitoring the crowds, working with our LGBTQIA2 spirit community leaders, and in conversation with both the mayor's office From what I personally witnessed, there were many missed opportunities to deescalate, and there are many videos and images circulating that demonstrate disproportionate use of force.

We need a full independent investigation into SPD's use of force and decision-making during this incident and an after action by the Office of Inspector General.

We need change, we need accountability, and we need it now.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for that.

Okay, I'm looking around to see other hands.

I don't see any.

I will note before closing that today's scheduled executive session is canceled in collaboration with the council member that requested it, and it will be rescheduled for another date that works before.

such that it will be scheduled in advance of a vote that it concerns.

So I just wanted to note that that is why we are not going into executive session right now.

And unless I see other hands up here, I am looking, seeing none.

We have reached the end of today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is on June 3rd at 2 p.m.

It is now...

4 12 pm and hearing no further business we are adjourned thank you everyone bye