Select Budget Committee Meeting Session II 10-28-26

Welcome back to Select Budget Committee, October 28th.

We'll come back to order.

It is 1.10 p.m.

I'm Dan Strauss, Chair of the Committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Foster?

Here.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Present.

Councilmember Juarez?

Here.

Councilmember Kettle?

Here.

Councilmember Lin?

Here.

Councilmember Rink?

Here.

Councilmember Rivera?

Present.

Councilmember Saka?

Here.

Chair Strauss?

Here.

Nine present.

Thank you.

We're gonna pick up right where we left off.

We are entering into arts and then finishing off with Seattle Parks and Recreation.

We have another 29 CBAs to get through, and let's take it away.

We've got HB and Edin Cizic with us today, so we'll turn it over to you for the arts.

First up, we have Arts 1SA1.

Ed and Sisage, Council of Central Staff.

Arts 1, SA1, is a statement of legislative intent which would request that the Office of Arts and Culture conduct a comprehensive assessment of the city's arts funding landscape and identify opportunities to strengthen long-term sustainable support for arts and culture in Seattle.

It is sponsored by Councilmember Hollingsworth, Councilmember Juarez, co-sponsored by Councilmember Juarez and Councilmember Foster.

Thank you.

Council President Hollingsworth is a sponsor of the proposal.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair and colleagues.

Let me just say, I have seven out of the 12 amendments for arts, so I apologize that I'm planting my flag this season for the arts community.

I also know how important arts is to each and every one of you, so thank you in advance.

Even if you do not co-sponsor any of these ads, I know that you support it.

we had an endless amount of resources.

If we did, I know that you would prioritize these as well.

So I just wanted to say that, and also the last two and a half years, my voting record has always been supporting traditional efforts of public safety, fire, EMT, care, I've supported all initiatives of service, housing, food access, treatment, homeless initiatives, and what I feel this year is needed for my undivided attention is arts.

They're consistently underfunded, and this is always sometime the first thing to cut.

So I just wanted to say that I just really appreciate you all on that, and I will roll into this first one.

So this request is a comprehensive look at the sustainability of our arts and culture sectors.

Cities like Detroit have shown us how arts and culture can be a part of the broader neighborhood revitalization efforts.

If we want to do something similar with Seattle, we have to better understand the landscape.

And I believe that the current funding, staffing, and programming capacity to sustain this work needs a little bit more and it needs to be a little bit more analyzed to make sure that our cultural workers have the support that we need.

And we also have to start looking at arts as a part of our city's infrastructure, not an add-on, but in addition to, or it needs to be integrated in a way that makes sense.

So we refer to arts as necessary, yet funding needs have increased, excuse me, we have referred to arts as a necessity and funding needs have not increased in arts.

And I believe investing in arts and culture is also investing in long-term vitality of our neighborhoods.

And I wanna thank Councilmember Foster and Councilmember Juarez for their support on this request.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster is chair of the committee overseeing arts.

Do you have anything to add?

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm really excited to support this.

I will just note very briefly, I will be refraining today from adding co-sponsorship to any additional arts ads.

That is not a commentary on the value of what Council Members are bringing forward, as Council President just said.

And I'll speak to my intent regarding that a little bit later with one of my amendments.

So no further comments from me.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Colleagues, discussion?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

I had my little hand up.

Did you see it?

I make mistakes, too.

Oh, do you now?

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First of all, thank you, Council President, for bringing this forward and your leadership in the arts and your intention and all the other programs that we have supported and ideas that should make our city great.

And thank you, Council Member Foster, for being a co-sponsor as well.

and I normally don't share this, but I too care about the arts because my husband's an artist and my daughter is and that's how they support themselves.

Yes, I would have preferred med school, but that's what I got.

I got an artist.

Nothing wrong with that.

Or a lawyer, but I want to be creative.

So anyway, let me tell you why this is important.

Thank you, CP, for talking to me about this before and us putting our heads together about how we move forward this slide.

This slide is about moving from survival mode to long-term sustainability.

Securing a sustainable future means we cannot treat arts and culture as a luxury when it's a cornerstone of our city's identity and economic infrastructure.

To create this future, this slide assesses two vital areas.

First, We rely heavily on the admissions tax, but we need to know if it is resilient for the future.

This slide will give us a look at its limits and help us with new funding models used by our peer cities.

Very important.

Second, we often celebrate Seattle's art, but we forget the workers behind it.

This slide specifically tasks arts with finding ways to improve employment, stability, and access for our local cultural workers and artists.

This slide would give the council concrete data needed regarding staffing gaps, funding alternatives, and programming potential by 2027. It ensures that future budget decisions are strategic and built to last.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to help the Council build a stronger foundation for Seattle's creative economy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council President Hollingsworth for bringing this forward.

I just kind of hope that as part of any assessment that we could look at sort of other funders.

I was surprised to learn last year that, and I'm not sure if it's state funding or private funding, but that Washington State has some of the lowest funding for the arts in the country.

And so I just think that we need to have a comprehensive look at the full arts.

funding ecosystem.

So with that, I'll be supporting.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor Arts 1SA1, please raise your hand at this time.

Set.

Great.

Adding co-sponsorship to Arts 1SA1 is Council Member Juarez, Kettle, Lynn and Saka.

I'm sorry.

On folks, don't take your hands down until you hear your name called.

Council Member Juarez is already co-sponsored Council Members Kettle, Lynn and Saka.

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Thank you, team.

Moving on to Arts 2A1.

HB Harper, Council Central Staff, and may I say, I think I've cornered the market on the coolest DBAs, so thank you very much, Council President Hollingsworth and the rest of the council for that opportunity.

Arts 2A would increase arts by three million general fund in 2027 on a one-time basis for arts programming and impose a proviso.

So this could be for a variety of individuals and organizations activating spaces, producing events, or creating arts and culture media.

It's sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by council members Rink and Foster.

Thank you.

Council President Hollingsworth, you're recognized.

So first I want to thank Council Member Rink for her leadership and partnership on this amendment and also Council Member Foster as well for your leadership and stewardship in all this.

Both of you all have been tremendous partners.

Colleagues, last year our Office of Arts and Culture distributed over $4.5 million to about 500 artists and organizations.

but they received 900 applications.

And this is an increase in applications compared to previous years, which is great by the way, but you know that the funding sources have dried up around the federal and county level at times and state as well.

And so budget is tight.

In Washington in 2021, the creative sector contributed over $119 billion to the state and supported 380,000 jobs.

Yet since the pandemic, we found year after year that art organizations and artists are constantly struggling.

So these numbers are real.

I know you all know how amazing arts is.

We put our flag in the ground for three million, and I will just tell you all this.

I think one of the most rewarding things that happened this year, and thank you Councilmember Foster and School Board Director Vivian Song for their support and efforts, where we helped save a music program at Washington Middle School.

There was a $30,000 gap, and Safeway, Mike McCready from Pearl Jam, Seahawks stepped in to save the program from ending and closing.

That is a national program, and it's an award-winning program, and our school district did not have enough funding to support this program.

While I was happy that we found a solution, I was absolutely embarrassed that we were even in that position to begin with.

and so that's why I believe arts is important and being able to fund it at a level, I think at $3 million, I know if we had endless resources, it would be great, but that is our ask and just really would appreciate people's support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleague, Council Member Foster, Chair of the Committee, anything to add?

I just want to appreciate Council President Hollingsworth for her leadership and also for her generosity with her comments.

She said that we got to step in and support this program but I want to say that was really Council President Hollingsworth's organizing and commitment and dedication to bringing together partners and supporting the music program and that is one of my fondest memories from my first year here on Council and I really appreciate that and I'm really proud to co-sponsor this budget action because It adds resources back into the Office of Arts and Culture, while also giving space for the Office of Arts and Culture to work with the artists and communities and make determinations about where they see the need.

And I think that's an important component of the approach that Council President is putting forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Discussion, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Chair Strauss.

I wanted to echo that sentiment and thank Council President Hollingsworth for your leadership on prioritizing funding for the arts.

Thank you so much for working with my office on this, but most importantly, I just really appreciate the focus that you're bringing to our arts and cultural sector.

I'm excited and proud to be a co-sponsor on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

if I'm able to say one last thing.

I do wanna thank, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Final discussion?

Sorry.

Any final discussion?

Council President has sponsored the amendment.

You have last word.

Proposal, you have the last word.

I apologize.

Thank you, Chair, for the proposal.

I do wanna take this time, and I said it before, thanking Council Member Brink and Council Member Foster, trying to figure settle on a number.

And then also, like Council Member Foster said, and Council Member Brink, giving Office of Arts and Culture the flexibility to figure out which programming and light items that's needed.

So we kind of wrote it so it's a lot flexible.

So thank you all for your support on that.

Thank you.

If you would like to co-sponsor Arts 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Ready?

Yes.

Set.

Adding Council President Emeritus Juarez and Council Member Lynn to Arts 2A1.

Council Members Juarez and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to Arts 3A1.

Arts 3A would increase arts by 75,000 general fund in 2027 and in 2028 for a public event celebrating the African-American community, such as Umoja Fest.

It would impose a proviso so the funds could be spent for no other purpose.

Sponsors are Council President Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by Council Members Saka and Rivera.

Thank you.

Council President, the sponsor of the proposal, you're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you in advance, Council Member Saka, for your co-sponsorship and support on this, and also Council Member Rivera as well.

Colleagues, Emoja Fest is an annual festival and parade that celebrates Seattle's black community, rich historic heritage, and unifying, celebrating African American community and African diaspora community.

This festival started in 1940s, and it's also, accredited as the inspiration behind SEAFARE.

So it's a two-day festival, and I think what's really important, it started out at Garfo Community Center, it moved to Jutkins Field.

The reason why I think that the city should continue to fund and invest this program, two years ago with participatory budget, we were able to shift funds to be able to fund different cultural events.

One of those events was Emoja Fest, and Emoja Fest has always been a great event, but when we invested in that program, they had over 20,000 people that enjoyed a free festival over a two-day period.

20,000 people.

And last year, they broke records, or this past summer, they broke records again because they do a free festival, they do a parade, and they also do a two-day concert in the park as well.

And one of the things that I think is really important too, when we talk about public safety, and I was asking people about why some of these festivals are important that they do, is because they're multi-generational.

they bring different types of families, the grandma, the auntie, multi-generations to these events where there's never a public safety issue.

There's always happiness, there's always community, there's always connection and it's always safe to be able to be at these events.

And so I think it's something that the city should continue to invest in and this would make it, this would be able to make MOJA Fest continue to be sustained because it's something that we should celebrate.

So thank you, colleagues, in advance.

I know I have a lot of ask here, so thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

I see discussion.

Councilmember Juarez.

Old hand, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor arts 381, please raise your hand.

at this time.

Ready, set.

Adding to Arts 3A1 are Council Members Rink and Lynn.

Council Members Rink and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to Arts 4A1.

Arts 4A would increase Office of Arts and Culture by 200,000 general fund in 2027 on a one-time basis for a creative marketplace supporting the broader creative ecosystem, such as on the block.

It's sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by Council Members Saka and Juarez.

Council President, floor is yours.

I'm back.

Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, Chair.

I know.

I'm sorry.

We just had to do it.

Okay.

I just, you know, we had to ask, okay?

Closed mouth doesn't get fed.

Colleagues, Listen, two years ago, we were able to fund on the block for murals that went specifically to Capitol Hill.

It was supposed to be 10 murals, but it turned out to be five massive ones all throughout the district, which is pretty amazing.

And what this would do, because they did a phenomenal job of cultivating artists, they would host free outdoor creative market.

This is on Pike Pine Corridor.

This brings artists, music, and vendors into the neighborhood.

It supports 60 resident artists in the broader creative ecosystem with spaces and opportunities for local artists.

They're right there just off 11th Avenue in their own space.

These resident artists provide over 3,000 hours of free creative programming in the area and their marketplace increases local small business visibility and foot traffic by about 70% on event days.

I also wanna thank the two co-sponsors on this, Councilmember Saka to my right, and then Councilmember Juarez to my left as well.

Thank you, colleagues in advance.

I know you support it, so I also know that if you don't co-sponsor, I get it, but I just wanna thank you all in advance.

I know that we support the arts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Discussion, Councilmember Lin.

Oh, sorry.

Nope.

Sorry.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor Arts 4A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Ready, set.

Adding Council Member Rink to 4SA1.

Adding Council Member Rink.

Sorry, Arts 4A1.

No S there.

But we are moving on to Arts 5A1.

Parts 5A.

This council budget action would decrease $1.7 million in admission tax supported appropriations in the Seattle Center and Seattle Parks and Recreation Department in 2027 and 2028, and increase an equivalent amount of general fund support to those departments, freeing up $1.7 million in admission tax supported resources in the Office of Arts and Culture to support the Centering Art and Racial Equity Grant Program.

This is sponsored by Council Member Foster and co-sponsored by Council Members Kettle and Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council Member Foster, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you so much to Councilmember Cattle and Councilmember Rink for your co-sponsorship of this amendment.

Colleagues, I'm bringing this forward for a couple of reasons, and I know Council President already touched on that, so I think that was such a perfect opening in terms of the admissions tax.

But I want to share, if you are looking at the October 2026 baseline forecast, It projects 2.2 million dollars less in admissions tax revenue across 2026 to 2028 than what was anticipated in the previous budget.

That includes reductions of 800,000 in 2027 and 900,000 in 2028. That means that the admissions tax revenues would fall 6.7 million dollars below the proposed budget projections over three years.

And all of those are just numbers in a way, but really what I want to highlight is we're seeing a decline in ad tax revenue that was projected from the city, right?

So what we thought we were going to get, what we're now seeing is coming in a little bit lower than our previous projection.

And ultimately that's going to have an impact on the Office of Arts and Culture.

So this amendment, what I'm putting forward, doesn't address that long-term need.

Council President's proposal does that, and I'm really looking forward to getting the results of that.

But what I am putting forward is an amendment that will allow us to have the ad tax revenue return to the Office of Arts and Culture, rather than supporting programs in other departments on an ongoing basis.

What this is not is a commentary on the value of the programs in Seattle Center and in parks.

There's some fantastic programs out there, including Festall, that I think are really important adds for our city.

But what it is is an effort to ensure that we are keeping the Office of Arts and Culture budget whole in a time when we're seeing a change in revenue projections over time.

What I am hopeful for is us getting on a path with a sustainable and citywide approach to arts funding, particularly because of the important role that arts plays in employment culture, creative space making, public safety, all the things that folks have already stated.

I will also note outside of the proposed $3 million one-time ad, if we don't count that, the proposed ads to the Office of Arts and Culture from independent colleagues today adds $1.3 million, which I think indicates the overall support for the Office of Arts and Culture.

My goal here is to just make sure that we're keeping them whole with the admissions tax.

So colleagues, I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

If you'd like to co-sponsor Arts 5A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Are we ready?

Set.

Adding Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Lynn to Arts 5A1.

Council Members Hollingsworth and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to Arts 6A1.

Arts 6A would increase appropriations to arts and culture by 150,000 general fund in 2027 and 85,000 in 2028 on a one-time basis for a free art wall in Delridge, including youth workshops and local artist stewardship.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Saka and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Hollingsworth.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'm actually gonna take a page out of Councilmember Juarez's book for this one, because as I mentioned earlier, today is Delridge Day at City Hall, and I clearly came dressed for the occasion straight out of Delridge.

Everyone knows Delridge has been, for too often, overlooked.

as part of a sustained broader strategy of my office.

We've been working hard to help reverse that.

This is part of that effort.

Today, we wanna do more than just put Delridge back on the map.

We wanna literally put it on canvas.

This proposal would create the city's first ever city-managed legal community art wall with youth workshops, local artist stewardship, and clear rules that support creativity while reducing unwanted graffiti.

I want to give a special shout out to renowned prominent West Seattle artist Desmond Hanson.

Colleagues, as you probably know, Desmond helped bring this idea to life and his work has already transformed many murals, art walls, utility boxes into landmarks of community pride.

Indeed, just a few days ago, some of his cool work was featured nationally, on national TV, through the primetime game of the Seahawks.

So shout out to Desmond Hansen.

Here's a simple idea.

Instead of endlessly painting over creativity, let us give creativity a legitimate canvas.

This can turn a graffiti challenge into an arts pipeline, connecting young people with established artists and giving Delridge a destination that evolves and endures over time.

There are several credible research projects including an often cited study by the University of Pennsylvania, Extra Fancy, the Ivy League study, show that public art and community mural programs reduce overall neighborhood property crime by up to 42%, 42%.

In addition, some smaller localized studies have suggested that community mural programs may reduce vandalism.

by as much as 95%, 95%, Council Member Lanham looking at you, 95%, you're a co-sponsor of this and I thank you.

Though this figure has not been verified by large scale empirical research, there's my standard disclaimer.

Nonetheless, substantial anecdotal evidence from communities across the country strongly suggests that there's a tight correlation between community mural programs and a reduction in vandalism.

Actually, you heard it from Desmond himself the other day ago.

He's been a muralist and artist since he was young.

If he had these kind of things around when he was young, he probably wouldn't have engaged in some unwanted graffiti activity.

I also wanna clarify and correct the published record, the published funding split rather.

My intent is actually to propose 235,000 in 2027 and another 235,000 in 2028, not that total across two years.

I think colleagues, this investment is important for a number of reasons, particularly in light of the mayor's proposed reductions, $500,000 reductions in the total a citywide graffiti abatement budget.

This is not a blank wall or a blank check.

It is a managed, community-centered investment in youth, public space, and the Del Ridge identity.

Let us replace gray walls with color, connection, and pride.

and I know one thing is clear, we've heard a lot of excitement and energy about the need to further invest in our local arts, cultural scene here in Seattle, thereby strengthening our creative economy.

And my office, I'm proud of the work we've done to support the Del Ridge community over the years, not just because I happen to have two or three staffers that happen to be Del Ridge residents, so shout out to Michael, and Brendan.

We've done things like secured funding to construct at least 12 blocks of new sidewalks in Del Ridge, including along Southwest Brandon.

We secure commitments from City Light to install brand new traffic or, excuse me, street lights, street light upgrades in critical areas that are in need, including first ever street lights in Greg Davis Park.

We've seen already a reduction in the number of gun violence incidents over there, that and more.

And this helps us continue in our investment to support Del Ridge.

Colleagues, I'm asking you to not be stingy with raising your hand in just a moment.

Please, support this initiative.

And I want to thank, again, my Councilmember colleagues, Councilmembers Lynn and Council President Hollingsworth.

Your name, you are a true champion of arts funding in this city because your name is either listed as the prime sponsor or co-sponsor for all but one or two of these things.

So you are the true champion of arts in our community.

But I wanna thank you for your leadership.

And colleagues, again, asking for your support when the chair asked for co-sponsors of this initiative in just a moment.

And thereby asking you to invest in a proven graffiti abatement strategy.

invest in our local arts and cultural scene, invest in creative expression, invest in public safety, and invest in Delridge, because I promise you, they deserve it, and so much more.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster is chair of the committee overseeing the department.

Anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Further discussion?

Okay, enough.

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

Any final discussion?

This is when I'm about to ask you to raise your hand.

So if you would like to co-sponsor arts 681, please raise your hand at this time.

Ready?

Set.

Everyone's good?

Adding council member Juarez and Kettle to arts 681.

Council members Juarez and Kettle.

Thank you.

Moving on to arts 781.

Arts 7A would increase our Office of Arts and Culture by 20,000 general fund in 2027 and the same amount in 2028 on a one-time basis for community-serving music programs providing school year and summer arts access, such as Mode Music.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Saka and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Hollingsworth.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka, the sponsor of the proposal, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So this is a Mode Music youth access investment.

A child's access to music should depend on talent and interests, not family income.

So Mode Music is a vibrant local small business in the Delridge neighborhood.

They have a non-profit arm that provides programming and support for kids in need.

So this proposal provides $20,000 in each year for community serving music programs, including such as Mode Music, that offer school year and summer arts access.

Music education builds confidence, discipline, creativity, and belonging for some young people.

And it also creates the first place where they feel fully seen.

This is a relatively small investment, but in a hugely impactful one as well, with a deeply personal return.

More children making music, finding and building community, and discovering what they can do.

I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Sokka.

Councilmember Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues discussion.

Councilmember Juarez.

further discussion colleagues further discussion final discussion any final discussion seeing none this is where I'll ask for your co-sponsorship if you would like to co-sponsor arts 781 please raise your hand at this time seeing none we will move on no co-sponsors to this item we will move on to arts 881

Arts 8A increases the Office of Arts and Culture by 100,000 general fund in 2027 and 100,000 general fund in 2028 on a one-time basis for an organization providing art instruction programs to underserved neighborhoods in West Seattle, such as Unified Outreach.

It's sponsored by Councilmember Saka and co-sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Kettle.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka has sponsored the proposal.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Unified Outreach Youth Arts Investment.

Youth arts are not an extra or an add-on.

They are belonging, mentorship, prevention, and as we talked about through other investments, opportunity.

So this amendment provides $100,000 in each year for art instruction in West Seattle's underserved neighborhoods through organizations like Unified Outreach.

These programs reach people and young people where they already are.

community centers, schools, transitional housing, and youth shelters.

When we give young people constructive ways to create, to lead, and to tell stories, their stories, we strengthen the entire neighborhood.

West Seattle's next generation of artists should not be limited by zip code or household income.

This investment helps put tools, mentors, and opportunities within reach for all.

and I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sokka.

Council Member Foster, anything to add at this time?

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion?

Final discussion, you know what's next.

If you would like to co-sponsor Arts A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Seeing none, we will move on to the next item, Arts 9A1.

Arts 9A would increase appropriation to the Office of Arts and Culture by 500,000 general fund in 2027 one time for murals in the Ballard Brewery District.

It's sponsored by Chair Strauss and co-sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

There are three elements to this proposal.

The first is that in the past two budget cycles I've provisoed $90,000 per year for murals in this area as a placemaking strategy.

Those murals were matched by private businesses and then by the Ballard Alliance for the greater Ballard area.

it is about one city funded mural is matched by about two to three privately funded murals in the larger Ballard neighborhood.

Focusing in on the brewery district this is an industrial area that abuts a residential area that is cut off from good pedestrian access until I have my way and we're doing that now has been historically cut off from good pedestrian access to the north by Market Street to the south by Leary Way to the West by 15th Avenue and by the East by 8th Avenue.

This has created some very interesting experiences when you put a hard to access neighborhood with residential and commercial or residential and industrial in the same place.

And so we have been using a multi-layered strategy of better access.

I'm not gonna go through the whole strategy right now.

I'm gonna get down to the point here, which is I'm proposing to fund $500,000 worth of murals in this neighborhood so that we can focus on 14th Avenue and 11th Avenue specifically.

We have enough murals in the area that it's gaining attraction and attention but it is not quite there yet for placemaking.

With this investment, I think we can be one and done.

And because I'm making a larger request than in the past, that is why I'm not looking to proviso this money, I'm looking to add new money in.

I don't need to share all the things that my colleagues have shared about the benefits of murals and art, just to say that This is different than in the past because I'm asking for more money, but I'm not proviso-ing it.

And I'm noting that there has been match for all previous investments two to three times larger than what we've been putting in.

So that's this proposal.

Councilmember Foster is chair of the committee.

Anything to add?

Nothing to add.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

Seeing no final discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor Arts 9A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Seeing no additional co-sponsors, we will move on to Arts 10A1.

Arts 10A would increase the Office of Arts and Culture by $50,000 general fund in 2027 on a one-time basis for an artist support agency helping independent artists build sustainable creative lives such as How to Listen.

It's sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by Council Members Saka and Juarez.

Thank you, Council President.

You're recognized.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank Councilmember Warrs and Saka for the next three co-sponsorships.

Colleagues, How to Listen provides grants, professional resources, partnerships, performance opportunities to help independent artists.

They organize free and all-age events.

music events and showcases.

And part of this funding would go directly to training for their activation for under-resourced, underserved youth and artist development with youth training in the music industry and event production.

And I ask for your support.

I know you support it, but I ask for your co-sponsorship.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, discussion?

Discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

Seeing no final discussion.

If you would like to co-sponsor Arts 10A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing none, so I'm gonna move forward unless somebody looks at me.

Seeing nothing further.

We will move on to Arts 11A1.

Arts 11A would increase the Office of Arts and Culture by 150,000 general fund in 2027 one time for free events at a gallery space featuring rotating exhibitions, local and emerging artists, and cultural storytelling, such as Coleman Commons.

It's sponsored by Council President Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by Council Members Osaka and Juarez.

Thank you.

Council President, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez and Councilmember Sacca again for your support.

Coleman Commons had their grand opening in August 6th of this year.

It's an event space with over 4,000 square feet, large enough to serve as a cultural hub for things like art exhibitions, which it has the WOW Gallery, workshops, fashion shows, and community gatherings.

It brings people to downtown and also the Pioneer Square.

Every single weekend, they're having some type of event, even during the weekday, and it's constantly bringing people downtown.

The venue and rentals and event partnerships directly support and fund independent, community-driven journalism across Seattle, and also different artists, where it's open mics, different type of workshops and art exhibitions, as I was talking about, and also a Wellness Center, and I would love your support on this ask.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you.

Council Member Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion?

Seeing none, if you would like to co-sponsor Arts 11A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Seeing no additional co-sponsors, we will move on to Arts 12A1.

Arts 12A would increase the Office of Arts and Culture by 100,000 general fund in 2027 on a one-time basis for a non-profit hip-hop artist association such as The Residency.

It's sponsored by Council Presidents Hollingsworth and co-sponsored by Council Members Asaka and Juarez.

Thank you, Council President.

You're recognized.

Last one.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Waters and Council Member Sacca on your support on this.

Colleagues, the residency launched in 2015, becoming an independent nonprofit in 2020. It started as a collaboration with Mopop Arts Corp.

And it provides free hip-hop arts education for our young artists in between the ages of 16 and 19 with mentorship, training, and creative career development.

To this day, it serves over 100 artists in every single year.

Think of from 2015 to now, it's been over a thousand young artists.

They delivered 19 programs, 42 public performance, giving emerging artists practical experience performing and working in the music industry.

I think the thing that I love about this organization is not that they are focused on just the music part of hip hop or R&B or any of that.

that they think about all the other pieces that come along with the music industry.

That could be in the engineer, how to work on the backstage, a manager, all the thing.

There is zero cost for families for their core programming and they make sure that they go in underserved neighborhoods to make sure they get kids that are kind of on the brink of trying to figure out that are ripe at the age of vulnerability and they're trying to figure out with pathway.

and they offer stipends to their summer participants.

They also cover meals and transportations.

They also offer scholarships for their alum pursuing education.

So after you go out the cohort, they also offer scholarships as well.

And I ask for your support on this as well.

Thank you, on the residency.

Thank you.

Colleagues, Councilmember Foster, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, any discussion on this proposal?

Seeing no further discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor this item, please raise your hand at this time.

We've got Council Member Lynn adding his name to Arts 1281.

I just needed one.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

He gave me one.

Thank you, Council Member Lynn.

our colleagues that unless you are called on, you are out of order.

Councilmember Rivera, were you intending to add your name?

Okay.

All right.

The after lunch slump is really hitting.

Blood is in our stomachs.

I'm going to do this one more time.

For arts 12A1, we have Councilmember Lynn and Rivera adding their names.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you.

We are now switching to our final department, but that does not mean that we are finally near done.

We've got another 17 proposals to go through, which means that we've only done 13 so far.

With that, we are moving into the Parks Department.

We're gonna start with SPR 1A1.

Good afternoon, Council Members.

Karina Bull from Council Central Staff.

SPR 1A would amend the project description of the West Queen Anne Playfield Conversion Capital Improvement Program and impose a proviso.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Kettle and co-sponsored by Council Members Hollingsworth and Rink.

Thank you.

Council Member Kettle, sponsor the amendment.

Proposal, you are recognized.

Yes, thank you, Chair.

On this proposal, first, thank you to Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Rink for your sponsor support for this.

Colleagues, I'm not gonna stand up.

I don't have a t-shirt underneath.

but I will say I did wear a T-shirt when I was out coaching soccer, when I was coaching T-ball in Queen Anne, the girls that are out there.

And from that experience and working as a stay-at-home dad, you get to know all the parks.

You get to know the challenges that exist at these parks.

West Queen Anne Playfield, otherwise known as Big How, is in rough shape.

It's been on the list for a better part of a quarter, actually more than a quarter century, and it's time here to press forward.

Now, this has always been the Big How project, and somehow it has a playground area and then it has like a little league baseball area, but it's not just that, by the way.

This is where I coach soccer, for example, out in the outfield.

And then on the other side, in the main area, there's two areas.

So there's Queen Anne 1, Queen Anne 2, and Queen Anne 3 as part of this project.

Unfortunately, Queen Anne 3 wasn't added in as a SIP by Parks for this project, even though it's quite clear that we have to do right for Big Howe.

and part of this was, in fairness, but at the same time, I have questions, is that there's a public-private partnership going on with the Queen and Little League is raising money for themselves in terms of the QA3, which is the Little League field, which also doubles for soccer and other sports on the outfield.

And they're raising money, but they have not raised all the money that would be needed.

for different reasons.

And some of these are, you know, finding out later different restrictions and so forth in terms of the ability to raise funds.

But we need to make this project whole.

We need to have QA3 added along with QA1 and QA2 because this Big How project needs to be completed.

And so that is one part of this ask.

As part of the planning and working with the planner on this and working through its levels of development, there's understood to be a certain level of underspend in the QA1 and 2 parts of this project.

And so what this amendment would do, in addition to creating a SIP for QA3, the ball field there, again, which also substitutes for other sports in the outfield, but would take the underspend from QA1 and 2, so within the Park Big How project, and keep it within there to work the field itself for QA3, you know, the baseball Little League field, again with other sports in the outfield.

And this is important because there's not enough resources, particularly because as bad a shape Big How is, Little How, the East Queen Anne play field, is even worse shape.

I've coached t-ball and soccer there too.

A fellow dad broke his ankle.

I actually went to the dirt exchange in District 6 right across the bridge with a fellow dad and got tons of dirt to go out in the field, you know, so the kids didn't hurt themselves, which could have led to a lawsuit and then the city attorney, I won't go down there, that route.

This is the challenge that we're facing here.

And so we need to do this right.

We need to do right for Big How.

and later for Little Howe.

And that's why I ask for your support.

I ask your support as a council member, but also as a dad who's been out there coaching, avoiding getting his ankle broken like another dad did.

And this is what's needed.

And by the way, by doing this, we create these fields that are gonna be year-round available way more.

And since I am married to a Title IX expert, I will add assist in that front, too, in terms of the girls' softball.

So with that, colleagues, again, without standing up, but still strong in my support and my requests for this project.

So chair, thank you, and colleagues, thank you very much for your support.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Juarez, as chair of the committee overseeing the department, do you have anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, discussion, Councilmember Saka and then Foster.

Thank you, Chair.

I'll just say, you know, as a Council Member, I'm always gonna stand up and support, you know, turfing initiatives across our city.

I'm always gonna support, which therefore supports youth sports and recreation more broadly.

Turfing initiatives support enhanced year-round playability, as Council Member Kettle alluded to a moment ago.

Turfing initiatives support player safety.

Dangerous when there's quite literally potholes in these infields and outfields, and their kids are summlin' in dog pits and holes, and kids are summlin' and trippin' through those.

Dangerous.

It leads to player safety issues, and he alluded to some potential legal liability issues.

I'm always gonna support gender equity and gender parity in sports, which initiatives like this help unlock.

And so that's just point blank as a council member, So in a moment, I'm honored to be able to put my name and raise my hand to co-sponsor this, and that's as a council member.

As a dad, as a fellow dad, I too have coached, done my fair share of coaching.

In fact, the last three years, because I don't like sleep or personal freedom or time, I've proudly served as the head coach for my son's Little League team in West Seattle, the last three years.

I don't think I'll be able to do that next year for time reasons, but done it the last three years.

So I hear you on that.

And so both as a council member and as a dad, happy to support this and we need more in district one too, but let me support you when you're getting yours in your district.

Thank you.

Thank you, council member Foster followed by Rivera.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to Councilmember Cattle and Central Staff for bringing this forward.

I just wanted to ask a clarifying question or two, and it's my understanding as I read this that the way it's structured is to ensure that any funds that are not used for Fields 1 or 2 sort of stay with the project, if you will, and are used for Field 3, and then those funds are combined with the million dollars that the Queen and Little League Heart of the Hill fundraising campaign has already raised.

I see head nods, so I know that's correct.

My question is what happens to those provisoed funds if the combination of those provisoed funds and the $1 million that have already been raised do not equate to $2.5 million, which is my understanding of the total needed cost for field three.

So I'm gonna ask, thank you.

I'm gonna ask central staff and then I'm gonna ask Councilmember Kettle to sponsor the proposal.

So over to you.

Thank you.

So Councilmember Foster, are you asking what happens if there's not sufficient funds for field three?

Then SPR would need to identify additional sources of funding.

I'm gonna double check with- Yeah, or the private fundraising campaign could come up with more funding.

I'm gonna check with Council Member Foster.

Was that the question you asked?

Great, and then Council Member Kettle, anything to add?

Yes, just want to basically thank you on that.

And also, you know, this is to work the field itself.

You can dial up or down like the dugouts and all the various pieces that go to a Little League field.

So there's considerations like that as we look through to complete the projects.

Obviously look to complete it fully across the board, but in addition to the point made, there's some dialing down potentially in terms of what we do with that field.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for that response.

The intent behind my question is just thinking about another project that we've been talking to community members about where, in that instance, the Department hasn't been able to spend the resources.

So what I think is really important and smart and thoughtful about the way that Councilmember Kettle is approaching this is sort of keeping it within the project.

The thing I'm a little bit concerned about is just around that what if, if we don't have that ability.

What I heard from the council member is that there's the opportunity to potentially scale back the improvements to match the funds available.

Is that aligned with your understanding of the project central staff?

I essentially wanna make sure these funds don't end up sitting there and being unused while we are waiting to reach the final 2.5.

The most recent information that we've received from SPR is that it's a perfect match between potential underspend and what is needed to complete these Field 3 improvements.

So what seems likely to happen is that all of the funds will be spent.

I think what is unknown is will they all be spent in 2027 or will some of them be spent in 2028?

But all of the funds will likely be spent from what we know right now.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster, you still got the floor.

Thank you so much for that, Chair.

I appreciate that.

And just my final question on this is, with the construction schedule anticipated for the project and with the anticipated renewal of the parks levy, is there any opportunity?

It sounds like this project would happen in 2027. Is that correct?

I believe so, yes.

Okay.

That actually answers my question.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle for bringing this forward.

And I appreciate that this has a match from, you know, it's like a little bit of a public-private project.

I really also appreciate and want to underscore the importance of the girls' softball fields.

We don't do enough to support girls' fields.

that they can play on.

And so we need to do everything that we can to really support our girls as well.

In general though, and thank you council member Saka for raising, there are fields all over the city and all our districts and they're all important.

I appreciate you council member Kettle for bringing this in.

And I also note that my kids played soccer a very, very long time ago at this point, but we used to travel all over the city to play soccer.

So I know that these fields are not gonna only be utilized by the kids up on Queen Anne, but kids from other parts of the city as well.

I will support this particular request.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Final discussion, any final discussion?

Councilmember Kettle, we had a long discussion, so if there's anything you'd like to close us out with.

Just invite you all sometime in early summer when we have shovels in the dirt on the ground baking ceremony.

You're all invited.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

This is where I'll ask for co-sponsors.

If you would like to co-sponsor SPR 1A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I have...

Are we set?

Everyone set?

I've got Councilmember Rivera, Sokka, and Lynn adding their names to SPR 1A1.

Councilmember Rivera, Sokka, and Lynn.

Thank you.

Moving on to SPR 2A1.

SPR 2A would increase appropriations to SPR by 325,000 general fund one time in 2027 and 300,000 general fund one time in 2028 for improvements at Roxhill Park.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Saka and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Kettle.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka, sponsor the proposal you recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So this is a Roxhill Park Safety and Restoration Package, colleagues, and some additional background.

I recently had the pleasure of taking a walking tour with or at Roxhill Park with residents from the nearby Village Green, which is a retirement community that abuts Roxhill Park.

and it included seniors who spoke very candidly and plainly about the notable safety, accessibility, visibility, challenges and some of the recurring encampment impacts from nearby encampments.

Tragically, soon afterwards, the area experienced a shooting and a stabbing amid escalating community concerns.

Those incidents reinforce the urgency to do better for that particular park, Roxhill Park.

That's what this package seeks to do.

This package invests critical funding for lighting, clearer sight lines, wayfinding, deferred maintenance, more frequent and faster vegetation, tree trimming services, and crime prevention through environmental design improvements.

We all love SEPTED.

Roxhill is the largest open space serving this part of Southwest Seattle.

It should feel like a park for families, seniors, and kids, not a place where neighbors are worn to avoid.

I also note that this is directly across the street from an important commercial corridor, Westwood Village, a lot of businesses of all sizes, directly across the street.

This investment is prevention by design, restore the park, make problems easier to see and address, and welcome the community back.

I want to thank my colleagues, Council Members Kettle and Hollingsworth, Council President, for sponsoring this and ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Waters, anything to add?

Nothing at this time?

Colleagues discussion?

Discussion, further discussion, one, two, three, four, five.

All right, we are currently sitting at quorum, so none of us can leave until somebody else comes back, just for awareness.

Seeing no further discussion, if you wanna co-sponsor SPR 2A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Seeing no additional co-sponsors, we'll move on to SPR 3SA1.

SPR 3SA would establish a statement of legislative intent requesting SPR in consultation with the Department of Education and Early Learning to report on potential Delridge Youth Recreation Capital projects.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Sacca and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Councilmember Sacca, you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

This is the Delridge Youth Recreational Capital Plan.

And on Delridge Day, I won't stand for this one, but it is still Delridge Day, we should listen to the people who will inherit this neighborhood, as young people.

This slide asks parks, partnering closely with DEAL to engage Delridge youth and develop a prioritized list of recreation capital needs at the community center, the play field, and nearby park spaces.

That could include things like court resurfacing, field repairs, better lighting, equipment, gathering spaces enhancements, or community center improvements.

The report must include costs, timelines, funding options, and trade-offs.

In other words, not just a wish list, but a pathway to action.

Young people deserve safe, high-quality places to play, gather, and lead.

Elridge deserves a recreation plan built with youth in mind, not simply handed to them, designed for them.

I wanna thank my council member colleagues, council president and council member Lynn for your co-sponsorship and I ask for your support colleagues.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council member Warriors, anything to add?

Nothing at this time.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any discussion?

Any final discussion?

Any co-sponsors for SPR 3SA1?

I have Council Member Foster, any others?

Council Member Rink, any others?

We have Council Member Rink and Foster adding to SPR 3SA1.

Council Members Rink and Foster.

Thank you.

Moving on to SPR 5A1.

Council members, Tracy Ratcliffe, central staff.

SPR 5A would increase SPR by $175,000 of general fund in 2027 and 2028 for recreational program at Alki Community Center and increase SDOT by $50,000 general fund in 2027 one time for traffic monitoring cameras and $275,000 of general fund in 2027 one time for public realm improvements in Alki.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Saka with co-sponsors Kettle and Hollingsworth.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka, as sponsor of the proposal you recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, this is the Elki Public Space Safety and Recreation Restoration Package.

Elki is one of Seattle's most treasured destinations.

Indeed, it's one of the top regional destinations for people outside of the city of Seattle.

It's also a neighborhood.

the people who live and work there experience pressures that a postcard simply cannot show or express.

This exciting package responds directly to years of community requests with $500,000 in 2027 and continued recreation funding in 28. It restores public hours and high-demand programming at the Elkai Community Center and Bathhouse, including opportunities for youth, older adults, and activities such as roller skating, yoga, tai chi, and drop-in basketball.

It funds non-enforcement traffic monitoring cameras, with an SDOT along Elkai Avenue, including Restaurant Row, to improve real-time traffic management and monitoring during crowded periods.

It's been some high-profile incidents, including cars crashing into people and other cars and careening off and into the beach, into the water.

It also supports important beach access, seasonal crowd management infrastructure, pedestrian lighting, bike parking, wayfinding, seating, planters, and other public realm improvements.

So this is one where there's both a capital component for kind of smaller upgrades along the line of what we talked about and a programming operational component with respect to restoring programming at the Elkai Community Center and Bathhouse.

This is not one isolated fix.

It is a coordinated approach to recreation, mobility, safety, and public space.

The goal is fairly straightforward.

Elkai should be vibrant without being chaotic.

welcoming without being neglected and enjoyable for visitors, without sacrificing the quality of life for residents and small businesses.

That's it.

I want to thank my Councilmember colleagues for your leadership in helping to support this effort.

Councilmembers Kettle and Council President Hollingsworth and ask for your support.

Colleagues, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Sokka.

Councilmember Juarez, anything to add?

Yes.

I should probably have said this in the beginning.

You're fine.

Thank you, Council, Mr. Chair.

So I know that there are like 17 Council budget actions here, and I'm withholding my comments only because I am the president of the MPD, the Metropolitan or Seattle Park District.

We address some of the six-year cycle in committee.

Some of these issues can be actually funded, I think, in this next cycle.

so that's why I'm kind of holding back.

But the question I had right now, and I'm glad we have our central staff folks here, is to you, Mr. Chair, we're on the SLI part of 05 SA1, S SLI, right?

We're not on the one before that, right?

We are on the one before that, so not the SLI yet.

Right, but they're connected.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

All right.

No, I'm good.

Thank you.

I was just gonna support it.

Thank you.

Okay, great.

Colleagues, any other discussion?

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I just had a couple of clarifying questions in terms of the approach.

I know that this has an ad of, is it 500,000 in the first year and then 175 after that?

That's right.

I think that's the second year?

Is this for council central staff?

Actually, 450. Oh, sorry.

Nope.

Wrong one.

Hold on.

500,000.

Yes.

In year one and 175 in year two.

Got it.

And then for the 175 in the year two, as I'm looking at this, that's the ongoing for the recreational programming.

I just wanted to understand the traffic monitoring cameras.

It looks like there's no ad for the traffic monitoring cameras in year It looks like it's just a one-time ad, which I assume is for the installation of the cameras.

I just want to clarify, there's not additional cost related to monitoring the cameras as described?

That's not been reported to me by SDOT that there is ongoing monitoring costs.

I can ask to verify.

Councilmember Foster, and then I see Councilmember Sokka's got something, but I'm going to let you close the item out at the end.

Councilmember Foster?

Got it.

Just a few clarifying questions on this one, and I, Chair, if I may ask a question to Council the sponsor?

Through me, you can.

Thank you.

I would love to hear more about, I'm trying to understand if these cameras are intended to address some of the street racing and the other things that have been happened that have been ongoing on Alki, or if there's another intent behind them.

Thank you.

Councilmember Sokka?

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Yes, that in part, at least, from a monitoring perspective, but these are not enforcement cameras.

I think the Department has indicated that it would not qualify, does not meet their current criteria for establishing or installing new S-dot traffic enforcement cameras.

So yes, to monitor the situation, assist with seasonal crowd management and the like.

Yes, that is the intent.

And I'll also take this moment to address your other, just from the sponsor's perspective, So that was not identified as central staff, that was not, as chair of the council committee that oversees SDOT, that has not been identified to me in terms of, because there are, to answer your question, ongoing costs to support ongoing monitoring of the roads.

Once these cameras are installed, and there are dozens, dozens and dozens and dozens, exact number I don't have offhand, potentially hundreds, if you calculate or figure that there's sometimes multiple at the same fixed-site location of these cameras across the city.

And by the way, colleagues, I would invite any of you, if you haven't already, take a street, take a trip, a field trip, it's a fun one, across the street to SMT upstairs to SDOT's Traffic Operations Center, where they actually monitor these in real time and respond in real time and facilitate traffic management and congestion relief in real time, in any event.

So once there's one installed, then they're able to monitor all of them at the Traffic Operations Center.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Foster, you still have the floor.

Thank you so much, Chair.

And then returning to the first part of this, which is the $175,000 general fund for recreational programming, I'd love to understand more.

And I will say, our office, I think a lot of us have received a lot of emails from folks in the Alki community regarding their strong desire to have programming at this location.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding the ad.

Is this intended to utilize existing parks staff to provide these services?

I just want to understand how that $175 is being spent to support this great list of like roller skating, tai chi, drop-in basketball, all of those activities.

Tracy?

There has been some conversation with the executive about whether we might want to add a position in addition to the funding for this.

We didn't get very far in the conversation just because of where we are in the conversation, but that might be something to explore as to whether we want to add an actual position or a part-time position.

I'm not sure exactly how much $175,000 frankly would cover in terms of a position, so I think there's more conversation to be had if this moves along.

Got it.

Council Member Foster?

Thank you so much.

Those are all my questions.

I think this is a really important thing that I'm really appreciative of the sponsor for bringing it forward.

I'm not going to add my name as a co-sponsor today, but I hope we get to continue this conversation because I think there's a lot here that I'm really excited about.

And so thank you so much, Councilmember Saka, for bringing this forward.

Thank you.

And we see Councilmember Juarez again.

I just had a point of order.

I thought we were, we went beyond the SPR 175, the 175 recreational, and that we were actually discussing the SLI.

So which one are we discussing?

Because I was going to say yes to the SLI, request SPR to develop and report.

That was what I was saying yes to, but then we went back to start talking about 005A1 on the increase to Seattle Parks and Rec.

So, which one were we discussing?

I thought you guys said sly.

No, we are not on the sly.

We are on the money right now.

Okay.

And then the sly's up next.

Yeah, and the sly's next.

Sly's next.

Okay, I was one ahead.

You're ahead of the rest of us by a country mile.

Okay, so I do not Okay, so don't listen to what I said.

I'm yes on the next one, the slide, but not this one.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Love that.

Great.

Any final discussion?

Final discussion.

Councilmember Saka, we've had a long conversation, so you can close this out.

No, thank you, Chair.

Just ask for your support.

Thank you.

Nothing to add.

Wonderful.

With that, if you would like to co-sponsor SPR 5A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I see no additional co-sponsors, no one's jockeying, so we're gonna move on to the slide that is like this, which is SPR 5SA1.

So this statement of legislative intent would request SPR to develop and report on a plan for providing year-round recreational programming at Alki Community Center and or the Alki Beach Bathhouse.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Saka with co-sponsors, Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Kettle.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka, sponsor the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

So this would address some of the systemic issues with the funding that would be, you know, one time over the two years and help develop a sustainable year-round Alki programming strategy.

This companion funding helps reopen the doors and then keep them open.

This lie is about Again, keeping them open.

It would ask parks for a sustainable plan for year-round programming at the Elki Community Center and Bathhouse, including minimum public hours, specific programs, participation targets, and ongoing costs.

Elki lost valued recreation access in 2020 as a result of some cuts in COVID.

The community should not have to fight a year year after year to restore the same basic opportunities.

One-time funding can restart service.

A measurable operating plan is how we make that service durable, accountable, and more directly responsive to the people who use it every day.

I'll also note on this one, I spoke for almost half hour on Saturday with some folks from the South Park community, including Paulina Lopez from DRCC, about what would be helpful in terms of additional accountability and transparency measures and mechanisms and data points for a possible companion slide for...

two budget investments that would offer both a capital component and a program enhancement component for operations that are similar, just adjust different neighborhoods.

The one at issue right now, Elkai and then South Park, which we'll get to in a moment.

but I missed the cutoff for including that on Saturday, so I intend to either revise this one or bring a net new one to support similar but South Park distinctive issues and promote transparency with the South Park programming.

So I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Council Member Waters, anything to add?

Nope, but I support it.

Nothing at this time.

Council colleagues, anything to add?

Seeing none, I'll call for co-sponsors on the Alki Sly SPR 5SA1.

Council members Juarez and Foster adding their names.

Council members Juarez and Foster.

Thank you.

Council member Rivera adding your name.

Yep.

Okay.

Thank you.

And council member Rivera.

We're gonna move on to SPR 6A1.

SPR 6A would increase SPR by $175,000 general fund in 27 and 28 for expanded community center hours and programming at South Park Community Center and would increase SDOT by $275,000 general fund in 2027 one time for public realm improvements in South Park.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Saka with co-sponsors Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Rink.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

You are recognized as a sponsor.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, this is the last, so good news, I guess, is this is the last parks budget investment that I am the prime sponsor of, but parks are critically important and make no mistake, last but certainly not at all least, this is the South Park Gateway Public Realm and Community Center Activation Package.

South Park recently celebrated a beautifully renovated community center I was proud to attend the ribbon cutting alongside the mayor and community, but a ribbon cutting cannot be the finish line for South Park.

Community members have told us, very candidly so, shared their feedback, that they have a brand new, effectively brand new, beautiful building of programming and vital services have been very slow to roll out and fill in.

This package addresses that head on.

It invests $450,000 each of the two years to expand community center hours, youth and family activities, arts and environmental programming, and paid youth leadership opportunities.

As the prior package, there's both a capital component and a programming operations component.

funded at similar levels.

Key difference is the SDOT traffic monitoring cameras that the communities requested in Elkai.

So this package also funds public realm improvements such as lighting, murals, wayfinding, seeding, industrial greening, particularly important in South Park, the Duwamish Valley, and planters, while avoiding duplication with projects already underway.

South Park deserves more than just a renovated building, and I'm grateful for all the work from people across the city to bring that.

We needed it.

It was a precondition.

not the end-all be-all.

South Park deserves a community center full of community and full of programming.

This investment connects the center to the surrounding neighborhood and puts young people at the heart of its activation.

The message is simple.

If South Park's youth are investing their time, their leadership, their talent and their care for the neighborhood, the city must co-invest with them and alongside them too.

I wanna thank Council President Hollingsworth, Council Member Rink for your co-sponsorship of this.

I too ask for your support colleagues, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Saka.

Council Member Warriors, anything to add?

Not at this time.

Council colleagues, discussion?

Further discussion, Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you to Councilmember Saka for bringing this forward.

When I worked at the city a decade ago, I got to work on parks expansion, and South Park was a big part of that, and the community center work that completed this year was a big part of that.

So excited to see you bring this forward.

I just wanted to ask some clarifying questions because I feel like we've seen back and forth on community center hours over the last decade.

So where this is, the intent here is to expand community center hours and programming.

do we know what impact this ad would have on those hours?

Are we getting like open on Sunday?

Are we getting two hours more in the morning, two hours in the evening?

Do we know how that's gonna be felt?

I'm gonna go with Council Member Socker and then central staff.

I'm gonna go with central staff.

We do not, we'll need to ask.

Thank you.

Council Member Foster, you still have the floor.

So I would love to understand that because I think, again, my recollection is this shrunk a little bit and then it expanded and then it thinks it's sort of shrunk and now we're trying to expand again.

I'm seeing Tracy, who's been here for all of that, nod her head.

So I want to understand that so that we're able to kind of clearly articulate that to folks.

And then I have the same question that I had about Alki just in terms of getting clarity on the investment and are we looking at additional staffing for those hours.

And again, this is part of my intent to understand the long-term impacts for the budget.

so that we are no longer going forward and then going backwards on those hours.

I would love to find a way to make sure we have something that is consistent for that community because I agree with everything that Councilmember Saka has said before.

And then in terms of the open space improvements, I would love to understand just a little bit more if there's any specifics around that Fourth Avenue project that are intended here.

There's been a long list of needs and again I had the opportunity to work on the Duwamish River Action Plan and so would love to just make sure we have that clarity because I think there is just nothing short of a fantastic list of need and projects in that community.

Thank you.

Central staff, anything to add?

Sorry, was that a direct question?

I couldn't really tell.

I apologize.

There was a little bit of love in the statement, but there was a question there.

So the question is, can you share with me the intent around the specific capital investment and what it's meant to cover?

Thank you.

Central staff?

Well, what I can tell you it's not meant to cover is the improvements that are already funded through the 14th Avenue South project.

So it would not be funding that particular project.

So it would be improvements other than that, as well as the low pollution neighborhood program or the recent plaza work.

And Council Member Saka might be able to provide more detail about that.

Thank you.

Council Member Foster, you still have the floor.

I'll let Councilmember Saka, I have last word unless you want to have a dialogue.

Fantastic.

Nope, those were all my questions.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Any final discussion?

We have final discussion.

Councilmember Saka, last word.

Thank you, Chair.

I'll just plus one to Tracy's comment that what is not intended to be in scope is those 14th Avenue improvements already funded and This program is intentionally on the programming side, well both on the capital and the programming side, are intended to be flexible.

And on the programming side, the flexibility to use the funds to expand hours and or programming subject to community feedback, implementation, you know, like Great questions, Councilmember Foster, appreciate those.

And also intentionally structured this and the Alki one to allow for some flexibility as well, but thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, if you would like to co-sponsor this amendment, SPR 6A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing none, but I'm double checking.

I was moving too fast a minute ago, so I'm just triple checking.

No one adding their co-sponsors.

We're gonna move on to the next item, SPR 8A1.

SPR 8A would increase appropriations to SPR by 1.45 million general fund in 2027 and 2028 to restore ongoing support for graffiti abatement.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Kettle and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Saka and Rivera.

Councilmember Kettle, you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

Colleagues, this proposal has been forwarded with support, thank you, Councilmembers Saka and Rivera, to address the challenges that we're seeing on our streets.

Part of the element of our strategic framework plan for Safer Seattle is the urban blight remediation.

The challenges that neighborhoods face with graffiti and so forth and then the impacts that it has negatively on the neighborhood.

So we're looking to improve this, to improve our public safety posture.

Also, this builds on the work that we've done related to vacant buildings and lots.

and then the structure of this too is really helpful.

One of the things that helps our neighborhoods is programs like the DSA Mid-Ambassador Program, but also working with groups like Uplift Northwest, which then give jobs to individuals that are in part taking care of our neighborhoods, to be frank.

And this has benefits in terms of helping individuals stabilize and move forward and provide pathways.

So this program helps on so many fronts and helps the neighborhoods, but also helps these individuals, our neighbors, who have been in crisis and then are working their way forward through groups across the board.

It's not just one group, but in terms of specifically with the graffiti piece, abatement piece, is groups like Uplift Northwest.

And this double impact, I think, is well worth our support.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

No comments from Council Member Juarez at this time.

For discussion, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

And thank you, Council Member Kettle, for putting this ad in.

I had a CBA to add some funding for Graffiti Abatement via Uplift Northwest.

They've done such great work over the years, but I went ahead and withdrew because you had this one and I signed on my name to yours.

And shout out to Gina Hall for all the great work that she does.

It's both Graffiti Abatement and it's a jobs training program and it gives folks a second chance at life also, and so it's a win-win all around.

This particular ad has more than I originally had in my CBA, so again, Not sure how we'll be funding this.

It's a large request, but I do really believe in Uplift Northwest and want to make sure that we are getting the service that they've been providing.

And thank you, Council Member Kettle for putting this in.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion?

Any last words?

If you would like to co-sponsor SPR 881, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing no additional co-sponsors, so we will move on to the next item, SPR 981.

SPR 9A would increase appropriations to SPR by 1.1 million REIT 2 in 2029 and 4.1 million REIT 2 in 2030 for the West Magnolia Playfield South Athletic Field conversion CIP project.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Kettle.

Thank you as sponsor of this proposal.

I'll speak to it.

I think the most important thing that we need to discuss with this proposal is the budget before us is for 2027 and 2028. This adjustment that was made by the mayor's office and the adjustment that I am proposing to undo is for the 2029 capital improvement.

project budget.

So this is not within the two years that we are operating in right now, and it is incredibly important that we keep this project on track.

When I was growing up, Magnolia had about 14 kids.

There might have been a 15th.

I went to preschool with almost all of them.

And what I saw this year with the Little League parade that they do to kick off the Little League season, it took over 45 minutes.

It might have taken a full hour to get all of the kids through the intersection going down, parading through the neighborhood.

All of these kids share this field and that is the importance of keeping this on track.

You've got enough kids that it takes 45 minutes for them to walk through an intersection and they all share this field.

And they have been told that it would stay on track.

They've been promised it would stay on track.

It's important that we keep this project on track.

Colleagues, any discussion on this item?

Councilmember Cattle.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to state again how important this is.

And it's not just for those in Magnolia.

It is for everybody in the region.

Somebody mentioned earlier about going to different fields.

I've been all over.

In the CYO Catholic schools, we're the northern team of the Southern League.

I've been all over District 2 and other places, Point South.

And then these kids also come to this field.

And in fact, there's a reason why I wear boots because I go to this field and with the dew you're gonna get soaked.

But this goes to the problem.

These fields cannot be used year round.

They get damaged with the weather and so forth and this is really important.

and supporting the kids, not just those that live in Magnolia, but those that live in Queen Anne, for example, and other parts of District 7, and really the city and beyond the city, actually, that come in for the various sports that are played on these fields.

And I can attest many times, including this season, less than a month ago, I'm an old hand because I go there with boots.

The new parents who don't know any better, they go with regular shoes, whatever, and then they curse because then it's like they've walked through puddles.

Anyways, I just wanted to state how important this thing is, and it's not just for Magnolia.

It's for the broader area and really beyond.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for bringing this forward.

You know, copy-paste my earlier comments, equally applicable to this particular budget proposal and initiative.

So if it supports working families, if it supports youth, supports recreation, supports turf, player safety year-round, playability, all those things, as a council member, as a coach, I'm gonna support it too.

So even if it's not in my district, because to the points made about like, yeah, I've traveled all over the city, all over the region, go to White Center, go to, Auburn, Kent for playfield access.

So this not only benefits the City of Seattle residents, not only benefits the residents that use these playfields as their home playfields, for example, like Queen Anne Little League, Magnolia Little League, whatever it is, everybody benefits from these kind of investments.

So love these kind of projects in my district.

Would hope you all support me in my efforts.

You know, next time I choose to bring forward a proposal for a similar project in D1.

But meantime, you know, if these kind of projects are on the table today, I'm happy to be supporting them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair, and to central staff.

I just wanted to sort of ask a clarifying question in terms of REIT.

I think this is the first proposal that we've discussed that is looking at REIT revenue.

And as I'm looking at the second to last paragraph, I think there's mention of additional resources or offsetting resources that would need to be identified.

And I'm wondering, central staff, if you can just speak to that a little bit more so I can understand the clarity and what that means for REIT revenue in the long run.

Central staff.

Oh, I'm sorry.

You're fine.

Go for it.

Look to Cal and Lish for information on how those resources would be offset in the out years.

Councilmember, I think this just reflects the sponsor's intent to bring back REIT for the intended purpose that it had previously been thought.

The actual amount of money to fund that would need to be identified through the budgeting process as part of the balancing package or through a separate amendment.

Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thanks for that clarification.

When I was reading it originally, I thought I read it to indicate offsetting in terms of project prioritization, but I think what it actually is intended to state is additional resources.

Is that accurate?

Additional resources or additional resources to free up REITs.

Okay, got it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Any further discussion?

Colleagues, if you are interested in co-sponsoring SPR 9A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Council Member Foster, your hand's still up.

I'm not expecting you as a co-sponsor, so triple checking.

You do?

No, you don't.

Thank you.

As co-sponsors for SPR 9A1, I have Council Member Juarez and Saka.

Councilmembers Juarez and Saka.

Yep, thank you.

We're gonna move on to SPR 10A1.

SPR 10A would increase appropriations to SPR by 210,000 general fund in 2027 and 2028 for ongoing support of the United Indians of All Tribes stewardship of the Wolf Creek Trail area and Discovery Park.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss and is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Juarez.

Thank you.

As sponsor of this proposal, I'll speak to it first.

This is in line with beyond a land acknowledgement work that we do here.

I'm not gonna go into the long history of the long history of how the United States has treated indigenous people, all that to say, it culminated at one point with the American Indian Movement in the 1970s and Discovery Park was one place where the American Indian Movement came and made clear statements and it's the only place of all of the places that they made made a point, it's the only place that was actually turned over into a indigenous space for urban Indians.

And so that was, what was it, 19, it was, it was 50 years ago.

It was 50 years ago.

And at that time, Bernie White Bear had said he wanted the whole park.

They gave him 25 acres, which is really awesome.

And in the spirit of living the legacy of those who came before us, we worked with the parks department this year to expand the operations and maintenance area that the United Indians of all tribes has within Discovery Park.

This is not to say Discovery Park is 534 acres.

It's the city's largest park.

And with providing United Indians of all tribes operations through and maintenance of a section of the park, it's actually gonna help the whole city.

It's gonna help United Indians of all tribes.

It's gonna help the parks department.

It's gonna help our residents.

And with it being the largest park of 534 acres, there's more work for our parks employees out there are amazing.

but there's a fair amount of deferred maintenance that needs to occur and there's a fair amount of work that needs to take it from being a European operated space into an indigenous operated space.

And that's why I am proposing this $210,000 to help the United Indians of all tribes maintain and operate the space that we have given them operational ownership, not legal land ownership of.

With that, I see Council Member Juarez.

I'll be very brief.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Councilmember.

And thank you for being the chair and also maintaining the Indigenous Advisory Council in your committee.

This goes back to, of course, the 1970s.

And for those of you who were too young to remember this and the Gang of Four, with our Uncle Bernie White Bear and our Tio Roberto Maestas, and of course Larry Gossett, wonderful mentor, and of course Uncle Bob.

And we actually, they actually led us and we actually took over during the American Indian Movement.

So I think getting back to today, what I'm seeing here is principled.

It isn't just progressive and we have a slogan.

We are actually implementing the origins and the principles of land back.

and to the original stewards of the land to maintain it.

And so the expansion, I don't know if you know this, Council Member Strauss, but there's enormous thanks in Indian Country, not for the native people that live in a city, not within their traditional lands or ceded lands and unceded lands, that hopefully this other cities will take advantage of this.

We've seen a lot of land back and allowing and giving back when there is, because, you know, this was land that other departments and cities wanted and that's where the Gang of Four said, no, this is gonna, and we did the same thing for El Centro de la Raza when we took over the school there, which is now, have you seen it now?

It's beautiful, it has housing, it has all the things that we wanted.

and again I get back to brick and mortar and principles, doing the work, putting the stake, being progressive, moving forward.

I love the chant, what do we want?

We want it now, but unfortunately the world doesn't work that way.

And so with that, this is one step towards those principles of Land Back that we have implemented and we have enforced and now we have codified and institutionalized at Wolf Creek Trail area.

It has now been managed by of the United Indians of All Tribes and their CEO, Mike Tooley.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Further discussion?

Any final discussion?

Any final discussion?

I'm going to ask for co-sponsors.

If you would like to co-sponsor SPR 10A1, please raise your hand at this time.

We have all council members co-sponsoring this item.

Thank you.

Council Member Sokka is not at the dais.

Oh.

What?

He says yes.

I'm gonna make an exception and ask Council Member Sokka and just whenever he returns if he would like to add his name since everyone has piled on.

Just thank you for your words about the Gang of Four Council Member Juarez.

This is a meaningful statement.

We're gonna move on to SPR 11A1.

SPR 11A would increase appropriations to SPR by 75,000 general fund one time in 2027 to replace the audio system at Interbay Stadium.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Strauss and co-sponsored by Council Members Kettle and Foster.

Thank you.

As sponsor of this amendment in District 6-7, the Dravis neighborhood.

We don't have a Dravis day today, but what I will say is that the audio system and the interbase stadium was built in 1997. I was playing Ballard youth soccer on a middle school soccer team that's when the last time that the sound system was updated.

For those of you who have been to Inner Bay Stadium for a game, you've either really noticed that the sound system doesn't work at all, like it literally doesn't work, or it is inaudible as in it doesn't work, or you've been to a game where you can hear the audio really well.

on the days that you've been there where the audio is working really well, it's because about 12 to 14 temporary speakers are set up around the stadium and an ad hoc sound system is used.

This is how we avoided national embarrassment when we hosted the Salmon Bay National Championship here this year.

It is how you can hear anything.

And so all I'm asking is for us to update the sound system for the first time since 1997. It's not that long ago, did I hear that?

No.

Council Member Juarez is chair of the committee.

Anything to add?

Nothing to add.

Council Member Rivera, I see your hand.

No problem.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Council Member Foster.

I just want to say thank you so much for bringing this forward, Councilmember Strauss, and thank you for having me as a co-sponsor.

I think this is an important improvement.

Just because we're in a little late afternoon levity moment, I will say what you can hear if you've ever been to Interbay Stadium when Dan Strauss is there.

is you can hear Councilmember Strauss at those games cheering for his teams loud and clear.

And I wanted to take this moment to say it's just been really great to see your support for the local teams.

And it was just fantastic to get to honor the Salmon Bay Football Club earlier this year because of your leadership.

So thank you for having me.

Proud to support this amendment.

Thank you, colleague.

The other national embarrassment, my cheering.

Okay, great.

So I'm gonna call for co-sponsors on the Interbay Stadium SPR 11A1, if you would like to co-sponsor it, and then I'm gonna come back to the last one.

I've got co-sponsors on this Interbay Sound System 11A1, Council President Hollingsworth and Juarez.

Council Members Hollingsworth and Juarez.

Thank you.

And then for the record, we are going to take an exception, go back one item to SPR 10A1, Council Member Saka.

All other council members have signed onto this item that is beyond a land acknowledgement to return land to indigenous stewardship in Discovery Park.

Would you like to co-sponsor?

Yes.

Fantastic.

Now we have all council members.

Thank you for the grace leading me through that, letting me have that exception.

We're going to move on to SPR 13 SA1.

13SA would establish a statement of legislative intent requesting SPR to report on potential operational and design changes at Leschi, Madrona, Seward, and Stan Sayers Memorial Parks to reduce inappropriate use of these public spaces, including excessive noise and after-hours parties.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Lin and is co-sponsored by Hollingsworth and Foster.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin is a sponsor of the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, colleagues.

We all love to enjoy our parks and we want people to feel free to enjoy them.

At the same time, we've had issues along Lake Washington Boulevard where the partying has gone late into the evening and We've had the park rangers and police, you know, move people along, but it has become dangerous at times.

And we also know SPD is already stretched thin.

And so this is exploring other ways to address some of these kind of late night parties.

Seward Park, for example, does not have a gate.

And so that makes enforcement of late night activities difficult.

So this is asking the Parks Department to report on are there ways that they can manage these parking lots along Lake Washington Boulevard to better address activities that are causing potential impacts to neighborhoods and that potentially there have been gunfire and, you know, that are addressing the public safety concerns that arise out of these late night activities.

Well said, Councilmember Lin.

Councilmember Warriors is chair of the committee.

Anything to add?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, further discussion?

Councilmember Cattle.

Thank you chair and thank you council member Lynn for bringing this forward because it goes to all the things that we've been dealing with in committee but also as a district rep just a few weeks ago we had a shooting in Cary Park that's been seen of many basically parks slash street takeovers and we had meetings with West Precinct and others and West Precinct but assets there one weekend everything was good and then last weekend we're right back where we were.

and so maybe next weekend there will be another shooting.

or we can get another bike patrol.

I understand where my colleague is coming from, but it highlights the serious issues that we have to address the SBD staffing crisis because at the end of the day, in addition to the SEPTED and other pieces that you highlight here, which is great, it will help us get to the place where we need to be in terms of public safety.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

Council Member Waters as chair of the committee overseeing this.

Nope, nothing to add.

We've got Council Members Sacca and Rivera.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Councilmember Lin, for bringing this forward to address specific parks-related public safety challenges in your neighborhood, in your district, rather.

And this problem, the problem you're describing is not confined to those specific problematic parks in your district.

And actually, my Elk Eye Elkiah amendment was in part intended to be, in large part intended to be directly responsive to those needs, including, because there's a, excuse me, a capital component as well to address that.

I do think cameras would help, at least the community does and that's, so therefore I do.

and so just wanna thank you for bringing this forward and if you're amenable, I would actually love to add Elkai Beach and Don Armini Park to the list and if not, no worries, maybe I'll bring my own sly at the next stage.

But I know some of the sustained actions that we've taken over the years We've gone a long way to address some of those challenges, including reconfiguring Duwamish head, which you did a couple years ago during budgets, pushed the department, secured their commitment, and they did install a number of speed cushions, not speed bumps or humps.

There's a difference.

If you're curious about the engineering technical distinction there, there is a difference.

And other things, more lighting along restaurant row and other things, and it's made and it's helped.

It has not at all eliminated it.

It has not at all to put that particular neighborhood and community in a position where it needs to be to avoid all that, those public safety challenges that you're describing.

And I do think part of the solution, and I just want to emphasize again, the longer term, more durable solution is automated noise traffic enforcement cameras.

Automated noise traffic enforcement cameras.

SPD doesn't have the staffing capability today to have targeted enforcement efforts of noise violations, whether it's in our public right-of-way as a result of people yelling stuff in megaphones, stadiums, or loud, excessive car noises.

But at least with respect to the latter problem, there is the technology exists just requires a change in state law, because other jurisdictions like New York and others have that capability, and I think having automated noise enforcement technology would help address some of the public safety challenges as well.

But all this to say, I appreciate you and your leadership for bringing this forward.

Would love, if you're amenable, to add Elkai Beach and Don Armini to the list.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lin?

Anything to add there?

Thank you, colleagues.

I would encourage your support and Councilmember Saka is certainly willing to partner with you to look at other areas of the city that might be facing similar concerns.

So, thank you.

Sorry, I'm going to facilitate in a little way and then I'm going to pass it to you just because we need to do some of this in open session.

I'm going to ask you directly, is it okay to add those to your sly?

And then I will take care of that in the chair's package.

Thanks.

I just don't, I'm trying to be cognizant of Open Public Meeting Act and the work that I have to do this weekend.

Thank you.

Not trying to add to your work, Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Rivera, floor is yours.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Lynn, for bringing a slide together to do a report.

This reminds me of summer, last summer's that we didn't...

I'm not sure we...

Mayor's office did this summer.

Maybe they did.

So I'm not meaning to say they did not.

I just had not heard the summer of safety at the parks.

and there were various parks.

It really was all the parks that had boat launches were having this type of activity so I think all the parks with the boat launches should be on this list because those are the ones that have been problematic.

I know that Magnuson Park and I'm very grateful to former Chief Barnes for giving attention to the park.

It's the only park where people are actually living at the park.

Our low income and permanent supportive housing folks are living there.

Based on that and the SPD data they did that put the officers at the park and I know it took a really long time so I appreciate it's happening in other places.

I know that but Golden Gardens and Alki have had received attention before Magnuson Park because there had been such a parting both at Golden Gardens and at Alki.

That's been on a summer rotation and then that got expanded last summer to all the parks with the boat launches as well.

So I think that this report probably to, you know, request of SPR could be about all the parks at the city because I feel like, and then in the ID, I mean, like there's so many parks that have had issues, that are having issues, experiencing issues at different times, if not ongoing.

And it is a really good, you know, to do assessments of these parks and how we can provide public safety at the parks, working with the park rangers that were, park rangers had more staffing added to them because of these issues at the park, All of that is really important.

So all that to say probably this could be much expanded to include many of the other parks across the city.

And I would note that I would expand that to do this, but I can't list out all the parks off the top of my head right now because there are some and some others, not just in my district.

I mean, Gasworks Park, for instance, is also having issues.

But anyway, just to say, I would advocate for expanding this to all the parks, especially those with special attention to the boat launch parks, because I know those have even more issues.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll make some chair remarks, which is colleagues, we are already over our statement of legislative intent limits.

We don't have hard limits, but we do have, I did ask at the beginning of the year or beginning of this process, either do budget amendments or do slides.

Doing both is really hard.

We will have some harder conversations at the end or after this budget about what information are we requesting?

How much does that cost to provide us that information through a statement of legislative intent?

Can that information be provided in a different way?

Councilmember Lynn, I even had Councilmember Kettle just remind me Carrie Park falls into this.

All of what Councilmember Rivera just said is true and what I heard from you in our original conversation is really about the boat launches and then their surrounding environs.

And so what I'm going to do is take the information that I've received in this open public meeting and then I will call you this weekend to see if we make a change in the chairs package which is easier or if we just bring another amendment to the end of the process.

But I'm saying this all out here to be completely transparent and let you know that I'm gonna support and work with you.

Thank you.

Can I just respond?

I do think the boat launches makes a lot of sense.

Thank you so much.

And I'll leave it there.

Cool.

I was gonna give you last word.

Is that your last word?

That's your last word?

Boat launches.

With that, colleagues, if you would like to co-sponsor SPR 13 SA-1, please raise your hand at this time.

We have Councilmember Rivera and Councilmember Kettle and Councilmember Saka adding their names to SPR 13 SA-1.

Councilmembers Rivera, Kettle, and Saka.

Thank you.

Moving on to SPR 14A-1.

SPR 14A would increase appropriations to SPR by 600,000 general fund one time in 2028 to support the development of a future portal park at the corner of First Avenue and Battery Street in Belltown.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Kettle and is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Hollingsworth and Rivera.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle has sponsored the proposal.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Chair.

We just recently had a meeting in Belltown for Portal Park with Parks.

They had an information session there, and then following that we had a community meeting.

Sadly, Belltown does not have a green space park at all.

It does not have a green space park at all.

that's a problem.

And so we have this opportunity with the coming down of the viaduct and then as it enters into, had entered into the Battery Street Tunnel of using that slope to create a park, a green space park for Belltown.

and we're working that.

We've been working this over the last number of years, colleagues, with your support.

Over the last two years we've funded different surveys because obviously with the viaduct it was a brown site.

Those have come back.

I spoke and then this year, actually in the process right now of doing 30% design, I talked to the person contracted with this.

Everything is tracking in terms of what she can do, given there are some restrictions, but she can move forward, that her firm can move forward in terms of the design of this park.

And the key thing here is to, as I always say, nothing builds momentum like momentum, is to keep the momentum coming because, and to keep it in sync for the next round of the Parks District, As I tell community members, it's important to get into the conveyor belt as it moves through the years of the levee and to get it on there, get it on the conveyor belt to move forward.

And what this does, and this is by the way not 27, it's $28, is to ensure that that scaling up from the 30% design is scaled up to complete the design so then it can go into the queue, if you will, onto the conveyor belt, as I like to say.

and to ensure that it's done.

Because at the end of the day, we need a park for Belltown.

It's long overdue, and this is our opportunity.

So thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

Council Member Waters, anything to add?

Nothing to add.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

I know you are very, you know, watching out for your Belltown residents and it's important.

Obviously this is a big ticket item.

So I wanted to support you at the same time.

I'm not sure where this is going to land, but again, as with the other things I've said about some of the other things I've supported, I support the underlying concept and then we'll see where this all ends.

But thank you.

We do need more green spaces across the city.

That is true.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Any further discussion?

It was eight years, 11 months, and one day ago that I started working in City Hall.

And I was given the task of addressing Battery Tunnel and Portal, what would become Portal Park.

and I can recall so vividly Tom Graff saying, if we don't do anything now, this is just going to be a fenced lot of grass for the next decade.

And boy, did Sally Bagshaw and I try to push that boulder up the hill, but nonetheless, the tunnel was filled and it was hydro seeded and Tom Graff I wish you weren't right, but here we are.

And thanks to Councilmember Kettle, we're gonna move some things forward today.

With that, colleagues, if you would, Councilmember Kettle, any last words?

You actually raise a good point.

I'm sure everybody has the same experience, but it's incredible across the various neighborhoods in my district, the people that stand up to make things happen.

and Tom Graff is one of those people.

And I am very thankful for all of them.

I can give you a long list right now of people that I interact with who step up and contribute to community, and Tom Graff is one of them.

So you're catching me, I'm surprised, because here we are.

It's green, it's got a fence around it, but we need to move forward, so thank you, Chair.

Yep, with urgency.

With urgency, thank you.

With Vega.

With that, if you would like to co-sponsor SPR 14A1, please raise your hand at this time.

We have council members Rank and Strauss.

Council members Rank and Strauss.

Thank you, we're gonna move on to SPR 15A1.

SBR 15A would increase appropriations to SBR by 150,000 general fund one time in 2027 for the procurement and installation of an adaptive kayak launch at Green Lake.

This item is sponsored by Council Member Strauss and is co-sponsored by Council Members Rink and Foster.

Thank you.

As sponsor of this proposal, I'll speak to it.

This is a constituent requested item coming from somebody who uses adaptive kayaks.

I wanna highlight that there are not many safe places to kayak in our city if you are not well experienced.

Lake Union is dangerous.

Ship canal is dangerous.

Puget Sound is even more dangerous.

Yes, people do it, but that does not mean that it is easy and it is safe.

When I look back in my day, it used to be that the public could use the docks at the UW Aquatics Center right there by Husky Stadium, giving people access into the Arboretum where it is a safe place to kayak.

That public access is no longer allowed at UW, and when the 520 bridge went in, it also tore up the old mohai that had safe access for boat launch, for handcraft launch, which again no longer exists today.

So when I look around the city for a place that somebody may need constantly calm waters, not sometimes calm waters, but every time calm waters, Green Lake, Holler Lake, That's about it.

If you can get into the Arboretum, there's calm space in there, but that's about it.

This is an important thing to put forward at this time because it's been requested by the community and just as I was reflecting on their request, all of the places that used to be accessible are no longer.

Council President or Council Member Juarez, anything to add since this is your committee?

Not at this time.

Colleagues, any questions, comments?

Council Member Rank.

Bold hand.

Colleagues, discussion.

Discussion.

Gonna call for co-sponsors at this time.

If you would like to co-sponsor SPR 15A1.

I've got Council Council Member Hollingsworth, Kettle, Rivera, and Lynn for the adaptive kayaks.

Council Members Hollingsworth, Kettle, Rivera, and Lynn.

Thank you.

And moving on to SPR 16A1.

SPR 16A would increase appropriations to SPR by 300,000 general fund one time in 2028 for a skate dot at West Magnolia Playfield playground.

This item is sponsored by Councilmember Strauss and is co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lynn and Kettle.

Thank you sponsor this amendment.

I'll speak to it, which is, this is leveraging community involvement and community fundraising.

They've already done all the fundraising for the design work.

They are engaged in doing the fundraising for capital construction, but the really critical part is that when the playground is rebuilt, the skate dot needs to be put in at the same time.

Otherwise, we're moving dirt twice or we are spending tax dollars inefficiently.

And so this is really a marker to say that we need to move forward with this.

It isn't until 2028 because that's when the playground would be built.

So this is economies of scale doing multiple projects at the same time.

For those who don't skateboard, a skate park is a large space about the size of this room.

A skate dot is probably about the size of, you know, from this little blue fence over here over to our desks.

So a skate dot is about as small of a space as you can get, whereas a skate park is much larger.

With that, if there's discussion, I see Council Member, Council Member Warriors, anything to add to your department?

No, Council Member Kettle.

Old hand.

Colleagues discussion.

Seeing no further discussion, if you'd like to co-sponsor SPR 16A1, please raise your hand at this time.

Got Council Member Saka adding his name.

Adding Council Member Saka.

Thank you, SPR 17A1.

17A1 would increase SPR by $50,000 general fund 2027 one time for renovations at Washington Park, which is located in many corners of the Arboretum.

It is sponsored by Council Member Hollingsworth with co-sponsors Council Member Juarez and Kettle.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hollingsworth, sponsor of the amendment, you are recognized.

Proposal.

Council President Hollingsworth, as sponsor of the proposal, you are recognized.

Thank you, Chair, and I want to apologize.

I know I was out of order the other couple, an hour ago, and I want to apologize, Chair.

making sure I'm in order.

Thank you.

So thank you, Councilmember Juarez and Kettle.

Colleagues, Washington Park is 230 acres of public arboretum jointly managed by the University of Washington Botanical Gardens and the City of Seattle.

and obviously everyone knows that it's open daily and free to access the trails, gardens, wetlands, plant collections year round.

Approximately over 750,000 visitors even though the park doesn't have borders so it's hard to do an exact count but there's more than 100,000 annual visitors to also the home of the Seattle Japanese Garden.

This funding would go to support the neighborhood would go to fund to support activation at Washington Park to bring more type of activity to the area for for the Parks Department.

So would love your support on this.

This was a request by the neighborhoods as they've been doing a lot of cleanup in the area and want just more activation within the park.

And that could be a number of different things.

It could be music, it could be festivals, it could be a bunch of different things.

Like we've seen at Seven Hills Park, when we were able to allocate funding.

They have done at Seven Hills Park to activate it.

They have done walks, they have done yoga, they have done movie nights in the park and music, so they've activated that space and would love to do the same at Washington Park and would love your support.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Council President.

Council Member Juarez, anything to add?

Nothing at this time.

Colleagues, any conversation, discussion?

Any further discussion?

Any final discussion?

Seeing no final discussion, if you would like to co-sponsor SPR 17A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing Council Member Rivera adding her name to SPR 17A1.

Adding Council Member Rivera.

Thank you.

We're gonna move on to SPR 18A1.

SPR 18A1 would increase SPR by $200,000 general fund in 2027. This is a one-time appropriation for a program that provides outdoor learning, agriculture, and nature-based recreation for historically underserved youth.

This is sponsored by Councilmember Hollingsworth with co-sponsors Councilmembers Juarez and SACA.

Thank you, Council President.

You are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Interesting fact, Red Barn Ranch is city-owned, but it's in Arburn, Arburn, Arburn, Arburn, Arburn.

I know, I know it's not Pulip, okay.

Arburn.

And also it was gifted to the city by Elgin Baylor, Seattle University, phenomenal athlete.

And Red Barn Ranch is city-owned outdoor recreation property that connects Seattle and South King County youth with nature.

through outdoor learning and skill building.

Some of us have been out there, which is great.

I know some of us have been on the Buffalo Soldiers horses.

They also have a farm with nature nurturing roots.

They serve elementary, middle school, and high school students with a focus on youth from historically underserved neighborhoods and communities.

in Seattle and South King County, and this organization has a long history of serving youth when it opened their doors in 1970. The city is now working to restore the property, so this group has received funding from the state to help restore it.

This would help continue their programming.

I do want to say this one is near and dear to my heart.

Obviously, I know we love programming, but I think it's really special when you're able to take youth outside that have been impacted by gun violence, and different like really hard home environments and they're really struggling and to be able to take them into nature and give them just a different type of perspective.

We have all these great parks in the city and I think Red Barn Ranch is a place where kids are having fun and they're able to get a field trip as well.

So would love people's support on this.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Council President.

Council Member Warriors, anything to add?

Nothing at this time.

Colleagues, any discussion?

Any discussion?

Council President, close us out on this and then I'll ask for co-sponsors.

Thank you, Chair.

I forgot to thank Council Member Waters and Council Member Saka for their support on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If you'd like to co-sponsor SPR 18A1, please raise your hand at this time.

I'm seeing near unanimous.

I'm seeing unanimous on this issue.

Thank you.

I think we've only had three unanimous at this point, maybe four.

Job well done team.

Last item of the day, SPR 19A1.

SPR 19A would increase appropriations to SPR by 510,000 general fund in 2027 and 2028 for ongoing support and also add position authority for 2.5 FTE to support the city's unified care team.

This item is sponsored by council member Strauss and is co-sponsored by council members Walrez and Kettle.

Thank you, a sponsor of the proposal.

I'll speak to it.

This is position authority, not position funding.

There is funding for cleaning up trash.

I'm gonna just ask Karina, did I get that correct?

You got it correct.

So we're just keeping position authority, whether these positions have been filled or not filled, having to pass legislation to add position authority back into our city is a cumbersome experience.

That is the action that I am taking.

I am not taking adding funding for the positions.

I am proposing to add funding to clean up the trash.

That's what this is.

Colleagues, any Council Member Warriors as chair of the committee, anything to add?

Over to you.

Yes, I'm gonna stick with the trash.

I know you all heard my comments this morning and you heard them back on October 10th or 15th.

And the only thing I wanna add, as we addressed it this morning under the SDOT cut, and then of course now with Parks and Recreation, tomorrow will be HSD.

The only thing that I wanna add, and I believe I shared this with you before, we handed out some documents because I wanted to be illustrative and demonstrative in showing you from 2021 to 2026, that the City, the Unified Care Team, along with Seattle Parks and other agencies have, and this is just an estimate we're at now, a total of almost 12 million pounds of trash, which equals about 5,900 tons.

And so I will let the numbers speak for themselves.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any further discussion?

Further discussion?

Final discussion.

Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I was slow on the Zoom.

I just wanted to- I appreciate you clarifying the position authority versus the budget add, and I just had a clarifying question or two around that.

I'm just looking at the, I was gonna call it an amendment, but we're not calling it that, the proposal.

I just wanted to clarify where it says it's gonna restore the resources that were originally intended for vendor contracts.

And then is it sort of moving this from, like, well, I guess this was previously a contract investment, then it was removed, and now it's being proposed to be restored, but restored in-house or will it still be restored as a contract?

That just second to last paragraph there was confusing to me.

I'm gonna take the first crack at it and then I'm gonna turn it over to Karina.

So the history of where are we today?

One reason why the position authority is really important to me is because in 2020, we did not have positions to clean up trash in our city, which meant that we could not clean up trash in our city because we had to reissue the positions so that we were hiring people to do jobs that they knew they were being hired to do rather than changing the jobs on them once they were already in their positions.

It's a pretty important thing in my opinion, right?

People sign up for the job they want, not the job that we change on them.

And that is why throughout this entire conversation about the unified care team, that's why the position authority is more important to me than the funding of those positions.

From there, in those early days, we were relying on contracted trash cleanup.

At some point, we were able to switch that over to Seattle Public Utilities, is my understanding, Seattle Public Utilities.

SPU is one of my favorite departments that does more than almost everyone else for this entire gosh darn city.

asking SPU to clean up this whole city has helped a whole lot and there is more trash in this city than SPU can handle.

So whether this funding is used to expand in-house cleanup or to get augmentation, I am agnostic there.

What I am certain about is that there's too much darn trash in this gosh darn city and that we need to get it cleaned up and there's no reason we can't because we live in a world-class city, we deserve world-class outcomes.

Karina, what did I get wrong or miss?

I'd say the only clarification is that the way it's coded in our budget program is for non-labor resources.

So the vision for the way it's coded is for contracted services.

Right back at you, Councilman Foster.

Thank you so much, Chair, I really appreciate that.

And just as an aside, I got to work in the General Manager's Office at SPU, so it is also one of my favorite departments that doesn't get enough shout-outs, love and attention, so we share that, Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you so much for that clarification, Karina and Councilmember Strauss, or Chair Strauss, that takes care of my questions.

Fantastic.

Any other discussion?

Councilmember Rivera.

Yes.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

Do you want to go first?

You can.

Are you sure?

Yeah, go ahead.

I'm just going to add, too.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Warriors.

I was just going to add just on what Councilmember Foster asked and to kind of round out your understanding in some of the history, Councilmember Budget Chair Strauss.

One of the issues between labor or who actually works at SPU, Seattle City Lights, Seattle Parks and Rec, and all those 15, 12 departments I rattled off.

It started off with a couple city departments and it grew, but one of the issues that we had, and I can't share all the details because there were collective bargaining agreements, is that a lot of people at Parks and SPU and other folks, as you were saying, Mr. Chair, were hired to open up the community center or clean the pool or be a lifeguard or teach basketball.

They were not hired to pick up garbage, pick up needles, administer Narcan.

It just grew out of control.

So that's what I'm trying to get at, is the kind of fact pattern on the ground of why this grew to where it has.

I guess I'm a bit disappointed that some people have politicized this, that the unified care team's only job was to quote-unquote sweet people.

No, it was not that.

responding to post-2020 and then an explosion of our unhoused neighbors and unsanctioned tent encampments and the garbage and other things.

So we also distributed the purple bags and the washing stations.

So it was a lot of things.

So I just wanted to add that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Thank you, Council Member Waters.

Council Member Rivera.

No problem, thank you.

I appreciate this is a big ticket item and we don't have the ability to do this work if we don't add some funding for it.

This is part of UCT's service.

Part of the team does the cleanup work and it's really important.

and so, you know, this is just to say that it is a big ticket item and it is a lot of work and it is work that UCT does.

So while we're not adding money to the positions, I appreciate the funding for doing the cleanup work that we need to do in our neighborhoods.

That is really critical because we just can't, the need is great all across the city.

So thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Any final discussion?

If you would like to co-sponsor SPR 1981, please raise your hand at this time.

Council Member Rivera, your hands up.

Any other co-sponsors at this time?

Got Council Member Rivera and Council Member Saka and Council President Hollingsworth.

Council Members Hollingsworth, Rivera and Saka.

Wonderful.

Well, thank you.

That does bring us to the conclusion of the 60 CBAs that we have today.

It is just before 3.30.

Before we adjourn, I'm gonna do a little bit of housekeeping for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna confirm we have 64 CBAs.

Is that correct?

As they're getting those numbered?

68.

68. Gosh, wow.

eight more than we had today and the topics don't get any easier.

So I just say that to say thank you all.

When I started this role, it was really important to me that I did budget reform in content and how our budget operates, also in process and how does the process work.

What I didn't realize is that we also needed budget reform in culture.

from folks who were not here, Council President Emeritus Juarez was, at a time when there was a...

This part of budget could be very tense and not nice.

And I just really appreciate everyone coming with a healthy level of disagreement, with a healthy level of agreement, with a healthy level of speaking to each other in a way that uplifts decorum.

This is how we protect our democracy, is that we disagree in good ways.

And so this was not a painless exercise, but it was not painful like it has been in the past.

And I just, I'm taking this moment to really say thank you because it's a really big difference from years in the past.

With that, we have 68 CBAs tomorrow.

We have Human Services Department, Seattle Police Department, CARE, CBO, Ledge, and Mayor's Office.

And so we will endeavor to have the same schedule tomorrow.

We took an hour break for lunch today.

I'd love to do that.

It is 3.30.

If we had another 10 to go, I bet you we would be at five o'clock right now.

So all of that to say is thank you for how you all have shown up yesterday and today.

We have to show up in the same way again, one more time tomorrow.

And then that will be the conclusion of this segment of the budget.

this segment of the budget process.

I'm gonna turn over to Lish and Calvin.

Anything to add?

Nothing to add?

I'm not gonna stand in the way of you in the last three hours of sunlight.

So unless there is anything else to come before the budget committee, this does conclude the October 28th, 2026 Select Budget Committee meeting.

The next meeting is tomorrow morning at 9.30 a.m.

If there's no further business, we will be adjourned.

Hearing no further business, we are adjourned.

Thank you, Chris Galbraith for everything you do, my friend.

Great work.