Seattle City Council 3/15/2021

Good afternoon, everyone.

The March 15th, 2021 meeting of the Seattle City Council will now come to order.

It is 2.02 PM.

I'm Lorena Gonzalez, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Lewis.

Present.

Morales.

Here.

Mosqueda.

Present.

Peterson.

Here.

Sawant.

Present.

Strauss.

Present.

Herbold.

Council Member Herbold.

We might have lost Council Member Herbold.

She was here and now she's not, so we'll wait for her to sign back in, but please keep going through the.

Okay, Council Member Juarez.

Here.

Council President Gonzalez.

Here, and if you could call on Council Member Herbold one more time.

Councilmember Herbold?

Here, thank you so much.

Nine present.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Presentations, I'm not aware of any presentations today, so we'll move to approval of the minutes.

The minutes of the City Council meeting of March 8th, 2021 have been reviewed.

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

Hearing no objection, the minutes are being signed.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes?

Approval of the introduction and referral calendar.

I move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

Are there any comments on the introduction and referral calendar?

Madam President?

Yes, Council Member Lewis.

Would this be the time to move to amend the calendar?

It would be, please.

Thank you, Madam President.

I move to amend the introduction referral calendar by introducing Council Bill 120019 entitled an ordinance amending ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 budget, including the 2021 to 2026 capital improvement program, or CIP, changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the budget, and adding or modifying provisos, all by a three-quarters vote of the City Council, and by referring it to the Finance and Housing Committee.

Second.

Thank you so much.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction and referral calendar to introduce Council Bill 120019, And by referring it to the Finance and Housing Committee, are there any additional comments on this amendment?

Hearing no additional comments on this amendment, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amendment?

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Yes.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the amended introduction and referral calendar is before the council.

Are there any other further comments on the introduction and referral count?

Hearing no further comments, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amended introduction and referral count?

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Yes.

President Gonzales.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Give me just a minute.

I have a fourth version of today's script, so give me just a minute to make sure I can catch up here.

Okay, the motion carries and the introduction and referral calendar is adopted as amended.

Moving now to approval of the agenda, I move to adopt the agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt today's agenda.

Are there any additional comments or amendments to the approval of the agenda?

So Watt first and then Council Member Peterson.

Thank you.

I move to hold item 17 resolution 31998 until June 7th, 2021. Item 17 on the agenda was a resolution from my office urging the mayor and the governor to extend the moratorium on evictions through the end of 2021. Less than one hour ago, under pressure from this resolution and a grassroots movement, Mayor Durkan agreed to extend the moratorium for three months to the end of June.

This is not everything the renters movement is fighting for, but it is a clear victory for those who have been fighting for it.

Obviously, we would have preferred more than 43 minutes notice before this resolution came up for a vote.

that the mayor was responding to our demands.

And the timing is, shall we say, an improbable coincidence.

However, given this breaking news, I am open to holding the vote on this resolution, which is why I'm proposing that it be held for three months until June 7th.

Hopefully before then, the mayor and the governor will agree to extend the moratorium to the end of this year as this resolution requests.

And if they do not, we will have the resolution ready for a vote at that time.

I think it is important that our growing renters rights movement claim today's announcement by the mayor as a movement victory as a sign of our growing power, the mayor did not extend the moratorium protections for the full year as our movement is demanding but in conceding to a three month extension of the rent tenant protection, she did something that big business and the landlord lobby, corporate landlord lobby to be clear, has bitterly fought against.

So who rightfully holds claim to this victory?

It's the 3,683 community members, ordinary people, who signed our petitions calling for a moratorium extension, the 210 community members who wrote personal moving stories to the city council, about how they were struggling and why the moratorium must be extended.

The hundreds of people who have written other letters and spoken up in public comment demanding an extension of the eviction moratorium.

The 17 community activists who co-signed, along with me, a really important op-ed that appeared on the January 22nd Stranger, including Kate Rubin, Executive Director of BC Seattle, Violet Lovatay, Executive Director of the Tenants Union of Washington State, Paula Lukacek, President of WFC 1488, Caroline Riley Payne, President of Seattle King County NAACP, Sierra Parsons at Wablock, Dr. Brandon Peplinski, President of the Resident and Fellow Physician Union Northwest at the U-Dub Hospitals, Brenna Stroup from the same union as Executive Director, Carla Esquivel, who is owner of Andalus Boutique Shop, a small business in District 2. Shirley Henderson, co-owner of Squirrel Shops Coffee and Cuts in the Central District in District 3. Matt Remley of Mazaska Talks.

Renee Gordon, who is a renter's rights activist and a black rights activist at the Chateau Apartments in the Central District.

Samantha Thompson, UAW 4121. Ariana Laureano of Cancel Rent and Mortgage is Washington.

Shimona Moreno, Art and Movement Building and 350 Seattle, Oliver Mishka, Seattle Democratic Socialists of America, Ludella Bowen, Renters Rights Activist at the Brighton Apartments in District 2, Katie Wilson from the Transit Riders Union.

This victory belongs to all of those people I've mentioned and also belongs to LGBTQ allyship as well as the 47 organizations that wrote a joint letter to Mayor Durkin calling for a full year extension of the moratorium, which is something we will continue to push for.

But for now, this is extremely, extremely relief, extreme relief for renters to have three months extension.

And I wanted to include Some of those 47 organizations, including the 43rd District Democrats, the Ballard Community Task Force on Homeless and Hunger, Cafe Red, Body, Heart and Mind Academy, Casa Latina, Creative Justice, El Centro de la Raza, Faith Action Network, One America, MLK Labor Council, Nicholsville, Protech 17, Queen Anne Helpline, Real Change, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness, SEIU 775 and 925, Share, Wheel, Solid Ground, Sierra Club, The Urbanist, and UFCW 21 and Unite Here Local 8. There are many more organizations that have pushed for this.

I won't be able to mention all of them, but what's important is that all the grassroots organizations stuck together and made a bold demand and we have won a partial victory of that demand.

It is important to claim that as a victory for the movement so that we can use that as energy to keep ensuring that in the rest of this year also we convey the message to renters that we are not done.

We are going to keep fighting for the full year extension because that's what actually working people need.

That's what the statistics show that the pandemic is not going to end anytime soon, at least as far as its economic impact and that those protections will continue to be needed in addition to cancelling rent mortgage and utility payment for affected homeowners and renters and small businesses and small landlords.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sawant.

Just a sort of note of procedure here.

Before you make remarks, I just want to remind that we have to have a second before you can speak to speak to the underlying motion.

I recognize that you've just made your comments.

So we're going to go ahead and now ask for a second in order to consider your motion to hold.

And I'm going to allow any other council members who would like to make comments to do so.

Is there a second on this motion to hold resolution 31998?

Second.

Okay.

It's been moved and seconded to hold agenda item 17, resolution 31998 until June 7th of 2021. Council members, you already provided your comments.

This would have ordinarily been the time when I offered you the opportunity to speak to the substance of the motion, but I do want to open it up for any other council members who might have additional comments on the motion to hold item 17, which is resolution 31998. Okay, hearing no additional comments on the motion to hold, Council Member Sawant, you are the sponsor of the motion to hold, and so you have an opportunity under the rules to make closing comments on the motion to hold.

I thank the council members for seconding this motion, and I've made, I think, a really compelling argument for why we should take this three-month extension and then continue monitoring the situation and make sure to come back to this when this resolution will be needed.

So I will just stop there.

Great.

Thank you so much.

I'm sorry to have to be the parliamentarian, but it comes with the job.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, I apologize.

I sped through my comments just before getting a second.

Yeah, that's okay.

We would have gotten to the second eventually and you would have had an opportunity to make your comments.

Again, I appreciate you understanding the role I got to play here.

Will the clerk now please call the roll on the adoption of the amended agenda?

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Yes.

Peterson.

Yes.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Yes.

President Gonzalez.

Yes.

None in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries and the agenda is, uh, sorry.

Sorry about that.

The motion carries in the agenda is the motion carries.

The agenda is amended with item 17 being held to the June 7th city council meeting agenda.

Um, council member Peterson, you've had your hand raised for a while here, so I'm going to hand it over to you for additional comments on the amended agenda.

Thank you, Council President.

Yes, I'd like to propose another amendment to the agenda.

I move that we amend today's agenda to hold item 16, which is Council Bill 120007 until the full City Council meeting of Monday, March 29.

Thank you for that.

Is there a second?

Okay, it's been moved and seconded to hold agenda item 16, Council Bill 1207 until March 29th.

Council Member Peterson, you are recognized in order to address the motion to hold item 16.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, item 16 on our agenda today is Council Bill 120007. It's the proposal to provide attorneys at no cost regardless of a tenant's circumstances in an eviction proceeding, also known as a right to counsel.

Colleagues, I believe this bill, which comes after several positive actions the City Council has taken to assist residential tenants in Seattle.

could benefit from additional consultation and potential refinement.

To achieve this, I believe our city council simply needs more time.

Just moments ago, our mayor announced another extension of the moratorium on evictions.

The mayor's extension is an important new development and can provide the council with the time to refine the details of the new and permanent change being proposed by Council Bill 120007. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson for those comments.

Are there any additional comments on the motion to hold item 16 until March 29th?

Council Member Sawant, please.

Oh, you're on mute.

There you go.

This is the bill to provide guaranteed right to counsel to all renters who are facing eviction.

I'm not clear why Council Member Peterson wants to postpone the vote.

He has already voted no on the bill, so we know where he stands on it.

I'm not clear what, in any honesty, Council Member Peterson proposes to learn more about the bill.

between now and the 29th, I believe, which is what you suggested.

I mean, the fact is that we've been discussing right to counsel not only all year, which means now over two months.

Actually, this point about having legal aid for renters facing eviction has been a point that has been discussed by the council over three budget seasons, because it was three years ago that the People's Budget Movement and my office were able to win the first ever City of Seattle funding for eviction defense attorneys.

And then since then, every budget season, we have been able to expand that funding.

So we already have evidence, statistical evidence that is actually helping renters.

But more than that, we have evidence from multiple cities about how not only have they already passed right to counsel, meaning guaranteed right that you will have a trained attorney along your side when you face an eviction, when you go to court, but many of these cities, like New York City, like San Francisco, have, but by no means limited to those cities, have already passed right to counsel Several years ago, this was well before the pandemic.

And so we have the advantage of seeing overwhelming and very strong statistical evidence if council members want to be data driven about how much it helps every renters.

It's it's as eviction defense attorneys have themselves said.

having a lawyer to prevent an eviction could potentially mean life and death difference.

We've seen the numbers here.

We've seen the losing home report from the Women's Commission and the King County Bar Association that shows that nearly 90% of people who face, who end up evicted also end up then becoming homeless.

So this is a devastating experience.

It's sort of a pipeline to homelessness unless evictions are prevented.

And I'm not sure what a two-week delay is going to accomplish beyond what we have already discussed.

We've had extensive discussion in two committees, but also, as I said, all this year and in the past three years, we've had presentation after presentation.

from the attorneys themselves, not just from tenants rights advocates in general, but from attorneys themselves who have shown us powerful evidence about how in cities that have right to counsel, especially in cities that have strong right to counsel, there's actually had a positive impact not only on how it prevents eviction, but also on how eviction filings themselves have gone down because landlords now know that they face not just a vulnerable tenant by themselves, but a trained attorney who is going to know exactly what to do to prevent that eviction, make sure to connect the tenant to other sources of help like renter assistance.

But as we know, renter assistance, rental assistance is not, cannot work by itself.

It's a rental assistance and eviction defense are complements to each other.

Preventing the eviction in court legally is a necessary component of protecting our renters.

And we know how deeply rent evictions are racially and gender biased.

We know it's women and specifically black women who are deeply affected by evictions.

And we see from New York City, for example, that 86% of tenants who are represented by council are remaining in their home.

This is just staggering evidence of what good we can do by little amount of funding.

I can promise you regardless of which sort of spectrum of estimates you look at, the eviction defense from the city will cost less than 1% of the Seattle Police Department's budget.

So it shows that it saves lives, literally saves lives.

That's not hyperbole.

And we have discussed this a lot.

We have seen a lot of overwhelming data-driven evidence.

I'm not sure what can be gleaned by waiting.

What will happen if we wait, actually, is that it affects renters even more because they wouldn't have this protection.

It will delay having that protection.

And I would also add, My staff have done extensive outreach to council members, especially who are in the committee, Council Member Peterson is in the committee, asking them about questions that we can answer from my office, asking them to submit questions to central staff.

Asha Benkert-Rahman from the central staff has done an excellent job taking every question that came her way very seriously and providing numbers-based data.

So again, just in closing, I'm not sure what would be gained by delay.

other than an attempt to derail the movement that is clearly ready to fight and win today, this right to counsel without loopholes.

Thanks, I just want to say that I am excited about voting in favor of this legislation.

I think this is a really important bill and I am supporting the request for a delay based on what for me in my time on the council is a standard practice of when your colleague asks for a delay.

It is not a a declaration of war against the policy, but it is really about working to try.

I'm hoping in good faith to make a better bill.

I have been privy to some of the Even though I'm not a committee member, I have been privy to some of the questions being asked about the bill and received a summary of questions and answers from central staff.

And I believe we can make this a better, stronger, more defensible bill in the next two weeks.

I did have a couple of amendments that I was proposing today to try to take a step I think we have a lot of work to do.

I think we have a lot of work towards doing so, but I agree that the additional two weeks will help us all have an opportunity to

Thank you, Madam President.

I too am really excited about this bill.

I think that the right to counsel is fundamental in a lot of things that we do in society and that historically in the United States, as a lot of us on this council who are lawyers are well aware, we have not extended a right to counsel in a lot of civil circumstances, including eviction proceedings, and that has had horribly inequitable and unfair consequences.

I'm very appreciative to Councilmember Sawant's efforts that she indicated in her comments on the information she has made available through central staff and through her staff throughout the pendency of this process, especially for people who are on the committee like myself.

And you know, with this motion coming forward, I can't say that I disagree that it might make a difference to wait until the 29th because of some of the follow up information I've received from the law department and drilling down into some of their concerns.

I think it's important to note.

that part of the reason this council has been so profoundly successful in producing pro-tenant legislation that survives rigorous and well-funded legal challenges.

There's a reason we don't have to do a landlord right to counsel.

They're going to sue and come after this the way they've come after everything else.

And our law department has been able to turn them back and when and defend those rights in court because we have worked carefully to construct legislation that will survive on those attacks and there are a couple of I think there are some salient issues that I still think need to be tightened up in places to make sure that this will survive those challenges.

I would be interested in having a full-on executive session for that we have between now and when Councilmember Peterson is requesting we take this up again to see if we can figure out ways to to, you know, even if it doesn't lead to material changes in the bill, strengthen up through recitals or statement or comments on legislative intent or whatever else to really show how we are structuring this to fit within the constraints of some legal issues we need to be mindful of.

So for that reason, I don't, see any disadvantage to waiting until the 29th and we'll be supporting this motion.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Council Member Sawant, I do see that you have your hand up.

Can I offer an opportunity, since you're the prime sponsor of the actual bill, I thought perhaps it would be better to allow other council members to make comments to allow you to respond to all of them, because under the rules, each council member only has two bites of the apple.

So I want to make sure that you're taking that second bite when it makes the most sense.

Would that be OK?

I'm happy to wait until other council members have spoken.

Great.

Any other colleagues, any other council members who would like to make a comment?

Council Member Morris, please.

Yes, please.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

I'm away from the site, so I'm trying to do this through the phone.

I want to support a request for delay, and I want to really thank Council Member Herbert for her words.

This has struck me as an important bill, and I do want to make it a better bill.

I do want to make it a better law.

We talked about, as you know, there are lawyers on this council.

We all know that we have a Sixth Amendment right to counsel based on, you know, obviously on the United States Constitution and its criminality.

But we should point out that there are six other areas in which we provide free legal representation based on eligibility, not a means testing eligibility.

uh...

throughout the public defense and that is the dependency action that is a mental health issue that's an outstanding warrants that's with you to our faith in still proceeding people who face contempt for failure to pay child support uh...

civil commitment so there's a whole array of where the government steps and and pays for legal counsel outside of the six amendment right to counsel when you're charged in your team uh...

uh...

in at what you can keep eligible to have legal counsel.

So we're indigent, I'm sorry.

So I had an opportunity to just pull up and look at the Department of Policies and Procedures under OPD.

And I believe I talked to Council Member Lewis about this offline.

I think all the energy and the intentionality of this is right on.

I think this is something we should be doing.

I'm concerned about the cost and I'm concerned about eligibility.

I believe that there should be some determining a client eligibility like we do in all these other areas.

And I think that probably if we sit down and look at how we would restructure some of the eligibility requirements, I think that we could have a lower standard for people to have free legal counsel in the event that they are being evicted unfairly.

And it can look something like what OPD, our Office of Public Defense does.

And so I would encourage my colleagues to look at that.

And I think I did share this with Council Member Lewis.

And again, it isn't that I'm against the movement.

I'm not against homeless people.

I'm not against all the things that come up.

What I really want is a piece of legislation that I can vote yes on that can guarantee legal counsel to people who are eligible.

And those are obviously going to be low-income people.

They're not going to be the same people that we would look at for eligibility requirements for criminal.

And I think the standard should be higher.

And I think if we were to try to pass it today under its logical conclusion, just common sense, I'm not trying to start a movement here, but does this mean that if I make $100,000 a year and I decide to quit paying my rent in August, I just don't want to pay it anymore?

that I get a free lawyer and the city picks up the tab, I don't think that's right.

And so I want to make it right.

I want to make it better.

I want it to be able to withstand legal scrutiny.

And I think what Council Member Lewis said is, and I appreciate this, and we've seen the memos, and thank you, Asha, for your great memos.

We've seen the memos that came out of the law department.

I think if we had an executive session, how we can carve out some of this and have this eligibility requirement and make it so that we protect these people under these difficult circumstances that they have legal counsel during eviction hearings, then that's something that I want to do.

So I am going to be supporting a request for the delay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Council Member Herbold, I can't tell if your hand up is a holdover or new.

Okay, holdover.

Council Member Morales, you are next in the queue.

Thank you.

I am proud to be co-sponsoring this legislation.

I do think it's important that we bring all tenants representation in eviction cases.

And I think it's also important to know that this support shouldn't be contingent on a public health emergency, income, numbers of property owned by their landlords, or any other kind of means testing.

It is poor people who get evicted, and that's clear.

Prior to the pandemic, tenants already faced tough odds in eviction court if they didn't have legal representation.

And as eviction moratoria are lifted across the country and here in Washington, and the public emergency is in the rearview mirror, we know that many of our neighbors will be in even tougher situations.

So this is straightforward legislation.

I don't think there's a lot we can do to strengthen it.

I think any delay would really only be, you know, risk diminishing the impact that this could have.

And so I will not be supporting motion to delay.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Are there any other council members who would like to make a comment?

Council Member Mosqueda, please.

Thank you very much, Madam President.

Unfortunately, whatever legal memos that folks are referring to, my office has not seen those.

And if there's questions and concerns that have come up since this has been in the hopper for the last week, I would have appreciated having those sent my way.

I too underscore the importance of making sure that folks have access to legal protections.

I think this council has done a tremendous job in listening to not just renters, but to small landlords as well, as we've been thinking about a both and approach.

making sure people have protections, but also making sure our smallest landlords have access to dollars via rental assistance and other support.

I would absolutely support moving forward on this today, but also want to make sure that we're on solid legal ground.

I have had conversations with folks in the Office of Housing and asked whether or not there was concerns based on the review of the committee meeting that I saw last week, where questions were asked about public housing and the impact on public housing, and I was assured that there was no concerns.

So I do not think that there are significant concerns that would yield the need to delay today.

I think that if there are ongoing conversations, I will be happy to support the bill when it does move forward, but I do hope that it does move forward today and we'll be supporting an effort to vote today.

Colleagues, any other comments on the bill?

Sorry, the amendment to hold.

Sorry.

And I still know you're in the queue, Council Member Solano.

Okay.

I'll just quickly chime in here.

I am going to support emotion to hold this bill based on the debate and the conversation that I'm hearing.

I do like Councilmember Herbold and many others support the underlying goal and purpose of this legislation.

And so my support of a motion to hold is a procedural vote and not one about the substance of the underlying policy.

I have, in fact, in the past supported and in some instances, agreed to, if memory serves me, co-sponsor some of Council Member Sawant's and Council Member Herbold's efforts to increase funding for legal aid and legal defense in the space of tenant protections and continue to believe that having a systemic fix to the issues facing tenants who are at a significant disadvantage in legal proceedings is the right policy for the city to pursue.

And again, second, I have been a longtime supporter of legal aid to those who need it most.

And in fact, for those of you who were on the council in 2016, you'll recall that I was the sponsor for the Legal Defense Fund to provide free attorneys to those facing deportation proceedings based on clear eligibility criteria.

I choked myself up.

So I have been a longtime supporter of making sure that we have supports and legal counsel in these really difficult legal proceedings where there is clear positional power and I'm excited for the opportunity for the city of Seattle to finally pursue a right to counsel opportunity and I'm appreciative for the efforts that are allowing us to do so.

So I'm going to support this motion to hold simply on the procedural aspects.

I will commit to holding an executive session on Monday, March 22nd, and that will, I think, allow us plenty of opportunity to resolve some of the issues that have been flagged in this conversation today by Monday, March 29th.

I do want to say that I have had an opportunity to look at some legal memorandums that do raise significant concerns about the bill in the form that it currently exists in.

And I do think there is an opportunity for us to address those concerns while still fulfilling the underlying intent of this bill, which is to provide those who need it the most free legal counsel in these eviction proceedings.

So I do think the bill and the individuals we are seeking to help would be best served by an additional two weeks to resolve those concerns.

So I'm looking forward to that work over the next couple of weeks to get this over the finish line and join many of the other cities who have already done this before us.

certainly before the pandemic and look forward to that work.

Okay, I'm gonna now call on Council Member Sawant and then Council Member Peterson, you're the sponsor of the original motion to hold, so you'll have the final last word, but Council Member Sawant is next, then we will hear from Council Member Peterson as a close out to the debate.

I'm not surprised by this move by many of the council members to postpone the vote.

We had warned the movement, in fact, that there will be either a move to delay it or a move to insert loopholes, and I believe that the two are interrelated, but I'll speak to that in a second.

I just wanted to respond to some of the points that have come up.

When Council Member Juarez says that she's concerned about eligibility requirements and she's not talking about means testing, I just want to make it clear to everybody who's listening, members of the public, that's one and the same thing.

This is, don't fall for semantics.

Eligibility requirements is means testing.

In other words, it's just different words to describe putting up systemic obstacles to, one, either keep people who should qualify from actually being able to qualify, or two, to make the process so arduous and onerous so that people who actually qualify also find it hard to get access to the services for various reasons.

Overwhelming statistical evidence shows that any kind of illegitimate, whether you want to call it illegitimate requirements or means testing, it's one and the same thing.

Regardless of the facts of what, regardless of the words you use when you're a politician, In effect, if you set up barriers for accessing assistance that is meant for the very people who are absolutely down and out in circumstances and need that service at that moment because they have lost all other options to be able to pay their rent, which is what the data shows, it's not well-off people, let alone rich people who are affected by evictions.

It is very, very vulnerable households that are affected by evictions.

We don't need any kinds of tests.

I don't care how reasonable a tone a politician uses, the substance of what they're saying is if they put that in into action in the law, if they insert that language into the law, in effect, it will prevent many households from accessing that service.

That's, you know, just plain and simple.

That is what the facts are.

I would also I think it is important for us to have a conversation about this.

I do not want to question how seriously we are to take all of these serious sounding arguments.

You are a member of the committee.

You did not attend any of the committees where we discussed this legislation.

other than Council Member Peterson, who has already voted no on the legislation, so we know where he stands.

But other than Council Members Peterson and Juarez, I'm hearing progressive Democrats who are also saying that they will vote yes to delay the vote.

If you are genuinely wanting the strongest possible bill for renters and delaying it just as a procedural vote, okay, let's take your word for it for a second.

I don't agree with postponing.

You know, when tenants ask landlords for a delay in eviction, what happens to them?

They don't get a delay.

They don't have council members at their site saying, hey, landlord, please delay the eviction.

The truth is they get evicted.

So I don't agree with the postponing.

And in my view, this supposed sort of delay just to be careful and just to have a well-crafted legislation or a procedural vote, in my view, is a signal to tenants that the establishment cares more about corporate landlords than tenants who are desperate and getting evicted every day.

In fact, right now, renters are being evicted, you know, it's not again, as I said, it's not hyperbole to delay the protections is actually a bad thing even by a few weeks because renters are still being evicted during the moratorium at the rate of one a day.

So there is one family being devastated every day in order to you know, satisfy a system that supports corporate landlords.

However, having said all that, let's lay all that aside.

If it is genuinely a desire to have clarifications, fine.

Then let's vote on this and let's make sure, vote on this in two weeks and let's make sure that it's a strong bill.

to respond to the council members who have said, let's make it stronger.

I don't understand what that means.

And that's completely dishonest.

This is a strong bill.

How will you make it stronger?

Yes, you can add some whereas clauses or recitals as Council Member Lewis was saying, I'm not opposed to that.

Fine, let's do it.

But as far as the substance of the bill is concerned, like what would the law actually do?

It is already very strong.

My suspicion is that you're delaying it because you want to make it weaker.

And I will say as far as the the idea that somehow the implication that somehow we haven't consulted with the city attorney's office enough and more needs to be done.

I don't agree with that.

We have done a thorough assessment alongside the city attorney's office.

They have some concerns about what's called gift of public funds and I don't know I don't blame the members of the public if you don't understand what I mean because it's very technical language.

But I just wanted to use that because I think that is one of the things that council members are referring to without actually referring to it.

I wanted to quote Edmund Witter from the Housing Justice Project who found that whole idea ridiculous.

And to quote him from an article that was published this morning in The Stranger, he said, quote, if the city funds a food bank and doesn't ask how much the shoppers make, Is that a violation of the gift of public funds?

In other words, what council members are going to do, and my comments are directed to people in the movement, is insert eligibility requirements or means testing, because they will claim that somehow the city attorney's office, or legally, they're not able to do it without means testing.

That's not true.

And as Edmund Ritter, who's also an attorney himself, with long experience of defending tenants from eviction, has found that idea ridiculous, because why should that happen?

And more and more, renters' rights have won and stood the test of the courts because ordinary people are fighting back.

And most of those laws actually have been from our movement and from my office.

So the reason the council has been profoundly successful in passing renters' rights is because renters, working people and socialists are getting organized.

Last but not least, I want to warn members of the public and ordinary people, renters, union members, non-union workers, socialists who are fighting for renters' rights and for the right to council bill without loopholes.

I warn you, we cannot stop building this movement because we have to prevent this delay from being used as a means to push in means-testing loopholes.

In other cities, similar things happened.

When the bills got weakened with means-testing loopholes, it was when Democratic politicians brought that forward.

If today, progressive Democrats on the city council are saying they don't intend to put in bad loopholes, they just want some clarification, fine, let's hold them to it.

And it is important that movement activists understand, from what's happening today, that we need to fight even harder.

We cannot trust the rhetoric of politicians.

We have to fight for what we need.

Thank you.

Council Member Shiraz.

Yes, thank you, Council President.

Apologies, I couldn't figure out how to raise my virtual hand, so I just raised my hand.

I too am interested in having additional meetings, especially in an executive session, to ensure that we are creating as sound a bill as possible.

To Council Member Sawant's points, I don't think that anyone here is afraid of corporate landlords.

What we are afraid of is or assisting them, what we're afraid of is creating a bill that is not legally sound.

And so this is such important work that we have to do it right the first time.

And I'm excited to have those meetings and come up to speed like other other council members who I myself have not read the legal memorandums, and it is important for me and I know others to understand the legal ramifications of what we're voting on.

So thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

And also, just to note, you know, we've got disagreements all the time, but we don't really need to be calling each other out and in such vicious manners.

I have not said anything to the folks that have voted against my bills recently, and I still support them and talk to them regularly.

So that's an aside.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss, really I do want to just note that the.

It's important for us not to be dismissive of the realities around the prohibition on the gift of public funds, and I know that that is a hyper technical term, but I also want to acknowledge that is.

Local government and elected officials were actually constitutionally required from avoiding a situation in which we are.

um, doing effectively a gift of public funds.

And in short, that means doing a gift or lending money property or the entities credit to a private party that isn't ordinarily tied with exceptions in the Constitution.

And so, you know, whether we whether we agree with that constitutional provision or not, it is in place, and we are required as elected officials to comply with those constitutional requirements and And I think that there are at least two people in this full council meeting who have indicated that they have not had the full benefit of even seeing or knowing that there are legal memorandums related to this particular underlying bill.

I do think we would benefit from an executive session to ensure that all of us are on the same page, not all of us sit on this committee and not all of us.

given that council rules are allowed to attend without invitation from the chair.

And so I think that this is an important opportunity for us to all get on the same page, do so with the benefit of our attorneys, hear the same information, and then figure out how to move forward as appropriate in open session after our executive sessions.

So look forward to the opportunity to do that.

Council Member Peterson, you have the last word, and we're going to close out debate after this.

get to other items of business on our agenda.

Thank you, Council President.

I appreciate the discussion that we had to go through these items.

I just conclude by saying that this City Council has enacted numerous budgetary and regulatory policies to benefit tenants and will continue to do so.

And in light of the extension of the eviction moratorium that occurred Just an hour or so ago for another three months, I think another two weeks to make this bill more sustainable is prudent and will benefit the legislation.

Despite my concerns with it, I think that that's, I appreciate the comments of everyone here taking seriously the concerns that have been raised.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Peterson.

Okay, with that being said, I'm going to close that debate and I'm going to ask that the clerk please call the roll on motion to hold agenda item 16 until March 29th.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

No.

Mosqueda?

No.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant?

No.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Yes.

President Gonzalez.

Yes.

Six in favor, three opposed.

Motion carries.

The agenda is amended with item 16 being held to the March 29th city council meeting agenda.

Are there additional comments on the amended agenda?

Hearing no additional comments on the amended agenda, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the amended agenda?

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Yes.

President Gonzalez?

Yes.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the agenda is adopted as amended.

Okay, public comment.

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

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

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

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

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

Colleagues, as we all know, the public comment period for this meeting was scheduled to be 20 minutes.

With each speaker being given 2 minutes to speak, we do have quite a volume of speakers signed up for public comment today.

So I'm going to go ahead and extend the public comment period, but also adjust the amount of time that each individual has to address the council from 2 minutes to 1 minute.

So, if there's no objection, the public commentary will be extended to 30 minutes.

Hearing no objection, the public comment period is now extended to 30 minutes.

Again, each speaker will be allowed one minute or 60 seconds to speak.

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

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

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

Once I call a speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone and the speaker is going to hear a prompt of you have been unmuted.

When the speaker hears that prompt, that means it's their turn to press star six to begin speaking.

So again, you have to hit star six, not pound six, but star six in order for us to be able to hear you after you've heard the prompt of you have been unmuted.

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

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

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

That means that you have 10 seconds left before you need to wrap up your comments.

And if you do not wrap up your comments by the end of 60 seconds, your microphone is going to be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

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

The public comment period is now going to be open.

It is 2.55 p.m., so we will go until 3.25.

Is that right?

3.25?

So our first speaker, give me just a moment here.

First speaker is Daniel Cavanaugh followed by Hannah Saboda.

Daniel, go for it.

Hey, my name is Dan.

I'm a renter in the CD.

And this morning, I just found out that my downstairs neighbor, Dolly, has been enduring harassment from our landlord for months.

Our landlord has refused to allow them to fill empty rooms in their unit, turning down every applicant.

But he has then expected them to pay for the empty rooms.

And he's tried everything he can to harass them into leaving despite the eviction moratorium.

He's lied over and over again, tried to claim they were a health and safety hazard, lied about the cost of the water bill, turned off their hot water illegally.

But this is not just happening to my neighbor, Dolly.

It's happening to thousands of Seattle renters.

And it's gotten to the point where she's exhausted by the harassment and has just given up on staying and is moving out to live in a van and become homeless.

And how dare the council members sitting on a six-figure salary make excuses at the last minute while people are losing their homes right now?

We need right to counsel with no means testing.

Means testing would put people who are facing daily harassment from their landlords in the position of jumping through bureaucratic hoops at one of the worst times in their lives.

I don't care if it hurts your feelings.

Working people need you to act.

You have to support Shama's right to council legislation.

No loopholes, no delay.

Next is Hannah Swoboda followed by Kate Rubin.

Hannah.

Hi, my name is Hannah Swoboda and I'm a renter in District 3 and I'm calling in support of the right to council legislation.

I'm honestly disgusted that the city council has postponed the vote on this bill.

This delay is the same sort of dishonest attempt to gut the movement's demands that we've seen time and time again.

Council Member Juarez said that she's not talking about adding means testing, but requiring tenants to prove their income level to qualify is certainly means testing.

The assertion that wealthy individuals will abuse right to counsel is totally misleading.

In reality, all that means testing does is to become a serious obstacle to people who are actually eligible for receiving aid.

We need the legislation as written with no loopholes.

This delay to supposedly make the bill more defensible sounds like nothing more than an opportunity to drive through a massive loophole, like City Council just did with the chemical weapons ban.

We can't afford to wait any longer to pass this legislation.

We're in the middle of a global health crisis, an economic crisis, and a housing crisis.

It is critical that we pass this now.

Other cities...

Okay, next is Kate Rubin, followed by Grayson Van Arsdale.

Kate.

Go ahead.

Hello, my name is Kate Rubin.

Hello, my name is Kate Rubin.

I'm a renter in District 2, and I'm the Executive Director of eSeattle.

I'm calling in support of Councilmember Sawant's right to council bill without means testing or other loopholes.

Being forced to prove economic hardship will only make it harder for tenants who are already overwhelmed and struggling to navigate overlapping crises to access this service.

Many tenants already self-evict because they feel like it's their only option.

They don't know their rights and even when they do there's such a huge power imbalance.

Landlords are hiring cutthroat lawyers to fight against people who are struggling to put food on the table.

Without adequate representation how will they defend themselves.

Low income Black and Indigenous people of color are more likely to be renters and they're the first to be displaced.

These communities were already disproportionately affected by the homelessness crisis before the pandemic even began.

Giving people facing eviction fair representation and support will ultimately help them stay housed and save lives.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Grayson Van Arsdale, followed by Bia Lacombe.

Hi, I'm Grayson.

I'm a renter in D3.

I spoke here more politely the first time right-to-counsel came up, but now I'm pretty angry.

In every place that I've ever lived, I've dealt with landlords large and small that withheld information from me or manipulated or misrepresented aspects of the lease.

In every place I've ever lived, I've dealt with management companies that made life more difficult for me because I'm a transgender person with a legal name change.

And I'm a working-class person who has been lucky to never have been behind on rent.

In December, the average American family was behind $6,000 on rent, and life hasn't exactly gotten better since then.

And right now, they're not guaranteed a lawyer to stop them from being evicted.

As Council Member Sawant said, this is not hyperbole.

This is our lives.

And I'm stunned by the lackadaisical approach taken by Peterson in postponing this legislation that he doesn't even support, and the completely negligent approach of the council members trying to pave this over as legally necessary when it's not.

Lastly, Council Member Juarez, your comments are something I'd expect to hear on Fox News, decrying working families and trouble as potential triggers.

Y'all are a disappointment.

Next is Bia Lacombe followed by Sarah Gonzer.

My name is Bia and I'm a renter in Capitol Hill.

We need council members to want to write to council legislation as written without loopholes.

I'm disgusted by the efforts by Councilmembers Peterson, Juarez, and Herbold and others to delay this vote.

Renters are still being evicted during the eviction moratorium, about one a day.

So each day that passes without this legislation is another day that Seattle residents will be traumatized, have their financial and housing stability decimated, and could even die as a result of what these Councilmembers have done here today.

I'm also frankly disgusted by Councilmember Juarez's comments comparing tenants facing evictions to criminals.

I'd like to hear the Councilmember try to explain those repulsive comments to tenants like Kaylani Luxmore, a young black mother of three children who was threatened with eviction by the corporate landlord running her building because they claimed she owed them $2 and took her to eviction court in the middle of winter.

Hiding behind technical and legal terms in order to poke holes in this legislation is shameful, but not at all surprising from the corporate politicians on this council with their six-figure salaries.

It's a lesson to our movement that we have to fight even harder if we are going to win.

Okay, thank you.

And just a reminder to our public commenters, please keep your comments focused on legislation as opposed to impugning motives and character of of the council members.

Next up is Sarah Gonser followed by Real Change Vendor.

Sarah, welcome.

Hi, my name's Sarah and I'm a renter in Capitol Hill and I'm here in support of both the eviction moratorium extension resolution and the right to council ordinance.

As we all know, working people have suffered the brunt of this pandemic.

Millions of people are still jobless and are being forced to go into further debt to pay their basic bills.

As the eviction moratorium is set to expire, at the end of the month, which, you know, just today we found out that that has been expanded for three more months.

Obviously, we should celebrate that, but that's definitely not enough.

And thousands of renters will still be at risk of eviction after those three months are up.

We need to extend the eviction moratorium through at least the end of this year without any corporate loopholes or exemptions.

On top of this, we need to support those who are currently facing eviction by giving tenants a fighting chance in court through a right to counsel And individuals facing eviction can rarely afford legal representation, whereas we know the big landlords evicting these tenants have no problem hiring expensive legal aid.

And on top of that, studies done across the country have shown that the cost of providing legal aid is significantly less.

Next is Real Change Vendor, followed by Margo Stewart.

Go ahead, Real Change Vendor.

I'm a real change vendor that has faced eviction without legal counsel.

Landlords and management companies have all the advantage in this process.

I believe in these trying times, Seattle should not be allowing these landlords to add to Seattle's already out of control homeless population.

Many facing eviction are really not at fault for the loss of employment and what COVID has brought to Seattle.

So in Seattle's best interest, I believe legal counsel can go a long ways in relieving this downward spiral many are facing today.

As we speak today, our leaders are promoting this JustPass stimulus package that will help but not be a cure-all.

We all know who these people that are facing eviction, who they are and what they need.

Let's not add to homelessness.

Okay, next is Margo Stewart followed by Matt Smith.

Hi, my name is Margo.

I'm a renter in District 3. I'm obviously really glad to hear about the extension for the eviction moratorium that renters and working people have won through our movement, but I'm incredibly disappointed at the council members voting to delay this vote on Council Member Sawant's bill for legal right to counsel.

You know, council members have talked a lot about making this right to counsel bill a better bill, but I don't think I've heard any concrete suggestions about how it would be made better.

And so because of that, I'm left to assume that this means loopholes, means testing and limitations to the accessibility of low income tenants, women and people of color to reach these services.

Although, on the other hand, I do know for a fact that there are people living near me who have been harassed, again, into voluntarily self evicting uh...

themselves from their housing because they don't know what legal recourses are available to them and like if they had these measures already they would have been able to keep their housing and so i'm currently splitting costs with a roommate who's facing medical bills um...

for a chronic condition that complicates their ability to find work you know thankfully we have friends to turn to if worse comes to worse but these are the kind of people who face eviction you know the people who are one medical bill one accident away from being homeless and so I'd strongly oppose any measure

Next up is Matt Smith, followed by Tara Miller.

Yeah, my name is Matt Smith.

I'm a renter in District 2. First, I think it's a huge victory for the movement that the eviction moratorium has been extended.

Now we need to fight to extend it to the end of 2021. We've been in a homeless state of emergency since 2015, and in reality, this crisis has been going on for much longer.

Renters are facing a possible wave of eviction after this moratorium ends, and they need to have the security of knowing that at least they'll have recourse to a right to counsel if their landlords try to evict them.

And every single delay by this council means that renters are left in limbo and gives big landlords the opportunity to mobilize against these critical protections.

And Council Member Gonzalez, I think it's outrageous for you to try to intimidate ordinary people from speaking out against council members who are delaying a vote at the last minute that dozens of people on this call came to speak in favor of.

And it's a critical protection for renters in the city who've been facing rising housing costs and unjust evictions for years.

We need to change the fundamental balance of power between renters and big landlords.

We should be clear that it's the big corporate landlords like Essex Property Management, Carl Hagelin's company,

Again, folks, I'm not trying to intimidate anybody.

My job here is to make sure that we're enforcing the council rules, and that means that public commenters need to keep their comments focused on the introduction referral calendar, the agenda, et cetera.

So if you all could please just be mindful of that, I would really, really appreciate it.

Next up is Tara Miller, followed by Jessica Westgren.

Tara, welcome.

Hi, this is Tara Miller from District 1. I was here to speak on behalf of Faith Action Network on extending the eviction moratorium, but I'll say that till June, and I'm thankful to Council Members Sawant, the other Council sponsors, and so many advocates who made this small victory possible.

I'll speak instead in favor of the right to counsel for renters facing evictions with no means test.

As a renter myself, my complex was bought out by a new corporation during COVID, and I'm looking at an outrageous $300 a month increase in rent when my lease comes up, even though I'm already paying 50% of my income on rent.

A company like this does not have renters' safety and security in mind if we fall behind on payments, and we need to have as much protection as possible when facing these money-hungry giants.

The people who get evicted are people experiencing poverty and are disproportionately from BIPOC communities.

Adding means tests is an unnecessary barrier that will keep people from getting the justice they need.

Renters need a no-questions-asked right to counsel when faced with evictions.

Please vote yes on this bill.

Thank you.

Next is Jessica Westgren followed by Shelly Cohen.

Jessica, welcome.

Hello, my name is Jessica Westgren.

And I am the former co-chair of the Seattle Renters Commission.

I'm also a renter in District 4. I'm calling in today to voice my full and passionate support for right to counsel.

You know in your hearts that right to counsel is the right thing to do.

Delaying this bill to find out how to do some means testing or eligibility metrics just really says to me we want to make right to counsel harder.

It's awful and very disheartening to hear people talk about fictional bad actor renters who make $100K a year and decide to stop paying rent.

By the way, have we even heard about this being real, or is this just political conjecture?

90% of landlords are represented by an attorney when they're in court.

In addition, if they're a large property management company, such as my previous employer, they will have an attorney at ready.

And I can also tell you my small landlord has an attorney, too.

He often starts every conversation with, I spoke to my attorney.

I do not understand landlords and property management companies that are against right to counsel.

The landlord's not paying for the tenant's attorney, and if the landlord has a followed case, he'll still win.

So, if they don't have legitimate cases, why are they uncapped?

Thank you.

Next is Shelly Cohen, followed by Barbara Finney.

Shelly, welcome.

Thank you.

Council President Gonzalez and members of City Council, I'm Shelly Cohen, and I'm speaking on the legal counsel area.

Many of you know me.

I live in Lake City.

I'm a real change vendor and play many roles within the organization.

An eviction record reduces the opportunity for employment.

At Real Change, this is not an issue.

However, so many of my Real Change community have trouble finding other income sources after being evicted.

Under one definition, I have been unhoused.

There have been times when I was not capable of paying my rent on time.

I was referred to services that would assist.

However, to receive those services, you had to have an eviction on your record with no guarantee they would get the money.

I was fortunate to have legal counsel within my family that were able to guide me in the correct direction.

Evictions are one of the first in the vicious circle of people becoming in-house.

Legal right to counsel and an eviction moratorium are a great starting point to make real change.

Thank you for calling in Shelly.

Next up is Barbara followed by Leah Perlmutter.

Barbara, welcome.

Hello, my name is Barbara Finney.

I live in District 5, where the majority of people are renters.

Council Member Juarez, you did not attend any of the committee hearings on this yet, and yet you are now voting to delay it.

That's really disappointing.

The rest of you who voted to delay, I cannot tell you how hallow it rings.

to hear your what seems like excuses and your lawyerly excuses.

And furthermore.

Barbara, I'm sorry.

Can I have you focus on the bill, please?

Tom, yes.

You're asking us to focus on the bill, but I do feel that Council Member Strauss took a swipe at another council member.

Barbara, I'm sorry.

Can you pause the time?

Can you pause the time?

Barbara, I'm sorry.

I don't like to be the enforcer of the rules, but I really need you to focus in your comments on the matter that you're calling about.

Please, I'd appreciate it.

Council Member Sawant.

No, I don't accept that.

People have the right to speak with their mind about items on the agenda, and if council members have sold out on the items of the agenda, they have the right to call them out.

You cannot stop them from doing it and pretend that that's the rules.

Those are not the rules.

I don't subscribe to the rules.

Please refrain or I'm going to ask for your microphone to be muted.

Okay, Barbara, I'm going to go ahead and turn it back over to you.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Go ahead, Barbara.

The vast majority of King County residents who are evicted end up homeless and some even die as a consequence.

That is how It's urgent, it is, and you're delaying it two weeks.

Shame on you, council.

Shame on you who voted for delay.

Okay, next up is Leah Perlmutter, followed by Corey Brewer.

Leah, welcome.

Thank you, Barbara.

And hi, my name is Leah Perlmutter.

I'm a renter and a union member in UAW-4121, and I'm also a District 3 Seattle voter.

Just hours ago, our fighting movement wanted extension on the eviction moratorium.

We're still fighting for a longer extension and for right to counsel.

Our eviction system currently is racist and sexist, leading to women, people of color, trans and queer folks all getting evicted at disproportional rates because corporate landlords are discriminating against them.

I urge the city council to pass right to counsel legislation in the strongest possible form.

This means no means testing or, quote, eligibility testing or other loopholes, and please stop your delaying tactic.

Right-to-counsel will reduce the number of eviction cases in our court because it will stop predatory landlords from bringing discriminatory eviction cases that they know they can't win against the professional defense.

Wealthy renters won't abuse the system.

Why would someone voluntarily enter into eviction proceedings when they can afford to pay rent?

Right-to-counsel will save lives because eviction leads to homelessness for so many renters.

Next is Corey Brewer followed by Jack Francis.

Corey, welcome.

Yes, hi, thank you.

Just forgive me if I'm not understanding something correctly.

If there's money available to pay for eviction attorneys on the back end, it seems to make more sense to me that that money would be given to renters now so that they can pay their bills and not fall behind and even face the idea of an eviction in the first place.

But maybe that's too simple of an understanding.

Forgive me for that.

What I wanted to call and speak to was an extension of the eviction moratorium The unfortunate reality is that single family landlords, mom and pops, they are not able to absorb this.

And what's happening is they are selling off their rental properties at pretty alarming rates.

I wrote into the council with further detail on this.

I don't have time to get into it on this one minute call.

But despite the best intentions, the reality is that the housing supply continues to dwindle because of the legislative environment.

And you can do the math on how that plays out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Jack Francis, followed by Neil Lampe.

Jack, welcome.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Jack Francis and I'm a resident of the U District and I'm calling today to ask my city council to follow through with two demands.

Pass a resolution to the mayor and governor extending the eviction moratorium through at least the rest of this year and passing the right to counsel legislation without loopholes as well.

Passing these two bills would be extremely helpful, beneficial for renters, especially African-American BIPOC renters.

Having an eviction defense can be the difference between life and death.

uh...

using means testing to determine if someone deserves right to counsel not during a time of economic downturn in this magnitude is dehumanizing we are not rushing the bill either other cities already passed similar spells just because the state is considering these bills to does not mean that they will even pass even if they do pass ability council it would not go into effect until next year We need you people to be proactive and plan for the worst case scenario.

Please.

A 2019 University of Washington study found that tenants with legal representation were twice as likely to keep their housing, but only 10% of tenants facing evictions had a lawyer compared to 90% of landlords having a representation in court.

A report from the Washington.

Thank you.

Next up is Neil Lampe followed by Madeline Olson.

Neil, welcome.

My name is Neil Lampe.

As a vehicle resident, I'm unaffected by the council's decision on this matter today.

I have significant student debt, making both rent and debt settlement out of reach.

People have life happening to them every day.

The banks were bailed out in 2009. I'd like to ask that you turn your attention to the people in whatever small measure the council can and provide this relief for people being evicted.

I urge you to support the council and the eviction moratorium.

It's hard for me to trust the delaying tactics.

We've been fighting this stuff for 27 years here at Real Change, and we're right back at ground zero.

Thank you for calling in today.

Next up is Madeline Olson, followed by Renee Gordon.

Madeline, welcome.

Hi there.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Go ahead.

Excellent.

My name is Madeline.

I'm a renter in Green Lake.

And so I'm just here to voice my support for right to counsel for tenants.

But it needs to pass with no loopholes, no end date, no means testing.

Evictions don't only put people on the street.

It destroys their record.

It ruins their chances to find housing in the future.

And as someone earlier spoke to, if they're caught up in the courts, they get put in purgatory where they can't get the aid that they need.

I know some of the council members brought up concerns about cost.

Protecting renters now actually could save the city millions of dollars.

In Baltimore, they passed a right to council, and that saved them $35.6 million by investing now instead of later.

And they save on transportation costs.

trying to house, displace folks, all these things.

I've also heard concerns about putting a limit on who's eligible for legal representation, aka means testing.

And we've seen this all the time, and we see that it only hurts the most in need.

For example, in healthcare, it's folks who are English as a second language, they fail to gain access because of all the hoops and barriers put up through this means testing.

So as I say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

We need rights to counsel, no means testing, no loopholes, no sunset clause.

Next up is Renee Gordon, followed by Jacob Shear.

Renee, welcome.

Do we have Renee with us?

Renee, are you there?

Can you hear me?

Now we can hear you.

Go ahead.

Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you.

Okay, awesome.

I support the right to counsel with no means testing and also support the extension to the moratorium to the end of the year.

Also, Khabibi Monet wanted me to read a statement for her.

And so here it is verbatim.

And she says, if you don't have drinkable water, you die.

If you don't have breathable air, you die.

If you don't have livable shelter, you die.

If you don't have eatable food, you die.

If you don't have good health with treat without treatment you die.

Come on people.

This is a no-brainer.

It's a life or death.

It's our choice.

Let live let live and let live.

This is life and a death issue.

What are the alternatives.

Death.

So please extend the extension moratorium until the end of the year.

And please pass the support to right to counsel with no means testing.

And also think about a fund for renters.

facing eviction to apply for relief.

Tacoma just did it.

I think Seattle can do it too.

And there should be a fund for small landlords to apply for relief.

Thank you.

Next up is Jacob Shear followed by Holly Jansma.

Thank you.

My name is Jacob Shear.

I'm an advocacy organizer.

Thank you.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Sorry about that.

Go ahead.

No problem.

My name is Jacob Shear.

I'm an advocacy organizer for Real Change.

You've heard from several of our vendors today.

We serve a population that already faces constant housing precarity even prior to the pandemic.

Our vendors live in RVs and homeless encampments, tiny house villages, low income and subsidized housing, as well as on the streets of one of the richest cities in the world.

Many of our vendors have struggled for years to get into stable housing and several have experienced eviction firsthand.

Eviction is harmful and traumatizing, and it is something that our vendors carry with them long after they are forced out of their home and into uncertainty and often homelessness.

Today, each of you who voted to delay failed our vendors, and you failed to meet the urgency of this moment.

Next is Holly Jansma followed by Sonia Panath.

Holly, welcome.

Yes, hello.

I'm Holly Jansma, UFCW 21 member.

I am in support of council with, you know, means testing.

Prior to the pandemic, my family and I were forced to leave our apartment due to an increase in rent that we couldn't afford.

Coincidentally, I had to leave my job temporarily due to health complications.

We had enough money in our savings to put down on a cheaper apartment, plus a few months rent to get us by until I could return to work again.

Even though my partner was working full-time and I had proof of full-time employment, including pay stubs, a letter from my employer, support from my union, I had bank statements, we kept getting turned down for apartments.

I spent weeks and weeks trying to find a shelter.

It kept striking out.

By the skin of our teeth, we were lucky enough to find an apartment.

I find this unacceptable.

We need to close up loopholes that protect corporate landlords and prevent people who are facing situations beyond their control from getting.

Thank you for calling in.

Next up is Sonia Ponath, followed by Matthew Colasurdo.

Hi, this is Sonia Ponath.

As a small landlord, I support council members who want rights to council legislation.

I urge you to vote yes.

And also, thank you, Council Member Sawant, for standing up for the rights of public comment.

This is a very important discussion.

Now, I'm worried that if we have more debate on this, you know, is it going to strengthen the legislation if a loophole emerges where tenants with small landlords have fewer rights and are means-tested?

No.

Sounds like that familiar story of big business hiding behind the smaller ones, because we know big business and corporate landlords can pay for things but don't want to.

They claim it will hurt the smaller landlord.

When the Cheesecake Factory announced last year they wouldn't pay rent on 211 restaurants, they got a $200 million investment.

No delays or means testing there.

Also, it's important to understand that guaranteeing a right to counsel doesn't force small landlords to evict their tenants.

That's the decision.

It just means the evicted tenant also gets a lawyer, which the small landlord doesn't pay for.

And Council Member Gonzalez, you should not threaten to meet so on.

Kate, next up is Matthew Colasurdo followed by Emily MacArthur.

Matthew, please.

Thank you so much.

My name is Matthew Colasurdo and I support the right to counsel legislation with no means testing.

I am an affordable housing landlord for low and moderate income residents in D7 downtown.

I tell you, I have rarely walked into court and seen a leaseholder bring competent legal representation with them in the city of Seattle.

Maybe one in ten.

Landlords and their attorneys also know there are several pro-landlord magistrates and judges, and some of them, of course, do have racial and gender biases.

Renters pay for several things, of course, but including keeping the landlord's attorney on retainer.

How about that one, counsel?

This is grossly unfair and mocks our system of justice.

We are in a humanitarian crisis and this is just a minor part of it.

Please pass the right to counsel without loopholes and without delays.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Emily MacArthur and then our last speaker will be Blythe Serrano.

Hi, I'm a renter in District 2, and I'd like to say that it's shameful that council members have voted to delay this vital and urgent legislation to give the right to counsel to renters.

I can't believe I've attended more meetings on this legislation than Council Member Juarez, who's actually on the Renters' Rights Committee.

It's shameful.

I really want to understand legislation without even doing basic due diligence to attend the committee you're assigned to.

It's absurd to say that the council has been successful at defending tenants because of some sort of foot-dragging approach.

I know that the Seattle process has funded 10 studies on the impact of municipal broadband, all of which say municipal broadband would lift up communities of color, people with disabilities, and homeless people.

Yet here we are, one year into a pandemic where Seattle's children and workers are completely dependent on corporate-owned Wi-Fi, which is prone to outages and even for-profit throttling, and we don't have any municipal broadband.

The reason the council has passed pro-tenant legislation is because of a powerful movement and having a voice like council members who want an office.

to fight to the nail to bring forward that legislation.

Thank you so much, Shama, for fighting for constituents, calling to speak to public officials who are paid by our tax dollars, and shame on Gonzales.

Our last speaker for today is Blythe Serrano.

Hi, my name is Blythe.

I'm a renter in Mount Acre, and I'm calling to express my complete disappointment with the council's decision to delay the vote on right to council legislation.

This legislation is strong enough as is.

I have no doubt that any revisions would only serve to weaken it and exclude many vulnerable people.

The idea of introducing means testing or eligibility requirements, which is the same thing, is absolutely ridiculous.

People who are facing eviction are already a means-tested group.

If you have money, you're not going to find yourself facing an eviction notice.

The argument that people making $100,000 a year would abuse the system is absurd.

Means testing would only hurt to serve Black renters, women renters, parents, and children.

Moreover, I find it incredibly hypocritical that council members claim to be concerned about the cost of this legislation, but had no problem approving a $370 million police budget.

We need right to council now with no means testing and no loopholes.

Also, Council Member Gonzalez has no right to silence renters and working people expressing justifiable anger with council members' unwillingness to fight for their needs.

Okay, colleagues, that does bring us to 3.27 p.m.

So we're a couple minutes beyond the allotted public comment period as extended at the top of the agenda.

So we're going to go ahead and close out the period of public comment.

I'm sorry that we weren't able to get to everybody today.

You are welcome to send your comments to us via email at council at seattle.gov.

That emails all of the council.

Happy to review your comments via email.

We're now going to go ahead and address other items of business on the agenda.

First up is payment of the bills.

Will the clerk please read the title?

And Madam Clerk, you might be on mute.

Thank you for that.

Council Bill 120-012, appropriate in mind to pay certain audit claims for the week of March 1st, 2021 through March 5th, 2021, and ordering the payment thereof.

I move to pass Council Bill 120-012.

Is there a second?

Second.

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

Are there any comments?

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

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Council Member Juarez?

Council President Gonzalez?

Yes.

States in favor?

None opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Item one, will the clerk please read item one into the record?

I report of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, agenda item one.

appointment 1818 appointment of brandy grant as executive director of the community police commission for term to february 3rd 2027 the committee recommends the appointment be confirmed thank you council member herbald you are the chair of the committee and i'm going to hand it over to you to provide the committee's report thank you very much appointment 018

1-8 is appointment of Brandy Grant as Executive Director of the Community Police Commission.

Brandy was one of the three finalists for this position after the Community Police Commission conducted a nationwide search.

All candidates participated in a presentation and question and answer at a public evening forum and also a public Community Police Commission meeting at the forum.

After the forum and after the interviews with the CPC, the CPC chose to appoint Interim Director Grant as the permanent executive director of the CPC.

Interim Director Grant comes to us with a whole lot of experience working with community, including over 20 years of mental health and community programming in Washington State and seven years of experience working with community in Seattle, applying her mental health expertise to policy and programming, addressing gun violence in our communities.

She's dedicated to improving the Seattle Police Department's relationship with the community and ensuring that the voices of the most impacted are heard in the discussion about policing.

She served as a commissioner on the CPC and interim director before being nominated to the position.

She's becoming the interim executive director.

Interim director Grant has led the CPC during unprecedented times with police accountability being at the forefront of a national conversation.

During her tenure, she has already seen the completion of a significant amount of work, including recommendation statements on crowd control weapons for consideration of the consent decree monitor and the court in addition to Seattle Police Department's use of force policies and the collective bargaining process for the new Seattle Police Department contract negotiations.

She's also streamlined the process for tracking tracking recommendations made by the CPC and overseeing the creation of a recommendation tracker for recommendations being made to the police department and accountability partners.

Over the last year, she's brought on a new policy team and led the commission into new areas of advocacy with the development of an independent state legislative agenda for the CPC and I use this as a template myself to include items, to advocate for items to be included in the city's state legislative agenda that was adopted by council.

Her tenure has brought about a new energy in the CPC office as she's developed new staff and commissioner onboarding and professional coaching processes.

and she is in the process of developing an internship program to mentor the next generation of leaders in this field.

All of this is impressive, but where Ms. Grant truly excels is in her ability to engage with the community and build relationships across the city to ensure that the CPC is representing the broader community.

It's my honor to present her confirmation as the permanent executive director for the CPC.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold for those comments.

Are there any additional comments on the confirmation of this appointment?

All right, looks like there are no additional comments on the appointment, so I'm gonna go ahead and ask that the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment.

And Madam Clerk, you're on mute.

Hi, okay, I got this.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

Council Member Juarez?

And Council President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

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Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

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Aye.

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to administer the oath of office to you.

And then after the oath, Ms. Grant, you'll be provided an opportunity to provide remarks to the council and members of the public.

So I'm going to hand it over to our city clerk to administer the oath.

And we are so privileged and honored to be able to bear witness to this moment.

So congratulations, Ms. Grant, and thank you, City Clerk Simmons, for being with us today.

Thank you, Council President, and my personal congratulations is extended to you as well, Executive Director Grant.

It's my honor to administer your official oath of office.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I, Brandi Grant.

I, Brandi Grant.

Swear or affirm.

Swear or affirm.

That I possess all the qualifications.

That I possess all of the qualifications.

Prescribed in the Seattle City Charter.

prescribed in the Seattle City Charter.

And the Seattle Municipal Code.

And the Seattle Municipal Code.

For the position of the Executive Director.

For the position of the Executive Director.

Of the Office of the Community Police Commission.

Of the Office of the Community Police Commission.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution of the State of Washington.

The Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Charter and Ordinances.

And the Charter and Ordinances.

Of the City of Seattle.

Of the City of Seattle.

And that I will faithfully conduct myself.

And I will faithfully conduct myself.

As the Executive Director.

As the Executive Director.

Of the Office of the Community Police Commission.

of the Office of the Community Police Commission.

And this is a virtual handshake, Director Grant.

And I would ask that you sign both of the original oaths of office that are in front of you at this point.

OK.

And if you wouldn't mind showing your signature to me.

Thank you very much.

Once those oaths are returned to my office, I'll attest your signature, and at this time, I'll turn the time back over to the Council President.

Council President.

Thank you so much, City Clerk Simmons, for that.

We are going to now hear from Director Grant.

Director Grant, welcome once again.

Congratulations once again, and the floor is yours to provide some remarks to the Council and members of the viewing public.

Absolutely.

Thank you all so much.

I really appreciate all the kind words that have already been said.

I'm excited to continue in this work and I just want to give a personal thanks to each of the council members that have supported me throughout this process and especially the commission and community.

And I want you all to know that you can expect nothing less from me then transparency as the Executive Director of the Community Police Commission, respect, accountability and compassion.

I will always be responsive to community needs and concerns through means including but not unlimited to engaging in community outreach to obtain the perspectives of community members and SPD employees on police community relations, policies and practices and the police accountability system.

We have a lot of work ahead of us.

But I'm confident and optimistic that we will be able to do what's necessary to reform and reform the Seattle Police Department.

So I'm excited and eager to do the work, and I appreciate all the support I'm sure I will receive.

But I think it's really important to share that this is an opportunity for us to all hopefully be a little less reactive and be more proactive and hopefully lead Seattle in a way in which we can be the national standard and model what true community policing can look like.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, Director Grant, for being with us and for your willingness to serve first as a commissioner.

And now as the executive director, I think the CPC has chosen very, very well and look forward to our continued partnership with you.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, everyone.

I appreciate you all so very, very much.

Okay, thank you so much.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

We appreciate you being here.

All right, thank you.

All right, we're going to move to other items of business on our agenda.

Will the clerk please read item 2 through 7 into the record?

Agenda items 2 through 7. Appointments 1819 through 1824. Appointment of Navin Robert Charles Pinto as member Community Police Commission for term 2 December 31st, 2021. Appointments of Austin Field, Tasha R. Johnson, Erica Newman, and Asha Mohammed as member Community Police Commission for term to December 31st, 2022, and appointment of Patricia L. Hunter as member Community Police Commission for term to December 31st, 2023. The committee recommends these appointments be confirmed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Herbold, I'm going to hand it back over to you to provide this report as well.

Thank you so much.

Naveen Pinto is an attending physician at Seattle Children's Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.

He has spent his career advocating for the vulnerable and underserved.

In addition to caring for children with cancer, he is a researcher actively involved in evaluating new therapies for vulnerable populations, and he has held several faculty and medical positions.

Naveen is a council appointment.

Austin Figgild is a CPC appointment.

Austin is a Seattle native, a veteran, a foreign criminal defense investigatory and current law student.

And he has served in multiple public safety and legal roles, including teams overseas in the military and has been a criminal defense investigator for the Bronx Defenders.

He is attending law school at the University of Washington while also working for the ACLU defenders association.

He is passionate about racial and economic justice especially within the Seattle community and as a law student he has developed his legal analysis supporting county inquest process on behalf of families who have lost loved ones to law enforcement use of deadly force and provided legal support individuals involved in LEAD.

As a defense investigator, he honed his ability to work collaboratively with individuals involved in the criminal legal system and saw how up close such involvement impacted their lives and communities.

While in the military, he was deployed to Afghanistan and was deeply engaged in shaping local law enforcement operations and in discussing security issues with community members.

Asha Arjanschan is a council appointment.

Asha serves as the director of operations for Choose 180, building the infrastructure of programs, as well as implementation of programs with community partners and co-creating the LGBTQ staff training workshop and manual.

is a Master's of Social Work from the University of Washington and a Bachelor's of Science.

She's Magna Cum Laude in Health Sciences at Portland State University and she completed the Puget Sound SAGE Community Leadership Institute.

Erica Newman is a CPC appointment who works as a legislative analyst for the King County Council.

Ms. Newman has spent a large amount of her time helping individuals and families navigate the education and criminal justice system.

She has a long history of work in legislation, including in the King County Prosecutor's Office and the Metropolitan King County Council.

She has a deep understanding of policy, policy development, implementation, and the effects it can have on people of color and low-income residents.

She has significant community service experience, including with National Council for Negro Women, King County Legislative Branch African-American Affinity Group, Africatown, and the NAACP.

She has experience working directly with underserved and underrepresented populations and a passion for advancing the equity and social justice agendas.

And finally, the reappointment of Asha Mohammed is a reappointment brought forward by the mayor's office.

Asha Mohammed is a dedicated public servant She's rooted in community and has been a Seattleite for over 20 years, maintains her global consciousness.

She's worked for multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual spaces in the quest of seeking equity through a human rights and social justice lens.

She's a fierce advocate for reproductive justice and an ally for LGBT rights.

She is currently the executive director of the Somali Youth and Family Club, a nonprofit that addresses homelessness and refugee and immigrant integration.

And then finally, Chahunker is a council appointment.

Reverend Chahunker serves as Minister for Outreach and Education at Seattle's First Baptist Church and Minister of Worship at Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Both congregations are advocates for social justice, marginalized communities, and police accountability.

Reverend Hunter has advocated for justice in sacred and secular institutions for decades, including the financial planning industry.

As an African-American clergy lesbian, he has experienced oppression based on race, gender, class, sexual orientations, and sexual identity.

Reverend Hunter is also a certified financial planner.

He served as financial wellness program director and planning manager for the ministers and missionaries benefit board before retirement in June 2020. He has a doctorate of ministry degree from St. Paul School of Theology and a master's of divinity from Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

He previously served on the Seattle Women's Commission.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, any additional comments on those appointments?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of appointments 1819 through 1824?

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read item eight into the record.

Agenda Item 8, Council Bill 120-011, relating to appropriations for the Human Services Department approving a spending plan, amending Ordinance 126-237, which adopted the 2021 budget, lifting a proviso, and ratifying confirming certain prior acts.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you so much, Council Member Herbold.

You are the chair of this committee, and I'm going to go ahead and hand it back over to you to provide us the report on this.

Fantastic, thank you so much.

First, just a little bit of process background.

Members of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee probably remember that the Human Services Director Helen Howell and her team presented a brief overview on this work at the January 26th committee meeting.

And following that presentation, Director Howell responded more fully to questions that were developed in a memo from committee members.

and shared on February 18th.

The Human Services Department released the request for proposals related to this funding on March 1st, and this request for proposals is available on the Human Services Department Funding Opportunity webpage.

On March 4th, my office sent out to committee members the central staff memo describing the legislation and the new memo from Dr. Howe with more details about the work leading up to and creating RFP.

Public Safety and Human Services Committee members voted this legislation out of committee unanimously last week.

and to talk a little bit about what the legislation is all about.

Last year during the budget process, we responded calls from community to invest in alternatives to policing and made an effort to forward funding that we had dedicated during the summer rebalancing process.

So, as we now observe the one-year anniversary since the death of Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, it's clear that these calls must be heeded and that this work is as urgent now as it was last year.

City Council answered that call by appropriating $16 million to invest in community-led organizations that are creating community safety on the ground every day in Seattle.

And last year, the Human Services Department moved quickly to award $4 million of the $16 million to the Seattle Community Safety Initiative.

And these are funds that are working to build community safety hubs and wraparound services in three Seattle neighborhoods under the leadership of Community Passageways.

We've been collectively urging the executive to expedite this portion of investment.

Our community has been waiting.

receive this investment since council first voted to approve it last summer.

Legislation before the council today lifts a proviso on the fund which requires that council by ordinance a spend plan organized within the intercept model submitted by the human services department.

Public Safety and Human Services Committee members heard a presentation from the Human Services Department on that plan last week and unanimously voted the legislation out of committee.

The new investment will bring together a cohort of organizations dedicated to reimagining how safety can be achieved in Seattle and the resources they need to lead the way in creating safety in our city.

This is exactly the kind of investment recommended in a recent report by the 14 members of the National Commission on COVID-19 and criminal justice to combat increased violence and property offenses across the country.

It will move the city's community safety strategy towards a public health-centered harm reduction model of restorative justice and crime prevention while ameliorating harm caused by the criminal legal system.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Herbold for those comments.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Hearing no additional comments on the bill, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 12011. Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Will the clerk please read items nine through 12 into the record?

Agent items nine through 12 appointments 1827 through 1830 appointment to Abraham Deity as member by police market preservation and development authority governing counselor for term to June 30th, 2022 reappointment and appointments of Colleen Bowman, Gordon McIntyre, as members, Pike Place Market Preservation Development Authority Governing Council for term to June 30th, 2023 and appointment of Gundeep Singh as member, Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council for term to June 30th, 2024.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Strauss, the sponsor of these appointments, you're recognized in order to address these items.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

These are, as Amelia noted, four appointments to the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority Governing Council.

The Pike Place Market PDA owns and manages the majority of Pike Place Market and is governed by a 12-person council made up of four members, each appointed by the mayor, governing council itself, and the market constituency.

The constituency is open to any Washington State resident, 16 years or older, who pays $1 in annual dues.

So if you're interested, you can go to their website and find out more.

Speaking to the appointments before us, Abraham Dottie is the President Emeritus of Pike Place Market Foundation Board.

He is Senior Client Strategist with the Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management and serves on the board of the Seattle Art Museum.

Abraham is being appointed by the Governing Council.

Next up, we have Colleen Bowman, who is reappointed and is being reappointed by the mayor to her second term on the council.

She's currently serving as the interim chair.

Colleen is a market resident herself and has managed two businesses in the market previously on the Pike Place Market, and she's also previously served on the Pike Place Market Historical Commission.

Gordon McIntyre was elected by the Pike Place Market constituency to serve on the governing council.

Gordon is retired after working 43 years as a bartender, including 20 years at the Pike Place Market.

And lastly, Gundeep Singh is a real estate analyst at BMGI, where he focuses on asset management, development, and acquisitions.

Gundeep is being appointed by the mayor to serve on the governing council.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

I look forward to supporting these appointments.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

Are there any additional comments on these appointments?

All right, hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of appointments 1827 through 1830?

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, none opposed.

Motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Will the clerk please read item 13 into the record.

I report to the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee, agenda item 13, Council Bill 120-001, relating to land use regulations of home occupations, adopting interim regulations to allow home occupation businesses to operate with fewer limitations during the COVID-19 civil emergency, amending Seattle Municipal Code Section 23.42.050, and adopting a work plan.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended with the divided report with Council Member Strauss, Mosqueda, Watteson-Lewis in favor, and Council Member Peterson opposed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

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

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, both you, Council President and Council Member Mosqueda, for your co-sponsorship of this legislation.

In the past year, small businesses have been hurt badly by COVID-19, the pandemic era restrictions, and our economic recession.

Too many businesses have been forced to shut their doors for good.

And this past year has also shown us how creative and nimble business owners, entrepreneurs and innovators can be when they're faced with these challenges.

And we know that the land use code was not written for life in a pandemic and the land use code has not kept up with our changing environment, especially when we're doing more than ever from our homes.

Council President Gonzalez, Council Member Mosqueda and I all introduced bringing business home to provide small business owners and entrepreneurs with the flexibility they need for these challenging times.

Bringing business home will make it easier to open or operate a home-based business for the next year, time-limited year, by easing some of the onerous code restrictions on these small businesses.

Home-based businesses are still regulated by other levels of government and public entities such as Department of Health, Liquor Control Board, City of Seattle, Department of FAS, The state, there are many, many, many layers of government still regulating businesses and specifically for businesses that occupy either in food or in beverage or in health care.

This does not change any of those regulatory or licensure oversights.

as well as there would still be many requirements of home-based businesses, including they must be operated by a resident of the home, that the business will be clearly accessory, so secondary to the main use of the home as a residence, that the commercial deliveries are limited to one per day and on weekdays early, and I can tell you some of my neighbors get more on Amazon than that.

Just again, that's an aside.

Lastly, it's also very important to understand that Home occupancy businesses still must abide by the noise, odor, light, or smoke impacts that are currently written in the code that they cannot be noticeable beyond the property.

By now, also, you've heard the story of Yonder Cider and Greenwood, which was forced to close after they were found in violation of current code.

Again, when Yonder brought their situation to my attention with colleagues as well.

I'm sure what it opened my eyes is that we have many different businesses, home occupancy businesses operating in the community that are not operating to the letter of the code and could be shut down.

If they were cited again, once a citation is in the queue, it cannot be undone even by the person that submitted that citation.

And that again is why we need to play.

Create this level playing field and why we need to provide this time limited flexibility as an exception to the norm.

This bill is. more than just about yonde opportunity to start and can soon fill a vacant st or by giving a struggling chance to move home for the storm and then come back in full bloom on in our business districts.

Some of the most successful businesses in the world were founded in garages.

I heard about one at committee last week that sounds very delicious.

Now it is time for the city to make life easier for these entrepreneurs rather than shutting down the small businesses that make up the fabric of our community.

We must make our neighborhoods, our land use code should not be a barrier to making our neighborhoods more vibrant and having a strong economy.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda, for partnering with me on this effort and for everyone who has helped get this bill along, including Vy Nguyen and Noah Anh.

And Ketel Freeman, of course.

Thank you, Ketel.

Council President, that is my report.

Colleagues, thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Strauss.

I know that we have one amendment to consider on this bill.

That amendment is from Councilmember Herbold.

My suggestion, I know I have remarks.

I'm almost certain that Councilmember Mosqueda has some remarks also as our partner on this legislative effort.

And so my suggestion is that we address the amendment first, and then we can open it up to comments on the bill as amended from those who would like to speak on the bill as an amendment.

If that sounds agreeable to folks, I propose that that is how we should move forward.

Okay, I'm not hearing any objection to that, so let's go ahead and hand it over to Council Member Herbold to allow her to move her, yes.

Oh, I can hear you now.

Okay.

Oh, it's Council Member Juarez.

Thank you so much.

I'm in a different location on a different phone, trying to do three different things at the Seattle Indian Health Board.

So I just wanted you to know that on the last items that we voted on regarding the fight place market preservation that I had voted yes, but I didn't do the star six.

So I hope the clerk can note that I voted yes on that.

And I am here for the Council Bill 120001. So thank you.

Yeah, unfortunately, Council Member Juarez, the record can't reflect that unless we take up a motion for reconsideration, which means we got to go back in time on the agenda and start.

I appreciate you.

Thank you.

Okay.

I appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

Okay.

So Council Member Herbold, I'm going to hand it over to you to make your motion on Amendment 1 to Council Bill 120001. Thank you, Madam President.

I move to amend Council Bill 120001 as presented on Amendment 1, which was recently distributed.

Second.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded.

Sorry, I'm having my own technological issues over here with words disappearing off the screen.

Give me just a minute.

There we go, okay.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the bill as presented on Amendment 1. Council Member Herbold, back to you in order to address the underlying amendment.

Thank you so much.

This is a single amendment that has two components.

The amendment requires, first, that a home occupation not have a drive-in business component.

And secondly, it requires that home occupations that are permitted but that are related to automotive sales and service not cause a substantial increase in on-street parking or vehicle traffic.

As discussed this morning, this amendment would not prohibit automotive sales or services.

It would prohibit, as is now the case, a substantial increase in vehicle traffic or parking.

The amendment would also prohibit a drive-in or drive-through type of business.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any additional comments on Amendment 1?

I know we also had a discussion about this amendment in Council Briefing, so there may not be any questions this afternoon, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have a conversation about it.

Council Member Strauss, please.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Just to note that I did connect with staff in the interim.

Having that conversation and briefing was very helpful.

This is a very narrow amendment, much like the bill being a very narrow change.

So I appreciate that.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Great.

I also had a time I had an opportunity to take a closer look at at this amendment and had a conversation with, um, with my staff as well, see it as very technical and narrow to that particular type of business.

So appreciate the proposal here and we'll be supporting it.

Colleagues, any other comments on Amendment 1?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of Amendment 1?

Lewis?

Aye.

Morales?

Aye.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

Yes.

So what?

Yes.

Strauss?

Yes.

Herbold?

Yes.

Juarez?

Yes.

President Gonzalez?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Great, thank you so much for that.

Now I'm going to make a call for any additional comments and I see that Council Member Peterson has his hand up and then we will hear from Councilmember Mosqueda.

Councilmember Peterson, please.

Thank you, Council President.

During the two committee meetings, I was able to articulate my strong track record of supporting small businesses as well as my concerns about this bill.

I also posted my concerns with the bill on my City Council website so my constituents can see a detailed rationale for my no vote.

The benefits and concerns of the bill have recently been reported in the media as well.

So I don't want to go through them here.

But I really do want to thank the committee chair and original sponsor, Council Member Strauss, for providing the time to raise and discuss the concerns in his committee.

That was really helpful, I think, for everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Council Member Mosqueda and then Council Member Morales.

Thank you, Council President.

I really appreciate the Council's consideration of this bill today as amended.

Happy to be a co-sponsor.

Thank you very much, Council Member Strauss and Council President.

I know you've been working on this for a while and very excited to be part of the team as we get this over the finish line.

To me, this is really about what's good for economic resiliency of Seattle.

And as you think about how many people have lost their job, their employment prior to the pandemic and folks who are being innovative and creative.

I talked to Ventures just last week to hear more about how, you know, some of our smallest businesses are faring during this time.

And what I heard is that many entrepreneurs are doing everything they can to try to be innovative and change their business strategies so that they can survive.

And allowing for this type of code change is really critical right now as people think about either opening a business for the first time or modifying the type of businesses that they had originally engaged in and doing it in a way that actually reaches people where they're at right now.

People are staying home.

They're staying in their neighborhoods, they're staying in their local communities, and they're walking more and making it more accessible for people to be able to purchase goods and services in their neighborhood, allow for those entrepreneurs to be able to open the front of their shops or their garages and be able to sell to the pedestrians and the bikers and, you know, potentially the folks who are going through the neighborhood as they get out and start to enjoy spring and hopefully are vaccinated and actually get a chance to walk around our neighborhoods more.

This is an economic stimulus bill.

I think it's important to reiterate what we talked about last week as well.

This is not just about helping those entrepreneurs who need additional assistance and helping to cut through the red tape.

This is also about how we create more dollars in the pockets of residents across the city who are then able to spend that money in existing local businesses.

This is not going to be a detriment to existing small businesses.

In fact, this has a multiplier effect that is beneficial.

Every time we allow for there to be more finances, for more financial stability for residents in the city, it pays forward.

People spend that money in local shops and in local restaurants and vendors.

So this is truly one small way, a very important way for us to help our smallest employers and future entrepreneurs in the city.

And whether that's the next Microsoft or the next tasty tacos or what have you, and I still want that fry bread, Council Member Juarez.

I think it's really important that we're making these changes today because I don't think anyone could argue that having to do appointment only and not more than two people working for the vendor and not having signage on the street, that is not a good way to start a business.

So we're making it easier for folks to do that.

And we're also addressing the traffic concerns, I think appropriately in this bill.

I want to thank again the Council President's staff and Council Member Strauss' staff and my staff.

Andrew Houston did a lot of work on research on this bill, so thank you very much for the ongoing work.

And part of that research, as we thought about the ways that we clear curbsides to make more opportunities for folks to be able to see small businesses, was to think about how this isn't just about access to parking in front of businesses, this is about how do we make it a more walkable, thriving and vibrant neighborhood.

looking forward to what we can do to learn from this experience in the long run.

I think this is an important interim measure, and I think that there's a lot to be gained from this as we think about creating resiliency in the out years.

Uh, look forward to working with all of you and, um, looking forward to passing this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, so much because we're mosquito.

Next up is council member Morales.

Thank you, Council President.

I am really excited about this bill so I want to thank Council Member Strauss for the work that you've been doing to bring this forward.

I think it really speaks to the fact that we need to fundamentally change the way we offer opportunity to our neighbors.

We know that microbusinesses play an important role in generating income for some families.

In my previous life, I provided technical assistance to food-based businesses who were trying to get started, trying to expand, and very often these are by just family members.

T employees.

It is, you kno one or two of the kids.

U revenue that they are br families.

Through that pr how hard it is for these to expand into brick and space is often too big fo small startups or too exp improvements that would b prohibitive.

Um, so we ha do to make it easier for don't have easy access to capital to get their foot in the door into entrepreneurship and to supporting their families and really expanding the kinds of goods and services that we're able to offer in our community.

And I think this is a really important first step to make sure that that happens.

So I look forward to what we can learn through this process.

And I want to thank the sponsor and co-sponsor for starting this conversation for us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Are there any additional comments on the bill?

Okay, I'd like to make some comments on the bill as well.

I am really enthusiastic about being able to support this legislative effort in partnership with Council Member Strauss and also with the support of Council Member Mosqueda.

I too want to thank Noah Ahn and Vy Nguyen from My office, Noah from your office, Council Member Strauss, for all the hard work that they've done on this legislation, both in terms of reaching out to impacted small business owners, but also the good policy work that they've done on behalf of our offices.

And big thanks to Cato Freeman as well for all of his good work in this space as well.

I believe that this bill is going to be just one of many strategies that will help us with our economic recovery from COVID-19.

We know that we need flexibility and innovation, and this is local government needing innovation happening on the ground by our entrepreneurs who want to try out ideas and provide needed income for their households.

This bill will help lower barriers like access to capital or commercial affordability that keep many women and BIPOC entrepreneurs in particular from starting a business.

The Bringing Business Home bill will strengthen neighborhoods and get us closer to complete neighborhoods with amenities for Seattle residents and families.

At a time when it's not just important to support our local small business to ensure they'll still be with us on the other side of the pandemic, it's also important to create flexibility and options that will help entrepreneurs during this period of time.

This bill will help lower barriers like access to capital that keep many, especially BIPOC entrepreneurs and women, from starting a business.

With many out of work during a pandemic, this change can help Seattle residents start a small business to add much needed income to their household.

This will only help us to get that much closer to economic recovery while adding vibrancy and amenities to our neighborhoods.

In addition, this bill helps us get to better connected neighborhoods, which means we don't need to go far when services and amenities are within a 10 to 15 minute walk or bike ride.

This bill means that it will be easier for people to start their dream of being a small business owner and help us get back to a city of vibrant small businesses all across the city.

It will support innovation and provide a pathway for people to build their business, clientele and grow capital in hand for their business.

We want every single business to grow out of their garage and into a storefront.

You need a lot of money to do that and this bill, allows businesses to build at home first before they can take the next big step.

And lastly, the reality is that our neighborhoods are the center of our universe as this pandemic continues.

And while we recover, this bill will allow us to continue to limit our travel outside of our homes to stay safer under pandemic protocols by increasing amenities right in our backyard.

So I am really excited about this bill, and I know that there's been some conversation about the need to ensure that this is not too broad of a legislative fix.

I don't think it's too broad of a legislative fix.

As Council Member Strauss likes to correctly remind us, this is a narrow bill to address a narrow issue within the structure and the context of the Land Use Bill.

I did want to take an opportunity to read two testimonials into the record from impacted small business owners.

The first is from Caitlin Brand.

We've heard of Caitlin a lot these days.

She is the founder of Yonder Cider, and she is a big supporter of Council Bill 12001, which we are calling the Bringing Business Home Bill.

And she wrote to us just this afternoon, quote, in August 2020, I launched Yonder Bar.

our retail to go only space in my garage.

We launched in the time of COVID and when launching a full tasting room with a five to seven year commercial lease was not possible for us.

Launching in my garage allowed for the incubation of our business, helped us to determine its viability, and eventually to the signing of a commercial lease just last month.

I hope this bill allows this opportunity for so many other hopeful small business owners.

In the past week alone, I have received calls, emails, and messages from more than a dozen people who, like me, have dreamed of opening their business only to be faced with hurdle after hurdle.

I believe this bill will open opportunities for small businesses across the city now and into the future.

And in my opinion, this bill doesn't take away from people signing commercial leases.

It makes them possible.

Furthermore, since the comments at the last Land Use Committee, I have gone into my local community to talk to business owners on Greenwood Avenue.

From those who I talked to, they welcome businesses like Yonder Bar because what they see is more traffic coming to their neighborhood, to the neighborhood, more potential exposure to their business, and more connected, vibrant communities.

That benefits everyone.

Many of these businesses also carry our products now and see growing sales with the existence and exposure of Yonder Bar.

Launching it on our garage made our big dreams possible, and we hope this bill will allow the same for others.

That's testimony from Caitlin, who is the founder and president of Yonder Cider, and I want to thank her for her support and for really important comments on this legislation.

A second constituent wrote to our office the following about this bill.

I'm a voter in District 2 and the owner of Emerald City Flowers.

I started Emerald City Flowers during the pandemic as a part-time job to bring joy to people during this difficult time with the pandemic and gain additional income.

I'm writing in support of the home occupation bill.

During the pandemic, many businesses had to close their storefronts.

People were laid off from their jobs, had their hours reduced, hiring freezes, and freezes on salary increases.

However, cost of living remains high in Seattle.

Small business owners and residents need to have more avenues to gain income, and this legislation can help make that possible.

Current land use laws around operating a business without your home are too restrictive, including having customers schedule appointment times, which doesn't work well for many business models selling goods and services.

During this time, many people are at home thinking about how they want to spend their time and what they want to do.

For some, that is starting a new business or venture.

Our local economy and small business owners have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

By suspending some of these restrictive conditions, it will enable more small businesses to operate and thrive.

Seattle is a city of innovation.

Many successful businesses were started out of someone's garage.

Passing this legislation will help existing and new small businesses as well as aid the economic recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic with a more vibrant small business ecosystem.

So I will conclude my comments there.

I think those are two really great testimonials from the north to the south end of our city and look forward to being able to continue to support this legislative effort.

So that being said, I wanna give Council Member Strauss the last word before we call the roll on this bill.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

again, and thank you for reading those words that were brought in for public comment today.

Council President, this is about incubating innovations and businesses to fill our vacant storefronts.

As you just heard in the case of yonder, they would they used their money that they have raised from opening in the garage to fill a vacant storefront.

That is the trajectory that we were talking about and their neighboring business association if any neighborhood association also express their support to me for this legislation.

This is about being salute this bill is about being solution oriented and creating outcomes for everyday Seattle lights.

If you want to take a look at the last two committee meetings for some great questions, good conversation and more information on how narrow this bill is and what other government regulations and licensures are required beyond the land use code.

There are hours of discussions there.

Again, the land use code not zoning is what we are partially amending for a time limited period to to provide flexibility for our small business entrepreneurs.

I again want to thank everyone who worked on this, including Andrew and Council Member Mosqueda's office, and to Caitlin for bringing this issue to our attention that impacts so many home occupancy businesses throughout Seattle.

I have a Ballard pea patch glass full of water, and I would say let's raise our glasses to making big dreams possible for our local entrepreneurs.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you so much Council Member Strauss for those comments.

We're now closed out debate and I'm going to ask that the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the amended.

Lewis?

Yes.

Morales?

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

Peterson?

No.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Aye.

President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, one opposed.

Thank you so much.

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

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

Will the clerk please read items 14 and 15 into the record.

Report of the Governance and Education Committee, agenda items 14 and 15. Appointments 1825 and 1826. Appointment of Amanda Sandoval as member of Seattle Immigrant and Refugee Commission for term to July 31st, 2022. And appointment of Bao Tram Doh as member of Seattle Immigrant and Refugee Commission for term to January 31st, 2023. The committee recommends these appointments be confirmed.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

As chair of the committee, I'll address these items and then open up the floor for any additional comments if there are any.

Colleagues, I'm thrilled to have the appoint to advance the appointments of BT Doe and Amanda Sandoval before us today.

They are both young women leaders who are immigrants and connected to our immigrant refugee community and working to affect change in many ways through their personal careers and community involvement.

Amanda started with the Immigrant Refugee Commission as a Get Engaged appointee and wishes to continue serving in a regular slot on the Immigrant and Refugee Commission.

BT is a community organizer who will add her public health and institutional funder perspectives to the work of the commission.

We are grateful to Amanda and BT for their willingness to serve on the Immigrant and Refugee Commission and for their continued contributions on that commission.

Are there any additional comments on the appointments?

Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of appointments 1825 and 1826. Lewis.

Aye.

Morales.

Yes.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

Peterson.

Yes.

Sawant.

Yes.

Strauss.

Yes.

Herbold.

Yes.

Juarez.

Juarez?

Aye.

Yes, thank you.

President Gonzales?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you so much.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

Okay.

Okay, item 18. Will the clerk please read item 18 into the record?

Agenda item 18, resolution 31997, setting the time and place for a hearing on the appeal of Rick Berner, hearing examiner case number CWF-0295, and from the final findings and recommendations report of the hearing examiner on the final assessment role for local improvement district 6751.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I move to adopt resolution 31997. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the resolution.

Council Member Juarez, you are the sponsor of the resolution.

I'm gonna hand it over to you to address it.

Thank you, Council President.

Okay, city council rules for quasi-judicial proceedings require that council set the time and place for a hearing of an appeal of individual's final assessment for a local improvement district, otherwise known as the LID, within 15 days of the filing of a valid appeal.

This resolution schedules an additional, excuse me, valid appeal filed with the clerk for the April 6th committee meeting.

I recommend council pass the resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Member Juarez.

Are there any additional comments on the resolution?

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

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Juarez.

Yes.

And President Gonzalez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

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

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

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

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

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting is on Monday, March 22nd, 2021 at two o'clock p.m.

I hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon.

We are adjourned.