Good morning, thank you for being here for our regular scheduled council briefing We'll go around the table and talk about today's actions, but I just remind the public of course We're in the middle of budget.
I'm not even we're beyond the middle point.
Yeah, we are so our legislative agendas are We don't have as much legislation as we ordinarily have.
A few things.
This afternoon, nothing to vote on from the Governance, Equity, and Technology Committee, but Councilmember Gonzalez and I will introduce a resolution, 31850, that supports Washington Initiative Measure 940, which is the de-escalation, the police force de-escalation initiative that I think many of you are following.
Just by way of background again, you may recall that the Washington State Legislature adopted the initiative as House Bill 3003. And it sort of modified some, basically a compromise that was occurring between de-escalate Washington, which the community leaders certainly valuing police accountability and unlawful use of force, and law enforcement organizations and the Supreme Court.
held that that initiative required a vote of the people.
And so knowing our commitment to race and social equity and the unlawful use of force, we believe it's very appropriate to articulate our support for Measure 940. So Council Member Gonzalez will have some things to say about that as well, as will the mayor probably through a press release.
And I believe Council Member Juarez, while we go around, why don't I just sort of segue you have It is still worse, isn't it?
Okay.
Okay.
Congratulations.
And I know you have a resolution 31851 that you may want to speak on, and then we'll come back to Council Member Begg-Jones.
So, Council Member Weres, why don't you walk us through resolution 31851.
Thank you.
Good morning, everybody.
Thank you, Council President.
So today, I'll introduce a resolution addressing a proposed pebble mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay to mine copper and gold.
I'm calling for a suspension on the permitting process for the proposed pebble mine due to a serious lack of information needed to evaluate the environmental impacts that are occurring in this area.
I should note that this has been going on since 2010. In 2014, The EPA issued a restrictive permit and wanted to continue the process.
It was interrupted by a federal court hearing.
And then 2016 came with the current administration.
And with that, the EP withdrew their restrictive permit.
The project is now moving forward.
It looks like we'll likely have a EIS in January of 2019. The reason why this is important to us is Bristol Bay is home to the largest salmon fishing industry in the world.
which means we have people at risk, Alaska Native tribes and residents, as well as businesses, the regional economy at risk, fisheries, the restaurant industry, and the rest of the world depends on Bristol Bay salmon and the land, fish, and wildlife itself located in Bristol Bay.
This is important for the city of Seattle to understand and advocate for the vulnerable stakeholders here at risk, and I look forward to further discussion and a possible vote today.
I should add that Bristol Bay is the largest salmon-producing fishery in the world.
And so I'll be introducing that.
Very good.
Thank you.
If I just can acknowledge, thank you for bringing that up.
And what I really appreciate your doing is. tying it into an action that's happening in Alaska and why it's impactful for us in Seattle and why we should weigh in.
So thank you very much for that.
And of course, I'll support you.
I should add that besides us asking us to suspend the federal permitting process, unless we have more additional environmental and scientific data, that this really affects an industry here in Seattle to the tune of $3.3 billion.
and well over 3,000 jobs.
Thank you.
Very good.
And Council Member Gonzalez, when you were walking in, I was talking about our joint sponsorship of the resolution supporting initiative 940. Did you want to, I don't know if you heard what I said, did you want to chime in on that or not?
I am sure that you adequately covered it.
I read well, so thank you very much.
And two other things before we go around the table with Council Member Bagshaw.
One is the The legislative agenda, our state legislative agenda that we're drafting, here's our timeline.
We're sort of going to move it back about a week or so.
So continue to give feedback to OIR and we'll likely have them here for another draft on November 5th.
And hopefully that'll be closer toward a finalization of the document.
And if all things go well, we should have a resolution adopting our 2019 agenda for November 13th.
So continue to get feedback.
And again, thank you for all the feedback you are giving.
And last, we're all painfully aware of what happened in Pittsburgh.
I thought maybe this afternoon, 2 o'clock, maybe we could, if people would like to say a few words or take a moment of silence, it would be very appropriate to do that during our formal meeting is what my thinking is.
But certainly our hearts go out for the families and what a tragedy.
So we'll speak about that this afternoon at 2 o'clock.
Okay, Council Member Begshaw, you're up.
Thank you.
We have nothing from the Finance Committee on today's agenda this afternoon, but I do want to distribute just a list of the scheduled green sheet topics, and I'm meeting with many of you today and I believe during the week for one-on-ones if you want to talk more.
about any priorities you have.
And I believe that you'll be getting a revenue update from Kirsten today.
And the revenue update doesn't change things much.
We have an additional a million and a half that has been identified in the forecasted revenue increase, but there's nothing that is going to leap us forward into the tens or 20 of millions of dollars based upon the forecast.
So I just wanna, Bring that to you.
So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of this week, we'll be going over green sheets.
He handed us the same one twice.
Was there just one handout?
Yeah, just one handout.
Just a lot of extra copies.
Sorry, apparently.
I'm going to keep handing them out.
Yeah, that's good.
Good.
No, thank you.
So anyway, if you want to talk one-on-one, that's great.
Priorities are what we're going to be focused on.
We'll have an opportunity to display where our real interests are tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, to each other.
But if there's something that's just right at the top of your list, and I know Council Member Gonzalez, you made that pretty clear, last week around indigent defense fund.
I believe the words were that you were going to die over that one.
That's the kind of thing that's going to be really valuable for me to know because, unfortunately, we don't have the revenue stream to cover everything that we have all put forward.
So we'll be learning more about that, hearing more about that this week.
Balancing package will come a week from Wednesday.
And as a reminder, we will be accepting public comment at the end of our conversations Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Excellent.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Council Member Juarez.
Thank you.
So last Thursday, I met with several groups in my district.
I attended two events on Thursday.
The first was the, which I really was excited about, the North Seattle Service Coalition Story Summit.
And then, of course, I was at Sacajawea Elementary School.
But let me start with the North Seattle Story Summit.
They presented a report about the need for services and the barriers providers face in helping basically the whole North End.
We met with dozens of providers, and we listened to them, and we talked about ways we could work together.
But I think what's more important, and I want to thank Council Member O'Brien, who attended, is that this whole storyboard, this whole summit came about because, thank you, my colleagues who voted for this in the budget in 2017, that provided the funds to hire Dr. William Vonesky from the University of Washington to talk about the North End and pull together what the services are on the ground.
So no surprising, nothing that I didn't already know, but now we have with data, is the top three issues were poverty, housing, and food scarcity.
That the main client groups were four, the homelessness and the unsheltered, low-income folks, immigrant and refugees, and our elders.
We knew, which we've always known, that there has been a major shift in demographics in the North End.
increased diversity.
We're up to 83 languages.
We have more renters than ever.
We have more homelessness and displacement and lack of affordable housing.
And very quickly, some of the other key findings were that, number one, the human service providers tend to be place-based.
That is, these are the community-based organizations that are physically on the ground in the North End.
that these community-based organizations serve multiple needs with multiple programs, and that housing and homelessness assistance is the most frequently provided service, along with food scarcity.
And I think one of the most eye-opening things, which we also knew, is that of the 12 top basic needs that clients are experiencing are people in these community-based community-based organizations need to address, those services are provided by food banks, shelters, and faith-based institutions.
So basically what you have are food banks acting as, if you will, a portal to the services of what the report was saying was some of the most important, and I should have pulled that up quickly, but I didn't.
some of the most important issues that came up in our community.
And so I have a copy of the report, if those of you would like to see it, for the Districts 4, 5, and 6. And I also have a copy of the, which was really well, PowerPoint.
And if I could just say this quickly, this is what I meant to say.
Of the 12 top needs that becomes, that need to be addressed in which food banks and shelters are the number one, basically, portals.
was affordable housing, mental health and counseling, substance abuse and treatment, shelter, emergency housing, helping pay rent or utility bills, free or affordable legal services, job skills and training, public transportation, immigrant refugee citizenship assistance and other needs, dental care, job search assistance, and securing affordable child care.
These 12 needs are all being addressed by food banks, shelters, and faith-based institutions, which I think we're probably seeing that all over the city.
But it was nice to see that we actually hired an expert to do the report and come up with the data.
And I really want to thank Dr. William Vanesky from the University of Washington.
As you know, he's at the School of Social Work, and we've used him for other reports as well.
So that's what we have.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Council Member Herbold.
Thank you.
So, no creative meeting as we are in budget.
As far as a full council item, I have one item.
It is a resolution that is going directly to full council.
Two weeks ago, my office reached out to all of your offices about this resolution.
And just in case you hadn't seen it, it was on the introduction referral calendar a couple weeks ago.
Here are some copies.
And this is a resolution proclaiming that Seattle affirms the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in the wake of targeting of local activists.
Motivation for this resolution came from a local community leader, Dani Eskine.
In a letter that Dani wrote to the council this summer, she outlined a set of circumstances that has led her to leave the United States.
Dani described how she's been targeted for harassment and violence as a result of her work advocating for the transgender community.
In her letter, she requested that the council pass a resolution in support of the United Nations Resolution on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders.
And as a result of this request to the council, Each of the Seattle Human Rights Commissions, the Women's Commission, the LGBTQ Commission, and the Commission for People with Disabilities have reached out to our offices and asked that they work and requested to work with my office to develop the resolution.
All four commissions have voted to support this resolution and have approved the language.
And so we'll be hearing this today at two o'clock.
Other things that I just wanted to let folks be aware of.
On Sunday, I distributed, and folks may not have seen this as well, so I'm gonna pass out copies.
I distributed a draft letter in support of Anita Kandewal's confirmation as the King County Public Defender.
Ms. Kandewal is the, nominee of King County Executive Dow Constantine and this is a support letter for her confirmation which is coming up today at 1.30 and I'll be having my staff in my office circulate with y'all between the end of this meeting and and 1.30 to see if people are interested in signing.
And then lastly, just some things coming up this week.
I'll be attending the Fair Work Center event with Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Friday.
And I'm also going to be attending a Vera Project Get Out the Vote event, which will include live music and several speakers, including, I think, some folks around this table.
That's it.
Thank you very much.
And I'm interested in signing, say it publicly, or some abundance of caution these days.
Council Member Sawant.
Thank you, President Harrell.
Good morning, everyone.
Thank you Councilmember Herbold for putting forward the resolution on behalf of the issues that Danny Eskine had raised.
And no items for today's agenda from the Committee on Renters' Rights, Equitable Development, and Human Services.
And the next committee will be after the budget, obviously.
I also wanted to add a message of solidarity and condolences to all the victims, their families, and the Jewish community as a whole.
in response to the horrific mass shooting that happened at the Rio Flares Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
And this alongside the extremely unfortunate victory of Jair Bolsonaro and his right-wing government in Brazil really shows that these are global issues that we need to be addressing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Council Member Esqueda.
Good morning, Mr. President.
Thank you for those comments.
I agree and also extend our condolences.
And I think that means for us, we're redoubling down our efforts here to protect all of our community in Seattle.
And I know our council colleagues have expressed similar messages.
There are no items on the full council agenda today for the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee.
I did want to flag that our first meeting that we will have will be on December 6th, and among the items that we'll be discussing will be the bill that the mayor's office has sent down that we're excited to work with her on for creating the Office of the Ombud.
And making sure that there's an independent investigative unit.
We would like to have feedback at that first meeting.
And then it will be also on the agenda for our first two meetings in January.
So I want to flag for folks that there will be time to provide feedback and edits and your ideas.
And again, appreciate the leadership there and also the fact that we're moving forward with allocating You know what our values in a budget that makes training investigation and prevention possible on Thursdays this week.
I will be attending the women leaders in the health policy forum and Again, thanks for all you guys do I'm learning quickly on the spot.
Thank you madam chair for coordinating this budget looking forward to this week Excellent.
That's very Johnson Thanks.
One item on today's introduction for all calendar.
It's a small item to update the comprehensive plan which will take up post budget in December.
No items on today's full council agenda other than that.
Don't forget about City Halloween coming up on Wednesday to 34 or so.
I would imagine that just like last year, we've got 20 or 25 kids that'll be coming through.
If you're otherwise indisposed, feel free to just have your office doors closed, but otherwise look for a parade of folks probably in the 2.30 to 3 o'clock range coming to the second floor.
We've got participation in all seven floors or all eight floors, if you include the L floors in City Hall.
So it should be a fun little parade working its way through each of the floors of City Hall.
That'd be fun.
Thank you.
Councilman Gonzalez?
Thank you.
Good morning.
Nothing on this afternoon's agenda from the Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans, and Education Committee.
I wanted to just quickly make sure folks were up to date on the newest and latest as it relates to the legislative process, our legislative process for reviewing and approving.
Bless you.
the tentative agreement between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
We heard last week, kind of late in the week, that the judge, Judge Rhubar, has decided to modify the date for this requested status conference for the City of Seattle and the DOJ to appear before him on issues related to the tentative agreement.
That hearing has been moved from November 1st of 2018 to November 5th.
Am I right?
Yes, November 5th at 1.30 p.m.
And at the request of the City Attorney's Office, I will attend that hearing on behalf of City Council.
So I will be moving this afternoon to be excused for the November 5th full Council meeting, but I anticipate that I'll be back before the end of it.
Hopefully So just wanted to give folks an update as to That most recent news that we got at the end of last week.
You all also got in your inboxes late Friday night letter responses from both the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety and the Office of Police Accountability, their analysis of how the tentative agreement relates to the work that they do in their office within the overall system of police accountability.
So I encourage you all to review those as soon as you can.
My office is in the process right now of pulling together because there is so much dense information.
We are pulling together binders for all of your offices that will include all of the relevant materials, the ordinance, bills, communications that have been going back and forth so that you all have.
a one-stop shop, as they say, in terms of the amount of information going back and forth.
As a lawyer, my brain works in the form of binders and table of contents, so I hope that it works for you all in terms of having the relevant information at your fingertips as we continue to go through this process.
And once again, I just really want to thank Kirsten Erstad from Central Staff, who's really been doing a fantastic job on helping my office pull all of these materials together and do it quickly and timely to make sure that we meet our commitments to review the tentative agreement and also want to thank Council President Harrell for all his help to date in terms of managing the schedule and making sure that we continue to be nimble and flexible as we continue to hear more from the judge.
So I appreciate that.
And then if there's no questions for me on that.
Nope, okay.
And then lastly, just wanted to remind folks that today is the last day for folks to register to vote in person.
We have important elections coming up this November.
November 6th are our elections here in Washington State.
You can still vote in person today.
You can go to the main office, which is in Renton at 919 Southwest Grady Way, Renton, Washington 98057, or you can also go to the elections annex, which is here in downtown Seattle in the King County Administration Building at 500 4th Avenue, room 440. Those offices are open until 4.30 p.m.
today.
Again, if you have not yet registered, you should please do so, and you have until 4.30 p.m.
today in person.
to register to vote.
If you have questions about whether you are registered to vote or if you have not yet received your ballot, you should have already received your ballot, and so if you have questions about that, you should call 206-296-VOTE.
That's 206-296-VOTE or 8683. or you can contact King County Elections at elections at kingcounty.gov.
So I hope that we can all, as colleagues, work together to get the word out so that as many of our constituents as possible remember that there is an election happening and that we want them to exercise their civic engagement, democratic rights, and that if they have any questions about their right to vote, they can contact King County Elections.
Thank you for that great information.
Congressman O'Brien.
Thank you.
There is one on this afternoon's agenda that I want to speak to.
There's a resolution that will set a December 4th as the public hearing date for Seattle City Light's vacation of a small portion of Broad Street at Taylor Avenue North and Harrison Street between Seattle Center and Aurora Avenue North.
This vacation would allow Seattle City Light to expand the Broad Street substation.
Sustainability and Transportation Committee, of course, has no meetings this week.
The one last thing I'll just mention, last week I had a chance to go down to visit United Parcel Service, UPS, in Soto.
And I wanted to share just a little bit of what they're doing in anticipation of the period of maximum constraint.
So they have been working with SDOT for a number of months and have received permits and agreement on these new electric trike cargo bikes.
They will be delivering packages in and around Pike Place Market, starting in about a week and a half.
Got a chance to test drive one of these myself.
Basically, it's a flatbed trike, and you roll on probably about a 5 by 5 by 4 foot container.
They will load up.
The containers each hold up to 400 pounds of packages and parcels.
They can load up a larger trailer that a rig truck would pull into town that would have multiple these containers on and then the cyclist would Load one of the containers on bike it around do its deliveries bring back dump off the empty one, pick up the next one, and the concept here being instead of having multiple big vehicles circulating downtown for parking during the period of maximum restraint, they have some bikes doing the same work.
And they're trying different versions of this in different cities around the world, but this is a pilot specifically designed for Seattle.
Pretty exciting to see it happen, and I want to applaud UPS for their willingness to collaborate and come up with some creative solutions.
They spoke to about over 100 years ago when UPS started.
They were delivering parcels by bicycle, and it's funny how they're right back to where they started, right?
And they were doing it right here in Seattle, of course, because UPS was founded in Seattle.
Are they UPS brown and gold?
UPS.
You bet they are.
Apparently the drivers, the folks who will be driving the bikes, have slightly different uniforms.
They're bike uniforms with UPS.
I was told that they're kind of a hot commodity amongst the other drivers that would all like to get their hands on one of them.
I also want to applaud SDOT for their work.
There's a number of folks that have been working collaboratively to figure out where the bikes can be parked, where the trailer can be parked, and how to make that work.
And then University of Washington has a kind of freight mobility center, and they are doing some research work with this.
So they will have, I believe, almost real-time GPS of how the freight movements are happening so they can start to study and analyze the impacts on traffic of freight movements and how effective And what everyone said was we know that three days into this, we're going to find something we want to change, and we'll keep working with it.
But the idea is to learn about new ways.
And it's pretty, it'll be exciting to see, and I imagine that over the course of this winter, we'll probably all have a chance to see one of these things moving around.
So I wanted to give you a heads up about that.
Council Member Warrior, you have something we want to loop back to?
Yeah, I apologize.
I meant to say this the first time around.
I wanted to share that when I went to the Sacagawea Elementary potluck, it was because the Washington PTA presented the school with the racial equity team with an award for their work on diversity and inclusion at the school.
And the reason why this is important is because our own Dana Robinson-Sloat, was on the racial equity team and was recognized.
And it was phenomenal.
And I was also joined by Seattle Public School Board members Scott Pinkham and Rick Burke.
And let me tell you, 200 kids and family.
I had PTSD immediately.
I forgot about those days.
But anyway, it was fun.
It was great.
Very good.
Excellent.
And congratulations, Dana and Jeremy.
You kept going like this.
Okay, thanks everybody for sharing those thoughts and now we're going to go into an executive session.
So let me read the script for that.
As presiding officer, I'm announcing that Seattle City Council will now convene an executive session.
The purpose of the executive session is to discuss pending or potential or actual litigation.
The council's executive sessions are an opportunity for the council to discuss confidential legal matters with city attorneys as authorized by law.
and a legal monitor from the city attorney's office is always present to ensure that council reserves questions of policy for our public open sessions.
I expect this executive session to end in 20 minutes, which is 10. That's 10 or 2 right now.
1022. And if it goes beyond that, I'll announce the extension in the public session and its expected duration.
So with that, let's move into executive session.
Thank you.