City Council 92623

Good afternoon, everybody.

Today is September 26, Tuesday, September 26. The meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Strauss?

Present.

Councilmember Herbold?

Here.

Councilmember Lewis?

Present.

Councilmember Morales?

Here.

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Present.

Councilmember Nelson?

Present.

Council Member Peterson.

Here.

Council Member Sawant.

Present.

And Council President Juarez.

Here.

Nine present.

Thank you.

So today, folks, we have two presentations, and the first presentation will be a presentation of the Mayor's proposed budget.

And the second presentation will be from Council Member Sawant regarding today being, or the 30th, being Paul Biggum, the Paul Bigham Day proclamation.

I'm sorry.

So those are the two presentations, and we will start with our first presentation.

We'd like to welcome Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington, who will be transmitting the Mayor's proposed budget to the City Council.

I'm sure most of you either attended or saw, watched it on TV as we did.

This transmittal will appear as item eight on today's agenda.

Deputy Mayor Washington, you are recognized in order to address the Council.

I'm coming.

I'm slow.

Is this thing on?

Hello.

Hello.

Good afternoon.

So council members, it is my pleasure to be before you today to present you Mayor Harrod's budget speech and his 2024 proposed budget.

And there you go.

I can keep my comments today relatively brief because as you see here, the proposed budget is relatively brief.

This document is roughly one-third smaller today than it was last year because this will be the first time both of our branches have switched to an actual biennial budget.

You'll find this endorsed budget is largely the same as what we set out to do together last year, maintaining investments in housing, homelessness, public safety, and safe and reliable transportation.

with most changes related to updated department central cost.

As you review this budget, I think you'll see a lot of yourselves reflected in it because it is based upon your work and our collaboration together last year.

As you heard earlier today, the mayor included a few new targeted strategic investments dedicated to sustaining critical services, bolstering public safety and public health, like diversifying response to 911 calls, investing in workers and furthering Seattle's economic recovery.

And we look forward to your consideration of those limited new investments that respond to the challenges of the moment we're in.

Council members, last year, you signaled a change in the way the mayor's office and city council traditionally work together.

Together, we're finding common ground, advancing exciting new policies, and responding to ongoing challenges.

And the people of Seattle are benefiting as a result.

I'm excited to sustain these relationships and keep the good times going.

Lastly, I'd like to give special acknowledgement to Director Julie Dingley and the City Budget Office team, as well as Council Central staff.

This budget and whatever related changes are built upon their long hours and dedicated minds.

and none of us could do this work without them.

With that said, I, Mayor Harreld, and his team look forward to working with you these next two months, providing you the information and background you need to make fully informed decisions that will define our year ahead.

Thank you for allowing me to be before you today.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Washington.

And yes, we will keep the good times rolling.

Appreciate that.

I know you will, Council President.

Thank you.

All right.

So, with that, I, I'm guessing you handed off the mayor's formal transmittal to our clerk.

Yes, we have it.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to our 2nd presentation.

I changed it up here a bit clerk and I spoke to customers to want about it.

So we could make sure we, we synced up how we would do the proclamation as, you know, customers want has a proclamation proclaiming September 30th.

to be Paul Bigman Day.

So what I wanted to do is allow Council Member Sawant to introduce and give an overview of the proclamation in which she will speak first, then open the floor to my colleagues, then call the roll for the signatures, and then recognize Council Member Sawant again to actually present, formally present the proclamation.

And then, of course, if anyone wants to speak after that, they can speak.

Then I'll move to suspend the rules to allow our guests to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

And after that, we will welcome, we have a guest, Ms. Rebecca Hanson, who is the daughter of Mr. Paul Bigman.

So that's how we're going to do this today.

So with that, Council Member Sawant, the floor is yours.

Thank you, President Warris.

On behalf of union and social justice activists throughout Seattle and beyond, I am moved to bring forward this proclamation honoring the life of our union sibling Paul Bigman, who died on June 29th at the age of 72. As a socialist and rank-and-file union member, I was proud to organize and march with Paul on countless occasions.

Brother Paul was a staunch and unswerving defender of the working class, whether organizing longshore and warehouse workers, musicians, clothing workers, office workers, stagehands, or other workers, mobilizing and leading jobs with justice protests against corporations and anti-worker politicians, or speaking out in city hall and other public spaces in defense of renters and rent control for abortion rights, for immigrant rights, for the Amazon tax, and against racist police violence.

As a labor leader, activist, and fellow democratic socialist, Paul played a critical role in our historic fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage in Seattle in 2014, a movement that spread nationally and beyond to win pay increases for millions of workers.

I remember him speaking out at a 15-hour rally in 2014 at Seattle Central College, where we were in the pitch of battle to win the historic minimum wage.

And this was against the opposition of most politicians in City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce and all the big corporations.

Paul reminded the hundreds of gathered workers there that, quote, organized labor, when we're doing our job, is not just speaking out on behalf of our own members, but speaking out to fight for the entire working class.

We do it because we understand and take seriously the labor slogan that an injury to one is an injury to all.

It means that when there are workers out there getting paid less than it takes to pay the rent and pay their bills and feed their children, that that is an injury to every single one of us, and that it's a fight for all of us." Those were vital words in 2014, and they are equally, if not more important today, given the unprecedented cost of living crisis that tens of millions of workers face in our society. I'm sure if Paul were alive today, he'd be making the same point about the historic UAW strike being waged against the big three auto companies. Their fight against corporate profiteering and for good wages, job security, and pension for all workers is a fight for all workers. If the UAW members are able to win, our working class wins as a whole. Paul is sorely missed today, and I miss him personally. Even in his last months, he was assisting Amazon workers in his hometown of Chicago in organizing against that corporate behemoth. I believe he would agree that what we need most urgently is the revival of the fighting traditions of the proud American union movement, built by the militant and socialist rank-and-file leaders and hundreds of thousands who made personal sacrifices. We need that class struggle unionism if we are to solve the burning cost of living crisis that's being faced by so many, to stop the climate disaster, to win housing and healthcare for all, and to win a democratic socialist future through independent political action. independent of the Democratic and Republican parties, who have betrayed the workers' movement again and again, like with the breaking of the recent rail workers' strike by the federal government in general and the Biden administration in particular. With this proclamation, September 30th, 2023 will be Paul Bigman Day in Seattle. This Saturday, September 30th, rank-and-file union members will be gathering at South Seattle College for a day-long Puget Sound Troublemaker School. The training is organized by labor notes to build working-class power, power that is based on collective, direct action by workers, independent of the Democratic and Republican parties. Paul was very active in Labor Notes during his life, participating in and leading trainings like this, Saturdays, and writing frequently about worker struggles for the Labor Note publication. Socialist Alternative and I don't always agree with the Labor Notes leadership or their analysis, but I think open and honest debate, even if it means talking through and analyzing our disagreements, is very crucial for the labor movement. And so if you're a rank and file union member and are available Saturday, I encourage you to go to labornotes.org slash events to learn more about this and other training opportunities. We're honored today to have with us remotely Paul's daughter, Rebecca Hansen, who will be accepting the city proclamation. Rebecca, a dance instructor, is joining us remotely from her home in South Dakota. Her two brothers, John and James, unfortunately cannot join us live today. They work in farming, and as auto and farm equipment mechanics, this is the busy season for them. I thank Brother Jeff and Sister Ali for joining us, and also Brother Jonathan, who's here with us as well. Paul left an indelible mark on our movement in his 72 plus years, building worker struggles and fighting for the working class. We are deeply grateful for his work. The best tribute to him will be to continue the struggle. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sawant.

So with that, I'm going to open the floor to our colleagues if there are any comments that you would like to share.

before we call the roll on whether or not to affix your signature to the proclamation.

So with that, the floor is open, colleagues.

Councillor Mosqueda.

Thank you very much.

I want to say thank you to the Bigman family.

Thank you for sharing Paul with us for all of the years that he was here in Seattle and dedicating himself and his life to social justice and worker justice.

I had the chance to work with him when I was at the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, for over seven years when I worked there and continued to see him throughout the time that I've been at Seattle City Council over the last six years or so.

He was constantly a voice of compassion and reason, speaking truth to power, demanding justice for all.

He had a smile that absolutely lit up the room, and he had policy ideas and strategies and actions that he constantly was putting forward.

It was incredible to see him in all walks of life, whether we were in the halls of the state capitol calling for justice or for bills to pass or in the labor hall at the Washington State Labor Council during meetings.

I had the chance to work with him directly on issues related to health care for all and really expanding worker protections and basic rights like the minimum wage that we passed with his support with initiative 1433 and sick leave for all.

I just wanted to say to the Bigman family it's been an incredible honor to know him and thank you for Again, sharing him with us and our thoughts are with you as we continue the struggles that he fought against and look forward to continuing to walk the path that he paved and stand on the shoulders that he broadened so that we could fight for justice for all.

Appreciate it and our thoughts are with you.

Thank you, Councilor Mosqueda.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

There are so many things to appreciate and value, and we will miss those qualities held by Paul.

I wanted to just echo my colleague's words, but also lift up that one of the things I appreciated most about Paul was that he understood that to build a movement, you needed to move you had to build leadership in other people.

And that was one of the things that I think Paul spent a lot of time and effort doing, which is building leadership in others to support the labor movement.

Because we know that it takes a lot of hard work people to make up a movement.

We're not here forever.

And, you know, we can all stand, as Council Member Mosqueda said, stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

But we really, in order to do that, that mentorship is really, and power sharing is really critical.

And Paul exemplified that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Are there any other comments before we move Before I have the role called before we do that, I want to thank you council member.

So want and your team and your staff for putting together the proclamation and the changes that were made.

It's a beautiful proclamation.

It's 2 pages long with a long history of Mr. Bigman and his family and his contributions, not only to the city of Seattle, but to the labor movement nationally.

And even though I've never met the gentleman, I knew of the gentleman, but I would like to say that is why we have elders and people with wisdom, with the wisdom to know that you lead to leave and you leave people behind who can carry on the good work.

So with that, Council Member, Madam Clerk, Council Member, we'll come back to you.

Council Member Sawant, we'll come back to you.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll for signatures who would like their signature affixed to the proclamation?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine signatures will be affixed to the proclamation.

Thank you.

Council Member Sawant, you are again recognized to formally present the proclamation.

Before we do that, I would like to suspend the rules to allow our guests to accept the proclamation and provide remarks.

Hearing no objections, the rules are suspended.

Council Member Sawant, the floor is yours.

Thank you, President Juarez.

Before we present the proclamation and take the photograph for posterity, I would invite, with your permission, invite Sister Rebecca to say a few words, and then maybe one of our other sisters and brothers who are here would also like to share a few words.

Sure.

Rebecca, would you like to say a few words?

Is Rebecca star six.

I know Rebecca's here because we spoke before the camera start rolling.

There you go.

Sorry about that.

Where's yours?

Warrior of compassion, advocate, mentor, supporter, educator, and role model extraordinaire.

That was our Paul Dad.

We most often witness parents voicing how proud they are of their child.

However, this is one of those unique moments.

It is quite the opposite.

So on behalf of my brothers and myself, it is with great pride and honor to witness this momentous occasion and humbly accept this proclamation in recognition of our beloved Paul dad.

We always knew of his great feats, but it wasn't until his passing we now have such distinct comprehension of their magnitude.

Undeniably the very essence of his work was his compassion for people executed with integrity and intellect.

But it was his tireless commitment that enabled him to effectively impact the livelihood of multiple legions of workers and produce such a mighty voice to those downtrodden by social injustice.

warrior of compassion, advocate, mentor, supporter, educator, and role model extraordinaire.

Paul Dad performed them all and superbly.

As a great father and a great man, he leads us all here today with an indelible legacy to be proud of, learn from, and carry on in his honor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rebecca.

Thank you for being here with us today.

Councilor Sawant, is there anything else you want to add?

I think, Jeff, would you like to speak?

Hello, everybody.

Council President Juarez and the rest of the council here in Seattle, Mr. Lewis, My name is Jeff Ingalls.

I'm a retired member of the ILWU's Marine Division, spending the last 20 years representing seafarers on foreign flag ships in this port.

I met Paul Bigman in the 90s when this city was a little different.

We had a strike on Fifth Avenue to support the musicians, and Paul was there mobilizing.

This city had a large middle class that was helped built by a strong labor movement.

The disparities that we see today were not present then.

It was our last good era, I'd like to say, and Paul came riding into town fresh from the East Coast with his boots and his beard and his crazy sayings, and he believed in rank and file power like myself.

I was a junior officer in the Inland Boatman's Union trying to organize tugboat workers out here, oppressed workers, seafarers.

Paul was a character.

He was a friend.

He was a comrade.

and he was a hard worker.

We really appreciate that this city is recognizing a working class person.

And he was just a regular guy.

He was not a pie card.

You have to look in your history books to find out that is.

Or a big union boss.

He was a regular guy.

He dressed like a regular guy.

He cared about regular people.

This city had a strong maritime labor movement at one point that helped make it the progressive city it is, to build a strong structure so we could welcome people of color, so we could welcome immigrants, so we could be strong, and Paul was all about that.

Paul was about workers of all color, shapes, forms, whatever.

He wanted to help build power.

I'm so glad.

I know I only get a minute.

I wanted to accept this and bring it back so I can get it into our ILWU Union newspaper.

There's other people here from the ILWU today.

But Paul was a character.

I could go into some C stories, including the WTO, and we marched around and said, whose streets?

our streets, and he made it happen.

Gosh, I got stories about him falling in the water when we were trying to organize tugboat workers, but that's already been told, and it's for another time.

But Paul and myself probably came from another time, 25 years ago.

Hope we can someday get back to that.

We're working people of all sorts.

feel proud to be working people that can make a living, can rent a house or buy a house and have safety on the streets.

Thank you so much for this resolution and proclamation for Paul Bigman.

I know I went over one minute.

That's not the first or last time probably.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Council Member Sawant, are you going to present it?

Yes, I'm about to go down there and hopefully we can have a photo.

And I insist that Jonathan also join the photo, even though he's very shy about doing that.

But I just wanted to echo what Brother Jeff said that Paul was not a cheerleader of ideas he did not agree with.

And if there's any trait that we need to continue from him to build a militant labor struggle, it's exactly that, which is to understand that debate, friendly debate, is actually a part and parcel of building a fighting labor movement.

And I have personally, I don't want to imply that I always agreed with him or he always agreed with me, but what we had was a genuine, as Jeff said, comradeship where we knew that it was good and okay, both good and okay to have debate, and that's important because that's how the best ideas for the labor movement come forward.

cheerleading of bad ideas has been actually a really corrosive tradition of the business unionism of the last 30, 40 years.

And Paul embodied what I would call the antithesis of careerism.

He was as non-careerist as they came.

It was never about himself or the gains he could get for his personal life.

It was always about the labor movement.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Sawant, and we'll give you a moment to present the actual proclamation to our guests today in chambers.

And so the proclamation will have Saturday, September 30th, 2023 as Paul Bigman Day.

My name is here for Paul.

All right, so I'm going to hold up here.

One of the mentees I was referring to.

So, Madam Clerk, let me know when I can start discussion and we can about public comment again, what what the numbers are again.

I think we're good.

Okay, so we still have 10 remote and 29 in person.

Yes, only six remote are signed up right now.

Either they're coming back or they hung up and we have about 29 in person.

Okay.

So folks, today, since we have a very long agenda, we are going to limit public comment please to one minute and you will hear a chime when you have 10 seconds to wrap up your comments.

We will start with the folks that are calling in, which are six people.

And then we'll move to the folks that are in chambers.

And so with that, we don't need to run the recording, Madam Clerk.

We ask you to speak to the items that are on today's agenda.

And with that, Madam Clerk, let's start public comment.

Okay.

Our first remote speaker will be Howard Gale and Howard will be followed by Megan Cruz.

And Howard, you have one minute and don't forget to press star six.

Go ahead, Howard.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale with seattlestop.org.

As a society, we recognize that crimes of hate and abuse, while shaped and perpetuated by culture, can only be curtailed with societal sanctions, including the loss of a job and criminal sanctions.

Culture can only change when the rewards that have created that culture stop being rewards and become punishments.

Culture cannot be fired or jailed.

Individuals can.

Yet when it comes to policing, You on the council reversed this equation.

In recent months, with the revelations of Seattle officers showing racial animus, misogyny, and disregard for human life, council members are calling for cultural change rather than an accountability system that actually works.

If our system worked, we would not be here.

If you cared about accountability, you would not still promote and celebrate an absurd system of having police investigate police, a practice firmly rejected by cities across the U.S. and which our state firmly rejected in 2021 when creating the Office of Independent Investigations.

Council members have actively undermined Seattle's people attempt to give those impacted by police violence some voice in city government.

The cultural change we need is with your beliefs and your action.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Megan Cruz and Megan will be followed by John Freit.

Hello, I'm Megan Cruz, a 40-year homeowner in the Fisher Studio building, a landmark residence in the 3rd Avenue up zone.

speaking today on CB 120-632.

Since the city nominated the Fisher Building for landmark status, we've been a success story for historic preservation and for preserving inclusive downtown housing that's affordable for people of diverse backgrounds, ages, and incomes.

This bill applies to just 12 parcels.

Ours is the only one that will be compromised without an amendment.

OPCD acknowledged this with a technical amendment retaining the current 15-foot minimum separation for light, air, emergency access, and building maintenance.

To steward this landmark, we need that space to maintain the building and safe and healthy homes.

Now that's in danger.

To revive 3rd Avenue, every building there needs to succeed.

This bill takes away something vital for our survival.

Please add OECD amendments.

Don't compromise our ability to maintain a landmark with middle-income homes.

Thank you.

Thank you, our next speaker is John Feet, and John will be followed by Mara D'Angelo.

Go ahead, John.

Hi, my name is John Feit, and I'm a member of the Lit I-5 Steering Committee, and I'm here to express our organization's strong support for the parks agreement renewal.

Parks are the foundation to downtown's recovery.

They provide an essential amenity to downtown office workers, residents, and visitors, and are key in supporting Mayor Harrell's downtown activation plan.

Over the past seven years, the collaboration between the city and the DSA has led to phenomenal results in Westlake Park and Occidental Square.

We're eager to see the success expand to Pioneer Park and Bell Street Park.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mara D'Angelo and Mara will be followed by Misha Vergara.

Go ahead, Mara.

Hi.

My name is Mara D'Angelo, Deputy Director for Transit-Oriented Development at Sound Transit.

I'm here to speak in support of Council Bill 120660, which will transfer seven properties from the City of Seattle to nonprofit organizations for the development of affordable homes.

This legislation is the culmination of five years of interagency collaboration between Sound Transit and the City of Seattle.

to envision an equitable community use for Sound Transit-owned surplus properties in the Rainier Valley.

In 2018, Sound Transit and the City started developing the Rainier Valley Affordable Homeownership Initiative.

In 2019, we partnered with local organizations, including SouthCore and Puget Sound SAGE, to conduct extensive community engagement, through which we heard broad support for homeownership opportunities, larger units for multigenerational families and culturally relevant retail and services.

Later that year, Sound Transit transferred 10 total properties to the city.

Thank you, Mara.

Our next speaker is Misha Vergara and Misha will be followed by Lily Hayward.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Misha Vergara and I'm here to wholeheartedly ask for your support in resolution 32113, endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act.

As a Filipina taxpayer, I have been shocked and ashamed in finding out that billions of our U.S. taxpayer dollars have been sent to fund the human rights crisis in the Philippines, including tens of thousands of killings, torture, disappearances, et cetera.

And I wonder why are we spending so much money on funding these human rights violations, the killings of children and entire families, when we're suffering here back home.

I work in the public school district and I see the effects of the budget deficit of millions of dollars.

And I'm wondering why aren't we spending that money back home?

So yeah, so we have other cities like Jersey City endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act, and I would love for your support for that too.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lily Hayward, and Lily will be followed by our last remote speaker, Joe Kunzler.

Go ahead, Lily.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Seattle City Council members.

On behalf of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and our nearly 2,500 members, I ask that you please pass the four items on your agenda today that support the reactivation of Seattle's economy, including our downtown core, public spaces, and neighborhoods across the city.

The Belltown and Retail Core Rezones will bring more residents, visitors, and businesses downtown, making it safer and more affordable.

They are necessary steps to support increased tourism and population growth in the years ahead.

Second, the FDOT fee waiver for food trucks and small street events will bring more life and activity to every corner of our city, increasing use of our public spaces and encouraging community building and connections within neighborhoods and small vendors.

Finally, the parks agreement will build on DSA's track record of success, an important step in ensuring that downtown parks remain clean, welcoming, safe, and inclusive for residents, workers, and visitors.

We support the great work being done to make our downtown safer, more affordable, and accessible for all.

Please pass these bills today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Joe Kunzler, and then we'll move to in-person speakers.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Barely.

Okay.

All right.

Hey, Joe, you got to speak up.

Can you hear me now?

Yeah.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Okay.

Let's get the timer started.

Joe Kunzler here.

I'm here asking you to add an agenda item.

If I can, and that is to instruct the city attorney to draft the letter to the Public Disclosure Commission regarding case number 136406. I've emailed some of you council members asking you to speak out about this case.

The respondent in this case is someone who has tormented and bullied you for many years.

And just as Donald Trump today has been defunded, Alex Nerman can be defunded too for referral for prosecution for not turning in his PDC paperwork.

Again, the PDC case is 136-406.

And I will, and that's, I'm just asking you speak up.

And finally, on a personal level, I don't want to be a jerk about this, but I have a dear friend who four years ago was Rudely criticized over allegations of dark money and she and this council member both Spoke out against dark money and I hope for the same now.

I don't want to leave it at that nature's a class of dignity Thank you, thank you our first in-person speaker I believe is Matthew Richard and Matthew will be followed by kid Cobb

Good afternoon, Councilmembers.

I'm Matthew Richter.

I'm one of the co-founders, former executive director, and currently the senior advisor to the Cultural Space Agency, a public development authority here in Seattle.

And first, I want to thank you for your support through last year's budget process, both for the agency long-term and for the capital project that we're doing at King Street Station called Station Space.

Today, I rise to support Council Bill 120666, which is the authorization for SDOT to enter into a 60-year-long lease with the Cultural Space Agency.

for what we are calling a Youth Arts Empowerment Hub.

About five years ago, we partnered with five youth arts-serving organizations, the Totem Star, Rhapsody Project, Red Eagle Soaring, Whip Smart, and the Jackson Street Music Program, all black, indigenous, and other POC-led youth arts-serving organizations to create this new space.

We've raised $4.6 million to create it.

What we are specifically referring to is a youth arts empowerment hub.

more than a youth arts education lab.

We invite you to join us on November 11th for a ribbon cutting.

You'll get a formal invitation in the next week or so.

But thank you again for your support of this bill and for the project.

And we look forward to seeing you on November 11th.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kid Cobb and Kid will be followed by Sally Bakeshaw.

Go ahead, Kid.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Kip Cobb, and I'm a Totem Star artist, newly added staff member since 2021. I discovered Totem Star back in 2016 between my junior and senior year at Cleveland High and did a program with You Speaks, Arts Corp., and I've been a part of it ever since.

Totem Star has impacted my life in a lot of different ways, from being an aspiring poet wanting to be a hip-hop artist, to building connections and community with like-minded youth artists and mentors across the greater Seattle area, to currently providing a job to an arts dropout, navigating the early stages of adulting, and from being away from community for about two and a half years.

These things that I hold right now are program management, artist booking, and community partnerships with organizations like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle Army, and STG.

And we're excited for our opening at King Street Station here pretty soon.

And I'm sorry.

With that being said, I just want to thank you so much for your time and support.

And we look forward to seeing you at the grand opening in November.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sally Bakeshaw.

And Sally will be followed by Daniel Park.

Good afternoon.

Before we begin, I would like to take a personal point of privilege.

This is a former council member, Sally Bagshaw, who chaired parks for almost a decade and did a lot of work on the waterfront and everything else that went on along with parks.

So council member Bagshaw, you have two minutes because you were instrumental in the waterfront and missed you at our committee meeting on September 21st.

I hope you watched.

So with that let's give Council Member Bagshaw two minutes.

So what she holds with her is the is the history of the waterfront for at least the last 15 years.

So with that Council Member Bagshaw please and welcome.

It's good to see you again.

Thank you and Council President Juarez.

I love seeing your red robe up here right in your in your place.

Council Members thank you for letting me come in.

I'm not going to take two minutes.

I want to support the DSA contract with the city that will expand the park's work that is being done from the Westlake Park and Occidental to the small park at Pioneer Square and the next one in Bell Street in Belltown.

Very important.

And I will say thank you so much to DSA and with our city parks, what a difference it has made.

We saw Bryant Park in New York City and what the difference activation made.

And we took a page from their book.

We added colorful chairs and tables for everybody so people could really have a place to come and move toward a better understanding of what activation does for our city and with our parks.

It's been an amazing difference at those two parks.

We're excited about what it can do for Bell Street and Pioneer Square.

So I will just say thank you on behalf of us downtown residents.

I've been here for 24 years.

My husband and I have lived in the same building.

We've seen the downs and the ups, and definitely the work that DSA and our parks department are doing are one of the ups.

So thank you for supporting this.

It is item number four.

in the second part of your agenda and thank you for voting yes.

Thank you council member Bagshaw.

Our next speaker is Daniel Pack who will be followed by Claudia Lowry.

City Council, Daniel Park from Totem Star.

Thank you so much for your support of station space at King Street Station.

I echo everything that Matthew and Cobb have shared as a reminder to us all of the message that we constantly give to our young people with all our hard work together.

They'll never have to ask permission to have a creative home at King Street Station.

So here's a little message for our young people.

You said this is the end.

Do you remember where we'd sit and sing?

It was beautiful.

Now the sun has come and gone, and the rain it falls on us.

As you pack your bags this time, just remember all we got is love.

If you're leaving, leave and still be here.

And don't you stand in front of me, call me, call me.

Don't you hesitate, I know you need somebody.

♪ If you're leaving, leaving, I'll still be here ♪ ♪ You know you stand in front of me, call me, call me ♪ ♪ Don't you hesitate, I know you need somebody, hey ♪ Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, our next speaker is Claudia Lowry, who will be followed by Robert Rodriguez.

That's a tough act to follow.

Good afternoon council members, I'm Claudia Laurie.

I live in North Belltown overlooking the sculpture park.

So naturally, I support the collective efforts of the DSA and the city to continue working to preserve and create parks.

Parks are nothing less than critical city infrastructure, in particular, the waterfront parks.

which include Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks, are crucial for city residents and visitors alike.

For the safety, cleanliness, and enjoyment of all park visitors, it is imperative to include in the renewal plans the creation of an off-leash dog park in either Myrtle Edwards or Centennial Park.

Dog parks are not just for dog owners.

They are essential to the responsible stewardship of public parks.

They safely keep people who don't care for dogs separated from dogs who have a right and a need to be off leash.

As the city and the DSA collaborate with the generous private donors for these parks improvements, please make plans to incorporate this important element of park infrastructure.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Robert Rodriguez and Robert will be followed by Gabriel Newman.

My name is Robert Rodriguez, I'm with Yellow Butterfly Coffee in the neighborhood of Pioneer Square.

My comments are in support of passing the park agreement renewal, extending the partnership for another six years, and extending it into including Pioneer Park, Bell Street Park, record of success in creating clean, safe, welcoming, and inclusive public spaces.

Since 2016, the collaboration between DSA and the city has effectively managed Westlake Park and Occidental Square, which have become important spaces for residents, business, visitors of all ages.

Mayor Harrell's downtown activation plan Rightly emphasize the significance of parks and cultural social social and green meeting points We're ruining this agreement plays a crucial role in shaping our downtown future.

Thank you so much Thank you.

Our next speaker is gabrielle.

Newman and gabrielle will be followed by lisa nitz

My name is Gabriel Newman from GSBA, Washington's LGBTQ plus Chamber of Commerce, and I am here to support the passing of the parks agreement renewal.

The first apartment I had on my own in Seattle was in Pioneer Square right next to Occidental Park.

I lived there in 2014 to 2015 prior to DSA taking management over the park.

And let me tell you, the upgrade has been transformative.

While I lived there, the park was largely empty, and now it's an essential hotspot in the neighborhood.

When I visit, I see folks enjoy the lunch they purchased from a local restaurant with their colleagues on the benches.

I see elders playing chess, kids playing sports, and community enjoying programming.

and performances from their neighbors.

Pioneer Square has become alive, and while I no longer live there, when I visit Occidental, I feel more connected to the neighborhood than ever.

The experiences created by neighborhood parks are essential to maintaining economic vitalization.

When people have an open space, safe space to sit down, they tend to spend more time in the neighborhood in which they stay.

DSA's administration of downtown parks has been transformative.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lisa Neitz, who will be followed by Amelia Wood.

Hi, I'm Lisa Neitz, and as a former chair of the Metropolitan Improvement District, managed by the Downtown Seattle Association, I want to start by thanking you all for renewing and approving expansion of the MID for the next 10 years.

Please pass the parks agreement renewal for the next six years and its expansion to add Pioneer Park and Bell Street Park.

It's already managing Westlake Park and Occidental Square.

Mayor Harrell's Downtown Activation Plan highlights the importance of the Mid-DSA and of green spaces in achieving our shared goal of a thriving city.

This extremely well-run and effective organization, the Mid-DSA, will do a superb job of ensuring that the city's green spaces in this agreement are fully accessible, available and enjoyed by the public that they were created to serve.

In meeting with Seattle ratepayers for the past year to understand their needs and just what is going on, what it's going to take to have Seattle's downtown fully thrive again, there was an outpouring of support for everything the DSA and the MID are doing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amelia Wood, and Amelia will be followed by Nate Jester.

We're actually going to do it together, if that's okay.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers.

My name is Amelia Wood from The Great Surprisal, and my comments are in support of passing the Parks Agreement renewal.

As artists and professional performers, our role is to be thoughtful and creative leaders of society, responsible for guiding the population through challenges, sustainable growth, and, of course, celebration.

The collaborative work we have done for over four years with the Downtown Seattle Association has not only transformed the Seattle Park experience, but has empowered this woman-owned, two-spirit owned business to bring the full spectrum of society together to celebrate in safe public spaces.

This parks agreement has enabled people from different walks of life to get to know one another through the common human experience of joy.

The DSA and their events provide an essential service to the greater Seattle community that can be replaced by no other entity or organization.

We stand as an ally with the DSA and as a partner in creative collaboration to serve our community with meaningful and diverse park experiences.

The work of the DSA must continue indefinitely for the greater public good.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to a safe and vibrant Seattle.

Thank you.

And Nate you're OK.

Thank you Nate.

Our next speaker then is Jessica.

I believe it's Jessica Lines.

And Jessica will be followed by Julia Bebold.

Hello, council members.

My name is Jessica Lines.

I'm from Hudson Pacific Properties.

I am also a downtown resident.

My comments are in support of passing the parks agreement renewal.

The importance of continuing to activate our parks and adding new parks to the activation plan is twofold.

Programming and activation keep the parks from becoming unsightly, unsafe areas, and by continuing to provide inclusive, cultural, social, and green meeting points for residents, businesses, and visitors.

It shows how committed we are to the well-being of our community.

We've seen what happens in empty parks.

They turn into encampments, drug markets, and unsafe areas.

Renewing this agreement plays a crucial role in shaping our downtown's future.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Julia Beabout, and Julia will be followed by Deanne Sienega.

Quick point of order question for you.

I'm actually here to speak on two different pieces of legislation.

So do I still just get one minute?

OK, on both.

All right.

OK.

Ready?

Go ahead.

All right.

My name is Julia Beabout.

I'm here to support the passing of the DSA Parks Renewal Agreement, as well as the amendment for the upzoning of the 3rd Avenue addressing Fisher Studios building.

As a downtown resident and business owner that lives and works on 3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine, maintaining the livability of that block is first and foremost in our minds, and we have a front row seat to it.

The work that the DSA has been able to accomplish in the West Lake Park has been remarkable, as well as that along Occidental Square.

The activations keep our block vital and secure and safe.

We recommend extending their partnership agreement.

We also recommend you adopt the amendment to the upzoning for the Fisher Studios building, which is a historic landmark building.

The amendment will allow maintain the 15-foot setback which will keep the livability of our block.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dean Cienega followed by Hunter Motto.

Good afternoon council members.

My name is Dean Sienega along with my colleague Eric Guttridge from Seattle Public Radio Station KEXP.

My comments are in support of passing the parks agreement renewal.

KEXP's mission is to enrich lives by championing music and discovery.

We especially appreciate and support the DSA's work to bring community together by making art and music accessible for all.

Extending this partnership for another six years and expanding it to include Pioneer Park and Bell Street Park builds on a track record of success in creating clean, safe, welcoming, and inclusive public spaces and we look forward to seeing the programming and activation in these new spaces that reflect the DSA's commitment to diversity and equity and reflect each neighborhood's unique character and sense of community.

Mayor Harrell's downtown activation plan rightly emphasizes the significance of parks as cultural, social, and green meeting points.

Renewing this agreement plays a crucial role in shaping our downtown's future.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Hunter Motto, and Hunter will be followed by Reza Marashi.

Hello, hello.

Hello, councilmembers, and thank you for your time.

My name is Hunter Motto.

I am one of the general partners and operators at the Crocodile in Belltown, and I am also have booked the downtown concert series with the DSA for a few seasons.

And really, there's three things that I want to tell you about the series.

First, I want to tell you about what it is, because I think for this specific series, maybe you haven't seen as many of the shows.

It's 38 free concerts, which is crazy.

Nothing is free anymore in Seattle.

So 38 free concerts downtown in the summer, including a kickoff that we had in Westlake Park.

for 5,000 people.

These events service residents, they service tourists, and they also serve people from other neighborhoods that come down to downtown Seattle, including our kickoff event with Umi, who's a Seattle resident and an aspiring star of the future.

So those are the major things.

The artist impact is so massive.

That's what I really want to speak about, which is putting money in the pockets of artists in an unfriendly city

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Reza.

Reza Marashi will be followed by Nick Jackal.

Good afternoon council members.

My name is Reza Marashi.

I'm director of government affairs for Kilroy Realty Corporation and board chair for the Metropolitan Improvement District.

My plan originally was to come here and speak today asking you guys to pass the parks agreement renewal and I still plan on doing that and to that end I'd like to submit this letter from over 250 supporters in and around downtown Seattle calling for you guys to please take this easy vote forward and pass the parks agreement.

You don't need to take my word for it.

You all walk around downtown Seattle regularly, you see it.

We've got three people right here who do the good work.

So really what we're asking you to do is to support the good work that these people do.

And with the last 20 seconds I have left, I'd like to ask you to support the 3rd Avenue Rezone.

I've heard some concerning comments about how this is trickle down this or trickle down that.

And I understand that this is a well-intentioned legislating but at the end of the day we need the units and passing this rezone does not come at the expense of creating other units that we need that may be perhaps more affordable.

We need all the units that we can get.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nick Jackal who will be followed by Jeff Engel.

Thank you for the opportunity to express our support of the rezone legislation before you today, CVs 120631 and 120632. Passing this rezone measures a key component of the mayor's downtown activation plan and a significant step towards downtown's recovery and long-term vibrancy.

With the potential for as many as 2,400 new homes and increased flexibility and incentives to support a variety of uses in ground floor spaces, Areas of the Retail Core and Belltown can be transformed into thriving 24-hour neighborhoods.

Additionally, this redevelopment could contribute over $8 million in affordable housing investment.

Passage of this ordinance will invigorate our streets with more foot traffic from new downtown residents, especially along the 3rd Avenue corridor.

Finally, by encouraging private sector investment and welcoming additional residents and street-level activity, we have an opportunity to, in a positive, growth-centered way, disrupt the public safety issues that continue to plague the avenue and create a safer downtown environment.

Today, we urge you to approve these two pieces of legislation as they were passed out of committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jeff Engel, and Jeff will be followed by Rebecca Sayre.

Is Jeff still here?

Jeff may have left.

Is Rebecca Sayre still here?

Great, thank you.

Feel free to lift that mic up.

Good afternoon, Council.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today.

I'm here to ask you to please support the amendment CB120.032 for the Fisher Studio building.

Under a year ago, I had to suddenly move because my partner became volatile and I was so grateful to have found a beautiful space that I could afford in an unexpected time and a community that was reminiscent of old Seattle.

And that is what the Fisher Studio building is.

And as we worked to revitalize our beautiful city, making sure that this block on 3rd, which is a challenging and incredible, vibrant, growing, odd place to live, a little bit of space will keep that building livable.

And I just want to point out that this is truly an example of mixed income, mixed age, mixed history done right.

This is something that we want to keep in our city.

And with my few minutes or seconds left, I want to encourage you to all stop by.

In fact, one of my neighbors 83-year-old, I believe, Michelle Kleiss, has been making art in the front window for 30 years.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Newt Ringen, and Newt will be followed by, I believe it might be Nikos Nilikens Wilkins.

Sorry if I destroyed your name.

I'm here to talk about Council Bill 12-0632.

There is one problem with the bill that we've asked to be corrected.

The bill takes away the current 15-foot setback from facades in historic buildings with windows.

And we have talked to OPCD about this, and they have created an amendment to restore that and strengthen the separation zones.

We need that to protect our historic buildings from encroachment of new high-rises.

and we ask that you support the amendment which has yet to be brought before you because some council members don't seem to want to do that.

I ask that you take a look at this amendment and please support it today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is, I believe it's Nyko Kans Wilkins and he will be followed by Anthony Peterson.

Hi, my name is Nicholas Wilkins.

I am A resident of the, sorry, I'm addressing agenda item CB120632, and what we're asking for, like Knut.

I had asked for as well, is a very simple amendment to the proposed upzoning.

We're generally not opposed to the upzone, but we ask for consideration as a unique landmark building.

It's been there for a long time.

It supports a range of livability and is actually seen as a model by many.

Whatever we can do to your attention to this issue.

Please take a look at it.

It's a small addition to a large up zone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Anthony Peterson and Anthony will be followed by Bo McClung.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers.

My name is Anthony Peterson.

I'm here in recognition with DSA and the Metropolitan Improvement District to extend the partnership for another six years.

To have DSA take over the parks has been a godsend for the city.

I remember when I first lived down here, the parks were not the safest place to be when they did not have activations.

These activations that have come here now have had concerts.

We had the Women's World Cup where we had thousands of people all gathered together watching a game.

It created a safe, inviting area for people to come and enjoy downtown.

To extend that over to Belltown and to also extend that over to the Pioneer will also greatly create more safe spaces for people to collectively come together and enjoy this great downtown.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bo McClung and Bo will be followed by Wade Phillips.

And Bo may have left, I believe.

So we're going to move on to Wade Phillips.

And Wade will be followed by Chet Bowman.

Hi, thank you.

My name's Wade.

I'm a public servant with King County Wastewater.

I'm a rank and file member of Teamsters Local 117. I'm also a member of Seattle's chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.

Last fall, I learned of the call workers' struggle in the Philippines through a labor tour that was sponsored by Communication Workers of America and was really disturbed this spring when I learned of the disappearance and murder of Alex Dolorosa, a 38-year-old call worker union leader.

Since 2016, there has been 70 labor murders in the Philippines, and I really commend Councilmember Mosqueda for drawing attention to this with the PHRA resolution.

I urge council to pass it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Chet Bauman, and Chet will be followed by Lynn Baer, I believe.

Hello, my name is Chet Bauman, and I'm a member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines as well, and I'm here to speak in support of the PHRA support resolution that Muscata, Council Member Muscata, presented.

to us and I just want to make everyone aware that according to Global Witness, environmental rights watchdog, the Philippines is consistently ranked as one of the five worst countries in the world for land offenders and environmental activists.

An example of this is U.S. citizen named Brandon Lee who was shot four times by the armed forces of the Philippines while working in the Philippines to advocate for indigenous people not to be kicked off their land by mining companies.

Now he is paraplegic and is forced to live in the United States away from his wife.

The United States government has not asked for an investigation into the attempted assassination, but instead the U.S. has continued to add to the over one billion of military aid it has provided to the Philippines.

The PHRA would suspend all U.S. military aid to the Philippines.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Our next speaker is Lynn Baer, who will be followed by Michael Alcantara.

Hello.

Thank you very much.

My name is Lynn Behar, and I am Chief Financial Officer at the Low-Income Housing Institute, Lehigh, and work closely with Sharon Lee.

Sharon Lee couldn't be here today because she is at an industry conference in Denver.

Lehigh strongly encourages you to adopt the Third Avenue Rezone as passed by the Land Use Committee.

Lehigh owns and operates the Glen Hotel on 3rd Avenue in the Rezone area.

It serves up to 37 homeless individuals.

Our residents have reason to feel unsafe.

One of our residents was violently killed on 3rd Avenue while going about his business.

Until the pandemic, the property relied on income from two commercial storefronts.

Those storefronts remain vacant at the Glen and due to the violence and crime cannot be re-rented.

As to the residents of the Glen, there are covenants in place with the City of Seattle and other government entities that guarantee that the City will not lose the low-income units.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Alcantara who will be followed by Robert Gavino.

Greetings, Council.

Hi, my name is Michael Alcantara.

Special thanks to Councilperson Mosqueda for proposing the Philippines resolution.

I want to share a little background about how this resolution got proposed.

I recently came back from a trip to the Philippines back in March where I interviewed especially faith leaders on the ground there who are victims of a tactic called red tagging, which essentially tag them as subversives of the government for trying to meet the basic needs of people on the ground in the Philippines.

Among those people that I, me and a global delegation interviewed was a, peasant woman who had this quotation in particular.

It was, the poor are always trampled on.

I'm sick of it.

My dream is for the poor to realize human rights.

Of this situation, I know there was special significance of us people of faith on the ground to address this, to tell them that they are not poor, that we are working with them, and this resolution goes a long way to support them.

So thank you so much for that.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Robert Gavino, and Robert will be followed by Noah Ahn.

Magandang hapon.

Good afternoon, City Council.

Thank you for having us here today.

My name is Robert Gavino.

I'm a youth program coordinator at API Chaya, as well as I serve on the Council of Youth Ministry at Beacon United Methodist Church, a predominantly Filipino church.

And I urge support for the resolution to support our people's human rights back home in the Philippines.

I say this on the shoulders of the thousands, thousands, thousands of my people who are forced from our homeland every day, in part because of the violence that this resolution seeks to draw attention to.

I say this on the shoulders of our very own Reverend Glopi Baluntong, who followed her God-given calling to serve the Mangyan people in the Philippines, and for that, she was accused of being a terrorist and a murderer because the government is repressing the rights of our indigenous peoples back home as well.

So, in our anti-violence work, we know that violence thrives in isolation, and this resolution shines a huge light of hope and solidarity to support my people's human rights.

Thank you so much, Council.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Noah Ahn, and Noah will be followed by Joe Simons.

Good afternoon, council members.

I'm Noah Ahn, here on behalf of Commute Seattle to support renewal of the parks agreement with the Downtown Seattle Association.

The Downtown Seattle Association is a strong partner and founding member of Commute Seattle, and without them, our work to help people move around Seattle would not be possible.

As we focus on downtown revitalization as a city, fostering public spaces that are vibrant, activated, and pedestrian-focused must be a central part of that plan.

That is the work that DSA has done at Westlake and Occidental Parks, and it's what they will bring to Pioneer Park and Bell Street Park.

And finally, as more people return to our transit system, these vibrant, safe parks also create welcoming environments for people to wait for a bus, find a scooter, wait out a transfer, or grab a bite to eat between destinations.

So on behalf of Commute Seattle, thank you for considering this item and for your support today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Joe Simons, who will be followed by Mariah Roberson.

Hello, council.

Good afternoon.

I'm Joe Siemens, one of the leaders of the Rhapsody Project.

We offer cultural workforce development programs and music education for youth in South Seattle.

We're a part of the Station Space Project as well.

And so I'd like to thank you for your prior support of that project and invite you to continue to support it in the future as we work to, you know, I'm also a co-owner in a local venue, Black and Tan Hall.

In all of our endeavors, we need young people to be versed in the work of of culture work as not only performers but as you know in all the different roles that we need to support Seattle's thriving cultural workforce or help it thrive rather.

So I'm here to encourage you to continue to support measures to that effect and remind you that we would love to host you and show you the work that you've supported as we kick off King Street Station on November 11th.

So thank you very much.

Appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mariah Roberson, who will be followed by Paul Satan.

Hi, my name is Mariah Roberson.

I'm a youth of the Rhapsody Project who's going to have a residency at King Street Station, at Station Space.

I'm excited to have the opportunity to give similar music and heritage education to youth that are going to be trafficking King Street Station.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, one of the features of this place is that we are going to have a lutherie workshop and instrument repair workshop in honor of our past community member, Steve James, with the help of his expertise.

I'm excited to show more youth, and especially youth of color, how to do these things and introduce them to more community members that seem very eager to help our cause.

just expose the youth to more things.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Paul Satan, and he will be followed by our last speaker, Randy Meyer.

Is Paul here?

First name Paul, last name P.

Okay, I think he may have left.

So our last speaker today is Randy Meyer, and the clerk, Shireen Dedman, will be speaking on behalf of Randy Meyer.

Great.

Thank you.

All right.

So, on behalf of Randy Meyer, near the light rail, I would like a dog park and city hall park on the unused tracks of space, year-round use, Pioneer Square.

And that's all I have.

Thank you.

That concludes our public speakers today.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

And thank you, Madam Clerk Shireen.

For that accommodation folks that will, we will close out public comment and we'll move on in our agenda.

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

Hearing no objection, the IRC is adopted.

Moving on to adoption of the agenda.

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

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Consent calendar.

Let me go through what we have on here, because there's quite a bit.

I want to thank all of you for working with our office to kind of put kind of pare down what we could put in the consent calendar for today.

Otherwise.

I think we would have had 42 items on the agenda today.

So, the items on the consent calendar include the minutes, the payment of the bills as well as items passed out of committee unanimously and placed on the consent calendar with the support of the committee chair today.

These include a council bills 1 resolution.

and 25 appointments.

I will now briefly read the items, including those recommended by committee for council approval into the record as follows.

We have the minutes from September 19th.

We have council bills, there's nine of them.

Payroll bill, council bill 120671. From the Governance and Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee, we have council bill 120665. From the finance and housing, we have 2 council bills, council bill 120659 and 120660. From land use, we have 2 council bills, council bill 120622 and 120631. From public asset and homelessness, we have 2 council bills council bill 120629 and 120650 and from the transportation and Seattle public utilities.

We have 1 council bill, which is 120642. In continuing, we have a resolution out of my committee, the governance, native communities and tribal governments that is resolution.

3, 2, 1, 1, 0, and we also have 25 appointments.

So, 1st, from the governance, native communities and tribal governments, we have 3 appointments 1, 2 to the sale Indian service commission.

And 1 appointment to the labor standards advisory commission.

We have 1 appointment from the public assets and homelessness to the board of parks and recreation commissioners.

From transportation and Seattle Public Utilities, we have 18 appointments, 5 appointments to the Seattle Freight Advisory Board.

4 appointments to the Seattle Transit Advisory Board, 6 appointments to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, 1 appointment to the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board, and 2 appointments to the Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee.

And from the land use committee, we have 3 items, 2 appointments to the equitable development initiative advisory board, and 1 appointment to the urban forestry commission.

With that, are there any items that any council member would like to remove from today's consent calendar that we can address further on in the agenda under items removed for the consent calendar.

Thank you, President Morris.

I would ask you to remove item 11 from the consent calendar for an individual vote.

Thank you.

So with that, I'm going to move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar and remove for further discussion exclude item Number 11 from today's agenda.

So item 11 will discuss under agenda item I and further on in the agenda.

So with that, the consent calendar is adopted.

The clerk, I'm sorry, I have to go to a vote.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you the consent calendar with item number 11 removed or excluded for further discussion is adopted.

Will the clerk please fix my signature to the minutes in the legislation of the consent calendar on my behalf.

So, moving on to committee reports, we're going to start today with public assets and homelessness committee.

Madam clerk, can you please read item 1 into the record?

The report of the Public Assets and Homelessness Committee, agenda item one, appointment 02635, the appointment of Marshall Foster as director, Seattle Center for a term to September 1st, 2027. The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, you're the chair of this committee.

The floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President.

It's a great privilege for the first item on this committee report to be the final confirmation of the appointment of Marshall Foster to serve as Director of the Seattle Center.

Director, Interim Director Foster is present in the council gallery.

And it's great.

Thank you interim director for joining us soon to be I hope confirmed as the full director We received a full report in the committee from Deputy Mayor Burgess as well as a presentation from the nominee Marshall Foster talking about the priorities for the coming term, serving as the director of the Seattle Center.

All of us are very well aware of the nominee through his work and diligence of being a partner on the waterfront and other projects, and the committee unanimously recommended the confirmation of Marshall Foster to serve as the permanent director.

So with that, Council President, I don't have any additional remarks and look forward to voting on confirming Marshall Foster for this important leadership position.

Thank you, Councilor Lewis, and thank you for shepherding this confirmation through.

And with that, I will open the floor to my colleagues if there are any comments before we move forward.

Are there any comments from our colleagues regarding the confirmation that's in front of us?

Okay, I do not see any.

Councilor Lewis, I'm guessing you don't have any closing remarks?

No, Council President, thank you.

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

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to underscore for all of you the tremendous gratitude and the tremendous responsibility that I see in this role.

Seattle Center is truly a gem in this city.

As you know, I've talked with many of you about in my nine months as the interim director, I have yet to have a conversation with anyone, whether it's staff or the public, who does not have an extremely warm, personal moment to share with me about their family's experience, their own experiences on that campus.

To step into this role and to follow in the footsteps of the former director, Robert Nellums, is an enormous honor, and it's one that I take very seriously.

And I'm very appreciative of the confidence and reflection that that has on the history of the work we've been able to do here in the city.

Last thing I'll say, which is just in terms of the opportunities ahead of us, this is a really exciting moment for Seattle Center.

With our recovery from the pandemic, with the return of the public to great events on the campus, both our own as well as those hosted by our partner organizations, we really have the opportunity to look forward and to chart a new path.

for Seattle Center and to expand the way we serve this community.

So I'm very excited to join with the incredible staff at the center in making the most of that opportunity.

And with that, I'll just say thank you once again.

I appreciate the opportunity.

Before you go, Marshall, let me say something.

Um, I don't know if you got a chance to talk to customer backshot.

She was here to give public comment, but I want to thank you.

This is my last term and I've spent 8 years working with you from the waterfront part to the lid to the aquarium to the overlook part to Seattle center.

And you have been nothing but gracious, professional and kind a great team when you're in the mayor's office or working on the waterfront issues.

And everything else that came with that, and I want to thank you for your patience for putting that with me.

Sometimes you've been amazing.

And, of course, Mr Nellis is wonderful to work with.

And, of course, speaks very highly of you as does the mayor and all of us has worked with you.

And I think 1 thing I've always appreciated.

when I chaired parks is that you always came prepared with your PowerPoints with the fiscal note with the memorandum, got ahead of time, ready to answer questions.

But more importantly, you're just a kind person and I really enjoyed working with you and I'm going to miss you.

So with that, congratulations.

So President, I appreciate that.

All right.

So with that, is there anything else before we?

Oh, I think that's it.

I think that we're done.

Okay.

Madam Clerk, let's go on to item number two.

Can we please read item number two into the record?

Agenda item two, Council Bill 120644, an ordinance authorizing Seattle Parks and Recreation to enter into an agreed order of or consent decree with the Washington State Department of Ecology or U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency to undertake work at the Duwamish Waterway Park site and to seek and accept state remedial action grants for cleanup work related to the site.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Thank you.

I believe that Councilmember Lewis and Herbold have something to share.

Thank you so much, Madam President.

I move to postpone item number two, Council Bill 120644, to the October 10th Council meeting.

Second.

Thank you.

Thank you for the second.

There's an objection.

Council Bill 120644 will be postponed to the October 10th City Council meeting.

Hearing no objection, the bill is postponed to the October 10th City Council meeting.

We will now consider, thank you, we will now consider item number three.

Can you please read item number three into the record?

Agenda item three, Council Bill 120648, an ordinance relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing the acquisition of real property commonly known as 9200 18th Avenue Southwest.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Great, Council Member Lewis, you're the chair, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President.

This land acquisition proposal from the Department of Parks and Recreation was discussed in our last committee meeting.

It acquires a parcel in West Seattle, as indicated in the description of the ordinance.

The measure was co-sponsored during the hearing by Councilmember Herbold to reflect her support as the District Councilmember for this acquisition and expansion of park amenities, and was unanimously recommended by the committee for the full council.

So with that, I don't have any additional remarks and look forward to the final passage of the bill.

Thank you.

Councilmember Herbold, is there anything you would like to share?

remarks, just excited for the Highland Park acquisition.

Thank you.

That's it?

That's it.

The neighborhood needs open space.

Thank you.

Is there any other comments from my colleagues regarding this bill from Councilmember Lewis's committee?

All right.

I do not see any, and I'm guessing Councilmember Lewis, you're good on comments unless you want to close this out.

No further remarks.

Thank you.

All right, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Hi, 9 in favor and then opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And madam clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Let's move on to item number 4. Madam clerk, you please read item number 4 into the record.

Agenda Item 4, Council Bill 120664, an ordinance relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing an operations and management agreement between the City of Seattle, a Washington State Municipal Corporation, by and through Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Downtown Business Improvement Association, a Washington State Nonprofit Corporation, to enter into an operation and management agreement for activation and programming services at Bell Street Park, Occidental Square, Pioneer Square, and Westlake Park.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis, you're the chair of the committee.

You are recognized to address this item.

Thank you so much, Council President.

And let me just say thank God for the consent package at the beginning.

As everyone can see, we had a big docket in this committee last week to get everything out before the budget.

But I'm glad that we took our time and did not rush this really important agenda item that we had a number of public commenters who are still present in the gallery to weigh in on.

And this, of course, is the Seattle Parks and Recreation Operations and Management Agreement between Parks and the Downtown Seattle Association.

As we heard in public comment and as we discussed in this committee, the partnership between the Downtown Seattle Association and Parks and Recreation is critical for fully utilizing the open spaces in our downtown core.

All of us experience throughout the year festivals, concerts, musicians, activations of all kinds of arts and cultural and inspiring events that happen in our public parks through this really critical partnership.

This reauthorization expands the potential of that partnership in ways that I'm particularly excited about as reflect on Bell Street Park as one of the new locations that will be receiving these activations.

Bell Street Park in the middle of the Belltown neighborhood.

is, of course, a very critical public open space in a neighborhood that is experiencing a significant amount of disorder and related activity.

And these activations are a really critical strategy to make sure that we are supporting small businesses, that we're enlivening the community.

And this is the work that the Downtown Seattle Association does on a daily basis through the hard work of the ambassadors who we saw in this room earlier and related staff who program and protect and expand these services and events.

With that, Council President, I don't have any additional remarks.

It was passed unanimously out of committee, and I look forward to continuing this really critical partnership to fully utilize the public open spaces in our downtown core.

Thank you, council member Lewis colleagues.

Is there anyone who would like to comment or any statements before we move on to a vote?

And council member Lewis, as you pointed out, I also want to thank those that came today to speak to item number 4 always appreciate it when we have supporters that come in and do the work and understand.

And again, thank you for getting us through your committee.

I do not see anybody or any of your colleagues.

Is there anything else you want to add, Councilor Lewis, before we go to a vote?

No, I am ready to vote.

Thank you.

Thank you.

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

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson.

Yes.

Councilmember Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor.

None opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number five.

Will the clerk please read item number five into the record?

Agenda item five, Council Bill 120667, an ordinance relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing the second amendment to the easement agreement.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member Lewis, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President, and I'm glad we were able to move this smaller piece of legislation through the committee before budget.

As community members who might be aware who have driven or walked by this parcel, there is a house owned by Historic Seattle known as the Egan House.

This parcel is located in the Greenbelt below.

St. Mark's Cathedral in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

This property located at 1500 Lakeview Boulevard East is a historically designated property that is owned by Historic Seattle.

This easement allows, is an amendment to the previous easement agreement that allows a little bit more flexibility to Historic Seattle at this site.

to accommodate Historic Seattle's plans to sell this property if that makes sense for their portfolio.

The committee duly heard a presentation, including from the relevant underlying department at parks.

We agreed with the plan going forward to amend the Eastman agreement, and that was unanimous and do recommend full passage here at the council.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Are there any comments?

Okay, with that, we will go to a vote.

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

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Thank you.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council member so want yes, and council president and what is.

Hi, 9 in favor and opposed.

Thank you madam clerk.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it and madam clerk.

Please fix my signature to this legislation.

Moving on to item number 6, madam clerk, you please read item number 6 into the record.

The report of the City Council, agenda item six, Council Bill 120663, an ordinance relating to the Department of Finance and Administrative Services authorizing the director of the Department of Finance and Administrative Services or the director's designee to negotiate and execute a real property lease with PTL Property Limited Partnership on behalf of the Seattle Fire Department.

And that's it.

Thank you.

I moved to pass council bill 120663. Is there a 2nd?

2nd.

Thank you.

Um, spoon and 2nd, counselor mosquito.

The floor is yours.

Thank you very much.

Madam president.

Council bill 120663. Excuse me would authorize the director of finance and administrative services to renew and expiring real lease property for the fire Marshall's office.

This is located on 3rd Avenue, South and South Main street.

The fire Marshall's office includes approximately 66 all assigned to the 3rd and main building, which they have leased since 1998. The fire marshal's office is interested in continuing to lease this space as they have an operational need to be in close proximity to fire headquarters and fire station 10. The emergency operation center, this legislation would authorize the execution of the 5th amendment, which includes an additional 5 year term and 1, 5 year extension option.

The lease under consideration includes 9,462 square feet of space.

At 33 dollars per square foot, including operating expenses, which, according to staff research is below market value.

overall annual cost increase from the previous year's lease is approximately $24,600.

Madam President, that's all I have.

And I want to thank Ed and Cessick from central staff for working to get this finalized and sent to full council directly, given all that's on our agenda and to all of the folks at FAS for their work on this legislation.

Thank you, Council Member Scada.

Are there any comments?

Not seeing any, and I'm guessing you don't have any closing remarks.

You're good.

Oh, wait, I'm sorry.

No.

Oh, you just just tuned in.

I mean, you're here, but you just turned on your camera.

Thank you.

Okay.

With that, I do not see.

No one has raised their hand is good.

So, with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council member Strauss.

Yes.

Council member Herbold.

Yes.

Council member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes, the chair will sign it, and Madam Clerk, please affix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number seven.

Will the clerk please read item number seven into the record?

Agenda Item 7, Council Bill 120666, an ordinance relating to the Seattle Department of Transportation authorizing the Director of Transportation to enter into a lease agreement on behalf of the City of Seattle with the Cultural Space Agency, a city chartered public development authority, for its use and occupancy of a portion of King Street Station and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120666. Is there a second?

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded.

Councilor Morales, your sponsor of this bill, you are recognized in order to address it.

I'm guessing that's why you came on camera real quick.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Colleagues, the Cultural Space Agency, you may recall, is a chartered public development authority whose mission is to focus on cultural real estate development.

It aims to create and maintain long-term affordable commercial cultural space in partnership with communities.

The goals include building community wealth through real estate investment, facilitating ownership of cultural spaces, and addressing the needs of Black and Indigenous communities.

This agency's been developed in collaboration with community stakeholders.

It's undergone a racial equity toolkit assessment and is a significant initiative in Seattle's effort to preserve and enhance our cultural space.

So, this bill would authorize the director to execute an agreement with the.

You'll recall the mission, as I said, is to secure long term, affordable commercial space for cultural organizations.

The agreement provides the cultural space agency with a 30 year lease.

and discounted rent for the second floor of King Street Station.

It allows the Cultural Space Agency to recoup its $3.37 million investment in building out the space.

That build-out will be done this fall.

It includes things like HVAC, plumbing and electricity, flooring, restrooms, office space, as well as production and classroom space for the five youth-focused arts organizations that are part of the program.

So you've heard from many of them during public comment today.

They include Jackson Street Music Program, Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theater, The Rhapsody Project, Totem Star, and Whipsmart.

So this is an arts education programming here that is intended to go into this space and can really help build the city's cultural economy and provide critical activation, both within the building, but also the broader Jackson Street area, as well as the broader Chinatown International District neighborhood and the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

So we are urging passage.

Thank you.

Before we begin, I want to thank you for this for the cultural space agency, and of course, it becoming a PDA, which, you know, public development authorities came out of the block grants in the 1970s.

I think there's only.

Someone's going to correct me.

I'm sure I think there's only like, 8 in the city, maybe 9 and what's so wonderful about them is that they can assume an issue debt and build brick and mortar and create space.

And we, our office has worked closely with the cultural space agency to continue not only the space that we have for affordable housing, but.

Exploring opportunities for performing art center and to continue a indigenous footprint, not just city wide, but also district 5 and they have been amazing working with us and including us in their conversations.

So I just want to thank you.

I know when this 1st came about, people were kind of confused with the cultural space agency was, but some of the work that we've seen and having the people that were here today to talk about the King street station and having that as a cultural space and actually setting aside.

time, money, and brick and mortar for those spaces to be protected and to grow.

So with that, well done and thank you for that.

Thank you very much.

Is there any other comments before we go to a vote?

Councilor Morales, do you want to add anything else before we go to a vote?

I have no further remarks.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

So with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

And Madam Clerk, again, please affix my signature to the legislation.

Moving on to item number 8, will the clerk please read item number 8 into the record.

All right, thank you.

This is actually my item.

I move to accept.

And file clerk file, sorry, we'll say that again.

I moved to accept and file clerk file number 314525. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It has been moved and seconded to accept and file the clerk file.

As sponsor, I will address this first and then open the door to comments.

Approval of clerk file 31425 will officially file the clerk file containing the mayor's proposed 2024 budget.

This is the 2024 budget that was delivered at the top of the meeting by Seattle Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington.

Are there any comments?

I do not see any.

So with that, will the clerk please call the roll of the acceptance and filing of the clerk file.

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the clerk file is placed on record.

All right, let's move on to item number nine.

Looks like we have something out of the Land Use Committee.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item number nine into the record?

The report of the Land Use Committee agenda item nine, Council Bill 120632, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning amending the official land use map to rezone certain land in the downtown retail core.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Councilmember Strauss, you are the chair of this committee.

The floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President.

I and colleagues, this is really good policy.

This is important policy for our city because downtown is bigger than any of us.

It's bigger than any neighborhood because the city of Seattle is a city of neighborhoods and downtown is one of these neighborhoods that has a greater impact, not only because it is the economic engine for our city, it's the flagship for our region, but again, these downtown blocks are the economic engine for our city and for our region and for our state.

And so, you know, I'm very proud of Mayor Harrell and his team for bringing forward the Downtown Activation Plan.

This is one of the items within the Downtown Activation Plan, and it's critical to changing the things that aren't working downtown.

And part of that is by bringing more people into our downtown to live, work, and play.

So this legislation would rezone 11 parcels generally located along 3rd Avenue between Union and Stewart Streets from the downtown retail core to downtown mixed commercial zones.

This probably doesn't sound like a really big deal, but it is.

And it's because...

When retail was thriving and we didn't have online shopping, we specifically put a downtown retail core as a way to bring more people downtown, as a way to make our downtown more vibrant.

And with the changing aspects of our society with more online shopping, it doesn't serve us in the same way.

And that's why we're changing this from a downtown retail core to a downtown mixed commercial.

It sounds very small, but it's very big.

The purpose of this bill is to increase the livability and vitality of blocks that are centrally located within downtown, increase the residential units within the center of downtown to draw more tenants and activate the street-level retail, because this will bring more live, work, and play to our community.

It will encourage new investments that can upgrade the physical environment, and this legislation encourages economic development in the area.

As I said, retail is different today than when these areas were originally zoned.

We have more online shopping today, and we need to make our zoning code meet these changing demands.

In today's Seattle Times, you may have read the article about this bill.

Most people shared their optimism for downtown and how redevelopment of some of these buildings can improve existing affordable housing and build more affordable housing while we bring more vibrant storefronts to our streets and we bring more people to live downtown.

One person interviewed did share their pessimism, and I guess that's fine, because the rest of us are here to improve downtown, to make it more vibrant, safe, and welcoming for everyone to live, work, play, and enjoy.

Whether you live in Seattle, Whether you live in the region, the broader region, or you're just here visiting for a few days, downtown success is bigger than any of us.

It's our flagship.

It's our economic engine for our city, our county, our region, and our state.

This is why it takes all of us and why I'll dismiss the pessimism.

because I know that there are many more people who are optimistic and know that this small zoning change can have a really big impact on the threshold that is between the rest of downtown and the new waterfront and the new Pike Place walk down to the waterfront and the new convention center.

And so that's why I adjusted the Land Use Committee to move this downtown activation plan legislation as fast as possible.

I encourage a yes vote.

I do wanna just, note some of the comments that were made in the Times and in committee last week.

And just to clarify, Low Income Housing Institute was here testifying today that they've got covenants and they can use this change to not only improve the affordable housing that they provide for formerly homeless individuals, but that they can build more of it.

If development is to change, there is direct payment into mandatory housing affordability or They could perform on site.

I will tell you when I did the back of the envelope math of the performance versus the payment, we get fewer units if we are doing performance on site.

And either way, this is a very special opportunity because one of the land owners is an affordable housing provider, which means we get the standard through any redevelopment and more.

while at the same time making the threshold in downtown, at the crossroads of downtown, a safer, more welcoming and vibrant place for everyone.

Colleagues, again, I urge a yes vote.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council President, and Council Member Strauss, thank you for your remarks and your leadership on prioritizing this downtown activation plan policy prior to our budget process.

I'll just state at the beginning to the clerks, given that this is my first time to engage with this policy on the council dais, I would like to be affixed as a co-sponsor to this and appreciate the work of the committee in advancing this to where it is today.

For the reasons that Council Member Strauss articulated, we are not engaged in a project of restoring downtown Seattle to the pre-COVID status quo.

Downtowns have to evolve, they have to change, they have to mold themselves to the new demands that the economy has put forward that affect downtowns in terms of our remote work, in terms of our consuming patterns through e-commerce.

Downtown still have a vibrant and critical role as the focal point of work, of commerce, and of culture in a major metropolitan area.

This policy in front of us rejuvenates downtown by embracing the realities post-COVID to create the kind of dynamism that we want to see, to create a downtown that is safe, to create a downtown that's prosperous, to create a downtown that carves out the necessary space for our arts and cultural institutions to flourish and to grow and expand.

The economic vitality that is going to be created by this policy will be generated by increasing consumer demand downtown by putting a significant concentration of new residents right in the center of our downtown core.

Housing in the downtown core, to a certain extent, is sort of in planned, almost like a donut.

We have a lot of housing in Pioneer Square, a lot of housing in Belltown and South Lake Union, but the downtown retail core itself does not have as significant of a concentration of housing as the economic core of our city should have.

By putting a large concentration of additional residents in our downtown core, we are creating demand for new storefronts.

We are creating the viability and the potential for amenities that cater to residents, like grocery stores, like drug stores.

We are enhancing public safety by putting the informal guardians of public space and more eyes on the street, because we have residents in places where currently Once commuters and tourists leave, the streets in many cases can be deserted.

It advances our climate change goals to increase the density of people living in the core of our city who have a shorter commute and can walk or roll to get to the office or to get to their place of work.

It offers opportunity as we increase development and incentivize development in this core.

to make investments in the Third Avenue vision streetscape improvements that have long been a shared priority of the city and the Downtown Seattle Association.

This is a wholly beneficial addition to our downtown recovery efforts.

This is a great opportunity for partnership between the public and private sectors.

And I look forward to voting in favor of this policy today.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Council Member Morales.

Thank you Council President.

I want to say that I agree with the overarching goal of increasing housing downtown.

I think that is essential given the very different nature of business and the different way that people are working, particularly after the pandemic.

So, while I support the goal of trying to increase residents downtown, increase the ability of people to live downtown, I don't think this particular bill is the right strategy.

And so I want to reiterate what I said in committee about why I will not be supporting the bill.

And the bottom line is that I don't believe that this bill provides benefit to working people.

And the city should be, particularly the downtown, should be available for everyone.

So this bill removes this particular area under consideration, removes it from incentive zoning, and removes MHA requirements for onsite production of housing.

It also reduces the required in lieu payment for construction of affordable housing elsewhere.

So, you know, his own determination of non significance estimates that up to 2400 units of housing could be developed on these sites while also conceding that most homes would generally be available to households at or above 100% a.

M.

I. And according to the US census, American community survey, that's about 115,000 dollars a year.

So much higher, by the way, of an income that many of our educators, our human service workers, some of our own city workers.

Take home, so in exchange for doubling.

The height allowed for development in these areas.

We'll see about 8Million, maybe 8 and a halfMillion dollars over the course of 20 years.

Uh, and according to a 2020 report from the housing, uh, state housing finance commission.

that would get us about 27 new units of housing.

About one unit of affordable housing a year for 20 years, which does not seem to me a very ambitious goal.

According to 2019 study by the Institute for Policy Studies, of several newly constructed residential buildings, 12 percent of units were owned by LLCs or trusts, with one building comprising 47 percent of units owned by LLCs.

Out of all the properties surveyed, they concluded that nearly 60 percent were unoccupied.

This is the challenge that we face right now.

It is not clear what the rental vacancy rate is.

We've been trying to collect that data, but it's not available.

What we have here is an estimate of the vacancy rates that we have.

Until we address that speculation, the notion of, you know, just sort of let the market sorted out.

Doesn't work for working people working people.

Not downtown are the economic engine of our city and they deserve to live in a vibrant, welcoming city that prioritizes their social well, being.

So the bottom line is this without a mandate for affordable housing, it's highly unlikely that any new housing that is affordable to working people will be built as part of any new developments in this area.

And if the goal is for us to make downtown vibrant, If the goal is to make it a welcoming place for the people of Seattle, we need to be promoting proportionate, universal affordability across the income spectrum.

We should be building a Seattle for all of our constituents.

If we continue to build in this way, to build homes that are out of reach for many of our Seattleites, then the vibrancy that folks are aiming to achieve here will not materialize.

So the build before us today is not a departure from the way that we normally build.

It's not a departure from the way we normally get things done.

And I think that building economically diverse, socially cohesive communities is the future that our residents in Seattle deserve.

That's what people have been asking for.

That's how we build a One Seattle.

And this bill just doesn't get us there.

Instead, it advances more development of exclusive neighborhoods.

And that is not what Seattleites are asking for.

So for those reasons, I will be voting no today.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Council Member Strauss, I'm going to let two of your colleagues go first, and then you can have your closing comments or remarks.

And so that would be Council Member Nelson, and then Council Member Sawant, and then Council Member Herbold.

So let's start with Council Member Nelson.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss, for bringing this forward expeditiously, and thank you to the executive for making it happen as well, because without taking a step to approve this legislation, What I look at is frankly nothing happening on 3rd Avenue.

And that's the reality that I think is unsustainable going forward.

And so I understand that there's a question about how much affordable housing will be built.

We've got the support of an affordable housing provider who's 100% behind this legislation.

And when we talk about workers, I do again want to stress that the The workers that are on the front lines downtown in the small businesses serving people and making the downtown environment vibrant also deserve to have more life on the street that will be provided by the residents that are moving in here.

When we talk about jobs, we're talking about the jobs that we will be supporting on the ground in our downtown core, in the businesses and arts institutions that exist there right now.

So I'm in full support.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Member Nelson.

Council Member Sawant.

Thank you, President Juarez.

I appreciate Council Member Morales' comments.

I will also be voting no today on this bill.

For over a decade, big corporate developers have claimed that they are the solution to the affordable housing crisis, but the reality, as we know, is exactly the opposite.

Without rent control and without massive expansion of social, publicly owned social housing, For-profit developers build luxury housing, luxury meaning in terms of price, not in terms of quality necessarily.

And they drive up property values to make all of Seattle less and less affordable for working people.

I support density.

I grew up in Mumbai, which is far more densely populated than Seattle.

But density alone is not enough.

We need affordability.

And that's not going to come from the big developers who are going to benefit here.

We need to make big developers and all big businesses pay to fund affordable social housing and that is not happening outside of the Amazon tax that our movement won in 2020. I also hear Lehigh's interest in this up zone and I definitely support the affordable housing that Lehigh provides.

My comments and concerns are about the for-profit property owners and developers.

I want to be clear, I do not oppose upzoning these properties, but I believe the city could get a lot more from these wealthy developers in exchange.

Instead, they are given yet another sweetheart deal, and that's why I will be voting no.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sawant.

And we have Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

I have a question for the sponsor, if that's okay.

Go ahead.

I understand the legislation applies to 11 properties within the rezone area.

The question of affordable housing contributions has been raised.

And I do understand that MHA still applies in the rezone areas.

That's correct.

You're nodding.

Yes, that's correct.

And I'm sorry if you included it in your remarks and I just didn't catch it.

I did go back and look at notes from the committee meeting and it sounded like part of the debate was around MHA being stripped out, but that, And I may have misunderstood it, but that is not happening.

There is still MHA revenue that will be derived from buildings built in any of these 11 plots of land.

Yes, Councilmember Herbold, thank you for that question.

It's an important question that we raised at committee a number of times and I completely understand and appreciate and have no qualms with Councilmember Morales's position.

It's just it seems that we are looking at the numbers a bit differently.

And what I mean by that is it was set on the record today that these funds would be collected over a 20-year period of time.

The reality is that these funds are collected at the time of permit issuance for development.

So it's not based on a time schedule, it's based upon a time, it's based upon the moment that those buildings are going through redevelopment.

So if three of the 11 parcels go into redevelopment, we get the mandatory housing affordability payments for those three parcels, not the full 11. And I think that's where, It's not speculation, it's just that we don't know if all 11 parcels will be redeveloped or just three.

And I think that's what happens across our city with mandatory housing affordability in total.

Now, when I was making the comments about the onsite performance versus payment, my back of the envelope math about the number of units.

So I just referenced the St. Luke's family affordable units that are going in Ballard right now.

We're building an eight story tower of affordable housing that are two and three bedroom units.

That was a $9 million project.

If we get the full funding from the full MHA payment, we will get just over $8 million.

So that's a million dollar differential for 88 two and three bedroom units, which could be about 200 single room units.

And that's not inclusive of the covenants that Low Income Housing Institute is planning to put on these, as well as it's not inclusive of the improved quality of life affordable housing the existing affordable housing will will create.

Sorry to go on a tangent there counsel.

No I think I don't think I don't see it a tangent I think you're answering the questions is asked.

Just want to confirm that MHA still applies for all 11 pieces of property.

That's correct.

All right thank you.

I'll be supporting the bill.

Thank you, Councilmember Herbold.

So before I hand it over to you, Councilmember Strauss, is there anything else before we let Councilmember Strauss close us out and go to a vote?

Because we are, it's four o'clock.

Not seeing anything.

Councilmember Strauss, you want to close us out before we go to a vote?

Yes, thank you, Council President.

I was raising my hand to just share those MHA comments, so I appreciate you, Councilmember Herbold.

And look, I agree with Councilmember Morales that the working people are the center of our economic engine.

That's very central and important to me.

It's also that downtown is the most dense acreage, not only in Seattle, not only in our region, not only in Washington State.

The next closest acreage that is this dense is the Twin Cities or Chicago, Salt Lake City or Denver, Sacramento or San Francisco.

And that's what makes this a different area.

It's not a competition or a battle between people or place.

It is just that this is the most dense place that we have in our area.

It's also the center between the Cascades with I-90 and the peninsulas.

We have right here in downtown ferry service to Bremerton and to foot ferry service to Kitsap, to Vashon Island.

And we have I-90 that takes us all the way up to the Cascades.

This is a central place.

It's important and central in all of our downtown is Third Avenue.

And as I was saying earlier, it's the threshold between the new convention center and the new waterfront.

And it's not for tourists.

It's for everyday Seattleites who want to come to one of the most densely populated theater districts again in the region and who want to travel safely from the Act Theater or Fifth Avenue Theater to Pike Place for dinner.

Okay, thank you.

I'm guessing you're done, Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Council President.

Thank you.

All right, with that, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Could you please repeat that, Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Thank you.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Morales?

No.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

No.

Council Member Sawant.

No.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

6 in favor, 3 opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it on the clerk.

Please fix my signature to the legislation folks.

We have some late breaking news here on the count on the agenda.

So this is what we're going to do.

I checked with the clerks.

to accommodate Council Member Mosqueda's schedule, we're going to come back to item number 10 and we're going to come back to the consent calendar issue.

And we're going to skip to item number 11 on the agenda, which is adoption of other resolutions.

Council Member Mosqueda, thank you for getting a hold of us.

And Madam Clerk, thank you for helping us out with that.

So, Madam Clerk, can you please read item 11 into the record?

Yes, let me find it for you.

Adoption of other resolutions.

Agenda item 11, resolution 32113, a resolution endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act.

Thank you council president and thank you colleagues for the accommodation in this schedule this afternoon.

I apologize to members of the community who came and spoke on behalf of this resolution and in support of it.

I know there's some folks in the audience and still watching.

And so, to also be respectful of their time, I did ask the council president for the opportunity to raise this resolution within the 2 hour framework that we have from the start of the meeting.

I want to thank you for your supportive comments earlier today.

I want to thank you for the work that you've done to help draft resolution 32113. It is my honor to sponsor this on behalf of and with the community organization.

From the Filipino community, a special, thank you to my Malaya movement, Seattle, international coalition for human rights in the Philippines, Seattle chapter, the alliance, Pacific Northwest and the various groups who also endorsed this resolution and all of the support that they have offered.

This is a very important resolution that has the support of the Seattle community got green coalition.

Uh, the coalition of anti racist whites, our friends in labor from the Seattle education association, the Highline educators association, and the Pacific Northwest conference of the United Methodist church.

Specifically, thank you to Michael from the Filipino community who have had the chance to meet with in community and to hear about their travels and the issues that they raise in public comment.

Colleagues, this resolution is to stand in solidarity with the people of the Philippines amidst rampant human rights violations that are occurring there.

As folks may know, you may have family or community members that you hear from regularly or are now hearing about the issues that are affecting the Filipino community across the globe.

The Philippines continue to be one of the deadliest countries in the world for land defenders, for journalists, for trade unionists, and activists.

The number of killings under the current Duterte administration is infamous for his deadly war on drugs.

The number of killings has risen to over 30,000 individuals.

And Seattle City Council stands in solidarity with the Filipino human rights defenders, both the Filipinos here and the folks who are living in the Philippines still.

The Seattle City Council through this resolution seeks to uphold the constitutionality and protect the rights to freedom of speech for Filipinos everywhere.

We have a strong Filipino community in Seattle.

People and workers, small business owners, youth and elders live right here in our city, have roots and connections to the Philippines and connections with the Filipino people who are still experiencing the hardship and trauma imposed on them by deporting.

In addition to supporting the organizations who brought forward this to this organization, I want to note the long legacy of activism from the Filipino community right here in Seattle.

I spend a lot of time at the Filipino Community Center and with the folks who are continuing to lift up the presence of the Filipino community here in Seattle and acting in solidarity with the Filipino community in the Philippines.

The community has a long, rich history and our opportunity as Seattle City Council members is to recognize the community and the residents that are within our borders and to act in solidarity with them as they call for civil rights and labor rights around the world to be addressed for the Filipino community.

We extend our support and advocate for human rights and the freedom of the Filipino community through this resolution, especially to those who are experiencing injustices.

across the globe in their home country.

Thank you again to Michael for bringing this to our office and for working with us over the last few months as we put this proclamation together.

I also want to thank Office of Intergovernmental Relations and Freddy de Cuevas, who has been working to help draft this resolution, along with Michael and the community, to bring this forward for your consideration today.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

I was, I got a little bit confused here, so I need to move it, but hold on a minute.

You're fine.

I moved to adopt resolution 32113. Is there a 2nd?

2nd.

All right.

It's been moved and seconded customer.

Muscat has already addressed it as sponsor.

So, at this juncture, or any of my colleagues have anything to add to the, or any comments regarding the resolution.

Okay, I do not see any.

Are you good with us going forward with the vote?

Council member Mosqueda?

Yes, and thanks again for your patience community colleagues.

Thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of resolution 32113?

Council member Strauss?

Yes.

Council member Herbold?

Yes.

Council member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Abstain.

Council Member Peterson.

Abstain.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Seven in favor, none opposed, and two abstentions.

Thank you.

The resolution is adopted.

The chair will sign it.

And will the clerk please affix my signature to the resolution or the legislation on my behalf.

Thank you, Council Member Muscade and those of you who commented.

So let's get back on the agenda.

So we are back to item number 10, the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

Madam Clerk, can you please read item number 10 into the record?

The report of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee, agenda item 10, Council Bill 120657, an ordinance relating to rates and charges for water services of Seattle Public Utilities, revising water rates and charges and credits to low-income customers, and amending sections of the municipal code, the committee recommends the bill pass.

Councilmember Peterson.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, Council Bill 120657 is good news because the water rates we are approving with this legislation will be lower than previously expected, thanks to the excellent work by Seattle Public Utilities in managing costs.

As we know, Seattle Public Utilities operates within a six-year projected rate path set by resolution for its three main lines of business, freshwater, solid waste, and wastewater.

We typically see annual increases in those rates to keep up with rising costs.

The water rate increase that Seattle Public Utilities is proposing with this council bill is significantly lower than expected.

when compared to our currently approved rate path, and it's well below the rate of inflation.

Our city council central staff analyst, Brian, good night wrote a 5 page memo, which was published along with the council bill from you.

I'm proud of Seattle public utilities for hearing the requests from the council and our constituents to prioritize low rates.

I'd also like to express gratitude for the oversight by the Volunteer Customer Review Panel.

Their steadfast efforts to monitor costs and rates at SPU ultimately benefit our 750,000 constituents.

So, while I'm relieved this legislation will not increase rates by as much as we previously approved with the original rate path.

Any increases a sobering reminder that we could go further.

While separate from this council bill before us today, I, this is a good time to give a plug for the bill that hope we can consider in November to repeal city all as a regressive tax on drinking water.

but we can discuss that later.

For today, we have this Council Bill 120657, which is simply approving the regular water rates.

This legislation was heard twice in our committee and unanimously supported by the committee.

So we ask for your support to approve, well, unanimously supported by committee members who were present.

We ask for your support to approve these recommended water rates today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Are there any comments?

Not seeing any.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Lewis.

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes, and Council President Paredes?

Aye.

Nine in favor and none opposed.

Thank you.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Madam Clerk, please fix my signature to this legislation.

So let's move on to items removed from the consent calendar.

As you know, Council Member Sawant requested that item 11 be removed from the consent calendar.

So let me tee this up so we could have the discussion.

Madam Clerk, you please read item Well, it's 11 into the record.

Yes, items removed from the consent calendar.

Item 11, resolution 32110, a resolution establishing the city's continuing support to advance a public-private partnership through future agreements between the city of Seattle, Seattle Public Schools, and the One Rift Partnership, and addressing funding needs to develop a new world-class memorial stadium serving students, youth, and the community, and that is transformative for Seattle Center.

The committee recommends the council adopt the resolution.

Thank you and I will speak to this as sponsor of this resolution, which we heard in the governance native communities, tribal governments committee last Thursday.

So, this establishes the city's continuing support to advance a public private partnership through future agreements between the city of Seattle.

Seattle public schools and the 1 roof partnership.

It also addresses funding needs to develop a new world class memorial stadium, serving students, youth and the community for the record.

There are several recent agreements between the city and the school district, including and I, pardon me for going through these, but I think it's important that the public here.

and maybe some of my colleagues who do not sit on my committee, we were working on this matter well before 2017. It started with a 2017 partnership agreement, a 2021 letter of intent.

February of 2022, the school district had the capital levy, which passed for $66.5 million of funding for the replacement of Memorial Stadium.

This levy passed with 79% in favor.

In 2022, we did an MOA, that's a memorandum of agreement, and then in March 2023, an RFP was issued and 2 proposals were received.

In May of 2023, Seattle City Council adopted resolution 32092, establishing the city's support for a new memorial stadium through a public private partnership.

In May 2023, that's Seattle Public Schools and the City of Seattle issued the request for proposals and jointly selected the One Roof Partnership, an entity that includes the One Roof Foundation, Seattle Kraken, and Climate Pledge Arena for further negotiation as a potential partner to invest in, construct, operate, and maintain the project in partnership with Seattle Public Schools and the City.

As you know, Memorial Stadium is owned by Seattle Public Schools.

I think it's important to note that no elected officials were included on the evaluation committee, but some council staff did participate.

I want to thank Brian.

Good night.

Um, who was a part of that team and again, as I shared before, we had an ethical wall.

So there was no 1 on this floor, including me that did not participate in the selection of the process of 1 roof partnership.

The proposal from 1 roof partnership includes preservation of the Memorial wall.

And I just want to add again that this was in committee last Thursday.

It was unanimously voted.

We had a 10 page PowerPoint, which was posted online and given to us ahead of time.

And I think it's also important for the public to note that we had the mayor's office represented by Tim Burgess.

We had Marshall Foster, who is now our director of Seattle center.

We had Jackie Kern, the project director.

We had David Councilman, the project director of finance and administrative services.

We had Brian goodnight, of course, our analyst from council central staff.

We had Fred Podesta, the chief operating officer for Seattle public schools, and we're happy to welcome and have Vivian Song-Martez.

Who is the director Marquez, the district for school board director from Seattle public schools on the panel as well.

So, all of these folks walked us through the resolution.

The fiscal note, the PowerPoint.

And also made sure that the public understood that not only does Seattle public school on the property, and that the priority is for the school district and a revenue source, but that.

We wanted to just keep moving forward with this project because it's been a long time coming.

I've been working on this since I got elected.

And so it's been almost 8 years and customer backshot has been working on this before I got here.

So that's how we, where we find ourselves today with this resolution.

And so, with that, I don't believe I have any other comments.

Is there anything else for my colleagues?

I believe customers want has something to share.

Thank you President Juarez.

I will be voting no on this resolution which continues to advocate for a public-private partnership to be used for the redevelopment of Memorial Stadium.

The City Council voted on a similar resolution last May and I voted no at that time also for the same reasons.

As I said last May, this is not in any way in opposition to investments in Memorial Stadium.

In fact, one of the budget cuts I explicitly objected to during the budget deliberations last November was the proposed cut to the Memorial Stadium redevelopment capital improvement.

At that time, I argued that Seattle should be taxing big business rather than cutting critical infrastructure investments.

I proposed to increase the tax rate of the Amazon tax to restore that and other funding.

Unfortunately, the majority of the council did not agree, and now we are presented with a proposal to seek a public-private partnership.

In other words, rather than taxing the biggest corporations and the wealthiest people in the world to fund public needs, the Democratic political establishment in Seattle is proposing to essentially sell off the access to public resources to the very corporations they refuse to tax.

And this is the overwhelming history of public-private partnerships around the world, where the public pays and the private corporations enjoy the profits.

There are not yet details of what this public-private partnership contract would entail, because this resolution, like the last one, is simply expressing support rather than presenting terms.

However there are many ways that a for-profit corporation could profit at the expense of regular working people in Seattle through this so-called partnership.

Tickets and concessions could become prohibitively expensive as has been the trend in stadiums around the country.

And Seattle Public Schools could sign away their access to a sports field that could become a real resource for the school district.

Again we do not have real details yet.

There is no contract so any detail is hypothetical.

but the history of public-private partnerships globally gives me no confidence in this approach.

Instead, Seattle should increase taxes on big businesses and use those resources to renovate Memorial Stadium with 100% focus on the public good rather than the profits of wealthy investors.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sawant.

Are there any comments from my colleagues before we move on to a vote?

I'm not seeing anything and the only thing I want to share with you customers want and again, thank you.

I, I always appreciate your, um, your opinion.

And I think what makes this different, at least for me, on some respects, as someone who's deeply involved with climate pledge and has done public private partnerships for well, over 3 decades in my other life as a lawyer.

With tribes and nonprofits and other municipalities is that this is Seattle schools property.

The voters pass overwhelmingly to 79%.

For 66.1Million dollars, it's the majority of the money is the Seattle public school.

The Seattle public school retains the property as 1st.

Priority on any activities and we'll be negotiating as we would with anything, an operation and maintenance agreement, a leasing agreement, all those things will come.

I think what we're seeing here is what I'm understanding and why we do the resolutions to continue our support is to let the public know that the campus without climate pledge being built is a beautiful campus.

It is an economic engine.

It's a jewel, not only to our city, but to our state.

And to just have Memorial Stadium fall apart and not be part of the economic vitality and growth for the students, I think would be a shame.

And I'm also happy and.

Actually.

Very well, I would say is that that we're going to protect the memorial wall.

We had a much we had many letters that came in, but people that spoke to how important that was the memorial wall for the veterans that died and why the memorial wall was erected and protected.

So.

It's very seldom that we can get the Seattle public school, the city of Seattle, and a 1 refoundation, which is the nonprofit or the profit side together to create.

not only revamping Memorial Stadium, but also providing a revenue source for the school district, for the city of Seattle.

And so for that reason, I will be voting yes, and I'm hoping that my colleagues will vote yes as well.

All right, with that, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council Member Peterson.

Yes.

Council Member Sawant.

No.

And Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Eight in favor, one opposed.

Thank you.

The resolution passes and the chair will sign it.

And will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation resolution.

All right, let's keep moving on in our agenda here.

So we're going to go on to adoption.

No other business.

Sorry about that guys.

We got a little mixed up here in the calendar here.

So, let's see, we have other business and this is something I have today.

I have a proclamation, which you should all have recognizing October 9th.

To be indigenous people's day for some of us, it's indigenous people every day.

I will lead the discussion on the proclamation for any additional feedback before I request signatures to be affixed.

Proclamation proclaims October 9th, 2023 to be indigenous people's day.

We proclaim Indigenous Peoples Day to commemorate and support Indigenous peoples and encourage all businesses, organizations, public institutions, and city residents to recognize this day and honor the legacy and contribution of Seattle's American Indians, Alaska Natives, Indigenous communities who have been here since time immemorial.

Are there any comments?

Council Member Strauss.

Sorry, Council President, I had my hand up for another item, but I'm also very excited for this, especially this is the 1st Indigenous Peoples Day after the 1st Tribal Summit.

That's right, and I'm glad you caught that.

And also after Council Member Mosqueda puts forward some legislation on nominifying tribes about land and also working with OPCD and SDCI and some other issues that have come up and I'm Now that we have the indigenous advisory council in place, a committee to address those issues.

So I'm not the resident Native American on the 2nd floor that has the answer to everything related to indigenous people with that.

Is there any other comments before we go to a vote?

Or to have their name affixed to the proclamation.

Okay, I do not see any and I believe I would love to.

I would love to support your proclamation.

If you'd like to add my name, I'd be honored.

Oh, great.

So you're going to be my co sponsor.

I'll be your co sponsor.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

All right.

So with that, um, madam clerk, since there's no further discussion, you please call the role to determine which council members would like their signatures affixed.

to the proclamation recognizing October 9th as an Indigenous Peoples Day.

Councilmember Strauss?

Yes.

Councilmember Herbold?

Yes.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Mosqueda?

Aye.

Councilmember Nelson?

Aye.

Councilmember Peterson?

Yes.

Councilmember Sawant?

Yes.

Council President Juarez.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

Your signatures will be affixed to the proclamation.

I was hoping somebody would weave in one sentence from Rez Dogs, the TV show, but I guess nobody's in a comedic mood anymore.

Oh, Council Member Strauss, did you have something to add?

I mean, again, I was going to talk about something else.

Uh, what, what is that term that they use?

Student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student, student Okay, anyway, so thank you for the signatures and affix them to the proclamation.

So we're done with that 1. All right, before we adjourn, get 1 more thing here.

Okay, so we are done with today's agenda.

Thank all of you.

I think all of you that called in and showed up the next regularly scheduled city council meeting on October.

3rd will be canceled to accommodate budget review.

and our city council will convene again on October 10th, 2023. Councilor Stroud, do you still have your hand up?

Are you still, is there something you wanna ask?

Yes, yes, I have something to say about the transportation resolution.

Okay, well then go ahead and say it before we adjourn.

Excellent Thank you as you may have noticed that on the original agenda as published, we had the transportation resolution regarding industrial maritime zoning changes.

I requested that to be pushed to our next full council meeting.

That will be on October 10th.

This resolution was supposed to be passed alongside these maritime and industrial changes.

Because the multi-year facilitated conversation resulted in 87% approval of stakeholders who typically disagree.

And this agreement included a few transportation studies.

We could not take up the transportation strategies from this work group because the bills we passed were land use bills.

As I mentioned, this resolution was intended to pass the same time as the zoning changes, and we chose to take the extra time to pass this resolution.

At a later date, because it's important to encompass everyone's perspectives and for it to be a collaborative document.

Last Wednesday, I became aware that there was some constant consternation regarding some of the language.

I'm going to hold this resolution until the next meeting so that we can iron out these wrinkles as this resolution has been in the public sphere for months and drafts have been regularly posted to agendas.

This work has been done in public and it is intended to be collaborative.

So colleagues, as we have done in committee, I have taken the feedback received regarding this resolution and added the changes to a substitute bill for the ease of process and to increase collaboration.

If anyone, any colleagues have additions or changes you would like to make, please reach out to Naomi in my office so that we can incorporate it into one substitute for ease of process and to make it just very clear to everyone, this is work in collaboration.

So rather than voting on each amendment individually, I'm requesting that we create a substitute.

Please reach out to Naomi in my office to do so.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you all for your patience.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.