missing title

Good afternoon.

Today is February 2nd, 2026. The council briefing meeting will come to order.

Time is 2.02 p.m.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Rink.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Here.

Council Member Foster.

Here.

Council Member Juarez.

Here.

Councilmember Kettle.

Here.

Councilmember Lin.

Here.

And Council President Hollingsworth.

Here.

Eight present.

Please call Councilmember Rank again.

Oh yes, Councilmember Rank.

Present.

Thank you.

Nine present.

Awesome.

If there's no objection, the minutes of January 2026 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the minutes are adopted.

Okay, President's Report.

On to the President's Report.

We have no presentations or proclamations for signatures today.

Our next OIR presentation will be February the 9th, so that will be next Monday.

They will present.

We do not have any executive sessions scheduled and tomorrow our City Council meeting agenda will have three items for introduction and referral calendar and one item on the consent calendar.

There's no letter of proclamations and we are going to jump into We'll begin our next discussion on the preview of the City Council Actions and Council Regional Committees.

And the order of discussion is established by the rotated roll call, but those are my meeting notes.

I think it's good if we just pass it.

Is that okay to the right or left?

No matter.

Okay, awesome.

I think last time we went to the left, but Councilmember Strauss, you were to my left and now you're to my right.

And so is that okay that you are starting first?

Sure.

Happy to.

Councilmember Strauss.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, I'll keep this brief.

Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee meets tomorrow morning.

We have two items on the agenda.

One is the first of two meetings for the appointment of Allie Panucci as the Director of the City Budget Office.

This will be an introductory meeting.

We are not asking her to respond to the questions that we have posed her for tomorrow's meeting.

It is important for us to have her in committee twice.

She will be asked to submit the written responses at the second committee meeting that she comes to.

I know that there were a few questions submitted after the extended deadline last week, so happy to work with other members who still have questions that did not meet the extended deadline to navigate how to get your questions across.

You can always ask them at committee.

We do not anticipate the in-depth questions tomorrow, so do have some introductory remarks and questions if you have them, but we'll get into depth at the following committee meeting.

The second item on tomorrow's agenda is the ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Seattle Social Housing Developer.

This is our second of two meetings regarding this bill and we are scheduled to vote.

I have proposed one amendment to the legislation which I shared with your office last week.

This is not an amendment to the interlocal agreement because that would send us back to the start.

There are not many opportunities for amendments to this legislation.

This is basically the only place to amend the legislation because it is about process, which is that if the interlocal agreement wants to be updated in the future, not only does the mayor need to sign off, but it needs to come through council.

This is important because the mayor can make decisions not in the view of the public.

When it comes to council, this is the public's opportunity to see and weigh in on the aspects that are contained within the interlocal agreement.

So that is simply the only amendment.

It does have the support of the Seattle Social Housing Developer, and so we're looking to take a vote tomorrow.

There is no legislation coming from my committee to full council tomorrow.

with Sound Transit.

I explained the big news last week with the across lake connection occurring.

Please, we'd love to have any and all of you out there.

We also, that's the good news about Sound Transit.

The harder news is that we are continuing to go through the enterprise initiative at Sound Transit.

So colleagues, I do ask that each of you get one-on-one briefings with our Seattle Sound Transit team.

There may be in the next quarter a time where they come and present to us, either at Transportation Committee or at Council Briefing, and I want you to be as well prepared as possible for that public meeting.

It's a lot of information, so I'm requesting everyone get time with our Seattle team to better understand what's coming down the pike with Sound Transit Enterprise Initiative.

There's also an expansion committee next week in Association of Washington Cities.

Association of Washington Cities continues to hold Friday action updates about the legislative session, so if you are interested in getting another legislative update beyond just Office of Intergovernmental Relations, you can sign up for AWC's Friday calls.

Let me know if you need any help with that.

And lastly, in District 6, I hosted a town hall at the Greenwood branch of the Seattle Public Library last Wednesday night.

It was a great event.

About 100 people came out.

And for anyone who might have missed the town hall, I will be doing more town halls in the upcoming months.

I also have office hours almost every week.

Unless I have a town hall or there's some of this external committee work taking my time.

So we do have office hours this week.

We're opening up more office hours today for later this month.

And if they remain full, I'll open up office hours on a Sunday.

So with that, colleagues, any questions on my report?

Councilmember Wuerz.

Thank you.

Councilmember Strauss, you're doing the social housing stuff.

just the interlocal agreement regarding the money as my role as the budget chair and council member Foster takes as the housing committee chair, takes everything else.

Okay.

So council member Foster will, and I don't want, if you don't have an answer, that's okay.

Just want to try to get it clarified here on the ILA.

I knew that.

Would you, would your committee be entertaining if indeed something comes forward, them amending the charter or changing the charter?

So we'll have the social housing developer in my committee.

I believe they're scheduled February 11th for an update.

And so you'll be there and we can discuss any potential needs around that.

Okay, great.

Oh, I forgot I'm on your committee.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

To your right, Councilmember Kettle.

Council President Hollingsworth and colleagues starting off our next.

We do not have public safety committee tomorrow.

It's going to be a week tomorrow.

and we'll have right now we have two pieces on the agenda.

They'll be confirmed.

There's a lot of moving elements related to public safety these days, but we will have a bill by our colleague, Councilmember Rivera, and also a briefing from OIG, which pertains to basically the public drug use and possession.

And so that's going to be coming up a week tomorrow.

I'll let Councilmember Rivera speak if she'd like to add when she's up on that bill.

For this week, today, starting off with today, I met with the Esther Lucero from Seattle Indian Health Board, a very good conversation on a number of issues and keeping up with that theme.

Wednesday, I'm meeting with the Evergreen Medical Respite Care, getting a briefing on NIT.

And this kind of goes to understanding where, you know, These services really connect with public safety.

It's that same point that I've been raising.

Thursday meeting with OIR related to Ireland, but also the GBSA that day talking about advocacy from that side and public safety.

And then Friday the Cascade Bicycle Club.

Next week NIAP.

I also have a budget director Panucci Designee Panucci coming to my office and then Later that week, a little bit with Metro Chamber, they have a new leader, Joe McGuinn.

So Metro Chamber and their policy group.

And then at the end of next week is the District 7, our latest District 7 Neighborhood Council, which is a Council of Councils.

Downtown, our new Downtown Community Council, Belltown, South Lake Union, Uptown, Queen Anne, Magnolia.

bringing all these groups, plus some other single-interest organizations, which has really taken off, by the way.

And I'll out it right now, because they said it to me that they've gone on their own and created a urban district neighborhood council incorporating Cap Hill, bringing in those areas and they're advocating to which the executive departments are gonna learn the power of the organized groups within District 7, but I'll leave that alone.

I don't wanna give anything away.

Lastly, I'll also be meeting with the Port of Seattle.

One of the things that I'm looking to do this year in engaging with stakeholders is about creating a City of Seattle maritime strategy.

You know, part of this is really understanding the many, many elements of the maritime world and so looking to continue that work as we move forward and then later work more and more closely with central staff and so forth.

Lastly, I just wanted to know, I know we don't have OAR today, related to Olympia.

But I am engaging on these bills, Senate Bill 6002, which is ALPR.

I did go down for AWC days and I also had a call meeting with Senator Trudeau on that bill.

I will note, you know, with the new time period as it came out of committee, plus the public disclosure requests you know hold those combination with you know our bill with all the different pieces and it really addresses all the elements and and also working with Council Member Rink on on mirroring what we've done with CCTV in terms of a pause of the program if despite all that we're doing, plus these new pieces potentially coming out of Washington state law, would butt us in good stead, but still give that 60-day hold, similar to what we have on CCTV.

Separately, and by the way, I've had calls with some members of our Seattle delegation, including this morning on that bill, plus House Bill 2526, which is really important, and that builds on our Public Safety Committee meeting of last week.

but also the Summit on Crime Survivors on Thursday that was held in the Birth of Night Landis Room.

And it was an incredible all-day event.

It was something.

And really going into the commercial sexual exploitation and great panels, great effort, primarily King County effort, but also the city.

City Attorney Evans was there all day.

Councilmember Balducci was there, a bunch of different elements there.

And as it relates to Olympia, House Bill 2526, very important bill that would basically take...

It's interesting, if an underage person is involved, it's a felony, and then that person turns 18, next thing you know, it's a simple misdemeanor, really nothing relative.

and this bill would bring that back up into the felony.

Had a lot of discussions to include with Prosecuting Attorney Mannion on this and then, of course, members of the Seattle delegation and Olympia.

So very important.

And I also spoke to them about the issues related to encampments, too.

I think I understand why we need that bill because the different jurisdictions in the state, particularly in this region, are not doing what they need to do as it relates to offering services and opportunities for those that do not have shelter.

But we need to make sure that our efforts don't get caught up in the web and then we all of a sudden find ourselves tripping because of something that was involved in this bill.

Because we've done a lot of work in this city and we're going to do more work in the city to include with Mayor Wilson and her team.

If the language in the bill is such that, you know, it kind of trips up our efforts here, that could be problematic, not on the human services side, but also on the public safety side.

So I think it's really important for us to engage on that, you know, either via AWC, but also directly with members in Olympia, specifically those in our Seattle delegation.

And that is it, Council President.

So I will hand it off to my colleague,

Are there any questions first, before?

I almost got away with no questions.

No?

All right.

Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President and colleagues.

So, on the transportation, waterfront, and Seattle Center.

That's the formal name of the committee.

Steps.

The Steps Committee Front.

that's safety as in traffic safety, transportation engineering projects, sports and experiences committee.

We will be having our second meeting this coming Thursday.

The first committee, first steps committee, as you know, we focus heavily on traffic safety.

That was agenda item number one, vision zero, progress, status, next steps, impediments to success.

This next steps committee, we're focusing more on sort of governance and ADA compliance, accessibility more broadly.

So first and foremost, we're gonna have a briefing from the Department of Transportation on their 2026 proposed levy delivery plan.

Every year under the levy, they are required to submit a plan and report on significant levy deliverables for that year.

As you know, the department recently transmitted that report, I think on Friday, if my memory serves me correctly, recently.

gonna invite the department in, give them an opportunity to kind of share out, report out that work.

And it'll be a twofer for me, because in my capacity as a Levy Oversight Committee member as well, I think the department is presenting in part on that during the agenda tomorrow, during tomorrow's Levy Oversight Committee meeting.

but important conversations going on around what's being planned and to deliver for the levy spending this year.

We're gonna hear more about it during committee.

The next important topic broadly relates to accessibility and ADA compliance and there's a whole Reynoldson consent decree that we'll learn a little bit more about as well and how that Those legal requirements govern our broader accessibility work, but it's more than that.

And the department cares more than just mere legal compliance.

So we'll learn more about the broader program on Thursday.

So excited for that.

Just as an aside, colleagues, especially district colleagues, if you haven't already, make sure you get in your projects and work with SDOT on their district project fund.

The first big sort of soft deadline is coming up on March 1st that we established during the establishment of that project, the legislation that governs that project.

We worked with them hard to establish, and those were the mutually agreed parameters.

So March 1st, just under a month from now, is when that first big deadline is.

So I encourage you all to work with the department to finalize that.

Again, they have suggested projects that don't meet the criteria for delivery under one of the existing many dozens of other programs, whether it's safe routes to school, et cetera, et cetera.

And, you know, we obviously all hear regularly from constituents about other needs.

So, you know, another option is kind of self-selection or both or whatever, your choice, but would encourage you to work with them to finalize by the March 1st deadline.

And again, I also mentioned the coming Levy Oversight Committee meeting.

That is tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to you personally joining that again.

Let's see.

On a much lighter note, happy Black History Month.

February 2nd, Black History Month.

We get the shortest month of the year, but it's one of the most impactful months.

And so just really important time to honor, celebrate, and reflect upon the many tremendous contributions black and African-American people in this community and other communities that have really contributed so meaningfully and profoundly to our broader society.

So, happy Black History Month.

I'm excited this year visiting a number of schools within my own district, schools of all sizes, including preschools, but excited to, later this week, going to join an assembly at Genesee Hill Elementary in West Seattle, where they invited me to come talk more about black history for the students at Genesee Hill.

So looking forward to that.

Should also note, this morning I attended the Seattle Police Chief year in review presentation to the community.

First initiative, kind of a look back at 2025, what the department worked on and accomplished and kind of the path ahead, and so was excited to be able to attend that with many members of the community, community partners, et cetera.

Saw some elected colleagues there, including Public Safety Committee Chair Kettle, City Attorney Evans and King County Prosecutor Lisa Mannion were there, as well as members from the Mayor's Office, but attended that meeting today.

I had some really productive meetings recently with some constituents in my community, including the West Seattle Food Bank did a site tour and visit last week.

Great to learn more about the highly impactful work they do firsthand.

Also had a great conversation with folks from the Transitional Resources, which they operate amongst other things, the Transitional Permanent Supporter Housing, set of facilities on Avalon in my district, and to learn more about their great work firsthand.

So we'll not give an exhaustive list of all my productive meetings over the last week, but all that is to say, that's Steps in a nutshell, and looking forward to working with you all to bring all the great things to life.

Welcome any comments, questions, if any.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

And if we could go to Councilmember Rivera, it would seem like pretty easy to go to the right because you're up on the screen.

So awesome.

Councilmember Rivera.

Okay.

Thank you, Council President.

Good afternoon, colleagues.

All right.

It's a hard day.

I know we're all coming to grips with the horrible news from this weekend.

As you all know, two teenagers who are believed to be Seattle Public School students were shot and killed.

My heart just breaks for these children, not only these children's families, for our community and our city across the board.

There are no words to express the loss of a child and I just so feel for their parents and families and all of the Rainier Beach community, who I know are suffering this together.

Colleagues, I mean, we all know this.

As a city, we need to do better to keep our kids safe.

As you know, with your support, I added $25,000 last year for this year's budget to fund a Youth Gun Violence Summit.

so we can learn more about other cities like Baltimore who've been successful in significantly reducing gun violence in their cities.

I've already started at the start of the year, and actually at the end of the year, I started conversations and putting together a proposal for what a summit will look like, and I look forward to sharing that proposal once we're further along.

As you can see, I'm at a loss for words, so I just will say that we need to not just give thoughts and prayers, we actually need to do something.

And when I put this money into the budget last year, it was to find and hear about more ways of more things that we can do in our city to really address this issue, which has impacted all of us and, as you know, my own family personally.

more conversation on that, colleagues.

Last week, on Wednesday, I took a tour of the Jewish Family Services facility.

Council President, I was in your district, met with them and had a tour of their food bank.

It was so great to learn about the work they're doing there in support of our community members who have food insecurity.

and though they are a Jewish organization, that doesn't mean they only serve Jewish community.

On the contrary, many of you may know a big tenant of the Jewish community is mitzvah and mitzvah is our responsibility to do good deeds in general and in community and in particular to help others who are in need.

So I really appreciate Jewish Family Services' work because their work extends beyond Jewish community and throughout our city.

And they're seeing more and more need post the SNAP benefit reductions from last year.

They are really providing a lot of food for folks across our city.

And some folks come, you know, from even the international district up to Capitol Hill to utilize the food bank.

So it's really, I really appreciate all their work in this space.

I also attended, as many of us probably did, King County Executive Zahale's Immigration Roundtable.

He had two last week.

I attended the Thursday one on the north end and the D5.

Council Member Juarez, I was so happy to be in your district with folks there.

It was really upsetting, obviously, to hear about the fear that our immigrant communities are having to cope with, especially our kids that were kids there talking about their experience.

It really breaks the heart.

I'm really appreciative to the County Executive for including us in these conversations and in these meetings so we can all hear together from community.

I really appreciate working with our counterparts on the County Council and with the Executive in support of our mutual communities.

and I know we are all in various ways working with our counterparts at the county and even the state in trying to address communities' needs and in order to support communities.

So it was really good to be there to hear from folks directly on what they needed.

A lot of what we heard was know your rights education so folks are well informed.

and that is obviously really important and OIRA we had a presentation at our LEND committee last week from OIRA giving updates as to the work that they're doing in community and a lot of what they're doing is know your rights education and also legal defense where the city is providing dollars as you know to do legal defense to help legal defense and community so Both those efforts I heard loud and clear again at this meeting last week that that is needed and that is exactly what the city is trying to support with.

So, you know, that is what everyone is together working on.

I want to lastly speak briefly on the legislation I brought forth that's on the IRC tomorrow and that Councilmember Kettle referenced.

I spoke with most of you about the legislation.

I really appreciated our engagement on the piece of legislation.

I know we're all grappling with what the city can and can't do legally related to what we believe is the federal government's egregious overreach in our cities across the country.

The legislation I offered is straightforward as we discussed and also very important It not only codifies the state law under the Keep Washington Working Act under our, it updates the Seattle Municipal Code to codify the state law, which restricts law enforcement courts and schools, for instance, from sharing personal information, absent either the individual's own request to share their own information, or a court issued a warrant or other legal obligation to do so.

the legislation I'm offering also closes a gap in the code and in that it also includes other city departments and restricts other city departments not just law enforcement or the courts from providing personal information absent like I said the individuals wanting that to happen themselves or some legal obligation to do so I think updating our SMC is really really critical and so this is really important to do now.

The legislation is CB121158.

It's been shared with your offices and I look forward to your support when it comes before the committee, which is scheduled to be, as Councilmember Kettle said, public safety.

So there's more I can report.

Oh, I met with the D4, I had my quarterly meeting with the D4 community councils last week to also hear from them on their priorities and concerns.

So like we all have, I have a lot like we all have to report, but in the interest of time, I'll leave it.

They're happy to answer any questions or chat with you individually if you want to reach out.

Thank you.

Thank you, colleagues.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Are there any questions for Councilmember Kendall?

Mr. Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to thank Councilmember Rivera for going into the bill.

I wanted to-and I appreciate her doing that.

And that is, again, a start of a number of bills that we'll be working through related to federal law enforcement.

And separately, also on the public safety side, I'd wanted to-the first word either be Councilmember Rivera or Council President related to Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

And I just wanted to to note my sadness and the tragedy that we saw on Friday afternoon as those two students were looking to board a bus or near the vicinity of the bus.

It is super important for us as a council and also the Public Safety Committee to work these issues, understanding school safety.

We have a separate piece with the school district.

I've had meetings with a meeting with Superintendent Schell Dinner not this past weekend but previously where we did talk about school safety and I look forward to working with him and doing whatever I and we can do in support of what he's doing and obviously we have taken a lot of efforts in the last two years to support school safety.

Clearly more needs to be done.

I've also I skipped over this, but thank you, Councilmember Saka, talking about the one-year review from Chief Barnes this morning.

I've had a number of phone meetings and so forth talking about this topic, and this morning he spoke to it directly.

He spoke to it in response to a question given as a former teacher, school resource officer, and all the various pieces, plus his experience in Madison.

and he is there also to, on behalf of the city, engage with the school district.

And I think this team effort is so important and we cannot have barriers.

In the past, I've often said it's a shame, but we seem to have to have a need for exchange ambassadors in order to work with the school district.

Those days need to be long pass and we need to be working directly with the superintendent these challenges and do so in a way that is grounded and focus on how to keep our kids safe.

So thank you, Council Member Rivera, for bringing this up in terms of your responsibilities with your community, plus the bill, and also thank you for the reminder, Council Member Sock, as I did not speak to the one-year review from our police chief this morning.

Council President, thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Cato.

Are there any more questions for Councilmember Rivera?

Councilmember Juarez, do you have a question?

Oh, no, I'm sorry.

I thought it was next.

I thought you were signaling to me.

Councilmember Rivera?

Thank you, Council President.

Sorry, colleagues, I couldn't be there in person.

I did want to say, you know, I think constituents don't realize that the nine of us can't be speaking together in a conversation unless we're in chambers in the public.

So I just wanted to acknowledge that we all care deeply and equally and are aligned on the issue of gun violence that is plaguing our children, in particular, of course, the city in general.

But what is happening with kids?

I just wanted to say that in this context, because while some of us may talk about it, others may not, we are in community talking about this and we all are very much aligned.

And I think it's important for the public to know that, that we are very much aligned.

And I mean, I can tell you the day a student got shot at Ingram and I went to pick my girls up, the horror, but I cannot tell you how it feels to be a parent.

I could pick my kids up and two parents could not.

And when I went to pick up my kid, the one parent who went to pick up her kid, the wailing, that does not leave you.

And this is why you all know how much and how deeply I care about this, but that's not to say we don't all collectively do we do.

And I just want to acknowledge that because folks don't always know the conversations that we have to have have to happen one-on-one, but this is all something that we all together care about and we're trying to work together to solve.

So I just wanted to acknowledge that, like I said, because it's hard for the public to know as they hear us talking here and there, some of us are in different forums or et cetera, that we very much are aligned.

And this is something that we're gonna work to.

And Council Member Kettle, thank you for bringing up the school district.

Cause I will say, because I chair the education committee, I am in constant contact with the school district and they are very much responsive.

And I wanted to say that out loud as well.

So thank you, Council President.

Thank you for the extra time.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

First of all, let me just say just very quickly.

Yeah, I was at the shooting at Ingram right afterwards and spoke there to the students, including the students at Lakeside High School and did the walkout with all the students.

And we marched to the University of Washington after that shooting and met with the school district.

So yeah, those of us that have raised our children, my children went to Nathan Hale and Eckstein.

But anyway, Council President Hollingsworth, I want to thank you for the phone call that you gave me when you returned from Rainier Beach.

And I want the community and people to hear this because I think that's real leadership when people give you the courtesy.

not only of a phone call, but to acknowledge that we're all in pain and this is something you were carrying.

And so I appreciate the call to tell me and you and I spoke about what that meant.

So for that, thank you.

On a different note, sorry to change the tone.

Happy Groundhog's Day.

So that is the only, it has its indigenous roots as you know.

That's the only holiday I actually recognize because changing of the seasons.

It means a lot to me.

Thank you, member, council member Strauss for all the memes saying happy Groundhog's Day.

Though none of you gave me gifts, I guess we got to end of business day to receive some gifts.

So I'll be waiting for those.

Let me go ahead and get through my committee briefing here because there's some stuff that came up that I want to come back to.

So the next Parks and City Light Committee is scheduled for February 18th and I want to come back to our meeting that's going to happen on March 18th regarding Seattle City Light and some licensing and some legislation that just came to fruition that I had a discussion about this morning.

I will be in Washington D.C.

next week to attend the Executive Council Winter Session of the National Congress of American Indians.

As you know, NCAI was founded in 1944. It's the oldest and largest most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of over 500 tribal governments and communities.

I've gone for 23 years.

In the last five years, Leslie Polna, our awesome lobbyist in Washington D., sets up our meetings.

on the Hill to meet with not only our congressional delegation and our senators, but also particular departments that are important.

I'll just say it because that's who I am.

The first time Mr. Trump was in office, it wasn't very good meeting with certain groups because quite frankly it just wasn't productive.

What I'm understanding is that it may not be as productive the second time, but that's okay, because we will be meeting with not only with tribal leadership and indigenous-led organizations, including our own local CLE and Health Board, United Indians Daybreak Star, Chief Seattle, they'll all be there doing their lobbying as well.

NCAI meets four times a year.

I only go to the December one or February one because that's the one where all the lobbyists, lawyers, and lawmakers are.

And that's where our two senators, Murray and Cantwell, always come to our luncheon, the Native Women Honoring Luncheon, and speak.

And we also have tons of leadership, not just from our congressional delegation, but across the country, which is always nice.

The issues that we touch on and work with on the city side and on the tribal government side and on indigenous led organizations side is appropriations and budget, cultural protection, economic development, environmental sustainability, infrastructure, community development, international advocacy, land and natural resources, legal governance, public safety, and social resources.

And often I'm asked to either chair one of these or some of these.

Somehow the tribes still think I work for them.

and also another big shout out to Leslie Polner.

She will be coordinating some of our meetings.

She also attends our luncheon, sets up our meetings with our congressional delegation and I'm looking forward to that as I am every year.

And we're also doing our 30th annual National Indian Women's Honor Luncheon, which I've shared.

It's organized by our own Auntie Julia Johnson, who's chaired the Native American Caucus, but this is something that we do separately that's not political, that we honor Native women who are leaders in city government, state government, and tribal government who are elected, and not just elected, but doing other things for their community.

Again, Senator Maria Cantwell will speak.

And of course, Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray take turns kind of emceeing or being our keynotes.

And we will also have Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan out of Minnesota, who's also a dear friend of mine.

She'll be speaking and she's there every year with me.

I will be emceeing the luncheon again with Council Member Theresa Shelton from the Tulalip Tribal Council.

And this year, we're honoring two very dear friends of mine.

Ashley Cornforth is the secretary treasurer of the Shanapki-Midawakan Sioux community, serves on the tribe's business council and oversees the day-to-day operations.

She's also the treasurer of NCAI.

And another dear friend of mine, I'm dating myself, going back to the 80s, Vareen Martin.

She's the vice president, director of tribal and corporate relations for Native American Finance Office Association, which I used to be a member of and chair since 1982. Well, that's when it started.

I wasn't on it in 82. She serves as advisory member to the American Indian Chamber of Commerce that was recently created, the American Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma, et cetera.

I wanna shout out to Vereen and these women who I've worked with for two or three decades.

are the ones that push the IRS to give tribes the same tax-exempt status as states and government and local municipalities in issuing tax-exempt bonds for essential governmental services, which is really key.

That was probably 30 years in the making and it finally happened.

It happened under the Biden administration, by the way.

Alright, so moving on with that, getting back to Seattle City Light.

I had a meeting this morning, a briefing from Maura, our friend Maura and Craig Smith.

And so we have a lot going on.

We're going to have a big meeting on March 18th.

Let me just briefly get through this.

I know it's a little wonky, but I wanted to get through it as I was handwriting it down.

Number one is the legislation that's happening now, House Bill 2515 and Senate Bill 6171 regarding data centers and large bill loads.

That is data centers that need to start paying for their energy costs, especially in light of AI.

We have that coming up.

And so as you know, since we're moving away from fossil fuels, we're moving towards electricity, rates are going to go up.

And so we'll have that in committee as many times as it takes to get it right.

The big deal here is, and this has been going on since the 90s, is the Skagit Hydro re-licensing.

The deadline, FERC has extended the deadline a few times, so we got to get it out of committee on the 8th.

We'll probably have two meetings, but we will get it out of committee.

And it is the re-licensing for the Skagit Hydro dams and the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, also known as the IRO.

and of course, as you know, it will also address some of the rate changes.

And I wanna thank Council Member Rink who used to chair this, who knows all about this stuff.

So this is gonna be very exciting.

And meeting with Mara and learning what's going on and Craig on the federal side, they are working with Representative Larson on the bill to FEMA reform bill.

And I have a copy of that if anyone is inclined to look at it, you don't have to.

So we got stuff going on with making the switch from fossil to electric, recognizing the data centers, not just AI and what that's going to do, but rates, you know, if you pull here, something's going to happen over here.

So we're going to have to look at rates and what that means and who's going to be paying more.

I'm really happy to hear that on the state side and the federal side that they're looking at it.

And then our governor came out in early January and then later on through a ProPublica report to bring up the data centers need to start paying their fair share.

I don't say fair share.

It doesn't really sound right.

we just got to up those costs so that it doesn't go to the individual residential rate payer.

Councilmember, did you have something you want to say?

I don't think you want to offer me that opportunity on Groundhog's Day.

Okay.

I just saw you shaking your head, so I'm sorry.

The judge came out to me like, is there something you want to say?

Okay.

But it is an issue, and aren't you in my committee?

Yes, this is what I mean.

I won't take up any more airtime, but this rates conversation that you're having was with Council Member Rink as the last chair.

It's just one that we urgently need to have and with the public.

And so thank you for being our leader.

You and I talked offline about this, what this means.

So this is, I know it's not new and I know with Council Member Rink as well.

So I'm just so excited and thrilled to do this.

So that being said, happy Groundhog's Day.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez, and it's great to hear your excitement for Seattle City Light and for rates.

I know you're gonna do a phenomenal job, and we're so happy that you are leading that committee.

Thank you, Councilmember Juarez.

Councilmember Foster.

Yeah, thank you, Council President, and happy Groundhog's Day.

I hope my team is back there scrounging up a gift right now so we can get that to you by the end of the day.

Yeah, we'll see what we can do.

We'll see what we can do.

And on the note of holidays, happy Black History Month.

And I will say, happy colleagues that I am working on the Black History Month proclamation.

And I just wanna let you all know it's on CP time.

So that's why we don't have any proclamations.

That's the president time, right?

Yep, that's right.

If any colleagues don't know, don't ask in committee.

I'll tell you behind closed doors.

It'll be right on time, right on season time.

So I'm very much looking forward to doing that and thank you colleagues for giving me the honor of doing that.

Why don't I say the things that I'm excited about for now and appreciate the council president.

Last Friday you invited me and it was an honor to get to attend with you at Washington Middle School.

and I'm sure you'll speak more about this in your remarks, but I just want to uplift your leadership and say thank you for making this possible.

For folks who didn't see it, the Seahawks made, along with Safeway and others, made a tremendous gift to help save the Washington Middle School Music Program.

But what folks may not know is that was really council president's leadership, so I want to appreciate you for that here today.

Thank you.

And it was an honor to join you there.

I'm excited because I have my voice back and I get to talk about the things that I've been doing.

So it's been a great first month in office here.

I've had lots of great meetings.

Colleagues, I was honored to be selected as the Vice Chair of the Board of Health.

So thank you to my colleagues who sit on that committee for your support and really excited about the work there.

particularly in the moment that we are in where we are seeing changes in vaccination schedules and things that impact core public health services where we are seeing people lose access to their Medicaid and Medicare and that's going to continue in the next few years with some of the rule changes.

Public health's work is incredibly important so I'm honored to have that designation and to serve there with my colleagues.

I have also been doing meetings with lots of folks in the housing community.

You asked Council Member Juarez about social housing.

So on February 11th, we're looking forward to having the social housing developer into committee to do a briefing.

There's been, as we know, a lot of changes at the developer.

So we'll talk about those.

We also wanna be really forward facing and thinking about what is needed to ensure that the developer can deliver on social housing and on the commitment that voters have now reified twice.

So I was pleased to co-sponsor the legislation that is moving through Council Member Strauss' committee on the interlocal agreement.

And so once that is voted on, the remainder of social housing business will then come through the Housing, Arts and Civil Rights Committee.

So we'll have a lot of opportunity to engage there.

Last week, I also had the opportunity to attend an immigration table that the executive hosted.

This was a separate one than Councilmember Rivera, but I just want to uplift some of the things that we were hearing in that space for other colleagues.

And I know many of us are doing a lot of engagement with folks, but it is important to bring this up.

In particular, things that I heard that really stuck with me were the outstanding need for the organizations who are responding to phone calls on their hotlines.

And they are seeing just a dramatic, dramatic increase in calls today, right now, already and previously in 2025. I also, colleagues, want to ask us not to forget, you know, we heard from folks, there's a continuing impact of the harassment that our Somali neighbors and child care providers experienced.

You know, it was in a new cycle for a couple of days, but I want to just make sure we're uplifting that that impact stays with those providers and with that community, and that there's a lot more attention and possible action that we want to take to keep people safe to keep them protected when people are showing up at their homes, showing up at facilities that have children, children, babies.

And so I just wanna call on us to make sure that we are keeping that front and center in our minds, although the news cycle around it has died down a little bit.

Okay, heavy there.

And related to that, my office has been working on an update to the Welcoming City Action Plan resolution.

So colleagues, I look forward to sharing more with you about that in the coming days.

And I applaud you for the work that was done previously on the previous Welcoming Cities Action Plan through this council.

And as we know, the federal government continues to let's call it iterate.

And as they do, we also need to make sure that we are looking at all of our practices across the board.

So some things that I will highlight in particular are how we're looking at data protections, not just for the city, but, you know, can we go beyond that and really inquire, what do we ask of our contractors?

How do we ensure that all of our public dollars that are being spent are requiring high standards and that we are not inadvertently supporting the actions of this federal administration.

There's more there that I think other colleagues will be moving forward, but other actions in that resolution will look at not just the look at our city property.

And that was in the mayor's announcement, but we want to make sure any property the city has an interest in period is protected.

So looking forward to sharing more about that resolution with colleagues and other folks here will have some updates.

Other meetings, I've been out with Climate Pledge, with Transit Advocates.

This morning I had folks from STG in the arts community, tons of stuff that's happening there, and I look forward to sharing more as we put together the work plan for my committee.

And I'll close this out with saying, you know, on Friday, Council Member Lynn and myself were in a meeting with Rainier Beach Action Coalition, and we were in that meeting I think we were there 2.30 to 4 on Friday.

And that's my community.

I live in Rainier Beach.

And before I talk about the shooting, I wanna talk about some of the things that were said in that meeting.

And in particular colleagues, I think for all of us who touch anything around housing, around transportation, around development, we all know that the light rail stations in the south end are the only stations in the city that are built at grade.

where you have pedestrians interfacing with the trains, crossing the street.

I see it every day.

I worry about my kid who's now learning to take the train by himself.

And I have to say every time, you have to stop and then you have to look three times because it is these intersections, the infrastructure, they're a real safety issue.

And in particular, what I wanna say, and Councilman Berlin, I'll allow you to speak to this more.

So I know this isn't really important to you as well, but we owe a lot of focus there.

and folks in that meeting shared with us, we've been saying the same thing for 20 plus years.

They walked us through a plan from the 90s, a neighborhood plan from the 90s that we have not made good on.

And so I think it is really important that we are making sure that we continue to listen to community.

And I heard that call, but I also wanna make sure that we are doing the work to look at what folks have already told us and that we are making sure that we are making good on those actions there.

and I'll close the saying, and that relates to the loss of the two students on Friday, which is devastating beyond words.

You know, my heart has been very heavy there as a neighbor, as a mom, as a community member, but also really focused as a council member.

And I think that we owe that to all of our communities.

You know, something that I wanna lift up for us if folks haven't seen it is, Converge Media shared an interview and I wanna say it was a convening from 2023 with students.

And so as we think of the moment that we're in now, I wanna invite colleagues to go back and watch that video if you have not seen it to make sure that we are again, listening to the things that members have already uplifted for us to act on and that we are using that as a starting point.

Thank you.

Thank you Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Rink.

Thank you for your work Councilmember Foster this weekend.

I actually want to start by recognizing your work Councilmember Foster and your work Councilmember Lynn and Council President you as well for really responding to community need and showing up.

Councilmember Lynn, I believe you even held office hours this weekend.

Yeah.

I want to thank you for really showing up in community at a time where we really, really needed it.

And just fully acknowledging, you know, we had two major incidents of gun violence this weekend.

Another one in Pioneer Square.

And of course, the loss of two young people in our community is absolutely devastating.

I am heartbroken, I am shaken, I am angry.

And my heart is with the families in the Rainier Beach community and our kids and families deserve better than this.

and I've been reflecting a lot on this weekend of how we've failed people.

People are exhausted, they're tired of words, they want action and we need to do good in delivering on that.

And I look forward to working with each of you on how we do right on that promise.

But again, wanna honor the work that colleagues you all did this weekend.

Thank you.

To that point, I'll be moving on for a couple of points related to committee and then close with some other pieces related to community events.

Our first meeting of the Human Services Labor and Economic Development Committee meeting is happening this Friday, February 6th at 9.30 a.m.

We will be having a briefing and discussion on the Westlake vision and planning resolution as well as a briefing from the Human Services Department on senior and disability services and a briefing from the Office of Labor Standards, generally about the work that they've been up to for the past couple of years.

So really excited about that and hope folks can join.

Last week, Council President circulated a memo to reestablish the federal committee.

Thank you for that.

Council Member Kettle, thank you for serving as vice chair.

Colleagues, I really roped him into it.

Colleagues, we will be having our first meeting on March 5th.

I know many offices are working on legislation related to federal response.

I know our office is working on like five different things right now.

And so colleagues, I just ask if we can just have conversations about, you know, whether, however much you're comfortable sharing would be great, but I just want to recognize that not every piece of legislation needs to run through federal committee.

I know last year we took up the Welcoming City Resolution in committee, but we took up Seattle Shield in finance.

And so I want to acknowledge that, but also work carefully on committee planning.

I know I've been in conversation with other committee chairs on separate pieces of legislation and where we route things to.

We know we want to move and so just ask for some open communication so we can do that careful planning work and make sure legislation can be heard in a timely fashion.

Building on that, I wanna lift up also happy Black History Month.

Council Member Foster, excited to hear that you'll be bringing forward the proclamation this year.

Happy Groundhog's Day.

Council Member Juarez, your gift is chairing the City Light Committee.

The building on that point.

I want to express a lot of gratitude to you.

I'll work on it.

I'll work on it, but I truly want to express also my gratitude for you taking on that committee, the utility.

It's an incredible thing that we have a public utility like City Light, and we need to do right by stewarding it well.

for the sake of rate payers across the city.

And there's a lot facing utility.

Things have been just over the past year heading in a better place, but still things are fragile.

And so wishing best of luck on the committee.

I wish I was on the committee at least this year, but I still want to be- God bless you.

We all got a lot of work to do, but thank you for shepherding the utility during this time.

And I'll close with a couple of external events.

Council President, I joined last Monday at Horizon House for their groundbreaking, just really exciting to see development happening in First Hill area.

And I can't recall off the top of my head how many floors there's going to be in the new building.

It's something tall.

Over 30 or something.

Over 30 floors.

So just really exciting to see more senior housing coming into the city.

It makes a real difference when we're talking about keeping families together.

if you can be nearby to be able to go visit your folks, it's really important.

And lastly, I wanted to touch on an event I went to called the Arts to Ashes performance at Benaroya Hall to honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the liberation of Auschwitz.

As you can imagine, the themes of the performance certainly resonated with what we're experiencing today when we're talking about discrimination, racism, concentration camps.

and genocide.

And so I just wanna lift up that there's a lot of incredible community events happening.

Art continues to be just a powerful vehicle for really conveying a message, but also kind of drawing and tying together our history.

And so I wanted to recognize that, encourage everyone to go to things at Benaroya Hall.

We have an incredible arts community.

And with that, those are my updates for today.

Happy to take any questions.

Any questions for Council Member Rink?

Awesome.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Council Member Lynn.

Thank you, Council President.

Just to start off briefly, I do have Land Use Committee meeting this week.

It's gonna be on the State Environmental Policy Act thresholds.

So look forward to having that discussion.

This coming Saturday, there will be a Chinese Expulsion Remembrance March.

so if you don't know back in the late 1800s there was a lot of mob activity where Chinese communities were being attacked and driven out of places in LA and San Francisco and Tacoma and Seattle and so there'll be a Remembrance March starting around 10 in Hing Hei Park so we'll be attending that.

Thank you Councilmember Foster for talking about the Rainier Breach Action Coalition.

I think It was devastating to walk out of that meeting.

It was both sort of a reminder of the lack of investment, the poor choices we've made to certain communities and the harm that's happened, and then to walk out of that meeting getting alerts about the shooting just a few blocks away.

Just want to speak about this weekend, the Friday, what the events of this weekend, this coming week.

I do want to say thank you to Council President Hollingsworth for being there Friday and for Council Member Foster for being there.

and others that showed up the mayor's office showed up and was getting a ticket for one of the moms was not in the area and needed a flight and they were getting her a flight immediately the the mayor was on the plane and the first thing she did when she got off the plane was to show up and that I think was meaningful Councilmember Rivera, you talked about hearing a mom, and I will never forget hearing a mom, the grief.

I can't imagine anything worse in life than losing your child that way, and I will never forget hearing that grief.

and it is painful so not only Black History Month, it's also Black Lives Matter School Week and not only the pain for the moms and the families but on Saturday there was a vigil there and there were so many youth there that the pain in their faces, the fear, the grief.

So it was two Rainier Beach High School seniors what they are dealing with that community.

I do wanna say thank you to all the community violence intervention groups and nonprofits who spring into action in these types of events who work with these kids and do everything they can to support them and are deeply hurt themselves, but they have to put their emotions aside so that they can spring in to support, to do what they can to help kids grieve, also to prevent further violence.

Thank you, Council President.

We were there at Rainier Beach this morning.

All the staff from all the surrounding schools, there's a number of schools there, South Shore K-8, Allen Sugiyama, Dunlap, we're all at Rainier Beach this morning to provide some space for all the educators who, again, similarly know these students, work with them, care about them deeply, are impacted, and yet they have to then also support their students who were...

there was a delayed start.

Yeah, this is tough.

I also just think about one of the moms who lost her son had also lost her own mother from gun violence.

and I just think about the intergenerational violence or the intergenerational impact of the violence rather.

I think about the violence that has been inflicted upon our black community for centuries and the toll that has taken, that has been perpetuated or condoned by government, by our communities.

and it is just devastating for this.

To continue, for Councilmember Kettle, you talked about the need for better collaboration coordination and it is absolutely essential that we do better as a city, that we do better as a community, that we work with our Seattle Public Schools.

I do think there is, an opportunity here with a new superintendent.

There is strong interest in the school board members that I've spoken to, and I've met with school board members earlier last week who want to have more regular meetings with us to collaborate with Seattle Police Department and Parks.

our community violence intervention nonprofits, our housing providers, Seattle Housing Authority, and many of our other housing providers who work with our youth.

It is gonna take all of us coming together to help our youth heal, to prevent the next strategy.

and I'll just say one last point.

I also think we need to work with some of our businesses, some of our social media companies who oftentimes there can be some escalation that occurs on social media and there's been an effort I heard from the principal today who was telling her kids, her students to get off social media because of the trauma it can further and so I think we need to work with them as well on the real mental health impacts that have continued to worsen.

Just Absolutely committed to work with each and every one of you.

There's nothing more important than our kids, than safety, and we owe it to them to do everything in our power.

And so I look forward to working with each and every one of you on that.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Lynn.

Are there any questions for Councilmember Lynn?

Council President, if I could just...

Absolutely.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember Lynn.

I know it's your district, and so it was a hard weekend for you personally, and thank you for being there with your constituents.

And I always say I represent one area of the city, but we all represent the entire city, and I care about the entire city.

So thank you for being there.

I wholeheartedly agree about working together and I will say the impacts of social media should not be downplayed and I know that the schools do in some classrooms kids have to put their phones away to so they can learn but this is beyond just the schools right this is I don't know what we can do together.

And I know there's a couple bills in Olympia related to AI and kids.

And so we need to support those efforts as well.

But making sure that we are doing all we can to support kids, get off social media, not just when they're at school, but just in general, because I do think it's having Well, studies show it has a huge impact.

So thank you for uplifting that and thank you for being there with community this weekend is what I wanted to say.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, go ahead.

Sorry, I just want to say thank you for that.

It is impacting all of our districts.

Obviously, we've had gun violence in schools and around schools and across the city.

Rainier Beach has been particularly hard hit for many, many years.

I do just wanna say one more thing.

There has been a call from the community for community members to show up after dismissal, so from approximately 3.30 to 5. down at Rainier and Henderson.

So we'll be down and that'll be all week.

So we'll be down there as much as we can, but just to show some love for this community that they really need it.

So thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Lynn.

And not trying to switch subjects, because I will talk about that, but I'll get through some of my items of business.

So first off, happy Groundhog Day.

I don't have a gift for you.

I'm going to just be honest.

Sorry.

Everyone went around the table, and no one said, go Hawks, because this is our...

I just wanted to highlight that.

Okay, this is our last...

Monday briefing before Super Bowl Sunday.

Just wanted to say it, so I'll say it for all of us, okay?

Go Hawks.

Hawks.

Hawks.

Very excited about Black History Month.

This is gonna be...

Thank you, Councilmember Foster, for taking that on.

I know Councilmember Saka did one.

I think we did one together.

Councilmember Solomon.

So it's a tradition that our Black Councilmembers, we pass the torch.

We are so grateful for you to take that on.

It's been 100 years celebrating Black History Month, so...

Awesome and I do want to say during this time there's a lot of stuff going on the federal government a lot of people don't know a lot of erasure is happening for black communities and black history all across the country whether it's in Philadelphia museums they're taking names down parks all these different things I think it's important that we're highlighting and and preserving that history.

So thank you, Councilmember Foster, for taking that on.

The one thing about going last, which is great, is that an event that I went with you at that I forgot about, you all have highlighted that, so thank you.

I will jump into our governance utilities meeting will be Thursday, February 12th.

That'll be at 930. We are not finished with the agenda, but we will have items from SPU and information technology as well.

So we're still figuring that piece out.

We also had the regional water quality committee, Councilmember Kettle.

I'm sorry you're not on that committee with me anymore.

Very sad.

But I know that we have a new member, Councilmember Lynn, who's going to be joining us.

Thank you for that.

We did the work plan agenda for the first meeting.

Phenomenal.

And then last but not least, two things.

Thank you Councilmember Foster for joining us for Save the Music for Washington Middle School.

You and Director Song, that was fabulous.

It was a great start, great ending.

Great start to the Friday.

Okay, I'll just say that.

So thank you all for being there.

And then also the Horizon House, which was great.

Thank you, Council Member Rink for joining us.

That was phenomenal, that event.

They had a ton of people.

And last but not least, and I know just...

and I know that we have highlighted like the teachers, the educators at Rainier Beach High School, but just big thank you to Council Member Lynn.

You were everywhere and just so dialed in and thank you.

And then I know Council Member Foster, that is your neighborhood.

My parents live right up the street, know a ton of people in Rainier Beach.

And just like, I know that we all This is a non-partisan issue when we're talking about kids, our babies, making sure that they are safe.

And it's very traumatic.

And I will say this, Seattle has always been the tale of two cities.

It's been the tale of two cities where there are people that do not understand what are going on in these neighborhoods.

There are kids who have not left Rainier and Henderson in the Central District, and that is all that they know.

And the other address they know is the King County Jail across the street.

That's the other address that they know.

Understanding that Seattle's been the tale of two cities, that we need to listen.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster for highlighting that we just need to listen to what these communities have asked for.

They said it two years ago.

They're going to say it again.

They said it today, this morning, when we're walking the halls and talking to them, they said it again.

We just need to implement that and make sure that those resources are there and we pay attention.

And the underinvestment that we've done in Rainier Beach, average household income of a black family, $55,000.

That is the Black History Month thing.

And I appreciate you always, colleagues, listening to that and uplifting that and trying to shift resources so we can make sure that communities are well resourced.

Last but not least, what I will do, because I believe that if kids knew their history, it would reveal their potential greatness.

So for Black History Month, once a week, I'm going to highlight an amazing person with an artifact.

Council Member Strauss and his dad have seen my collection.

They haven't seen all of it, but they've seen my collection.

So I'm gonna bring an item once a week and I'm gonna highlight it.

So hopefully you all, it's only gonna be one minute.

We're gonna have one minute of Black History Month artifacts Week one's gonna be Althea Gibson Magazine.

We'll talk about her.

The second one will be a book from the 1800s, Booker T. Washington, his first book, Up From Slavery.

I have that first edition.

Third one's gonna be a Marian Anderson She was on the cover in 1950, first black woman on the front of a cover.

And I also have a signed autograph thing from her.

You will all see that.

And we're gonna talk about this so the kids can kind of see it, and we'll cut it, because if they knew their history, it would build their potential greatness.

And last but not least, for the fourth week, we're gonna have a book from the 1800s from Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

He was a...

Poet, I do have something from Shirley Chisholm.

I can bring that as well.

We can do a double one on week four.

I have a...

Yes.

I just want to know that you all get a month.

We get one day.

Okay, I'm just going to point that out.

I believe Council Member Strauss would like to comment.

Well, you get a day, but you had to make that day, President Emeritus Suarez.

I just want to say, Council Member Juarez, you all, we can do it the whole year.

This is integrated Native American heritage pride.

This is your land.

We are on it, right?

So we will do that.

So anyhow, colleagues, that will be my contribution for this month.

And I just want to say to the young people in Rainier Beach that We are listening and we hear you, all of our colleagues.

I know every single one of you.

I know every single colleague here.

I know your heart.

You have always, each and every one of you, have talked about making sure our kids are safe and making sure that they can be able to to be successful in our city.

And so this is something that the council is dedicated to, administrators, I know our mayor's office, the Seattle Public Schools, the teachers, literally everyone, the community.

We have to figure this out because we should not be used to this.

This should not be normalized for our kids.

And thank you all for also bringing up the social media piece as well.

see a comment and how I'm able to process it is very different than a 12 and 13 year old.

It's very different.

So just understanding that piece and making sure that we can have the resources on the ground to the community folks that are actually doing the work and making sure people are safe.

So with that, I will stop.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

I just want to Quickly comment on the Rainier Beach murders.

Wanted to give due deference to the people who represent the district.

and our Chair of our Education Committee as well, Councilmember Rivera.

But as it just so happened that this tragedy happened in Council District 2, but it is certainly capable of repetition across all Council districts outside of incorporated City of Seattle boundary lines, inside and outside of it.

It tragically has and we need to do better I can only imagine what it's like, as a parent of my own three young kids, imagine what it's like to know that I'm not gonna be able to say goodnight to my kids anymore and live through the pain and anguish of dealing with a loss of not just a loved one, but a child.

So we need to do better.

I also want to applaud the leadership of Council Members, Lynn Foster, Council President, for showing up.

That is a critical first step.

And I think we're all aligned on doing better and doing more as a city, as a region, because we need to take additional actions.

If we're the only ones doing it and the school district doesn't take parallel actions in the county and the state and the feds, then our collective value and impact will be significantly limited and constrained.

This has been weighing heavily on me as well, and I'll never forget losing a Chief Self International High School student the very first month of my first term in office, or my term in office in January, 15-year-old Mubarak Adam.

And so I've leveraged community insight and feedback into various policy, things and approaches that I've taken, including most recently during this fall budget process, the community was asking for more after-school programming through parks, and so we had $250,000 for that.

And so I know we're all committed to this work, but I do want to applaud the leadership of my colleagues for showing up.

Second thing was, as Councilmember Brink noted, there was actually multiple homicides in this city.

over the weekend, tragically, including one in my council district in Pioneer Square, in a parking garage, one person killed, multiple people shot, and the irony here is that Me and my offices have been directly engaged on this specific site.

It's a known problem site, the parking garage, the Alliance for Pioneer Square, which is the BIA in Pioneer Square, along with the residents in Pioneer Square, consistently elevated this one site as a known problem area.

And I've had many conversations with our executive department partners, including our police department about this.

I'm hopeful that we'll be able to do more as a city to take stronger action because this one was another sort of preventable tragedy.

So in any event, on a significantly lighter note, yes, happy Groundhog's Day.

Happy Groundhog's Day.

I'm told that Poxitoni Phil, is that the groundhog's name?

He saw a shadow in six months.

No, we don't recognize Phil.

I know, I know, I know.

That top hat has got to go.

No.

But he did see his shadow, so.

I don't care what Phil saw.

Retreat.

That's not how we do it.

There it is.

But thank you, Council Member Saka.

There it is.

It is Groundhog's Day.

That is all.

Okay.

Thank you.

Team effort.

Team effort with everything going on.

All right.

Is there any further business to come before the council?

Council President.

Council Member?

Just recognizing that Maslow took his hierarchy of needs and stole it from the Blackfeet Nation.

Thank you.

That is, pardon me, history.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Councilmember Strauss.

All right, if there's no further business, this meeting is adjourned.

It is 321. Thank you, colleagues.

Go Hawks.

Go Hawks.