Seattle City Council 2212023

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today is February 21st, 2023. The meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is two o'clock in the afternoon.

I'm Tamim Morales.

I'm serving as Council President Pro Tem today.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Peterson?

Present.

Council Member Sawant?

Present.

Council Member Strauss?

Present.

Council Member Herbold?

Here.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Present.

Council Member Nelson.

Present.

Council President Pro Tem Morales.

Here.

Seven present.

Thank you.

If there's no objection, Council Members Lewis and Juarez will be excused from today's council meeting.

Hearing no objection, those council members are excused.

Presentations.

So at this time, I'd like to invite Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell to provide remarks and the official delivery of Mayor Harrell's 2023 State of the City Address.

Thank you.

Dear esteemed council members, I am here to present the official state of the city address.

I want to thank each of you for your work in the last year of business together.

We have had a really fruitful relationship in moving this city forward.

And also just thank you for the work that we will do together in the next year.

I think what we heard from the mayor's state of the city address is that with both optimism and hard work, this city can be truly what we want it to be, the city of the future, the Seattle of the future.

And each one of you plays a critical role in that work together.

So it is with a profound thank you that I present to you the state of the city address and that I just express from the executive office that we look forward to this next year together, moving things forward for our entire city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Senior Deputy Mayor Harrell.

We all heard from the mayor today about the work that he's got planned, his vision for the city, and we look forward to working with the executive on fast implementation of street safety measures, on getting an alternative crisis response system up and running, and really serving the people of Seattle with the urgency and knowing we've got a lot of work to do.

Okay, thank you very much.

Colleagues at this time, we will open the hybrid public comment period.

We have over 300 people signed up today.

And so I am going to shorten the standard public comment period to 45 seconds.

in hopes that we are able to get through everyone.

We'll start with, let's start with the remote, sorry, I know we do have one elected official here, Redmond City Council member, Farisha Khan is here in person or online?

I don't know the answer.

I think they're available online.

Okay.

So, it is our custom at Council to begin with elected officials so I do want to welcome Councilmember Khan first and then we will go through 10 remote and then 10 in-person speakers so that we can alternate.

I believe we have 77 or so folks signed up in chambers.

So we will alternate until we get through those and then we will finish with the folks who are signed in remotely.

So, Madam Clerk, I'll hand it over to you to present the instructions for the public comment period, and then we will begin.

Hello, Seattle.

We are the Emerald City, the City of Flowers and the City of Goodwill, built on indigenous land, the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples.

The Seattle City Council welcomes remote public comment and is eager to hear from residents of our city.

If you would like to be a speaker and provide a verbal public comment, you may register two hours prior to the meeting via the Seattle City Council website.

Here's some information about the public comment proceedings.

Speakers are called upon in the order in which they registered on the council's website.

Each speaker must call in from the phone number provided when they registered online and used the meeting ID and passcode that was emailed upon confirmation.

If you did not receive an email confirmation, please check your spam or junk mail folders.

A reminder, the speaker meeting ID is different from the general listen line meeting ID provided on the agenda.

Once a speaker's name is called, the speaker's microphone will be unmuted and an automatic prompt will say, the host would like you to unmute your microphone.

That is your cue that it's your turn to speak.

At that time, you must press star six.

You will then hear a prompt of, you are unmuted.

Be sure your phone is unmuted on your end so that you will be heard.

As a speaker, you should begin by stating your name and the item that you are addressing.

A chime will sound when 10 seconds are left in your allotted time as a gentle reminder to wrap up your public comments.

At the end of the allotted time, your microphone will be muted and the next speaker registered will be called.

Once speakers have completed providing public comment, Please disconnect from the public comment line and join us by following the meeting via Seattle Channel broadcast or through the listening line option listed on the agenda.

The council reserves the right to eliminate public comment if the system is being abused or if the process impedes the council's ability to conduct its business on behalf of residents of the city.

Any offensive language that is disruptive to these proceedings or that is not focused on an appropriate topic as specified in Council rules may lead to the speaker being muted by the presiding officer.

Our hope is to provide an opportunity for productive discussions that will assist our orderly consideration of issues before the Council.

The public comment period is now open.

and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.

Please remember to press star six after you hear the prompt of, you have been unmuted.

Thank you, Seattle.

Who's our first guest speaker?

Our first speaker is Council Member Khan from Redmond.

Thank you, they'll unmute him.

Her, Council Member.

You can press star six.

Hello, can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Hi, good afternoon.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, esteemed council members.

My name is Barisha Khan, and I'm speaking today to urge the council to vote yes on Council Member Sawant's ordinance to ban caste discrimination.

As a council member with a fair number of South Asian constituents, some of whom may be in the room with you today, And as a South Asian myself I can vouch that caste and caste discrimination are present and functioning in the greater Seattle area.

Over the years I've heard the stories from the caste-oppressed community facing discrimination without legal recourse and how many of them have had to hide their caste to ensure that they don't get discriminated by dominant caste members who can act with impunity.

I urge you to make civil rights history and vote yes today.

And thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, our first remote speaker is present.

If you could hold your applause, that'd help us move through more people.

But our first remote speaker that is present is Prashant.

Prashant?

Prashant is here.

Prashant is signed up online.

Let's go through the remote speakers first.

If Prashant is in chambers, then we can find that name on the signup sheets that are in chambers.

Oh, yes.

Please go ahead.

I urge you all to vote yes today on the ordinance to ban caste discrimination in Seattle.

I'm an Indian immigrant tech worker and member of the Alphabet Workers Union, as well as the Ambedkar Association of North America.

In my workplace, I have first-hand witnessed caste-based slurs, attacks on Dalit tech workers and their abilities, discriminatory hiring based on dominant caste identities, and a general culture of fear that can't be reported due to a lack of caste protection and non-action from the company.

This is why our union has called for caste protection, and this ordinance will be a major step to help caste-oppressed workers, which includes women, queer folk, immigrants, contact workers, and many others.

Please vote yes today on this urgent workers and civil rights issue and do not listen to bigoted organizations and stand on the right side of history.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Neha Singh.

Neha Singh.

Hi, I thank the council for their time.

I'm urging the council to vote for justice by voting no today.

The founder of Equality Lab, Sounder Rajan, has incorrectly identified Kast herself.

She attacked Praag Agarwal, Twitter's former CEO, claiming that he was not deserving of his position due to him being a Brahmin.

This vitriol was misplaced because Praag is not a Brahmin, but the damage of this hate speech had already been done.

It actually makes sense that the EQ Lab founder was wrong because Americans of South Asian descent aren't born or raised with intrinsic knowledge of Kast.

This ordinance is attempting to create a formula in a space where no one knows what they're talking about.

There is no way to ID cast as the EQ Labs team has proven themselves.

I asked the council to open their eyes.

Look at the community the ordinance seeks to malign.

Look at the players behind this ordinance and their consistent hatred for Hinduism.

This ordinance is Hinduphobic and so are its proponents.

This is why I'm urging the council to vote no.

Thank you for your time.

Our next speaker, our next remote speaker is Rajeshwari with the last initial G.

Rajeshwari.

Namaste.

My name is Rajeshwari, and I appeal to you to please vote no on the caste ordinance.

Here's why.

Current law covers all forms of discrimination.

The YCR is spending upwards of $285,000 on a redundant law that targets a 3% minority community.

This attempts to interpret religion while it's our civil rights and is discriminatory because it only targets South Asians.

100-plus organizations, including Dalits and Bhauzan organizations, have signed the petition against this ordinance.

Why are our voices not being heard?

Why is the rush to bring in this ill-conceived ordinance that's sure to hurt a community that's contributing greatly to the success of this nation?

Why the last-minute changes or lack of transparency?

How is any of this democratic?

Does it not go against the founding principles of this nation and the values it stands for?

I hope good sense prevails and you do what is morally correct instead of falling for fake propaganda.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alana Rall.

Alana Rall.

Hi yes.

I'm Alana.

I urge the council to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste-based discrimination and implement it with no delays.

I'm with Equality Labs and I'm a white working class student from a Christian background.

This issue is not complex.

Caste-oppressed people have risked their safety to testify so that you have all the information you need to do what's right.

Caste discrimination is a global human rights issue and we need immediate release in Seattle.

This ordinance would give caste-oppressed people safety to talk about their experience without fear of backlash.

It is your responsibility to make Seattle safe for everyone.

Stand for civil rights and ensure Seattle is a welcome city to all.

If you believe in social justice, choose the right side of history and vote yes today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Madhav Pramanand.

Madhav Pramanand.

Am I on?

Go ahead.

Hi, I'm a current student and a member of an inter-caste, interfaith coalition at Washington University, and I urge all council members to unanimously vote yes on the bill to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle.

While the right-wing opposition may claim that doing so will lead to institutional discrimination against Seattle's South Asian and Indian Hindu communities, as a caste-based Hindu myself, I believe this to be extremely unlikely.

Discrimination for being a Hindu of Indian and South Asian descent is already protected under existing categories of religion, ethnicity, and race, respectively, unlike caste, which, despite what the opposition may say, is explicitly not covered under these categories.

Rather than resulting in discrimination and prejudice, Council Member Sonsville would instead place Seattle at historic forefront of human rights in the nation.

Once again, I urge you all to vote unanimously yes on Council Member Sonsville.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Richa Dube.

Richa Dube.

Richa Dube.

Have you pressed star six?

Yes, I did.

Go ahead, thank you.

Thank you.

I urge all council members to unanimously vote yes to include caste as someone who is a member of an oppressor caste and who has witnessed firsthand for the better part of a decade, incidents of caste-based discrimination in the social and in work settings These pass as cultural, and people who would have you think that they're part of our culture will wave the Hinduphobic flag.

Please listen to the voices of the oppressed, center the marginalized.

In solidarity, Jai Bhim.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Radhika Marwaha.

Radhika Marwaha.

I urge all council members to vote yes on this ordinance.

I'm a dominant caste Hindu and Sikh member of the National Academic Coalition for Caste Equity and have witnessed several instances of caste discrimination against my peers in classrooms, student orgs, housing situations and more.

Casteism is a gender justice issue, a worker's rights issue, an anti-racist and indigenous rights issue.

Don't let those experiencing fragility such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad America and their caste supremacist friends detract from that.

Those who oppose this ordinance, including AKF and Devduttar Dash, have previously supported the CAA and NRC moves, which were unanimously condemned by this council already.

You know these biggest groups stood against them before.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ubi Patel.

Ubi Patel.

Hello, my name is Ubi, and I'm speaking as a CAAS privileged Hindu student at Harvard.

I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance by council members to want to ban caste-based discrimination.

Growing up in the United States in a caste-privileged Hindu enclave, I was shielded from the reality of caste discrimination in the United States.

Influenced by those around me, I too at one point parroted the bigoted, unfounded talking points of the opposition.

But the reality is that I have never had to walk into a room and wonder whether I will be judged for my caste.

I have never had to worry about unequal access and disparate treatment in a place of worship, employment, or other place because of my caste.

Unfortunately, the same does not ring true for so many caste-oppressed people in this country.

Again, I want to emphasize, as a practicing Hindu of Indian origin with caste privilege, it does not harm the South Asian community in any way to pass this ordinance.

Do the right thing, vote yes, and be the first in the country to outlaw caste-based discrimination.

Thank you.

Our last speaker in this rotation, the last remote speaker in this rotation is Satwik with the last initial N.

And after the speaker, we'll move to 10 in-person speakers.

So Satwik with the last initial N, please.

Hi, am I audible?

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Yes, you are.

Go ahead.

Perfect.

Respected Seattle City Council members, I strongly urge you to vote yes on the ordinance to back half of the formation.

I'm a caste-coordinated Hindu male from an inter-caste background with Hinduism human rights.

I myself have seen caste discrimination in a tech workplace and even among my U.S. volunteers.

I'm worried that we're going to be using the excuse of the complexity of caste to prevent concrete actions that will explicitly implement protections against caste discrimination.

Is racial discrimination complex?

Is gender discrimination complex?

Sure.

But we have explicit protections against those, and we should do the same for caste.

If you truly believe in Seattle's vision as a progressive city, you will vote yes on this measure.

Thank you.

We'll now move into in-person speakers.

Our first in-person speaker is number one, Rita Mayer.

Is there a Rita?

Hello, I'm Rita Mehar, co-founder and executive director of Tasvi, a local nonprofit of 21 years that hosts the largest South Asian film festival in America.

And we also partner with Netflix and Alaska Airlines to support South Asian filmmakers here.

I ask the Seattle City Council members to vote yes on the ordinance and please do not delay this vote and vote today.

This is very personal for me.

On January 24th, when the ordinance was proposed, I publicly came out as an Adivasi.

Adivasis are indigenous tribal communities who face cast discrimination and untouchability along with Dalits.

I faced socioeconomic ostracism growing up in India and continue to face pernicious operations in the South Asian settings.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Our next speaker is Sam.

Hey.

If we wanna get through even a third of the speakers, we'll need to speed it up a little bit.

Please, Sam K, number two.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Sam.

I'm here to urge council to vote yes for the anti-caste ordinance.

I see posters here saying, what's the rush?

Thanks for reminding me about the urgency of this resolution.

I grew up in a socially segregated, untouchable community in India, and I have been working in Seattle area for 13 years now.

This resolution is for me and my family.

Caste discrimination exists in South Asian communities.

27% of us practice untouchability in today's India.

And we are less likely to get job calls back, 20% less than the per-caste people.

Then what's the rush?

Isn't 1,000 years of discrimination enough?

Isn't one extra day of system without protection against discrimination too long to wait?

This needs to stop now.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Our next speaker.

Number three, Reverend Kerry Anderson.

Jodi, could I suggest you call a couple folks up so they can get up on the mic and be ready.

That's a great idea.

So we have Reverend Kerry Anderson next, who will be followed by Jim Henderson.

Jim or Tim Anderson?

Council members, I am Pastor Kerry Anderson, pastor of First AME Church, Seattle's oldest black church and the oldest black church in the state of Washington.

I am standing with over 200 organizations in support of the ordinance to pass caste-based discrimination.

I have a letter that was sent to the council by the distinguished professor, Dr. Cornel West, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City who writes, and I quote, I am writing to the council with unapologetic support for the historic ordinance proposed to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle.

I only have a minute, just 60 seconds in it, but only a tiny little minute, but our destiny is in it.

I urge your support of the passing of this ordinance.

Our next speaker is Jim Henderson, followed by Maya Campbell.

Go ahead, please, followed by Maya Campbell.

I was a pastor for a long time, but I was in India.

Caste is to India what slavery is to the United States.

Slavery is our apartheid.

Casteism is India's apartheid.

Unlike slavery, caste has dodged the bullet, professed progressive thought, especially in the West, where it's viewed as folklore or even quaint.

Seattle is a proud heritage of welcoming people from different backgrounds, but intellectual genius does not excuse casteism.

Seattle has led the way in so many ways, including tech, aerospace, music, and coffee, of course.

We're all known all over the world as leaders, but with that position comes responsibility.

The caste masters want you to look the other way, to say there's no there there.

B.R.

Ambedkar, who was a chief architect of the Constitution of India, there Thomas Jefferson said, caste is not

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Maya Campbell.

And following Maya Campbell is Joe Shugru.

I urge all council members to vote yes to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle today.

I come from a caste-oppressed community, and I'm a member of Ambedkar Association of North America.

I'm representing a coalition of 30 strong caste-oppressed organizations.

I have faced caste-based discrimination when I worked under a dominant caste manager, and that's why this law is important.

This law is being opposed by the most right-wing orgs like VHP.

Vote yes today.

And to all council members, delay in vote is delay in justice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Joe Shugrue.

Joe will be followed by P.

Meghna.

Joe will be followed by the first initial P, last name Meghna.

My name is Joe Segru.

I'm a teacher and a member of the NSCA, personal capacity, and also a member of Socialist Alternative.

And I urge the city council to pass this historic ordinance banning casteism today, no delay.

For our South Asian community members to be facing discrimination based on a part of their identity is completely intolerable.

And this ordinance is an important step in ending those behaviors.

As an educator, I see my students and their communities scared of the emboldened far-right attacking them for being trans, black, and caste-oppressed.

A victory today is something that will push back against the right-wing offensive.

Capitalism is the root of all oppression.

An injury to one is an injury to all, meaning it is both our moral responsibility to fight alongside all workers, and it is crucial to the strength of all of our movements.

I urge all union siblings to join this fight.

Thank you, Council Member Saldana, for bringing this forward, and I look forward to years ahead when casteism

Thank you.

Our next speaker is P Magna.

P will be followed by Ram Kumkar.

You're aware both mics are operating.

If you don't want to speak at the end, you can speak right in the middle too.

Go ahead.

P Magna.

Okay, the next speaker is Ram Kumar.

And Ram will be followed by Dr. Amanil Islam.

Good afternoon.

I am here to say yes in support of the ordinance to add caste as a protected category.

I am Ram Kumar, tech worker from the oppressed caste background and belong to Ambedkar International Center.

These are the emails.

Many of them were sent to hundreds of the people, individual HR manager, and the individuals, college professors, requesting that please don't hire SCST, OBC's caste of India.

He's requesting that kill them in the examinations and request to throw stones on them till they perish.

This is the proof.

This is not a phobia.

And more disgusting, this person says that women from caste, this lower caste on H-1B visa survive on prostitution.

This is the time to say, yes, be on the side of the justice and create the legacy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dr. Amanil Islam, who will be followed by Tak Shaq.

Mr. Alex Peterson is our council member, and my name is Dr. Aminul Islam.

I bought a leaky house about three years ago.

I filled the drain kit, spending only less than $900.

But the city inspector, Mrs. Betty Rasmussen, told me I have to buy deadwood permit, which is not necessary, no water.

Then she became upset and she put no stop working on my house for the last two years.

And put me into my property, I lost $1 million.

I need your help.

Thank you, God bless America.

Thank you.

Our last speaker for this rotation for in-person is Takshat.

Good afternoon everyone.

The caste system is a graded inequality system.

Lower the grade one has most inhuman treatment they get.

Lower graded people have deprived from the natural resources just like even water.

And this has been happening even in India today.

Now these Indian people are migrating to the U.S. and bringing that caste disease with them.

Before anything bad happens in this country, we want to protect our kids, we want to protect our families here.

And that's why we have to vote yes.

Dr. Ambedkar, who is the chief architect of India's democratic constitution, who is equal to Lenin, Marx, and Lincoln together, has added the caste under affirmative action in the constitution.

Let's follow him.

Please vote yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shahira Bangar.

Our next remote speaker is Shahira Bangar.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hello?

Go right ahead.

Hi, council members.

I urge you all to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance proposed by Shama to want to ban cat-based discrimination in Seattle City with no delays.

and a member of Quality Labs.

I have experienced microaggressions where my last name and background was constantly questioned by a colleague at a tech startup whom have offices in Seattle.

It is nauseatingly apparent that caste discrimination exists.

We have seen this reported from various testimonies shared by the brave voices of the caste oppressed, including myself, throughout the last four public comment meetings, as well as today's.

Please do not be blindsided by repulsive attacks from the far-right organizations, including the BHP, who are attempting to undermine

Thank you, our next speaker is Kavin Manikara.

Kavin Manikara.

Good afternoon, council members.

I urge you all to please vote yes in the ordinance proposed by council members to ban the caste-based discrimination in Seattle.

We live in a country where we can shed the issues of our native homelands and pursue a life of freedom and happiness, but with caste in the workplace, we are still facing issues that are preventing us from being the best Americans we can be.

We don't hesitate to push back against racism and sexism, and casteism is right there with it.

I urge you all to please vote yes for this ordinance.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nina Narumanchi.

Nina Narumanchi?

We have Nina.

Hello, I'm Nina Narumanchi, and I'm calling in to oppose the caste ordinance.

please vehemently vote no to this ordinance.

This ordinance has no leg to stand on as it is based on faulty data sets and flawed surveys.

All the people who claim they face discrimination already have a remedy via the existing protection laws in place throughout the US.

The second generation South Asians do not even know what caste means and this ordinance will now make them try to identify what their caste is.

So are we now going to create a caste problem in order to solve it?

The caste trope is now being used as propaganda and I implore the council to differentiate between emotion and fact and challenge the evidence being presented that claims that this problem is rampant in our country.

This construct of cases disappearing from South Asia itself.

So why are we then trying to import this dying construct into the US?

Please vote vehemently no against this ordinance.

This is completely Hinduphobic.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Oliver Wilson.

Oliver Wilson.

It's Oliver Wilson.

Go ahead.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, my name is Oliver and I am a white trans and queer person.

I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance proposed by council members to want to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle City.

I'm a member of Equality Labs.

The level of mobilization and resistance to merely adding protection for caste-oppressed people speaks to the need for these protections.

As our experience with whiteness shows, oftentimes equity feels like discrimination.

Please don't let those experiencing fragility, such as the VSP America and their Hindu nationalist friends, detract from that.

Instead, please center the most marginalized in these spaces and center those who cast their voice in this conversation.

If the council members strive to be liberal and believe in social justice, then you should vote yes for this ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Tricia.

Trisha.

Hi, I'm here.

My name is Trisha.

I'm a medical student and a dominant caste Hindu, and I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste discrimination and implement it with no delays.

Many caste oppressed people have courageously spoken up about the consequences of caste discrimination and the trauma and violence they continue to endure in the United States despite immigrating here to escape caste discrimination abroad.

Banning caste discrimination in Seattle will not harm caste-dominant folks like myself.

I would like to remind this council that dominant caste right-wing opponents of this ordinance, such as the VHP, strongly supported the CAA-NRC, which the Seattle City Council unanimously condemned.

We must not be distracted by oppressors like the VHP.

I urge you, vote yes today to make history and pave the way for the rest of the nation to ban caste discrimination.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sarah James.

Sarah James.

My name is Sarah James.

I am a member of Socialist Alternative and of Worker Strike Back.

I'm calling to support Council Member Shama Sawant's caste discrimination ordinance.

Looking at the hundreds of endorsements supporting the ordinance and the handful of white ring groups opposing it, it's plain to see what the right move is and how important it is to happen today without delay.

The massive mobilization of opposition of this ordinance shows how needed it really is.

If the OCR is underfunded, should other legal discrimination protection be suspended until the office is fully funded?

Why should caste oppressed people have to wait for their civil rights?

Caste protection is no more complicated than any other discrimination protection.

and the testimonials you've heard today prove the necessity of this.

Do the right thing today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Karthik Aramagan.

Karthik Aramagan.

Hello.

Hello, council members.

I strongly urge the council to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste discrimination.

This ordinance will protect me and my family members as we belong to the upper caste community.

People from the privileged caste claim that caste is a British construct.

It isn't.

It is mentioned in the Vedas and the Gita and the several other scriptures.

And they claim we have left caste behind in India.

But caste last names and caste roots are prevalent here.

Inter-caste marriages are still not common among the first generation immigrants.

And they claim existing laws are sufficient.

This is not true.

Enforcement, social services and HR don't have training about caste discrimination.

So that's why I strongly urge the council to work unanimously in support of this ordinance to protect me and my family.

Thank you.

Our last speaker for this remote public comment is Vaisakhi Maya, I believe.

Vaisakhi Maya.

Yes.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yes.

I'm Vaisakhi and I'm asking the council members to vote no on this cost ordinance because I don't think that the Seattle City Council or a typical HR department is qualified to adjudicate on caste-related issues.

Caste is a complex social issue.

There are over 2,000 castes officially identified in South Asian countries, and their categorization depends on which region they're a part of.

You can't identify caste based on skin color, hair color, eye color, and in a lot of cases, even by their name.

Will you be asked to carry a caste card?

One of the leaders of Equality Labs, an organization that claims to be an expert on caste, famously misidentified the caste of former Twitter CEO Faraz Agarwal as Brahmin.

Even they cannot correctly identify a person's caste.

How can we ask under-prepared law enforcement and HR departments to understand the nuances of caste?

Thank you.

Our next, we're going to now move into in-person speakers.

We're on number 11 and our next speaker is, yes.

Madam Clerk, I'm sorry.

I'm going to ask you to do two things.

I'm going to ask you to call up all 10 of the next round of in-person speakers so they can line up at the mic and we don't have to wait for people to approach the mic.

We've got a lot of people we're going to try to get through.

And then after this round of speakers, we're going to go to 30 seconds because I want to give everyone an opportunity and we have a full agenda to try to get through.

So after this next round of in-person speakers, we will reduce the time to 30 seconds and see how far we get.

Thank you.

OK, so we are going to call from the sheet that's numbered 11 through 20, which starts with Shamiya Tripathi, then Jasmeet Singh, Prasanna, last initial G, first initial T, Soundarajan, number 15, Anila Afzali, number 16, Prem Pariyar, number 17, Rajpal, I can't read the last name.

I'm sorry.

It starts with a B, I believe.

Number 18 is Alex Foyer.

Number 19 is Kamlesh Ahir.

And number 20 is Mamit Singh.

So I will start with number 11, Shamaya Tripathi.

Good afternoon, my name is Shomi Tripathi, and I'm the Director of Policy and Civic Engagement at Asian Counseling and Referral Service.

I'm also a daughter of Indian immigrants from a caste-dominant Hindu family.

ACRS stands in support of this historic ordinance to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle.

As an agency that serves 30,000 Asian Pacific Islander refugees, immigrants, and residents, we understand the nuanced and culturally specific systems of oppression that our clients must navigate.

On a personal level, I also deeply understand that caste discrimination is an extremely present and powerful system.

When upper-caste Hindus claim that caste is non-existent, it is because we do not have to face the harms the system has inflicted on caste-oppressed people.

When upper-caste Hindus claim that caste is non-existent, it is because it is easier for us to dismiss and ignore the voices of our caste-oppressed siblings that admit our complacency and oppression.

Personally and professionally, I'm asking you today to unanimously vote in support.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jasmeet Singh.

Go ahead, Jasmeet.

Members of the Council, my name is Jasmeet Singh, and I'm here to speak and request all of you to support the caste-based discrimination legislation.

Khalsa Gurmat Center is the institution that I'm representing out here that works with parents and families on issues of empowerment, engagement, and education.

And that's what we teach our kids, that make sure that you stand up for justice at all times.

Today, it is indicative in the number of people who've come from the South Asian community on how strongly they feel about this.

It is important for us to note that we believe deeply in religious freedom that is mandated to every U.S. citizen in the First Amendment.

We also believe that that should not become an instrument to thwart anti-discrimination.

So I request everyone

you.

Our next speaker is Prasanna.

Last initial G.

Prasanna.

Respected councilmembers, my name is Prasanna G. I'm a member of Ambedkar King Study Circle and a senior software engineer at Tech Company.

I urge all councilmembers to vote unanimously yes that to today on the ordinance proposed by councilmember Shama Sawant to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle City.

By now You all must have realized why many of us are not mentioning their last name.

It is because they are scared.

Scared of what?

Scared of giving out our identities as Dalits.

Scared of all the inhuman consequences and retaliation that follows.

We are scared of being looked at from a different lens.

all together by our peers, neighbors, and supervisors.

Even coming to this stage of public announcing ourselves has been decades of work and overcoming of self-doubt.

This honorable member is difficulty we are dealing with.

To acknowledge our existence and individual free from...

Thank you.

Our next speaker is T.

Sandarajan.

T. Sandarajan.

My name is Tanmori Soundarajan and I am here from Equality Labs and I here am also representing a coalition of 30 caste oppressed organizations from around the country that represent hundreds of thousands of caste oppressed people and we are united in asking for the council to vote yes to ban caste discrimination without delay.

We have faced rape threats, death threats, gaslighting, disinformation, fear and intimidation in order to come to speak truth to power.

In order for us to turn our power into pain, we're asking for the council to stand on the right side of history.

We're asking you to share our commitment to freedom, share our commitment to heal and healing only begins with the ending of this.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Anela Abzali.

Hello?

Oh, I'm sorry, who's next?

Honourable council members, I am the member of ASRO Canada.

Me and my members strongly condemn the caste system in North America.

I support and yes, and I also urge support for an ordinance to ban caste discrimination in Seattle.

Our organization works to create awareness and stop casteism in North America.

In our work, we routinely encounter instances where oppressor caste oppress and discriminate against the caste oppressed.

We try to bring the local government case of caste discrimination, but we often find that because there is no legal ban on caste discrimination, it continues

Thank you, I believe our next speaker, are you Anela?

Hello, caste discrimination will be banned.

It's just a matter of time.

The question is, will our city be on the right side of history or not?

Will your legacies be one of inspiring the nation, or will you go down in history as missing this opportunity, even after countless stories from the oppressed, thousands of messages and support, and over 175 orgs calling on you to pass this ordinance without delay.

The world is watching, and I have faith you will all vote yes.

But whether you do or not, today is one of the final dying breaths of the beast of caste oppression.

Our multi-faith, multi-racial movement will not go away.

If this passes, we will celebrate with you.

If not, then the city will have failed our caste-oppressed kin.

But this movement, all of us, we will not let them down.

We will continue the struggle until caste discrimination is no more.

Thank you.

I believe, I believe, did Prem Pariyar already speak?

Did Prem, did Prem Pariyar already speak out of turn?

Or is that you?

That's Prem Pariyar.

Okay, go ahead.

Thank you.

Who's that?

Council members, please vote yes banning caste discrimination in this beautiful Seattle city.

I'm speaking as a Nepali Hindu Dalit and I'm here to speak in support of banning caste in Seattle city's anti-discrimination policy.

I have experienced caste discrimination multiple times.

Many Nepali Dalits living in Seattle experience caste discrimination.

I'm really worried about my kids and coming generation.

This is not Indian issue.

It is common in South Asian diaspora.

It is a civil rights and human rights issue.

This is not a religious issue, as this is only the distraction.

CSU system and major universities added caste as the protected category.

Caste protection policy protects all.

Today is the historical day.

Let's make a history banning caste discrimination in Seattle.

I have kindly request city councils to vote yes to ban caste discrimination in this beautiful city.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 18. Our next speaker is number 18, Alex Foyer.

Good afternoon.

My name is Alex Foyer.

I live in Queen Anne, and I'm also here representing an organization, Seattle Indivisible.

We're one of the over 175 organizations that signed the letter urging you to ban caste discrimination.

As a community, Seattleites pride ourselves on being inclusive and treating everyone with dignity and respect.

Passing this historic legislation will send a historic, powerful message that Seattle will stand up for rights of every individual.

We have the opportunity to make a real difference and show that we are a city that values diversity and promotes social justice.

Council members, I urge you to pass this historic legislation and bring us one step closer to building a more inclusive and equitable Seattle, the Seattle we wanna live in, where every person is valued, respected, and no one is discriminated against based on their.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 19, Kamlish Ahir.

Number 19, Kamlish Ahir.

Speaker number 19 is Kamlish Ahir.

You can pull that down.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Honorable council members, I am Kamlesh Ahir from Surrey, BC, Canada, Ambedkarite Buddhist.

I urge you to vote yes.

on the proposed ordinance to ban caste discrimination.

A legal ban on caste discrimination will protect oppressed caste community members such as myself, my family, and my children.

From the gross injustice we endure on daily basis in everywhere, not only America, it's Canada too, because I have evidence in my Canadian life last 30 years.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Casteism is the worst.

Thank you.

Our next in-person, this is our last in-person speaker.

Our last in-person speaker for this round is Manmeet Singh.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

I stand before you as a leader of the National Academic Coalition for Caste Equity, a network of over 500 students, staff, faculty, and unions pushing for caste equity in higher education.

I stand before you to ask you to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste discrimination and join institutions like Brown University, the California State University, and UC Davis in making history.

I stand before you as a queer and trans person, and in this moment where anti-trans legislation is being passed, I know the importance of civil rights protections.

I ask that you also understand caste as a queer issue and not be derailed by disinformation and fragility.

I ask, I stand before you as a caste privileged chick, as part of this interfaith, intercaste and multiracial coalition rooted in a commitment to civil rights.

And I ask that you do not, you vote yes today and let justice not be delayed because justice delayed is justice denied.

So vote yes today.

I think you will now move to remote speakers.

And again, it's we will have 30 seconds, 30 seconds per speaker.

We're moving to remote speakers.

The first remote speaker for this session is Gayatri Girijan.

I urge all council members.

I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste based discrimination implemented with no delay.

I'm a dominant caste person, race, Hindu, and can attest that the opponents of this ordinance are from right-wing groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Kona, and Hindu American Foundation, who are trying to silence caste-oppressed communities in the name of oppression.

Moreover, the Hindu American Foundation and Kona strongly supported the CAA MRC, which the then Seattle City Council voted unanimously to condemn.

Their presence and targeted harassment against caste-oppressed communities and against equality labs makes the need for protections against casteism clear.

Thank you, our next speaker is Gautam Nagrari and Gautam will be followed by Suresh Krishnamurthy.

Gautam.

And you may need to press star six.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Yeah.

Hi, my name is Gautam Nagrade, and I'm working as a software engineer.

I urge all the council members to unanimously vote yes for the ordinance.

I belong to the human race, but I was discriminated for something that was beyond my control, my past.

I was humiliated a number of times because I am a lower caste individual, but I couldn't report it because it is not a part of it.

Let us stand together and make history by banning caste the victims and not the oppressors.

I request you to pass the ordinance.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Suresh and Suresh will be followed by Manik Rajendran.

Suresh.

Good afternoon.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

If any of the council members are on a jury, can they identify who's cast dominant and who's cast suppressed?

Is Councilwoman Shama Sawant a Brahmin as she was born?

Is Tenmuri Soundararajan with a Brahmin last name a Dalit as she claims to be?

Are we going to use the definitions of a foreign power to be binding on US citizens, produce papers?

This action is un-American and worthy of Senator McCarthy.

I urge you to vote no on this poorly thought, poorly defined ordinance that is divisive, impractical.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Manik and Manik will be followed by Harima Ness.

Monique.

My name is Monique Rajendran and I'm an entrepreneur.

I was born into an oppressed caste.

I urge the council to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance and implement it with no delay.

I came to this country 30 years ago and in that time several colleagues have stopped coming to my home ever since they got to know who I am.

That is their prerogative.

But when that is carried into the workplace It is most un-American.

We refuse to live a closeted life.

That should not happen.

We want all of our rights.

We want them here.

We want them now.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Parneema, and Parneema will be followed by Ami.

Ami, excuse me, com.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Pranima Nath opposing Seattle's racist, oppressive, and discriminatory caste ordinance of recolonization of Hindus and Indian-Americans that plans to create special monitoring commissions for policing us and denying us the rights of equal protection due process under the law.

No single case filed under in Seattle for caste discrimination.

While vindictive agenda has been activated by a woke radical leftist of Seattle by working with equality labs like organizations, which has a connection with Soros and IAMC, a committee doesn't.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amit, and Amit will be followed by Shashi with the last initial S.

Go ahead, Amit.

Hi Amit, I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance proposed by Kshama Sawant to ban caste-specific discrimination.

The ordinance will protect the caste of its people in jobs and universities who are being discriminated based on their caste.

I've been asked if I'm a Brahmin at my workplace and also in one job interview I've been asked if I follow or celebrate certain religious festivals which has nothing to do with the job position.

According to one study, that's why I urge to vote yes on this audience.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shashi and Shashi will be followed by Dev Manda.

Go ahead, Shashi.

Hi, I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste discrimination.

I'm a member of the Alphabet Workers Union and I come from a privileged caste Hindu family from a community that has benefited from centuries of marginalizing and oppressing Dalits.

Caste discrimination is a reality in the US and workplaces are not free from it.

It is evident from the published testimonies of Dalit tech workers or Google cancelling a talk on caste equity by equality lab director to pacify right wing Hindu orgs.

This ordinance is necessary for caste oppressed people of Seattle to assert their rights in their communities and workplaces.

Please address.

Thank you, our next speaker is Dev Manda and Dev will be followed by Sonia Thomas.

Go ahead, Dev.

Dev Manda.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi, my name is Dave M, and I'm calling in to urge the Seattle City Council to vote no on the caste ordinance.

Enforcement of this ordinance will cause harm to the South Asian community.

There are no universally applicable ways to determine someone's caste, and it is unconscionable that anyone, including Seattle City Council, should be empowered to determine someone's caste.

We have to deal with gaslighting and hate from groups like Equality Lab.

I urge you to vote no.

Our friends and family do not want to live in a world of caste, which

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Sonia Thomas, and Sonia will be followed by Puneet Singh.

Go ahead, Sonia.

My name is Sonia Thomas, and I'm an associate professor at Colby College.

In October 2021, Colby College banned caste.

I am a South Asian-American Christian and one of the foremost scholars on casteism in Christianity.

Christians are a religious minority in India, but Christians with caste power can still perpetuate casteism.

In the same way, caste-privileged religious minorities in the United States can still perpetuate casteism.

I thank you all for voting yes on this ordinance to ban caste discrimination and to protect caste-oppressed peoples in all religions.

Remote speaker for this round is Puneet Singh.

Puneet Singh will be our last remote speaker for this round, and then we'll move back to in-person.

Good evening.

Immigration to a new country does not dissolve their prejudices from the old country.

The government needs to reconcile with genocidal social practices that some South Asians bring, similar to how white landowners brought white supremacy.

I'm Punjabi Sikh.

I'm from an artisanal caste and have seen how my caste members act poorly towards quote-unquote lower caste people, while people from castes quote-unquote higher than mine act poorly towards me.

This ordinance aligns with broader SD goals.

It's a means of victory of fascist apartheid forces.

Jai Bhim.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa.

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

Thank you.

I will call the next 10, and you can line up.

It's numbers 21 through 30. And we'll start with Nishan Burns, then Shri Krishna, Shobha, Deepa.

Number 25 is Simaras.

Number 26 is, I believe, Vanchi.

Number 27 is Nirash.

Number 28 is Alok.

Number 29 is Hira Singh.

And number 30 is Javed.

But we'll go with number, sorry about your names.

I really apologize.

Number 21 is Nishan Burns.

Go ahead.

My name is Nishan Burns, member of Socialist Alternative and Workers Strike Back.

The VHP is one of the main organizations that make up the family of far-right Hindu fundamentalist organizations.

This family includes the right-wing regime of India's Prime Minister Modi and the BJP.

The VHP, according to Human Rights Watch, was one of the three organizations responsible for the 2002 massacre in Gujarat.

There was widespread looting and burnings.

They are a hate organization.

They must not be listened to.

You have the chance to be on the right side of history.

Thank you.

Our next speaker.

Our next speaker is number 22, Shri Krishna.

Number 22, Shri Krishna.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Yeah.

Yes.

Hi, I'm Sri Krishna.

I'm a tech worker from the Bay Area.

I only have one request for all the council members.

How many of you understand the background and the origins of the caste?

I'm pretty sure not many, because if caste issue has been so prevalent, you would have heard so many reports and complaints from people who are oppressed through that system.

So I urge all of you members to take more time and give opportunity to the other side of the

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shobha.

Shobha, and I'm on the board of Kona, a Hindu human rights and advocacy organization.

This ordinance will set up a precedence to single out a minority community, namely the South Asians.

And it's based on false data and done by hate groups who have supported the dismantling of Hinduism and attacked the sacred festivals and practices.

So I urge the city council to vote no for this cast ordinance.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Deepa.

Deepa?

Can you hear me?

Deepa?

Can you hear me?

Hello, I strongly urge all six of you to vote no to the Council Bill 120511. The entire process is flawed.

The proposed ordinance did not go through the normal and required process of a committee hearing and vote.

Sawant's sole mission was to rush the bill, denying it a proper debate and discussion.

The entire process lacked transparency.

I personally have called the city council office many times, and all I was told was the process is very fluid.

Our side has intentionally been put to a huge disadvantage.

This has not been a level playing field.

Plainly stated, this left-wing organizations.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Samaras.

Go ahead.

I urge council members to vote now.

It is shocking to see the blatant singling out of minority community based on nothing but unsubstantiated claims using faulty data from hate groups that have in the past openly declared their intent to demolish minority faith.

Equality Labs is a Hinduphobic and it does not represent all South Asians.

Coming from the education background, the kind of impact that it will have on the students and their families and the parents who are sitting down is You will regret later if you vote yes.

So please do not, do not vote yet.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 26, Savage.

all the council members to vote no.

I'm a businessman and employ people in Seattle and Washington.

I clearly request all of you to understand what exactly is the cast and what are the implications by voting yes to this bill.

I completely request you to consider this, take time, there is no rush, understand it properly, understand the implication and implement it and not rush.

Don't just go by one person and the influences.

Please vote no.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 27. It's I believe Naresh with the last initial B.

Naresh.

Jai Bhim everyone.

Jai Bhim means justice and liberty for all.

My name is Naresh and I'm a member of Ambedkar Indigenous National Centre.

I say, ban caste and vote yes.

I'm facing caste discrimination from the age of five.

I used to touch the lady and she used to take a shower because they were considered untouchable.

It was such a disgusting thing.

And it is the same thing happening in the United States.

When they figured out my caste, they outcasted me and never invited me for the social gathering.

Our next speaker is number 28, and I believe it's Alok with the last initial K.

Hi, I'm Alok, a Dalit and a tech worker here in Seattle.

I urge all Democrats to vote yes today to ban caste discrimination.

I have experienced caste discrimination firsthand in the U.S. in many forms.

In college as a student, when I was wrongly accused of cheating by a dominant caste TA, in social circles because I don't celebrate certain festivals, in housing and microaggressions in my workplace.

The continent protects me, my family, and my community.

Stand on the right side of history.

Don't delay.

Vote yes today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 29, Hira Singh Bhuar.

That's a Sikh message we give to everybody in the world.

And as a Sikh, we believe in equality.

We believe that everybody is born equal.

There is no different person by color or race or any casteism.

So on behalf of all the Sikh organization on the Western Washington, I urge to vote yes on the referendum.

and ban the casteism in Seattle.

And as a tech worker in Seattle from last 15 years, I do believe there is a casteism going on and keep growing up day by day.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last in-person speaker for this round.

Our last in-person speaker is Javed Sikandar.

Hello.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Javed Sikandar.

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the Greater Seattle Area and Indian American Muslim Council, I request you to vote yes today for this ordinance and stop this nonsense that has spread in India and now it is spreading in America.

Thank you.

Akeel Manda, who will be followed by Iniyan with the last initial in.

Is Akeel signed in to Star Six?

Thank you.

Yeah.

First of all, I'm a leftist.

I'm a member of the DSA.

But I have to say that this is an extremely dishonest attack against the Hindu community.

The study on this from Equality Labs is deeply flawed.

It has been debunked by the Carnegie Endowment.

And also, caste is protected by ancestry.

As you can tell by my last name, I do come from that community.

And what I have to say is that this is an extremely dishonest attack.

You're putting a racist stereotype that Hindus are casteist when this is not the case.

We are against caste.

We are against discrimination.

This is not the way to do it.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Enyan with the last initial N.

And Enyan will be followed by Rose Heimstra.

Go ahead, Enyan.

Hi, I'm Enyan.

I'm a caste privileged ally urging you to vote yes.

Three years ago in 2020, this council unanimously denounced India's discriminatory CAA and NRC laws.

It was the AHAF, BHP, and Kona that supported these bigoted laws, and they're here to oppose this ordinance again.

They want to support bigotry again.

You don't have to support bigotry.

Stand up for the right thing.

Stand up for civil rights.

Stand up for the cast of press.

Vote yes and vote today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker will be Rose Heimstra and Rose will be followed by Sumit Bhad.

Go ahead, Rose.

And Rose, you may need to press star six.

Hi, my name is Rose.

I'm a member of Socialist Alternative of Workers Strike Back and a rank and file member of the North Shore Educators Association.

I'm calling in to demand that you vote yes for the ordinance banning cash discrimination.

I work at a school that has a large Indian community, both in students and in staff, and the range of this legislation extends past just the tech and health sector, and will affect workplaces everywhere.

Also, any argument that this ordinance is anti-Hindu is incorrect.

No religion should have the excuse or privilege to oppress others.

Also, the argument that cats have no clear visible markers is also a bad argument.

Queer people have no visible markers, and we experience

Thank you, our next speaker is Samit Bhan and Samit will then be followed by Nikhil Damaraj, excuse me.

Go ahead, Samit.

Samit with the last name B-A-U-D-H, Bhan.

Okay, we'll come back.

The next speaker is Nikhil Dharmaraj will be followed by Monty with the last initial K.

Nikhil.

My name is Nikhil and I'm a caste privileged student ally and I urge all council members to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance proposed by council members to want to ban caste based discrimination in Seattle City.

I'm here to unequivocally state that this caste ordinance will help protect those facing daily harassment violence or discrimination in their workplaces and other institutions.

A highly reported phenomenon in the United States which I've also witnessed in my own eyes perpetrated by members of my community.

The right wing dominant caste proponents of this ordinance are mongering with fear and distorting reality to delay the flow of justice.

So please council members vote yes for this ordinance if you believe in social justice.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Monty K and Monty will be followed by.

Go ahead Monty.

Hello, my name is Monty and I'm a caste oppressed individual.

I urge the council to unanimously vote yes on this ordinance and implement it without any delays.

The dominant caste, right-wing opponents of this ordinance are fabricating fear and confusion to silence the justice for victims.

Kona, VHP, and David Dastardash strongly supported CAANRC, which you, the city council, voted unanimously in favor of.

Listen to the voices of the oppressed and consider the material presented by the plethora of experts with ample evidence.

Thank you, our next speaker is Dalit Bahujan.

Dalit Bahujan and Dalit will be followed by Rajni Anik.

Are you able to hear me okay?

Go ahead.

Yes, so I'm the very Dalit Bahujan about whom Council Member Shama Sawant is pretending and rushing to represent, but she does not represent me.

Please vote no.

I'm also the very Dalit Bahujan about whom the fraudulent organization Equality Labs has created equally fraudulent report.

Have you read the caste report yourself?

Please read it first.

I'm also threatened for my life because I'm also Hindu.

So they are not behind my culture.

They are not behind my caste, but they are behind my culture.

Lastly, I ask each of you the time.

I'm yet to hear back.

Please listen to what I said also and vote no.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Rajji Manik.

Rajji Manik.

Yes, good evening.

My name is Raji Manick.

I urge the council to vote yes on the ordinance and implement it with no delays.

Casteism and discrimination exists in every facet in the life of a caste oppressed.

Despite immigrating, we continue to face microaggression in social and work setting causing continued trauma.

Only the privileged contest.

Council must listen to victims and not oppressors like the VH PA, Hindu American Foundation, and other similar oppressor organizations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our last speaker on the remote round is Durai Sandarakhan.

Hi, this is Durai.

Hi, Arjun.

Hi, this is Durai.

I urge counsel to vote yes on the ordinance.

I'm an American citizen, migrated from India, one of the South Asian countries where caste-based discrimination is very common for 2,000 years.

When I moved to America 25 years ago, I thought I loved the caste-based in India, and my kids will grow up in a caste-based society.

But one day, my daughter told me that one of her Indian friends said that they are superior by birth than anyone else here.

Council must listen to the victims, not the oppressors.

And they won't yet today.

Thank you.

We'll now call from the in-person public comment sheets numbers 31 through 40. So 31 is Atul, number 32 is Natalie, number 33 is Barbara, number 34 is Paramjit Kainty, I believe, number 35 is Praswal, number 36 is Nigam, number 37 is Arul, number 38 is Rajhath, Number 39 is Harshad and number 40 is Sita.

So with number 31, we have Atul.

Respected council members, this is Atul.

I am Dalit.

I'm a Dalit that you're talking about.

but I would like you to say no or postpone the vote because this complex issue, you cannot understand in two weeks, you have to spend some more time, do some more research, find out how many police cases are there where people say somebody spit out on my face and that was cash based.

Do your research, don't jump on this.

If you haste too much, that's injustice.

Please don't do injustice to us.

Please stop this.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Natalie.

Hello, my name is Natalie Bailey.

I'm a member of Socialist Alternative and Workers Strike Back.

I urge the council to vote yes on this ordinance banning caste discrimination.

I was here in November when we were speaking out against the, speaking for the budget proposal that council member Swamp proposed.

And now, since we didn't expand the tax on Amazon, since we didn't tax the rich, now we're claiming that.

The OCR won't be funded enough.

I think that self-imposed austerity is no reason to turn a blind eye to discrimination and oppression.

So vote yes.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Barbara.

Barbara Finney.

My name is Barbara Finney, delegate to the MLK Labor Council for AFGE, Local 3197 and member of Socialist Alternative.

In solidarity with the Socialist Council Office of Shamus Awant, Alphabet Workers Union, UAW, Local 4121, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, and the movement in support of legislation to ban caste discrimination in Seattle, I urge you to vote yes, no delays.

Thank you.

My next speaker is number 34, number 34 Paramjeet.

Number 34 Paramjeet.

Okay, if number 34. Okay, are you?

Yeah, I am.

Okay.

Honorable Council Member, I am Paramjit Singh Kanth from Vancouver, BC, vote for yes today.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 35.

Dear Council Members, my name is Prajwal and I'm representing Global Empower Network where we support caste oppressed first and second generation students navigate the challenges to access higher education in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Our students frequently narrate their ordeal where they face discrimination finding affordable housing and on-campus jobs.

that are essential for their survival.

They report how they are not given this opportunity just because their last name, which is caste identified, used to discriminate against them.

A ban on caste in Seattle will not only protect our students and educational institutions here, but will also pave a path for similar future resolutions in the other U.S. cities.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 36, Nigam Khaki.

Nigam, thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Neelam Khaki and I work with API Chaya, an organisation that serves survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

I urge the council to vote yes to this proposed ordinance.

Through our work with survivors within the South Asian community, we see the impact of caste discrimination when abusers use caste discrimination and threats of deportation.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 37, Arul.

Number 37, Arul, with the last initial P.

Dear council members, I'm Arul.

I'm a writer and a tech worker.

Please vote unanimously yes to ban caste discrimination without delay.

Being a woman of color, though I can claim I didn't face racism or sexual assault personally in this country, but does it call for removal of the laws that protect those who have to make an official complaint?

Even to make a complaint, there has to be a law.

I think the laws that penalize discrimination are important, and people who oppose those laws give platform to the aggressors who are privileged.

Please vote yes.

today.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 38, Rajhav.

I'm Arshad, a software engineer at a leading tech company.

Like many others, I'm afraid to disclose my last name because of being identified and targeted by my dominant caste manager.

I urge all council members to vote yes on the ordinance to ban caste-based discrimination.

Caste-based discrimination is a violation of human rights and a form of social inequality.

It is unacceptable in any society that values fairness and equality.

Many people belonging to lower castes are subject to unfair treatment in workplaces, exclusion from social events, denial of job opportunities, and caste-based discrimination at academic and professional settings.

Therefore, I urge you to vote yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 39 Harshad.

Number 39 Harshad.

Oh, okay.

Now then we have Sita Ram Ahir, number 40. Okay, that would complete our numbers 31 through 40 and Council President Pro Tem, we've had 80 in-person speakers and I'm sorry, 40 in-person and 40 remote.

So if you need to extend the public comment period, we've now at just over an hour, let us know.

Thank you.

I think what I'm going to do is go for 15 more minutes.

So I think that might get us through two or three more rounds, and then we will we will close public comment.

If there's no objection, we'll extend for another 15 minutes.

Can I ask a question?

Yes.

How many more?

Just a moment, please, sir.

Just a moment.

We have another 40 in person, I believe, 30 or 40, and another...

We have 60 more in person.

In person, we have 60 more.

We have almost 100 now.

And then online, we have over 200. So that would take us well into four or five hours.

Yeah, so we will, do I hear an objection to extending for 15 more minutes?

I would just, I don't object at all.

I would just think maybe a little bit more.

Yeah, I'm gonna go for 15 more minutes, and then we're going to try to actually get to the agenda so we can vote on this bill.

Thank you.

Let's continue, please.

My name is Sitara Mahe.

I talk about the caste.

Must we understand what mean the caste?

If you write to the study in the Hinduism, the Gita, they like to the discrimination, go to the 80 chapter, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45. They like to the four castes, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra.

They like to it Shudra.

They like to discrimination about the Shudra caste.

If you like to study Dr. B. M. B. Kalbi writing the book, An Asian of the Caste, Jat, Pada, Bhi, Naas.

If you like to study the Dr. Medgar, Dr. Medgar write to the Indian constitution, they like to spend a two year.

Thank you.

Uh, now we're, uh, that time is up and now we're moving back to, uh, 10 more remote speakers, I believe.

And that will be led off by Sandeep with the last initial C Sandeep C.

I request council to vote S on ordinance to ban caste-based discrimination.

Because of caste-based discrimination I faced as a corporate employee in the USA, me, my spouse, and school-going kids were forced to leave America on a very short notice.

Seattle City Council has a great responsibility and a historic opportunity to make a pioneering move to cure caste cancer.

Caste kills.

Caste is across religions, across geographies, and across genders.

Please vote S anonymously on the caste ordinance and save lives.

Please take a stand and be a voice of voiceless and cast a presence starting today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Govind Acharya.

Hello, I am the India country specialist for Amnesty International USA.

And I just want to chime in saying that Amnesty International is supportive of this resolution and urge council members to vote yes on this.

I just want to say that it's very important that we always, when we're talking about human rights, and this is very much a human rights issue, that we listen to those who have been oppressed and those who have been discriminated against.

And so I urge you to join me in standing in solidarity against caste discrimination.

You can do it, not through words, but through action by voting yes on the.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Khushbu Galati.

Khushbu Galati.

Hi, my name is Cushboo.

I'm speaking as a caste privileged ally and I urge the council to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance without delay.

It is so important that you listen to caste oppressed communities and the need to create spaces and a culture that honors their safety and protection.

This is an opportunity for you to stand against caste bigotry and model to other cities to do the same.

There's so much evidence showing that casteism is alive and well in Seattle and the U.S.

We cannot allow for the gaslighting of Duluth experiences.

This ordinance is about affirming life and is not homophobic.

Please vote yes today.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Ramakrishna.

Ramakrishna.

Hey, hello, council members.

Hello, council members.

I'm Ramakrishna, and I'm a member of Ambedkar International Center.

I fully support and urge all Seattle council members to vote yes on the ordinance proposed by the council member, Sawant.

to ban cash discrimination in Seattle.

This ordinance is vital because cash discrimination is rampant in the United States and growing at a very fast pace.

We must protect the interests of those who have been subjugated for centuries in the name of cash discrimination.

So council members, if you believe in equality and human dignity, please vote yes on the ordinance.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Bipin with the last initial L.

Is that Bipin?

Jaby, my name is Bipin.

Jaby, my name is Bipin and I urge the council to unanimously vote yes on the ordinance and implement it with no delays.

The dominance cast right-wing opponents of the ordinance are fabricating fear and confusion to silence the justice for the victims.

The Hindu Medicine Foundation, CUHNA, and Devduttar Das strongly supported the CAA-NRC, which then Seattle City Council voted unanimously in favor of resolution condemning it.

Listen to the voices of the oppressed and consider the substantial material presented.

Council must listen to the victims and not oppressors like VHPA.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next remote speaker is Rhea Chakrabarty.

Rhea Chakrabarty.

On behalf of Hindus for Human Rights, I urge city council to unanimously vote yes on council members so on caste discrimination ordinance without delay.

This ordinance will not discriminate against Indo-Americans, and this narrative by far-right upper-caste organizations like the VHPA intentionally and violently erases the many who experience casteism.

Instead, the OCR will be able to help residents pursue justice when they experience caste-based discrimination.

HFHR urges you to listen to our Dalit and Adivasi siblings and vote yes on this resolution without delay.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Aditya with the last initial N.

Aditya?

And if Aditya is not available, we will move on to our, for this round, last remote speaker of Nitin with the last initial S.

Nitin?

or Aditya.

Can you hear me?

I strongly urge council members to unanimously vote yes to ban caste-based discrimination and implement it immediately.

We have witnessed caste-based discrimination in public spaces here in the United States and do not want my daughter or anybody else to face this inhuman discrimination.

I believe in equality.

The caste system brings graded inequality based on birth.

The cash system has already impacted millions of lives worldwide.

Let's not do that here in USA or America or anywhere else.

Let's ban the cash-based discrimination.

Thank you.

I'm gonna give you these.

We're gonna now read from our number 41 through 50 of our in-person public commenters.

And council members read these for me.

She's gonna read all 10 names and then we'll call them in order.

Okay, the names are Yogesh Mane, Ankit Gajbia, Sutey Ahir, Inderjeet Singh, Harpreet Singh, Khan Hassan, Amer Mohamed, Venkat S, Sanket Kobragade, and Siddharth Babre.

Hopefully all the names were heard.

Let me just read the first names again, Yogesh, Ankit, I hear Inderjeet, Harpreet, Hassan, Amir, Venkat, Sanket, Siddharth.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

I'm a Dalit worker living in Seattle for the last 20 years.

I urge Seattle to do what is right.

Vote yes today.

I was born untouchable.

I didn't choose where I was born, yet I was humiliated in every step of life.

My teacher told me it's below his dignity to even touch me, let alone teach me.

I've traveled to this country in search of dignity, and yet caste didn't live.

I've witnessed direct and indirect discrimination.

If the city had protection for caste discrimination, I would have at least complained, banned caste, vote yesterday so I can live dignified life in Seattle.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 42 Ankit.

Number 42 Ankit.

Hello, council members.

My name is Ankit.

I live and work in Seattle for a major tech company.

I urge all the council members to vote yes and ban caste discrimination in the city of Seattle.

I come from oppressed castes and have experienced caste discrimination in various forms, like coworker asking repeated questions to narrow down my caste, denied a role in an internal team that is dominated by a Brahmin caste, microaggression by coworkers, and outcasted from a social gathering.

I urge elected officials to do right, vote yes, vote today, and create a safer and protected Seattle for my family.

Thank you.

Our next speaker.

Our next speaker is number 43, Sute Ahir.

Sute?

Ahir?

Hello, Jai Bhim.

I'm from Canada.

I come here for the, I humbly request you for vote for Jess.

So I'm the victim of caste system in Canada.

In August 2004, I have proved in writing, I apologize.

Somebody say no any evidence.

I have evidence.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 44, Inderjeet Singh.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Inderjeet Singh.

I represent to Ambedkar Sikh Foundation.

As a Sikh American, I urge to everyone, please vote yes.

Ban caste-based discrimination.

I just want to say in one sentence, caste system is slavery system, and we don't want let in the United States, and we don't want to destroy our country.

Please ban caste-based discrimination.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 45 Harpreet Singh.

Yeah, my name is Harpreet Singh.

My name is Harpreet Singh.

I urge to all city council members vote yes to this resolution.

Slavery system, this caste system is slavery system.

It's like COVID-19.

COVID-19, when the China has COVID-19, everybody banned airline.

This caste system is like a virus.

The COVID-19 hit bodies, this virus hit emotions.

When the emotion hits, your body kills.

So both things, emotion, body hits, you kill.

So both kills the body.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, our next in-person speaker is number 46 Khan Hassan.

Hello, good afternoon.

I am Khan Hassan.

I'm a tech worker, human rights activist, and a member of Indian American Muslim Council.

I'm here to urge all council members to vote yes.

Your yes vote will be historic in ending the humiliation, persecution, discrimination, marginalization of our brothers, Dalit brothers and sisters in Seattle.

Please vote yes today without further delay and make sure it's implemented immediately.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 47, Amer Mohamed.

Good afternoon.

I'm from the Muslim Association of the Northwest.

I urge you to vote yes on this ordinance without delay.

It is not a complex issue.

It is not complex to decide against discrimination.

You've heard today firsthand from people.

This is the data.

You've heard from dozens of organizations, local and national, experts and professors.

You don't need to determine someone's caste.

You only need to determine whether discrimination has happened.

Be the leaders for the nation, for the rest of the nation, and vote yes today to make civil rights history.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 48, and I believe it's Yungkot with the last initial S.

Hi, I'm Yungkot here.

So I urge everyone to vote yes to this ordinance.

ordinance.

I want to urge everyone to vote yes to this ordinance.

We are struggling a lot.

Please protect us.

God bless America.

God bless everyone.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is number 49 Songkat

Hello, everyone.

My name is Sanket.

I live and work in Seattle.

First, I want to mention that me and my people have been standing outside of the city council for more than 12 hours to get 30 seconds in front of you to speak about this.

That's how badly caste-based discrimination affects us.

I urge all the council members to unanimously vote yes today on the ordinance proposed by Council Member Shama Sawant to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle City.

Today by voting yes to ban caste-based discrimination in Seattle, we all will be making history.

The first city and the first council ever who took a stand against this disease that affects people.

And this will be our last in-person speaker for this round.

Go ahead.

Good afternoon, council members.

I urge council members to vote yes.

Caste is a disease in society.

It's carried out generation by generation in India and it should not be carried out here in Seattle and United States.

by voting yes, you are going to give an antidote to this caste discrimination in Seattle.

Don't delay, please vote yes.

I request council member to stand on the right side of the justice.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

So please vote yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have time for maybe five or six more remote speakers, Council President.

I think we're going to go ahead and end the public comments.

I do want to thank everyone for calling in to share your comments.

I know we have a lot of people who did not have the opportunity today, but we've had 75 minutes of comments today.

And we have heard from hundreds of commenters, excuse me, hundreds of commenters over the last several weeks in committee and full council.

So I am going to close public comment and move on to our agenda so that we can actually take the vote on this bill.

So Jody, I'm going to thank you for your assistance and thank you Council Member Sawant for providing an assist there.

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

Hearing no objection, the calendar is adopted.

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

Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.

So we will move on to consider the proposed consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar today include the minutes of February 14th, payroll of the bills, Council Bill 120513, several appointments, including five to the Governance, Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee, or from that committee, seven from the Neighborhood Education, Civil Rights and Culture Committee, three appointments from the Public Asset and Homelessness Committee.

Are there any of these items that council members would like to remove from today's consent calendar?

I'm not seeing any, so I move the consent calendar be adopted.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt the consent calendar.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the consent calendar?

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The consent calendar is adopted.

Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and the legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf.

Okay, let's move on to the rest of the agenda committee reports.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record.

The report of the city council agenda item one, clerk file 314514, the 2023 state of the city address delivered by Mayor Bruce Harrell and Deputy Senior Mayor, sorry, Monisha Hare on today, February 21st, 2023.

Thank you.

I move to accept and file clerk file 314469. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to accept and file the clerk file.

Are there any comments?

Anybody would like to address the budget?

I don't see any.

So will you please, Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll on accepting the file?

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Motion carries.

The file is accepted and will be placed on file.

Okay, thank you very much.

Let's move on to item two.

Will you please read item two into the record?

Agenda item two, Council Bill 120511, an ordinance relating to human rights, including protections against discrimination based on an individual's caste, making technical amendments and amending sections of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120511. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded.

Council Member Sawant, you are the sponsor of the bill.

You're recognized to address the item.

Thank you, President Rotem Morales.

There's also a technical amendment listed on the agenda, which is jointly sponsored by Councilmember Herbold and myself, adding a findings section and a clerk file containing supporting research, personal stories, and other documents.

I'll make introductory comments for the bill as a whole now, and Councilmember Herbold will then move the technical amendment.

What this ordinance actually does is very simple.

It incorporates caste into Seattle's existing anti-discrimination law.

Currently, Seattle's anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination on the basis of many categories like age, color, disability, gender identity.

That's just a fraction of the protections.

So the ordinance simply adds caste to that list and by doing so prohibits caste-based discrimination in the many different activities where discrimination is banned, such as employment, housing, contracting, and access to public services.

This bill is not technically complicated.

It is a very simple question.

Should discrimination based on caste be allowed to continue in Seattle?

But while simple, it is also profound and historic.

Cost is a system of oppression that divides people into a rigid hierarchy of groups based on birth, with the lower groups facing serious discrimination, oppression, and even violence.

It originates from about 2,000 years ago in South Asia, but remains pervasive today under capitalism.

Around the world, an estimated 250 million people face cost-based discrimination.

Although caste is often associated with Hinduism in India, it transcends religious and geographic boundaries, with caste-based discrimination showing up in Christian, Muslim, Sikh, and other religious communities all over South Asia, in Southeastern Asian and African communities, and many other countries.

Caste discrimination has traveled into diasporic communities around the world, including the United States and Seattle.

Brandeis University and Colby College and some other universities have recently adopted the policy of banning caste discrimination on their campuses.

A similar policy was adopted last year by the California State University system for all its 23 campuses.

This is particularly significant because Cal State is the nation's largest four-year public university system.

This ordinance from my office and our movement would make Seattle the first city in the United States banning caste discrimination.

If we win this year, it will be a historic victory in itself, but will also be a beacon to cities and states around the country and for working people elsewhere to build movements to also ban this horrific form of oppression.

We need to be clear, this discrimination is very real in Seattle.

For the past several weeks, we've had hundreds of people speaking in public comment We have heard gut-wrenching stories of oppressed caste people facing serious discrimination and oppression, as well as those who were correctly wary of the consequences of revealing their caste and remaining closeted.

This last experience is eerily reminiscent of LGBTQ people being forced to be closeted for much or all of their lifetimes out of fear of being targeted.

There have been more than 4,000 emails sent to the City Council in support of this ordinance, and the petition from my office urging the City Council to vote yes has garnered 1,400 signatures.

More than 175 organizations have signed on to this letter, too many for me to be able to read right now, but it includes caste-oppressed organizations, dominant caste, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, socialists, tech workers, union members.

Shravya Tadepalli of the Hindus for Human Rights, which is an organization that has endorsed, says, I am a proud Hindu.

I urge you as a Hindu to vote yes on the bill to ban caste discrimination.

The Alphabet Workers Union, representing Google workers, has supported it, as has UAW 4121, the grad student workers union at the University of Washington in Seattle.

As the Alphabet Union said, caste discrimination is a workers' issue.

We also have the support of Arundhati Roy, famous writer, Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, and Cornel West, renowned scholar and activist.

Many professors and academics from across the country who study South Asia and caste have written to the City Council in support of our ordinance.

Also, Amnesty International, KP Ashwini, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, has sent a letter to the Council in which she says, quote, I am writing to express my support for the ordinance that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of caste, I wish to remind the City Council of its responsibilities under international law to provide protections against caste-based discrimination, as well as to enable safe public participation for caste-oppressed individuals in all processes to develop relevant policies and laws.

There's more I could quote from the letter, but I won't be able to.

Like any change throughout history to bring about meaningful progress in society, not everyone supports this ordinance.

The right wing is completely opposed.

Having the right wing opposed to a progressive law that will help address oppression is nothing new and it also reminds us that we are on the correct side of history and they are on the wrong one.

The Civil Rights Act, banning discrimination based on race, religion, sex, and national origin, had to overcome right-wing opposition, lawsuits, and even violence.

LGBTQ rights continue to face lawsuit after lawsuit.

Two of the three right-wing organizations that are on public record in opposition to this ordinance are the Hindu American Foundation and the Coalition of Hindus of North America.

If you look at their websites, the agenda of both these extremely right-wing organizations looks very aligned with the far-right regime currently in power in India of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As many of you already know, the Modi regime has found a lot of common ground with the Trump agenda and the American right wing.

Both these organizations are completely opposed to any attempt by lower-caste people in the United States to fight for their rights, but that is far from their only right-wing position.

Both of them have also strongly supported the horrific anti-Muslim, anti-oppressed caste, anti-poor citizenship laws that were attempted by the Modi regime over three years ago, and almost exactly three years ago that then-Seattle City Council, some of us who were there, voted unanimously in favor of a resolution from my office condemning those unjust laws and urging US Congress to similarly take a position.

The most significant organization that is opposing our movement is the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or the VHP.

The VHP is one of the main organizations that make up the VHP The VHP is one of the main organizations that make up the family of far-right Hindu fundamentalist organizations.

This quote-unquote family includes the right-wing regime of India's Prime Minister Modi and the BJP.

It also includes the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, RSS, which was founded nearly 100 years ago in 1925 and is the hardline ideological backbone of all the far-right Hindu organizations.

The VHP was formed in 1964 as a support organization for the RSS.

According to Human Rights Watch, the VHP was one of the three fundamentalist organizations considered most responsible for the 2002 carnage in the western state of Gujarat in India.

This was a three-day killing spree which left hundreds of Muslims dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Shops, restaurants, and places of worship of Muslims were destroyed, and scores of Muslim girls and women were brutally raped before being mutilated and burned to death.

The reason I mention this is because it is very clear who's on which side of this ordinance.

Councilmember Sawant.

on caste.

Ajanta Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Harvard University, wrote in support of our ordinance and said, unfortunately, as with all advances in civil rights, this proposed ordinance has also met opposition from those who argue that caste protections are already covered by anti-discrimination law.

But existing protections for race and national origin do not recognize that oppressed castes are a minority within a minority.

They are disadvantaged not only by race and national origin, but also by caste.

This form of multiple disadvantage can only be addressed by making caste a separate protected category.

And there are many other claims that the right wing makes that I will address if necessary.

However, I will I will stop at that point.

I also have, obviously, I may be making closing remarks at the very end, but I will, President Pro Tem, with your permission, I will invite Council Member Herbold to make the amendment.

Sure.

Thank you, Councilmember Sawant.

Before you begin, Councilmember Herbold, I do want to ask the audience to please refrain from shouting out and commenting.

We've had a lot of public comment already, and we do need to proceed in chambers.

So please refrain from commenting or shouting out and let us move through our agenda.

Please go ahead, Councilmember Herbold.

Thank you.

I'd like to move Amendment A, Version 1 to Council Bill 120511. Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded.

Please go ahead.

Thank you so much.

Just very briefly, this amendment adds legislative findings to support the legislation as well as referencing the creation of an accompanying clerk file to hold testimony submitted to the council about these experiences to demonstrate the city's interest in protecting its residents with marginalized identities as cast oppressed from discrimination.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I do want to apologize.

I do want to mention, I asked Asha Venkatraman from council central staff to be here in case folks have questions.

So Asha, I do want to thank you for being here.

I had asked the office of civil rights to provide some information about their ability to implement this legislation.

The bill was sent to full council before I had a chance to review the memo.

So I did ask Asha here to walk us through what we've learned and to give colleagues the opportunity to ask questions.

So before I ask Asha to address the council, I will ask if there are any objections to that process.

I don't hear any.

Okay, so my apologies, Council Member Herbold.

I do wanna open it up.

I think I've interfered with the process here, but if there are questions for Asha as we're moving through this, I do wanna give her the opportunity to answer them.

Can we dispense on the amendment and get that handled and then have questions about the body of the bill?

Yes, that's fine.

Okay, so thank you Council Member Herbold for addressing the amendment.

Are there any comments on the amendment A?

President Morales, I would like to comment.

Yes, please go ahead.

Thank you.

I'm happy to be co-sponsoring this amendment, Council Member Herbold.

As was mentioned, this is a technical amendment.

It does not change the function of the ordinance in any way.

It adds a findings section to the bill and links to a clerk file, which compiles academic research statements from organizations, and most importantly, the personal experiences of Seattle residents who have experienced caste-based discrimination.

by approving this amendment, the City Council will record testimony submitted to the Council about these experiences and the City's interest in protecting its residents with marginalized identities as caste-oppressed from discrimination.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Salat.

Any other comments on the amendment?

Council Member Nelson.

The amendment makes a finding that existing anti-discrimination protections do not fully encompass caste discrimination, but that's not exactly true.

The city's existing ban on discrimination based on ancestry, we've been told very likely does ban discrimination based on caste.

And that's just an issue for the courts to decide, which is happening right now in California, examining this very issue.

So I will be voting against this amendment.

Thank you.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

When we were here last week, I repeated what I had heard from folks that our national origin prohibition against discrimination would suffice in this case.

But it turns out that that's not actually true.

And that's one of the reasons why the time that we've had with this bill has been very useful for me to learn not just about the issue, but to learn about the application of existing laws.

The reality is that we don't have examples of current law successfully protecting caste.

And those who suggest that it does are actually advancing an unproven legal theory.

And I think it's really important that we err on the side of protection against discrimination and have that legal clarity.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Other comments on the amendment before we vote?

President Rodan Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

Yeah, in addition to the points that Council Member Herbold made, which I fully agree with, I would just add also that it is hard enough to prove you have faced discrimination without also having to win a court case showing that the caste discrimination, the discrimination on the basis of caste, actually legally counts as race or ancestry or national origin or anything like that.

So really, that is the value of passing this kind of ordinance because by law, ordinary people, workers will have the right to go to court and say specifically I was discriminated against on the basis of caste and the law is on my side.

Okay, thank you very much.

I don't see any other comments.

So I will ask the clerk to please call the roll on the passage of Amendment A to Council Bill 120511.

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Nay.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

Six in favor, one opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries and Council Bill 120511 as amended is now before the council.

Colleagues, are there other comments on the amended council bill?

Well, I would like to make a couple comments before I hand it to the sponsors for closing remarks if nobody else has comments.

Oh, Council Member Peterson.

Oh, no.

Sorry.

Council Member Herbold.

Is that hand from before?

It is, but I'm happy to, I mean, whatever the cue is, I don't want to disrupt it.

I will, I will ask just a couple questions of Asha.

We have the 1520 protected classes in the city so CR is responsible for enforcing about 15 of them.

And I think based on the information that we did receive from SOCR, we know that each new protected class, they have to update materials, they have to engage with community members and businesses to share information and technical assistance.

Do you have an understanding of how many people are needed in addition to an investigator to help support this work?

Good afternoon, Council Members.

Asha Venkatraman with your Council Central staff.

At this point, with the materials that the Office for Civil Rights has provided, it looks like they would need one FTE as a business liaison.

And so they wouldn't necessarily need more enforcement staff, but having that business liaison would allow them to increase awareness in local businesses about what CAST is and how these protections work so that businesses are aware of their obligations, assuming if this ordinance passes.

And so to retain that position on an ongoing basis would be 185,000.

And then in addition, that 185,000 encompasses both the position as well as ongoing outreach.

They also indicated that an additional 100,000 in one-time funding would be needed for things like updating their outreach materials, media, rulemaking efforts, as well as doing...

Oh, sorry.

As well as the...

educational pieces that go towards when any sort of new protected class is added to an ordinance.

And the one additional thing I'd note is that this, the The resources that are outlined here are not just in response to this new protected class.

It's in response to sort of a few years worth of pieces of legislation being passed without additional outreach or enforcement funds.

And so this is a wholesale analysis of what kinds of resources they need to be able to effectively enforce this legislation.

I just add, oh, sorry, go ahead.

No, please continue.

I was just going to add that even where we are right now in sort of the timing of budgeting, if this ordinance were to pass right now with the current effective date, it would.

The mayor's office and the council would have the opportunity to add funds in potentially a supplemental budget or in the annual budget process.

But those funds would obviously not be available to the Office for Civil Rights until 2024. That being said, they did indicate that even if the ordinance passes as is, they would still investigate these cases, still be moving forward.

It would just cause a little more processing time in terms of their investigations.

And they wouldn't be able to do any of the additional education and outreach until these, the funds were provided, which would be next year.

Great.

Thank you.

I think, you know, this is.

Clearly the department will need a little bit of catch up to understand this.

There's always a learning curve when there's a new class added.

In 2015, we had just started talking as a city about gender neutral bathrooms, about transgender issues and what it means to be transgender.

So I understand that there will be some understanding that the department will need.

But I do wanna thank Council Member Sawant for bringing this legislation You know, the notion of caste may be new to this country, to many in this country, but the idea of discrimination certainly is not new, or of colorism or of racism.

And the subtleties of discrimination keep those who don't suffer from it unaware of its pernicious effects and the way that it can impact some of our neighbors on their ability to provide for themselves and their families.

You know, I do support this legislation, I am also acutely aware of the obligations of our city departments to investigate and and enforce these rules, every time we add another protected class to the list.

As Asha mentioned so CRS working through close to 70 investigations right now.

averaging, you know, nine months to a year in order to be able to, to close an investigation so the truth is they did a tremendous job working through their caseload.

And I do think that in the next opportunity, whether it's a supplemental budget or our budget process later this year.

We will need to make sure that we are allocating the resources to the department, not just to serve this legislation, but to help them meet their caseload needs, given the additional work that we've created by adding new protected classes over the last few years.

So I do intend to support this legislation and look forward to working with Council Member Salwant to ensure that we've got the budget resources that we need later.

I think I have Council Member Herbold and then Council Member Nelson.

I don't know if that's a new hand or the same one, but Council Member Herbold, please go ahead.

Thank you so much.

I want to also thank Council Member Sawant for bringing this forward.

This is obviously an issue that a lot of people in our community care about and that a lot of folks outside of Seattle are watching our actions.

I think it's important to recognize that Seattle's anti-discrimination law is more expansive than federal or state law.

And it's not at all unusual to update sections of the municipal code to address human rights and protect against discrimination.

We've done so just twice in just the last 15 months.

Most recently, Council Member Morales, in a bill that I co-sponsored, she led on, included an individual's actual potential perceived or alleged pregnancy outcomes as a basis for protection against discrimination.

Similarly, Council Member Morales in 2021 made an amendment to include immigration status, genetic information, and honorably discharged veterans or military status as additional inclusion.

So for the watching, viewing public and listening public's understanding, we have a large number of protected classes here in Seattle in our discrimination law.

And the idea that Our laws can't be enforced because it's not possible to identify caste among hundreds of different divisions.

It is simply not how this law is enforced.

No one needs to determine somebody's caste to enforce this law if we pass it.

Many groups are subject to oppression from dominant identities where the marginalized identity, it's unclear from visible markers, just like caste does not have visible markers.

So exposing discrimination often requires self identification of being a member of a protected class.

This is no different.

You're not going to need to have somebody like making a list of all the different tasks in order to enforce this law.

Another thing that I've heard that, you know, again.

It's taking me some time.

As Council Member Sawant has said, we want to protect people against discrimination.

That is a no-brainer.

But when I receive information from members of the public, I want to look into it to see whether or not the information I'm getting is accurate.

One of the things that folks have said, some opponents of this have said, is that this law somehow singles out Hindus.

And to me, again, I said to myself, well, how does it do that?

And the more I think about it, it sounds like it's analogous to saying that laws that prohibit gender discrimination singles out all men as people who discriminate.

The central staff memo says very clearly that caste-based discrimination is present in Japan, the Middle East, Nigeria, Somalia, and Senegal.

And the findings in the amendment that we passed today, again, clearly says that caste transcends religious and geographic boundaries with caste based discrimination showing up in Christian, Muslim, Sikh, and other religious communities all over South Asia and in South Asian and African communities.

So, again, I didn't want to do anything that singles out Hindus, and I don't think we are, because we're not saying that discrimination is a practice of this entire group of people.

And then lastly, it's been suggested that if we have a small number of our population who's experiencing this form of discrimination, that somehow that makes it less important, and it doesn't.

You know, so many of the categories included in this in this law are categories that aren't used very frequently.

For instance, the prohibition against discrimination because of political ideology or breastfeeding in public.

But it's completely unfair to tell the people who do experience this discrimination that a law prohibiting it is unneeded.

And I am not going to be a person who says that.

So in closing, I'm very, very proud and honored to have the opportunity to support this legislation.

Thank you, Council Member Herbold.

Council Member Nelson, do you have another question or comment?

No.

Okay.

Okay.

I don't see any other hands.

So Council Member Sawant, I will...

Sorry.

I can't tell Council Member Nelson.

My hand is up.

Okay, please go ahead.

All right, so I want to make this very clear.

Caste discrimination is abhorrent and I oppose it.

However, I'm concerned that designating caste as a protected class in Seattle is likely a reckless, unnecessary and harmful solution to a problem about which we have no data or research on its occurrence in Seattle.

Now, hear me out.

I say reckless because my colleagues and I know full well that this legislation poses legal risk for the city and the likelihood of legal challenge is high.

It explicitly links caste discrimination with people of South Asian descent and Hinduism in the recitals.

And I quote, the concept of caste system is primarily associated with the South Asian region where its existence is linked to the religiously sanctioned social structure of Hinduism.

And there are two active court cases in California right now.

And one of them centers on the claim that tying Hinduism to caste discrimination violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment and the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.

So the last thing we need is yet another costly lawsuit, possibly brought by a well-resourced employer in the tech sector, which is also called out in the recitals, because that's easy to avoid and we don't need it.

And that is reckless by going forward without thinking about that.

Now, I also said that this is unnecessary because we also know that because caste identity is associated with religion, race, ancestry, and national origin, a claim of caste discrimination could be lodged under one of those existing protected classes.

And in fact, the other active court case in California, which the bill's supporters have cited, is based on that exact premise.

Good governance means considering all perspectives.

And a lot of new information has come to light recently that's not represented in the documents before us.

We received hundreds of emails from constituents of South Asian descent, and many of them state that the caste system was abolished in India in 1950, and enshrining it as a protected class only perpetuates colonialist and racist stereotypes.

Furthermore, singling them out as the perpetuators and victims of caste discrimination could generate more anti-Hindu discrimination and the risk of difficulty.

Okay, I'll say that again.

Furthermore, singling them out as the perpetuators and victims of caste discrimination could generate more anti-Hindu discrimination and the risk of a difficult to disprove the risk of a difficult to disprove discrimination claim could dissuade employers from hiring South Asians.

So like you, Council Member Herbold, I understand that it's not for us to say that your discrimination is not valid.

I am simply saying that there are a lot of people who are saying that this legislation could worsen the situation.

And finally, although we have conflicting studies on the prevalence of caste discrimination nationally, we have no reliable data on the scope of the issue in Seattle.

And I am not saying that it does not exist, but we have been told that that would be a very helpful information to have.

And so like other.

Council member Nelson.

Yeah.

My apologies.

I'm going to ask one more time for disruptive behavior to end in chambers, or we will have to ask people to be escorted out.

Council rules do prohibit holding banners, standing in the aisles while we are, unless you're recognized to speak.

And right now public comment period is over.

We're really trying to get through this bill so that we can continue on our agenda.

So I'm going to ask one more time for folks to end the disruptive behavior and let our council proceedings continue.

Please go ahead, Council Member Nelson.

Thank you for that.

Anyway, so this is not like other struggles to create protected classes that have a lot more information about them.

So here we are.

about to vote on legislation in just one public meeting.

to create a new protected class for caste, which is a culturally and historically nuanced concept that the super majority of us knew nothing about or very little about just a short time ago, about a month ago.

And this room demonstrates that the community it will impact is sharply divided over this legislation.

And I have to say that smearing the opponents as mere right-wingers is deeply insulting and offensive.

You know, we can agree to disagree.

Anyway, just because we can do something doesn't mean we should.

And what I'm trying to do in my vote in opposition to this is avoid the negative consequences that I have just described.

I thought about saying, well, let's delay and let's have, you know, let's insist on having it go through the proper committee.

process.

But given the fact that people are here and people seem ready to vote, I took that off the table.

And believe me, I don't take this vote lightly.

I understand that people feel very strongly about this, but I will be voting no.

Thank you.

Council Member Sawant, do you have any closing remarks about the bill?

Yes, I do.

Please go ahead.

Please feel free to stand up.

You're not going to disrupt me by standing up.

And also, I didn't hear any council members objecting when I was being heckled by the right wing.

So let's be clear about that.

The right wing around the world cares little for honesty in their arguments.

We saw that with Trump and his supporters, and we see that now with the right wing organizations opposing us and also the comments that we just heard from Council Member Nelson.

And, you know, one of the points that the right wing brings up is that there will be a threat of lawsuits, and that's why we shouldn't pass this.

That's what we just heard, one of the objections and the reasons for voting no.

Well, you know, the people who say that there will be lawsuits are themselves who are planning to put through lawsuits.

So they don't tell you that part.

Nobody's forcing them.

Nobody's holding a gun to their head to file these lawsuits.

They are choosing to because they are against ending discrimination and oppression.

So our response to that throughout history, if the response of progressives and the left had been, well, there's going to be lawsuits.

We can't put this forward.

Where would we be?

Where would women's rights and LGBTQ rights be if we had accepted that argument?

So you know what?

If the right wing is threatening to bring lawsuits, bring it on, is what we say.

And we will defeat it.

In the nearly 10 years of our office in City Hall, we have won the $15 minimum wage, the Amazon tax, a whole host of renters' rights victories, and many other victories.

And the right wing, whether it is the far right, the Hindu far right, or it is big business, billionaires like Jeff Bezos, they have tried lawsuits after lawsuits, the Chamber of Commerce, the corporate landlord lobby.

They have not won a single lawsuit to date.

So our right is very strong.

And when Council Member Nelson says that, you know, actually, really passing this ban, in reality, if you care about Dalit and oppressed people, you should actually not do it, because doing it could dissuade some employers from hiring South Asian people.

This is rank gaslighting.

You know what this reminds me of?

When we were fighting for the $15 an hour minimum wage, I had corporation after corporation had the nerve to come into our office and say, you care about black and brown workers, poor workers, low-income workers, but really, let me tell you, if you pass $15 an hour, you'll end up hurting them because, you know what, the court, the court, what they're really trying to say is that we might stop employing people who are of low-income backgrounds.

And first of all, that's a really, vile threat.

And second of all, none of this ever happened.

In fact, $15 an hour lifted 100,000 workers out of poverty.

And what we will get if we win this ban against caste discrimination is genuinely empower caste-oppressed workers and our movement to fight to win lawsuits in the courts against massive corporations and corporate executives, like in Microsoft, IBM, Google, Facebook, and so on.

The list goes on.

We know the executives are not on our side.

We know the major shareholders and billionaires are not on our side, which is why we need this law.

And, yes, it is—I totally agree with councilmembers who say that we need funding for the Office of Civil Rights.

And I invite councilmembers who are concerned about funding to join me in our annual People's Budget campaign that we will be launching again in September.

fight alongside my office and our movement to tax big business and wealthy people so that we can fully fund these departments.

But let's also be clear about the details.

The main power of this historic law, if we win today, is the private right of action.

In other words, the right to forecast oppressed workers to bring a discrimination lawsuit in the courts.

So yes, the department should be investigating.

They should have enough funding.

But that is not the real issue.

The real issue is we need this law on the books so that legally caste discrimination is outlawed, so that that law can then be used to take it to the courts.

And we have no illusions.

Winning in the courts will also require a movement.

It's not—our work will not be done here.

We will need a movement to win anti-discrimination lawsuits in court.

And a lot of people who have opposed this legislation have said, well, you know, we need to explain it to the corporate guys.

You know, they don't understand cash.

Of course they understand, but they have no interest in doing anything about it.

And I was asked today, earlier today I was asked, but don't you want to educate the corporate bosses?

And my response to them was, you know the best way of educating corporate bosses is win a lawsuit against them.

That will educate them overnight.

Again, just on a sobering note for our movement, let's remember that let's remember that if we if we win this.

Okay, I'm going to ask that the audience come to order.

I've asked a couple of times the chairs asked the meeting to come to order and order is not being restored.

So we will clear the room.

If we can't have order in the chambers, please.

I want to just inject a sobering note for our movement.

If we, and also just accuracy, if we win today, this will be nothing short of historic.

This is making waves around the world, not just in the United States, but it's also not Our work will not be done.

Our work will only be begun.

So once we pass this law, we will need to actually exercise this law in the courts.

So those of you who are here, those of you who are watching remotely, we will need you to come out with us to actually win those lawsuits against corporations in order to actually ban caste discrimination.

caste discrimination will not be banned by just putting a law on the books.

That's the first step, and even that is hard.

You see the opposition, but it will hardly be the last step.

I wanted to thank so many of our community members, tech workers, union members, South Asian supporters of all religions, the Dalit-led organizations, so many of you who are here.

I just wanted to quickly quote or at least paraphrase, I don't have the exact quote, but paraphrase Sanket, who correctly said that the fact that so many of us were here starting at 2 a.m.

to get 30 seconds of time to speak in front of the city council, that shows how deeply crucial this law is for all of us and whether we are oppressed caste or not, those of us who are fighting for it, we desire, personally, we desire to live in a society free of oppression.

That's why we are fighting for it.

I have freely declared this.

I grew up in a Brahmin family.

I did not experience, my family was not wealthy, but I did not experience caste-based discrimination, but I am alongside everyone else because I also desire, as a socialist, to live in a society free of oppression.

the right-wing tell us that, oh, well, you know, we don't know what we're talking about.

But, you know, truly ending discrimination has required mass movements like ours, and we would not be here without this movement.

And ultimately, it requires ending the capitalist system that bases itself on brutally exploiting and dividing the working class and the poor and profiting off discrimination and oppression.

So when they say that this ordinance is divisive, no, this ordinance is actually going away from divisiveness and division.

It is capitalism and its oppressions that divide humanity, and we want to end that division.

We need a fundamentally different kind of society based on equality, solidarity, and democracy, a society run by and for working people, not the billionaires.

In other words, what we need is a socialist society.

While this legislation will only make caste discrimination illegal, and that is a huge deal and does not change the enforcement of discrimination in general, it is nonetheless truly groundbreaking legislation.

As I said, it can serve as a beacon to cities and states around the country and ultimately around the world.

Today's vote will make history.

Let's also make sure to remember how we got here.

It was not by powerful people supporting us.

It was by us, rank and file activists, workers, building our movement together, independent of those powerful forces, and in defiance of the far right and the right wing.

Thank you.

Council Member Peterson?

We're ready to go for a vote.

Do you have something you need to?

Thank you, President Pro Tem Morales.

I just wanted to thank all the council members.

I cannot hear, wait.

Okay, can we please proceed in chambers?

It would be great if we could take a vote.

We cannot do that if we cannot hear.

Thank you.

Please proceed Council Member Peterson.

Thank you, President Pro Tem Morales.

I just wanted to thank all the council members who spoke, sponsor, Council Member Herbold's explanation and also Council Member Nelson for doing additional research.

I found the discourse very helpful in informing my vote on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of Council Bill 120511.

Excuse me, Council, Council President Pro Tem, did we make a motion to adopt as a pass as amended?

Actually, I think we need to make my apologies.

Okay.

Okay.

So I move that we pass Council Bill 120511 as amended.

Is there a second?

Thank you.

Yes, okay, thank you.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Nay.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

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

Thank you very much.

Okay, will the clerk please read item three into the record.

OK.

Madam Clerk, can you hear me?

OK.

I don't think anybody can hear me in Chambers.

I'm going to give it just a minute.

Welcome back to Chambers, everybody.

Okay.

Madam Clerk, can you hear me?

Madam Clerk, can you hear me?

I can now.

Thank you.

Will you please read item three into the record?

Item three, Council Bill 120512, an ordinance relating to weights and measures, conforming city provisions regarding weights and measures to state law, providing an enforcement process, updating fees, repealing requirements for weight master licenses, and amending chapter 7.04 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Thank you.

I move to pass Council Bill 120512. Is there a second?

Second.

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

Council Member Mosqueda, sponsor of the bill, you're recognized to address the item.

Thank you very much.

Calling central staffs analyst Lisa K emailed the city of Seattle council members last week in advance of the vote on this legislation, Council 120512. In the central staff memo, they outlined the weights and measurements legislation that is before us today.

This bill would update the Seattle Municipal Code to move us to the metric system.

I'm just kidding.

This bill would align with several decades of state law governing the city's responsibility to enforce the state's requirements for commercial weighing and measuring devices, including standards, inspections, and testing, and recommended to us by the city attorney's office.

This would be the second time that this section of the Seattle Municipal Code has been revised since 1995. In compliance with the RCW for weights and measurements, there is a difference from other state laws in that the city is responsible for enforcing compliance for state law, RCW 1994, as written, rather than enacting localized legislation that would then be enforced.

In short, this bill would do four things.

First, align the Seattle Municipal Code with current state law and national standards.

Second, update the Seattle Municipal Codes out-of-date fines and penalties to match those established by state law, which actually increases the net increase back to the City of Seattle by about $39,000 a year to the City of Seattle.

The third thing is that it removes all criminal penalties and authorizes the Finance and Administrative Services Department to issue civil citations and or penalties as is done by other FAS divisions for minor violations typically resulting in a warning.

And lastly, it incorporates the city's regulatory provisions for electronic price scanners, which are not regulated by the RCW.

I want to thank you all for considering voting yes on this.

We have worked with the council president and the executive's office to send this directly to council.

given the formality embedded in this legislation.

I appreciate that it's been moved forward here today.

And I wanna thank Sejal Parikh, Chief of Staff in my office for her work on this legislation with central staff and the executive team, including folks at FAS and CBO.

Thank you very much, Council Member Mosqueda.

Are there any comments about the bill?

I'm seeing none.

Any final remarks, Council Member?

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

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

All those in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the bill passes, the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, moving on to the Finance and Housing Committee, item four.

Will the clerk please read item four into the record?

Excuse me, the report of the Finance and Housing Committee agenda item four, resolution 32083, a resolution establishing a watch list of large, complex, discrete capital projects that will require enhanced quarterly monitoring reports for the 2023 calendar year.

The committee recommends the city council adopt as amended the resolution.

Thank you.

Council Member Mosqueda, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to address the bill.

the item.

Pardon me.

Thank you very much, Madam President Pro Tem colleagues.

The legislation in front of them in front of us is a piece of legislation we consider every year to look at the capital projects.

Watch list.

We have done this since the passage of the ordinance that required this list to be sent to us at the beginning of the year, and I want to think again Councilmember Herbold for her leadership on this in partnership with our former colleague, Councilmember Bagshot.

This legislation has been in front of the Finance and Housing Committee over the last two meetings.

And by way of reminder, the ordinance that I just mentioned that was co-sponsored by Councilmember Herbold was brought to us in 2018 and passed as Resolution 31853. which required that a small list of capital projects that require enhanced quarterly monitoring be in front of the council for its consideration as drafted by the executive's office.

The mayor's office provides a draft list and then each council member is offered an invitation to review that list and add any additional projects to the watch list that they would like to see for enhanced evaluation and monitoring throughout the course of our calendar year.

Council members were also invited to submit any amendments that they had and to also join our committee.

I want to thank the council members who voted in the Finance and Housing Committee and also Council Member Strauss who added an amendment as well.

The committee voted and supported two amendments, one from Council Member Strauss and one from Vice Chair Council Member Herbold to the watch list.

So the amended resolution in front of us did pass unanimously out of Council.

The mayor and his team have indicated that they will concur with this resolution as they think that this is a manageable watch list.

In addition to the oversight that is provided from this capital projects watch list, I also understand that several of the committee members with oversight over substantive projects on this list may want to have lengthier presentations in their own committee and may have in their work plan for their committees additional analysis of how the city is doing with staying on time and on budget, under budget on these projects.

So in addition to the entire council having the full project watch list, we understand there may be additional presentations in each of our committees on certain projects that the chair may be interested in.

I wanna thank you all for your consideration of this legislation in front of us today, and really to thank Ed and Sissick from central staff for his analysis of the projects watch list in front of us, Adam Schaffer from CBO, Dan Nolte from the mayor's office for their work on this legislation, along with Sejal Parikh who has been shepherding this on the second floor with central staff as well to ensure that all of those amendments got included.

Thank you very much, Madam President Pro Tem.

Hoping for a yes vote on this.

Thank you, Council Member Mosqueda.

It's a long list, and I had about 14 items that I was contemplating, and my staff talked me out of adding them, so.

We will keep an eye on them separately and look forward to getting updated on this particular list at the right time.

Colleagues, are there any comments on the resolution or the list itself?

I'm not seeing any.

Any further comments, Council Member Muscata?

Okay.

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

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Swatt?

Council Member Strauss.

Yes.

Council Member Herbold.

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Nelson.

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Morales.

Yes.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The resolution is adopted and the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, I think we're on our last item, item five.

Will the clerk please read item five into the record?

The report of the Public Assets and Homelessness Committee, agenda item five, resolution 32084, a resolution relating to Seattle Parks and Recreation, authorizing the superintendent of Parks and Recreation to act as the authorized representative agent on behalf of the city of Seattle.

The committee recommends the city council adopt the resolution.

Thank you very much.

Um.

Council member Mosqueda will be addressing this on behalf of council member Lewis.

I believe you're scheduled to adjust this item.

Yes.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem on behalf of council member Lewis.

Um he wanted to reiterate that the parks department provided a thorough presentation to the committee, explaining both the history of the state recreation and conservation grant program.

and the selection criteria for these applications.

Committee members' questions were satisfactorily answered, and the committee unanimously recommends passage and adoption of this resolution, resolution 32084 on the agenda today.

Terrific, thank you.

Colleagues, are there any comments or questions about the resolution?

I'm not seeing any.

Committee member Mosqueda, any closing remarks?

No, okay, very good.

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

Council Member Peterson?

Yes.

Council Member Swat?

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Mosqueda?

Aye.

Council Member Nelson?

Aye.

Council President Pro Tem Morales?

Yes.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted, the chair will sign it.

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

Okay, moving on to items removed from the consent calendar.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar.

There are no further resolutions for introduction or adoption today.

Is there any other business to come before council?

I am not seeing any hands raised.

Okay.

In that case, colleagues, this does conclude the items of business on today's agenda.

The next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be on February 28, 2023. Thank you all for being here today.

We are adjourned.