Seattle City Council Meeting 1302024

Hello everybody, thank you for coming.

The January 30th, 2024 meeting of the Seattle City Council will now come to order.

It is 2.01.

I'm Sarah Nelson, president of the council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Rivera.

Present.

Council member Saca.

Here.

Council member Strauss.

Present.

Council member Wu.

Present.

Council member Hollingsworth.

Present.

Council Member Kettle.

Present.

Council Member Moore.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Nine present.

Thank you very much.

Just one moment, please, folks.

If you could take your seats, and we can't really hear what we're doing up here, so please try to be a little bit quiet, please, as we continue with our meeting.

Okay, I'm not aware of any presentation for today.

I'm just going to give a pause so that people can take their seats.

Okay.

Colleagues, at this time, we'll now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comment should relate to items on the introduction and referral calendar, today's agenda, or the council work program.

For today's public comment period, I am proposing that we hear speakers for 20 minutes, not knowing how many people will be wanting to speak, because we do have three items on our agenda we want to get to.

I'm prepared to make a motion to postpone when we reach the end of the 20 minutes of public comment.

We can get to folks later on.

Madam Clerk, how many people have signed up to speak?

We have 14 in person.

We have five remote.

Okay.

All right, then I think that we can do them all in the beginning.

I mean, in the beginning of the meeting, and if it goes over, we'll just continue with public comment.

I will give everybody one minute each.

So, Madam Clerk, you may please read the instructions.

Public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

Each speaker will be given one minute to speak.

There may be public comment speakers online and in person.

I'll begin by calling on the first in-person speakers.

Speakers will be called on by name and in the order in which they registered on the website or on the sign-up sheet available in council chambers.

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

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

speakers will hear a chime when there are 10 seconds left of the allotted time and once you hear the chime we ask you again to wrap up your comments if speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time provided the speaker's microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker the public comment is now open and i will put up one moment please i would like to just make a

just say something.

I understand that there are translation devices that are being set up, so people that are using those can have a total of two minutes.

We'll reassess the amount of time, the amount of speakers remaining after 20 minutes, and this item is what I think you'll be talking about is not on our agenda.

We do not have a published work plan, so I am making an exception for today's speakers, many of whom came from out of town to be here today.

Okay, continue, please.

I'm sorry, Madam Clerk.

Our public comment period is now open.

Thank you.

Our first speaker is Alex Zimmerman.

My name, Alex Zimmerman.

Yeah.

President of Stand Up America.

Hi, my lovely council.

I'm very appreciative.

So you don't give me trespass.

I think maybe somebody in council right now have more than 60 IQ.

It's very important.

I want to speak about agenda.

Bill number 471, about $57 million.

And I spoke about money, government money, what is you spend here for nothing.

You know what it means for many years.

Guys, $57 million salary.

I told you many times before, your salary, $130,000.

You have four assistants, $60,000.

Fish always stinking from head.

You have $300 million debt.

So why you don't come and don't cut your salary, your assistance?

You know what this means?

Why you need four assistants?

I have my business, one assistant, and I make millions in my life.

Where is problem?

You're so stupid, so you need four assistants?

You could pay $60,000 each.

Our next speaker is Mike.

Is it Mike Garcia?

Oh, Asad.

Excuse me.

Thank you.

Asad.

Good afternoon.

I didn't realize there would be some cameras here today.

I have more to say.

I had a two-minute speech.

That was time.

But I've emailed each and every one of you new members.

My name is Mike Asai with Emerald City Collective, Unjustly Shut Down, 1st and Penn Street, downtown Seattle.

Look, we just have to talk and get things right for the pioneers like myself.

and the black community.

I won't take up any more time, because I have more to say, but I look forward to dialogue with you guys, because I've been hurt, Peter's been hurt, the Pioneer's been hurt in the cannabis industry, and we've got to make this right.

The city of Seattle has to do something.

Thank you.

You are pleased to use, can you, Mike, can you just send in your comments also by email as well, and then we'll talk later.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Peter Manning.

Thank you, Council.

Oh, hey, it's a new phase.

It's a lot of new phases.

Sarah Nelson.

Hey, you're the leader now and we're proud of you.

Hey, we're behind you.

Joy Hounsworth, you've always been with the community.

So many great stories to tell about you.

We love you.

I speak to you today from Black Excellence in Cannabis, fighting for inclusion in the cannabis industry.

As we know that the city of Seattle was partly responsible for closing out a lot of the black and brown dispensaries in 2015. There needs to be some reconciliation, some reparations paid.

We worked with the mayor's office last year.

That didn't evolve into anything.

There's money missing that was designed for the social equity program, but that wound up in the union's hands.

My question to this committee or to these council members is, what does the union have to do with social equity?

Think about that.

And I look forward to meeting with you.

We will write these comments into you.

Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Adriana Figueroa.

Maybe you could say a couple more speakers.

And following Adriana would be Maria Melina.

My name is Adriana.

Today I come as a leader from my community representing 90 families that are currently sheltering at the Quality Inn Hotel.

And I'm here to talk to you all with a lot of respect, and we have three petitions that we are currently asking.

Okay.

without, we're naming these three petitions without minimizing the urgency that we have going on today because we're facing eviction today from this hotel where we are sheltering.

My friends will be able to share some of this history about how we got to the hotel and some of the things that we will be requesting from you today.

Very good morning.

First of all, thank you very much for allowing us to be here, for opening up a little bit of time for us.

My name is Lady.

I represent my community as well.

A little bit of our story is that we were in a refuge.

From that refuge we went to...

Hello, my name is Lady, and I'm here to represent my community as well.

And to tell you about my story, we were sheltering the United Methodist Church in Tacuila, and we were taken away from that shelter.

And the reason why we were taken away from that shelter is because

We were living in a very precarious situation, among rats, where there are many children, small children, pregnant women, people from the LGBTQ community.

And we were taken to a hotel.

but at the moment the resources have not been enough for the association that was looking for us and that has been supporting us.

And that is why we are here, not to demand, but to ask that we please take into account these 90 families that are about to be evicted.

We were sheltering at the church.

However, it was a very difficult place to be living in.

There were rats.

It was not a healthy environment.

We had children.

We had pregnant women.

We had people from the LGBT community being there.

And so we were taken to this hotel.

And we really would like to ask that for us to get support so that we don't get evicted from this place.

Agradecida por esta oportunidad y espero nos tomen en cuenta, nos puedan dar las herramientas para poder integrar a la comunidad.

Thank you.

Please go ahead and finish, but I just wanted to go ahead.

Yeah, we're very grateful for this opportunity, and so we really ask for you all to help us so that we can get integrated within this community.

Got it.

The next two callers is Maria Coronel and Rosalyn.

I'm sorry, I'm right behind you.

I just wanna announce that OIR has provided a Spanish translator.

So anyone who wants to provide public comment, we do have a translator.

I do appreciate that you have been translating.

Thank you so much.

Can I just grab some of this paper here?

Absolutely.

Okay.

So just to repeat, we're giving two minutes each so that we can use half of that time for translation.

And then you'll have to stop speaking.

The chime means that you have 10 seconds left to go.

My name is Maria Coronel.

I'm Venezuelan.

I'm also in the hotel.

We came today asking for help.

Pidiendo ayuda para que nos ayuden a resolver este problema que estamos viviendo hoy en el Hotel Quality.

To resolve the problem that we're experiencing in the Quality Hotel.

Donde habemos diferentes familias con niños, matrimonios, donde no queremos irnos a la calle.

Where there's families, couples, and people who don't want to be in the street.

Y queremos pedirle ayuda el día de hoy porque hasta hoy tenemos el plazo para desalojar el hotel.

And we need help because today we've been told we need to leave the hotel.

We don't want to become a burden to you.

We just want to ask for help with the decent housing and work.

We do not want to be a burden for you, but we have a right to have decent housing and help.

We came here to get our...

We've asked for help from a lot of organizations and the government to have decent housing and work.

Thank you very much.

Rosalyn Palares and Joseph Berkson.

Above all, thank you so much for hearing us.

I'm also one of the girls that is at the Quality Inn.

I'm a mother.

We don't want to be a burden on you.

We're asking that you please help us to resolve this problem, and it's possible that we're going to get there and we won't have any place to stay.

We ask that you take us into consideration.

So that you can help us with some kind of a solution.

There's single people there, there's families there.

We also need some help with attorneys for asylum.

We're not asking for everything, but we need some help.

So that we can get a job and that way pay our bills.

But the emergency now is that we might get back there and we won't have any place to stay.

Thank you.

Joseph Berkson, followed by Iris Boudmao.

First of all, thank you for being here.

My name is Jose Mayo.

I'm here to speak for all the people that live in the Quality Inn.

Well, we've come here to ask for help.

A lot of us have had a lot of situations like having to sleep in our cars.

And some of us have lived in tents.

Some of us have children and we've lived in situations that are terrible where there's even rats.

Lots of the children got pneumonia.

They're at the quality.

Thank God that they have improved.

No ha sido algo fácil para nosotros obtener un trabajo ya que nuestro proceso migratorio ha sido un poco dificultoso a la hora de conseguir nuestros papeles.

And it's been difficult for us to find jobs because the immigration process has been lengthy in trying to get our papers.

En el día de hoy solamente queremos pedirles que nos ayuden con una vivienda digna y algunos pues ayudarnos con un trabajo para poder obtener.

No queremos ser una carga para ustedes como anteriormente lo han dicho mis compañeros.

And we were asking to have help to be able to have a dignified life.

And like my other people here have said, we don't want to be a burden.

We ask for your help.

We've gone through a lot of difficult things, and a lot of us are young and have small children.

We have a lot to offer in our jobs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Really quick.

The next speakers, we have Rosalyn Palares.

We should go to the...

Would you like to go online?

Would you like to go remote speakers?

Yeah.

Okay.

Nice to meet you.

My name is Mrs. Javier.

Como te llamas?

She gave me the chance to explain to you about the situation that we're here.

I am from Venezuela, too, because I don't speak English very well, because I want to try to explain to you everything about...

I live nine months in Tequila, in Reventor Park.

You know?

Como te llamas?

Your name, please.

Javier Elias Ponce Leon.

And the pastor take me away to the board.

I explain to the pastor we situation, you know.

We live nine months because half, She did not take the people half and half, you know, because really the African people is about 300 people with 180 family.

I know the story very well.

Because only time she bring more people, of course, because it's one quantity, 20, 25 family by the total, about 10 or five family from Venezuela.

What happened the people to Venezuela going to camp?

Because we know as a labor.

You help everyone with the labor.

I explained to she, everyone about this situation.

We eat the produce, we expire.

She explained to me, Javier, going away.

Because all to you, I explained to you here, it's in the newspaper before about, you understand?

Because the weed situation has what?

Just a seed.

The seed.

The seed is about what happened.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm going to have to ask you to finish up now so we can get to other people.

No, it's okay.

Thank you.

I just have to be fair.

We will now move to the remote public commenters, and then we are going to pause public comment, and we will go back to public comment after we've addressed our three agenda items.

At this time, Jody, can you please call on the next caller for remote speaker, please?

will i want to remind remote speakers that you will hear a prompt if you have been unmuted and that's your cue to begin to speak and you must press star six once you've been unmuted so our first remote speaker is adrian hellander adrian will be followed by david haynes go ahead adrian

Hi, my name is Adrienne Helander.

I am a translator for the Riverland Park United Methodist Church Immigration and Legal Clinic, and I'm also a member of a sister congregation to said church who's been hosting this shelter.

And I'm also, I've personally befriended several families at the shelter, and I want to advocate for my friends and their neighbors who get temporary emergency funding from the city to fund their housing at the hotel for one to two more months to give them time to process their asylum applications through legal means and legal clinics so that they can get work permits.

They want to support themselves.

They want to be contributing members of the community.

They want to pay taxes.

They don't want to be a burden on anyone.

But they just need to buy a little bit more time before they're thrust into abject homelessness this afternoon.

We need an emergency measure for funding for their hotel stay to extend it one to two more months today.

or 160 people, 90 families will be homeless on the streets of Kent today with nowhere to go and no recourse because the church has already backfilled with more migrants since they left and they do not have a spot to return to.

So please, city of Seattle, consider a generous donation to this hotel who has generously been putting them up for free for weeks at their own personal expense to a family business.

to fund these asylum-seeking refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries so they can secure work permits through the asylum-seeking legal process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is David Haynes, and David will be followed by Jade Weiss.

Go ahead, David.

Jodi, please adjust the time.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Thank you.

You're right.

Go ahead, David.

Hello.

This is David Haynes.

Yeah, I wanted to address Do you hear the cry of desperation that's coming from the free public comment?

There's a desperate need for a public safety, a homeless crisis, and a migrant crisis of capacity build-outs for better homes, shelters, and a whole bunch of housing.

And I think the council needs to realize that the previous councils and previous mayors sabotaged police reform and defunded the police and redirected the money to run interference for repeat offending criminals and to buy off a whole bunch of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protesters that intimidated council and created 16 newly created nonprofits that claim expert on community safety and equitable development initiatives who've already pocketed over $188 million if you include the participatory budget that nobody else gets to participate in.

We need a...

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jade Weiss, and Jade will be followed by Michelle Eastman.

Go ahead, Jade.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Jade, and I'm a member of the Lived Experience Coalition.

First, I just want to express my deep gratitude for the community and organizers who have stepped up to help meet the material needs of those who have been ignored by those who were elected to do the opposite.

I'm speaking today in support of the families and individuals who will once again be unsheltered after King County thoughtlessly offered a short-term Band-Aid where long-term solutions are desperately needed.

Hundreds of people, many of them children, who came to Washington seeking refuge and an opportunity at a healthy life are suffering inhumane conditions, and those conditions are some daily.

From the false promises to a failed county-led hoteling project, this community has been further harmed since the moment they arrived.

I urge you all to please use your positions of influence to petition Governor Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency and to create an interim work permit process.

Seattle prides itself on being a, quote, safe city and says it's in full support of a regional approach to any homelessness.

Prove that to us today by holding the state accountable and for doing what...

Thank you.

Our next speaker, this is our last and present remote speaker, Michelle Eastman.

Go ahead, Michelle.

Michelle, you may need to press star six.

Okay, I'm not seeing that Michelle is unmuting.

Oh, go ahead.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay.

This is Michelle Eastman.

I am director of communications for the Washington State Lived Experience Coalition.

And I'm here today to speak in support of the refugee families and to ask that the council address the immediate need for housing.

As you've heard, many of the speakers today are facing eviction.

And today, to go out onto the streets today, And this is a reminder how much of a need there is to invest in immediate housing, as well as to invest in long-term housing solutions, and to work on opportunities to give these people chances to support themselves through work permits and legal process support.

And your support will also support families with children and mental health services.

Thank you for your time today.

Thank you.

That concludes our remote speakers, Council President.

Thank you, Jody.

We are now going to move on to, oh, to other business, but the Council President.

Didn't you say we have one more?

Okay.

At this point, we do have the Director of our Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs that if I could suspend the rules, she can address, make a couple points.

Sure.

Yes, please.

And please introduce yourself.

And then we will continue with public comment after we get through the three items on the agenda, which will not take very long.

Hold on.

Say that again because we didn't have that mic on.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Is the mic on?

Yes.

Great.

I said good afternoon, honorable members of the council.

My name is Hamdi Mohammed.

For the record, I am the director of Seattle's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

I have been asked to provide a little bit of comments around migrant issues.

First, I just want to say I really do sympathize with a lot of the folks who are in this room today.

I came to this country as a three-year-old refugee from Somalia, so I can relate to a number of the issues that many of the folks in this room are experiencing today.

That said, our office has been working in collaboration with the entire state.

We have been tracking the influx of migrants coming into Washington state as a whole for about two years.

The influx of migrants that we're seeing in Washington state is also being seen across the entire country.

unfortunate situation is the fact that this is a federal matter.

It's an international matter.

It is a humanitarian issue.

And a lot of the times normally we look to the federal government for directions on migrant issues and support.

but we're not seeing that today.

And so a lot of localities are having to take on that additional burden and look at their own sort of resources and having to provide support there.

As a city of Seattle, one of the things that we have been doing as an office, obviously our office does not, we don't respond to housing.

That's not our areas of expertise.

We're a team of about 13 people with a budget around $5 million, but we've been a regional partner.

We have been convening both our state office, Immigrant and Refugee Affairs for the state of Washington.

We've been bringing King County to the table, the city of Tukwila who has experienced this, has been tackling this issue for many months now.

And one of the things that have come out of those conversations and coordinations is the county has allocated about $3 million where they're using those funds to Everyone here is vulnerable.

I recognize that.

But what the county has done is they've prioritized pregnant women, those with young children, and they are housing them in the city of SeaTac at this moment.

The state, there's a couple of bills right now in the state legislator are looking at to allocate additional resources.

There's the possibility of $3 million going to the Department of Commerce.

There's the possibility of an office similar to ours that responds to migrant issues that's supposed to have about $5 million.

But those dollars will not be released until after the session, until those bills pass.

And I don't wanna speak for the state or the county, but we are at the table and trying to come up with a regional plan.

And as an office, our priority area that we have put a lot of attention into is helping connect people who are migrants with employment authorization assistance to help them access employment.

We know that when people have their employment authorization cards, they can become self-sufficient.

And we actually see that happening in places like Tukwila or even in SeaTac where people have moved out of the hotel and into other homes.

And so we've put a lot of energy there as a small office with small resources.

And so we continue to do that and find more opportunities work with our nonprofit organizations to coordinate on how to use the resources that we've received to make the greatest impact and that is what we're doing as an office and so I wanted to come up here today and just let you guys know as a city we are at the table and are participating in those regional discussions.

And our office often is facilitating those discussions to make sure that this is a coordinated response, that we have our federal partners, our state partners, county and other smaller cities at the table to come together to respond to this.

It is a very difficult situation.

I believe everyone should have some level of access to housing and shelter.

And so I do sympathize with the folks who are here today.

And thank you for the time for me to, allowing me to have some time to provide you with some comments.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate that.

Go ahead, Council Member Morales.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you very much, Director Muhammad, for sharing that.

I do want to say, first of all, thank you all for being here today.

You're in a really hard situation, and we understand that you are here for many different reasons and looking for help in a new country for yourselves and your families to be able to thrive.

So I appreciate you coming here to City Hall to talk with the elected leaders directly.

Last year in the budget process, my office did put in $150,000 to help with some housing support.

Obviously, kind of a drop in the bucket relative to the great need that we have, but it is my hope that as that money starts to get out the door, we're able to prioritize the families with children, the women who are pregnant, and really help support with housing.

My hope is that between the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, our Human Services Department, and our potentially even our Office of Emergency Management, that we're able to find some emergency shelter opportunities and that we really are able to support the employment authorization cards that can help some of you get access to job opportunities as well.

So there is work happening with our different jurisdictional levels and with our community partners.

It is a hard problem to solve, but I do want you to know that we are working to try to provide the resources that you need to be able to thrive in your new country.

So thank you for coming here today.

Thanks.

Quiero decirle que le apreciamos mucho que vinieron aquí hoy a hablar con nosotros.

No puedo de imaginarme las condiciones que ustedes están pasando ahora, pero por favor, quiero que sepan que a nosotros nos importa mucho cuando la gente tiene dificultades y vienen a hablar con nosotros.

Yo sé lo difícil que es venir aquí y pedir ayuda.

OK, folks, if there is no objection, the public comment period will be postponed until after consideration of item three.

Hearing no objection, the public comment period is postponed until after consideration of item three.

Moving on.

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

Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

And now, if there's no objection, so will the agenda be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Now we will consider the proposed consent calendar, which has two items today, the minutes of January 22nd, 2024, and Council Bill 120741, payment of the bills.

Are there any items that council members wish to remove?

Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll?

No, I have to hear, seeing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

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 Rivera?

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Aye.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

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

Excuse me, Council President.

I fail to add the minutes as well.

I said the minutes before.

Thank you.

Yep.

Okay, so before we consider our three agenda items, I'm going to move to suspend the rules to allow a City Light representative to address the council.

Are there any objections?

Hearing no objection, the rules are suspended.

We'll now proceed with a brief overview of the review panel.

Lee Baraka, manager of strategic planning and performance at City Light, you are now recognized.

You're welcome to come to the table.

And remember, people, I'm doing this because these items were referred to my committee last year.

We didn't have a meeting, and so they're going straight to the full council.

Good afternoon, and thank you for taking the time to hear me in the midst of such important business.

So I will be brief.

As Council Member Nelson said, my name is Lee Brekka.

I'm the manager of strategic planning and performance at City Light.

In addition to helping facilitate the development of our biannual strategic plan, I also am the administrator, the liaison with the City Light review panel.

So let me give you just a quick overview of the panel.

The City Light Review Panel was established by Council Ordinance in March 2010. This panel is the successor to and combines the duties of the previous City Light Advisory Board and the Rate Advisory Board.

There was an updated ordinance for the panel in 2015. The panel is comprised of nine members drawn from City Lights customer groups, and their role is to advise on the development and merits of the City Lights strategic plan each two years, as well as the accompanying rate path.

We meet monthly and are currently meeting in a hybrid manner.

These are technically public meetings, so we do offer a public presence as well as those who would like to attend virtually.

So there's nine members to the panel.

five of whom are appointed by the mayor, three of whom are appointed by the city council.

The positions are as follows.

We have an economist, financial analyst, a non-profit energy efficiency advocate, a residential customer representative, a commercial customer representative, an industrial customer representative, a low-income customer representative, an at-large customer representative, and a suburban franchise city representative.

I'm going to be talking about three appointees today, two new appointees and one position swap.

So the candidates for you today, I believe you've probably seen their materials.

The first is Amy Altshuler for the industrial customer representative positions.

Amy has a background in electricity trading and electricity specific risk portfolio management.

In her current role, she works with First Mode, one of City Light's industrial customers in Seattle.

Her background has provided her with a significant range of experience to represent the industrial customer on the panel, and she lives in Council District 3. Z.

Doe is being referred for the customer at large position.

Ms. Doe is an experienced marketing and communications leader with proven expertise in strategy development and culture and team building.

She currently serves as the marketing and communications leader at North Star Energy.

She lives in Council District 6. Finally, we're recommending a current member swap positions.

That would be John Putz would swap from the at-large position role to become our financial analyst.

John is a 15-year veteran.

Dr. John Putz is a 15-year veteran of the energy, energy software, and trading industries.

He received his PhD in experimental particle physics from the University of Washington.

He's currently a research scientist for the Energy Authority, a public power owned nonprofit portfolio management corporation.

And John lives in council district four.

So those are the three appointments.

I'm happy to respond to any questions or as you like.

I'm not seeing any questions at this point.

Thank you very, very much.

And I do invite anybody to reach out to Lee any time for additional information.

I just remember when I chaired City Light, I always asked, I always ask City Light leadership, has the review panel seen this?

What is their thought, etc.?

So this is an August panel of nine professionals.

We work very, very closely with them as we develop our strategic plan, and we would welcome anyone to sit in on our monthly meetings, whether in person or virtually.

And these panels, let me just note that they are acting on behalf of the public interest.

So thank you very, very much for coming here and giving us some information.

Okay, I think that we're ready to proceed with our items of business after that introduction.

Thank you very much.

Will the clerk please read items one through three into the record?

Agenda items one through three, appointments 2737 through 2739. Appointments and reappointments of Amy Altshuler, TND Doe as members, City Light Review Panel for term to September 30th, 2025. And reappointment of John Putz as member, City Light Review Panel for term to April 11th, 2026.

Thank you very much.

I move to confirm appointments 237 through 239. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

It's been moved and seconded to confirm the appointments.

So as sponsor of those items, I was going to speak to the individuals that will be confirming.

However, Lee has already done that, so I will provide the opportunity for any more comments before we proceed to a vote.

Council President, just thank you, Lee, for coming here and speaking to us on these candidates.

I know all of them.

I believe this is also a volunteer position, as are the rest of the boards.

I mean, the incredible amount of knowledge that is coming to this review board.

As Council President mentioned, we always like to know if they've seen the policy before we vote on it.

So for anyone who is a member of the board or being reappointed today, thank you for your volunteer service.

Thank you, took the words right out of my mouth.

My closing comments are simply that this panel puts in many, many, many hours all throughout the year and serves as a resource for staff in between meetings, et cetera.

So thank you so much to our appointees for being willing to give of your time and expertise and serve the city of Seattle.

So, okay, thank you very much.

We'll now go to a vote, please.

Council Member Rivera.

Aye.

Council Member Saka?

Yes.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Council Member Wu?

Yes.

Council Member Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Council Member Kettle?

Aye.

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council President Nelson?

Aye.

Nine in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the appointments are confirmed.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar and there are no resolutions for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any other business to come before the council before we continue with the public comment?

Council President.

Yes.

Just needed to be excused for next Tuesday's meeting as I will be representing the city of Seattle at the Association of Washington City's Advocacy Day in Olympia.

Thank you very much and thank you for doing that.

Noted, you're excused unless anybody has, okay.

What?

Oh, so I have to make a motion to, just a second here.

Hearing no objection, Council Member Strauss is excused from the February 6 City Council meeting.

Okay.

Thank you, colleagues.

Now it's official.

All right.

Now we have reached the end of today's agenda.

And before I get on to talking about when we're going to our next meeting, I would like to reopen the public comment period.

Can you please tell me how many people remain on the on the list?

Seven.

Okay, thank you very much.

So we'll continue as before with two minutes each with the ability to translate comments as well.

And is the OIR translator here?

Just a second.

Ah, thank you.

Our first speaker who is up is Joseph Berkson.

So that'll be one minute if you don't need translation.

Right.

I'm Dr. Joseph Berkson.

I'm with the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.

I'm on the board.

And we, as physicians, advocate at all levels of government for existential crises that we physicians cannot cure.

So that is climate change.

disaster that we're going through, nuclear weapons, and income inequality or inequity.

And in that regard, we are here to support the housing for these refugees.

That is a big issue.

have heard plenty about that.

One source of funding for these crises is from reducing our military budget.

And we believe that the Seattle City Council has a role in advocating for decreasing our military budget and eliminating nuclear weapons.

And we'll come back to you on that.

I hope to work with you on that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there a, Rosalyn Palares?

Oh, you're here, I'm so sorry.

Today we came with the whole community.

We need help, you know?

We're very worried because if we don't get help today with a little bit of funding, we're going to be out on the streets today.

We're very worried because we haven't been able to put our children in school because we don't know where we're going to be living because we don't have stable housing.

We really would like you to look into your hearts and help us because we have a lot of children, really.

We don't want to go back to the church, sleep in tents with rats and cold.

Our children, while we were in the hotel in the warmth, were much happier, and we really don't want them to go back there and suffer.

I ask that you look into our hearts and help our families that are here.

We would like to have work permits so that we can work and we don't want to be a burden to the United States.

Thank you.

Iris Betmao.

Yes.

I'm Iris Boardman.

As your constituent and on behalf of Resist U.S.-led War Seattle and Washington Against Nuclear Weapons, I condemn misuse of our public funds.

We have an imminent humanitarian crisis happening next door in Tukwila and Kent.

Migrants and asylum seekers from zones of U.S.-facilitated genocide, conflict, and financial crises are here demanding job security, permanent housing solutions, legal counsel, and community support.

We are here standing in solidarity with organizers from Comunidad Sin Fronteras and all of refugees who've been forced to live in unsustainable and unsafe conditions.

We are calling on you to meet their needs immediately.

It is beyond unjustifiable to direct our public funds to weapons corporations and nuclear arsenal buildup while people here and globally suffer, especially when these war investments have catastrophic impacts on our climate's health.

We see your inaction towards necessary aid and public infrastructure while eagerly deflecting our money to fund war profiteers and nuclear replacement efforts that shouldn't even be happening according to the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that went into effect three whole years ago.

We are demanding anti-nuclear legislation to go into the back of the brink resolution and immediate action to support refugees who have been refused aid by the City of Tukwila.

I urge you all to take action to eliminate our city's investment in weapons manufacturing, use your voices, and pick up our responsibilities to those who are being neglected.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is, I believe it's Lindsay Perez.

Lindsay Perez.

Lindsay Perez.

Lindsay Perez.

Ladies and gentlemen, the public comment.

Um, I can, I can do English.

Okay.

Oh, can you interpret for me?

Yes, I can.

Okay.

Um, to everyone.

Yeah, hold on, let me just sit here.

Hello, my name is Rosario Lopez.

I am undocumented.

I have been undocumented since age 13, and I have seen how the undocumented community has been used to godscape whatever crisis is going on.

I see how nonprofits benefit from our suffering, and so I want to ask that my community, the refugee community, get support.

We don't want people to make any more promises.

We want actions.

I know that if there was an emergency with white children being in the streets, no one will allow them to live in the conditions that these black and brown people have been experiencing.

So I expect everyone from the city of Seattle to the state of Washington to take action.

I also ask that these families are included in the decisions that are being made.

I hear that there's a coalition of 40 nonprofits making decisions on behalf of the refugees, but they're never invited to these places where decisions are being made.

There's also no accountability to talk about how the money is being spent.

I hear that there were $160,000 dollars money is going and how that's being used for our refugee communities.

They cannot go back to the streets and we know that.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our last our last registered speaker is Noel Nassasi.

Noel Nassasi.

Seeing no Noel, we'll go to Daniel Calix.

Two minutes, please.

Hello, I'm Daniel Calix.

I am a young immigrant who came to this country about a year and a half ago.

I'm in a group of young people that have been working together to help their refugees.

miraran la forma de cómo estas organizaciones sin fines de lucro millonarias luego dicen que están haciendo mucho y luego nosotros como personas inmigrantes que estamos en solidaridad, miramos que no es así y aún así como que se roban la solidaridad que estamos dando.

It makes me very sad because we see these groups, these nonprofit groups that have millions of dollars that say that they're helping the refugee community, and we see that that's not so.

It's very tiring, well, not tiring, you just see the trauma over and over again.

El estar viendo el sufrimiento de las personas.

Seeing the people suffering.

Y vengan personas diciendo, como queriendo tomarse una foto nada más y yéndose.

You see people that come, they just want to get their picture taken or take a photograph and then leave.

Las personas que según están ayudando, ¿no?

And the people that are supposedly helping, there needs to be some follow-up.

Can you translate that last point?

I know, yeah, yeah, por favor.

Que en la solidaridad que nosotros estamos dando, nos han dicho que parecemos que estamos vendiendo drogas.

And in this solidarity that we're giving, they've told us that it seems to them that we're selling drugs.

Y es como que, ¿por qué?

O sea, no, estamos aquí queriendo ayudar.

We're here trying to help.

Y por no querer firmar como un papel para...

And by not wanting to sign a paper that says that we're helping, they're telling us that we're selling drugs.

It's not fair.

Thank you very much.

Ana Barbara Nunez.

Hola, buenas tardes.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Ana Barbara.

My name is Ana Barbara.

I'm here to give a, as a representative of the community, .

Excuse me.

and that she has gone and she cannot come back to speak.

As a leader and a representative of the community, we're here expressing our concerns and advocate for those who don't have a voice.

I'm bringing my message with the hope of hearing a yes.

as a response from you.

Tell us, can we count on your support?

Thank you for your attention.

Okay, how many, we will finish the last names that are on the list right now, and then we will end public comment.

The last three speakers, Jessica Rojas, Feis Arias, and Hever Bustos.

Great.

Hi, my name is Jessica Rojas and I live here, resident here in the city of Seattle.

As somebody who lives less than 10 minutes away from the refugee camp and who's been there for the past month and a half, I want you to actually listen to what everybody here is saying because I'm not seeing the level of gravity on all of your faces because people are homeless tonight.

We're not asking for people to continue to have conversations.

We've read all the news articles.

We know the city of Seattle's been there.

We know the governor's been there.

We know that King County, the executive has been to this camp.

It's been over a year of talking and people are still having to sleep outside.

So what I want is when COVID happened, we were able to open up hotel rooms, entire hotels.

There was housing that was able to be figured out.

So what I'm asking is the city of Seattle to actually respond to the emergencies that each and every one of these migrants is asking for you to address today.

Thank you.

Arias.

Good afternoon.

First of all, we want to thank all of you and thank God for hearing us.

My message is going to be short.

I want all the moms that are here to stand up, all the kids that are here to stand up.

To understand that this is urgent, this is urgent.

We don't have a place to spend the night tonight.

And that's the first thing that we're here for.

None of the children that are here today, the mothers nor the men, have a place to stay tonight.

We really need some help from you.

We are asking you from our hearts to help resolve this problem.

We have a lot of needs as migrants, but today we have a very important point, and that's housing.

Thank you very much.

Our last speaker is last name with Bustos.

Hi, good afternoon, good afternoon, good day.

First of all, I want to tell you that you need to support the people.

I and other people here don't have papers.

In all the communities, there's queer people, black people, people with less privileges than the people that I see here.

They are supporting our people, our community.

Why don't you take a little bit of your privilege and put it here?

Yo no tengo seguro, yo no tengo cómo ir al doctor si me enfermo, si me muero.

A este gobierno le vale...

I don't have insurance.

If I die, if I get sick, it doesn't matter to this government.

Oh, but I do have to pay taxes, right?

And these taxes, where are they?

They're probably sending them to Palestine in that genocide.

Why aren't the taxes being used here for the people that need it?

Yo, sin menos privilegio que todos ustedes, tengo que también estar apoyando a mi gente.

¿Por qué?

Because I, who have less privilege than all of you, have to be helping my people.

Why?

Creo que eso es todo.

La verdad es que estamos muy frustrados, enojados con toda la indiferencia que está teniendo este gobierno con nuestra gente.

where I think that's all.

We have a lot of frustration and anger with the indifference that is showing toward our people.

And I hope that when you get home to your warm houses tonight, that there will be people that are outside in the cold.

Thank you very much.

Thank you all for being here.

I appreciate you coming.

Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Council President, for mending the rules at the last minute to allow everyone to address us.

This is an incredibly important issue, and it's important that we...

be able to hear from everyone.

I can't begin to be in your shoes.

I've never been in your shoes.

But what I can say is that I very much appreciate that you've come here to talk to us about both what you are currently experiencing and also what is a issue that is going to have national ramifications and from which we need help.

with the federal government desperately, as well as the state and the county.

I know that you want us to be able to write you a check today to pay for the hotel room or to open up shelters.

Unfortunately, we as a body are not in a position to write a check, nor are we necessarily in a position to open up shelters.

What I can tell you that what we've done so far in my office was my chief of staff got, read the KUOW article, notified me that people were coming here and what the concerns were.

We reached out to the mayor's office.

We've reached out to King County Executive Office.

We've reached out to Council President's Office.

We reached out to the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, and they were able to come down.

And thank you very much in the last minute being able to come down and explain to us what you're doing.

What I can offer from my office is not a lot, but it's something.

What I heard you ask for today was immediate shelter, permanent shelter, help with attorneys, help with getting work permits, and basically follow through.

My office can help make sure that there's follow through with the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

I'm also willing to continue discussions with the executive both at city level and at King County.

I would note that the KUOW article referenced that the Kent's mayor's office and the King County Department of Community and Health Services had been reached out to, that the hotel owner is simply asking for a guarantee of payment.

so that you can stay there for a little bit longer while they resolve it.

We've not heard back.

It's not our, and I'm gonna be really frank about this, we don't have the ability to address this issue.

This is an issue that the Regional Homelessness Authority was created to address, and I don't know where they're at.

And I don't know where King County is at, and I don't know where the mayor is at.

But we all have a shared responsibility, and my responsibility is to try to be a conduit to those other entities and to make sure that they're doing their job.

That's what I can offer you today.

I'm afraid I can't offer you a bed, but I can do my best to make sure that you get a bed at some point.

So please stay in touch with my office.

Thank you.

Could you please note that you are the chair?

Oh, I'm sorry.

This is in my capacity as chair of the Office of Housing and Human Services Department.

My name is Council Member Kathy Moore.

Please don't inundate my office, but if you have a contact person, we're happy to try to work with you as a conduit.

Again, I cannot stress that we are not Our role in the government does not allow us to be a service provider, but we can help with the service providers.

That's really truly all I can offer to you at this point and the listening ear to what you are struggling with.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

We have reached, unless I don't see any other hands up, we have reached the end of today's agenda.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for February 6th at 2 p.m., hearing no further business.

It is now 3.10 and we are adjourned.