Good morning.
Let's get started for our Monday briefing.
We have a few excused absences, so we're a little low on numbers, and so it should be relatively brief.
We do have an executive session at the end of this briefing.
Let me just start off by saying no items from the Governance, Equity, and Technology Committee for a vote this afternoon.
We'll be meeting on a regular scheduled time next week.
Tuesday, I did want to mention one item that is on the introduction referral calendar today a resolution for vote in a week and it's just granted conceptual approval for a structured term permit for the Seattle arena company LLC to construct maintain and operate a tunnel under and across Thomas Street, which is basically a little east of First Avenue north and in the west of Warren Avenue and And it's basically enabling the renovation of Key Arena.
So this is a resolution just giving conceptual approval.
And then what would be forthcoming would be an ordinance after the conceptual, the drawings and the permits and all that process is triggered.
So it just gives, again, conceptual approval and an actual ordinance will be forthcoming down the road.
And as long as we're on that topic of the arena, because ordinarily I would have Council Member Juarez sort of introduce this matter and describe it, but in her, absence, I'm just sort of helping out there.
What we may want to think about, since we do have a select committee on the arena, is as different components of that project unfold, we may want to have the actual committees involved with that subject of work.
I may want to refer it to those particular committees.
situation and might have gone to the Transportation Committee.
What we had done strategically is make sure that all of the components of the project were on the select committee so all nine of us could take a look at it and answer the appropriate questions.
Now that the agreements are in place and we're actually moving forward with this CalPERS project, as we look at the different components, we may want to then go back to a committee structure.
So I'll talk to Kirsten and I would like to hear from the director of central staff and different committee chairs on that approach and certainly Council Member Juarez, she's shown outstanding leadership sort of looking at the universal concern of the project, but it may make sense to go to a committee structure.
Speaking as your vice chair, I can tell you that she will be very interested in continuing to conduct whatever needs to come back to full council through her committee.
So she's very strong and as you well know,
Okay, so that's all I have and Council Member Baxhaw, you're up.
Great, thank you and welcome.
Nice to see the two of you down there.
The meeting that we would normally have for our Finance and Neighborhood Committee for this week, which is Wednesday, November 28th, is canceled.
Nobody was ready for anything to come through the committee, but we will have a major meeting on Wednesday, December 12th.
with a lot of year-end wrap-ups.
So again, December 12th will be the next Finance and Neighborhood Committee.
I want to offer you an opportunity to join me and others this Wednesday here in Chambers.
Doors open 1130, November 28th.
We're going to have a Lunch and Learn.
as part of our age-friendly Seattle efforts.
And this is on caregiver support, a caregiver both for those who want to learn more and also those who are providing care.
This will be an opportunity to hear more about what the city offers and how connections can be made, whether it's dementia care or respite care or simply expanded services for your family.
Also, there'll be conversations about the Medicaid Transformation Project.
and legislative action coming up.
So that's this Wednesday.
Doors open 11.30, noon to 1.30.
So I'm very excited about being part of that and want to say thanks to Kathy Knight and Irene Stewart and others in our Human Services Department.
Tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon evening, there is an open house up at the county's Harborview Hall.
Many of you know that this is something that a number of us have been working on for a long time with our King County Council colleagues, as well as the Executive Office.
And at Harborview Hall, they're going to be opening up a 100-bed shelter.
And again, thank you to the King County Executive, Rod Dembowski, and others who have been so instrumental in that.
So the target date is in December.
This is what we've been trying to do is to get more shelters open, but this one ultimately will be 24-7.
So I appreciate everybody's interest and involvement in that.
All right, done for me.
Thank you, I was just speaking up for you in the work that you have been doing, Council Member Juarez, around the arena contract.
So maybe if you wanted to raise that.
You want a few seconds to get settled in?
Sure.
Why do you always do that?
I'm ready to go.
Okay.
Okay.
We'll wait for you.
Thank you.
Good morning, everybody.
I apologize for being late.
Okay, the next meeting of the Civic Development, Public Assets, and Native Communities Committee will be Tuesday.
That's tomorrow at 2 in Council Chambers.
We will hear from the Department of Park and Recreation for capital projects, updates on Portage Bay Park, Bryant Site, and the Arboretum Loop Trail.
And I just actually wrote this.
I would like to, again, thank Council Member Bagshaw for her leadership on the council budget.
I'd also like to thank my colleagues for their support.
I think the city did really well with this budget, and in particular, I'm very, very happy that people supported the projects that we had in social services and food banks in District 5. Since we voted on the budget, I've heard from several hardworking organizations serving the homelessness in District 5 who will be able to continue their service work thanks to the support from this council.
I will be out of the office December 3rd, 10th and 17th.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Council Member Johnson.
Just brief this morning, there's nothing on this afternoon's agenda, full council from the Planning and Land Use and Zoning Committee.
We do have two meetings next week.
Next Monday will be the continuation of what we had before the budget process, aka MHA Mondays, where we'll be talking a little bit more about the outcome of the hearings examiner's appeal that came out on Wednesday at 4.15, and talking a little bit more about the timeline of consideration of the citywide rezones as well as a presentation, I believe, on the race and social justice initiative work that the city and our consultants had done on the citywide MHA.
So a lot more oxygen on MHA next Monday, but I want to say thank you to the hardworking employees of the planning department, the Department of Neighborhoods, the Department of Transportation, our own central staff, and the law department literally years of work that they did leading up to last Wednesday's decision.
I'm sure you've all seen, but we had a favorable ruling with one minor issue that will need some additional analysis.
But it gives us a pretty clear pathway for us to adopt the citywide zoning changes sometime early next year.
And as I had mentioned, when we got together a couple of weeks ago, Had we adopted it a little bit earlier, we would have had nearly $100 million within this budget cycle to contribute to affordable housing, as opposed to the excellent $13 million that we're going to have.
But $100 million would have been better.
So MHA Monday, next Monday, 1030, or after council briefing to continue those discussions.
We'll have our regularly scheduled planning land use and zoning committee meeting the following Wednesday, the 5th at 930. And a couple of small reappointments to the planning commission.
some votes on some additional comprehensive plan amendments and a discussion of possible vote on the continuation of our work around the UW major institution master plan.
That call and response process is now completed.
It gives us the opportunity now to take final action on the work that we did before committee work was suspended for the budget.
That's it for me.
Very good.
Councilman Gonzalez.
Thank you, good morning.
Good morning.
So there is one item on this afternoon's agenda from the Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans, and Education Committee, and that is Resolution 31854 regarding the proposed federal rule change around what's referred to as public charge.
So you may be seeing some, you may have seen some, right ups of the public charge rule, both in mainstream media, but also on social media, which is effectively a rule that's being proposed by the Trump administration that would disqualify somebody from becoming a legal permanent resident, even though they qualify to become a legal permanent resident, or from becoming a citizen.
if they are deemed by the federal administration to have either utilized social public benefit services like Medicaid or Medicare, for example, excuse me, Medicaid in particular at state level, or if they're deemed likely to rely on public benefits in the future, then they would not be permitted to apply to adjust their immigration status to continue to remain in the country.
So it's a incredibly punitive, regressive, a rule that's proposed to be changed to the existing policy.
And we've been working really closely with our Office of Immigrant Refugee Affairs and with folks in community to really try to give this particular issue, which is quite wonky, a little bit more I think it's important for people to submit public comment.
The more public comment we have, the more likely it is that we can build a record so that when the rule is changed, as we suspect that it will be, there will be sufficient evidence in the record to be able to draw a legal challenge to be able to push back on yet another misguided policy.
immigration system at the federal level so that will be the only item on this afternoon's agenda and it's and it's mine and we're expecting some of the advocates the coalition members who are representing Washington's interests within community to be present so these are you know these are folks impacted within the city of Seattle who rely on services at ACRS at our public health clinics, Harborview, you name it, if it's anybody trying to access the healthcare system or food banks or other types of services that are funded through federal dollars, then they stand at risk of not being able to, of being penalized in such a harsh way that they would never be able to adjust their status in the future.
And we have been in communication with several of our service providers throughout the city of Seattle who anecdotally have told us that even though this rule hasn't been effectively changed, just proposed to be changed, that they have received a number of calls asking for their names to be removed from the rolls as just in sort of a reaction to the proposed rule.
So it's a huge problem and we have members of our community withdrawing from those social services even though they need those services in sort of Their estimation of being able to continue to be safe.
So that'll be on the agenda this afternoon at 2 o'clock We will have our regularly scheduled committee hearing this Wednesday, November 28th at 9 30 a.m.
We will have 10 appointments and reappointments to the Immigrant and Refugee Commission.
We will also consider and have a discussion only of a draft resolution related to the criminal justice realignment work that we talked about at quite some length during the budget process.
So this will be an opportunity for Councilmember O'Brien and I to bring forward a draft version of a resolution that will lay forward the work plan moving through the next year that allows us to do that criminal justice system realignment that we've all been talking about so much.
And then lastly, I just wanted to say that next week I will be gone on Monday and I will be leaving on Thursday to be in Washington, D.C.
to attend the New American Leaders annual conference, and really excited about attending their reception on Thursday night, where a couple of my good friends will be getting recognized by the New American Leaders organization, which is an organization that recognizes and promotes and recruits first-generation to run for public office at all levels of office as a national organization.
And our very own Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal will be recognized by that organization with their inaugural Hero Award, as well my good friend Councilwoman Helen Gimm from Philadelphia.
And then on Friday I will be speaking at a panel at that conference.
And then I will be gone also Monday, December 10th and December 11th and December 12th as I will be in Barcelona, Spain at the invitation of Barcelona City Council to join them at their International Cities Human Rights Conference to talk about all of the human rights work that the city of Seattle has been doing here in this country and really honored to be able to sit on a panel of other international local elected leaders in Barcelona at their invitation to be able to talk about why the city of Seattle is a human rights city and what we've been doing to protect immigrants and refugees in spite of a Trump administration.
That's it.
Excellent.
I I am very impressed and proud of you for that.
Congratulations.
And in marked contrast to the exciting things that you're doing, I've been called on jury duty.
So I go to King County Superior Court tomorrow.
The chances that they will impanel me, I suspect, are slim after not only being a sitting council member, but also having been a prosecuting attorney.
I doubt that they're going to say yes.
But I'm doing my duty and going there.
That's super important.
Okay, very good.
Thanks for the updates you all.
Okay, as presiding officer I'm announcing that Seattle City Council will convene an executive session.
The purpose of the executive session is to discuss pending potential or actual litigation.
These sessions are an opportunity for the council to discuss confidential legal matters with city attorneys as authorized by law and the legal monitors of from the city attorney's office is always present to ensure that we reserve questions of policy for open public sessions.
So I expect this session to end in 30 minutes, which is roughly 10, 18, I guess.
Is that about right?
10, 18?
And if it goes beyond that time, I'll announce the extension and its expected duration.
And with that, let's move into executive session and secure the room.
Oh.