Full Council 121018

Good afternoon, everybody.

Thank you for being here in City Hall.

The December 10, 2018 City Council meeting of the full Seattle City Council will come to order.

It's 2 o'clock p.m.

I'm Bruce Harrell, President of the Council.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mosqueda?

Here.

O'Brien?

Here.

Sawant?

Here.

Bagshaw?

Here.

Johnson?

Here.

President Harrell?

Here.

Six present.

Thank you very much.

At this point, I'd like to move to adopt the introduction and referral calendar.

I believe it has been seconded, but I believe we will have, just one moment here.

We'll have an amendment to it, as I recall, and so in order to do that, I'm gonna move to suspend the council rules relating to the circulation of a proposed resolution for introduction and adoption before five o'clock p.m.

on the preceding business day.

If there's no objection, I'm gonna suspend that rule.

We talked about that during the briefing, I believe, this morning.

And having said that, Council Member Esqueda, would you like to amend the proposed introduction referral calendar?

Thank you, Mr. President.

I move to amend the proposed introduction referral calendar by introducing Resolution 31858, entitled, A Resolution Affirming and Commending the Validity and Application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Peace and Human Dignity Everywhere, and by referring it to the City Council for adoption at today's meeting.

And is there a second?

It's been moved and seconded to amend the introduction and referral calendar as stated by Council Member Mosqueda.

Are there any questions on that?

All those in favor of the amendment, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

The introduction referral calendar has been amended.

So at this point I'll vote on it.

Those in favor of adopting the introduction and referral calendar as amended, please vote aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Thank you very much.

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

I don't see any amendments for today's agenda that have changed.

The minutes of the December 3rd, 2018 City Council meeting have been reviewed.

If there's no objection, the minutes will be signed.

If there's no objection, the minutes are being signed.

Presentations, I'm not aware of any presentations today.

I do want to thank all of you for coming out.

I think we have some special guests from Villa Academy, the third graders.

Thank you future voters for being here.

Just a little description of what we did when I called that vote earlier is when we vote on documents here, we typically have to have them in writing a certain day.

Yeah, you're on television.

The Friday Friday before, but sometimes because the documents aren't quite prepared, we have to amend the rules in order for us to consider them today.

And we have some exciting legislation dealing with our rights as human beings, the human rights that Council Member Muscat will present us with later today.

So we suspended the rules in order to consider that.

That's what that was about.

So at this point, we're going to take public comment on items that appear on today's agenda or our work plan or the introduction referral calendar, and I'll call you out in the order with which you've signed up.

Thank you for being here.

We'll start off with Charles Davis, followed by the Reverend Dick Gillette, and we'll go two minutes apiece, and welcome to City Hall.

Thank you.

Is this working?

Yes.

Good.

I hope.

Is it working?

Is it amplifying?

Yes, it is.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

I'm Charles Davis.

I live on North Beacon Hill in your district, Mr. President.

And I've lived in Seattle nearly all my life since my family moved here in 1938, except for a few years in the Navy.

That was probably the longest time I've been away.

My concern with this fine document is to emphasize the importance of the clause about nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons are an enormous hazard, even without war.

They have accidents.

There have been thousands of accidents reported.

We don't know about the unreported ones.

If the state of Washington was an independent country, we would be the third largest holder of nuclear weapons because of that complex across the Sound at Bangor and Hood Canal.

This is so that it seems like a federal issue.

It is a very local issue for us.

It's only 20 miles away.

We really need to get rid of nuclear weapons.

There was a very fine resolution passed unanimously by the Council of Mayors earlier this year, and our 9th District Congressman Adam Smith is pushing for a no-first-use resolution.

to make it U.S. policy that we would not be the first to use nuclear weapons.

We need to get rid of them all, but it has to be taken a step at a time.

And so it's very important that this resolution emphasizes the dangers of nuclear weapons and that we have to get rid of them.

And I urge you not just to pass that, to please talk about it when you do meet our senators and representatives, to emphasize the importance of getting our American policy changed as regards nuclear weapons.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Following Reverend Dick Gillette will be Michael Ramos.

Good afternoon.

My name is Dick Gillette.

I'm an Episcopal clergyman, retired.

I have been concerned with social justice and human rights for many decades.

I'm most grateful to Councilmember Mosqueda for taking this resolution.

and proposing it, and I'm likewise very appreciative of Michael Ramos of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and Elise DeGuyere of the Faith Action Network.

It's worth considering today the circumstances under which the Universal Declaration came into being back in 1948. World War II, the World War II peace was short-lived.

1946 to 1948 were the very years in which a new Cold War between the USSR and the West was developed.

And major new conflicts were erupting in the Middle East, in Africa, in the Far East.

China was about to go communist in 1949. Yet in the midst of these new conflicts, an astounding array of diplomats, statesmen and women, and prominent literary figures buckled down under the leadership of, would you guess who, Eleanor Roosevelt.

The result was and is the Declaration.

It was forged in the midst of these new conflicts, and there were great tugs of war between the Soviets and the West, with all continents represented and having a voice.

Today, given the moral seismic jolt of the recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Turkish consulate, we have a unique opportunity to look again at the issue of human rights.

I trust that the celebration of the anniversary of this universal declaration might move us away from any supposed moral high ground we might indulge in to apply the specific articles of this astounding declaration to the manifold injustices that continue right here in our Seattle community.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Following Michael Ramos will be Amy...

B-A...

Amy...

I can't make it out.

B-A-U-T...

What is that?

I think Bowles.

Amy Bowles?

Sorry.

Bowles.

Thank you.

Sorry, Amy.

Good afternoon.

I'm Michael Ramos, Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Thank you Councilmember Mosqueda and members of the Seattle City Council for your resolution upholding and affirming the significance of the practice of human rights in our nation, internationally and locally.

On this 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, community-based organizations, people of faith and goodwill recognize that living by the principles in the Declaration and enacting policies and laws that honor the dignity of every human being and fostering a more just and equitable society are needed more than ever.

As immigrants are under attack, people of color face discrimination, marginalized communities face dehumanization and violence, economic exclusion and inequality grows, and intersecting corporate and military elites perpetuate the nuclear arms race and climate change.

The Declaration offers a word of truth and hope that we are charged to heed for our future or neglect at our own peril.

As the land on which we stand is not ours, Seattle, Martin Luther King, Jr.

County, and our nation must aim high to promote the integrity of Mother Earth and every human being who resides here.

The Declaration points us to a global ethic of solidarity and compassion.

Let it inspire us to pay it forward locally, to lift up people experiencing homelessness and families trying to stay in their homes stably.

Let it lead us to actions of investment in children and seniors and neighborhoods that have self-organized for economic and social justice.

Let it move us to ensure that local stakeholders are included at the table of decision-making as proposals are discussed that impact them.

Let us be uncomfortable with practices and systems that are unjust and in need of reform, and let the Declaration be not just a document gathering dust, but a vehicle of transformation for the life of our residents, workers, and all those who would seek community well-being and health without exclusions.

Thank you, Seattle City Council, for remembering that we are to be the change that we want to see.

Thank you, sir.

Sorry, Amy, I didn't see your last name there, but following Amy will be Jeff Van Duzer.

Thank you, Council, and good afternoon.

My name is Amy Bowles, and I'm a union representative at the Professional and Technical Employees Local 17. PTE Local 17 represents about 9,000 members in Washington and Oregon.

In addition, we represent almost 3,000 city employees here at the City of Seattle.

I am proud to be here today to ask Council to please support the OEO legislation that the Council will be voting on here this afternoon, the Employee Ombuds Office Ordinance.

I was a member of the IDT that was initiated by Mayor Durkan's office, and through that IDT process, myself as well as a few other IDT members here in the audience worked to meet the Mayor's directive.

I am really excited to be able to speak in support of the Ombuds Office because now employees will have an independent place, a safe place to discuss workplace conduct.

In addition, at this office, they will feel supported and heard.

They will have advocates there to assist and help them assess their options.

In addition, they will learn about resources available to them, and any representative employees will also be able to bring their union representative with them to these meetings.

I would like to thank Council Member Mosqueda, as well as her committee, for taking action on this ordinance and passing it out of their subcommittee last week.

And again, this is a step toward providing a safe workplace for all City of Seattle employees that is free from intimidation, harassment, and discrimination.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And following Jeff will be Steve Gillespie.

Good afternoon.

My name is Jeff Van Duzer, and I am the provost from Seattle Pacific University.

I am standing in for our president, Dan Martin, who unfortunately had to be out of town, but I'm here to speak in support of the amendment to the comp plan.

This has been an amendment that we have been working on for a long time.

It goes back to at least 2016 conversations that we've been having with the city, with our neighbors, including those in the industrial section adjacent to our campus.

We have, we think, reached a good consensus with our local community members who I believe are supporting this.

Our campus has been in the same place in Seattle for 127 years.

And when it was first founded, Seattle had 40,000 residents.

But as Seattle has grown and matured and become a world-class city, a future-facing city, our university has grown up right alongside it.

And so we've grown in reputation and rankings and numbers of students and graduate programs and so forth.

And this sort of mutual maturation has allowed us to, all the way along the line, work closely with the city and work hard at being a good neighbor.

And that's what we are intending to do through this process.

This will enable us to come forward with a master plan that allows us to think through how we would use the area north of Nickerson.

And it really doesn't do anything substantively other than allow the conversation to be continued and to engage with our neighbors and with the city around future plans for this parcel.

So I appreciate your support for this.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, council members.

Steve Gillespie, Foster Pepper, speaking on behalf of Seattle Pacific University.

I'm so excited to be addressing the council in front of a bunch of third graders.

Thank you all for coming.

And I'd like to urge the council's support for the proposed comprehensive plan amendment.

I want to address what this amendment will do and what it will not do.

What it does, as you're being blown kisses from people on their way out the door, what it does is move the eastern boundary of the BNIC.

It does not change the industrial designation or the industrial zoning for the property.

And it does not establish a new major institution overlay.

As you know, that can only happen through a major institution master plan, which is a years-long process.

that involves a lot of give and take and discussions with the community, with the city, with the institution, and with stakeholders.

This proposed amendment is not the end of the discussion.

This proposed amendment is the beginning of the discussion.

So I urge you to vote to approve this amendment to allow us to have this conversation.

And I would also like to thank everyone for their work on this.

Committee Chair Johnson, Council Member Bagshaw, our university is in Council Member Bagshaw's district, and she's been a very capable representative of the district and of the city, so thank you very much.

And your staff, central staff, and on the executive side, there's been a lot of conversations and a lot of help, and we really appreciate it.

So we urge your support.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Last two speakers I have signed up on the second sheet are Alex Zimmerman followed by the Honorable Michael Fuller.

Great.

Okay, so we'll move on to the Honorable Michael Fuller.

What just happened?

Don't ask questions.

Perfect.

Yes, I'm Honorable Michael Fuller, Siouxite Jewelers.

First I'd like to, first I'd like to, excuse me, first I'd like to commend George H. W. Bush, who in fact served in the United States Navy during World War II and also the 41st president as the oldest in history.

Now, I really have a problem with you all that took that oath on RCW 2.48.210, your oath on admission, and RCW 2.24.210, your oath in RTW 2.04.08, your oath to office.

I feel it's a breach of contract, breach of trust with fraudulent intent and fraudulent dishonest acts.

More importantly with President Bruce Harrell.

You have breached your contract in violation of our First Amendment right due process, equal protection of our 14th Amendment rights and procedure due process, Bruce Harrell.

You do not have the authority over we the people when you beg for the constituent vote.

So it's a problem with you, Bruce Harrell.

And you supposed to represent my daddy that served this country.

Two and a half decades, Bruce Harrell.

But I'm looking at the homeless, looking at our veterans sleeping on the street, Bruce Harrell.

And then I'm looking at three, $338 billion dollars, no $338 billion dollars being wasted on unauthorized, undocumented aliens?

After always fighting for our veterans?

Thank you, Your Honor.

Look at this, uh, Bruce Harrell.

Thank you, sir.

I hate Bruce Harrell.

Federal laws, man.

Thank you, sir.

And I'm not new to this, Bruce Harrell.

Thank you, sir.

I'm new to this, man.

Thank you, Your Honorable.

Thank you very much, sir.

You better ask somebody.

I will ask somebody.

Thank you, sir.

So that will conclude our public comment section.

Before we get into our business, which would include the payment of the bills, I did want to say, as part of the public comment and just some liberties here, that I would ask that we know that we lost a member serving on the Sea-Tac City Council, Amina Ahmed.

We lost her over the weekend, and I just thought it very appropriate to have a few moments of silence.

If any of you wanted to say anything about her or to her family, now would be a good time.

But if I don't see any hands raised, I'm just going to take a few seconds to have a moment of silence.

It was a tragic accident that we lost her.

And many communities and family members are grieving as are many of us.

So let's just have a moment of silence.

Thank you very much.

Okay, please read the title for the payment of the bill's section.

Council Bill 119-428, an ordinance appropriating money to pay certain audited claims and ordering the payment thereof.

So I'll move to pass Council Bill 119-428.

It's been moved and seconded that the bill pass.

Are there any further comments?

Now please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda.

Aye.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passed in chair assignment.

Please read the first committee report.

The report of the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee, Agenda Item 1, Council Bill 119424, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning amending the Seattle Comprehensive Plan to incorporate changes proposed as part of the 2017-2018 Comprehensive Plan Annual Amendment Process.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Council Member Johnson.

Thank you.

Our first item today from the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee is two amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that we do through our usual annual comprehensive plan amendment process.

The first is an amendment to land use goal six, which would clarify that part of our objectives as a city is to lower construction costs, to reduce the cost of housing, and increase the access of affordable housing.

and the Planning Commission recommended the passage of this amendment.

And then the second is what we heard about a little bit during public testimony today, which is a reflection of a boundary change in the Ballard Manufacturing Industrial District to reflect the ability for a couple of pieces of land to be considered by Seattle Pacific University as part of their major institution master plan process.

This area is not uniquely accessible to the water or regional highways.

It would keep everything within the shoreline district as part of the BINMIC.

We've had letters and support from proposals from property owners in the area, including representatives of the North Seattle Industrial Association and Foss Maritime.

So we don't see any reason why we wouldn't move forward with this.

There was some concern brought to us by the planning commission during our deliberations about the fact that this kind of a one-off change to the industrial lands process.

We are awaiting a larger scale set of recommendations from an industrial lands task force.

But given that this has been three years that it's been sitting on the sidelines, we thought it very appropriate to make this change to the future land use map to allow for Seattle Pacific University to move forward with their potential major institution master plan and eliminate confusion.

So with that, unless there are questions or further discussion, I'd move adoption of Council Bill 119424. Very good.

Are there any questions on this legislation?

Everybody good?

So we don't need a motion or a second.

It's coming out of committee.

So please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

and the Planning Commission in advancing this.

As the Chair mentioned, I think there's a deep desire from this body to make sure that we have a more comprehensive plan, and the Council adopted Resolution 3176-2 directing the Executive to, quote, provide recommendations of potential amendments to comprehensive plan policies related to industrial lands, including policies to strengthen the long-term viability of manufacturing industrial centers and re-evaluation of the stadium district for council consideration in 2018. I just want to underscore the point that was made a minute ago, which is it's at the end of 2018. We haven't seen these recommendations.

I agree that this is an important first step to move forward or a component of the steps to move forward, especially given the broad swath of stakeholders who've reached out in support of this.

And I know that with the chair's leadership, We have a huge amount of opportunity to advance a conversation around a true comprehensive plan related to our industrial lands.

And so while we're not taking that step right now, I look forward to working with you and want to underscore this committee's desire to get those recommendations so that we and the comprehensive, and the commission can move forward with comprehensive plan updates as you describe.

It's critical and it's a missing component here.

Thank you, Council Member Esqueda.

Council Member Baxhaw.

Right, thank you.

I do want to say thank you to my colleagues out in the audience.

Jeff, thank you for coming.

Steve Gillespie, you've been working on this for a number of years, and I'm really honored to be working and supporting Seattle Pacific University, so thank you to Council Member Johnson as well.

We'll see if we can't get this moving.

Thank you.

Okay, if there are no other comments, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Johnson?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Six in favor and none opposed.

Bill passed in the Sheriff's Senate.

Please read agenda number two.

Agenda item two, Council Bill 119426, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, granting conditional approval of the University of Washington 2018 Seattle Campus Master Plan, and amending Chapter 23.32 of the Seattle Municipal Code at pages 61, 62, 63, 77, 78, 79, 80, and 81 of the official land use map.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Council Member Johnson.

Okay, so this council bill in the next clerk file following it are related to the two and a half year major institution master plan process that the University of Washington Seattle campus has been undergoing with us.

We as a council and the city have a particular agreement with the University of Washington.

And we've been doing this dance on that agreement to today.

And today is the final set of actions that are necessary in order to get our version of this Council bill across the finish line.

So I want to start by just talking about what is in here and what it will do and then Ask people if they have any questions or thoughts and then we'll conclude from there so in response to the rapid growth of the city the University of Washington submitted to this council a draft master plan and following input from a final master plan, which then went to the city's hearings examiner and the City University Community Advisory Committee.

All those bodies of individuals, including the Department of Construction and Inspections, weighed in on the proposal, and the hearings examiner held a hearing with all the parties of record, which included several folks from the community.

The hearings examiner then recommended adoption of the major institution master plan to the council with some conditions.

And then the council added some important conditions.

One of those was requiring the University of Washington to provide 300 units of affordable housing at 80% AMI on top of the 150 units that the hearings examiner had conditioned to reduce the drive alone rate to the University of Washington from 15% to 12%.

with some interim goals tied to the opening of light rail stations, to include parking associated with residence halls and caps on parking spaces, and to lower that parking cap, to require showers, bike parking, and trail widening and pedestrian separation on the Burke-Gilman Trail, to work on exempting child care space from gross floor area cap, some individual zoning of some individual parcels that are close to the light rail stations, the support of using priority hire and contracting, exempting small businesses from floor area caps, and encouraging the diversity of retail ownership on campus as well as best practices for reducing stormwater runoff.

That was in our resolution that we adopted in September.

That resolution then allows for a sort of back and forth between all the parties of record.

And then a bunch of additional comments came to us in December for our consideration.

And a committee last week, the committee of the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee recognized that the University of Washington is planning to provide those 450 units of affordable housing nearby transit.

asked that the University of Washington build affordable housing and included a range of unit types and commit to a long-term affordability within those units of affordable housing, request that child care be incorporated into those units, request that bicycle parking and child care voucher programs be analyzed by the University of Washington, and request an annual report on topics of interest to the council and other stakeholders.

We also had some additional discussion and debate on some heights of buildings, again, by the light rail station.

With all those changes made, the committee voted unanimously to approve the master plan process.

And following that approval, this then goes to the University of Washington Board of Regents for their approval.

Should they approve, we are done.

Should they not approve, no one has any idea what happens next.

But Liz Schwitzen from our council central staff has ably navigated us through this quasi-judicial matter for the last two and a half years.

and has read literally thousands and thousands of pages of documents.

And to him, we are eternally grateful because quasi-judicial processes don't allow for us to have any negotiation with any parties of record, including the University of Washington or any of the appellants, which mean that we have to have all of our conversations out here in the public audience, which requires a lot of time and energy on Lisha's part to make sure that we are doing all of that appropriately, and also really understanding all the issues that are on and off the record.

So, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that folks may have, open it up for other comments that people might want to make, and then happy to add a few final closing remarks.

Thank you, Council Member Johnson.

Any comments or questions from any of our colleagues on the Council?

Okay.

I think we're all...

Council Member Schwantz.

Thank you, President Harrell.

I will be voting in favor of this ordinance because I do not oppose the expansion of U-Dub, and there are some small benefits for the public built into the plan.

As the University of Washington negotiated this expansion, however, what has been most noticeable is the total disinterest on the part of the U-Dub administration and the state politicians that they report to to invest in the needs of the workers and the community that make U-Dub run.

When our movement won a $15 an hour minimum wage four years ago, the UW administration first tried to say that it did not apply to them until students and workers at UW built a movement to force them to back down, which they succeeded in.

Now the European administration is attempting to privatize the hospital laundry, eliminating over a hundred good unionized jobs, and we have to note that most of those jobs are being held right now by immigrant people, many of them women of color.

I attended an electrifying rally of hundreds of workers at UW last Thursday where workers told UW President Anna Marie Cauce in no uncertain terms that they will no longer tolerate her near-million-dollar salary while she cuts their jobs and continues to hold their pay hostage.

in such a way that many of them have had stagnating living standards.

If the Europe administration forces the workers to go on strike, as they said very clearly at that rally, to get a decent living, then I will be standing with them.

And it was also important that UAW Local 4121, the union, campus union that represents the graduate students, were also there in solidarity with the WUFC unions and said that if the WUFC unions went on strike, they would honor the picket line.

The UW administration has also totally disregarded the need for affordable housing for students and workers.

This legislation authorizes UW's next phase of growth.

Over the next 10 years, it authorizes 6 million square footage of development with an additional 35,000 students, 1,900 staff, and 840 faculty.

So you would think they intend to build tens of thousands of units of affordable housing to accommodate that growth, and you would think the city of Seattle would demand something on the scale of thousands.

However, the university is even resisting developing 450 new units of affordable housing, which is really a paltry number when you consider the actual need.

The university currently employs close to 29,000 workers and has more than 43,000 students.

When the UAW surveyed academic student employees last fall, they found that fully 82% of them were rent burdened and on average they were spending 44% of their income on housing.

We know that other workers, like the thousands of UW laundry workers, food service workers, office staff, gardening staff, adjunct and part-time faculty, custodians, and many other workers are in similarly perilous economic straits, even though this is a supposedly world-class university with you know, really fabulous salaries to the executives at the top.

The university is failing its students and all its tens of thousands of staff, and even more so, it is failing to meet its social obligations to the entire Seattle community.

Many UW workers and students are forced to make choices between rent, food, medicine, and other necessities.

The growth and expansion of this public university is very good.

Our society needs a greater commitment to education and human knowledge.

However, if it is not accompanied by a massive commitment to affordable housing, that education will not be available for all.

An institution like UW with a budget of $8 billion per year with 400 executives can build more than 450 units of affordable housing over 10 years.

I should also mention that the behavior of the UW administration is actually no different than the majority of the city council and the mayor of the city who have failed to address the problem of affordable housing.

And in this preceding budget, the majority of this council voted against 11 separate amendments for affordable housing that were brought forward from my office and the people's budget movement.

I will be voting yes on this UW expansion because the expansion of public education is a good thing.

But I also urge workers at U-Dub and ordinary people in Seattle who want to have an affordable city and an affordable campus community to continue building a movement to demand affordable housing for all, to save the U-Dub laundry workers' jobs, to fight for a decent contract for all the unions at U-Dub, and to stand in solidarity with the unions if they decide to go on strike.

Thank you, Council Member Schwartz, for those words.

Any other comments from any of my colleagues?

Councilman Johnson, you want to say some closing words?

Just briefly, I wanted to remind my colleagues of a couple of things that we've done leading up to today.

A couple of years ago, we adopted the mandatory housing affordability rezones in the University District.

which is both resulting in new market rate development that is desperately needed in the neighborhood, as well as new funding for affordable housing.

The $13 million that the city is planning to distribute through our notice of funding availability that has resulted from MHA.

At least four million of that has come from projects in the university district.

More of those projects will come online, which will mean more units and more funding for affordable housing.

We've got one light rail station open in the neighborhood now.

We've got one set to open in the next couple of years.

And we've got a university that stands out as not just a state's flagship university and is an educational driver, but an economic driver here too.

I believe this master plan lays out a bold vision for how we can continue to expand economic opportunity for folks at all income levels and recognizes the impact that the university has on its neighbors and asks them to be equitable in sharing those responsibilities about things like affordable housing, infrastructure investments like the protected bike lanes and reducing its single occupancy vehicle rates from something far below what it is today.

You know, for me, I am really proud to have spent so much time and energy working on this, but it's a team effort.

We already highlighted the work of Lish Woodson, but I think I should also mention Spencer Williams and his successor, Noah Ahn, for helping us to shepherd this.

to be a quasi judicial matter so even after the council votes on this today.

We are required to continue to maintain a quasi judicial ex parte potential avenues for appeal are concluded.

So we may have many folks in the audience celebrating action today.

We are prohibited from celebrating along with them until all the avenues are closed.

And I know that nobody other than a very small Venn diagram overlap here of folks that care about land use and care about football would say this, or maybe would care, but hopefully this passage today is a good omen for things to come when the Rose Bowl happens in just a couple of weeks.

So with that, I'm happy to ask for my council colleagues to support Council Bill 119-426.

Very good.

No further comments, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

President Harrell.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and Chair was silent.

Please read the clerk file into the record.

Agenda item 3, clerk file 314346, application of the University of Washington to prepare a new major institution master plan for the University of Washington Seattle campus at 4015th Avenue Northeast, project number 3023261 type 4. The committee recommends the application be granted as conditioned.

Okay, this is basically the filing of the file, the clerk file.

Councilman Johnson, did you want to say any more about it?

No, I just moved to grant as conditioned clerk file 314346.

So let me say it a little different way, thank you.

Those in favor of granting the application, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries, the application is granted and the chair will sign the findings, conclusions and decision of the city council.

So please call the next agenda item into the record.

Let's go four through six, please.

Agenda items four through six.

Appointments 1194 through 1196. Three appointments of David A. Goldberg, Richard E. Moeller, and Julio A. Sanchez as members of Seattle Planning Commission for terms to April 15th, 2021. The committee recommends the appointments be confirmed.

Council Member Johnson.

Thanks.

These are 3 reappointments to the Seattle Planning Commission.

I'm looking in the audience and I don't see any of these 3 individuals.

Of course, reappointments are invited to attend but are certainly not required.

David Goldberg is a council reappointment to the Planning Commission.

He has more than 20 years of experience working on planning and urban growth issues and has served as a member of local planning boards.

in other cities throughout the country.

Rick Moeller is Planning Commission's reappointment, as we changed the commission's responsibility several years ago, and many of our boards and commissions now have the ability to appoint an individual on their own.

So Rick is the Planning Commission's choice to be reappointed to continue to serve on the commission.

He's a professor at the University of Washington in urban architecture.

And Julio Sanchez is a council reappointment.

Mr. Sanchez owns a small business, doing a lot of work on environmental and climate justice issues, and was active in the Puget Sound Sage, Candidate recruitment process for boards and commissions.

So wanted to spend a lot of time recognize them for their good work He joined us at our last plus committee meeting to answer questions about the things that he has been proud of working on in the commission I want to thank him for being there.

So I can't imagine that there's any questions on these and Without further ado would move to confirm appointments 1194 to 1196 Any comments on these

reappointments.

I want to just publicly thank them for their prior serves and thank you for signing up to be reappointed.

Those in favor of confirming the appointments, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries and appointments are confirmed.

Please read the report of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee.

The report of the Sustainability and Transportation Committee, Agenda Item 7, Council Bill 119413, an ordinance vacating portions of 11th Avenue Southwest, 13th Avenue Southwest, Southwest Hanford Street, and Southwest Florida Street on the petition of the Port of Seattle, Clerk File 301929, and accepting Seattle City Light easements.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member O'Brien.

Thank you.

So, colleagues, this is something, as I mentioned this morning, has been in the works for a couple decades.

Those addresses that you just heard read relate to Terminal 18 on Harbor Island.

So, this is Port of Seattle property.

Going back before my time on the Council, there used to be public right-of-way in certain portions of that that long ago went through the street vacation process with a clerk file to Grant conceptual approval for that those right-of-ways have effectively been vacated and turned over to the port And that has allowed the expansion of terminal 18 more upland storage areas for containers and other additions to the facility However, we have not finalized this because there was ongoing agreements specifically around easements for where utility Facilities that previously were in or were in what was previously a right-of-way, but we're now on private property and how they move forward and And for a variety of reasons, it's taken over a decade to resolve those issues.

They are now resolved.

So this is the final action to close out that vacation process so that we have it off our plates.

Nothing else is going to change further out there, but those agreements are in place so we can finalize the vacation.

Very good.

Any questions or comments?

If not, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda.

O'Brien.

Aye.

Sawant.

Aye.

Bagshaw.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

Harrell.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed, the chair was signed.

Please read agenda item number eight.

Agenda item eight, clerk file 314387, the petition, excuse me, the petition of Seattle City Light for the vacation of a portion of Broad Street between Harrison Street and Taylor Avenue North.

The committee recommends the petition be granted as conditioned.

Thank you.

So this is the opposite end of the street vacation process.

The one we just did was at the very end where we pass an ordinance to finally approve everything that's been done.

What we're doing on this agenda item for Seattle City Light is before they've done any of the actual work, we're granting conceptual approval to what they proposed to do so that they could get the street vacation.

This is a relatively small portion of a property often known as the Broad Street substation.

It's near the Seattle Center.

City Light has a substation there and Broad Street runs adjacent to it.

All of Broad Street is being vacated in different pieces as that street is no longer used.

as part of the redo for Mercer Avenue and the new tunnel that's going to be opening.

This is a little portion adjacent to the substation that they would like to use to expand the facility a little bit in exchange they're proposing to provide public benefit in terms of upgrading some of the public right-of-way to have a little more pedestrian-friendly environment and some more green space there.

Very good.

Any questions on this file?

If not, those in favor of granting the petition, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries.

The petition is granted and the chair will sign the conditions of the city council.

Please read agenda items nine through 14 together.

Agenda items nine through 14, appointments 1197 through 1200, and 1212 and 1213, the appointments of Andrew L. Dannenberg, Kashina Groves, Charles Y. Hall, Meredith Hall, Patrick W. Taylor as members, Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board for terms to August 31st, 2020, and the reappointment of Amanda Barnett as Seattle member, Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board for a term to August 31st, 2020.

2019 the committee recommends the appointments be confirmed O'Brien great group of folks willing to serve as you heard one reappointment five new appointments had the five new appointments a committee Really a great mix of backgrounds for folks So Rita really quickly Andrew is a professor in the Department of Environmental Occupational Health and a program director of the Masters of Public Health University of Washington Sheena is an advanced registered nurse practitioner.

Charles, development associate at Capitol Hill Housing.

Meredith, a landscape architect.

Patrick is an architect.

And Amanda is a civil engineer working on water systems.

What they share in common is a passion for bicycling in our city and figuring out how to make it safer, more accessible to everyone in our community.

And I think they bring a broad set of background to this.

And I look forward to their service on the advisory board.

Thank you very much.

Any questions or comments?

Okay, those in favor of confirming these appointments, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries.

The appointments are confirmed.

Please read the next committee report.

The report of the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee Agenda Item 15, Council Bill 119374, an ordinance relating to the organization of city government, creating an office of the employee ombud, and adding sections 3.15.020, 3.15.022, and 3.15.024 to the Seattle Municipal Code.

The committee recommends the bill pass as amended.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Today marks a critical moment for the Me Too movement.

When I ran for City Council last year, it was at the same time that our social media streams were being flooded with stories of harassment, intimidation, and assault.

As someone who, myself, has also had to endure Me Too moments in the workplace, I committed to making sure that we acted on this within the first year.

Within the first few meetings of the Housing, Health, Energy, and Workers' Rights Committee, we heard story after story from silence breakers, from frontline workers, from union members and representatives talking about how they wanted not just a place to report incidences of harassment and retaliation, but ways in which we could prevent harassment and retaliation from ever occurring in the first place.

Today, we take an important first step in making this action desired into law.

This legislation is one step, one step in fulfilling a promise that all of our city employees have a place to go, a place to address incidences of intimidation and harassment, and to make sure that they can ask questions in a confidential place.

I appreciate the work that has gone into this and thank the mayor for her work with our office and the frontline workers to make sure that we advance this legislation within a year.

Here we have a place where we can hopefully address the mistrust of human resources, the mistrust of management, and the fear of retaliation.

These were the top three incidences that were reported in the June 22, 2018 memo to the Anti-Harassment Interdepartmental Task Force that worked on a survey to identify what the barriers were to reporting and underreporting.

The quantitative data revealed several patterns associated with workforce equity, disparate treatment, and underreporting, and the qualitative data illuminated a deep and pervasive pattern of perceived and real lack of safety and lack of knowledge about the complaint process.

Today we're making a step forward.

We're doing this because of the courageous work of frontline workers, the union members and the silence breakers who helped shape this legislation.

These individuals participated in about an eight to nine month process with the interdepartmental task force who looked at various recommendations and looked at our internal data to see what we could do to make improvements to our system.

The Citywide Task Force and the Citywide Focus Group, along with the Race and Social Justice Employee Survey, found that workers in our system lacked transparency for a place to go, lacked awareness of the reportable offenses, lacked a sense of trust that there would be accountability and urgency.

among the overarching themes.

And with the Me Too movement, we've already heard story after story about people coming forward, which was underscored by the race and social justice survey.

It showed that especially for women in the workforce here in Seattle, and especially for women of color, there's been often a hidden and even tolerated way of dealing with inappropriate behavior.

Many of us know that at best, allegations of harassment have been met with little consequences or often without action at all.

Today, we are taking steps to address the consequences along this continuum.

So whether it's an inappropriate comment on someone's clothing or appearance or inappropriate action or assault, we are taking action today to make sure that everyone knows where they can go to ask questions and to deal with claims.

It's not only individual behavior that we know needs to be changed.

It's our systems that need to be changed.

And when we were looking at the research and working with other entities that were trying to figure out how we addressed our outdated personnel policies and procedures, we came across many things that have been working well and things that need to be improved.

Number one, we want to make sure that this isn't just a place to go to report incidents, but that we're looking at patterns for how we can improve our policies and practices, and that we improve our training so that we have in-person trainings on a regular basis, not just at the point of orientation, but ongoing.

And also look at things like not how it's just affecting the one individual, but if you're a bystander, how you can have trainings to prevent and influence that situation.

And also conflict resolution, making sure that we have better ways to engage in conflict resolution so the incidences don't escalate.

I want to applaud the members of the Interdepartmental Task Force, if I might, Mr. President, and read their names into the record.

This was a body that was developed with the mayor's leadership, and my office participated heavily.

And I just want to thank some of the key members who participated.

Farideh Cuevas from my office participated.

Adrian Thompson, who's in the audience today on behalf of the mayor's office, participated and helped lead the discussions.

Amy Bowles with the PTE and the Coalition for City Unions.

along with Andrea Ramirez, Andrea Shalee, Andy Liu, Davida Ingram, Evan Chin, Felicia Caldwell, Jane Park, Lee Colbert, Linda Elwood, Lauren Othon, Mariko Lockhart, Mark Watson, Mary Keefe, Natalie Hunter, Sarah Butler, Steve Kovac, Tia Jones, and Travis Taylor.

These individuals put a tremendous amount of work into looking at researching, training, reporting mechanisms, policy and rule changes, workplace culture, and anti-racist practices, and together worked to identify 34 recommendations and 100 and 35 specific strategies.

Today we are acting on just one of those recommendations by creating the Office of the Employee Ombud.

Working together with the frontline workers, with the silence breakers, with unions, with the mayor's office, there's some key provisions that I want to underscore that are in the amended legislation in front of you.

Number one, it was my priority that we made sure that this office was free from political influence because we want to make sure that the mayor, the city council, any entity that has reporting authority doesn't intervene in terms of personnel issues, investigations, or remediations.

We also made sure that there was a detailed implementation report back on how the OEO will maintain and communicate employee confidentiality.

We wanted to make sure that people knew all of the remediation strategies, whether it was through the federal, state, or city avenues and also through personal attorneys.

We recommended in-person trainings be developed by looking at patterns of harassment or intimidation and looking at organizational and cultural shifts that were needed.

We also made sure that the employee ombud was working in coordination with the employee assistance program so that there was appropriate emotional assistance and consultation for referrals.

We're reviewing the current structure within this legislation throughout the year next year and ongoing to make sure that we do have a place that fosters trust so that people go there to report harassment and discrimination and that we have the best placement for creating a body that truly instills a sense of independence.

We're requiring the Office of the Employee Ombud to provide all reports and data requested concurrently to the Mayor and City Council so we can all look at the same data and trends and recommendation at the same time.

In the substitute bill, we also made it clear that the OEO is open for all employees, which is a priority that we know the mayor had committed to early, and we wanted to make sure that we were explicitly calling that out.

We broadened the role of the OEO to make sure that people understand that this is a place to go to so that they can get advice, education, and help navigating the often complex system, especially when individuals are in a moment of crisis.

And we included legislation to make sure that the OEO had the ability to assist employees in understanding their options and the processes for how to contact their union and make sure that a union representative was with them or a trusted community partner or advocate.

We also know that it's important that employees be able to go back and talk through the process with them, and this was really an opportunity for us to truly root this office in our commitment to race and social justice equity.

Again, applaud everyone involved for constantly making sure that this was a process in which we looked at the OEO recommendations, but all of the comprehensive report in the anti-harassment interdepartmental report that came out earlier this fall.

So this is just the first step.

We're also making sure that we're writing into this legislation that reports back to us, recommendations for council's consideration.

Don't just sit on a shelf.

They don't gather dust, that we respond within 120 days.

and that we continue to look internally on what we need to do to hold ourselves accountable so that we're taking this step, not just today and walking away, but recognizing meeting all of the 34 recommendations is critical.

I really am excited to have worked with the folks on the front line.

Thank, again, the mayor's office and her team for working with us as we enhance this legislation that came down, and really appreciate the time in which folks have taken during the budget and post-budget to make sure that we got this right, so that we could roll this out with those who've been affected by harassment, intimidation, and retaliation at the table to make the final amendments to this legislation.

With that, I want to just thank this body for your past work on trying to address intimidation and harassment, and today we take an important and critical step forward, and we know we will be back to continue the march.

Thank you very much, Council Member Muscata.

Council Member Baxter, I'd like to say a few words.

Thank you.

Council Member Muscata, thank you for taking the lead on this, and I want to say thanks to the silencebreakers, also to all of you who are in the audience today.

It's made a huge difference to have you here time after time talking to us about what's important and why we need to move forward.

I want to I acknowledge that a lot of work has gone in here, and I understand that the position for the director is now open, and that we're looking for the absolute perfect candidate to get going on this.

So, many thanks, and you have my support.

What's that?

Thank you.

That's correct.

Mr. President.

Mr. President.

If I may, thank you for mentioning that because it is within the acknowledgement section and I should have read the full acknowledgement section into the record.

And Mr. President, if I may.

Please do.

It says to the silence breakers, the coalition of affinity groups against racial harassment, the race and social justice affiliates, race and social justice change teams and employee affinity groups and all the city employees for advancing change.

I really want to appreciate you for calling that out and thank you again.

My apologies.

Council Member Sawant, would you like to say a few words?

Thank you, President Harlan.

I will be voting yes on this legislation to create an Office of Employee Ombud because it offers an avenue for City of Seattle workers facing harassment or discrimination in the workplace to get information about how to file complaints.

It is important to caution, however, that offices like this ultimately reflect the power dynamic in society.

For example, human resources departments around the world claim to represent workers, but in reality they represent the institution.

against the workers.

Their real job, the real job of HR departments is to prevent workers from suing the company or institution.

And I've spoken to a number of workers in the city of Seattle who have for years been fighting against racial discrimination, as you said, and also sexual discrimination and harassment.

And they will tell you that they repeatedly have that experience with HR departments.

This was also fully reported in Crosscut and other publications.

so we know that this is happening.

In Seattle, my fear is that because there is a political establishment that determines the political course of action in the city, that the office ultimately will not be independent of the mayor and the majority politicians that will be hiring the officer to do the work.

In the legislation, the director of the Office of Employee Ombud reports directly to the mayor's office.

She hires them and she has the power to fire them if their reports are embarrassing to her political ambitions.

And I know that there are certain criteria that may help mitigate that, but at the end of the day, I think it is still not going to solve the problem fundamentally.

The office is not empowered to seek remedies only to advise workers what their options are and retain records and statistics.

This is absolutely important and it's a positive step, although it does not solve the harassment and discrimination itself that is faced by city workers.

And we have to be clear, the only reason this office has been created has been the courageous action of city workers, as you mentioned, the Coalition of Employees Against Racial Discrimination and Harassment, who have worked for years, the Seattle Silence Breakers, and the City of Seattle Coalition of Unions, whose representatives are here in the chambers today.

And it really should be noted the kind of personal courage it takes, especially women, women and people of color, to come and speak about what's actually happened to them as opposed to talking about the problem in the abstract, which is much easier than talking about actual incidents of harassment.

So I really commend all the workers in the city of Seattle who have spoken up about it.

Please be in touch with my office on any difficulties that you might face.

And I hope that flowing from this step forward, we can actually go towards an independently elected office to deal with sexual and other types of harassment and discrimination, not only at the city of Seattle, but for all of Seattle's workers.

Thank you, Council Member Schwan.

Any further comments?

Council Member Esqueda, are we ready?

Would you like to close us out?

I just want to say thank you once again.

We had probably four or five times that we had the silence breakers, Coalition for City Unions, various entities who were working on the front line.

Again, thanks to the Coalition of Affinity Groups Against Racial Harassment, the Race and Social Justice Affiliates, and the Race and Social Justice Change Teams, along with the silence breakers who've come and told their stories.

This is, as I mentioned, just the first step, and I would encourage folks to take a look, especially on page six, where we have built in here a key provision, which is to make sure that our city council continues to look at recommended changes needed to accomplish these recommendations, including the independence and structure of not just the OEO but the new investigation unit.

We would be remiss if we were to walk out of here and pat ourselves on the back because this is just step one and this is a long time coming but we will definitely see I think improvements in the system if we hold ourselves accountable to implement this office as it has been amended by the frontline workers and making sure that we have an important and historic first step today.

So not just for changing individual behaviors, but for changing our actual cultural norms and expectations so that every workplace is free from harassment and intimidation.

And with that, I just thank you once again for all of your work and know we'll be back at this for the next steps.

Thank you.

And I just want to thank you for your leadership, Council Member Mosqueda, and all of the advocates and organizations.

Thank you.

It's my honor to vote on this legislation.

Having said that, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Johnson?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Bill passed and the Chair will sign it.

Please read the next agenda item into the record.

Agenda Item 16, Council Bill 119359, an ordinance relating to the City Light Department authorizing the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of City Light to execute an agreement with the City of Bothell for relocation of approximately 8.87 mile of existing fiber cable 157 along SR 522 from aerial to underground as part of the City of Bothell's SR 522 Stage 3 Improvement Project.

including the execution of other agreements or amendments necessary or convenient for the completion of the joint utility trench.

The committee recommends the bill pass.

Thank you.

Council Member Esqueda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

And I was remiss in not mentioning as well the work of Asha and Patricia from central staff who really helped to pull together this final piece of legislation.

So if you're still listening, thank you, Asha and Patricia, on the previous item.

On this piece of legislation, Council Bill 119359, this legislation authorizes City Light to participate in an agreement with the City of Bothell and seven other utilities moving arterial communication lines to below grade.

As part of the beautification efforts that Bothell is making alongside state route 522. The total cost to City Light for their share of the work is approximately $282,000.

I would encourage the council to vote yes as we've vetted this and discuss it in committee.

Thank you very much.

Any questions or comments?

If not, please call the roll on the passage of the bill.

Mosqueda?

Aye.

O'Brien?

Aye.

Sawant?

Aye.

Bagshaw?

Aye.

Johnson?

Aye.

President Harrell?

Aye.

Aye.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The bill passed and the chair will sign it.

Please read agenda item 17 through 22. Agenda item 17 through 22 appointments 1149, 1151 through 1153 and 1187 and 1188.

The appointment of Elizabeth Ford as member for a term to April 30th 2019. The appointments of Andrew Bean, Mona Smith and Samantha Grad as members for terms to April 30th 2020. and the reappointments of Anthony Burnett and Nicole Grant as members for terms to April 30, 2020, all to the Labor Standards Advisory Commission.

The committee recommends the appointments be confirmed.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I'd like to just provide a little bit of information on these appointments, if I might.

Elizabeth Ford is currently a distinguished practitioner in residence at Seattle University School of Law.

She has practiced labor and employment law for 15 years, and first as a partner with Sherwin Kimball Bernard, and then as chief counsel for the Washington State Nurses Association.

Andrew Bean, who you may know is the Director of Strategic Campaigns at SEIU 775, which represents more than 45,000 long-term care workers providing quality in-home care, nursing home care, and adult day care health and services in Washington State and Montana, and is a leader in advocating for low-wage worker issues across the region.

Anthony Burnett is the principal owner of MB Diversity LLC, which focuses on staffing, recruiting, and managing project resources with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.

His professional background includes business development and account management in the private sector.

Mona Smith is an attorney with a business and estate planning practice in Seattle that focuses on both complex commercial litigation and transactional work.

She is licensed to practice law in California, Massachusetts, and Washington.

Mona is a community leader who has served on several boards, including the co-chair of the Victoria Victory Fund Campaign Board Chair and Chair of Public Affairs at the Greater Seattle Business Association.

Samantha Grad is the political and legislative organizer for USCW 21, the largest local union in Washington State, representing over 100,000 workers who live or work in Seattle in grocery, retail, health care, and other industry jobs.

And Nicole Grant is the Executive Secretary Treasurer of the King County Labor Council in Seattle.

Prior to accepting this position in 2015, Ms. Grant was the Executive Director of the Certified Electrical Workers of Washington from 2009 to 2015.

Very good.

Any questions or comments on these appointments?

Okay, those in favor of confirming the appointments, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

The motion carries and appointments are confirmed.

Please read agenda items 23 through 24.

Agenda items 23 and 24, appointments 1124 and 1185. The reappointments of Frank F. Alvarado III and Eric Snow as members Capitol Hill Housing Improvement Program Council for terms to March 31st, 2021. The committee recommends the appointments be confirmed.

Very good.

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Just a little background on these two.

Frank Alvarado began his career starting in 2003 after graduating from the W.P.

Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Serving as a provider of financial services, Frank has helped his community by offering trusted banking advice and solutions.

And Eric Snow has 25 plus years experience in technology and operation leadership positions from the staff and board perspective.

Mr. Snow is a digital director of Project Coco and provides IT, ICO, and COO consulting to the Center of Digital Business Transformation.

Very good.

Any questions or comments on these appointments?

If not, those in favor of confirming the appointments, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed vote no.

Appointments are confirmed.

Adoption of other resolutions.

Please read it into the record.

Resolution 31858, a resolution affirming and commending the validity and application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Peace and Human Dignity Everywhere, introduced December 10th, 2018. Thank you.

Council Member Esqueda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Today's resolution commemorates International Human Rights Day on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This is a complementary resolution that complements Councilmember Herbold's proclamation that we discussed last week.

I want to thank the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Thank you, Michael Ramos, who's still in the audience with us.

and all of the members of the Faith Action Network who asked us to bring this resolution forward.

This resolution reaffirms our commitment as a city to uphold the rights and dignity of Native peoples, to make sure that we're elevating human rights for immigrant and refugees, make sure that we're advancing fair and just working conditions, and make sure that we all work to accomplish the right to affordable housing, and that we're protecting the public health and safety of all people in our city.

As we continue to see hate crimes increasing across our country and the complete absence of leadership from the White House to advocate for equity, inclusion, and social justice, it's crucial for local governments to step up, to uphold human rights, and to do so with urgency.

We can do this by using our collective voice as a city to openly advocate for and everyone who faces injustice and oppression.

Furthermore, we can also lead by example by deeply examining the work that we need to do to continue to advance human rights protections in the City of Seattle.

Across Seattle, we continue to witness the displacement of vulnerable populations, communities of color who will be disproportionately impacted by the lack of affordable housing, and the delays that we've seen over the last few years.

And although we consider ourselves to be a welcoming city, immigrant and refugees still face constant threats of deportation and harassment in our region and across the country.

Let's reflect on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a document that was signed 70 years ago and is still relevant today to learn from its wisdom and history and energize us to guide us as we continue to address the critical challenges we face in Seattle.

Human rights must be the foundation for governments.

We are of the people, for the people.

And this resolution reaffirms our commitment to these values and our promise to work together to build an inclusive and just city for all and hold up the human rights of everyone.

Thank you again to the community partners who brought this forward and for all of your work over the last seven decades to accomplish the goals in the Declaration of Human Rights.

Thank you, Councilmember Esqueda.

Any concerns or questions or comments from any of our colleagues?

Councilmember Swann.

Thank you, President Harrell.

I will, of course, be voting in favor of this resolution because I support human rights.

However, we have to be honest.

This council has a long history of declaring human rights in words and then violating those human rights in practice.

To give you an example, this resolution correctly states, quote, the city council commits to solutions by convening stakeholders and the public to provide a proportionate emergency response to the interconnected challenge of lack of affordable housing and homelessness, end quote.

But less than a month ago, the same council voted no on all 11 budget amendments that were proposed by the People's Budget Movement to increase funding for affordable housing, increase it from less than 1% of the budget, which never happened.

And this was several months after repealing the Amazon tax, which, had it been held intact, would have funded hundreds of affordable housing units every year.

I would be happy to bring those amendments back for the fourth quarter supplemental budget if council members truly will support providing a proportionate emergency response to the lack of affordable housing as this resolution commits to do.

In fact, last month the Seattle Human Rights Commission correctly criticized this council for violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that this resolution purports to honor.

They said, and I quote them, the city is woefully negligent of its obligation to meet these requirements.

Not only has the city of Seattle failed to pass meaningful budgetary reform, that would begin to address re-homing efforts, but the city has also been wasting millions of dollars to chase homeless encampment residents from park to park.

These frequent sweeping campaigns are counterproductive and unnecessary.

Again, the council has failed to vote on any of the amendments that were brought forward to end the homeless sweeps this year or last year.

I will vote yes on this resolution, as I said, but I urge council members to match these words with action and to fund affordable housing and end the sweeps of homeless people.

Any other comments from any of the colleagues before we take action on this?

Okay, I move to adopt resolution 31858. It's been moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted.

Any further comments?

Those in favor of adopting the resolution, please vote aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, vote no.

The motion carries.

The resolution is adopted and the Chair will sign it.

Is there any further business coming before the Council?

Council Member Sawant.

Thank you, President Harrell.

I move to be excused from the City Council meetings on December 17th and January 7th.

It's been moved and seconded that Council Member Swamp be excused 12-17 and 1-7.

Any comments?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

She's excused on those two days.

Any further business?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you, Mr. President.

As folks heard me say last week, I've asked to be excused, and I appreciate your excuse for me for next week.

So I will not be here on Monday.

As we come to the end of 2018, since I won't see you in full council before then, I just want to say thank you for your welcoming approach to working with our office and with me over the last year.

I'm really looking forward to working with you all next year, because I think my parents watch every council hearing.

Hi, Mom and Dad.

Thanks for all your support as well.

Thank you, that was very appropriate.

Thank you very much Council Member Esqueda.

And with that, we stand adjourned and everyone have a great rest of the afternoon.