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Good afternoon, everyone.

Today is April 27, 2026. The council briefing meeting will come to order.

The time is 2.04.

Councilmembers Rivera and Strauss are excused.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Kettle?

If there's no objections, the minutes of April 13th, 2026 will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, those are adopted.

Jumping right into the president's report, we have no executive sessions or presentations scheduled for today.

We do have two proclamations for discussion.

There are five items on the introduction and referral calendar, and there are 19 items on the consent calendar, bills and minutes, 17 appointments.

We have 11 from housing, arts, and civil rights, and six from human services, labor, and economic development.

So now we're gonna be moving on to the proclamation.

So we have two proclamations for discussion colleagues with signature.

We're gonna begin with the proclamation from Councilmember Foster recognizing May 1st, 2026 as International Women's Day in Seattle.

Councilmember, is that not it?

No, we have a different proclamation.

Okay, awesome, so I take that back.

That is not, that is in my script.

We already did that one, okay.

So we signed that one, my apologies.

Councilmember Foster.

surprise proclamation.

No, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Thank you so much, Council President Hollingsworth.

I am bringing forward a May Day proclamation today.

So colleagues excited to bring this forward for your signatures, and we will have this in full council tomorrow.

As we all know, May Day or International Workers Day is a day of recognition for worker power, rooted in organizing for dignity, safety, and fair wages.

So we are excited because this is an opportunity to have both a celebration and a call to action.

We know that we've made real progress in the fight for fair and equitable working conditions, and we also know that that fight is not over.

So tomorrow, this proclamation will be presented to leaders across the labor movement in Washington, including representatives from MLK Labor, Working Washington, Washington State Labor Council, and ProTech 17, who will be joining us in chambers.

and colleagues, I ask for your support and your signatures as we have this as an opportunity to recognize worker power and honor not just labor wins, but the ongoing effort to make everyday people's lives better.

So I will read just you guys.

Actually, I'm not going to read this.

It's been circulated to your offices and I'm going to read it tomorrow, so we won't do it twice.

But you've had this circulated, so I ask for your support.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Is there any other discussion on the floor before we ask the clerk to take the roll for May Day Proclamation?

My apologies, thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll for us to recognize May Day Proclamation?

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

Aye.

And Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Seven signatures will be affixed to the proclamation.

Awesome, thank you.

We're gonna move on to our second proclamation.

Councilmember Kettle, is it April 30th National Therapy Animal Day?

Is that correct?

It is.

Okay, awesome.

Councilmember Kettle, please lead the discussion.

Okay, I think this is very important because we're all...

Yes, well, okay, council member, colleagues.

National Therapy Animal Day is not just about celebrating current therapy animal teams.

It's an opportunity to encourage more pet owners to consider becoming volunteers, creating a happier, healthier community through greater access to safe and meaningful therapy animal visits.

There's been a lot of challenges, many years of challenges with the pandemic and economic instability, and I'd add political instability.

and need for therapy animals in our communities greater than ever.

And this proclamation is to kind of raise the awareness of this.

And it was brought to our attention by Mr. Lee, who with his pet partners volunteer at like the Seattle VA Hospital, the Seattle Children's Hospital, Providence, Swedish, pieces within the provider on the community, on the streets, bringing this service to our community.

and I think it's a great way to raise it.

And as a proud owner of two little Cairn Terriers that provide the similar function at home for the Kettle family, I just wanted to ask that you connect with your inner pet-supporting, dog-cat-loving person and support this resolution.

So thank you, partners, and I ask for your support.

Awesome, thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Are there any comments regarding the National Therapy Animal Day?

Councilmember Lynn?

Yeah, thank you.

You know, it's just...

It was about a week ago, somebody was having a mental health crisis in my neighborhood.

And as neighbors, we were trying to support her, and it just happened somebody was walking their dog, and for whatever reason, that's what it took for this person to feel grounded and calm down.

And it's not just cats and dogs.

I didn't know about equine therapy, but there's a whole practice around equine therapy.

We have a group, the Buffalo Soldiers, who is showing up down in Rainier Beach like twice a month.

And so, yeah, it's with our mental health needs at an all-time high.

Happy to support.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you for that, Council Member Lin.

Are there other comments?

National Therapy Animal Day.

Just to put in perspective, there are more pets in the city of Seattle than there are children.

People love their pets.

Okay, so I just wanted to note that for Councilmember Juarez so we can get her a pet.

Let's take the roll on signing the proclamation for National Therapy Animal Day.

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Salka?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Councilmember Juarez?

Yes.

And Council President Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Seven signatures will be affixed.

Is it six in favor of one?

It's seven.

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure.

Awesome.

Very happy to sign that.

And so now we're going to move on from proclamation time to...

The blue sky, I had to come up with a song for it because we do a lot of proclamations, which are important.

So now we have a proclamation song.

So I just wanted to throw that out there.

All right, so next we're gonna do preview of city council actions, council and regional committees.

We will start to my left this time and we'll just go around the table.

So council member Rink, you are recognized.

Thank you, Council President, and I'm glad we had that moment of levity before this next topic that I'm about to bring up.

Colleagues, I want to use my time today to share an update on King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

Friday evening, Council Members Foster, Kettle, and I attended the special meeting of the KCRHA Governing Board as the Seattle City Council representatives to that body.

It was there we received a more detailed briefing of the forensic evaluation and recommendations from the firm Clark Neuber.

You've read the coverage.

We all know the findings are egregious, and it demands immediate action and accountability.

When I say immediate, I do not mean hasty or half-baked.

I do not mean a knee-jerk reaction.

What I mean is intentional and deliberate efforts to take a good governance approach to the work ahead of us.

And at the Friday meeting, the board took initial action recommended by the auditor.

But we need more.

Since Friday's meeting, I've worked every day to identify next steps with the mayor's office, our service providers, Councilmember Foster, Councilmember Kettle, our King County counterparts on the KCRHA board, and our partners around the region.

And in our capacity as chair and vice chair of the Human Services Labor and Economic Development Committee and Seattle council members to the KCRHA Governing Board, Councilmember Foster and I are drafting a resolution that codifies the findings of the audit, outlines the May 8th and May 23rd deliverables expected of KCRHA, and requests the executive to deliver a report outlining next steps for our contracts, staffing, continuum of care responsibilities, collaboration with providers, work with our regional partners, and how we will ensure a continuity of services with or without KCRHA.

We are working towards mayoral concurrence on this resolution.

As soon as a draft is ready in the next few days, my office will be circulating it to all members of this body for initial review in the spirit of transparency, collaboration, and accountability.

As responsible elected leaders, we have a fundamental duty to get people housed and to do right by taxpayers.

In that effort, it is critical that we are all fully informed, that we move with diligence, that we have a plan, and that all of us are working on that plan together, deliberately, collaboratively, and transparently.

With that, Councilmember Foster, Councilmember Kettle, thank you both for your collaboration on this.

Please feel free to add anything I may have missed in this update.

And thank you, Council President.

Awesome, thank you, Councilmember Rink.

Are there any comments regarding Councilmember Juarez?

Yeah, I have a question because I went through the report and the information that the mayor's office sent down and the FAQ.

So are you, is the timing here, because I know there's two deadlines, May 8th and May 23rd, and May 23rd is when King County Regional Homeless has to respond with a written corrective response.

So are you waiting until after that to do that?

Are you doing it before the 23rd?

Good question.

As we map out bringing this through the Human Services Committee, the ultimate committee vote on this would happen after that 23rd deadline.

OK, good, because I think we need to let the dust settle a little bit.

And I just had a chance to read the forensic audit this weekend, and then the mayor's, and then the talking points, and FAQs, and what's going on.

And then also lining up the dates when we've gone through three CEOs, and when Dr. Kitteson was actually hired.

and my understanding is the scope of the forensic audit was May 2021 to July 2025. So it's a finite period, so I just want to make sure, and I like what you said, thank you, Councilmember Rink, that it isn't knee-jerk, it's not responsive, you don't want to go out there half-cocked, like we don't know, you know, can we just all just take a beat, get all the information in, let King County Regional Homeless respond to us, what the deficiencies are, what their written corrective plan is, and then let's have a measured response as a collective body back.

So thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Weyers.

Council Member Lin.

Yeah, this is more of a question.

I think a bulk of the funding that we provide to them gets passed on to our service providers.

And so I guess my, you know, primary concern is just, you know, those are critically essential services and just want to make sure that, you know, that as we take corrective action, that we are also mindful of the impacts to our providers, to the folks that they serve.

I mean, I think that that would, you know, potentially we don't want to make a problem even worse.

And so I guess I just, I appreciate you bringing this forward.

I think it speaks to that concern, but I just think that, you know, for me, yes, we have to address these audit findings and we have to make sure that we are not making this into a bigger problem by disrupting all the essential services that are happening at the moment.

Thank you, Council Member Lynn.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

I did read the report on Wednesday morning after I received it, and the briefing on Friday, having read the report, was very useful, very helpful, and really brought in the details.

And it is damning.

It is concerning.

But to kind of echo what Councilmember Lin said, we need to be mindful in the sense of like, you know, our team was working the two tiny home villages that just stood up in District 5, the Olympic Hills and Lake City.

You know, we have to make sure that the other projects in the pipeline don't go sideways.

We have to ensure that all these deliverables are being delivered.

And it's really important, too, to know, and I did this in my statement, We have a regional homelessness problem on the streets of Seattle, and we have to have a regional approach.

And we have to be mindful that we have a role and oversight on the regional piece.

And we have to do a good job.

To be blunt, there's a lot of focus on KCRHA, but the county and the city have a lot of responsibility on this front.

And we should be mindful of that and think through that as well.

But the bottom line is we have to get the job done right so that we're building capacity for all the reasons that we need for the individuals themselves, but also as brought up recently for the neighborhoods in crisis as well.

And I think it's really important to be quick but thorough and mindful of the impacts if this was to go sideways.

That's my concern.

So we have to do it right.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

Are there other comments looking left and right?

No.

Councilmember Foster?

I'm next, so I was just going to do mine.

Oh, okay.

I will say, I do want to thank Councilmember Rink for bringing this forward.

And Councilmember Foster, I know co-sponsoring it, you all sit on the Regional Homeless Authority, so really thank you for the work that you all have been doing.

Councilmember Kettle, you sat on there last year, right?

and alternate this year.

Oh, and alternate, okay, this year.

And colleagues, I know that we're all disappointed, right?

And we just want to make sure that we do better, and none of us want to interrupt some of the service providers that are currently doing this work and figuring out what is the best pathway forward, whatever that is.

So I do agree that we need, I like how this is gonna be moving through committee and then waiting for the response.

As you said, Councilmember Juarez, from the King County Regional Homeless Authority, to the audit and some of the deadlines that the committee, the board, has set forth, so.

Council Member Juarez.

I just want to add this because, just to give some context, and particularly for our two council members here who are going to be working on this, and this is in their committee now.

When the King County Regional Homeless Authority was created, which I had a hand in as well as former Mayor Harrell, in 2019, and was up and running by 2021, I believe, You know, going back to what you said, Council Member Kettle, everyone, that's the whole sensibility of creating it was because everyone recognized that homelessness was regional and Seattle couldn't do it on their own.

So we entered the interlocal agreement with King County, but we also got money from the feds and the state and Department of Commerce And I still have not seen the audit that Commerce did.

I know it's referred to in the plan.

I just haven't had a chance to pull it up.

I just want the public to recognize that, and I want to thank Council Member Rink again, is that, you know, having measure for measure moving forward and making sure we have all the facts without disrupting, as you were saying, the services and the contracts that are still pending.

And there are, it is pretty egregious, but I'm really going to be interested in seeing what comes back to us, but I think the major point is that we still want to see an institution where we're working countywide to combat homelessness.

Hopefully, it isn't ...

Some of us have been through a defund movement, and I can tell you, you don't want to tear something down unless you have something else in its place.

So I'm hoping that's what we do.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez.

Great segue into Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President.

And thank you for that fantastic overview, Council Member Rank.

And I will just say, I think that's incredibly well put, Council Member Juarez, in terms of ensuring that we're clear around what we need to do next.

The other thing I want to highlight that was it was already said, but it bears repeating is these audit findings look at a time period from 2021 to 2025. And again, appreciation to Councilmember Kettle.

I know that you're an alternate, but I do really want to appreciate you for joining and staying the whole time at the meeting.

And I think it just shows the importance of this issue and hopefully the collaborative way that we'll be able to approach it.

So thank you for that.

Going back to the findings being from 2021 to 2025, one of the first questions that was asked following the presentation of the audit came from and so for folks that I know many of us are watching or read it afterwards, we're unable at this time from the forensic audit to pinpoint the timeline of that 8 million.

And I do think that's important as we think about, like, you know, I had asked this question when we got our briefing.

Could this have accumulated in 2022 or 2023 or 2024 or 2025?

And we don't have the answer to that.

And part of the reason we don't have the answer to that is one of the most challenging things in the audit is in regards to the existing underlying financial practices and the ability to actually track money coming in, money going out, and color of money issues, more or less.

So I think it's important that we stay focused on how to resolve those.

And I think it's incredibly important that we, in any potential changes, do not recreate the same underlying challenges because we've initially made starting a clock before we know where we're headed.

So I really appreciated those final comments from you, Council Member Juarez.

And I will say those have been my principles with this.

No one is pleased with these audit findings.

And we also need to make sure that we're really clear about what our policy goals are and putting that up front.

So thank you.

And I really want to express my appreciation to Council Member Rink You can put a lot of elbow grease in over the weekend, and looking forward to working with you on this, both through KCRHA and in the committee.

It's hard to move from that into other items, but I'll just share a couple other things.

On this same topic, as a reminder, we will be discussing potential amendments to the shelter census legislation in this week's Land Use Committee.

I want to appreciate Council Member Lin for putting on a special meeting of the Land Use Committee so that we can continue to move this legislation forward.

So thank you so much for doing that.

And I will just share, colleagues, just a couple other bits of information that you may be interested in.

I had the opportunity to attend the part of the Before the Badge training last week with SPD.

I see head nods, maybe folks have already done that.

I'm new, so great, you've already done it.

If you haven't, it's really fantastic.

So it was a good opportunity to hear directly from some of the trainers and meet some of the folks who are who are hoping to serve our city in the future.

So I wanna thank the officers and the chief for setting that up and allowing me to sort of shadow them that day.

And colleagues, we've also talked here and we've had the mayor's office in Linn on the $4 million for OIRA.

You heard about the potential partnership with Seattle Foundation.

So I was at a convening last week with Seattle Foundation and several other regional foundations and feeling very promising about the opportunity for us to do more together.

So no final result from that, but just wanted to share I heard a lot of positive engagement from some of the regional foundations around how we can work collaboratively to make sure that our resources on immigration response are well coordinated.

And lastly, I did a vehicle outreach ride along recently, which was really helpful.

I know Council Member Lin and maybe other council members have done that previously.

We had the opportunity to go to the Glassyard Commons future location and see that.

talk to some folks who are living in their vehicles.

And that's an interesting case because this is a contract that's come actually, used to be at KCRHA and is actually now back at the city of Seattle.

So it actually gave us an opportunity to understand a little bit more about what that contracting looks like when it's in-house.

So would recommend that for folks as well.

That's what I got.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Are there any questions for Council Member Forster before I go?

I mean, not I go, before Council Member Juarez goes.

Council Member Juarez.

Thank you.

Let's see, I'll be brief.

Yes, I will be brief.

But first of all, you guys know, see how the storm season started.

I hope you watched the preseason game.

We only lost by two points, but Floge saw that, didn't you?

I know you got that, girl.

Yes, yeah?

Okay.

We're all on that.

As you see, I'm signing my name now.

DJ Floge.

Okay.

So let me go through this.

Parks and City Light Committee.

May 6th meeting is canceled, and the Schedule E-Licensing Agreement is scheduled to be signed on May 12th.

So that's exciting.

Let's see.

Last Wednesday, our team went to the Kraken Community Iceplex in D5.

Actually, I was there too, to help and watch the preschoolers from the Rewa Ice Skating.

We had Lake City Way pre-K, Beacon Hill, and Martin Luther King folks, kids there, all pre-K.

We have two pre-K schools in D5.

That's the Tony Lee and the Nook.

So a huge thank you to Dr. Susan Lee, who is the woman that runs all of this programming with Kraken, One Roof Foundation, and OVG.

And a big thank you to Anita Zen, Senior, the Family Support and Community Development Director.

As you all know, REWA is the Refugee Women's Alliance, and it provides refugees and immigrants in Puget Sound with wraparound social services.

We've been working with them since 2015, so I'm really excited to watch their growth and the expansion of their pre-K citywide.

Let's see, right now Rewa is up to 140 staff members who speak 37 different languages and dialects.

We've been volunteering on this going up to the cracking community ice blocks for at least the last four years.

with all the little kids.

These are all pre-K kids on ice, it's so cute watching them skate.

Okay, so on Thursday, the huge shout out to my staff, I'm gonna say that they're gonna be embarrassed, but Kelly, Kimmy, and Paul, I had done this with Council Member Bagshaw, but they volunteered all day from nine in the morning to six at night at the Seattle King County Clinic at the Seattle Center, hosted by the Seattle Center, and the Seattle Center Foundation.

If you have never done it, do it.

It's wonderful.

I did it a couple of times with Councilmember Bagshaw.

And they were able to serve over 850 patients that day.

It was four days, April 23rd to the 26th.

And the Seattle King County Clinic brings together healthcare organizations, civic agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and volunteers to produce the largest community-driven health clinic of its kind in the United States.

which I'm very proud of.

With the help of thousands of volunteers, this four-day clinic provides free dental, vision, medical, social services to more than 3,000 people who struggle to access and or afford a care each year.

If that is not a testament for Medicare for All, I don't know what is.

So moving on.

Anyway, if you have not signed up next year, I won't be here.

Well, maybe I will.

I don't know.

Who knows?

A lot could come.

Who knows?

You like that, don't you?

So let's see.

And Friday was a big day, but I couldn't make it.

I really love Literacy Source.

They're citywide, but they're also in DeFi.

I had been working with them since 2016. Kelly, our chief of staff, got to attend their annual luncheon.

They're located on Lake City Way.

Literacy Source provides accessible, high-quality, foundational education for adults to create lasting opportunities for themselves and their families and communities.

Literacy Source is run by co-executive directors Shira, who's amazing, Rosen, and Kat Howell.

They have 148 volunteers that help provide over 46,000 hours of small group and individualized instruction for 882 adult learners.

Over 50 nations are represented, speaking 75 different languages.

I, along with then Councilmember Gonzales, attended at least three of their graduations.

And these are people coming from different countries that were doctors, lawyers, obstetricians, you name it, whatever.

But English isn't their first language, and they're coming here to learn English.

and getting them the computers, getting them in the budget.

These kind of non-profit, really heartfelt organizations are trying to do the right thing for the right reasons for the right people without going into marginalized, vulnerable language.

These are really powerful people that want to contribute and work in this country and do right.

And so to have these kind of organizations that are there and to watch these graduations and have people move forward is, if you haven't had a chance to go out to Literacy Source or go to one of their graduations, I would really encourage it.

And that's it.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Are there any questions for Councilmember Juarez?

No.

Nobody got no questions.

Awesome.

Councilmember Lin.

So coming up this week in Land Use Committee, we do have the shelter legislation, including some potential amendments for briefing.

We also have the Office of Sustainability Environment, a potential appointment, as well as just a briefing from that office about their work, including this year, there will be an update to our Climate Action Plan.

So excited to learn more.

about that.

And then just in general, been having a lot of community meetings.

Public safety has just been a critical issue for our district, as it has been for a while, but just a lot of...

We had a community meeting on North Beacon Hill, very well attended, a lot of passion around issues in that neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we also keep hearing there's been a number of ongoing gun violence issues down in the Rainier Beach neighborhood.

and so also lots of concerns from neighbors in that area.

We continue to meet weekly with principals in that area, with SPD, community passageways, other community partners, and hopefully we can share more in the near future.

And yeah, that's what I have for now, thanks.

Awesome, thank you.

Is there any questions for Councilmember Lin?

Awesome, all right, Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Council President and colleagues.

Good afternoon.

Our next steps meeting will be next Thursday, May 7th at 9 30 a.m..

On the regional committee front, I will share that last week had the pleasure of attending a joint RTC meeting last Tuesday.

It was a joint meeting.

More specifically, it was a joint meeting of the Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee with the Regional Transportation Council, and the discussion focused on preparing for FIFA World Cup.

We explored strategies to ensure our city and our region is prepared, ready for these exciting times, from improving transportation planning and coordination to maximizing public transit during peak demand times.

Equally important, we emphasize the need for a system that is accessible, safe, and welcoming for everyone involved.

So it was a great opportunity for me to go to this meeting in person.

It was just across the street at King County Council Chambers.

Great meeting.

Also last week on the regional transportation or regional committee front, I attended PSRC's executive meeting last Thursday where, among other things, we approved a regional transportation plan.

It was a multi-year effort that started at the committee level in the Transportation Policy Board and kind of worked its way through and great to see that one end to end from start to finish.

I'm glad we're able to approve that exciting plan for our region.

Among other things, we also certified comprehensive plans for Bonnie Lake, Pacific, and Seattle.

So all the work that we do here in council, it matters.

And it matters to our regional partners as well.

In the community, I'll share a few select events.

First off, really exciting for me.

Last Thursday, colleagues, was National Take Your Kids to Work Day.

And that's the latest sort of iteration of what used to be National Take Your Daughters to Work Day.

They have since made it gender neutral.

And so, I took all three of my kids in the afternoon here to City Hall.

Among other things, it was really exciting to see them run around this very chamber with so much joy and excitement and energy running from seat to seat, running back to the Council of Deus here.

Yeah, I've never seen so many people so eager to be in Seattle City Hall Chamber, but it was great.

Also, that same day, participated alongside our colleague, Councilmember Lin, with the council audition.

And with Brian Callahan, great, great session.

My kids got a tour of the Seattle Channel downstairs as well.

And so, I appreciate the entire team at the Seattle Channel for making that such a fun and memorable experience for my kids.

Sadly, I asked them how it went from their perspective, or at least because they got to see and watch my interview portion, and they said, Dad, you were boring.

So I appreciate feedback from all of our constituents, especially my constituents, number one.

But it was fun times nonetheless.

Also last week, a few other select kind of community events had the honor of participating in a Southwest Youth Alliance panel.

It was a discussion that was organized by the Southwest Youth and Family Services on the important topic of public safety, health, and addiction with our youth.

And it was at Denny International Middle School in West Seattle.

Questions pertain to resources available for families in need education around things like addiction, vaping and alcohol, how to protect youth from access to drugs, public safety, all of these things in proximity to our schools, and then concerns around federal immigration and ICE.

So honored to join that conversation.

I learned a ton as well.

There are a lot of experts.

as well, and special shout-out to Denny Middle School Principal Mary Ingram, who is also at the event, and she's always a pleasure to be around.

So, last Friday, I also spent the day in South Park.

and really excited to anytime I get a chance to go and check in with that part of my district.

But I met with community leaders at the Duwamish River Community Coalition, along with member or community leaders from Via Communitaria, Only in South Park, as well.

I also held office hours in the South Park branch of the Seattle Public Library, and it was great to connect with just everyday constituents sharing their concerns and feedback.

Very enlightening and empowering for me personally.

Among other things, really looking forward to some cool South Park events coming this summer, including the return of the Duwamish River Festival, and then Sopa Supa as well.

Exciting times.

And finally, I'll share that on Saturday, I had the pleasure of joining SDOT organized a, I think it was the second or third ever, don't quote me, but it was a youth transportation summit.

So Saturday morning, had the honor of speaking at that and interact and meet with some of our youth.

And I'll just share, at least from my perspective, the future of transportation policy in our city is bright, having had the opportunity to connect with so many of our youth so deeply interested and even concerned about these really important transportation issues facing us all.

That is it from my perspective.

I welcome any comments, questions, feedback.

For the good of the order, if none, I will pass the baton to Councilmember Kittle.

Okay, good afternoon, colleagues.

Starting off, Public Safety Committee.

Our next committee meeting is tomorrow, and on the agenda is public drug use and possession.

I've been having some discussions with committee members on this.

The focus here is basically aligning for SPD, but also looking on alternative response.

You know, we didn't have that when the legislation was written up in 23. And so I think there's ways to get alignment, and this should also be seen in partnership with our efforts in alternative response more generally, specifically looking at the care enabling ordinance, because we need to address the issues, as Councilmember Lin was talking about, in D2.

In fact, I was in Little Saigon this morning, enjoying a nice coffee at Hello M, by the way.

So I just wanted to highlight the focus of what we're doing in the Public Safety Committee.

And so again, tomorrow's will be public drug use and possession in terms of updating it.

Separately, along Public Safety Committee, I think it's important to put out there too, the next meeting is gonna be on May 12th.

And there's going to be two agenda items on that.

First is the Cal Anderson protests here, the Sentinel review, which will be with OIG and SPD.

And then that will break.

And then OIG, for the second agenda item, will be joined by OPA and CPC for the kind of the annual accountability partners to talk about where we are with the accountability partners.

and the issues that are facing them and how they're working together.

The other two may also speak to the Carol Anderson protests here, but that's the setup.

And I think it's important to get that out based on the importance of doing the oversight, having these things come up and then having the chance to speak to it.

So that's the next two meetings.

I don't usually do the but given the May 12th, well, okay, I'll give you the next one in May will be OEM and others regarding are we ready for the World Cup from an emergency preparedness, public safety perspective.

All right, this week, I already mentioned I was in Little Saigon this morning.

Tomorrow, OPA.

Wednesday, Lake Union Dry Dock, very important.

And then meeting with OPCD related to the Downtown Regional Plan.

The things are working on those fronts too.

May not be as visible, but doing that.

And MSC Cruises, based on my district, I meet with a lot of cruise lines, and between 66 and 91, the peers and all that, and what we have going on.

And it's a great opportunity to understand what's happening.

By the way, if you've not been down there, when they're offloading and unloading a cruise ship, you should, it's a logistical marvel.

and I've seen a lot of onloads and offloads, usually aircraft carriers, but the case with the cruise ships, it's incredible.

And the partnership between the seaport and the airport is also incredible.

This comes up, between that and electrification of the piers, but the idea that you check your bags at the pier and then they end up where you need to be when you land is incredible.

But these pieces are so important to our city and so getting these updates and getting this insight's really important.

Thursday, Evergreen Goodwill, followed by the Fire Department's awards ceremony, luncheon, and then I'll be going into Magnolia, technically in D6, but Catherine Blaine, but some of those students are in the D7 part of Magnolia, speaking to the civics and the issues for, that's a K-8 school there in Magnolia, and then Union Arts Center later on Thursday.

Friday, kind of hinted at, and I've been spending a lot of quality time in D2, but this time will be a Rainier Beach public safety walk.

Thank you, Councilmember Lin.

And I'll follow that up with the Jewish Family Services and their Community of Caring luncheon.

JFS does a lot of great work for the community.

Next week, FIFA World Cup 26, I have a meeting on that.

It's really important.

meeting with the Interim Superintendent of Parks, SPR, meeting with the 7th floor, you know, different pieces, the Hope Factory on Thursday.

You know, the District 7 Neighborhood Council will be on Friday of next week, in addition to some additional meetings with Queen Anne Community Council.

Anyways, lots going on in the community.

And the one thing I just wanted to note, too, in terms of last week, I attended the Magnolia Community Council last Tuesday, where they had the West Precinct captain there, along with the crime prevention officer, and it was a great conversation in terms of the issues that Magnolia is facing, and also what they can do as a community, both in terms of like a residential block watch, but as a community, what the village can do, and the connections and the pieces that they can do.

I think it's important for the neighborhoods to realize that they don't have to be passive.

They can be engaging, and there's great ways to do so.

and I'm looking to promote that within District 7, and obviously in many ways.

To close, I'm gonna go into the sports piece, piggybacking off Councilmember Juarez.

Yes, go Storm.

And .

For those who go to the Storm games, you often see the shirts.

You know, everyone watches women's sports.

I do like the French version.

But also, go Mariners.

Four straight wins, only a game and a half out.

Obviously, on the hockey side, the crack and the torrent, a little different.

But we have the Sounders.

By the way, I just have to note, too, my Manchester United won today as a quick on the soccer football front.

But...

I'm just doing this on my own.

I have not talked to anybody on the seventh floor, like the mayor, but I have rogered up and said I will participate in the elected soccer football match.

So I'm wondering if I'm gonna be alone from the city council.

So anyways, I'm not sure if the seventh floor has been told yet.

I said yes, the schedule's dependent.

But here you go, for those watching upstairs.

and a challenge to my colleagues.

I'm planning to be in.

I'm in, I'm in.

Okay.

Councilmember Lynn's in.

Oh, Sokka too?

Sokka is it?

Oh yeah, I plan to participate subject to the schedule, of course, but as well, but I just had a quick comment on something else, if I may.

So thank you Councilmember Kettle for calling out the importance of the cruise industry to our city and our local economy.

I know that the hub of those operations definitely sit within your district, but my district borders our maritime, our critical maritime and industrial lands as well, and a lot of our longshoremen actually live in my district, and those The cruise ship industry helps support local union jobs.

The longshoremen do a lot of that work in terms of supplying the cruise ships as well.

So thank you for calling out the importance of our cruise industry.

Council President, just to highlight that one point, the two points.

Yes, the Union, it's incredible.

Again, you have to go down there and watch it.

It's incredible.

But the fact that we're a home port, because oftentimes cruise ships will go to different ports around the world, up and down the coast and so forth, and they're stopping in.

But because we're a home port, the logistical, bringing on the provisions, that's locally done, and that is a huge economic benefit to our city.

So we're in a different tier when it comes to this, and that's something that we should be mindful of and protect and promote, and one reason why I bring it up.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka, for jumping in, because the maritime piece is obviously throughout Districts 1, 6, and 7. Thank you.

The final thing I'll say is when you started speaking French, for some reason, I got to thinking of that famous Key and Peele sketch where there's a French...

Check it out.

It's hilarious.

I won't try to speak French ever after watching that.

Merci.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Kettle, Council Member Saka, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President.

And thank you for the updates, Councilmember Kettle.

I just wanted to take a brief moment to say I'm very pleased to hear that the Sentinel review will be heard in committee.

I know there's a lot of community curiosity about that report, so I want to just voice my appreciation to you as chair for making time in committee to give that the airtime it needs.

So thank you.

Yes.

Thank you.

Awesome.

All right, colleagues, I'll wrap it up.

I'll be super quick.

The Governance Utilities Committee will meet on May the 14th at 9.30 a.m.

This is just a reminder.

We meet once a month, every second Thursday of every month, and we get a lot of work We're going to have the stormwater code.

It will have a possible vote.

So please get your briefing on that, colleagues, because we're going to be moving through that.

And then we are working on more agenda items as well.

So it's going to fill up fairly quickly.

Last but not least, regional-wise, last week had the King County Flood Control District meeting.

So we all sit on different regional committee meetings, from the Regional Transportation Committee to the King County Regional Homeless to Board of Health, to Regional Water Quality Committee, to the floodplain.

I mean, you just, it goes on and on.

There's a lot of regional committees that we sit on in addition to the committees that we have here in council.

Are there, Council Member Foster?

I think you said.

Just, there you go.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Just two quick comments.

One, Council Member Juarez, my office is emailing you a link to those audits so that you will have the ones from the state.

So heard you, done.

And Council President, you mentioned in committee a few weeks ago, you gave us a quick update.

I believe it was on the Regional Water Quality Committee about some concerns that you had regarding potential rate increases.

Have there been, hate to put you on the spot, but any updates on that?

Yeah, great question.

Not yet.

So a letter was sent from board members to King County or to the executive, excuse me, to the executive of King County Councilmember Zahilai asking them, saying, hey, you know, we need a different plan to move forward.

You know, what are some other options that you all are considering for them to look at, you know, all different perspectives, but also to really understand that, you know, increasing to 12.9% for the next five to six years was just very hard for us, a hard pill to swallow.

And then just the impact that that would have on, unfortunately, on the rate payers of Seattle and King County as well.

So everyone's concerned about it.

I know the executive's concerned.

I mean, everyone is concerned, right, with these rate increases and wanting to find a better solution forward.

We don't have any updates yet, but it's something that we're monitoring closely.

I know Councilmember Lin and I both sit on that committee.

Last year we had Councilmember Kettle, but he had a conflict, so Councilmember Lin raised his hand and said he would love to be on the committee, so thank you.

Thank you for that, Councilmember Lin.

So I don't have any updates, but trust me, I'm gonna be bringing the updates about it, because it's important.

For sure.

Because it impacts 20% of your water bill.

If you're at home, 20% of your water bill is from King County.

People don't know that because sometimes it's not parsoned out, but it is part of your bill.

Seattle Public Utilities does wastewater.

We do sewer, garbage, all that.

And the wastewater, we pay King County to be able to do our wastewater and treat it before it goes out into the Sound or wherever it goes.

And a part of this is the rate increase to that, which impacts your Seattle Public Utilities bill.

On a side note before I end, because I know we talked about everything that we do, but I will say this interesting fact, which is kind of cool.

I had a chance to go to the south transfer station for Seattle Public Utilities.

I think it's in Council Member Saka's district.

Every day from our north transfer station and our south transfer station, The city removes 55 40-foot shipping containers of garbage every day.

That's about a mile long of every day, seven days a week.

And we send it to Oregon, and they take our trash every single day.

Oh, everybody knows that.

Anyways, but it goes on a train.

It goes in these 40-foot shipping containers.

They take it down to the rail.

They're constantly, it's like a constant clockwork.

and that is shipped off to Oregon.

So I thought it was something that's very, the amount of waste that we have, but check this out, we have less waste I would just want to

If I hear about the South Transfer Station, I have to think about Professor Gale at the Evans School at UW, because she was instrumental in creating that, and it was basically a case study as we went through the school, and so I just have to give a little shout-out to her on that for her work, and whoever did the North, too.

But the South was mainly her work, so shout-out.

So the South, in Councilman Rusaka's district, takes two-thirds of all of the city's garbage, by the way.

work.

Random facts.

Councilmember Foster.

I can't.

OK, this is not.

Let it be known, Council President, no notes there.

I'm just hearing just all the facts.

I just wanted to quickly say, just as a piggyback, we received the SPU Clean Cities report today.

So if we haven't, I know we're talking about what's going through our existing transfer stations, but that report, I got a chance to skim it because it got sent over recently.

But I just want to highlight that on this conversation because it talks to us about illegal dumping.

And I don't sit on that committee.

However, it's something that I have an interest in, I think many of us do as we're working to make sure that we have a city that's clean and functional for all our residents.

So highlighted reading.

All right, thank you, that's all I got.

Awesome, thank you.

Is there any more information or any other comments for good of the order?

Awesome.

Well, guess what, y'all?

It is 1255 under an hour.

Council Member Juarez, you want me to keep talking for five minutes?

No, I'm just playing.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

We are done.

This meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.