Seattle City Council 5212024

Good afternoon, everyone.

The May 21st, 2024 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 205. I'm Sarah Nelson, president of the council, and I'll ask the clerk to call the roll and note that council members Strauss and Wu are excused today.

Present.

Here.

Present.

Here.

Council Member Rivera.

Present.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Thank you very much.

Our first item on the agenda is that Councilmember Kettle has a proclamation recognizing Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th, 2024. So Councilmember Kettle will share some comments on the proclamation, then I'll open the floor to comments from Councilmembers, and then after Councilmembers speak, we'll suspend the rules, hopefully, to present the proclamation to our guests and allow them to say a few words.

Councilmember Kettle, you're recognized to speak.

Thank you, Council President.

I really appreciate it, and I really appreciate the opportunity to, you know, to have this proclamation related to Memorial Day, to signify, you know, the importance of the day, what the day is about.

And I think this is very important for our city, for our state, for our country to do so.

In the recital for the proclamation, it reads, Memorial Day has been observed since 1868 and recognized in its more familiar form as we know it today since the end of World War I. Yet before that, it was celebrated on even celebrated on different days and sometimes referred to as Decoration Day.

And our country honors this day with parades and ceremonies, which is in keeping with the General Order Number 11 of Headquarters Grand Army of the Republic signed in 1868. The order stated no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will do in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

And the intent of the order was to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of the departed comrades.

And we have done that, you know, obviously with the various wars, particularly with World War I, but even through the later wars and, you know, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and then the smaller Iraq, Grenada, Afghanistan, all the wars that we've gone through.

So this is something that we do and we remember.

And I highlight the point of the memory piece, because that's very important for the families.

My unit in Iraq lost four people, and it was very important to one, Two were killed on November 8, 2004. It was very important for that family to know that their loved ones are not forgotten.

So proclamations like this are a way to be a fitting testimonial, but also a message to the families that their loss is not forgotten.

And I think that's very important as us for Americans to remember.

And with that, I will pass to, essentially, my co-sponsor for this proclamation, Councilmember Saka.

All right.

Thank you, Councilmember Kettle.

And I want to thank you, say a special thanks to you, Councilmember Kettle.

I appreciate the partnership and the collaboration with me and my office in bringing this very important proclamation forward as we honor Memorial Day.

And as a fellow veteran, Air Force veteran, the best service.

Let us also recognize in all seriousness though, let us recognize the hundreds of thousands of people who have fought bravely, valiantly for our country and our freedom.

And even those during those times when they themselves weren't afforded the same rights and respect as other fellow Americans.

And the ones that did that and also paid the ultimate sacrifice You know, we honor the most today and this weekend and on a going-forward basis.

So really, really important.

I feel honored and privileged that I am one of two military veterans currently serving on the council.

I don't know the last time we had two.

I think it was 30-plus years ago the last time I asked the council archivist, but...

But, you know, this is really important, and I'm proud to cosponsor this important proclamation with you, Councilmember Kettle.

And also, I just want to take a few quick moments to recognize some of the fallen soldiers from Seattle who served in the military.

Every single community across this great nation has its war heroes and sadly war dead.

And our city here in Seattle is no different.

So, you know, let us acknowledge and remember people like Major Guy Berrettieri, a West Point graduate Green Beret and Washington State National Guard soldier and former Seattle police officer.

People like Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Chavez, a Seattleite.

Seattleites like Army Specialist Christopher Dickinson, who grew up in my district's own West Seattle and served in Iraq.

People like Army Specialist Mark Yamane.

He's a ranger, killed in action in Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.

And because we are so tightly interconnected in so many different profound ways across the city and across our various communities here, Specialist Yamane, his older brother Curtis Yamane, is a retired captain in the Seattle Fire Department.

His father, George Yamane, was a past commander of the Nisei Vets Committee, where you and I visited last week, Councilmember Kettle.

And his cousin, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Yaguchi, is a friend and a constituent of mine, someone who I originally met on the campaign trail while door knocking.

We're all connected.

in so many different profound ways.

And we're all connected to the service and sacrifice of the veterans of our community that make this place such a great place where we can have these spirited discussions of ideas and ideals and live up to our democratic values.

So we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who have served our country, and most importantly, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so.

So honored to partner with you again to sponsor this proclamation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other people that would like to speak?

Go ahead.

Thank you, Council President.

I just I too want to add my gratitude to those who have lost their lives to save our country.

And I also want to recognize their families because their families sacrificed We've lost some great folks in the service, and then their families are left behind to pick up the pieces.

And so I really have a lot of gratitude for the families of folks who are in the military in general and who have lost their lives.

And so I want to recognize the families as well.

So, you know, wanted to echo the gratitude that my colleagues have expressed.

I want to thank all veterans for their service and current service folks and then their families because it is a huge sacrifice to have your family member be in the service.

So thank you.

Any other comments?

I would just like to thank Councilmember Kettle and also Councilmember Saka for this proclamation.

It's a great value to have different perspectives on this council.

So thank you very much for today.

I very much appreciate it.

If there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to present the proclamation and allow our guests to accept and provide remarks.

Seeing no objection, the council rules are suspended and the proclamation will be presented.

RIGHT HERE, THREE, TWO, ONE.

All right.

Thank you, council members.

And my name is Allison Teeter.

I'm the commander for Ballard-Eagleson VFW Post 3063. And so on behalf of my post and my fellow veterans here, I just want to thank the council for this historic proclamation, I gather that there hasn't been a Memorial Day proclamation in recent history.

But I think it's important to ensure that the legacy of those who made the ultimate sacrifice endures.

And also what I think is important about this sort of proclamation is bridging that civil-military divide, which is real here in our city, so that just raising awareness that we have veterans here, we have families of those who have fallen.

And I also just want to encourage folks, if they're here on Monday, there's a ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance at Ben Roya Hall at 10 a.m.

That's at our Veterans Memorial for all the Washingtonians who have perished in battle.

So I encourage folks to attend that if they're able.

But thank you again for this very touching and honorable proclamation.

Thank you very much.

Hi, my name is Dale Watanabe.

I'm the commander of the Nisei Veterans Committee.

I want to thank Councilman Kittle and Councilman Saka for coming out and visiting our building on 12th and King.

Tough place to be right now.

But it really is a place of history for Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Thank you, Councilman Saka, for recognizing several of the folks that are on there.

It's not just about World War II.

It is about all the way to today.

I want to also invite competing events here.

At 10 o'clock on Monday, the 79th consecutive Memorial Day ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery put on by the Nisei Veterans Committee.

A lot of these guys, when they came back after World War II, were not wanted anywhere else.

So they started at their own place.

And so that's what you see there all the way to today.

And many of us who are sons and daughters of those original Nisei continue to try and make sure that their story is not lost.

And that the story about other populations and immigrant populations continue.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated of its time and length of service in the history of the U.S. military.

And I think it's not lost on that many of those guys were actually volunteering out of the incarceration camps back then.

So I do appreciate the recognition, the proclamation, and especially the visits.

And I invite everyone to visit.

Let us know when you want to come.

We'd be happy to have you.

And then, of course, on Memorial Day, 10 o'clock at Lakeview Cemetery.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, appreciate you coming very much and providing that information.

All right, now we will open the hybrid public comment period.

Madam Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

We have six remote and 11 in person.

Okay, we'll go ahead and provide two minutes each.

And we'll start with the speakers in the council chambers first.

Jodi, do you want to go over the public comment rules real quick?

Yes, I will.

Thank you.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they are registered.

Speakers will first call on speakers in chambers, and then we will call on remote speakers.

Speakers, you will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of your time, and your mics will be muted if you do not end your comments within the allotted time so that we can call on the next speaker.

Thank you.

Our first in-person speaker is going to be Jason Ugolink, and then followed by John, and then I believe it's Haoshan.

Yesterday, I worked 10 and a half hours.

I made $46.35.

Last Tuesday, I worked more than six hours, but only made $41.79.

I've spoken with multiple couriers this week, and the consensus is earning less than $50 a day while investing full-time hours is the current state of Seattle gig work.

Before January 13th, we used to reliably earn at least Seattle's minimum wage, but usually more.

It's become common to wait two or more hours for delivery.

30 minutes used to be a long wait.

This morning, I brought my bike to a mechanic to have spokes replaced.

The bill was $52.97.

If you earn less than $50 a day, how do you cover unexpected expenses?

The law needs to change to restore order volume.

Next is John, followed by Hao, and then I believe it's Peter.

One of the pro-payup people the other week bragged about how well they were doing with the current bill.

They said they were making $26 an hour during dinner rush.

But in reality, dinner rush is only about one hour long these days.

It's probably the busiest time of day.

$26 was supposed to be the minimum wage.

So if that's the best this person does, then it can't possibly be the actual minimum wage for most people.

Even their ardent supporters admit the bill doesn't work if you just listen to them closely.

Payup people, pro-payup people continue to attack people instead of facts.

The stranger attacked council member Wu for a conflict of interest, but they literally admit CB 120-775 will increase revenue for restaurants.

I thought city council's job is to improve business and worker conditions.

That's exactly what the revision does.

It's good for the city in every way.

If the pay up bill improved the majority of workers paid, they would tout those stats.

They can't because it made the average worker pay way worse.

On Sunday, I worked eight hours in Capitol Hill on car mode and did not receive a single order.

The system is broken and getting worse.

The revised bill will benefit the whole city of Seattle.

Hi, my name is Hao Shen.

For the sake of argument, let's say I agree with the logic behind the payout ordinance that of 130% to the normal minimum wage or $26 per hour for gig workers.

That is to compensate the wait time between jobs.

I do some calculation on my earnings since February.

I found out I work on average 44 hours weekly doing deliveries, earning $457 weekly after tip.

That is just about $10 per hour because half of my working time is waiting for order.

So I conclude that the current $26 wage is not even enough.

I asked the council to double it to $52 in order to compensate my wait time to meet the minimum wage.

Does it make sense to you?

Absolutely not.

And how about $26?

Why does it make sense?

It's too low for me.

Is it even possible to come up with a number that satisfies anybody?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not how minimum wage works.

The worker doesn't earn that much by simply putting a number by the government.

If the minimum wage is set above the fair market price, the labor demand will diminish, and the workers get hurt, and also the business get hurt.

Please, let us support the amendment bill and stick to 100% of the minimum wage, period.

This is not a repeal.

This is not a wage reduction.

This is simply sticking to the basic minimum wage law that we have agreed upon.

Thank you.

Next, we have Peter, followed by Justin Taylor.

Hello, City Council.

Hey, my name is Peter Manny.

I'm with Black Excellence in Cannabis.

Completely different issue, but it's an issue that's important.

Social equity licenses went live this year.

Unfortunately, there is no black owned cannabis stores in King County.

This was done in part by the Washington State Liquor Cannabis Board, along with the city of Seattle in 2015. A lot of black and brown dispensaries were closed out unjustly.

Now we're coming back, but we're dealing with zoning issues.

I'm asking the city council to please look into this.

We have zero, zero, I do mean zero ownership of Black or Brown in King County.

That's sad.

I believe back then in 2015 it was done deliberately.

I think that this city council should move to fix that and correct it.

Thank you very much.

Joy, we love you.

Bye.

Next we have Justin Taylor followed by David Toledo.

Hello.

My name is Justin Taylor, and I'm a gig worker opposed to the changes to the app-based worker minimum payment ordinance as they're currently written.

And like I've said before, I've actually benefited from the pay-up ordinance last week working full-time hours.

I averaged $31.75 an hour, and I've found that this has benefited me, and my earnings week over week are better than they were this time last year.

But specifically today, I want to speak to the transparency changes in the proposed legislation.

if we are truly considered to be independent contractors, we should know what we're actually being asked to do when it's presented to us.

So removing things like, where am I going and the weight of the things that I'm actually picking up and delivering, that seems to me it's unnecessary, it's unreasonable.

And as an independent contractor, I should know what I am being asked to do.

And I should also know how much am I being offered to be paid to do it.

So removing, if there is an upfront tip, removing that information from me as a independent contractor, as a worker, It doesn't really make any sense.

What benefit would that have to me or the customer or anybody else?

If I'm picking up a catering order and I'm offered a really large tip because I know that I'm delivering a lot of food, that's helpful for me to know just for calculating out in my head, is this worth it or not to accept?

There's really no benefit to removing those things.

So the other thing is that we should have adequate time to make a decision.

So 45 seconds really isn't enough time to get to a safe location, to look at the offer, and make an informed decision as to whether or not we want to actually do that.

So thank you.

Appreciate you listening.

Next is David Toledo, followed by Michael Wolff.

Hi, my name is David Toledo, and I'm just here today to show support for the Council for the public safety items that you've been working on, the recruitment of police.

I'm joined here by some other community leaders, Rob Ross, Renee Walker, Edward Dumas.

Together, we've worked in various communities, working with the homeless, working with gang intervention.

working with underserved youth.

So we've got a 25-year history of doing that.

Through the years, we've seen councils that have supported public safety.

We've seen them that they haven't.

And I just want to say thank you.

I've met with many of these council members individually and you are responsive, you are accessible, and you are engaged.

So I just, again, we're here just to say thank you for what you've done and what you're doing, and we support you in your goals of making public safety a focus of Seattle.

Thank you very much.

Next, we have Michael, then followed by Edward with the last name starting with the letter D.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT NELSON, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TODAY.

MY NAME IS MICHAEL WOLF.

I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DRIVE FORWARD.

ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT ON THE AGENDA TODAY, I'D LIKE TO SPEAK ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LEGISLATION TO REFORM THE APP-BASED MINIMUM PAYMENT STANDARD IN COUNCIL BILL 120775. I'D FIRST LIKE TO ESPECIALLY THANK COUNCIL MEMBER MOORES AND COUNCIL MEMBER HOLLINGSWORTH FOR HOSTING A BROAD STAKEHOLDER MEETING YESTERDAY.

IT WAS VERY PRODUCTIVE AND INFORMATIVE.

I'D LIKE TO REITERATE reform in the current vision of the bill as we strongly believe it will achieve the main objective of lowering fees to consumers, restoring demand, and increasing work and earnings for the app-based workers.

We are happy to continue to work with all council members to provide you with any information you may need to better understand the need for reform.

We urge the council to continue to act swiftly and adopt these reforms.

With a minute left in my time, I'd like to talk personally and thank especially council members Kettle and Saka for bringing the proclamation today to honor our veterans.

My father served during the Vietnam era.

My brother-in-law did multiple tours through Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both my grandfathers served in World War II.

One is a B-17 navigator and B-29 navigator, and the other in the North African theater.

Thank you very much for honoring our members of the military.

It is appreciated by me, and I'm sure it is appreciated by my family members who served.

Thank you.

Next, we have Edward, and then followed by Arianna Riley.

Not an Edward.

I believe it's Edward, if I'm not mistaken.

It was speaker number eight.

Okay.

We'll move on.

If you did sign up and I don't call your name, just let me know, please.

Thank you.

Next is Ariana Riley and then followed by, I believe it's Josie.

I just want to note that I signed up online too because I wasn't sure I was going to make it in person.

What was your name?

Ariana.

Okay.

That's fine.

Okay.

So yeah, you don't need to call me twice.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Please go ahead.

I did make it in person today.

Yay.

And good afternoon to all of you.

My name is Ariana Riley.

I'm a driver in Seattle with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Amazon Flex.

It's been another extremely busy week on food delivery.

Continuously making Seattle minimum wage after expenses and a restaurant I picked up from at lunchtime today in Georgetown told me they have been slammed for weeks now.

The main thing I want to talk about today is the importance of location transparency and making a good faith effort to comply with federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements that are cemented into federal law.

Many delivery drivers are disabled.

That's why they do these jobs so they can take time off for illness as needed.

We've heard a lot from the council about concern for disabled customers, but very little concern has been given to the experiences of disabled drivers.

It doesn't cost the company's money to display weights of items and flights of stairs up front, and that is an important good faith effort to comply with ADA laws and ensure drivers with disabilities are able to work safely.

The second thing I want to address is location transparency.

Many of us have been victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, which is another reason many of us do these jobs.

As we have no fixed work address, it makes us harder to stalk and harass.

We should not be required to put ourselves in danger by delivering to known abusers.

We need to know delivery locations up front.

Again, displaying this information does not cost the companies any money to do, and it is important to keep in place for our safety.

Thank you.

Our next person, first name begins with a J, last name is possibly Jarama.

Hello, everybody.

My name is Josue Marquez, and I proudly serve as a DoorDash driver.

I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity this app has given me to support myself and my family.

When I decided to relocate from Portland to Seattle, it was because the pay structure here allowed me to improve my income and provide better for my family.

However, recent discussions about potential pay cuts have deeply concerned me.

Such a drastic reduction will not only affect me, but also my entire family.

We rely on this income to meet our basic needs, and any significant decrease will be incredibly challenging.

I want to emphasize that drivers like myself work tirelessly to ensure timely and friendly service for our customers.

We take pride in what we do, and a decrease in pay will not only be unjust, but also demoralizing.

Furthermore, the proposed reduction from 74 to 35 cents per mile would result in drivers actually losing money for every mile we drive.

This will only compound the financial strain we already face.

So I stand before you today to urge against any pay cuts.

Let's work together to ensure that hardworking individuals like myself can continue to earn a fair wage for the service we provide.

Thank you.

Next, we have Alex Zimmerman.

Thank you.

Zeek Heil.

Zeek Heil.

Dory dem Nazi fascist junta.

Bandito and killer.

My name is Alex Zimmerman.

I'm president of Stand Up America.

Speech that I have today, Consul Robert Ketley, very important.

It's not only important to show us history, American history.

And I am American right now.

I'm a military officer too, but it's not a point.

Because what does he talk about this?

It's a critical.

Why?

Because without us, history, we don't know who we are now.

It's not my opinion.

You can open book for 5,000 years and everybody will tell you.

History is important for understand what is we now.

And he's very good with this.

He remember history.

I remember history.

It's important absolutely for this.

Why?

Because right now we have a pure fascism in America, from my understanding, fighting against fascism for 100 years.

Because democracy, freedom of speech, nothing to do with fascism.

But here, we have a classic fascism.

With government, council, together with corporation, suck blood and money from people.

These people come and talking about this every day.

Why?

For 40 years, what is I live here, I never see something happen like this before.

For last 10, 15 year, it's a nightmare what's happened.

You suck blood and money from people.

You destroy Seattle totally.

You destroy community.

You destroy culture.

You destroy people's life.

You are a killer, too.

Hundred people die every year because you are a bandit.

Please refrain from your insinuations and your name-calling.

That is abusive language and constitutional disruption.

I am warning you.

What is you talking?

I'm talking everything legally, absolutely.

Why you interrupt me?

Cut my time?

I will speak about this tomorrow.

American who fighting for freedom.

And this freedom supposed to be now.

We cannot lose this now.

Stand up, America.

Thank you very much.

We did have one speaker we did not get to.

If I didn't call your name and you signed up, please let me know.

We will now go to remote speakers.

For our remote speakers, just a reminder to please press star six once you've been unmuted.

Our first remote speaker is Shawn Ikion, and following Shawn will be Lynn Reed.

Hi, my name is Shawn Ikion.

I oppose the proposal for change to the current pay-up structure.

I work with Instacart, Maple Bear, and Uber Technologies.

I have a three-year history with Amazon Flex, ended last October.

My experience with these companies dates back to October of 2017, spending time in spans of five-plus months between Washington, California, and Oregon at any point in time.

The gig companies immediately retaliated in Seattle when pay-ups started in regards to workflow.

I've been spending time mostly outside of the Seattle boundary, and I also have experience spending time in the Seattle boundary.

I can tell you the workflow was about the same, which is kind of suspect.

There used to be a two month plus wait for getting signed up with Instacart.

That's moved to a one business day wait when the pay up structure started, given the mass firing that went into effect immediately.

This proposal suggests that we pay for gas and vehicle operating expenses and related overage to the expense of working these positions as also we're not getting any additional benefits uh pay up as it currently is needs to stay at least in washington state and at some point in time hopefully sooner uh needs to implement throughout the entire state, according to county rule and law.

Gig companies are stripping away rights from the contractors.

That's why we're trying to undermine only pay protections, but transparency and flexibility protections here in Seattle.

This is the third row.

This is a

Thank you our next speaker is Lynn Reed and following Lynn will be Emma H. Go ahead Lynn.

Good afternoon my name is Lynn Reed and I'm speaking today on behalf of our members at Drive Forward.

First I would like to thank Council President Nelson and council members for voting to move this legislation from committee to full council.

This was a vital step in fixing the current pay-up law that is having devastating effects on couriers, restaurants, and customers.

Uber recently publicly disclosed that they have lost 30% of their courier population in Seattle since pay-ups took effect January 13th of this year.

That number is astounding.

This means 30% fewer independent contractors able to take advantage of flexible work who have now had to seek other income options.

Restaurants are reporting 50 to 60% less delivery orders.

TAP has created a snowball effect.

We are seeing restaurant closures creating even more job loss in Seattle, adding to the draw on social services and hurting Seattle's overall economy.

Please continue your efforts to revise this broken and bring back orders to restaurants and offers to couriers before customer habits become permanent and the damage is permanently done.

Thank you for your time today and hearing all of our concerns.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, excuse me, is Emma H. And following Emma will be Krishar Williams.

Go ahead, Emma.

First, I want to thank many on the council for digging in and learning so much about gig work.

I'm hopeful we can arrive at a timely solution that maintains worker protections and a fair wage after expenses for the tens of thousands of gig workers in Seattle.

One point I wanted to draw your attention to today was the logical leap the app corporations are asking you to make amongst pay up, fees, and orders.

In a stakeholder meeting yesterday, the DoorDash representative stated that, quote, customer fees are not correlated with driver costs and that driver costs are only one of many inputs.

While businesses have every right to set their prices for customers as they see fit, PayUp did not impose a $5 tax on orders.

This responsibility was set by the companies.

Without data supporting the necessity of the full amount of the fee, we must not believe their claims that PayUp caused the drop in orders, nor be so hasty to cut worker pay and protections.

Vote no on the PayUp provisions as currently written.

And since we have a little bit of extra time today, I'll address the previous commenter's notes.

The point of pay up is that we make Seattle's minimum wage after expenses.

At $26 an hour the prior week and about that this week, I am making Seattle's minimum wage after expenses without tips during the vast majority of periods I work now, which is exactly the point of pay up.

This is in stark contrast to most of my experience before January.

And I am sorry for those who have not had that experience, but that is mine and that is not a direct personal attack.

That is just my experience.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Krishar Williams and Krishar will be followed by Alberto Alvarez.

Go ahead Krishar.

Hi.

Thank you for having me on.

My name is Krishar Williams.

I work on DoorDash and I have worked with Uber Eats.

I am testifying to ask you to vote no for Sarah Nelson's proposal to pay our cut our pay because I am a worker of color in Seattle and I and my wage is important to me because I work multiple jobs outside of gig work.

Mainly because a few months ago, I was making a lot of money.

Well, like during the end of the pandemic, I was making a lot of money doing DoorDash.

And then one day I got on and was dashing in the E-District and had to dash all the way to Bellevue in primetime traffic.

And I got like $4 for it.

And I thought it was an error.

and this hurts my pockets and I have to help support my grandmother in our house.

And it would hurt if we get a sub minimum wage, especially with the history of inequity in the city towards people of color that would hurt the community even more.

And when the previous speaker said there's 30% less drivers, that means there should be a bigger pool for the workers that are working already.

That alone should help people, and you would want to help your drivers as well, because that benefits both.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Alberto Alvarez.

And then our last speaker signed up is Muhammad Shah.

But Muhammad is showing as not present, so we will call on Alberto.

And then if Muhammad hasn't become present, we'll finish up remote.

But go ahead, Alberto, please.

Hello, my name is Alberto.

I'm a delivery driver here in Seattle.

So city council has not even voted on the Sarah Nelson bill to repeal driver wages.

Yet the gig apps are already ignoring the mandates on the minimum pay per order and also the time and mileage minimums.

I emailed some in the council about this, I think about two weeks ago.

In effect, they have already gutted the wage of hundreds of thousands of drivers in Seattle.

However, they are still charging the $5 penalty that DoorDash and Uber placed on Seattle orders.

What does this say?

It means that the billion-dollar companies have already, quote, bought and paid for the actions of the CETA council run by Sarah Nelson.

So they are raking in millions and millions of dollars by overcharging Seattle customers while already paying drivers.

TWO TO THREE DOLLARS PER ORDER FOR SOMETIMES SEVEN MILES OR MORE.

THIS COUNCIL HAS TO STAND UP AND VOTE DOWN SARAH NELSON AND HER DESIRE TO SCREW OVER THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND WORK HERE.

ALL FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE HER OWN PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTEREST.

WHILE THE GIG APPS ARE ALREADY IGNORING THE CURRENT LAW SHOWING THEY HOLD THIS COUNCIL WITH A LOW REGARD.

NO WAGE REPEAL.

No wage repeal.

No wage repeal.

That concludes our remote speakers.

We have two more in person and we'll start with David followed by Gary.

David McRae.

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself.

My name is David McRae.

First of all, I can introduce myself.

My name is David McRae.

I was invited here just because a friend just came to my neighborhood.

I don't know the public comment, but I felt like I wanted to just speak on hopefully the city and the public of the city can come up with some initiatives to bring peace and togetherness of a form of like collaboration and consultation and have tough conversations.

And I I honed in on a particular word, and I would like to see an initiative, me being an African American, and when I look in my neighborhood in the Columbia City area, I no longer see people like me.

But I also see new people that move in and smile and say hi and speak.

And I think that we just need an initiative of kindness.

You know, sometimes when you just walk in the city of Seattle and you say, hi, how are you doing?

What's going on?

And you speak, people look at you like you have some kind of mental challenge.

So I would like to see some kind of togetherness from the city council and the public to come with some kind of initiative of something as simple as basic as knocking on each other's doors, shaking hands, not taking a particular side, accepting people for their political beliefs, their religious beliefs, and just coming with a form of collaboration and consultation.

And I know that doesn't make money.

and it doesn't elect officials, but I think that's a good start.

Thank you.

Okay, I'd like to rebut that last speaker.

I'd like to think in this world that kindness Does make money.

Also, because of the decrease in orders, I now work 9.30 to 2.30.

That's why I'm here late at another job.

It's at a restaurant.

And essentially, my observations, they're in the Amazon bubble.

They get a ton of walk-ins, and it's pretty incredible business.

But I can see firsthand, and the general manager tells me orders are down as far as delivery goes.

I also spoke to Wingstop on Lower Queen Anne, and essentially, you know, they're down.

Sunday through Thursday, they're making delivery orders.

But, you know, football season, they'll probably be making money too, but they're down as well too.

So, you know, I just like, and also I'd like to bring back breakfast.

Nobody addresses breakfast.

Breakfast is gone.

I don't know many people that work breakfast, and that clearly indicates that, Yeah, orders are down.

So thank you very much.

Kindness.

We have one more remote speaker who's now present, who's registered, is Mohammad Shash.

Mohammad, you might be muted.

If you can press star six, please.

OK, one last try.

Mohammed, if you could please press star six to unmute yourself.

All right.

Well, excuse me, Mohammed, if you can also email the council members, if you have any comments at this point, we're going to move on.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And I thank everyone who has come to make public comment today.

We will move on now.

The public comment period is now closed.

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

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

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

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

We'll now consider the proposed consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar are the minutes of May 14th, 2024, Council Bill 120789, which is payment of the bills, five appointments from the Public Safety Committee.

Are there any items that council members would wish to have removed?

All right, hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you very much.

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

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

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore.

Aye.

Councilmember Morales.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

Thank you very much.

The consent calendar items are adopted.

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

Thank you.

Will the clerk please read the short title of item one into the record?

They reported the Governance Accountability and Economic Development Committee agenda item 1, Council Bill 1207066 relating to recruitment and retention of police officers in the Seattle Police Department, transferring positions from the Seattle Department of Human Resources to SPD, creating in SPD a recruitment and retention program.

The committee recommends the bill passes amended.

All right.

Well, I'm glad that we're finally having this before us today after a few months here.

So I've said this before, but I'll say it again for effect.

We cannot meet our charter duty to protect the well-being, health and safety of our constituents without an adequately staffed police department.

And we continue to lose more officers than we can hire.

continuously, quarter over quarter, year after year.

And while the mass exodus of officers separating from SPD has slowed, hiring has not meaningfully increased.

And so I'm focusing on what we can fix, and that is the recruitment and hiring processes that we've got before us.

I wish to thank our Public Safety Chair and the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee's co-chair, Councilmember Kettle, for co-sponsoring this legislation and also collaborating with me, central staff and the mayor's office on this.

So colleagues, we have one amendment before us today.

So if it's okay with you, I'd like to consider that before speaking to the base legislation.

All right, seeing nods are okay.

Council member Moore, you have the floor to move and introduce your amendment.

All right.

Thank you very much, Council President.

So I move to amend Council Bill 120766 as presented on Amendment A on the agenda.

So this amendment is basically a friendly amendment that was added as Amendment 4, which was adopted in committee.

requiring information and metrics for SBD's 30 by 30 campaign to address issues women officers have reported in that report.

It adds a quarterly reporting schedule to the council and mayor.

It inserts childcare and scheduling flexibility for caretaker responsibilities to the scope of reporting.

And it also adds retention as well.

So, I did request a Mayor's Office review of this, and they were supportive of this amendment, and just really wanted to highlight that I wanted to thank Councilmember Morales for adding the first amendment, and this is just to insert a few additional things that were left out.

Thank you very much.

Would you like to speak to this or anybody else?

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Well, first, I want to thank Council Member Saka for carrying the amendment for me in committee since I don't sit on the governance committee.

And I do support Council Member Moore's amendment to call out child care and uplift the need for reporting quarterly to council.

We know that SPD has to create a safe environment.

work environment for all workers in the department.

And the original amendment and the new addition require more specific, detailed reporting on SPD's effort to implement the 30 by 30 initiative, which serves to increase representation of women in law enforcement.

My amendment is about creating a safe work environment for all police officers and uplifts the 30 by 30 report and appreciate Councilmember Moore's addition.

We know that given that officers are suing SPD on what feels like a weekly basis these days with numerous sworn officers alleging sexism, racism, and segregation in the department, Council must provide additional oversight to ensure that workers are protected and to ensure that steps are being taken to change the culture of the department.

So I do consider this a friendly amendment and support it and want to thank the committee for approving the original.

Thank you.

All right.

Anybody else?

Well, I will just add thank you very much for refining the amendment that was brought in committee.

So thank you very much.

The department does need, I will echo what you just said, to make sure that they're creating a safe and welcoming culture and environment that will make women want to work at SPD.

So I recognize that that in itself goes beyond recruiting alone.

And many people have mentioned the investigations that are going on.

And I do say that we stand ready to, I stand ready to work with the mayor to implement recommendations that come out of that investigation as well.

So thank you very much for bringing this forward today.

And if there are no further comments, will the clerk please call the roll on adoption of Amendment A. Council Member Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Council Member Kettle.

Yes.

Aye.

Councilmember Morales.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Saka.

Aye.

Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The motion carries and Amendment A is adopted.

And so now we've got the base legislation as amended before us.

And I'll just take a couple minutes to speak to...

I'm not going to go into each section by section.

I do want to lead with the fact that In addition to the amendments that have been put forward already to strengthen this legislation that's before us, I want to make clear that this is not about lowering our standards.

This legislation is about maintaining, if not improving, the standards of the people that we are recruiting and bringing on to the police force.

It's about removing barriers and improving processes so we can choose the best from a small pool of candidates who are applying to many agencies in the region and to make offers to people who reflect the values of our community.

This is about giving us a greater competitive advantage to make sure that we're building back up in a way that allows us to fulfill the conditions of the consent decree and the city's accountability ordinance.

And finally, it's about giving the executive further tools to meet our hiring goals and about holding the executive accountable for doing so through robust reporting requirements, as we've already spoken of today.

And there's a long list in the legislation as well.

The purpose for that is that we must know what we're doing that is working and what is not working because I personally want to be able to look my constituents in the eye and let them know that we're doing absolutely everything possible to hire more officers faster so that we can improve public safety in this city.

So with that, I will open this floor to comments from other folks before we go to a vote.

Council Member Kettle.

Thank you, Council President.

I really appreciate it.

I really appreciate you sponsoring this bill and allowing me to be the co-sponsor of this bill and the work that you and your team have done for this.

It's really, really important.

I'd wanted to speak to this.

One point about this, because I saw this again and again and again and again, that this bill is going to lower the standards of the Seattle Police Department.

It does not.

I wanted to add further that I, as the co-chair of the Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee, and as chair of the Public Safety Committee, plus, as I said, co-sponsor this bill, that I never contemplated dropping the NTN test, the National Testing Network test, as a testing service, keeping it in part because of the accountability and standards issues that we have, but also that my interest was to look to add the public safety test like other jurisdictions do.

The NTN and the PST are important tests, but really a screening, an important screening, but a first step in the arc of tests, oral interviews, psych evals, polygraphs, physical tests.

not to mention later on the Before the Badge program, and most importantly, the Police Academy.

The whole of the system is how we maintain standards and, by extension, accountability.

Again, the whole of the system, this arc of testing, and I think that's a very important point to make.

And on a personal note, I will say that I took two tests before joining the Navy, a general one and an aviation one.

And I will tell you, the big test happened on my birthday in 1990 on the first day of Officer of Canada School, where I had my head shaved and embarked on the journey that was Officer Candidate School, particularly the first week.

So again, that was the first point I wanted to make.

Again, it's not about lowering standards, it's about improving what we're doing.

And along this line, this bill is also about good governance.

I commend the mayor and his team, specifically Deputy Mayor Burgess and Ms. Smith, in terms of the work that's already been happened, in terms of streamlining the recruitment process, the improvements that have been happening over the past year.

But what we're doing today is to further, in a good governance way, reform which will aid in allowing us to reach our goals, to gain greater alignment, and again, to grow.

reach our goals as it relates to recruitment and retention because this is so important for our city.

This is pillar one of our committee, the Public Safety Committee's strategic framework to address the permissive environment that underlines all of our public safety challenges that I've been seeing again and again just in these past two weeks in multiple neighborhood walks, primarily in Belltown that I've been doing.

And then the last thing, Council President, that I wanted to say is that I want to make a call to the men and women of the Seattle Police Department, like I did in the earlier committee meeting for public safety, and ask for them to, again, give us one year if you're looking to retire or to transfer to another jurisdiction, but more importantly, for you to stay.

And I recognize there may be some that will look to retire again, but for to stay, and more importantly, recruit your colleagues that work in other jurisdictions.

You know, I understand 15 maybe have gone to Kent.

Let's bring 10 back.

So I call on the police officers of today's Seattle Police Department to reach out to your colleagues, to reach out to those in other jurisdictions and say, hey, for the professional challenge and to make a difference, please come to the Seattle Police Department.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Are there any other comments?

Go ahead, Councilmember Saka.

Thank you, Madam Council President.

And, you know, I made some early remarks, I think, during the committee meeting, but, you know, I'll emphasize a few quick points.

First off, thank you, Madam Council President, Councilmember Kettle, thank you for bringing this important initiative and bill forward.

Thank you, let's see, thank you, of course, Council Member Morales for partnering with me on this really important 30 by 30 amendment and Council Member Moore for building upon that work, really, really, really important.

Look, and also thank you to the mayor in his office for the partnership on this.

Not at all the time to, if this passes, not at all the time to slap high fives and pat each other on the back.

This is an important first step that we'll need to continue to track and monitor progress on a going forward basis.

But look, I think it's manifestly misleading to say that this bill is going to lower standards.

In contrast, this bill elevates standards.

This bill raises the bar, especially when looked at holistically in some of these really important, impactful 30-by-30 reporting requirements that we're adding, because we need to make sure that people—we're not just making sure we allow people to more efficiently get in, get in the door, but we need to retain the good officers that we do have, including the women.

So in that regard, I submit that this elevates the situation.

Now, make no mistake, there's more work ahead on the retention piece.

I'm personally on a mission to help recruit, retain, develop, and grow the best of the best police officers.

And again, this bill right here is an important first step.

Let us do more.

And I also want to express, again, my profound support for our good, hardworking officers who serve every day, working 24-7, 365, keeping us and our city safe.

And I, along with many of you all, have performed or done many visits to roll calls.

And it's been very enlightening for me to meet many of our brave men and women who do this work every day and keep us safe.

So we especially acknowledge that the job is a lot harder for our members of the force with a net loss of 340 plus fully trained officers since 2020. So we need to do better.

Again, this bill is an important next step on the work that's already been done.

So for the past four years, our city has struggled to meet its charter mandated responsibility to have a fully staffed, effective police force.

And again, this legislation is one of many things that we can do and are doing to directly address that, restore staffing and strengthen recruiting and retention efforts of our officers.

And...

You know, look, as someone who has a—I'm a veteran, but as someone who has spent the last 10 years in the private sector working in big tech, I'm a firm believer in the power of streamlining processes and driving efficiencies.

And this bill, unlikely to garner the flashy headlines, a new incentive to attract officers, but it does streamline processes and it does help drive efficiencies.

And it is designed to help us get us where we need.

So, which is why I support this among the, including the amended version that has the other amendments from all of us in my own.

And thank you again, Council Member Morales for leading on that.

on the 30 by 30 provisions in here?

and allowing me to partner with you to make sure we got those added at the committee level.

Thank you again, Council Member Moore, for your thoughtful.

This is how we build upon each other's work.

This is how we collaborate.

It's not me versus you and us.

This is a broad set of challenges that confront us and we're all faced with and we're all aligned on the shared goal and motive towards making better and making better progress.

And the work that's been done on this bill is a great example of that.

So more to do.

Again, not time to pop bottles or slap high fives, but it is a moment to pause and reflect and think of creative ways to do more.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Morales.

Thank you.

Thanks for that, Council Member Saka, Council President Nelson.

I will be supporting this legislation, and I want to be clear that the issues with recruitment and retention have been ongoing since late 2018. As has been noted, SPD has had a hard time meeting hiring targets, and that has contributed to creating the net loss in officers.

Having fewer officers has implications for how SPD meets service goals and maintains its presence in the community.

And I encourage folks to read the 2019 SPD recruitment and retention report that highlighted some of the challenges there.

The PSCSE is an independent body and they're doing their due diligence to ensure that the selection procedures are properly validated for the position being tested and are predictive of the success on the job for officers.

So I know there had been conversation about changing tests.

I think it's important to understand that the test the PSCSE uses was built custom for the city of Seattle in partnership with officers and with command staff.

And it was built together to address the appropriateness of an officer's potential for use of force, their ethics, and was added in 2021. It's a good test for testing the job and the values of potential officers.

It also monitors, PSASC monitors and analyzes data to ensure that exams don't result in adverse impacts in accordance with Title VII, the ADA, Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative, so it is an important entity to help us make sure that we are tracking results effectively.

The test that the National Testing Network created that's administered by PSCSC takes 33 days, about, for people to complete, but it takes SPD seven and a half months to complete their process.

So while we acknowledge that there is a long lag time before officers complete the process, a lot of that is due to SPD's internal processes, which appear to be the biggest barriers.

I'm looking forward to seeing how SPD uses these resources to improve the culture of the department and also to improve recruitment and retention.

And I want to thank everybody for your work on this.

Anybody else?

Thank you for those comments.

what the public is getting is that this is the product of a group effort here amongst all of us, and it's also the product of a lot of collaboration with the mayor's office.

In addition to the Public Safety Civil Service Commission, I sat down with the director and realized the nitty-gritty of the processes, how they must log the applicant's names and create registries.

And it's an extremely complex process.

And what I was told was that if we were to try to do the best practice of contacting someone who applies within 48 hours of application to establish a personal connection and a point of contact to provide additional information throughout the whole process, they would need another FTE.

And so that is one of the items in this legislation is to provide for additional additional effort to provide one more FTE2 to help process those names, get them to the recruiters in the SPD, and make sure that we are actually creating an open channel communication with our WITH OUR CANDIDATES SO THAT THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GETTING INTO IF THEY WERE TO ACTUALLY BE OFFERED A POSITION IN THIS DEPARTMENT.

THE LEGISLATION ALSO MAKES SURE THAT THE RECRUITERS, AND BECAUSE WE LISTENED TO THEM AT YOUR COMMITTEE MEETING, COUNCILMEMBER KETTLE, I THINK IT WAS IN MARCH, THAT'S HOW THIS DISCUSSION ALL GOT STARTED, WE HEARD THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO SURFACE THE GOOD IDEAS THAT THEY WERE COMING UP WITH IN TERMS OF HOW TO GO AND ACCESS OTHER NONTRADITIONAL potential recruits, and so we're pulling them all together and putting them in the police department so that they can be in contact with the folks in the relational policing division and better represent what the department is all about to potential recruits.

So these sound like small things, small process changes and also bureaucratic changes, moving FTEs from one place to another, but they all make a difference because we can't not do everything.

And so if there's no other comment, I'll ask for the vote to be called.

And I, again, want to thank my colleagues here, central staff as well, and Gorman and Greg Doss, as well as the mayor's office, CPC, and Director Shealy.

So go ahead and call the roll if there's no other comment.

Council President, excuse me, this is Deputy Clerk Schwinn.

Hold on, there is another comment.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to add my voice to all of you, my colleagues on this particular piece of legislation.

And I really thank all of you who worked on the initial legislation and all the to make this even more robust.

And as we've all said, we just need another tool to try to recruit officers faster.

And then, of course, the amendments are so we can ensure that we have retention and that, you know, the efforts related to the 30 by 30 report are really called out because we very much care about this and it's something that I care about and I want to over time, look at what the efforts of the SPD are as related to the retaining of women and recruiting of more women officers.

This is really important, and so I very much appreciate the amendment related specifically to the 30 by 30 report, and I appreciate the tool in order to try to expedite the hiring of more officers.

very much appreciate the collaboration between all of us here in the mayor's office upstairs and just wanted to lend my voice to that.

Thank you.

Okay, go ahead.

Jody, I interrupted you.

Go ahead, please, with the roll call.

I think she was saying that we hadn't moved the bill as amended.

Ah, we don't have to.

All right, will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Councilmember Kettle.

Aye.

Councilmember Moore.

Yes.

Councilmember Morales.

Yes.

Councilmember Rivera.

Yes.

Councilmember Saca.

Aye.

And Council President Nelson.

Aye.

Seven in favor and none opposed.

Thank you very much, everybody.

The bill passes and the chair will sign it.

Will the clerk please affix my signature on my behalf?

Thank you very much for your support, everyone.

Okay, moving on.

There were no items removed from the consent calendar and there's not a resolution for introduction and adoption today.

Is there any further business to come before the council?

All right.

Seeing none, it is we've reached the end of today's agenda.

Our next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be held on May 28th at 2 p.m.

And it is 317. And this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you, everybody.