missing title

Hey, good afternoon.

The April 28th meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order.

It is 2.02 p.m.

I'm Council President Joy Hollingsworth.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle?

Here.

Council Member Lin?

Here.

Council Member Rink?

Present.

Council Member Rivera?

Present.

Council Member Saka?

Here.

Council Member Foster?

Here.

Council President Hollingsworth.

Here.

Seven present.

Awesome, and Councilmember Juarez and Councilmember Strauss are excused for today's meeting.

Colleagues, we have two proclamations for today, starting with Councilmember Foster, the proclamation recognizing May 1st as International Workers' Day.

Councilmember Foster, you are recognized.

Off to you for the first start.

Thank you so much.

I thought we were doing Councilmember Kettle's first.

We got a lot of people here for that one.

I'm just teasing.

Bob and I were having a little joke.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I really appreciate it.

I'm really excited to bring this proclamation forth.

And I'm really thrilled because every year on May 1st, we celebrate International Workers' Day.

And I know I see a lot of people in chambers here today who last year I got to see out in marches.

and who often I get to see in organizing rooms.

And we wanted to take this opportunity as a council to honor the work of our labor movement, including our union organizers, including organizers who are organizing with working people every day and get a chance to acknowledge May Day.

So with that, I think May Day is not just a moment on a calendar.

It is an opportunity for us to reflect on the ongoing struggle for dignity, for safety and fair wages for workers everywhere.

We know that the work that you do is hard.

And for so many workers, especially immigrant workers, black and brown workers, workers in low-wage sectors, it's not an abstract idea.

Labor is not an abstract idea.

It's everyday, it's personal, and it's about what moves us forward.

This proclamation matters because it gets to name that history and that struggle, and it names the work that you all put in day in and day out.

And we also believe that it's important to say a proclamation alone is not enough.

We have to continue to organize and take action.

So we're excited to celebrate May Day not just here in chambers, but on picket lines, in organizing spaces, and in the continued push for better economic opportunity and better livelihoods for all workers.

Before we move forward, I want to take a moment to recognize the labor organizers and community with us today.

If you are a proud union member or part of a worker organization, please stand or raise your hand as you are able so that we can recognize you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I hope you get a chance to look around and see each other and feel your strength and your power in chambers today.

I also want to just quickly call out some of the groups that I know are joining us today.

Please forgive me if I don't have you all on my list.

There's a lot of fantastic folks down in the lobby, so thank you.

I see MLK Labor here with us, 350 Seattle, Buy in Washington, International Migrants Alliance, SEIU 775, Starbucks Workers United, Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, North Seattle Progressives, UFCW 3000, UAW 4121, OPIU 8, WISEN, One America, Rise Up, PASARA, IATSE Local 15, LIUNA 242, we got SEIU, the Coalition of Interns and Residents, SEIU 6, WUFC Local 1495, and many, many more who are doing this work every single day.

Thank you all so much for your work.

and for being here.

I'm not gonna read the whole proclamation.

I know we got a whole agenda to get to today, but let me just read out a quick excerpt for you, and then we're gonna ask folks to come up and share a few words.

Whereas May 1st, International Workers' Day, honors the global struggle for workers' rights rooted in the movement for the eight-hour workday and carried forward by generations of working people organizing for dignity, safety, and fair wages.

May Day is recognized all over the world with International Workers' Day celebrated across cultures as workers come together to uplift their struggles and victories in creating systemic change, a fight that immigrant workers in the U.S. have reignited.

Whereas Seattle's labor movement represents workers all across our local economy, from public sector workers to building trades union members, service employees to maritime workers organizing for a more just and fair, equitable working conditions.

Whereas Seattle workers workers who are from here and who come here as caregivers, parents, neighbors, and community leaders, and the dedication of service workers from all countries, powering every sector of our economy, is a reminder to keep investing in libraries, childcare, public spaces, and transit, while continuing to build pathways of opportunity for working families.

Now, therefore, the Mayor and the Seattle City Council proclaim May 1, 2026 to be International Workers' Day.

All right.

And with that, I'll hand it back over to the council president who's going to facilitate inviting people to speak.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, does anyone have any further comments on the floor about the proclamation at hand?

Well, let me just take this time to thank you all for coming to Council Chambers.

We were all happy to sign on to this proclamation.

We know we have a ton of our labor union friends and brothers and...

We say brother and sisters, right?

Can I say it, because I'm not...

Am I allowed to say it?

Siblings, siblings, siblings.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Destin.

Okay, siblings, in the room today, and we're just so grateful to have you.

We also know that labor is the backbone of our city and our community, and we are just so honored to be able to sign on to this proclamation.

And then also, we have some guests who are going to speak next.

And so now, are there any comments?

Nope, okay, so hearing no further comments, if there are no objection, the rules are gonna be suspended for Councilmember Foster to present the proclamation and for our guests to come up and do some comments as well.

Hearing no objection, all right, the rules are suspended.

And I believe today we have Working Washington here.

I have CJ, Max, and Emmanuel.

Are you all here?

Awesome.

Following that, we have MLK Labor.

So we have Katie, I see, is it Fia?

Pia?

Pia.

Pia, Karina, and Shawnee, who are here.

You all are next.

And then we have Sharika Carter from Washington State Labor Council, and then Karen from Protect 17. So looking forward to you all speaking.

So Working Washington, you all are first.

Welcome, thank you.

Yeah, any microphone you want.

Yeah, I go for the shorter one.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is CJ Garcia.

I am the co-director of organizing and work in Washington.

Work in Washington is a statewide organizing home for multiracial workers and a movement across different sectors all across the state.

We know that workers across the state are taking action because we know that worker power changes everything.

We know that when workers organize, they can not only just shift the current conditions that we're facing, but we can set an agenda that centers working class people.

in our communities.

We are facing unmeasurable attacks right now.

The billionaire class and their corporations have been relentless about siphoning our resources for their benefit, using their wealth to buy elected officials to do their dealings, and strip us away from protections from immigrant people, trans and queer people, workers all across the country.

And they continue to do that to erode access to healthcare, education, and life services that our communities need to survive.

They do this because they know that when they keep us in a deep state of survival and they pit us against each other, they can win.

And while they're breaking record profits, everyday working people struggle to pay rent, put food on the table, and take care of their children.

We're here because enough is enough.

We're taking action and standing together to put those billionaires on notice and saying we're not powerless.

We're setting a pro-worker agenda that meets people's needs, that gets a pro-democracy movement, that makes our elected officials represent our everyday people's needs, and that those agendas are gonna change fundamentally people's everyday life.

Worker power makes everything possible.

May Day is just about that.

It's about worker power.

So I hope you join us and build that power together.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you.

is next, and then the Washington State Labor Council and then Pro Tech 17. Welcome.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much, Council President Hollingsworth and Council Member Foster, for having us here today.

My name is Katie Garrow and I'm the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for MLK Labor.

Our organization was founded in 1888 by dock workers, loggers, and farmers who knew for as long as there has been industry in this region that workers needed to bind ourselves together for our fair share.

I'm here at the mic, but MLK Labor is an organization of leaders, composed of many leaders.

And I'd like to take a moment to just recognize our president, Dustin Lambro, who is here, our vice president, Stefan Moritz, and our board members, Estevanen Havalera and Botzer, who are also here with us today, as well as the entire MLK Labor staff.

I appreciate their contributions to our labor movement.

The eight-hour workday, the five-day, 40-hour workweek, minimum wage, OSHA, titans of industry did not just give these things to workers, they were all hard-fought victories.

And we have them because we came together and fought for them.

Today is also Worker Memorial Day, which is the day that we honor people who have died on the job.

Last year, 115 people died in Washington state while they were at work.

This is a reminder to all of us that our work is not yet complete.

May Day is our day, and this year we are showing up to shut it down, as is our tradition with the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement.

We're coming together this Friday at Cal Anderson Park.

All workers are invited to join us.

Mayday was the very first demonstration I ever participated in, well, almost 20 years ago now.

And it was the thing that gave me the courage to stand up and join a picket line at my first unionized workplace, because it was not so foreign to join in collective action.

I want to recognize Pierre Rivera Jones and Shimona Moreno and Richard Murray, who are the three co-chairs of this year's May Day March for their excellent work stewarding our multiracial, multi-union coalition together.

And I also just want to finally say that the labor movement is one in five workers in America is an immigrant worker, and we know that they are under the greatest level of attack right now.

They are the backbone of the American economy and our labor movement, and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with them to defend their rights as a labor movement.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Sharika Carter, Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, representing over a half a million workers across Washington state.

The WSOC is the voice of labor.

So thank you so much for this proclamation and for recognizing May Day, not just as a moment, but as a movement.

May Day has always been about workers showing up for each other, for justice, and for a better future.

And one of the things I value most about this day is that it doesn't belong to just one place.

It lives in cities across this country and across the world.

And every year, workers take to the streets.

And this year will be no different here in Washington, whether we're in Seattle, Spokane, Yakima, or Tacoma, or many other places to raise our voices together.

And this year, I'll be doing something I've never done before.

I'll be marching alongside my brother, who is a union electrician, a third-year apprentice.

And that means something to me, because this movement is not abstract.

It's personal.

It's about family, and it's about the people we love having access to good jobs, jobs that provide stability, a voice, and dignity.

Unions change lives.

They make it possible for working people to build something solid, to support their families, to plan for the future, and to stand up on the job and be heard.

They turn jobs into careers.

Unions turn struggle into power.

They turn isolation into solidarity.

And that's worth celebrating.

But today also holds another meaning.

Today is Workers Memorial Day, a day where we pause to remember workers who went to work and never came home.

a day that reminds us that dignity at work must include safety, that every worker deserves not just a good job, but a safe one.

And so today we hold the line for safety in their memory.

So as we celebrate May Day, we also carry that responsibility with us to keep fighting, to keep organizing, to keep building a world where no one has to risk their life just to make a living.

That's what May Day represents, collective power, shared purpose, and the belief that when workers stand together, we can shape the future.

Thank you for standing with workers and for recognizing the power and promise of this day.

I'm proud to accept this proclamation on behalf of Washington's labor movement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Karen, welcome.

Good afternoon, council members and labor community.

My name is Karen Estavenen, and I'm the executive director of ProTech17.

I'm grateful for the incredible members and leaders and staff of our union that are joining me today.

Project 17 represents over 10,000 working people across the Pacific Northwest, with over 3,000 working for the City of Seattle.

From accountants to engineers, transit professionals to public health care providers, civil rights analysts and urban planners, we are very grateful and honored to be celebrating this proclamation with you.

And we're grateful to Councilmember Foster for inviting us here and bringing our labor community here in honor of International Workers' Day.

Unity is particularly important in our current tumultuous political climate.

Our city, our country, and our world must remember and channel our past labor solidarity to create a brighter and more hopeful future.

And here locally, we have a rich history to draw from.

In this city over 100 years ago, local labor unions led the very first citywide work stoppage in US history.

The 1919 general strike will be remembered for many things.

The sheer amount of workers that participated in it, over 65,000.

The fact that it remained peaceful.

and the local legacy that shapes the very foundation for one of the most union-dense places in our country today.

The success of the Seattle general strike was rooted in its solidarity as a labor movement, with over 100 unions coming together to reset the scales of power and ignite change.

Those of us in this room understand the work, the coordination, and the organizing this must have taken.

They faced opposition, disagreement, and skepticism, and they did it without cell phones and social media.

Despite these challenges, they held strong to their common interests of stopping injustice and building power for workers.

It was about class.

It was about safety for all.

It was about protecting our most vulnerable in our communities, very similar to what we're facing today.

It was about knowing, as the song says, which side you're on.

And so I want to thank you again for this proclamation.

As one of those that is privileged and proud to carry union cards as many of us in this room are, it is our work to lead the way for stronger protections, increased safety, and creating a deep sense of value and pride in each other's work.

Collectively, the people in this room and the elected officials that are supporting this proclamation, we will keep pushing bold, incredible, and historical change to ensure that Seattle remains a vibrant, world-class city.

And so today, we honor and celebrate all workers, recognizing that every working person provides contributions to our city.

Together, we will draw strength from our past and we will know which side we're on and we will fight and celebrate with joy in the struggle for the future of Seattle's labor movement.

Thank you so much and solidarity forever and happy May Day.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

And Councilmember Foster, back to you.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you so much to all of the speakers who are with us today.

Before we invite the speakers up to take a quick photo, I missed Unite here, so shout out to you all.

Thanks for being here.

And then I also just want to take a second.

I really want to appreciate one of the things I think about a lot is we sit here as elected officials, but it's actually also the workers who work for us who do a lot.

And so I really want to give a shout out to my whole team for the work on organizing this event, but especially to Nosheen in the back for reaching out, coordinating, and helping make so many people show up and have such a seamless moment for us to celebrate May Day.

So thank you so much for that.

And you invited me?

One more speaker.

Oh.

One more speaker.

Sure, are you doing public comment or for the proclamation?

Yes, I'm here for a public comment.

Oh, so right now we're doing- An issue.

Yeah, yeah, no, we're doing a public, or excuse me, we're doing the proclamation and then public commenters we get to after the proclamation.

So after we- I wanted to follow up with the workers.

Pardon me?

My issue is with the workers, so I would like to comment on that.

Yeah, and you can do that, absolutely.

Can we make sure she gets signed up on the thing?

Ma'am, we'll get you signed up so you can come and speak.

Okay, okay, perfect, perfect, perfect.

Thank you so much.

Now we're gonna invite the speakers who came up.

It's a tradition that we started This year that we take a picture with the council.

So if we could invite those speakers up, we'll take a photo and I want to give a shout out to the students who are outside.

You cannot, you can kind of see us.

We just want to thank all the students for out there.

You can hear us though.

Thank you for coming to council, the young kids, the young babies.

We love y'all.

All right.

So the speakers come, you'll just come up right behind and we're going to take a photo.

And if we can get Deanna Lee to come in the middle, who's going to take the photo.

Awesome.

Thank you.

And you'll just come up here on the stairs.

We're all friends.

And then Councilmember Foster, you're in the middle.

Councilmember Foster, you're in the middle.

All right, let us know when you're ready, Deanna Lee.

We're doing great, we're doing great.

All right, go ahead, Deanna Lee.

Let us know when you're ready.

They want us to go away.

What?

Something's happening.

Okay.

Thank you.

We have our second proclamation, and then right after that, we go right into public comment, okay?

So our second proclamation, I know we're Councilmember Kettle.

You have proclaimed it to be National Therapy Animal Day.

All right, Councilmember Kettle, it's off to you for your presentation.

Yes, Council President, as noted to me, National Therapy Animal Day is not just about celebrating current therapy animal teams.

It's an opportunity to encourage more pen owners to consider becoming volunteers, creating a happier, healthier community through greater access to safe and meaningful therapy animal visits, which is also very good for our labor community, too.

So I just wanted to make that point and also thank Mr. Greg Lee of Pet Partners.

This group volunteers at Seattle VA Hospital, Seattle Children's Hospital, Providence, Swedish, U-Dubs, and then groups like Union Gospel Mission.

It's very important work that is being done.

And with that, colleagues, I'll read the proclamation.

So whereas Pet Partners has designated April 30th as National Therapy Animal Day, and whereas scientific research shows that interacting with therapy animals can reduce stress, relieve depression, slow heart rate, lower blood pressure, and strengthen the immune system, and whereas therapy animal teams in the city of Seattle play an essential role in improving human health and well-being through human-animal bond, and whereas therapy animal teams interact with a variety of people in our community, including veterans, seniors, patients, students, and those approaching end of life, and whereas these exceptional therapy animals who partner with their human companions bring comfort and healing to those in need, and whereas we encourage more pet owners to consider becoming pet partners, volunteers to help our community by creating greater access to meaningful therapy animal visits.

So now, therefore, the Seattle City Council proclaims April 30th, the day before, 2026, to be National Therapy Animal Day.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Mr. Greg Lee.

Awesome.

Mr. Greg Lee, are there any, before we ask you to come up to say a few words, are there any comments regarding this?

I know we had this yesterday in our council briefing, so people made comments.

Mr. Greg Lee, you are welcome to come to say a few words, and your dog is, too, if they want to talk.

Thank you, City Council.

My name's Greg Lee, and I've been a citizen of Seattle and Capitol Hill for over 30 years.

And someone who believes in giving back and volunteering is a very important thing.

Lager is a rescue dog.

I adopted him four years ago through the Washington German Shepherd Rescue.

And our journey started at Pet Partners two years ago.

And we have visited over 2,000 people, if not more.

And it started in Capitol Hill at a recovery program.

And it moved on to students and international students at the UW.

and we currently visit three hospitals, Swedish.

I'll be visiting Seattle Children's tomorrow and the VA on Thursday.

So I want to thank you for acknowledging and recognizing animal-assisted therapy because we attest firsthand how comforting and healing a pet can be to people.

So thank you very much.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle, the rules, if there's no objections, the rules are going to be suspended so you can present the proclamation to Greg.

Did you also want a picture with Lager too as well?

Okay, awesome.

Let's come, let's take a picture with Lager.

We'll do it.

And then we'll jump right into our public comment.

Want to thank our guests for being patient as we do our...

So colleagues, we're gonna come down to the front so we have a picture with Lager and Mr. Greg Lee.

We can take it right here.

Awesome, perfect.

Thank you, colleagues.

Lager it is.

And then we can have this as a backdrop.

All right, let's jump right into the meeting.

All right, so we're gonna transition into public comment.

Greg, how old is your, not how old is Lager, but how much does he weigh?

95 pounds.

95 pounds.

It's a big boy.

All right.

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

Public comment is limited to items on today's agenda, the introduction and referral calendar, and the council's work program.

The council cannot accept comments on quasi-judicial items or on campaign-related matters.

Clerk, how many speakers do we have signed up?

So we have four remote.

Yes, that's four.

Four remote and 14 in person.

Awesome.

All right.

So that's 18 speakers.

Everyone's going to get two minutes.

Clerk, will you please read the rules for public comment?

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

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call on the next speaker.

So first up, we have Ms. Carolyn Malone, followed by Chris Hendrickson, Nathan Wall, CJ Garcia, Bennett.

Then we have Derek, followed by Betty, Gabriel, Maria, and Gwendolyn.

Then we have M.

Smith, Summer, Jason, and Yvette.

And then we'll switch to online.

Ms. Carolyn Malone, welcome.

just as well.

I'm Carolyn Malone.

On August 28th, I went to the Seattle Office of Civil Rights to file a formal complaint of racism and retaliation where I live.

On October 30th, The office SOCR was closed for two and a half months, a paint job.

On November 6th, I filed and signed my formal complaint and waited for an investigator to be assigned to me.

Finally, one was assigned.

I rejected him because I have no confidence in his ability to act impartially on my behalf.

And, bum-drop, fast-forward, I asked about the director, Derek Wheeler-Smith, and was told repeatedly he's on leave.

And then I found out that he's on leave for just a bombshell reason, for he's being investigated for union tampering, sexual harassment, just a laundry list.

And also his assistant director, Fatima.

And the office SOCR seems to be in chaos.

So my point is, I'm concerned that my case will not be investigated, will just go away, or SOCR will go away.

So I'm wondering what the council is doing about it?

Or are you aware that Mr. Wheeler Smith is on leave for reasons that Publicola printed out?

I haven't seen anything in the Seattle Times about all of these charges against him.

So I'd like to know what's going on.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Carolyn.

Next, we have Chris, welcome, followed by Nathan, and then CJ, Garcia, then Bennett.

Hello, council.

It's wonderful to see everybody.

My name is Chris Hendrickson.

I am a D7 resident.

But today I am here on behalf of my friends at Brighton Communities.

I'm doing a little bit of volunteering for them this week and next week.

And so I would like to invite the council to attend the community celebration at Brighton Communities.

This event takes place May 7th, which is next Thursday from 4 to 6. I hope that you can all come.

The mayor will be there speaking along with Councilmember Lynn.

Thank you so much.

And I've been busy hanging these flyers up everywhere, so I'm just going to read a tiny little segment so that you know more about what this event is all about.

At the center of this celebration is a $3.5 million investment from Amazon supporting the renovation of the 124-unit Brighton Apartments, one of the last deeply affordable senior housing communities in Seattle.

This place is precious.

This investment represents more than capital.

It reflects a growing model where private enterprise and community-led organizations work together to preserve affordability while building long-term pathways to ownership and generational wealth.

So they are awesome.

I love them so much.

And I hope to see you all there.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Chris.

Next, we have Nathan Wall followed by CJ and then Bennett, Derek, Betty, Gabriel, Maria, Gwendolyn.

Okay, so first I want to talk about the Vision Zero audit.

I believe it's well-intentioned, but I don't necessarily think this is necessary.

I think we kind of already know what we need to do to realize Vision Zero in this city, and that is make it harder to drive too fast in speed illegally.

And I think like what we see on Rainier, what we see on Delridge, what we see on MLK and Aurora, we need These decisions aren't really politically popular decisions, but we need to make them, because safety is more important than convenience.

So I guess with the budget deficit that we're in right now, I just don't really think it's necessary, because in my opinion, we already largely do know what we need to do.

So I don't think this is a bad intentioned idea.

I actually think it's well-intentioned.

I think you do want to see people stop dying on our streets, but I just think there's a better way to do it.

I also want to say I'm happy to hear that one of the companies pulled out of building an AI data center in our city.

I think we need to do what we can to resist using AI as much as possible, and we need to hold corporations like Sabie accountable for trying to build these data centers as well as trying to build an ICE detention center in Tukwila.

I want to reiterate my call for the city of Seattle to hold Mayor Joe Sabie of Hunts Point accountable because he is, I don't know exactly what his position is with the company, but it is his family's company.

I don't think we should do business with the city of Hunts Point until they stop doing this.

And I think a lot of the residents would probably support us in that.

Finally, I want to say I think the city of Seattle needs to join King County in calling for county assessor John Wilson to resign his conduct of stalking his ex-fiancee and then mocking her on Facebook with posts about soaking in the hot tub after not...

He doesn't have to wear an ankle monitor because he has lymphedema.

He shouldn't be mocking her on Facebook about it.

And while that's not criminal, he shouldn't be an elected official, so...

Thank you, Nathan.

Next, we have CJ Garcia, followed by Bennett, Derek, Betty, Gabriel, Maria, Gwendolyn.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is CJ Garcia.

I'm the co-director of organizing a work in Washington.

I wanted to take the time today to thank you, to thank the city, city council, and the office of labor standards for their work in analyzing the data from five big delivery apps and publishing a report about the effectiveness of get worker protections.

in the city.

For a long time, workers have been saying that get worker protections like pay up minimum payment ordinance are working.

And two years ago, workers had to fight back against app companies and their bad faith attempts to tear up those protections before the data was even in.

Now that we have the apps on data backing up what workers have been saying, it is important to continue to highlight the raising labor standards and improving worker protections helps everyone.

The data shows that delivery drivers pay and the number of delivery orders both went up and continue to go up even after the payment ordinance went into effect.

Just as importantly, pay is now even more reliable because of base pay and it makes up a large percentage instead of customer tips that can fluctuate from one order to another.

We're grateful that the council built a study in to make sure that we have good data and the council listen to workers and stay committed to making thoughtful data-driven decisions, despite the fierce pressure from corporations and corporate lobbyists.

This is the kind of leadership that we need to continue to see from council, and we're lucky to have that in Seattle.

Thank you so much.

Awesome.

Thank you, CJ.

Next, we have Bennett, followed by Derek, Betty, Gabriel, Maria, Gwendolyn.

All right, good afternoon, council.

I would like to advocate for a different emphasis in measuring success in fighting homelessness, which is to measure the reduction in the number of new homelessness rather than focus on the existing total number.

And the reason for this is the total number of homeless is a difficult number to make a dent in.

And I've been watching local politics enough to see the pendulum swing where progressives in power and they can't fix this, they vote in the conservatives and they can't fix it, and the progressives back in.

But the number of new homeless year over year, that's something I think that you can have more of an impact on.

If you look at the numbers, so in this model, preventing new homelessness is relatively easy, especially if it's for a rent-related eviction.

In theory, all you have to do is chip in the difference between what the person's able to pay and what the rent is.

On the other hand, getting somebody out of an existing homelessness situation is much harder.

You have a gap in their housing history, a gap in their employment history.

You may have a mental health or drug abuse issues that have been aggravated by the period of homelessness.

But the thing is, to the public, the existing homelessness is the much more visible problem.

They see encampments, they come to you guys and be like, what are you guys gonna do about the encampments?

The people who are in the pipeline where they're about to become homeless are much less visible.

And so there's less political pressure to focus on that group, even though if this model is correct, that's where your dollars would actually make the most difference.

So what I'm saying, if that's a political problem where people are about to become homeless or less visible, essentially I'm saying to cheat and to make that a more visible issue by publicizing a number year over year showing the reduction in new homelessness.

Because even if the total number doesn't move much, in the bottom graph if you show the new homelessness number drops a lot, that becomes more visible if you focus on it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bennett.

Next we have

Derek, followed by Betty, then Gabriel, Maria, and then Gwendolyn.

Derek, Derek, Derek, Derek, followed by Betty.

So, once again, thank you for letting me speak, but I want to talk about...

Let's restart your time.

Derek, could you speak in the mic so we can catch it?

I want to talk about being labeled as a domestic terrorist, being on the domestic terrorist watch list and what all that entails.

If you can remember Renee Good and Alex Pretty, there was a reason why they labeled them that because, uh, once you're on the domestic terrorist watch list, it disrupts your whole life.

Uh, like the lady first lady that spoke about the civil rights division here.

Uh, I've complained there.

And quite frankly, if you're on the domestic terrorist watch list, it's a joke.

They don't take anything you say seriously.

Um I have, uh I'm not able to work anymore and believe you mean when I say my experience is vast.

I've opened the staff hotels all around the United States.

I can't get a job at the front desk now.

Um they and when you complain, uh The police actually depicts you as someone who is mentally unstable, as paranoid.

And you can look online.

Don't take my word for it.

I've done research.

And finally, after making about six complaints to the police, I finally went and got the...

the reports that they wrote, and it is all true.

I will bring it here next Tuesday.

My car was vandalized.

About a week after opening a P.O.

box here, my P.O.

box at the United States Postal was vandalized.

And for the six months that I leased it, they refused to repair it.

Once that six month lease was up, it was repaired right away.

And so I just implore you to take it seriously.

It is the corruption runs deep and it's not just Seattle.

I love Seattle even though I'm from Texas.

Thank you.

Thank you, Derek.

Next we have Betty.

Welcome followed by Gabriel.

Then we have Maria Gwendolyn and we'll go on to sheet number two.

Welcome, Betty.

Good afternoon.

This is my first time, so I didn't know how it works.

I have two minutes.

I'm here to address public housing and homelessness.

I think, in my opinion, homelessness, it has a lot to do with the way they manage things, and the Seattle Housing Authority is a big problem in public housing.

The way they do things is poor management.

I have a problem with noise for one year.

And nobody has done nothing.

You can do nothing, nothing, nothing.

So it's something that the legislators and the law attorneys, they need to work on that.

My other issue is I really ask you that to go paperless.

It is not possible that all the residents, they receive a letter every single day.

You open the door, it's a single letter.

And I believe it's because they don't have enough work.

They have so many managers, manager after manager after manager.

They really need to save money on managers.

And I believe they need new managers that know what they're doing.

So, yes, that's what I needed to say.

Thank you.

Thank you, Betty.

Next, we have Gabriel, followed by Maria, then Gwendolyn, then we have M.

Smith, Summer Miller, Jason, and then Miss Yvette Dynish.

Hey folks, my name is Gabriel Diaz and I'm here to speak today about Cal Anderson protests and the use of force review.

I know Council has a discussion coming up about this pretty soon actually and I wanted to share an opinion I have so you all can kind of mull it over and give some thought before the review.

Now I've been upfront about the fact that I was actually one of the panelists for the use of force review.

One of the biggest things I saw that people recommended is SPD doing cultural competency reviews and trainings.

Personally, I'm not as big a fan of that and I'm going to share why.

My first thought is, personally, I don't think that a lot of the stuff we're seeing, a culture of view is going to change.

You don't stop punching protesters while their arms are restrained because you understand why the park's called Cal Anderson.

Learning about Stonewall isn't going to stop officers from intentionally escalating protesters and crossing lines.

Secondly, it's just because we don't have officers taking them.

16% of veteran officers and 14% of new officers have taken a training that they're required to by law within the timeline you're supposed to.

This training does cultural competency and officers just aren't doing it.

With multiple papers and multiple journalists reporting, some officers aren't doing it because they just don't do woke.

Telling officers about my struggles as a queer person are important, but that's not going to stop another Kyle Anderson.

We need stronger accountability for officers.

We talk about how we haven't dropped our standards, we've kept our standards high, but what about the standards for the officers who are on the force?

For example, Officer Caleb Howard, the officer who repeatedly assaulted me, was charged with punching another officer and then choking his son during a barbecue because he blacked out while they were practicing martial arts together.

70% of the discipline that Chiefs Barnes has handed down are at the lowest level of OPA recommended or below.

This doesn't say to me officers will be held accountable and more, we will cover our rear ends when stuff goes wrong but not address the actual change.

Now we had a chance to get some accountability measures with SPD during the last contract with multiple council members stating that this contract was not enough accountability and yet we gave them to anyway.

The best time to fix this problem was back then, the second best time is now.

We need to work closely to hold accountable for the things they do instead of letting them run wild.

I will first reiterate the demands of the victims of police brutality to open a office of public, an office of victims of police violence so they may- Thank you.

Thank you, Gabriel.

Next we have Maria, followed by Gwendolyn, then Em, Summer, Jason, and Miss Yvette.

Hello Maria.

Hi.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Maria.

I am a junior at Summit Atlas in West Seattle.

I'm here today to speak my truth and represent minority youth in our community.

I'm speaking to you to invest more in immigrant and refugee's office.

Sorry, I'm a little nervous.

And to create real opportunities that support and uplift young people, such as myself.

Too often, politicians and government leaders claim that they are working to, quote, protect our youth.

But the reality tells a different story.

Our youth are not being protected when education funding is cut, when school shootings continue to happen, and when immigrant children are being placed in detention centers.

I recognize that the council recently passed a legislation to protect local communities, Bill 121180. And I appreciate that step, but I urge you to go further.

Take the time to read the letters written by children currently in ICE detentions or in ICE custody.

The words are heartbreaking and reveal the real conditions they are facing.

If we truly want to protect our youth, we must listen to them, invest in them, and act with urgency and compassion.

Protection should not just be a statement.

It should reflect in meaningful legislations and in the city budget.

Thank you so much for your time.

Awesome.

Thank you, Maria.

Next, we have Gwendolyn, followed by Em, Summer, Jason, Yvette, and then we'll jump to online.

I'm Gwendolyn.

I'm here to comment on the public hearing today for a permanent ban on ICE detention centers.

And we need to have this ban passed.

Just one second, Gwendolyn.

We can do, so we're public comment where you can comment about anything, and then you can do another with your public hearing as well.

So did you sign up for both?

I only saw a sign up for one.

Okay.

Is Gwendolyn allowed to address the council about that and then also do a public hearing?

We can hear comments on items relating to the items on the agenda and IRC items within the committee purview and also the council work program without any comments on the public hearing.

The public hearing will happen as soon as we close the public comment period.

So can Gwendolyn talk about ICE detention centers in general and then do public comment regarding this current legislation?

Did you see what I just did there?

You can talk about them in general for your first public comments and then sign up for the public hearing and then you can talk about the current law directly.

That's what I'm being told by the...

I see, I see.

You see what I'm saying?

I understand.

Okay, so we'll restart your timer.

It's right after.

So right after we do public comment, then we'll do the public hearing on the detention.

So you can comment about ICE detention centers in general, and then specific the law that we're doing today on that one too as well.

So you can do both.

I'll just skip a bit then.

Yeah, so in general, we need ICE out of Seattle.

But ICE is not the only threat to people in Seattle right now.

It's a huge threat.

But we also have big developers moving in to set up these new AI data centers.

These data centers are estimated to cost as much electricity as is currently being used by one third of the city today.

That's unacceptable for this gross technology that doesn't actually benefit working people.

We need the power of the working class to fight against these things, against ICE, against the thing I'm not allowed to name right now, against these detention facilities.

And so for that reason, everyone here should come out on May Day, this Friday in the March, show the power of the working class against these big business billionaires.

We need to come back here on Tuesday, May 5th.

We have multiple socialist and activist organizations sending people out to show that people are angry.

People have had enough of this BS going on with ICE, everything.

And you need to present these demands and show that behind this.

We're all sick of it.

We can't all be out here at 2 PM on a Tuesday.

But we've had enough.

And if the business class will give in to our demands, we'll fight to see this through.

Awesome.

Thank you, Gwendolyn.

And I believe your sign, please sign up for the public hearing, which is the public hearing is right after the public comment period, which you can comment about the detention center legislation that is before us.

Next, we have M.

Smith, followed by Summer Miller, Jason, then Yvette.

Welcome, M.

Yeah, I think it's very good that we're having this public hearing on the permanent ban on ICE detention centers.

And I think it should be understood also that this is only happening because of the pressure of the movement, because of the tens of thousands of people who went out onto the streets in Minneapolis, around the country to fight back against these attacks by ICE.

On their own, the Democratic Party would never pass anything that actually benefits working class people.

It's only under the pressure of the movement that we've won any of the gains in Seattle that we've won over the last 10, 15 years.

And I'll talk more about the ICE detention centers in the public hearing, but it's been almost four months.

I mean, it is shameful that this is All that we've done is pass a one-year ban and now discussing this permanent ban on ICE detention centers.

We've been out here for three months, many organizations calling for stronger action.

There's basic things that the council could pass, municipal IDs for undocumented immigrants.

which many cities around the country have passed.

New York, Boston, San Francisco, Poughkeepsie has a municipal ID program.

Why does Seattle not have this?

It provides basic protection for undocumented immigrants.

On April 8th, a union member was deported from SeaTac, Kenny Orwa, a member of UAW 4121. The Democrats aren't doing anything about this.

And frankly, the union leadership isn't either.

I think it's really disappointing that we just had a room full of union leaders who came in for a photo op but didn't make a single demand on this council, didn't say a word about union members who are being deported.

And this is exactly why we have Trump in the first place.

I've made this point before.

It's because of the lack of action by the Democratic Party that the right wing is taking power around the country.

And we're talking about ending traffic deaths with Vision Zero, but the Democrats on the King County Council and in Sound Transit are talking about canceling the Ballard light rail extension.

How do you think we end traffic deaths It's by expanding mass transit, making it free, and getting people to use it.

And the way is clear.

Tax the rich.

Amazon's profits have gone up from $21 billion in 2020 when we passed the Amazon tax to $77 billion last year.

There is not a crisis of profits in the city.

Thank you, Em.

Thank you, Em.

Thank you, Em.

Next, we have Summer Miller, followed by Jason and Yvette, and then we'll move into our public hearing.

I obviously agree with everything Em just said.

And I also think for a public hearing, maybe people should know about it.

It kind of seems like the city council should let people know publicly that there's a fucking public hearing happening.

Otherwise, they can't come in and be part of it, can they?

But it's been almost four months, as Em said, since Renee Goode was killed.

And every single member of this council should be able to commit right now to doing what you're going to talk about in the next point, which is pass a permanent ban.

That is the less than bare minimum of what you can do.

The Democrats should be taking much stronger action.

People are being terrorized not just by ICE, but also by cops around the country, whether it's federal or state police.

This has massive economic costs for those people.

Castile Hightower and others have been fighting for an affected persons program in Seattle for six years to provide resources for victims of police brutality and their families, and the Democrats have done nothing.

They've let her come in here for six years.

and ask for basic fucking funds for victims of police brutality, and they've done nothing.

Victims of police violence, they have to pay for medical expenses, travel, legal support, lost wages, housing, child care.

Every cost is forced on to families when the state brutalizes, deports, or kills someone.

And that money should come from taking money from the SPD, which, by the way, the budget for the SPD has gone up $123 million in the last five years.

We don't need more policing.

We don't need surveillance cameras.

We need you to fund things that working people need by taxing the rich.

We could pass a King County tax, Amazon tax, to pass free mass transit to pay for free health care for at least 100,000 people in Seattle.

And then we have this fucking dog and pony show right before we come in every fucking week now.

You guys do fucking nothing.

The Democrats have continued to shovel money into SBB.

There's always money for cops and surveillance.

But when working people need support, suddenly the Democrats plead poverty.

We should have no illusions why this is.

The Democratic Party is a capitalist party.

Thank you, Summer.

Next, we have Jason followed by Yvette.

Is Jason here?

Thank you.

Welcome, Jason.

Jason is next.

Thank you, Summer.

Followed by Miss Yvette.

Yeah, my name is Jason Thiel.

I'm a renter in District 5. It's been almost a year and a half since Trump took office, and ICE is terrorizing our communities.

Millions of people have been kicked off of their already inadequate health insurance, and war and genocide continue under the helm of US imperialism.

Seattle is a city with a supposedly socialist mayor and this council that's run by Democrats, which are supposedly the party that's fighting Trump.

What have they actually done?

I mean, it took, like others have said, it took this long for a permanent ban on detention centers to be put on the agenda.

And also, exactly what Summer said, a public hearing is supposed to be public.

It took an immense amount of effort to even figure out this was happening today.

And any Democrat on the city council that votes against that, bare bare bare minimum, below bare minimum, is an enemy of working people and should be thrown out of office.

That permanent ban is far from enough.

Empty proclamations about May Day and trans visibility are not enough.

How can you proclaim to stand for immigrant workers and continue to balloon the police budget and do nothing to fight back against ICE?

The city council could shut down the surveillance cameras that they voted to expand last year and that Katie Wilson refuses to shut down.

They could pass an eviction moratorium until ICE is out of Seattle.

They could build a municipal ID system that Em was talking about, but instead, considering proposals to build data centers in Seattle that would use a third of the city's power and jack up our power bills.

One of the companies trying to build those data centers is the SABY Corporation, which is building data centers in Indianapolis and leasing office space to ICE in Tukwila.

They also donated tens of thousands to Bruce Harrell's election campaign last year, and yet Katie Wilson is also doing nothing to fight back against these data centers.

This is the Democratic Party at work.

They work for the billionaires and big business, not working people.

If we want to win anything, we need to break from the Democrats and build a new party.

And we need to break the unions away from the Democrats.

Every year, the rotten union leadership donates to pro-ICE Democrats like Adam Smith, who voted to create ICE.

The union leadership should be organizing mass strike action against ICE and cuts to light rail and public services in Seattle.

Instead, they're pretending like they have any connection to the Seattle general strike of 1919.

Thank you, Jason.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jason.

Next, we have Miss Yvette.

Thank you, Jason.

Come on, Miss Yvette.

We didn't have any ponies today, only dogs.

Pardon me?

All right, Ms. Yvette.

Good morning, good afternoon.

Thank you, most of all, for the Seattle King County Clinic.

I was a volunteer there at Old Dark 30. It was a heartwarming experience.

I think they served like 3,000 people over that weekend, people lining up the day before to get their ticket.

And surprisingly, as I was leaving my shift, our former council member, Sally Backshall, was one of the volunteers there.

Of course, I had to give her a shout out.

Regarding the hot mess at 12th and Jackson, come to find out, because I talked to some family members in Portland, the new mayor took a hard-ass approach to encampments.

No coddling, no excuses.

You're not going to live on the street.

And it was very successful, quite frankly, and I noticed the difference.

There were spots here and there, people camping on sidewalks and whatnot, but pretty much, by and large, it was not like the foolishness going on around here.

And also I did some research and found out that that lot right there across the street, it's been vacant since 2020, and the city owns that property.

Can we figure out a way how to build affordable housing on that line?

Because, you know, we have a housing shortage, and I think one of the biggest reasons for housing not being, building as affordable as it can be, because the land is expensive.

So let's figure out how we can make that, turn that into living spaces for our neighbors.

And I think...

Oh, one more thing.

I think that's what it was.

What did I write down?

Oh, in my community, Rainier Beach, we want and appreciate the security cameras.

So keep them up.

We thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Yvette.

Now we're going to jump to online.

We have Mr. Howard Gill.

Please press star six to unmute yourself.

Good afternoon, Howard Gale.

This morning at the Public Safety Committee meeting, we heard how the public's fears around the passing of the 2023 Public Drug Use and Possession Ordinance came true.

Disparate arrests of African Americans, a lack of funding for the promised diversion, and the significant failures of the SBD prioritizing arrest and jailing over diversion for the most minor of offenses.

This is a pattern we see repeated with our police across situations.

We pass laws giving officers discretion.

Discretion with drug arrests.

Discretion with the use of force at demonstrations.

Discretion with allowing the alternative response care team to take calls.

Discretion at de-escalation when facing folks in mental health crisis.

Discretion in how to deal with federal agents violating constitutional protections.

And far too often, the police abuse that discretion.

We blindly trust our officers in an environment where toxic police culture will often dominate and then provide no real accountability.

This council prioritizes punishment over protection, then ignores accountability for unjust criminalization.

Yet, you will reflexively demand accountability for anything that tries to reduce systemic disparities and harms.

The next three weeks will see three anniversaries of completely unnecessary killings by Seattle police of African Americans in severe crisis.

Sean Lee Furr killed six years ago tomorrow with no weapon while holding his infant son.

Terry Kaver killed just six days before George Floyd.

And Ryan Smith killed seven years ago, just seconds after four police officers broke down his apartment door.

All of these cases have inquest hearings over the next few months with juries likely to find that what Seattle has deemed lawful and proper is in fact unjust and criminal.

Trusting police enmeshed in a toxic culture with no accountability will always be a recipe for failure, even when it comes to accomplishing flawed goals of punishment.

We need community control of police.

Thank you.

The name starts with a G.

I can't pronounce that name.

My apologies.

Star six, unmute yourself.

Guinevere.

Hi.

Thank you.

My name is Guinevere Dinsmore.

I'm a D5 resident.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

I'm calling to demand the city use all of its authority to deny ICE and DHS the use of any land or building in Seattle for detention centers.

Do not, under any circumstances, allow ICE or DHS to set up or operate a detention center in the city, or you will be complicit in the crimes of this federal administration.

Thank you.

Thank you, Guinevere.

Next, we have CJ followed by David Haynes.

And then we'll move into our public hearing.

CJ, David Haynes.

CJ, star six, unmute yourself.

I don't see CJ online.

Oh, CJ was here.

Okay, so next can we have David Haynes, star six, now unmute yourself.

David Haynes.

Hi, David Haynes.

It's obvious that the council leadership has no urgency in solving the public safety crisis and the homeless crisis, especially before the FIPA Cup begins.

And proof of that is take a look at the agenda for the day at the council.

There's nothing on it except undermine the efforts of the federal government and appoint a bunch of people.

That's all we're doing today, other than more bogus proclamations to button-push your political supporters, taking up the majority of the people's time, while the whole time society continues to implode.

As we witnessed this morning where Lisa Dugard has infiltrated the police department and dictated what the cops' behavior is, and misleading about running interference for evil criminal repeat offenders who are not required to break their addiction while making Sharon Lee and all of these service providers who are unqualified rich.

and just go outside, man.

It's impossible to enjoy yourself because there's all these screwed up people.

And you all act like, hey, we don't want to judge.

We don't want to punish.

We just want to use them for a more profitable wraparound service because it kicks back a whole bunch of money and election support to your all's power-mongering positions that don't have the best interest of the whole of community.

Y'all just keep button pushing with your race-baiting, white-man-hating BS.

and it has hampered the efforts to improve our community.

And yet you all still lie to us about how much virtue signaling and efforts you're making when in fact you're literally running interference for black drug pushers.

You're literally running interference for repeat offenders.

And then you sit there and lie to us about how much you care, about how inclusive we are.

It's like, oh, we need to include the drug pushers and the pimps and the crimps of progress that digress into the mess, making women and children undress while you all virtue signal about how much you care.

But yet, it's always about the drug pushers, the black and brown drug pushers, those evil pieces of shit that you keep fucking running in in France for.

Fuck you all!

All right, thank you, Mr. Haynes.

So are there any further public comments?

No, so we've reached the end of the list of registered speakers.

Thank you all for coming in person today and also for your comments online.

And when you see us every single day, we're now gonna transition into the public hearing.

So the council will move on to the public hearing, Ordinance 127401. On March the 10th, 2028, the city council passed Ordinance 127401, establishing a temporary moratorium on permit applications for the establishment, expansion, or conversion of existing structures to detention centers.

Today, the council will hold a public hearing on this ordinance.

Councilmember Rink, as sponsor of this ordinance, you are recognized to address this item before we open the public hearing.

Councilmember Rink.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you to the folks who turned out for the public hearing today.

I will also own that more work could have been done to notify.

I personally own that.

We will make sure we send out action alerts moving forward like we did with the original moratorium, so I just want to take a moment opening up to own that.

To provide a bit of history here to the listening public, because when we saw the solicitation notice posted on SAM.gov, This body, we moved as quickly as possible to introduce and pass emergency legislation for a 365-day moratorium on new and expanded detention centers.

And thank you, colleagues, for your support on that legislation.

When we passed that emergency legislation, it served as a declaration of a public emergency and established a work plan to consider permanent regulations for 2027. This public hearing today is a step towards creating those permanent regulations, and there will be more opportunities to weigh in as we move forward.

But I want to just ground us in the fact that the ACLU reported today that the 17th person has died in custody in ICE detention.

That is deaths inside of detention centers occurring at a rate of one in every six days.

We heard today in public comment about kids in detention.

We know the horrific conditions within detention centers.

And by enabling or supporting the stand-up of more detention centers just is helping this federal regime ramp up their inhumane enforcement actions and inflict unspeakable harms against our communities.

The demands of the public have been very clear on this topic.

They want to get ICE out of Seattle.

But I also want to be very clear that preventing more detention centers from standing up in our city is the bare minimum.

With that said, thank you.

I also want to voice my support and gratitude for other jurisdictions that have taken up similar action.

And I know a number of other cities are considering similar moratoriums at this time.

We're going to continue to work across the region to see how we can support and work alongside with other jurisdictions.

But just wanted to open up with those remarks.

Thank you all again for coming out.

Thank you, Council President.

Awesome, thank you, Councilmember Rank.

So as presiding officer, I'm now opening the public hearing on Ordinance 127401. I know that we have five speakers in person, and I believe we have two, one or two?

We have three.

Three signed up online.

All right, everyone will have two minutes.

First up, we have Jason, followed by Gwendolyn, Summer, Em, and then Derek?

Yeah, I said a lot of what I wanted to say in the previous in public comment but

Just to just to say like I agree with like I mean I and other people have said it this is the bare bare minimum and frankly I you know I think that it's like the fact that it has taken this long to to do this like when other jurisdictions have figured out how to make this how you know other cities have passed this already like you know, we need to be, uh, we need to be demanding more from, from, you know, working people need to be demanding more from other cities.

And I guess most of what I want to use my comment for is, uh, Alexis, Mercedes rank clearly publicly supports, uh, a permanent ban on detention centers.

What about the rest of this council?

Will you support this legislation?

Will you support a permanent ban on detention centers as Rink pointed out, I mean, people are dying in these detention centers.

There's a lot more deaths and ice terror in the city and around the country.

And this is the bare minimum we can do to fight back against Trump and the right wing.

And I mean, we listed many, many others that the city should be doing.

Anybody else want to answer that question?

It's for public comments for you.

Yeah.

Well, I'm see.

Does any I mean, do you support the ban on the permanent ban on detention centers in the city?

Public comments just for you.

Okay.

So that's a no.

Or Yeah, that's a no.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next.

We have Gwendolyn followed by summer and then M and Derek.

Welcome, Gwendolyn.

Welcome back.

Hopefully this is more complete now.

Yes, as has been said, this is the bare minimum.

It actually doesn't cost us much of anything because there are currently no ICE detention facilities in Seattle.

They're all spread across King County.

But even still, not the ball is in motion.

We have to put on maximum pressure to push measures like this through to start a real fight against ICE.

And if the Democratic Party were serious about fighting ICE, it wouldn't have taken four months just to get to a hearing.

Democratic Party wouldn't be discussing feasibility of one ban, one city.

We'd be seeing a massive legal fight on the King County level already to push this ban through.

We'd be seeing countywide statewide bans against ICE proposed in every legislature Democrats control.

We'd be seeing marches every weekend, street demonstrations, strikes and walkouts of whole workplaces, including ones with immigrant workers especially.

But the Democrats aren't leading these things, because instead, this demand has been grinding forward against the machinery of the party.

And that's because the Democrats are a party not of working people, but of the billionaires and their interests.

Democrats in Congress, as awful as they are, are part of the same political machine as Democrats on city councils.

They're not here to fight the system.

They're here to run the system.

And that includes ICE.

And that's why Biden escalated deportations after Trump's first term.

We need a new part of the working class to fight for our interests.

And this ban is only being heard now because of the repeated pressure of the movement coming out of the city hall to fight for this.

And so we want to see this passed and strike a blow against ICE.

Everyone here should come out again next week when we have more organizations coming.

Proposals like this have a tendency to die in the darkness once public pressure is off.

Now it's being put forward.

That's the time to escalate the pressure, not take it off.

And I agree with Jason.

Every city council member should today make very clear yes or no, whether they want to see this pass, regardless of any sort of ifs, ands, legalese, or buts.

Thank you, Gwendolyn.

Next, we have Summer, followed by Em, and then Derek.

And we'll move on line, David Howard.

Gwendolyn Barrett.

So Joy Hollingsworth is using bureaucratic excuses to not answer Jason's question about passing a permanent ban on detention centers.

This is a straightforward issue.

There's already been a one-year pass, right?

What good is one year if it's not permanent?

Because you're just going to start doing it.

So it's fine if that needs to happen in a year, Joy?

So I wanted to ask, are there any members of the city council who can publicly commit right now?

There's no reason all of you shouldn't do this.

You shouldn't be able to do this right now.

It is easy.

Can you publicly commit right now to passing a permanent ban on detention centers in Seattle?

Any of you.

to voting yes on that.

Public comments for you all.

I'll continue to repeat that.

I don't care.

Can anyone say that they can pass that?

They can vote yes on that?

All you gotta do is raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

Alexis, can you?

Yes.

Yes?

Thank you.

Thank you, Summer.

Next, we have Em, followed by Derek.

Welcome.

And we'll go online.

Yeah, I want to reiterate what's been said, which is that there's just no reason not to pass this.

And yes, there's a process, but there's no excuse for not publicly pledging right now today to support a permanent ban on detention centers.

And thank you, Councilmember Rink, for doing that.

These bureaucratic excuses of, oh, public comments for you, Some people don't like when we come up here and we talk about the role that the Democratic Party has played in the long history of attacks on immigrants, and it goes across the board for black people, indigenous people, for working class people.

We are in the crisis that we're in right now because of the Democratic Party.

Barack Obama still has the record for deportations in this country.

Massive attacks on immigrants.

We have a congressman in Seattle, Adam Smith, who voted to create ICE, who voted repeatedly to fund ICE.

And the Democrats on this council aren't even willing to say publicly that you support a permanent ban on ICE detention centers in Seattle.

If we are going to fight this as working class people, if we're going to solve any of these problems, we have to reckon, and this is why we come up here and we talk about the role of the Democratic Party.

We have to reckon with the betrayals and the attacks by the Democratic Party over a series of decades that have brought us to this position.

And we need to fight back against that.

We need to fight back against the ties to the Democratic Party in the union movement, in the socialist movement.

We have to break this cycle of every two years or every four years voting for Democrats who betray us, who don't do anything, who fund a genocide, who fund ICE, who increase the SPD budget by $123 million and then won't even say that they support a permanent ban on detention centers and the right wing gets swept back into power.

This is the cycle that we're in.

We have to break it and working class people have to get organized to do that.

So yeah, I encourage everyone just not to have any illusions that this council will do anything unless they're forced.

And Councilmember Rink, I hope you break from the Democratic Party and choose to

M followed by, oh, that was M, I'm sorry.

Derek, you're next.

No, no, you're next, you're next.

And I do know some people signed up online.

We're gonna go to online and then back to in-person for us to finish.

Derek.

I did email you, just so you know.

But the most important part that I left off about being put on the domestic terrorist watch list is that you do not have to be a threat.

You do not have to have radical views.

As a matter of fact, the most radical view that I have is that the Lord offers salvation to gay and trans people as well.

It's the most radical, just as they are.

That's the most radical view I've ever had.

And I didn't even post that online.

So one thing I wanted to reiterate is that you don't have to be a threat to society to be put on the domestic terrorist watch list.

We know that from...

what we saw in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Renee Good and Alex Pretty.

You do not have to be a threat to be put on.

It could happen to any one of us.

I can't reiterate that enough.

I worked in corporate America most of my life.

And my Facebook page was for keeping in touch with colleagues that I met and wanted to stay in touch with.

But the corruption runs deep here.

And what I've heard about SPD, unfortunately, is true.

I found that out the hard way, where they're being condescending and dismissive.

But that is the most important part that I wanted to reiterate.

Thank you.

Thank you, Derek.

We'll switch to online for the public hearing.

Next, we have David Haynes, Howard Gale, followed by Guinevere, and then we will switch back in person where we have four people signed up.

There's a distinct difference between an innocent migrant and some criminal underworld cartel character.

And yet, Seattle Democrats don't want to decipher the difference.

They want to live vicariously through whatever they see in the news that's been embellished and propagandized with the lies and the reasons why it's unsafe.

It's kind of the same thing as acting like an innocent homeless person should be discriminated against because there's a drug culture that needs to be prioritized for housing.

But yet it could be said that this bill is being offered by the offspring of criminal underworld gangsters.

misconstruing what constitutes proper policy and it's become a threat to innocent people in this city and around this country because Seattle is proactive in undermining the efforts to vet innocent people so that they're protected yet you all are protecting evil criminals evil, wicked Latinos that are conducting uncivil war on the waterfront in a rival with drug pushers from the black community, like the black and brown rivals.

And you all just act like they are people too, and we need to be all inclusive and run in advance for them.

But this is more open border sanctuary, more treasonous, unconstitutional reasons that Seattle will go down in history as the most bottom-dwelling, low-life piece of shit town in America because of your progressive misinterpretations of policy and your scorned experience that wants to weaponize the dais and undermine the integrity of proper policy.

It's like public safety is a threat, and you all are the threat.

You are not doing the right thing.

You all are literally like running interference for wicked, evil, godforsaken people.

You don't want to decipher the difference.

It's like, oh, we don't want to judge, but we're going to judge the white man and hit on Trump and do whatever we can to undermine the efforts to solve the crisis of public safety.

This is innocent migration.

Thank you, Mr. Haynes.

Next, we have Howard Gale, followed by Guinevere.

Howard Gale, followed by Guinevere.

Star six, unmute yourself.

Good afternoon.

Howard Gale from the 36th District Dems.

I fully support today's legislation on banning new detention centers, and thank you for putting this forward.

However, this is far from sufficient in preventing the harms we do face from federal law enforcement.

We cannot simply say, quote, we were good people who didn't help detain people.

We have a moral responsibility to prevent abuse from federal agents as proposed over seven months ago by the 36th District Democrats.

Other cities have put in place some version of our proposed measures with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recently stating that, quote, Calling 911 is an appropriate response to warrantless entry of private homes and businesses, and that the Boston Police Department shall employ de-escalation tactics in response." And that Boston will deny access to city buildings and property for purposes other than intended. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara has warned his rank-and-file officers that if they witness federal agents use excessive force on civilians and fail to intervene, they could be fired. This council must adopt affirmative policies requiring Seattle police to protect everyone's Fourth Amendment rights or else admit that police are designed to only protect property and not people. And finally, let me just say, David Haynes' hateful, racist comments are an absolute reason for banning him. This is unacceptable behavior. They are overtly racist and hateful comments. So please ban him. Thank you.

Next, we have Guinevere, and then we'll go back in person, which is Gabriel Jones, Miss Yvette, Nathan, and Bennett.

Hi, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

I'm calling in to support the permanent ban on detention centers in Seattle.

I only wish, as a former caller said, that this city was involved in undermining the aims and operations of this rogue and criminal federal administration.

Destruction of injustice is the moral duty of all humans, especially elected officials.

There is rampant abuse across ICE detention facilities, including sexual abuse, rape, malnutrition, torture, even of children, and death.

due to neglect or active abuse coming from ICE agents, which have now reached an all-time high.

If you do not pass this permanent ban again, you will be complicit in the crimes of this federal administration, and we, the people, will remember.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now we're going to go in person, Mr. Gabriel Jones.

Gabriel Jones, sorry, Miss Yvette Nathan Bennett.

Gabriel, welcome.

Uh, no, uh, Gabriel's next.

Yvette Nathan Bennett.

Hey, folks, Gabriel Diaz again.

Wasn't planning on speaking about this, but I've wrote in bigger speeches in less time.

Uh, very obviously, we're seeing detention centers get worse.

I look at, uh, Mohammed Zahid Chaudhry, a Seattle-area veteran who joined to serve his country and was disabled while in basic training.

While attending one of his immigration hearings, he was detained for months.

during which we knew he was not getting the medical treatment that he needed as a disabled person.

And yet, ICE and the federal government continuously argued that he was.

There was no issue there until they had to admit in court that he was very clearly not getting the care he needed.

He was not seeing the doctors he needed to remain well and was released because the federal government was very, very aware that he was not getting the care he needed.

I appreciate council member grounding us in what happened today, and I would also like to ground us in another moment that Washington State officials have since sued GeoGroup again, who was in charge of Northwest Detention Center, because even after they've been told by judge after judge after judge that they have to allow people in to check the conditions of the facility, they've not been allowed.

People in Northwest have been talking about water tasting disgusting, and it's so widely known that nobody who works there ever will drink from the water there.

They always bring their own water bottles.

There are 3,500 allegations against GeoGroup for their facilities who are around sexual assault, contaminated food, racism, sexism, and more.

This is what we risk setting our citizens up for.

This is what we are risking by having a facility like this, people who are going to put profit over the people that we are trying to help.

These facilities, we do not need any more facilities like this, especially in Seattle.

We do not need new facilities.

And I also agree that we need to permanently ban them.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gabriel.

Next, we have Miss Yvette, followed by Nathan and Bennett.

Miss Yvette, welcome.

Hello again.

Regarding the talk about banning the detention center, how about considering instead turning them into transition centers for the homeless, thereby creating a stable environment so they can get the help they need in order to turn their lives around?

Thank you, Ms. Yvette.

Next, we have Nathan followed by Bennett.

Welcome.

All right.

I support this ban on ICE attention centers in Seattle.

And I'm glad that the council is expanding emergency legislation.

I understand that emergency legislation by its nature has to be temporary.

So this is what I expected to see from you.

And I'm happy to see that you're considering this today.

We need to stop ICE from coming into our community.

We know that immigrants make up integral parts of every single district in Seattle.

And we can't just let federal mask thugs come in here and kidnap people, whether they're citizens or not.

Because you have constitutional rights in this country, whether you're a citizen or not.

That's what the Constitution says.

And that's one way that we're not like other countries.

And I think that is, as much as I don't really like this country, I think that is a good thing that we have here.

I'm not going to publicly address David Haynes ever again, but I do think that we've asked Alex Zimmerman to not come back for 30 days before.

I know we can't permanently ban people from a government building, but I think that David Haynes needs to be held accountable for his comments.

Not only are they racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, I understand we kind of go off the agenda sometimes, and I appreciate that Council President Hollingsworth allows us to, but I think there's some level of relevancy that we can enforce with him.

He talks about grapefruits at the Tukwila Farmers Market.

He talks about crime in Baltimore.

He talks about Bruce Harrell, who hasn't been mayor for about four months now, and he talks about Kroger not honoring his coupons.

And there's nothing you guys can do about any of that stuff.

So I just feel like there are some things we could maybe get him on to get him to like stop coming here and berating us about...

I mean, tearing down Pioneer Square is nonsense.

I mean, it's just ridiculous.

So that's what I have to say about that.

Thank you, Nathan.

Next, we have Bennett.

Welcome, Bennett.

Good afternoon, Council.

I do also support the moratorium on new ICE facilities.

One of the reasons, apart from the administration's appalling immigration policy, is just the total culture of lawlessness surrounding ICE.

Now, I've played this video here before.

This was something recorded down in Portland in one of the protests outside the ICE facility there.

And if you watch the I would have brought my laptop if I'd known it was going to be showing this, but you can still kind of see what's going on.

See, there's the woman just talking to the police officer.

She's just standing there.

She's not doing anything.

She's just talking to them, because I knew if I didn't show the 10 seconds leading up to it, everybody would say, oh, she must have done something.

She must have done something.

Three, two, one, boom.

Absolutely, she did absolutely nothing.

And as far as anybody knows, the guy who did that to her has never been disciplined.

I mean, forget being fired.

There's utterly no reason, it doesn't even matter what you think of the immigration issue.

That guy should be in jail.

Forget being fired, he should be in prison.

You can be charged and arrested for things that you do on duty.

I mean, the officer who killed George Floyd, he was technically on duty when he committed the murder.

You can be arrested and charged for things you do on the job, but nothing that has ever happened to that guy as far as we know.

This is lawlessness in addition to the appalling racism and xenophobia behind the administration's policy.

And it's just one more reason that we should distance ourselves from ICE in every way possible, including the moratorium on new facilities.

And can I add, I fully support Kroger.

We're freezing to honor David Haynes' grapefruit coupons.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bennett.

Are there any more people signed up?

No.

So there's no more members of the public signed up for public hearing on Ordinance 127401. Public hearing is now closed.

Thank you all for commenting on this important legislation.

We're now going to transition into our meeting.

If there's no objection, the introduction referral calendar will be adopted.

Hearing none, no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is adopted.

We're gonna now consider the agenda.

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

Hearing no, none, the agenda is adopted.

We're now gonna consider the proposed consent calendar.

On the calendar are minutes of April 21st, 2026, Council Bill 121, 200, payment of the bills, 11 appointments for the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee, and we have six appointments for the Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee.

Are there any council members that would like to remove anything from today's consent calendar?

Hearing none, I move to adopt the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

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

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Council Member Rink.

Yes.

Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Saka.

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Consent calendar is adopted.

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

Another note, Councilmembers, if there's no objection, Councilmember Rivera will be excused from the rest of today's meeting.

Hearing none, Councilmember Rivera is excused.

Will the clerk please read item number one into the record?

Agenda item one, council bill 121-188 relating to city employment, adjusting the pay zones for titles in the city's information technology professional compensation program and ratifying confirming search and prayer acts.

Thank you, Council President.

Colleagues, this legislation would adjust the pay zone better known to the public as salary ranges for nonrepresented employees in the information technology professional or ITP compensation program.

approval of this legislation would follow the city's historical practice of providing the same benefits and other conditions of employment for both represented and nonrepresented employees with the same job title.

Per central staff analysis, the proposed adjustments are consistent with percentage increases for represented members within the ITP unit as reflected in the city's MOU with IBW Local 77. This was previously approved by Council in November 2025 under Ordinance 127334. For additional background, the ITP compensation program is a discretionary pay program that includes nearly 600 employees across eight city departments.

This means that the appointing authority sets employee pay within a broad salary range rather than in fixed steps.

While the pay zone for nonrepresented employees in the ITP compensation program was increased in the 2026 pay ordinance by 3.6%, the MOU with IBEW 77 increased the pay zone for represented employees was higher at 4.15%.

This legislation would provide parity.

I urge a yes vote.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rink.

Are there any comments about the bill before us?

Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Councilmember Kettle?

Aye.

Councilmember Lin?

Yes.

Councilmember Rink?

Yes.

Councilmember Saka?

Aye.

Councilmember Foster?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Bill passes.

The chair will sign it.

Please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf.

Thank you, Council Member Rink, for all your hard work on that and bringing that.

Next, we have our Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee.

Will the clerk please read item number two into the record?

Agenda item two, appointment 3471, appointment Amy Nguyen as Director of Office of Arts and Culture.

The committee recommends the appointment be confirmed.

Awesome.

Councilmember Foster, as the chair of this committee, you are recognized to present, to provide the committee report.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I'm so excited to be bringing forward the appointment of currently Interim Director Amy Nguyen to the Office of Arts and Culture.

I will remind us, as I have in a couple of different moments in committee, If you did not attend the first hearing on Interim Director Nguyen's confirmation, it was just an absolutely beautiful moment in council.

It was filled with community supporters from the arts community testifying about Interim Director Nguyen's background in arts and culture, in planning and bringing a multidisciplinary approach, bringing skills, creativity, and commitment.

and they also brought a stick figure with her photo on it, which was really, again, fantastic.

The Office of Arts and Culture, as we all know, is really important as it manages the city's public arts program, provides grants to support artists and arts organizations, operates and really helps to make Seattle a place where everyone has the opportunity to engage in smart, meaningful, and diverse cultural experiences.

Amy brings over a decade of public sector leadership with experience across arts and planning, community development.

She was previously the deputy director of the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development, interim deputy director and public art director at the Office of Arts and Culture, and most recently, she led a community development organization advancing affordable artist workspace, housing, and cultural infrastructure including large-scale mixed-use products.

We are lucky to have her leading our Office of Arts and Culture, and colleagues, I urge your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Colleagues, are there any comments regarding the appointment of Director Nguyen?

Councilmember Rank?

Thank you, Council President, Director Nguyen.

It has been amazing hearing from you in committee and being able to see, again, the incredible community of folks who believe in your leadership show up in these council chambers to just voice their support and bring their art as well.

Your knowledge, experience and expertise are exactly what our city and our cultural sector need right now.

I am so grateful that you'll be serving the city in this way.

So thank you for your leadership and your vision and your drive for the city of Seattle.

Let's make amazing things happen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rink.

Are there any other further comments?

I don't see any.

I just want to take this moment.

Thank you.

I know you're the acting director right now, and then after this vote and the signature and you being sworn in, then you will be the director.

There's so many, interim, acting, so many things, but just want to thank you for your commitment to Seattle, to the arts community.

We had a great conversation and talked about how art is interwoven into our entire being of people and community and just really appreciate it.

I know you're gonna do a great job at the arts department.

Looking forward to working with you and I know we all are.

So colleagues, without further ado, will we please call the roll on appointment number 3471 for Director Amy Nguyen.

Council Member Kettle.

Aye.

Council Member Lin.

Yes.

Council Member Rink?

Yes.

Council Member Saka?

Aye.

Council Member Foster?

Yes.

Council President Hollingsworth?

Yes.

Six in favor, none opposed.

Awesome.

Motion carries.

Appointment is confirmed.

Congratulations, Director Nguyen.

I will keep it very brief because I know you all have had a very long afternoon as well.

Council President Joy Hollingsworth, Council Members, thank you so much for your consideration and for the opportunity to serve as the Director of the Office of Arts and Culture.

I'm deeply grateful to your trust.

I also want to thank Chair Foster and members of the Housing Arts Civil Rights Committee for the thoughtful conversation during my confirmation hearings.

As someone who grew up in this city, this opportunity is especially meaningful to me.

I'm honored to step into this role at a time when Seattle's arts and cultural community continues to shape how we connect, reflect, and build a shared future.

I believe strongly that arts and culture are essential to the life of our city and that our work must ensure access, equity, and opportunity for artists and communities in every neighborhood.

I look forward to partnering closely with the council, with mayor's office, and with communities across Seattle to ensure we are stewarding public resources responsibly and delivering meaningful and accountable outcomes.

Thank you again.

I'm honored to serve you.

Awesome.

Thank you, director.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Colleagues, there were no items moved from the consent calendar.

There's not a resolution or introduction for adoption today.

Are there any other further comments for the good of the order?

I do have something I do wanna say.

So this is a little bit of a public service announcement that City Hall is the people's house.

And in People's House, we have rules that we follow.

We respect others, we treat others with respect and kindness.

Every day, our security guards, they come to this building making sure that everyone is protected, keeping people safe, and that's important to our city and our community.

However, every day I see the verbal abuse and disrespect of our security team from the public.

I see the emotional toll it takes on people that are simply just doing their job, keeping the peace.

Last week, remarks were made that were racially charged and disrespectful to one of our security guards.

Number one, full stop.

That is unacceptable in this house, especially in these council chambers.

Number two, the comments calling someone a boy, a little boy, a grown man, disrespectful.

Let's do a history lesson.

During slavery and after slavery, Jim Crow, now in the progressive Seattle.

To dehumanize black people, particularly black men, you emasculated them.

People would refer to black men as boys.

This is not a casual and affectionate term.

This is deliberate.

It was a way to deny adulthood, the manhood in which signaled a racial hierarchy.

This was to reinforce control and submission.

Even as an adult, black men, people tried to use it to put them in their place.

Now, racism, especially in Seattle, often comes from our progressive friends.

We have seen performative allyship.

You speak on black lives and you meet black voice and all of a sudden the mask comes off in the real you.

What we as a city and community need to stop doing is give people excuses in our city that say they're progressive.

You can be progressive and racist.

I've said this before last year and I'm gonna say it again this year.

Ask any person of color in this city and they have seen it head on and face on.

This is your friendly reminder that whether in your chambers, in the hallway, the stairs, first floor, in the entryway, anywhere in this building, racisms of any form will not be tolerated in this city hall.

It will be called out.

I will call it out every single time.

Our security are the most people.

Most of them are people of color.

They're the most kind, passionate.

A lot of them are immigrants.

They are human, too.

They take the bus here, they are families, they are friends, they are moms, they are dads, they are uncles.

So, this is our friendly reminder that we are to treat everybody with respect.

And any time I hear about someone being disrespected at City Hall, other than council members, because I'm the person that gets paid to get disrespected or yelled at or screamed at or whatever.

You can do whatever we want, but not to our security guards, not to the staff, not to the people who clean this building.

Full stop.

So I wanted to say that on camera for the record, for the Seattle Channel, and I want to thank you all for coming to the meeting.

Is there any more further comments for the good of the order?

Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I really appreciate that, and I appreciate you, and I appreciate holding the line and drawing the line there.

And I just want to say, on the record, I fully endorse and support your statements and your comment.

And more than that, I appreciate them and the grace that you bring to this conversation, and especially that you're holding the line for the folks who work here.

So I just want to say that, fully support that, and thank you so much.

Thank you, Council Member Foster.

Are there any other comments for the good of the order before we end the meeting?

Okay, awesome.

Seeing none, thank you all for coming to this meeting.

Really appreciate it.

We'll always continue to respect everyone.

All right, our next meeting, that's the end of our meeting.

Our next meeting will be May 5th at 2 p.m.

Hearing no further business.

Council's adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.