[Music] good afternoon everyone today is March 24th 2025 and the council briefing meeting will come to order the time is 2:3 p.m. M will the clerk please call the role council member Hollingsworth here council member Kettle here council member Moore president council member rink present council member Rivera council member Saka here council member solman here Council M Strauss here and council president Nelson presid he present thank you very much if there's no objection the minutes of the March 17th 2025 meeting will be adopted hearing no objection the minutes are adopted all right uh moving on to my president's report I I want to recognize the passing of Representative Frank chop yesterday uh from becoming the executive director in 1983 of the Fremont Public Association which later became Solid Ground to founding the Housing Trust Fund to his leadership of the Washington State House of Representatives few have bent the Arc of Washington's history toward justce ice as profoundly as Frank chop a political Powerhouse his Legacy isn't best measured in Bill's past but in families housed dignity restored and voices Amplified and I know that um many of my colleagues have expressed um condolences to uh to his loved ones and um and the impact that this is having on them and the state uh and for all of that I ask that we honor him in a brief moment of Silence thank you everyone I appreciate that on our agenda today we have one presentation a letter of a letter for signatures and an executive session on tomorrow city council meeting agenda there are three items on the introduction and referral calendar the weekly bill payment uh and the weekly payment of bills and the claims ordinance appointment 03080 appointment of Janet uh thalos Theos as a member of the families education preschool and promised Levy oversight committee for a term to December 31st 2026 Council bill 12960 in ordinance relating to the lower duwamish Waterway authorizing City Light and Seattle Public Utilities to continue expending funds to participate in environmental in investigation and Remediation of the lower D duwamish Waterway super fund site and uh the consent calendar includes the weekly bill payment ordinance and three items appointment 03 03080 appointment of Joyce shikaki as member of the Washington State Convention Center public facilities District board for a term to July 30th 2028 appointment 03102 appointment of Tristan Fields as member of the urban forestry commission for a term to March 31st 2027 and appointment 03103 appointment of Andrea starbo as member of the urban forestry commission for a term to March 31st 2027 and then there are three pieces of legislation from committees on the on the uh agenda as well so going straight to full Council for a vote but addressed by um Finance chair Strauss is Council Bill 12955 an ordinance relating to Federal funding authorizing Department directors to accept certain grants and pass through funding in 2025 and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts from the finance native communities and tribal governments committee appointment um an appointment of Kirsten Grove is director to the Department of Finance and administrative services for a term to March 1st 2029 and from the governance accountability and economic development committee Council Bill 120 950 in ordinance Rel reling to reaffirming the city of Seattle as a welcoming City supporting access to reproductive health care services and gender affirming treatment in Seattle extending the responsibility of city employees to protect the provision of reproductive health care services and gender affirming treatment and adding a new a new chapter 14 uh 115 to the Seattle Municipal Code uh let's see and there are I believe that there are some amendments to I think there are three amendments to that uh that piece of legislation all right that's that's what's happening tomorrow in full Council and now moving on to presentations we've got our weekly State legislative session update with our office of intergovernmental relations Olympia team so welcome and uh please director introduce yourself and your team members and then you may begin and I would like hold on I would like to recognize council member Rivera has joined us good afternoon thank you council president Nelson and council members I'm Mina hashemi director of The Office of intergovernmental relations and I'm joined virtually by our state relations team Anna Johnson and Samir Jano thank you for having us today is day 71 of the legislative session and there are just 34 days left thank you council president for your remarks just now about uh former speaker Frank chop I also wanted to begin my remarks today by recognizing and honoring the sudden passing speaker chop was an absolute force and a tireless Champion for the state and the city where he represented the 43rd legislative district until January of this year and as the council president noted you all have stories and experiences working with speaker chop I had the pleasure of working for him for nine years and those years were transformational not just for me but also for the state of Washington and so I'd like to briefly share some comments from his family statement Frank's intellectual curiosity was as boundless as his energy he woke up each day with a passion to solve problems and improve people's lives different people knew different sides of Frank and often identified him with a specific issue based on their experiences de championed a wide range of issues that matter to washingtonians including affordable child care housing mental health and Healthcare he changed the trajectory for home care workers employees needing paid family leave and students seeking job training and higher education he cared about preserving our Farms public lands historic places and wonderful Park systems he often extended himself outside his primary areas of focus to assist people when they ask him to stand with with them to write a wrong thank you with that I'll turn back to the legislative session last week regular leg legislative activity primarily revolved around policy committee hearings where lawmakers reviewed and debated bills that had recently Advanced from the opposite chamber these hearings are part of the leadup to the April 2nd deadline for bills to be passed out of policy committees this week majority Democrats are set to hear their proposed operating and transportation budgets and these hearings set the stage for negotiations and revision before final approval and Samir will get into more details about that shortly with that I'll turn it over to the State team thank you thank you good afternoon Council um in today's presentation we'll go through an update of the Seattle priorities as well as summarize the activities from last week so starting with the Seattle priorities update we um condensed the list here for you to include bills that are still alive and moving so for Public Safety bills we have Senate bill 5098 regarding weapons in certain locations this bill is scheduled for an executive session this week House Bill 1112 regarding um protem judges and living outside of the city of Seattle is already in uh Senate rules I apology for the typo there Senate rules House Bill 2015 regarding Public Safety is scheduled for the a hearing in the Senate Law And Justice committee tomorrow Senate Bill 5595 regarding shared streets is awaiting executive action in the house Transportation committee and House Bill 1423 regarding vehicle noise cameras is awaiting Hearing in the Senate Transportation committee moving on House Bill 155 updating outdoor dining in SE Center alcohol regulations has a hearing tomorrow in the Senate uh Hospital 1733 increasing the reimbursement cap for relocation expenses um had a hearing today in the Senate and House po 1403 condo liability reform had a hearing last week and is scheduled uh to be voted out of committee this week uh and house po 1516 also condo development Bill had a hearing last week and is awaiting executive session lastly House Bill 1774 which allows leasing of unused wash dot land uh is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Transportation committee Senate Bill 5284 recycling reform legislation is awaiting executive session in the house um environment committee House Bill 1253 which expands the ability for Consumer owned utilities to enter joint use agreements um is actually in Senate rules now House Bill 1409 improving the clean fuels program is scheduled for executive session later this week and now we have um three bills related to property tax um lids and lifts and flexibility um so House Bill 1334 you've seen on this list before but two new bills um are Senate Bill 5798 and House Bill 2049 those were just introduced this week um alongside the budget proposals for the House and Senate and then a few Child Care bills Senate Bill 5509 related to child care sighting is scheduled for an executive session or actually had executive session last week House Bill 1314 related to the Early Learning facilities Grant and Loan program is in Senate rules committee House Bill 1648 um making improvements to child care uh Workforce qualifications is a waiting executive session and then two k through 12 education funding bills are a waiting executive session in the House Appropriations um committee moving to uh a recap of the last week as mentioned the we're going to start seeing the budget proposals um some budget proposals were released today and we're going to get into what those budgets actually funded um probably next week once we've have some time to actually look at them and analyze them in a little more detail um but I will go over some of the revenue proposals that will that will that were revealed publicly uh last week so the house uh and Senate have very different Revenue proposals these are basically their tax pills that they will um essentially they now negotiate over uh for inclusion in their budget their their respective budgets rely on these on these tax revenue proposals so the house proposed uh Financial intangibles tax which is a version of a wealth tax there theirs is a 8% tax on financial intangibles these are stocks like these are assets like stocks bonds mutual funds index funds their version uh will exempt the first $50 million um and they also proposed a property tax lift which we've heard about before from the 1% uh cap lifting that to 3% based on inflation and population growth but crucially this would be up to 3% um also proposed a bno sear charge 1% B sear charge on businesses with a taxable income of over $250 million also increased the financial institutions being sir charge from 1.2% to 1.9% um and that financial institution search charge applies to institutions with uh income of more than $1 billion so the Senate proposals were also a financial and tangible tax there was a little different and that was 1% uh and also what appli to um all all all assets held by individuals with more than $50 million of these assets a payroll expense tax is a 5% tax on the amount of payroll above the Social Security threshold which is currently at 176,000 and is limited to companies with $7 million or more in payroll expenses um I think and then also would this would also include a credit uh for Seattle employers who are paying the city the city payroll expense tax uh they also propos a property tax lift um but uh different than the house one in that there is no 3% cap it just raises the property tax gross limit from 1% to the combined rate of population growth plus inflation uh there they also repeal tax preferences 20 different tax exemptions uh for things like instate hauling gold buing on prescription drug wholesalers and then also the Senate proposes a sales tax cut uh decreasing the state sales tax from 6.5% to 6% and so these are will now be essentially uh the bills have been introduced um they don't we don't expect hearings on these bills uh but they these will be now negotiated between the House and Senate as they um negotiate their budget proposals and I think these are essentially this is the menu of options basically uh that is out there now um moving on to some climate and environment bills that were heard last week um these bills we've gone over in Council briefings but just as a reminder house bill 14 1997 deals with organic waste material management um the city signed in Pro on that one and then House Bill 1329 deals with the wholesale power purchases under the clean energy transformation act making small improvements to help Seattle City Light and the city testified in supporting on that bill housing homelesses updates um the Senate uh did have a hearing on House Bill 1217 the rent stabilization Bill uh scheduled to be voted out of the senate committee this week um Senate Bill 5156 is a bill that the house is now considering that passed out the Senate this would create standards to for that would for cities to allow small uh elevators in smaller apartment buildings and then Senate Bill 5 5571 also passed the Senate is and had a hearing in the house and also was EXA uh out of the house committee and this would regulate exterior cladding materials so prohibit cities from uh prohibiting certain cladding materials that are approved by the State Building Code Council on labor and commerce uh this is a new bill that was introduced house B 2020 in Senate bill 5777 this would create a b tax on payment card processors uh but also would include a b tax deduction on the payment card processing fees so it would be a deduction for fees but also a tax on the processors uh incend Bill 5041 um is an unemployment insurance uh for striking workers also moving in the house now for Public Safety and criminal justice bills the house heard Senate Bill 5323 which extends um theft in the first degree to also include uh stolen property or committing the theft of property that are used by firefighters or emergency response um providers and then house also heard Senate Bill 5202 which makes improvements to to judicial orders um just small technical fixes to protection orders and also make sure that ghost guns are um under the um unlawful possession of a firearm for in the first degree when the person is in custody control um or sorry when the person is under certain qualifying court orders and then house bill um 1811 relates to crisis co-response the city testified Pro on this bill this bill defines co-response and state statute and also extends some worker protections that other First Responders have to co-respondents and then Senate Bill 511 this bill is creating a worker leave for victims of hate crimes and the city's um crime victim Services testified Pro on this bill for social programs and education um Senate Bill 5214 which creates mobile market programs so essentially these are for places that don't have farmers markets they are allowed to have what's called a mobile market um creating better access to food um in the local community uh the city signed in Pro on that one and then House Bill 1351 was heard in the Senate this is making clarifications to the early childhood education and assistance program to make sure that um three to 5year olds um with birthdays uh uh one year before they're three years old can still qualify for ecap uh subsidies and we signed in Pro Transportation bills that are moving uh in the house now Senate Bill 5705 modify some penalty amounts for certain traffic infractions uh essentially doubles some traffic infraction uh penalties for safety related infractions things like uh seat belt requirements um uh child restraint requirements and some speeding requirements and also using uh electronic devices and school zones also Senate Bill 5716 which expands the locations where a person can be guilty of unlawful Transit conduct to also include Washington state fairies so as we said this week uh we'll see uh the House and Senate budgets getting released um both Chambers will also then pass those budgets off the floor once the budgets are passed is one um then Chambers uh and plus governor's office will start negotiating um two hearings tomorrow on House Bill 2015 for Public Safety funding and also Hospital 1515 for alcohol modernization uh and then opposite chamber policy cut off will be next Wednesday and happy to answer any questions looking to my colleagues thank you very much for that uh for that information I have a question on page seven uh about the um Revenue can you are how much do each of the revenue proposals seek to generate I have the full all the numbers for each one of those I have they the Senate really some information for some of their proposals but I I'll have to check back to see if um and I can send then send around what I find about kind of how much each one would generate thank you council member R I actually had a similar question to the council president you know we have a 15 billion budget shortfall over the next four years so certainly curious about how much each of these options would bring in if it get if they get us closer to covering that deficit so just want to double tap that certainly would like to know thank you Council mettle thank you um my question is more General first director hashemi thank you uh for being here along with M um Johnson and Mr Jano um really appreciate uh the update one of the things I just was noting and I just wanted to highlight you know the idea I was thinking about the idea of second and third order effects and I was listening to Seattle's news views and Bruise um where they were looking at Council Bill 120 933 and they were talking about the intergovermental relations between the city and the port but as I was listening to that I was really thinking about the relationship with the state um particularly because of the Outreach to not only blue District Washington but also red District Washington on on on that topic and I think it's important for the city and you know the reporters and everybody else to reflect on that relationship between the city and the state and how it plays out because you know just last week we had the care expansion announcement uh into South and Southwest precincts uh but at the same time as we learned here you know the crisis response team the care bill if you will um didn't go anywhere you know and I think there's I think there's links and I think that's something that you know when I listen read articles or listen to a podcast that they should you know really look into and and basically understand that point and so uh therefore I just wanted to highlight uh director hashami um that point recognizing the challenges and just wanted to say thank you for coming I am looking to see if there are other colleagues council member Saka thank you madam council president thank you director asimi Anna Samir for your uh usual as usual uh expert guidance and Sage uh Council here and and these great updates uh just curious to better understand the current disposition on one of the transportation items more specifically Senate Bill 5716 uh and I read the directly on the state's website the the Senate the Senate report there uh of that particular bill that as far as I can tell reports to just uh just add the Washington state fairies as an explicit sort of area uh where you know certain conduct unlawful Transit conduct would be prohibited wasn't previously there now now it's there looks like it passed 49 to0 um in at the Senate level on March the 10th so would love to better understand next steps on that bill seems like a fairly less well less controversial 49 to Z uh we love to understand better uh next steps on that specific Bill and and uh what we can expect so the bill had a hearing in the house Transportation committee last week um and it's not yet scheduled to be voted out of that committee but um there is still some time there so I think that's that's the next thing we'll be looking for is um a vote out of uh out of house Transportation thank you all right I'll ask the question um I didn't know that the vote was 490 but um is there there might be nuances so I don't quite understand but why didn't we have a position on it uh we just didn't um uh we haven't we we can have a position if if if the city like but it's not a question that had ever come up thank you council member Rivera thank you council president I just really want to thank director hasemi and the oir uh Team for their continued weekly teams call keeping up a keeping us our offices apprised of all the federal actions and its impacts to the city and the work that they're tracking at the federal level so want to keep thanking you for that because it's very very helpful to our offices and there's a lot cuz you're doing the state and you're doing the federal work so super appreciate you and the team thank you council member appreciate it okay looking once again all right all right well this is going to be a week of um negotiation let's say so thank you very much for filling Us in on what's going on and we will see you next week I recognize also that um sometimes if uh if something's going down and anybody here who cannot be present at the table on Monday because we're getting into cren time I please do take the opportunity to just say I'm too busy so all right thank you very much everyone next we have uh council member rink has a letter for Signature today to the Seattle delegation of state legislators in support of house Bill 1296 and Senate Bill 5181 supporting lgbtq students in K12 schools council member rink please lead the discussion on the letter for additional feedback before I request signatures to be fixed to it thank you council president colleagues as we know right now the lgbtq community is facing direct assaults on a variety of levels this is this letter before you is in support of House Bill 1296 and Senate Bill 5181 and these bills are currently being considered by the legislature to support lgbtq students in our Public Schools they ensure students safety privacy and legal rights within existing law and allow them to access accurate information and support by trusted adults while allowing parents to stay involved with their education as representatives of Washington's largest city we must ensure that our youth understand that we have their backs and with that I'll turn it back to you council president thank you are there any questions or comments from colleagues seeing none will the clerk please call the role uh go ahead go ahead council member Rivera apologies I don't think I've seen this letter so when was this sent out believe it has been apologies if it hasn't we can follow up on that point apologies I heard my chief of staff had been in conversation ation with me about it so I don't know if it's because I um have I don't know if our office received it or if he was simply um in conversation with your staff so are you saying that um it has not been circulated I was under the impression I can follow up with our team right now to ensure that it's been circulated my apologies sure thank you I'm not sure if I'm the only one who didn't get it or if other colleagues have seen it and I'm just the the only one that hasn't but I I don't I'm not aware of a letter and I want to make sure that I have it before we take a vote I understand so one thing that we can do is uh we can go on to our um our preview of city council actions Council and Regional committees if if that would be okay to give your staff time certainly thank you okay all right folks this is our um our council member update uh part of the agenda so today's um roll call starts with council member Hollingsworth is it me sorry my bad um get hey hello Council good afternoon uh Parks utilities technology committee will be this Wednesday March 26 at 2 pm we're going to have a briefing discussion about the lower duwamish Waterway uh also on Friday March 28th at 9:30 we will be doing uh the select comprehensive the select use land use committee uh for compreh r a plan that will be on Friday March 28th at 9:30 thank you all for coming in advance we will be doing just just a reminder this is written public comment because there will be legislation passed from our executive um house B 1110 and uh which is important for the interim and so we're going to have a discussion about that we're also going to have a discussion about affordability it's a jam-packed uh agenda so just want everyone to be prepared for that I know we'll have a ton of questions um opcd will be here our executive office to talk about the legislation so it will be great um other than that only external committee meeting um that I have is with the police pension board meeting um which will be this week and last but not least in the community the only thing that um the only thing I'll I'll mention um had opportunity this weekend to attend with council member Moore and also council member Kettle to attend the dedication to the new will Stacy Fields um which is up north and council member I look to the left council member Moore's District I'll look on the screen council member Moore's District um uh Sergeant Stacy was part of our US Marine Corps um he was 22 years old when he was killed in action on uh January uh 31st in 2012 and um I uh just was really moved by his story just a lot of people are had the chance to meet his father and his his uh beautiful mom and his entire family and the one thing that really suck out to me is um when we always talk about our our freedom and I know that we serve on this council with three people that served in our Armed Forces with uh council member Saka uh council member Solomon and and council member Kettle is you know today I woke up I had my juice I was able to get to cityall call all these things that we have with freedom that there are people that sacrifice their life their time their commitment to our country um for these freedoms um and Will was only 22 years old when he died and he talked about how uh if his life um if he could sacrifice his life in exchange for the freedom of another child and they would grow up to be a phenomenal uh adult that it was all worth it and I think that was the mindset of someone who was 22 and he wrote that letter to his family uh in case he was killed so anyways it was um it was obviously uh sad but also a joyous moment because there were over 600 kids for the rug Little League there to see and witness that and some of them know will story some of them don't but they'll be able to look it up because it's the will Stacy Fields now um and it was just a beautiful moment so anyways I just wanted to share that with you all because I think sometimes we take for granted what we have so uh freely here in the United States and know that there's other people around that are sacrificing for us to be protected here so and with that I will give it to council member Kettle one moment please council member Kettle council member rink go ahead apologies did you want to complete doing reports before we went back to the letter that is probably a good idea in case there's anybody that for some reason needs to leave and does want to have a chance to sign it call col apologies for that um that brief um uh out of order item go ahead please um can you please just for the audience just restate the uh what the letter does certainly um well thank you colleagues again this letter before you today is in support of House Bill 1296 and Senate Bill 5181 this is an important opportunity for us to really stand by and make sure that we're standing by our lgbtq students as represent representatives of wason's largest city we must ensure that our youth understand that we have their backs now this letter was sent out last Wednesday on the 19th um 3:06 p.m. my office engaged with council member Rivera's office Council Moore's office Council president Nelson's office and council member Solomon's office and we did receive feedback and made sure that the letter reflected that feedback thank you thank you opening the floor up to questions or comments was that a nod that you had when yes sure sorry I did not provide feedback on this letter um I am reading it now I think it it went to our staffs and so I am reading it I'm looking at there's two Council bills I have not reviewed these particular Council bills um council member rank can you tell us what the two bills do in particular certainly these are two bills before us um well the two bills they're they're companions specifically um related to being being able to stand by and support students this is an act relating to promoting a safe and supportive public education system through student rights parental and guardian rights employee protections um and it amend several parts of the RCW um there is a this in summary provides that it is State policy that a school district charter school and state tribal education compact school policies and procedures prioritize the protections of student safety access to a free public education privacy and directs the office of the superintendent and Public Instruction to enforce and obtain compliance within this policy it also directs OPI to adopt rules to ensure compliance with requirements related to gender inclusive schools by December 31st 2025 and require school districts to adopt or amend if necessary policies and procures that uh they meet certain requirements um by the end of 2026 it also makes changes to reporting and notification requirements related to alleged physical abuse sexual abuse sexual misconduct and assault of students requires a statement of student rights to be incorporated into educational and promotional materials including Civics education there's also um modification removal and add certain rights for parents and legal guardians of children enrolled in public school and prohibits adverse employee action for employees supporting students exercise of Rights and Performing work in a manner consistent with certain state laws so that's a little bit about um from the bill report again these are are companion bills and there has been a fair amount of advocacy around these from a number of Our Community Partners thank you council member Rink one thing I noticed from the letter is I just want to make it clear because it says as elected officials we made a promise to students and families that our schools would be safe and riching Etc and I just want to draw a distinction only because we I hear this a lot from our constituents that we do not oversee the city of Seattle does not oversee Seattle public schools that is a state function and don't want to leave the impression that somehow we are requiring or that we're in a position to be able to tell Seattle Public Schools what to do whether or not we would want to and so I want to make sure that that's clear because the way the letter is written um I think it's a little bit um it could leave the impression that somehow we have more authority over Seattle Public Schools than we actually do thank you for that distinction it is important to get that on the record um and uh council member rink has the has uh oir weighed in do they yeah Weighing on either of these no position or whatever my understanding at this time is that there's no position um it's not a part of the official Council agenda I know this wasn't necessarily an area that area that was considered within our existing oir agenda um however this is something that there is a number of um a lot of student advocacy about and again we understand that all of us serve seat alite kids included so while I understand the points made about jurisdictional matters um would would uplift that you know these are our kiddos in our communities families in our communities got it I there's no reason for me to believe that um that there would be a good reason for oir to uh to be in opposition I just wanted to make sure because I you know I certainly wouldn't want to um I would want to know before signing anyway any other questions or comments go ahead um thank you council president uh while I support the spirit of the letter and I definitely support um being able to support kids in schools um and uh I I just don't feel like I have enough information council member ranku and I didn't have a conversation about this particular letter and I don't know enough about the bills and what the expectation is um in order to be able to sign sign on to the letter and I don't feel like I'm uh comfortable being able to sign on to something that I don't have more Awareness on these two particular bills and also like I said um so that I am clear on is there was I know a parents Bill of Rights circulating out there I don't know if this is related to that I just don't have enough information but I do want to make it very clear that I support um our students and the schools I support um lgbtqia plus rights and trans rights um in general and um you know I support our kids and the student uh our kids in the schools broadly I don't want it to be that because I don't have enough information that I will uh uh I will abstain from this vote want the record to reflect that I do support um students and all of the the rights that um we were talking about here council member Kettle yes hello um thank you I had seen the uh the first draft I had a couple question marks on it um supported the general um piece I had a couple question marks on it but um it never came back to me through my staff I'm not sure but never came back to me as a final letter um so I'm a little bit of a disadvantage I apologize on that but um that's where that's where I am I didn't realize this was on the agenda and um I had not seen the final one yet I just had a question to be honest with you I can't remember it was more of a tech it was a question related to kind of similar to what com member ver was noting you know um and I can't remember uh exactly the point but it was more of a didn't want to fall into a gotcha kind of situation where you know they can nitpick on it that that was my overall I had a general positive I just had not seen the final that's all I just wanted to say thank you council member rink you no hold on council member more oh uh council member ring had her hand up first no that's all go ahead council member Mo okay thanks oh maybe this is what council M rink is going to be saying um but I if I may make a suggestion or I don't know if needs to be a motion that we hold off on this until either tomorrow or next week uh if that's possible so that everybody can be fully informed would you like to respond to that council member rink certainly happy to and thank you colleagues for your feedback we're certainly working on our Pro on our processes to make sure that we are listening that feedback and what ask I I think our expectation is when we're we're engaging with staff we hope that your staff are also engaging with you on this matter so we're making those changes in reflection as appropriate we're happy to make some changes to this letter in light of this feedback and so can hold off as I understand it there isn't an upcoming cut off that would prevent our ability to weigh in at a timely moment thank you for being open to that change of plan I appreciate it so um just officially we're going to uh let the record reflect that we are not um asking for signatures at this moment uh but we will await um a future draft or an opportunity thank you very much all right now we can continue with our blue sky as it used to be called way back [Laughter] when uh next on the list is council member Kettle are you ready uh yes I am thank you um I just want to start off tomorrow we have our um next public safety committee meeting uh two main items on the agenda are after establishing after hours establishments uh uh Bill uh which will be coming up tomorrow uh for it first reading and then also a resolution on the consent decree and um I will defer to my vice chair on going into that a little bit more but it relates to the process as we're moving along on our consent decree um now for me generally uh this week I met with the CPC today um and over the course of the week uh different uh Wednesday of a Lake Union Dry Dock tour which will be very interesting and uh on Thursday and Friday um I will not be able to attend as I'll be out of town for a funeral but the the psrc on Thursday the pugan Regional Council exec meeting and then on Friday the select committee on the comp plan and the lrpc um for next week uh going to be going into the first hill part of D7 it's very small but very important uh three-way Park uh tour uh Tuesday South Lake Union Community Council staff will attend that and um RW QC on Wednesday I think um C remember hollingworth may have mentioned that and on Thursday uh we'll be a meeting with the Pike Place PDA and and their stakeholder meeting which is going to be very broad um regarding uh Pike Place moving forward on Pike Place and then and on Friday the Pacific Science Center um where there's a lot of important pieces going on right now with the Pacific Science Center and its relationship uh with Seattle Center so it's really interesting I just wanted to note too last week um I attended a special course a number of hours on cyber security for elected officials and Senior uh government leaders um very well worth it uh cyber security is a a growing uh you know challenge for municipalities across the country uh some of which were getting highlighted as case studies in this training session and I think it's really important for us us as a city uh to be represented the good news is that on that front there were some senior leaders uh there uh I was the only elected but it was really interesting to see on the public safety team from the mayor's office kind of leading a discussion with various departments um where it s do um uh Public Utilities uh you know the whole uh kind of mix and it was really good to see this Dynamic working uh you know this conversation um because cyber security at the city level for government is really important so I just wanted to highlight that and if there's future training I encourage everyone uh to take it up um it's well worthwhile and I just wanted to close um by thanking uh council member Hollingsworth for for putting together a a letter related to um Sergeant will Stacy um has noted you know he lost his life in Afghanistan in January 2012 and uh has as noted by his company commander who spoke uh at the event um um you know his experience was well beyond his 22 years his his his uh standing uh well beyond his wisdom in terms of what he was looking to do and how he thought about his service in Afghanistan and Iraq by the way he had multiple tours um was was incredible particularly for somebody so young and um you know that that example is going to be a great example example for the young people who who are up there at Maple Leaf playing baseball and other sports to see to see his name and to as Governor Ferguson noted on Saturday that you know they'll sit there maybe uh break out their phone and look up and and see the story of will Stacy because that's that story is something to be uh you know raised up and and followed in a lot of ways in terms of it was such a you know and it's something that he built by the way on those Sports Fields the lessons of from the Sports field served him so well in the Marine Corps and um and it's a great way to you know recognize him and keep the memory alive which is something that I spoke to and during my remarks anyways um thank you again council member holling for bringing up and council member Mo uh for joining as well I think it was a beautiful event thank you okay so uh council member more U thank you very much member Kettle um I just wanted to start my remarks by expressing my condolences um to the family and friends of former speaker chop uh we have really lost a hero um here um we will his absence will be noted going forward and I read in the paper um that his you know his Mantra was home health and hope and uh I think that that's a really good Mantra to live by and uh hope to also look to towards that as inspiration so anyway just wanted to say those few remarks um housing and Human Services meeting will be wednes this coming Wednesday it will be short it's uh just a few appointments um beyond that I don't have anything other really um coming up this week Beyond the usual uh and office hours on Thursday last week I was able to attend the KC governing board we had a presentation on seasonal weather shelter uh one will be uh opening in District 5 it is a New Concept it's been in play for a while in terms of trying to get it up and running very very excited um that we will be having a seasonal shelter uh to serve as a model and also that we will be having one in District 5 additionally we had a presentation on the Continuum of Care which is the entity that receives the HUD money uh and funnels that money through the county and other specific agencies throughout the county to provide shelter and housing permanent Supportive Housing really the whole Spectrum uh that money is clearly under threat um so it's interesting to learn more about that uh and I do believe that council member rink and her committee will be bringing forth KC RHA to talk about that um and it's it's important for us to find out all the Avenues of federal money that are potentially not going to be there and that we are going to need to sort of create a plan come together uh locally and regionally really to deal create a cons a contingency plan so just something to be thinking about and then lastly did also want to express um how moving it was to attend the ceremony uh for William sty the Ming field um my kids actually played up at that field a lot when they were young so I was very uh had a lot of memories myself of of being up there um watching them run around the fields um and just U noted how many lives he had touched in such a short life of himself um and what an inspiration that was and wanted to thank my colleagues so very much for U making that making those people's dreams a reality uh and bringing that uh Memorial that will bring so much uh Direction and pleasure to so many so thank you for that thank you wonderful thank you um well for I know a lot of us were perhaps a little tired after a long Power Hour on last Tuesday um but for those who had a moment to pop down to the ber and nights Landis room um after our long meeting they they would have seen a really beautiful Ramadan ifar with the center for Global Muslim life um my office was really happy to host that um that iard and um a lot of folks were able to join and speak and it was really really quite beautiful um last week we had the opportunity to also meet with congresswoman uh jaia Paul um she made some time in a very very busy schedule as we can imagine it was great to connect with with her office directly and hear about some of the um things happening on the federal level I was able to join in a uh conversation about um democ pursue vouchers and Civics with uh the University of Washington um and then uh also our staff was joining at the Denise Louie education center down in Beacon Hill um we joined the urbanist and the complete communities coalition to talk about the comprehensive plan and provide some updates about our our process we know there's been hiccups along the way but people continue to be really engaged in wanting to see a comprehensive plan that reflects and creates a plan for True housing affordability so was really exciting to be a part of that event um I was able to hop on and connect with the lgbtq commission and ask for their feedback on some matters as um we all received today there were some statements of support for some of the Amendments um for the ordinance that's coming before us tomorrow including mine and thankful for um the lgbtq commission for engaging with my office um and supporting our Amendment had an opportunity to connect with voters of tomorrow which is trying to spearhead had gen Z engagement which I personally love to see the Next Generation engaging in in local politics particularly um and they're planning to have rolling and monthly engagement opportunities for folks who consider themselves gen Z and then on Sunday our office also hosted another event uh the norus celebration here at City Hall with the Seattle Isfahan City sister city Advocates organization where we I was able to present our Proclamation signed by all of us in the mayor's office it was deeply appreciated um it was also a beautiful event um I haven't seen so many um laughing smiling kiddos in City Hall I think ever um it was packed there was a fashion show where there were performances there was music um we were here from 11 till 6 it was just a really beautiful event and I'll be sure to make sure we promote uh pictures from the event um I would uh voice that in the wake of you know there's a lot of discussion about a um Muslim travel ban uh 2.0 of sorts that um could be coming out of the federal Administration and um for us to be able to present that Proclamation um honoring and recognizing um so a holiday seen by so many in the Middle Eastern and North African Community is really poignant and important had a lot of cultural had a lot of significance again for the city to demonstrate that us standing by the middle eastern North African Community so thank you colleagues again for supporting that Proclamation and for again uh us to be able to support that event meant a lot to the community and then we had also connected with uh people power Washington and some discussions about um surveillance technology and centering civil rights at the City Light arts and culture and sustainability committee last Friday we had briefings from the Seattle Arts commission the office of sustainability and environment on the 2022 greenhouse gas emission inventory and then also heard from Seattle City Light on the renewable plus program um as Council Moore mentioned um we've uh decided to focus our upcoming select committee on federal administration and policy change focused on housing there are a lot of components and elements to um how affordable housing is built but also our existing housing and homelessness programs and so we think we've pulled together a panel to represent the Spectrum and all elements of that system and so um really excited to be hosting that panel on April 3rd um we are we've sent over some dates for upcoming um select committee meetings as well and certainly would like to get those on the calendar soon so folks can be able to attend and so pending and waiting for approval on those and with all of that I would also close by taking a moment to recognize the passing of house Speaker ameritus Frank chop Frank was a friend and a mentor and I feel really lucky that I got to see him give an amazing speech last Wednesday and I got one final pep talk um our office is looking forward to ways to find I think as many of us are Reckoning with this loss um we want to find ways to honor His Life and Legacy uh we'd love to be able to put forward a proclamation which have started some work on that but certainly want to work alongside the family and the state delegation as we we all again are finding ways to honor His Life and Legacy and so looking forward to being able to do just that and with that I will pass it along council member Rivera thank you council member ring um colleagues um I was pleased to see the celebration of the dedication of the will Stacy Ballfield uh former Sergeant Stacy's family lives in the district and that I represent the D4 and I really want to thank them for will Service uh I joined uh my colleagues in support of this dedication on the many lives that will touched in the time he was with us my heartfelt thoughts go out to his family as this dedication um to honor W's life happen at Maple Leaf Park this weekend unfortunately I was not able to attend um but I am so glad that some of you were able to be there and I just want to join my lend my voice to yours and really acknowledge um his family as well um last week I attended the King County sexual uh assault Resource Center beloud breakfast um the center serves a sexual assault survivors and their families it's so inspiring to go to this breakfast and hear people's stories um about how uh King County uh sexual assault assault Resource Center provides support and have helped them um uh uh in their lives um it really was profound when um audience members were asked those attend attending were asked um you know to stand if you knew someone who was uh touched by um sexual assault and you know most of the audience stood and that was really powerful and so we are so grateful for this Center's uh work um uh in the county and and uh serving Seattle as well um it is a powerful organization and we heard from some really power power ful people at that breakfast and I was so happy to be in attendance um and honored uh I had my quarterly checkin with the University of Washington right now we're gearing up here for cherry blossom season and that's what is top of mind for the University or one of the things that is top of Mind tens of thousands of people descend upon the campus to see the gorgeous trees and Bloom tomorrow tomorrow is supposed to be excellent weather so I'm sure it will be busy the University of Washington and the University District partnership with which is the Bia and the U District always encourage public transportation during the season with the light race with the Light Rail station right there at University of Washington it's easier than ever to use public transportation to get there I encourage you um to go up to the udub uh to look at the cherry blossoms um also the university as you know is preparing for new leadership this fall um with the arrival of Robert Jones who's currently the chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana champagne um and like I said earlier he will join us this fall um uh and so they are looking forward to to joining him and then um they it's a Bittersweet uh uh occasion as uh um current president anamari K uh ends her tenure with the unity University but the good news is that she will be around she's been with the university for 40 years in uh one capacity or another so she is really a great resource uh she's a great friend to the university and to the city and um while she's passing the Baton it's good to know that she will still be in Seattle and very much a part of the university life um in some fashion also last week I attended the wira 8 committee meeting on Thursday and my team continues to attend the weekly teams meeting that oir hosts to keep our office Surprise of federal actions um and the work they are doing uh the work oir is doing uh in that regard uh this week I'll be chairing the libraries education and neighborhoods uh committee where we will be getting an update from director Hamdi Muhammad uh of the office of the uh imig immigrant and Refugee Affairs on federal actions and o o oira's work with the community excuse me this morning I visited the Denise Louie education center at their Magnuson Park location I've been meeting with many child care and preschool providers and it is great to get to learn more about this highquality Care at Denise Louie they serve low and middle income families in the D4 I have both of my monthly check-ins uh this week with SPD Chief Barnes and North PRI and Captain Davidson George Davidson this week and I look forward to talking to them more about the continued and Urgent public safety concerns in the district um not just at the park but in the University District and in Magnuson Park and other areas of the D4 um I also as you may remember am uh newly on the board of the association of Washington cities um I also just accepted their invitation to be on the legislative priorities committee which works on setting the AWC priorities for a legislative session so I look forward to participating ating in that role and also colleagues they host a Friday uh call as well um which uh you are welcome to um to join uh talking about the uh legislature and um the bills before the Washington State Legislature so it's another um another good way to stay informed on the bills and their progress uh through the legislature um and uh again I want to thank you council member ring for holding your letter so that we have the opportunity to go through it I know you uh your staff sent it to some of our staff's Thursday late and so it's uh great to have the opportunity to work with you um to further review those two bills and further review this letter so I really want to thank you personally for allowing us the extra time to review that thank you and unless anyone has any questions I'll pass it to my colle I do I I want to apologize councilman Rivera uh regarding the the park I know it's right on the border when I type in 82nd and 81st it's literally split so I I apologize didn't um mean to exclude you in our comments I know that you were you know phenomenal and helping get all this together so I just wanted to apologize about that no need to apologize council member Hollingsworth thank you we're all in support of will Stacy and his family and um I'm just glad that that dedication happened and that celebration occurred this weekend so thank you for being there and like I said I'm sorry I was not able to attend but I'm very much supportive I'm glad that that that that happened and I'm always so appreciative of the um service of Will's service and and of his family so thank you council member Saka all right thank you council member Rivera and on the transportation committee front last Tuesday we had a lively briefing discussing on a few important items first the Sound Transit Link light Rail Project extensions into West Seattle and Ballard uh immediately following that we heard a there was a briefing and discussion of a resolution that would Grant conditional approval to install a much needed uh pedestrian skybridge that connects district 7 and three our our next Transportation committee meeting will be next Tuesday April 1st 9:30 a.m. uh the agenda for that is still being finalized so stay tuned uh in terms of regional committees uh my next big Regional committee is this Thursday morning the pit Town Regional Council executive committee meeting on the agenda are a number of things including uh we're going to receive an update on the equity advisory committee uh learn more about the regional Safety Action Plan which we are taking which is a strategic work stream that we're taking up uh and and leading in another Committee of psrc that I sit on uh alongside council member Kettle the transportation policy board we're going to hear about progress on our regional comprehensive climate action plan from our own pet sound clean air agency and then finally going to get an update on federal funding uh directives and the latest flurry and the potential impact on on projects uh locally here across the region moving on to other stuff uh last week was really excited to join some neighbors and community members and S do leaders uh at a Delridge walking tour where we talked about the opportunity to build missing sidewalks it was part of a levy funding initiative as we know voters approved the creation of more new the singular largest expansion and creation of more new sidewalks than have been done uh in recent City history and so talked about the scoping what community would like to see for these new new projects and so I want to thank members of the community for taking the time to show up join me in that uh s do for their hard work as always uh and then of course s. director Emory joined me so want to thank her for for that uh if folks have a point of view on scoping of of certain projects and what they should look like in your neighborhood there's a survey available yes there's a survey Survey Monkey the department sop put together so there's a survey monkey it's surveymonkey.com SLR Backle v y s i d e w a l k s that's surveymonkey.com back SLR back SL Levy sidewalks uh last week I also had the privilege of joining members of the community and leaders from the Morgan Junction Community Association and the font looy Community Association to do a walking tour uh of the proposed Neighborhood Center under the comp plan uh of certain areas of of that and so it was good to visit the area personally hear directly from impacted constituents of the Morgan Junction font Leroy and endin communities of course as well um and hear more about their concerns and and hopes and and uh opportunities there as well so again nothing like seeing that potential impact directly alongside impacted members of community with with community so uh wonderful looking forward to doing more of those of all the neighbor proposed neighborhood centers across my district this morning I attended a coffee or cocoa with a cop uh ceremony thing and or community event rather in High Point uh it was organized by the Seattle Housing Authority but our own City uh representatives from our crime prevention team in the southwest precincts put that together from a city perspective will help uh I guess organize and and share the word from a city perspective so popped in it was great to meet directly with Community uh have a have a thoughtful conversation with first resp responders including police um and here are some specific concerns and what what people are kind of hoping for as well so awesome event this morning so thank you to the Seattle Housing Authority and uh our crime prevention team within SPD for for uh kind of co-creating that event together also want to lend my voice of as a veteran of United States armed forces specifically United States Air Force I also want to take this opportunity to lend my voice of support uh and and for Fallen Hero will Stacy and also express my gratitude for Council Members Hollingsworth Moore Kettle and Rivera as well including but not limiting to all of you all uh for honoring the sacrifice and service of of will Stacy and such a way um you know putting it all on the line will sadly is never coming home and his family knows that is a gold star family but there's no better I can think of no better way to honor his service and sacrifice at least at the local city government level than to to uh to to to do this field where to your point council member Hollingsworth to rename to to your point thousands of kids for for multiple Generations are going to understand have a chance to pause reflect emote and celebrate the service and sacrifice so of of will Stacy so thank you again for that we need more opportunities to honor the service and sacrifice of our Nations Heroes our veterans those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in particular uh and finally I too want to express my condolences to the family of former speaker Frank chop there was no fiercer Advocate over multiple decades uh on behalf of working people not just in the city but in the state as well and his last in his retirement last year he said that he expected he will continue to Advocate as a community activist and I think he was able to do that but I I know in my heart and in my mind mind that his legacy will live on and Inspire future generations of change makers uh and advocates for working people and that is a legacy uh that we should all be proud of huge Collective loss for the the city and our entire state that is all I have from my perspective I welcome any comments questions and if there are none I will pass it on to the next person I don't want to muck this up like last time was who was it uh council member Solomon well I think that council member Rivera has a question or yeah yeah um thank you I just wanted to add also um yet my condolences to um uh uh Frank chops family um uh it really a person who dedicated most of their life to public service and um you know public service is not always the most glamorous and the and the easiest and it really it's um admirable uh the many years that he put into the very and the very hard work so I wanted to lend my voice to that I meant to do so earlier um so thank you council president for giving me the opportunity to say that now and then I also wanted to say um in terms of will Stacy um you know wanted to say I know we have a lot of veterans that we um that we we honor their service and in particular well Stacy there was broad community support for dedicating this uh ball field to will um and he touched so many people in the in the short amount of years he was on this Earth um and so I really wanted to say how the community really came together to request this as well um and honor his family and his legacy so um really wanted to say that so thank you thank thank you council member Saka for all your words as well thank you all right next on our list is council member Strauss I believe if I've got my nope council member Solomon go ahead please thank you very much Madam president um I'll try to be as concise as possible because I have a long list of things uh we do have two appointments regarding land news committee we have two appointments to the urban forestry commission that were approved and they will be voted on tomorrow at uh full council meeting our next land use committee will be Wednesday April 2nd and at that meeting we hope to uh we hope to address five additional uh urban urban forestry commission appointments as well as Seattle design commission appointments street level use legislation building permit extension legislation I have a briefing on Adu legislation responsive to the state requirements the University of Washington Northwest Hospital major institution me master plan and the Fremont control you know contract rezone uh in this past week I've been able to meet with uh executive director of United Way of King County president of the Mount Baker Community Club uh members of the Rainer Avenue Traffic Safety Coalition uh was treated to lunch at the southeast Seattle senior center and uh did a Q&A with them um following that met with um the Reach team from Evergreen Treatment Services servicing uh rer Valley and Rainer Beach area uh also had meetings with the seatt Human Services Coalition Safar Bor hm congregation uh and did uh District hours at the new Holly uh library branch or new new Holly branch of the Seattle public libraries uh just this morning met with SE neighborhood group did uh a stop in at the South Precinct to interact with the officers down there um had a meeting with uh Chief Public Safety off officer Walton Anderson as well as meeting with uh folks from the skipa from skipa the C Bia and FRS of Little Saigon uh talking about the plans and actions in way right now in the Little Saigon and Chinatown area again focus on safety issues um I also had the opportunity to attend the Seattle Police foundation's uh award ceremony for officers uh this past Thursday evening at Bell Harbor uh so that was a good event um this week ahead I'll be meeting with the uh Mount Baker Community Club board tonight uh I will be coming to the public safety committee meeting tomorrow especially on that discussion about the after hours legislation that it's a something that the officers talked to me about this morning when I was you know doing roll call um it's defin going to be a tool that can you know help us address some of these safety issues around these establishments uh we'll be meeting with the sing County Coalition on homelessness be getting an update on the upcoming Star Center uh believe I'm attending the growth manager planning council meeting with uh council member Strauss this Wednesday we'll also be meeting with the interim CD CDA and CID residents resident Advocates on Thursday and also this coming Thursday I will be joining council member rink at uh bla Memorial Methodist Church uh for Town Hall so um I want to end by reflecting on um Sergeant Stacy um we both spent time in Afghanistan um Although our time there was separated by 10 years and and I came back he didn't um I think about all those who wear the uniform who wore the uniform and they gave the ultimate sacrifice and it's the least we can do to um honor their memory and that sacrifice so again um on the record to the family thank you um thank you for will I do want to end by uh adding my voice to um thoughts about speaker chop um I was I was at the youthcare lunch in uh this past Wednesday I think there were a few of us others of us who were there too where um he received an award from the organization for all his tireless work uh on behalf of that organization it's not just that organization when it came to being an advocate for housing for homeless for youth Frank was there it didn't matter if it was the compass housing you know lunch in or if it was the Youth Care lunch Frank was there and there's going to be a groundbreaking tomorrow for the for youth Care's constellation Center which is going to be right there at uh Broadway and Pine that would not have happened without Frank um he saw the opportunity he saw the property he made the phone call he made the vision happen um so again I can't say enough about U speaker chop you know I didn't know him as closely as others did but I was always amazed by his commitment his heart and his tenacity uh so that rest in peace B her Toop thank you go ahead council member Strauss uh thank you well said council member Solomon and here on the city council this last year we were all very proud to add $4 million to that constellation Center project and that was an amendment sponsored by council member woo so it's all it takes all of us and I know King County stepped up to put their for million dollar forward um I'll get to my comments on speaker ameritus chop at the end but focusing on the finance native communities and tribal governments and select committees during tomorrow's full council meeting there will be a vote to appoint Kirsten Grove as Director of Finance and administrative Services colleagues you'll hear you've heard me say finance and administrative Services is the backbone of our city from fleets to buildings to implement uh implementing laws consumer protection the animal shelter FAS really really does it all Kiren Grove demonstrated excellence in her work as an interim has had a long tenure here at the city and I think is the right fit right now so I look forward to voting in favor of her we also last week in my committee had a briefing on the hearing protection regulation bill that I will be Pro proposing please do let my office know if you have any questions additions changes I will be waiting until Jesse Fran returns this week to be to taking many of the next steps I do want to share with you all though I offered the opportunity to engage in the bill and possibly make changes before we introduce it that dead that first deadline is this Friday and so from this Friday on we'll go forward with the introduction that still means that we'll have a couple Council meetings and opportunities to amend the language should you desire to and I want to share that this is an informational item to share the vision for this bill even before it's in uced we're really at the very earliest possible point of Engagement and it's not always you know me I like to talk about what's typical and not typical I'll share sometime it's not necessarily typical to share this information about a bill before introduction and I do think that this process does increase transparency and allows for the highest level of Engagement possible moving on to my external committees the next uh in Sound Transit we have a board of directors meeting this Thursday March 27th we will have a motion regarding a three-year labor contract with Protek 17 covering passenger information coordinators we'll have a resolution amending previous resolution that authorized the chief executive to execute real property agreements under a million dollar and finally we will have an motion to approve an agreement to employ a CEO I don't have more information for you that is publicly available today and what I can tell you is that that information will become public when the agenda is published this week so if you do have any questions I'm happy to share more information with you my role in association of Washington cities I continue to attend the bimonthly board legislative steering committee yes this is in fact different than the legislative priorities committee that council member Rivera sits on and both work pretty well in in tandem together the legislative steering committee is one that is in real time reacting to the work in Olympia much like we do here with our weekly updates from oir and the legislative priorities committee is one that looks to the Future for the next session's legislative priorities I also have been participating each Friday on the City action day phone call it's a conference call where the association of Washington City lobbyists share information about bills again much like we do here with oir and I have found it it to be a really nice um do you say uh I'm looking for the for a word ook book holder I can't yeah sorry a placeold I mean it's a nice book end there we are there we are took me a minute to get to the book end at the beginning of the week starting with oir looking at what's going on in Olympia ending the week with AWC going over similar but different bills so if anyone would like to join us on Friday just let my office know and we'll share the registration information with you for the Seattle City Employee Retirement Systems board that I also sit on we will have an administrative committee that will meet on this Thursday March 28th there's a possible vote regarding asset classes um as a way of investment there we are we'll have a potential vote for additional fund manager to Serv as well as we may have a potent and then in the administrative committee there will potentially be a vote on the credit interest policy this is a policy that spells out how interest is applied to member contributions this is coming before the committee as part of our practice to review all policy and charters on a three-year cycle no changes are being recommended to the current policy at this time in district 6 and more I had office hours last week with District Six residents and yes I almost got my car locked in the library garage again uh saved it by 2 minutes so there we are and I'm working to finalize additional office hour dates in April I've heard feedback from residents that they would like more hours that we're trying to do and balance 9 to5 office hour opportunities evening and weekend opportunities so we're looking at making some changes here last week I continued my comprehensive plan walking tours and I visited the Whittier Neighborhood Center I will be continuing the walking tours around district 6 in April after spending 3 and a half hours last week last Thursday in the rain wind and cold as well as understanding that we have more time before the committee will take this work up we'll be waiting until mid April to continue the tours to potentially do them after 5:00 p.m. so that more people can engage and hopefully that it won't be so cold so we're looking forward to doing so in mid to late April as I was sharing earlier I'll like to speak to the passing of speaker Meritus Frank chop uh colleagues you may or may not know why I wear a tie here every day and it comes from a joke where my first day of work at City Hall Sun G asked saw me wearing a tie and said I wonder how long that's going to last and Son it seems It's lasted until speaker chop has passed I'm not wearing a tie today in honor of him in part because he teased me about it a few times and it was a very special moment I I'll say that it is said that it's hard to meet your hero because when you meet your hero you see the small things that might not um live up to your vision of them from afar I can tell you that meeting speaker Meritus chop I got to see up close that he was the same person that I envisioned him to be this was an opportunity where I got to meet my hero and I wasn't disappointed it will take hundreds of us to fill the shoes of this one giant thank you colleagues that is my report if there are no questions I will pass over to council president Nelson council president thank you for that I appreciate everyone um expressing their uh their words uh for both of the fallen giants that we have discussed today so I I I really do appreciate folks um first of all educating me about the life of um well of will Stacy and also uh lending your voices to the choir on um the legacy of Frank chop all right so as noted above on tomorrow's agenda we'll vote on uh the amended Council bill 12950 which conforms to Washington State so-called Shield law and provides the Authority for the for the Seattle City attorney's office to bring a civil cause of action against any violation of said um uh law or the provisions therein and also for the Seattle municipal court to hear such a cause uh and tomorrow uh this Thursday the governance accountability and economic development committee will meet at uh so that's March 27th at 2:30 at 2:00 and there are three things on the agenda we'll be discussing and possibly voting on an appointment to the Seattle ethics and elections Commission and uh that this particular appointment is a nomination from the actual commission so we've got you know usually there are mayoral or Council and uh this particular um position is uh from the uh resides with the commission itself to to appoint a um a nomination to nominate someone who will continue serving in that position uh second we will have a briefing and discussion on Council Bill 120957 to renew for another 10 years the Democracy voucher program and uh presenters will include uh the Seattle ethics and Election Commission director Wayne Barnett and uh I and I want to recognize that council member Kettle has has um has participated in a in the press conference in anticipation of this of this legislation coming before us and uh has expressed uh desire to to be a co-sponsor and I believe that has to be said in a um in an open meeting but I just want to say that this that he is a he is a major force behind this legislation note to anyone listening because this is a because this program is funded by a property tax this measure will go to the voters for approval in August and uh we're you know the the timing of this legislation working its way through committee is is to enable it to get to the uh um the ballot in time so I'm not suggesting that this is going to be approved and then that's it it this is the first step to throwing it on the ballot and then finally we will have a presentation from the office of the city auditor on gun violence and it's titled four recommendations to better understand and address current gun violence patterns in Seattle uh the there will be several presenters the mayor's office director of Public Safety Natalie Walton Anderson will be one of them and Seattle uh police department's Council Rebecca Boatright will also join the audits authors at the table as presenters so that's our meeting on Thursday all right last Friday my staff attended the weekly Federal briefing call hosted by oir so thank you very much council member Rivera for thanking uh our director for um for supporting that uh informational meeting and uh yesterday I attended the noru uh um event here at City Hall it was jam-packed I have to say the Persian New Year celebration that for which we issued a proclamation thank you very much to council member rink it was just a feast of um of of art and textiles not the textiles are not art but there were um there were uh there was a cookbook that was that was on a table you know for uh Persian food it was just a tremendous and a full day of programming and so um it if anybody was able to come by here it was it was truly a uh a special event so I want to appreciate the organizers for going through uh the the work to to bring everybody together and um educate and Delight the public that attended I also yesterday uh was uh taped a segment of seel nice and that should um that should be airing tomorrow I believe they said it was going to be available on Tuesday and then uh let's see finally the well I'll just skip that right this is going on too long and it's 3:30 and I was hoping to get uh get through the executive session so I'll just pause right here are there any questions or comments on the things I just said for my update or any other business to come before us okay so we've got an executive session to uh to move into as presiding officer I'm an announcing that the Seattle City council will now convene into executive session the purpose of the executive session is to to discuss pending potential or actual litigation the council's executive session is an opportunity for the council to discuss confidential legal matters with City attorneys as authorized by law and a legal monitor from the city attorney's office is always present to make sure that um we reserve our uh questions about policy for Open Session I expect the time of the executive session to end by 45 and if the executive session is to be extended beyond that time I'll announce that and the expected duration and at the conclusion of this executive session the council briefing meeting will automatically adjourn and the next regularly scheduled Council briefing meeting is on March 31st 2025 at 2 p.m. all right hearing no further comments or business the council is now in executive session it is 3:33 council members please log on to the executive uh session Zoom meeting in your office thank you [Music]