City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, residents of Ever Washington. I'd like to call to order the Ever City Council meeting of May 6th, 2026. For information on council meetings and how to participate, please visit everwah.gov/cityconsel. Please note that we do not allow comments of any kind of campaigning whether for or against ballot measures or candidates running for office. We also do not accept comments focused on personal matters that are unrelated to city business. We ask that the audience refrains from clapping, cheering, or booing and no signage of any uh type are allowed in chambers. We also ask that everyone take a seat and not gather in the doorway. Uh clerk, please take the role. Mayor Franklin, excused. Council member Weir, excused. Council member Zarlingo, here. Council member Schwab here. Council member Burbano here. Council member Tui here. Council member Bader

here. Vice President Rin here. For the record, Council President Schwab will be participating in today's meeting remotely and I will be facilitating on his behalf. I'd like to ask Council Bader to please lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please join me in the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Next, I would like to ask council member Bravano to please read the land acknowledgement.

The city council wishes to acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Stoish people and their successors, the Tulap Lip tribes. Since time in memorial, they have hunted, fish, gathered on and taken care of these lands and waters. We respect their sovereignty, the right to self-determination and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. We will strive to be honest about our past mistakes and bring about a future that includes their people, stories, and voices to form a more just and equitable society. Thank you. Moving on to old business. Do I hear a motion for the approval of the minutes of April 29th, 2026? Bad move. Second the motion. Clerk, please take the role. Council members Arlingo. Yes. Council member Schwab,

yes. Council member Burbano, yes. Council member Tui, yes. Council member Bader, yes. Vice President Ryan, yes. Now it's time for public comment, which includes written comment acknowledgement. Under our rules, written comment shall be considered in the same manner as oral comments. The person submitting the comment must provide their name and city of residence. Written comments require uh this to be made part of the official record. Good evening, Angie. Do we have any written comments or did anyone sign up to speak this evening?

Good evening, Vice President Ryan. We have received some written comments. So, I'll read those who um the names that wrote in regarding neighborhood residential manufactured home community zoning. And that was Melanie McDermott, Janet Fitch, Michelle Callahan, Terry Grove, Raymond Daniels, Patricia Burke, Shauna Davis, Sheila Paige, Carolyn Kurr, Laura Wolf, June White, Denise Kagus, Katherine Gim, Michael Hartman, April Lloyd, Patty Bon, and James and Meredith Reed, and John Martin wrote in about outdoor um event center and those were all provided to council, legal, city clerk, administration be part of the record. And we do have a couple of individuals online as well as in chambers for public comment. So, we'll start with those that are online. If Leonard could unmute and turn on your camera if possible.

Okay. Okay. And when you see the timer appear at the 3 minute mark, um you can state your full name, city of residence, and you will have 3 minutes to speak in just one moment here.

You can start. I am uh in area four of city of Everett. I'm a strong supporter of ever paratransit. After my stroke in 2021, I had to use paratransit to get anywhere needed. I'd also been suffering bladder issues where I needed an ADA restroom within reasonable time. My previous dentist of over 20 years is in Mil Creek next to the Mill Creek Post Office. I use Dart as it was out of Everair Transits area. I live in the Westmont neighborhood, so it's about 15 20 minutes directly to my dentist. With a paratransit, you share rides with other disabled people. With Ever Paratransit, doctor and dentist trips are given top priority. For an appointment in December 23, I plan my ride with Dart a half an hour earlier than needed because I had been delivered 15 minutes late at my prior appointment. I get picked up on time and taken north to the subcontractor Transdev's office to pick up an employee for some purpose. We went north to another rider related stop. No problem. Then we got on I5 south. No problem yet. Passed both exits to Mil Creek to get on I405. Problem. Exited to Buffalo to a parking ride to pick up a King County access transfer. on the phone with my dentist. Slight wait for the transfer, then took them to Edmonds or Shoreline somewhere just west of Aurora Highway 99 to drop

off. Holy crap. Now we are heading back to Mil Creek and my dentist. 45 minutes late. I made it to the restroom in time. I had been worried I'd get a $50 no-show charge, but I'd been on the phone with them. I had a 10 15 minute dental appointment. My return home ride was on time and I got a solo ride home which I recently heard was against Transdev internal policy. Our most delicate citizens need special treatment. Everett paratransit offers it dart through transdev does not just ride in an Everett paratransit bus and hear the interaction between the drivers and dispatchers on the radio. I've heard recently from four corroborating people that paratransit driver if paratransit drivers want to be on time they need to take Uber will cities subsidize this can Ubers carry 500 pound wheelchairs power chairs my income changed from 100k to to 35k on this SDI luckier than most I have left hemoplegia. I can drive, okay, but I can't get to and from my car without a wheelchair.

Sorry, Leonard. We'll have to have you wrap up. Your time is up. I can load it. I ride with brave, confident, disabled people who with a mental capacity of a child with or without caretaker. No worries on their minds. Other people need to be on time for kidney dialysis or other tightly scheduled procedures. Ever paratransit fills in in a way as a caretaker to their ride. Thank you for your comments, Leonard.

Thank you. Next, if uh Pat, if you can unmute and turn on your camera. I'm trying to do that right now. Oh, okay. You don't have to do your camera. It's okay. But if you can accept the Actually, we could probably just do it this way. Okay. Um, if you can state your full name and city of residence and you have three minutes to speak as soon as you see the timer on the screen.

Thank you. My name is Patricia Rudd and I have lived in Ever since 1968. I want the council to know how much this opportunity to use the Zoom means to me as a shutin. It allows me to share my thoughts on the combining of the two transit systems. I have used Ever Transit system while I worked in downtown Everett. I used the Riverside 5 days a week. At that time, I was still able to use fixed routes. Since 1994, my health requires me to be a user of every paratransit system until my ability to walk independently was no longer available to me. I have used the paratransit for more than 10 years. Paratransit drivers have always made sure I was safely inside my home before they left. During this time, I began using DART, which is the community transit system. My current physical condition requires me to use an electric scooter, accompanied with my caregiver. Both systems provide free rides for the caregiver, which helps me on a fixed income. Ever paired Transit provide this service to all riders disabilities. Once you have completed a questionnaire and the renewal was simple. Dart required that I had to come in prove my ability to operate an electric machine since I had to go to their place. I'm 88 years old. I was notified a week later I passed the test. As a sidebar, most of the ever

paratransit drivers were employed once by DART. Over time, Everett drivers have become part of our extended family. Also, DART buses have emergency exits through the windows which are blocked off by unused seats in the event of an accident. It would be total chaos inside how to get out. How about having a survey from the actual riders of Ever Transit? In the end, I do not support the merger of the buses. Be loyal to the bus drivers of Everett. They are full employees where darts are contracted. That's my story. Thank you.

Thank you, Patricia. Thank you. And so now we'll move to those in chambers and we'll start with Daniel. If you could please come to the podium and please press the button on the base of the mic. State your full name, city of residence. You have three minutes to speak.

I'm Daniel Simon. I live in Everett. I'm here to talk about the annexation of Ever Transit by Community Transit, where CT would take over ET. Historically, the city has declined to move forward with this. On April 22nd of this year, Mayor Franklin stated that ultimately the decision lies with you, the city council, as well as the CT board. You may notice something missing from that equation. the voters. Up until April of last year, the citizens of Everett would have had to vote on this matter because we'd have to increase our transit sales tax from 0.6 to 1.2%. Now, because of Senate Bill 5801, part 10, that right was taken away. It is my opinion that ET and CT can coexist in a manner that is mutually beneficial as we have. A merger would increase the cost of living, raise bus fairs, and eliminate a competitive advantage that Everett businesses have via a lower tax rate. Ever transit contributes about $4.1 million to the city's general fund, and their cost per service hour is about 190 versus CT's 280. Everett Transit is solvent through the year 2038. It is a valuable unique asset to the city. On May 7th, 2025, in response to Senate Bill 5801, the mayor stated that the city of Everett is not actively considering a merger with CT. And as late as September 2025, that remained the stance. On April 22nd of this year, the mayor directed the city to resume merger talks and create an interlocal agreement. It was stated, "We have a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity, and it seems the primary goal is getting light rail sooner." I'm having trouble seeing how an annexation makes light rail more feasible for Everett. We already have a robust transit system.

Ever transit could service light rail and CT already operates in our city and the city gives them $2 million per year. The mayor said it sends a strong message to Sound Transit, but we've already been paying for it, so we should get it. No excuses, no extra qual qualifications. In sound transit resolution number R2026-11, Everett link one and two are both fully funded with existing funds. Why should an annexation make a difference? The ball is in Sound Transit's court to make good on the commitments they have made to Everett and Snowish County. That's all. Thank you,

Danielle. Thank you. Next, Keith, if you could please come to the podium and state your full name and city of residence. And you have three minutes to speak. My name is Keith Jacobson. I live in district 12. Sorry. Could you please press the button uh to make it go green and your three minutes can start again?

Well, that's much better. My name is Keith Jacobson. I live in the city of Everett in Mr. Schwab's district. I think the proposed consolidation between Everett Transit and Community Transit will end up being a colossal mistake for many reasons. I will talk about two reasons tonight. While community transit claims that they will flood Everett with service, they have no history of doing anything like that. They traditionally serve corridors in their service area and not neighborhoods like Everett Transit. Look at their service maps. Especially for the larger communities like Lynwood or Edmonds, you will find service going up and down major corridors. Great if you live near one of those corridors. If you don't live near one of those corridors, if you live in a quiet neighborhood or perhaps a less affluent neighborhood, you've got nothing. This lack of neighborhood service also impacts their DART service. If you are disabled and you live within 3/4 of a mile of a fixed route line, good for you. DART will give you a ride. If you don't, too bad. So sad. Call an Uber. Everett Transit's paratransit service, on the other hand, serves all of Everett. All of it. Does not matter how close you live to a fixout line. In short, when Community Transit says that Everett will be flooded with service, they are making promises they can't keep. Two, the proposed consolidation will mean a doubling of the transit sales tax. Let me repeat, a doubling of the transit sales tax. And this increase in her sales tax is being done without a vote of the citizens of Everett. I can speculate why Senate Bill 5801 part 10, including language to take away my right as a citizen of Everett to vote on the sales tax increase, but I will not do that. Rather, I will point out that this will make everything in every more expensive at a time when inflation is going through the roof, especially for

large purchases like oh say cars. Has anyone asked the car dealers on Evergreen Way how they feel about losing this competitive advantage over the rest of the county without them even getting a vote on the matter? Yes, it's true. We live in a a representative democracy. But in Everett, sales taxes are sales tax increases are decided by a vote of the citizens. Except for this one case, our right to vote has been taken away or just this one case. I think the majority of Everett would oppose the sales tax increase. I think in this current economy, they would do so overwhelmingly. I think when the citizens of Everett realize what this proposal is going to cost them, I think they will be angry. Mr. Schwab is the council member for is the council member for my district. There are two members at large I also get to cast a ballot for. How the council votes on this topic will decide what yard signs go in my yard at the next election. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Crystal. If you could please come to the podium. and please press the button on the base of the mic and state your full name. City of residence. You have three minutes to speak. Hi, I'm Crystal. I am in the city of Everett. I'm District 1. Um, so it has been brought to my attention there is talks of merging Everett Transit with a much larger community transit. As a sporadic bus rider, I am concerned. Everett transit costs $2 per ride and during peak hours, I do not have to wait long. 15 minutes to be exact. While community transit is $2.50, and it's identical bus runs every 30 minutes. 50 cents difference does not seem like much, but that is an extra dollar a day to get to and from work. I am aware there are many promises along with this merger. I have been through many mergers myself and have found that many promises are hollow and the purchase business suffers by it. Will will free shuttles remain free? Uh I amongst many residents utilize the free fourth of July shuttle as well as the sort of culture and the upcoming World Cup televised games being hosted by Boxcar Park. I have seen it will raise our sales tax. Even a small raise is going to impact many as costs of everything has skyrocketed. Um, and most are living within a shoestring budget. If you choose to lose ever transit, remember it isn't easily reversible, we will have a big we will lose a big piece of what makes ever great. Thanks.

Thank you. Next, if I believe it's Alan, right? Oh, Alexa. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, Alexa and and then Katie, are you doing together? Yes. Okay, so if you can state your full name, city of residence. Um, you will only have three minutes to speak. That's totally fine. Thanks. Um, I believe it's still green, so hopefully everyone can hear me. Hi, my name is Alexa Wright. I live in the city of Everett in district 2. And I'm Katie Keer. I live in the city of Snowomish.

Um, we're here to talk today. We are two MSW students currently completing our MERS in social work. and we're here to talk about our concern of the um lack of visible crosswalks and school zones around Everett. Um there have been noticeable uh declines in the uh visibility of crosswalks, I think due to the fact that they are not being consistently repainted. Um but there also are huge gaps between crosswalks. You see this across Everett, especially in places that have five lanes or more in traffic where people are having to jaywalk across those lanes. And while that is concerning across Everett, it's very important that in our school zones, kids can walk to school safely without having to jaywalk, without having to be worried about being hit by a speeding car. Um, in order to make crosswalks more visible, we had a few ideas. Um, we are doing this for a class, so we don't have a lot of time to dedicate to this project. So, we want to make sure that while we are dedicated to it, we can do as much possible. Um the ideas that we have is that we want to uh we would like if there was an actual rule, policy, anything of that kind that made it mandatory for crosswalks to be in school zones as currently there is nothing in our laws um within the state of Everett that mandates crosswalks. Um it would also be amazing if those crosswalks were more visible. So having those lights that go off where you can press the button and everyone can see from like mile away that there is a crosswalk and someone is trying to safely cross. Um another idea we had was uh something that Australia does which is painting around the crosswalk in a certain color. In Australia that color is neon orange because that color is associated with school zones. Here neon orange is is construction so that would be a little confusing. So, we would propose that there's uh neon yellow paint used because that is the color associated because uh as the paint fades from a crosswalk, you will be able to still see

that yellow. It'll be incredibly visible and it would likely not increase the cost of creating more crosswalks. You have any?

And so, we we just wanted to bring this to your guys's attention and we also want to try to identify somebody. we only have so much time to get this project off the ground and so we are going to be looking to see if there's other people that are passionate about this um about this problem. We did have a hit and run a couple of years ago where they just finally found the person um that was responsible for that and that was close to Cascade High School. And so we're just hoping that we can bring awareness but also have somebody else um that after we are done with this we can kind of pass it on and allow them to continue to um advocate for um safer school zones. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um William, if you could please come to podium.

Quick question. Council council president. Uh since we don't have our full complement of admin here wondering Mike if you put them put them in touch with our city traffic engineer. So yeah, council member that's fine. Thank you. We'll follow up later. Thank you. Okay. If you could state your full name and city of residence, you have three minutes to speak.

William parents, Silver Lake. Um, this is about every baseball stadium. The only reason I used to watch baseball when I was a kid because of the Kingdom. You know, you had the chance of getting hit with lightning. You know, that brought some excitement, dude. But we lost that. They tore that down. And you know, baseball kind of, you know, when they put the clock on the pitcher about throwing the ball, you know, it caught my attention a little bit more, you know, I started watching it and I'm like, clock ain't fast enough, you know. But, um, and then I then I was researching that, you know, like the story of Babe Ruth, you know, he got signed on, but only the major leagues can do that, but not the minor leagues. you know, some stories, some successful stories like that, you know, um might bring some more excitement to the stadium. You know, something needs to change with baseball. I mean, the clock changed it, but it's not fast enough. You know, I like wanted to see some I mean, the clock changed a lot, but it's the clock's not fast and it's too long. Was it like 30 seconds, 15 seconds? You need to throw the ball back and forth farther. But that's all I had to say about baseball.

Thank you. Thank you. And the remaining individuals would like to speak when we get to agenda item five. Great. Thank you. Uh moving on to council comments. We'll start with council members. Uh no comments, no report tonight. You moving online to council president Schwab. Yeah. Uh no comments. Uh no report. Thank you.

Great. Council member Burbano. Um let's see. Um on Saturday I went to the bicycle film festival um sponsored by Sharing Wheels. Uh there were films not only about fitness and transportation but also films about how communities have used bicycles to improve equity and mental health. On Monday I rode along with the Ever Police Department and all I can tell you is that I am super glad that we have a super professional police department. On Tuesday, I went signwaving with the Ever Transit Union folks as a union represented employee and I support my union brothers and sisters. Today I went to a tour of the county jail as the homeish county jail and quite a learning experience. I was able to learn about the good care that inmates receive inmates receiving in that facility. Um that will be it. Thank you.

Great. Council member Tui. Uh yeah, I think uh just a comment about the crosswalks. I think you had some really great ideas and we'll definitely bring those up in our healthy community and safety committee. Uh we meet once a month, but we do talk about that and um so thank you for for your thoughts and ideas. That was great. Um also want to thank all the the speakers tonight. Um as council member um just spoke about the tour of the of the jail. It was a our committee meeting was was the tour and it was really interesting um to hear it was they have such a great focus on a health assessment as soon as the the folks come in there but it is about they think at least 80% of the folks that are in jail um are on fentanyl and so I was hoping that that maybe had gone down but apparently not. Um there was, you know, we've always heard where they release at midnight into the city of Everett. Um they say that they don't do that very often. Um at all. They made it sound like they really tried to release during the day. Um, one thing a couple of resources that are new for them is a they have a a drug dog who circulates around and they really feel that that's been uh a much safer and they were getting way better results and so fewer inmates uh have fewer drugs they're finding. Um, and the other thing is they're given uh notebooks when they arrive and the notebooks um are like a little laptop and they have all kinds of resources on them in certificate programs. So if they choose they can they can be learning um while they're doing some time there. Um and the other thing is they are also very understaffed so they have a lot of job openings if anybody's interested. So it was a very good tour. So, thank you. Thank you,

Council Member Bader.

Thanks, Council President. A couple of items. Uh, last week actually met Council Member Berbano and Council Member Weir at the Machinist Institute Launch Expo down there at the Machinist Union Hall and uh, uh, South Everett. Just uh, fascinating uh, institute there and just great great stuff and great program they've got going there. So, it's really fun to be able to see that. Um on Saturday went to the uh dedication or rededication of the uh Temple Beth or uh which is near here just south of the courthouse. So congratulations to our Jewish community on the dedication of their new synagogue there. Um as council member um Burbano and council member Tui mentioned was them on the jail tour and um the couple notable takeaways that I had. one, they have a a a great uh uh kind of drug sensor almost like a metal detector. Uh but the setting on it by is required by the state health department is so low that it makes it really difficult to uh serve as a good sensor for keeping keep drugs out of the jail. And I think maybe as we look at um our legislative agenda uh for next year or what advocacy we do at the state level, maybe in partnership with AWC and the county uh state organization that we look at including that as one of our things to lobby for is to convince the state health department to set it to a more reasonable level um that still protects health. I think the folks who staff the jail at the sheriff's department think it's really unreasonably low even considering the health any health concerns there might be. Um, and also another takeaway, there was a I think that they they mentioned just a notable drop uh over the last over the last decade or two in terms of the number of jail inmates who are actually serving sentences. Apparently, our superior court judges uh uh just aren't in the habit of sentencing people to uh to terms in jail any longer. and

um maybe some pluses on that, but also I'm concerned that it it doesn't help our law enforcement uh when people uh when we're not sentencing people who need to spend time in jail uh to uh to jail terms. So anyhow, that was just kind of a dramatic thing they mentioned to us as well. Um and then just a quick comment uh or add on to council member Tu's comment there, those those notebooks were very interesting, but I just wanted to reassure the public that I don't I think they said those aren't connected to the general internet. I think they're limited in terms of scope. So, I didn't want general public to think that our that inmates over there are just surfing the the web at will. So, uh but it's a useful tool. I I was fascinated by that as well to help them do training while they're in jail. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Uh I wanted to for my comments this evening, I wanted to thank all the folks that shared comments this evening. Um especially the comments about the CTE merger. We're definitely very early in the process. So, uh, the concerns about paratransit are h heard loud and clear and, um, I know we're all interested, too, and making sure that that's part of the conversations moving forward. Uh, Alexa and Katie, thanks for joining today, um, and, uh, sharing about crosswalks. I love talking crosswalks. I'd be happy to connect about that another time. I did want to mention for your awareness and then for other folks as well, the city has the Everett at work app where if you do see a crosswalk that's maybe chipped up or fading, you can uh log that on uh Ever at work so that the public works crew is notified. But that's definitely not solving the problem that you were sharing. But I did want to uh mention that as uh something that is in process. Uh I also attended the machinist institute grand opening, but I'm glad we missed each other so we avoided an unintentional quorum. Uh, but I was really inspired by the keynote speaker who shared about the importance of providing job pathways for people who were formerly incarcerated and starting to look for a new chapter. So, congrats to the Machinist Institute and I'm also looking forward to their upcoming ribbon cutting ceremony for the Little Wings Childare Center coming next month. Uh today I joined the alliance for housing affordability meeting and had a we had a great discussion about pre-approved DADU plans and cottage style housing and uh city of Evers in the process of working through uh some pre-approved DADU plans which will help with our permitting process and uh alleviating pressures on that pipeline. Um so more to come on that. Uh and it's uh definitely really exciting to see the collaborative work from all of the cities and county across uh our county to work on that together. Want to remind folks that on Monday the Port Gardner Neighborhood Association will be having their meeting at the Everett School District community resource room starting at 7 PM. I will see you there. Um, and a reminder too that tomorrow in coordination with Snow Track, I'll be heading down to a Sound

Transit meeting to share comments in the letter that council had passed last week urging Sound Transit to support uh selecting an option that builds the Ever Link extension in full and on time. And Mo folks are more than welcome to join. And it'd be great to have a a contingency there in the room to show our support for uh building the uh building the spine. Uh you can check out the invite on my Facebook page or on the Snow Track website uh to uh for more information on how to join at the meeting. And if you're not able to make it, please please please email the board at the Soundransit Board at meeting comments at soundtransit.org to share your support or perspective. I have concerns that uh the many voices from King County might be drowning out our voices and I think it's important that the board hears loud and clear that Snowish County won't be left behind. And last but not least, I wanted to wish a happy municipal clerk's week to our clerk team. Thank you for keeping us all in line and making sure that our TE's are crossed and our lowercase J's are dotted. You are appreciated. Thank you. We have a card for you as well if we can pass that down, please. Great. Uh moving on to uh reports from administration. Hi Mike.

Good evening council members. Just one quick flag. Last week there was some public testimony related to the EMS levy. Uh Mayor Franklin sent an email to each of you I think just yesterday morning with some clarifying information from Chief DeMarco. Happy to follow up if there's any additional questions with the chief and uh but just wanted to make sure that you knew that that was in your inboxes. Uh, and then, uh, to the, uh, request, if Alexa and Katie, if you can, you know, um, maybe stay behind for a few minutes or leave me your email uh, and contact information, we'll make sure we connect you with the appropriate folks in public works. Thanks. Thanks, Mike. Uh, next up, City Attorney David Hall.

Um, I think I noticed Council Member Tui look my way when you were talking about releasing uh, people from jail at midnight. I I know that's something you were concerned about and that I harped on constantly during the era of the streets initiative and historically that was a huge problem. Ever is the regional jail and so we receive uh people from as far away as Arlington who get booked into our jail and then uh at least historically were released at midnight with no services out into the darkness often to commit more crimes and then they became a permanent resident of our streets. So, I'm very glad to hear uh if that is in fact the case that they are no longer doing that because it's horribly important for our uh interests here in the city. And related to that, uh Council Member Bader's um comment on uh lesser sentences, lesser time spent, less time spent in the uh jail. Um I will say that uh that's not true for the people sentenced under our mandatory minimum sentencing ordinance. And I just heard from our prosecutors who are preparing the memo that you get each I believe if it's six months or 12 months on how that is working. And uh the folks who are subject to that uh minimum mandatory sentencing in Everett uh are showing a lower lower recidivism rate. So it's been it's been at least moderately successful so far. Uh and uh we are asking for an executive session tonight uh 10-minute executive session to discuss settlement of a lawsuit uh pursuant to RCW423110 uh 1 I with council action to follow. Thank you.

Thank you David. Uh next up we have our consent consent agenda. We have three consent items. Do I have a motion? So moved the motion on consent. Second. Great. Uh, clerk, please take the role. Council member Zerlingo, yes. Council member Schwab, yes. Council member Burbano, yes. Council member Tui, yes. Council member Bader, yes. Vice President Rin, yes. Next up is a proposed action item, uh, which I will read into the record. Council Bill 2604-24, first reading, adopt an ordinance amending chapter 2.74 of Everert Municipal Code, which pertains to appointed employee compensation and fringe benefits with our third and final reading on May 20th, 2026. And we have Candy here.

Great. Thank you. Candy Barlet, Administrative Services. Good evening, council. Staff is requesting that council adopt an ordinance amending chapter 2.74 of the EMC. This chapter establishes French benefits for appoint which are also known as non-union employees employed by the city of Everett. This includes insurance, holidays, vacation, sick leave, and other related benefits similar to what a CBA does for union employees. The purpose of this proposed ordinance provides clarification and updates to several benefit provisions including insurance plans, holidays, vacation acrruel, sick leave, and bereavement leave. These updates modernize the code, reflect current practices, and create parody with our represented groups, which we recently um you approved all of the uh collective bargaining agreements. So, we're done with that round of bargaining. Um, and it also provides competitiveness with comparable cities to ensure that we can continue to attract, promote, and retain qualified employees. The key changes included in this ordinance include clarifications and eligibility for benefits. It updates vacation, sick leave and bereavement benefits to maintain parody with city unions in comparable cities and provides a new public safety appointed premium which would be established by the appointed compensation committee. We we do this currently uh for compression between ASME and management, but there was never a compression mechanism to address compression between public safety such as the fire captain um to a division chief or an assistant chief or on the police side from a police captain to a a deputy police chief. So this provides

that same mechanism to address compression which we currently have given the two collective bargaining re agreements that were recently um settled. At this time I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you. Any questions from council? Great. Uh how many employees would this apply to? Um I'm going to go off. It's about 220 estimating. Okay, great. Right. pretty much wall-to-wall civil service here at the city. So, these are just the non-represented employees. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to our public hearing and action item. Uh, council bill 2604-23, third and final reading, adopt an ordinance relating to establishing a manufactured housing community zone, amending the zoning map and amending chapters 1502, and 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1913 EMC. repealing title 17 EMC amending ordinances 3774-20 3534-17 and 4102-25. I will now open the public hearing. Uh Angie, are there any members of the public wishing to speak on this item?

Yes, there are two. So, Ross could please come to the podium and please press the button on the base of the mic and state your full name, city of residence, and you have three minutes to speak. Okay.

My name is Ross Angelus. I live in Everett and I've lived here since 1978. I've been a very active part of this community. I've managed the Claremont QC store. I've taught at Ever Community College. I own a business here in town that's 44 years old now and I also serve on the board of directors of volunteers of America. So I'm very active in this community. I also happen to live in a manufactured home bar. I uh I live uh in the Fairwood Estates on 100th not far from the airport. Um I moved there originally in 2020 when my mother passed. my father needed to be somewhere. So, I purchased a home there for him and lived with him and keep him company for the few years that he had left. And uh I have enjoyed living there. I've continued since his passing. In fact, I recently just fully remodeled it. So, I guess I'm planning on staying there. Um when we moved in, it was very reasonable. And we own the homes, but you of course lease the plot of land they sit on. uh the family that owned it sold to a large financial group called Commonwealth and since then the leases have more than doubled and I I have to say that the uh people managing it, the individuals that we deal with in the office have changed from a very congenial to a more corporate type setting where they decide things like what your house looks like, your yard looks like, that sort of thing. Um, looking at my neighbors, this is their home and I don't know what they'd do for a home otherwise if they weren't there. Housing is, as you've already addressed for a number of things tonight, a very difficult situation. U, for example, VA just opened a pallet community here for mothers with children

that had no other home. It's a very important subject and and the retired members of our community probably have earned the right to have a decent home in their lives. They've served this country. They've served this city for their entire lives and now they're in a position to watching their social security check no longer equaling the amount of their lease. So having a situation where the residents can have more control over the properties they live on would be a very positive step in taking care of the older part of our community. And I very much appreciate the uh moves that have been made recently by the city and some of the rules changed in the state about uh ownership of parks going forward. I think they're a step in the right direction and anything this council can do to help people living in places like that would be greatly appreciated by the public and by the people who live there. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And Ken, if you could please come to the podium and state your full name and city residence and you have three minutes to speak.

There we go. Uh, council members and city administrators, thank you for having this open for us. On March 17, 2026, the planning commission passed the manufactured home zoning designation on the proposed code amendment abbreviation NR- MHC with a 60 vote in favor of the amendment. We residents of Fairway Estates of 55 plus manufactured home park along with six other recommended manufactured home parks uh by the city or by the planning commission are asking that you the city council vote for this amendment NR-h when it comes before you to make it part of the comprehensive plan. Your support will allow the seven manufactured mobile home parks with approximately 1,000 mobile homes and approximately 1,500 resident voters to remain mobile home parks in the city of Everett. By taking this action, the city council will greatly reduce the fear of so many of our residents of becoming homeless. Most of you have listened and have heard the fear and the stress that some of these seniors even would should die rather than become homeless and dependent on the city. That's absolutely amazing. Who are these owners? They are singles. They're veterans. They're widows. They're widowers. They're disabled adults. most of whom have home care in their home by outside vendors. You also help these owners preserve their equity in their investments by not

allowing them to become worthless, which often happens when a mobile home park is put up for sale for other land uses like apartments, condominiums, or commercial uses. How do you sell a mobile home when there's no place for it to go? On top of that, by law, most of them cannot be moved. These residents own their homes and they only rent the land that this or pads as we call them. We highly recommend to urge the city council to pass the NR- MHC zoning district's ordinance and thus make it part of the city of Everett comprehensive plan. By your action, the city of Everett will retain these vibrant communities for our senior citizens who serve our communities, the city, and the state. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And that concludes our public comments. Fantastic. Thank you. Uh we'll now close uh public hearing. Is there Oh, motion. I have actually quick point of order. Is is there actually a public hearing tonight? Because it doesn't list that in our agenda. So technically, was that just citizen comment? That is the public hearing. I don't know whether it was listed in the agenda, but it was advertised as the public hearing. We we typically allow public comment for any ordinance and whether you call that a public hearing or not. I'm just asking if we need technicality if we technically need a motion to close the public hearing or just move on.

I think technically not, but it doesn't hurt. Um, and if I could at the risk of getting out of my lane, not not that I've ever done that before, right? Um, remind you of a comment I made several months ago when this was first proposed. The Fairway Estates, I believe, is one of the mobile home parks that has been purchased by the Carile Group, a private equity firm. Uh, and I think I recommended to you trying to start the um, city book club, a book called Plunder about the uh, damage that private equity firms are doing to local jurisdictions as they buy up important community assets like mobile home parks.

Great. Thank you for the reminder. As chair of the meeting, I will close public hearing without a vote. Um, and then uh, moving I wanted before opening uh, council discussion, I want to check with staff to see if there were any final comments or just available for questions. We're just here for questions. Great. Uh to bring forward discussion. Do I have a motion to adopt the ordinance? Move to adopt the ordinance. Second the motion. Great. Any comments or questions from council? Council member Zarlingo.

Well, as someone who's been involved in this uh since the early days about a year ago now, and with I think something over half of the uh mobile home units in my district, five, three large parks, um have taken a particular interest. And I guess one thing I would say in context of this, because I've made other comments before, I won't repeat those, but that this is um I think this is a kind of a moderate and nuanced solution. This isn't a perfect solution for the residents of the parks. It isn't a perfect solution for the owners. Uh it's complicated. There's a balance. Part of it involves uh state regulations in terms of uh rent increases. Part of it involves land use, which is what we've been dealing with here. And I think this is kind of a typical example of what happens with with uh legal and procedural things. A lot of work on the part of people like Alisan uh Yoro, our planning commission and planning staff. A lot of work and involvement on the part of the residents of the parks themselves. Uh they've been asking us questions, asking for explanation. they've been reasonable and rational in their expectations uh because they know that there are limits on what we can do and so I am um happy to move to approve this uh to recognize all the work that's gone into it and the fact that in the world of tradeoffs uh this is I think about as good as could be done from all sides. That's it for me.

Thank you. Moving online, Council President Schwab. Yes, thank you. Um, I'd also like to thank the planning department. When council member Zarlingo and I brought this to them during our discussions in the comprehensive plan, um, they was it was one of those items that needed some additional time. And if you remember when we approved the comprehensive plan, it was our intention to address this issue. So, um, really appreciate the council's support on this and also wanted to do a shout out, um, for council member Bo Bogley, I know her, myself, and Saring will work really hard on this. Not as hard as the planning department, but we we appreciate it. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Any further questions, comments from council? Great. Clerk, please take the role. Council member Zerlingo, yes. Council member Schwab, yes. Council member Burbano, yes. Council member Tui, yes. Council member Bader. Yes. Vice President Rin. Yes. Uh moving on to executive session. Uh we will now move into executive session which is expected to last 10 minutes with uh action to follow.

We have returned from executive session. Uh, city attorney David Hall. We are hoping for a motion to authorize the mayor to execute a settlement agreement. The case involves a vehicular accident. Um, the city um vehicle was at fault. The plaintiff is Christopher Ray Gales. Um and uh the arbitration award in superior court was $16,616.50. We believe that that is a reasonable amount and hope that you will move to authorize the mayor to execute an agreement in Ammon. Do I have a motion? Council second the motion. Great. Any comments or questions? Cler, please take the role. Council member Zarlingo. Yes.

Council member Schwab. Yes. Council member Berbano. Yes. Council member Tui. Yes. Yes. Council member Bader. Yes. Vice President Ryan. Yes.