City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, residents of Everett, Washington. I'd like to call to order the Everett City Council meeting of September 16th, 2026. For information on council meetings and how to participate, please visit our website at everett.gov slash city council. Please note, 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 the audience refrain from clapping, cheering, or booing, and no signage of any kind is allowed in the chambers. We also ask that everyone take a seat and not gather in the entryway. Clerk, will you please take the roll?

Mayor Franklin. Here. Councilmember Bader. Here. Vice President Ryan. Here. Councilmember Bravano.

Here.

Councilmember Toohey. Here. Councilmember Weir. Here. Councilmember Zerlingo.

Here.

President Schwab.

Here. At this time, I'd like to ask Councilmember Weir to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Here. Thank you. At this time, I'd like to ask Councilmember Toohey to read the land acknowledgement.

Certainly. The City Council wishes to acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Stahoochee people and their successors. the Tulalip tribes. Since time immemorial, they have hunted, fished, gathered on, and taken care of these lands and waters. We respect their sovereignty, their 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. Well, good evening, Mayor.

Good evening. Have a few announcements tonight. First, this past weekend, members of our greater Everett community got together for a celebration of life honoring Larry O'Donnell, who passed away mid-August. And to recognize the impact he had on our city and his lasting legacy, I issued a proclamation, which I'd like to read tonight. Whereas Lawrence, Larry O'Donnell was a lifelong Everett resident whose love for his hometown was reflected in decades of service to its schools, civic organizations, and community. And Larry was a committed supporter of education, dedicating more than 30 years to Everett Public Schools and continuing to support students and scholarships in his retirement. And Larry was also a passionate steward of Everett's history, who served on the city's historical commission, supported historical preservation, and authored or co-authored multiple books and articles documenting the history of Everett. And Larry's service extended throughout the community, including decades of involvement with the Rotary Club of Everett, as well as countless other efforts. And in recognition of his lifelong dedication to learning, Everett High School named its library the Lawrence E. O'Donnell Everett High Library in his honor in 2024. And Larry truly lived the words of the Everett High School alma mater, an Everett man born and an Everett man till he died, dedicating his life to the community that raised him and leaving Everett better through his generosity, curiosity, and service. Now, therefore, I, Cassie Franklin, Mayor of the City of Everett, do hereby proclaim September 12th, 2026 as Larry O'Donnell Day, and I encourage all residents to honor his extraordinary legacy. So just wanted to share that. It was a beautiful memorial, and I was honored to attend. He will be very missed. Also this week, Governor Gregoire, former Governor Gregoire and Challenge Seattle have been working on economic development and economic competitiveness strategy for the Puget Sound region. I joined leaders from across the region on Monday, including mayors, labor and business leaders to launch the partnership. Everett and Snohomish County are prominently featured in our region-wide plan. At the event, I was joined by former Mayor Stephenson, as well as other elected and regional leaders. Our team has been working closely with Puget Sound Regional Council, Governor Gregoire's team, and other mayors on how we can help promote a welcoming business climate moving forward in our state. If any council members would like copies of the plan and local action playbook, the mayor's playbook, Jennifer can get those to you. Also, this week is a big week for light rail in Everett. The draft environmental impact statement for Everett Link will be out for public review on Friday. Yesterday, the FTA, Federal Transit Administration, was in town visiting with Sound Transit leadership to learn more about the upcoming projects, including our Everett Link light rail extension. This is a very significant opportunity to tell the story of light rail in our region, our readiness to build light rail to Everett and our ridership numbers and our vision for the future. Sound Transit was able to highlight Boeing's huge workforce and the future needs for transit, our vibrant South Everett community, and our growing downtown. As you know, additional parking at station is not envisioned in Everett on day one or even several years after our light rail stations open. Local bus access will be critical to ensuring Everett riders can access this generational investment. So an increase in transit service in Everett is very important to the FTA. It's our path to success in grant applications in the next couple years. Those grants are 30% to 40% of funding for new light rail projects. So again, the competitiveness requires public transportation, and 30% to 40% of our competitiveness is our ability to deliver that. billions of federal dollars. Sound Transit needs to win those grants, and Everett needs to be poised to make the case right now. Without a bigger investment in transit, Everett of 2037 would be served by a transit system with less service than you see today. When Light Rail opened in Linwood, Community Transit was able to shift a third of their service from commute routes to Seattle onto local connections, serving the Linwood station with bus service every 45 seconds in the morning and every three minutes all day. So it's important that we are able to do that in Everett. So we need to position our city for the future. And that's all I wanted to share.

Thanks. Okay. Thank you very much. Going to old business. Do I hear a motion for the approval of minutes for September 9th, 2026? Councilor Ryan, some moves. Seconded. A motion and a second has been made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Bader. Yes. Vice President Ryan. Yes. Council Member Burbano.

Yes.

Council Member Tuohy. Abstain. Council Member Weir. Yes. Council Member Zerlingo.

Yes.

President Schwab.

Abstained. All right. Now it's time for public comment, which includes written comment acknowledgement. Under our rules, written comments shall be considered in the same manner as oral comments. Person submitting comments must provide their name and city of residence to make our official council record. Good afternoon or evening, Angie. Could we start with the written comments and then go to the chamber?

We did not receive any written comments.

Do we have any online?

No.

Okay. So all in chambers? Yes. Okay.

So we'll start with Ray. If you could please come to the podium. Please press the button on the, yeah, right there. And then state your full name, city of residence. You have three minutes to speak.

My full name is Raymond Allen Stephenson. I don't hear that very often, but Mayor Franklin, Council President Schwab, and Council members, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. My residency is Everett and was born not too far away from this location, but I wanted to come this evening. I was here several weeks ago, as you remember, indicating that the Economic Alliance in Homage County, where I currently work, unanimously supported the consolidation of Everett and community transit. And I've reflected on our position today. and thought about the time that I was at the CDM and actually have done some outreach to get more informed about this issue. And I know some of the council members remember this, but Marion Correll, the late Marion Correll, council member, at one point did, and it was necessary, proposed a sales tax increase for Everett Transit. And increases in taxes are never easy. but she and the council and the administration clearly realized the importance of doing that. The other thing that I'm really struck by at this moment in time As much as I love and I believe protected Everett Transit, the future is ahead of us. And for those who can't afford private vehicles, for those of us collectively that can't afford more asphalt and more highways and more systems to drive individually in our own cars, we have to look to mass transportation. And that's why this consolidation I think makes so much sense And what I applaud all of you about the administration and the council is the protection of the Everett Transit employees. And I had a long conversation with Rick, and I'm assured that that protection is there for those employees. As you deliberate on this issue in the coming weeks and talk about it among yourselves and the public, I'd encourage you please to support this initiative. It's very, very important to the future of our community. I hope I'm around to see light rail arrive in Everett, but even if I'm not, I will be there with you in spirit. But I appreciate your courage and your thinking, your forward thinking about the future and consideration for this consolidation. So thank you. And now I get to go home. You have to stay here.

Thank you. Next, Alvaro, if you can please come to the podium. And please state your full name, city of residence. You have three minutes to speak. My name is Alvaro Guillen.

I live in Monacterra, zip code 98043. Mayor Franklin and city council members, I'm here to express my support for the consolidation of Everett Transit and Community Transit because it represents an opportunity to improve transit service and create a truly regional system that improves service and reliability. Over the past three months, Everett has experienced a significant increase in federal law enforcement detentions, which has instilled fear among residents. The unlawful data sharing practices by the Department of Licensing are partly responsible for this rise in detentions, many of which involve individuals with no criminal records. In addition to the existing challenges our community faces, driving has now become a risk, one that carries the potential for separation from loved ones and the possibility of children being placed in foster care. This merger opportunity will bring transit improvements and will benefit all residents, but it will be most impactful to residents who currently have the fewest transportation options, including families facing the new challenge I just described. Longer hours of operation will help thousands of community members who work outside of traditional business hours to get to their jobs, doctor appointments, and school more easily. With shorter wait times and fewer transfers, people can spend more time with their families and easily travel with children. A direct service to more Snohomish County destinations will make use in transit an option where it previously was not. I urge the City of Everett to move forward on the consolidation and to set an expectation of high-quality service and work with community transit to deliver. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, if you, Lisa, could come to the podium. And please state your full name, city of residence, and you'll have five minutes to speak.

Thank you. My name is Julissa, and I live in the city of Everett. My zip code is 98203. Dear Mayor and Councilors,

Mayor Mrakas, Excuse me, could you can bring the MIC closer to your it's awfully quiet, thank you. Mayor Mrakas, move the base closer. Mayor Mrakas, I froze your time so okay. Mayor Mrakas, Go ahead, thank you.

I am here to support the the fusion between a Community transit and every transit. ¿Tienen más paradas más cercas para las citas médicas?

Having more stops near tour houses, tour medical appointments.

Tengo un bebé recién nacido y mi único transporte es el bus.

I have a newborn baby and the only transportation that I have available is the bus.

Y haber seguridad para uno como los jóvenes y las mamás jóvenes.

And we request a safe for the community for the youth people and the moms.

Y más rutas para llegar al trabajo y para dónde estacionar.

We need more routes to be able to get our jobs and more places where to park our cars.

For those who do not have where to leave them and to be able to use the transport to get to our jobs faster.

We live in a community with we have like a limited spots for parking and we don't have space for that so or mainly transportation is the public transportation to get whatever we want faster. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, Sylvia, if you could please come to the podium. And please state your full name, city of residence, and you have five minutes to speak.

Hola, mi nombre es Silvia, vivo en Everett, y mi código es 98204.

Hello, my name is Silvia, I believe in Everett, and my zip code is 98204.

Querida alcaldesa y concejales, estoy aquí porque estoy a favor de la fusión de Everett Transit y Community Transit.

Dear Mayor and council members, I'm here because I support the merger of Everett Transit and Community Transit so that there are more bus stops closer and so that they are not too far away from each other.

Ya que nos toma mucho tiempo esperar y llegar tarde, por ejemplo, a las citas médicas.

because it takes so much time to wait and we get late, for example, to the doctor appointments. Para comprar comida en las tiendas. To buy food at the grocery stores.

También me gustaría que haya más seguridad en las tardes.

I would also like to have more safety in the afternoons or at night.

Recientemente miré personas drogadas amenazándose con un cuchillo.

I recently witnessed people that were taking drugs and threatening with knives.

Creo que la unión de las dos empresas solucionarían estos problemas.

I believe that the merger of these two companies would solve these problems. Muchas gracias. Thank you.

Thank you. Katie, if you could please come to the podium. Please state your full name, city residence, and you have five minutes to speak.

Hola, buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Kathy y vivo en Everett. Mi código postal es 98208.

Hi, good afternoon. My name is Katie and I live in Everett. My zip code is 98208.

Alcaldesa y concejales, me dirijo a ustedes para comunicarles que estoy a favor de la fusión de Everett Transit y Community Transit.

Major and council members, I speak to you to communicate that I am in favor of the fusion of Everett Transit and Community Transit.

Esto beneficiaría a la comunidad porque habría más paradas de transporte y menos espera en ellos.

This will benefit the community because they will have more stops, bus stops, options for transportation, and less weight in this.

Me gustaría que hubiera en Everett el transporte ZIP puerta a puerta.

I would like to have in Everett the transportation ZIP shuttle door to door.

Esto sería otra opción para todas las personas adultas mayores, los jóvenes y la población en general que usan el transporte por las tardes y por las noches.

This option will be for older adults, young people and the public in general that uses the transportation by the afternoon and night.

Se sentirían más seguros. Muchas gracias.

This will feel more secure and safe. Thank you.

Thank you. And Sulaney, if you could please come to the podium. Please state your full name, city of residence, and are you speaking in English? Yeah, in English. Okay, so three minutes to speak.

Yeah. Good evening, council members and major. My name is Zuleyne Altamirano, and I serve as a public affairs and mobility navigation program manager at SNOTRAC, Snohomish County Transportation Coalition. My work takes place in Everett and across Snohomish County. Through our mobility navigation program, we travel alongside community members and see the barriers they experience during their trips. We have assisted residents whose commute from Everett to Arlington takes nearly two hours each way. We have met people who almost walk 30 minutes to reach a bus stop and residents who are homebound and cannot navigate at that application without assistance. These cases show us that we still have significant work to do. The proposed consolidation is an important opportunity to improve transit in Everett. Through more frequent service, longer hours, fewer transfers and better connections to light rail and options such as zip shuttle. We should make the most of this opportunity, not simply recreate the same system under different structure. We can learn from existing barriers, listen to the community, and make intentional improvements. Transit does not begin when the bus arrives. It begins at a person's front door. If someone cannot safely reach the stop or understand the service, the system is not truly accessible. Language access must also be essential. Nearly one in five average residents is Hispanic or Latino, and almost none in these speak any language other than English at home. Yet survey applications and engagement opportunities are not always available in languages spoken by the communities that are most affected. Imagine being asked to help shape transportation, but the question is not available in your language. How does that include all residents? As this process moves forward, we must listen to the people who speak English and those who don't, people who understand technology and those who don't, and people who encounter barriers before their trip even begins. Transportation is not simply about moving people. It's a bridge to opportunity, providing access to work, healthcare, family, and community. Thank you. Thank you.

john judge if you could please come to the podium please state your full name and city residence you have three minutes to speak Sorry, can you please press the button because it was on prior? Yeah, you can start over. We'll give you three minutes.

Awesome.

Sorry.

Okay. As stated, I have anxiety. So much anxiety that I forgot my little booklet that has my notes in it before I came down here. Like, I don't want to be here. I can feel my heart racing. I can feel my fight or flight responses engaged. I had every reason to put this off, turn around and say, I'm going to do this next week. But that's just how much I dislike flock cameras. It's a testament to how much I detest the burgeoning surveillance state in my community. This anxious feeling is the same as I get when I see the flock cameras. I dislike these license plate readers, and I'm using these air quotes. They're doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I'm going to have to wing it a little bit. Ninety cities nationwide canceled their contracts with Flock in August alone, 160 year to date. Eight of those cities were right here in western Washington, and I will acknowledge that Governor Ferguson signed into law that flock data is not subject to freedom of information. While I do appreciate that this makes it more difficult for federal agencies to break into that data and use it nefariously, it also prevents us as citizens from having any oversight on whether the company is operating within the law. There are at least 69 instances nationwide of law enforcement officers abusing access to flock data, and I am in no way leveling accusations at our police, but this is akin to having a loaded gun in a circle that we all agree nobody's going to touch it. All it takes is a momentary lapse in judgment, purely looking at this from a fiscal standpoint, the lawsuit that the Everett taxpayers would be on the hook for, and that kind of data breach would be astronomical. The money that's spent on these flock hammers should be spent in our communities. There's proven data from King County showing that by providing housing, it reduces crime and incarceration rates. The ick I feel from flock is the same ick I felt when I read 1984. And here we are voluntarily marching towards an Orwellian nightmare. I value dignity, freedom, and community. Automated license plate readers do nothing to support these values. I would even posit that what they provide is in opposition to those values. I'm asking that you vote to cancel the Flock contract and that you place a moratorium on license plate readers and AI in our community. In light of recent news about the looming threat that AI poses, I will leave you with this. If there was a plate of brownies sitting out that had a 10% chance of killing you, would you shake those dice?

Thank you. Janine, if you could please come to the podium and state your full name, city residence. You have three minutes to speak and please press the button on the bottom of the mic. Thank you.

Janine Demery, Everett, Washington. I was going to share with you a little piece of the Wayback Machine and hopefully try to bring it around in my three minutes. I got this message from a former anti-abortion protester who was started coming out there as a teenager. She got to hold me through my TikTok. She says, hi, I just wanted to reach out and apologize for everything. I stumbled across your page in your feed and I recognize you. I used to be one of those crazy pro-lifers protesting outside the Everett Planned Parenthood. And I just wanted to say, I've had some huge changes of heart over the last few years, deconstructing Christianity, changing sides politically. And I've wished I could bump into y'all and tell you how sorry I am for a while now. I get it now. Honestly, as soon as I had my first kid, I started realizing more and more something was wrong with what we were doing, and I stopped going out. I used to be married to Johnny Bywater. Some of you may remember that incident.

But not anymore, LOL.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I think of you guys, and if I ever see you out there, I'd love to come say hi and support what you're doing now. And I'm sorry for being one of the crazies back in the day. Give Rick, Kathy, and Karen my love. So a month ago, there was a car that went whizzing through our neighborhood at 1130 at night at 70 miles an hour, crossed my crazy neighbor's two giant one-man boulder thresholds in front of his yard and T-boned the truck in my driveway. This has been an increasing occurrence in the 12 years that I have lived in the View Ridge neighborhood above Howarth Park. My neighbor across the street had been in contact for, I did not know, almost a year with the traffic manager, whoever it is, letting them know that we have loads of kids that are going up and down the road at high rates of speed, parking their cars very, very fast and furious. And I get it.

I loved that movie too.

Putting a speed thing at the end of a quarter mile strip. I don't know who didn't. remember what it was like to be a teenager with a car, but that's probably not a really good idea, but I'll tell you what is. Speed bumps starting from the bottom of that park, probably at least four or five going all the way down to where the upper park is. Um, There are neighbors that are very mad in the neighborhood. My neighbor was screaming at people going up and down the middle of the road. My neighbor next door, his first thought was to sue the city and not go after the person's insurance. So just be aware. He is anti-government and he means it. Three days after that, I had a... I felt like half-naked 15-year-old knock on our door at 1.30 in the morning who was here from South Seattle and comes up to Howarth Park apparently, and she was in the car with a 17-year-old drinking buzz balls. And when I was awakened that I needed to address a person in my household, because my husband felt very uncomfortable being around a half-naked teenager at 1.30 in the morning, she had a sweatshirt on, but it didn't look like pants. We had a very long talk before we figured out what to do with this young girl who was from South Seattle at my house at 1.30 in the morning. We properly relocated her and I gave her May I continue for one more? Yeah, could you just finish up, please? Yeah, I will. I was able to educate her probably more than her parents will about what is going to happen in her life in the future. And all I can hope is that if she ever has to visit a Planned Parenthood, because she will likely be a statistic, that she can do so harassment-free. Thank you. Thank you.

Holly, if you could please come to the podium. Please state your full name and city residence. You have three minutes to speak.

Holly James, Everett, Washington, Northwest Neighborhood. Hi, I'm just here again to shake the can about the stadium project, Outdoor Event Center project. My three kind of points of interest for today were to request for some kind of public input process, whether it's an information meeting at this point. I know there's a lot of us that have questions about shortfalls in the budget and what the end game is. Will there be a number that, okay, that's just going to be too much, we have to stop? Has anybody got it on their plate to say, this is not going to work, we're going to have to readdress a different route? I mean, I've had big, strong ideas before, and sometimes they don't work out and you're the last to know it. And I don't want the citizens of Everett to have to pay for a lack of sight in, OK, we started this thing with one path and that's not where we're going to end up. I also request to update the website or something just to give us the most up-to-date information about the budget and the expected incomes and revenues. The ones I've seen on the website have blank spots that I'm sure weren't filled in because you didn't know, but not knowing at this stage in the game isn't a good idea. So if we could get some of that, and debt service management was one of the blanks on that, And I also recently heard that if, has anybody thought about the effects of the Tulalips building the stadium, if they get the Sonics contract and get a big fat stadium built just up the road. So there's a lot going on around competition for stadium stuff. I know it would be a different kind of stadium, but is anybody looking to the future that isn't just looking at how do we make the all ball clubs happy. And, um, again, requesting more opportunities for public input.

Thank you. Thank you, John.

People also president. I just wanted to add, um, Holly, I, I took note of some of the questions you brought up last week and I am remiss in getting back to you. I, I, uh, worked with the team and took down your notes and as well as your, um, uh, Annie, thank you. And so I will send that out hopefully later this week to you and the council. It's just been a very busy week, but I promise I will get back to you and I appreciate the questions.

Okay. Please state your full name and city residence. You have three minutes to speak.

John Peoples, Everett, Washington. Good evening, City Council. I'd like to start with some very good news and invite you to join me in celebrating the American patriot victory over the British 250 years ago today, September 16th, 1776, in the Battle of Harlem Heights and maintaining at least four-time control of northern Manhattan Island. We have many blessings. God's blessings are many for the American people and the land of America, especially our founding generation and our brave patriots. And I'd like to ask you to do two things in their honor. The first is to continue the land acknowledgement, and the second is to remove all of the surveillance license plate cameras. The first thing is the land acknowledgement. Week after week, hollow promises and unfair defamation, claims of mistakes without ever naming them, without ever giving us an opportunity to answer for them. That is unfair and very uncivil. As for the flock cameras, the problem here is not privacy or the loss of our privacy. That's a straw man. Privacy is moot as soon as we walk out our front doors. We are subject to simple human surveillance by our five God-given senses, sight, ears, hearing, smell, etc., The problem with the cameras is government overreach. You are exceeding your authority. You are trying to play God and try to go back in time and get information that you should not have. So I would like to propose that it will be a glorious American day when every municipal employees remove every single one of those flock cameras. And I would like to end with some good news, as if that weren't good future news. Thank you very much, Mr. Zarlingo, for putting in the plug last week for the modular nuclear power fission, fusion. I'm a big fan of all of the above energy, wind, solar energy. natural gas, coal, nuclear, et cetera. And I'm also a big fan of the data centers. So I think a data center would be a very good addition to the Everett economy. So let's see. And I believe that's it for now. I also want to make very clear that I appreciate the efforts of immigration and custom enforcement agents, and I welcome them to Everett to do their federal law enforcement job. So ice in, flock out. Thank you.

Thank you. Duane, if you could please come to the podium. Thank you. And please press the button on the bottom of the base there and state your full name, city residents. You have three minutes to speak.

Hello, my name is Duane Dow. I'm a resident of Everett, born and raised, worked for Everett Transit, been driving for Paratransit for, I remember, 33rd year now. I'd like to appreciate Ray Stephenson's comments and the other folks that were here. I know there's a lot of people that, you know, think that community transit is going to be a great thing and it's going to just... You know, improve everything. And I'd like to point out that Steve most often mentions that. Seamless is. Depending on what you're doing, because. Somebody can still write a community transit bus and still transfer to another community transit bus or to light rail or to a Metro bus. uh ever transit is still a viable thing we are you know probably going to have to address some information or funding in the future uh if light rail gets to Everett Everett Transit will get you there I wore Richard Sherman today because after Super Bowl 48, they asked him, they said, you know, he said he was the best, you know, defensive back. And somebody said, are you really the best defensive back? And he says, if I don't believe I am, I have no business being out there. And as far as Everett Paratransit Service goes, I actually did work for DART years ago. Our buses said community transit, our uniforms said community transit. Our paychecks were senior services at that time, which then became Homage and now Transdev actually operates the contract because it's subcontracted. Today, I did a transfer with one of the DART buses, as we often do, people coming into Everett, transfer from DART to us, and then people that are leaving, we transfer to DART. The driver got out of his DART vehicle, came over and did a transfer, and I had to do a double take because the man was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie and then his safety vest. So I know Transdev is a for profit company, and so I'm not sure if some of their profit comes from not providing uniforms for their drivers. And I would just think that it seems more professional to actually and feel safer for a lot of the passengers to actually think that they have a professional that is going to give them their transportation. And like I said, I've been told by many passengers that have ridden DART access and have come from other parts of the country that they think that Everett Paratransit is the best. And I think it's the best. And I think that if we want to keep Everett Transit the best, we can just keep it and it will be the best. And I'd just like to encourage you to keep Everett Transit. Thank you.

Thank you. I have two more individuals that wish to speak when we get to item number five.

All right. Thank you very much. Okay, so we'll move to Council comments. And we'll begin with Councilmember Bader.

Make it easy. No report today and no comments. Councilmember Ryan.

I just want to thank everybody that joined this evening. I took diligent notes and very thoughtful, helpful comments. So thank you everybody who joined this evening. On Monday, I attended the Port Gardner Neighborhood Association meeting. There was a proposal from our traffic engineers to change some parking along Federal, and so there was a huge turnout. Hopefully, everybody comes back next month as well, but I did want to share my gratitude to Corey Hurt and the team and to Captain Fairchild and the EPD team for their work to address concerns from the neighbors, but also balance it with the city code that parking on parking strips is illegal. So I appreciate the team working to find, working to listen to the neighbors and then they'll be coming back in a couple of months with a possible solution to help everybody. So thanks to everybody and looking forward to getting to getting to yes. Thanks.

Thank you. Councilman Rubano. So Sunday I cover for Major Franklin at the multicultural celebration organized by the River of Life Christian Center. We had a great time. People were singing, dancing, and there was a lot of great food. Major Franklin, I will be happy to cover for you next year as well. Among other things, this Saturday, September 19th, 10 a.m., we will be opening the Community Connection Path at Walter E. Hall. This new trail is located next to PUD's Community Solar Project, El Solar Alcance de Tus Manos. So please join us on Saturday. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Trujillo.

Yeah, I just want to give an update on one of the projects that I was able to designate some ARPA funds for, which is the Pacific Avenue Gateway Mural Project. And that has now started being painted. And it's really going to enhance the gateway of folks coming off the freeway going north on Pacific. I know there are a couple business leaders who have been working for about 20 years to make this a reality. And so I was really happy to be able to designate some funds for this. And we should have our ribbon cutting at the end of the month. So I'm not going to tell you what the mural is, but it's really going to be cool. So a surprise. Awesome. That's it.

Thank you. Council Member Weir.

I thanks to as Councilman Ryan mentioned to everybody that came out to speak tonight and join us, we appreciate hearing from you. So last week Councilmember Babano and I attended tour of the water pollution control facility, so if you ever go across the flats and towards marysville and you see those big or on the freeway and you see the big ponds out there, the big lakes. And it was really fascinating and that place is immaculate I mean they take such good care out there and really are looking out for making sure that the, the water that's coming in and going out of our city is clean and taken care of. They have these really cool devices that are all solar powered that are floating out in the lake that kill the algae to help break that down in a natural way. And we heard about just the different types of microscopic bugs that they... kind of monitor in certain parts of the treatment plant that are doing nature's work to break down the products, as well as how the air is filtered up through chips instead of having to use chemicals and other treatments for that. So really some creative processes that they're using to make it a less impactful. We always called it the poop ponds when I was a kid, you know, so if you know what I'm talking about out there, not to be crass, but so that but it was really, it really was fascinating. And I appreciated them taking the time to show us around. Um, also this coming Saturday, uh, Bayside neighborhood is doing their bark in the park and they generally will have that at Clark park. Um, this time it's going to be at possum lodge, which is the new dog indoor dog park. That's opened up on Rucker and it's a free event to go check out. So, um, look forward to seeing a lot of people there. Um, next Wednesday evening from six 38 30 will be a former council member, um, paul roberts a celebration of life at the ever performing arts center and that's from 6 30 to 8 30 and the public is welcome so if um you knew or loved or were impacted by paul roberts feel free to come by and join us for that and that's it for me good

Thank you very much.

Council Mayor Zarlingo. Two things to report on. Last week I represented Everett at Puget Sound Regional Council's Transportation Policy Board. A couple of discussion items there. One of them I think that's large but not much discussed yet is the potential for the Cascadia high-speed rail project. This would connect downtown Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C. with potential locations in city centers. airports and employment hubs for best accessibility. It's designed to complement existing transit. This is a very large proposed project still in the planning stage, and there will be a lot of, as there was at this meeting, some contention between doing something like this or optimizing, maximizing the existing Amtrak rail, especially using these new Siemens Aero train sets that are coming to the region. Actually, I think they're here already. The third set has been delivered. So that's been in the news lately, some better transportation, better cars, better services and amenities in the Amtrak between Portland and Vancouver. Where this will really go and how it will interact with I-5 and Sound Transit, that's all kind of yet to be determined. But if you're interested in that kind of high-speed rail, certainly pay attention over the coming years. And then also no secret fuel tax revenues in Washington are declining. So basically due to electric and hybrid vehicles. And there are legislators are looking for a way that scales payments to road usage. though they acknowledge the practical and political problems of a road usage charge. Representative Fye is looking to introduce some sort of a highway user fee. So once again, pay attention in next year's legislative session if you're interested in that topic. And then lastly, last night I attended the Valley View neighborhood for Councilmember Ryan. A fun group to listen to. I've been there several times before. They're on the east side of I-5 in South Everett. So these are the neighborhoods that are accessed via the 75th Street over crossing that single access point to the neighborhood. Thanks to Chair Amy Wall. It was good turnout and a discussion of the recent fire incident. and our fire response, and the fire response specifically discussed by Department Fire Marshal Chris Brown, and also some excellent Q&A by Everett Police Lieutenant Stewart. That's it.

Thank you. Council Member Zolingo, you talked about the additional road use tax. Was there talk about additional tabs as an option?

They did not discuss tabs themselves at all.

That was something that was discussed in the Joint Committee on Transportation was an option of tabs, tab fees. Thank you. uh i spoke at the 9 11 event in downtown everett and i want to thank the mayor she did you did a fantastic job thank you um 25 years of course being having 33 years in the fire service um is a solemn day and very reflective i just want to recognize um other on top of the 3 000 lives that are lost that day and the 374 firefighters and 75 law enforcement. Since then, there's been 9,400 lives that have lost directly related to the airborne particles that they absorbed during that rescue, including 600 firefighters. But the event was well, and I really appreciate the community coming out for that. I also spoke on Sunday at the International Restoration Church Open Community Forum. I spoke on the importance of the need to have faith-based communities and nonprofit organizations and their support for food, housing, and healthcare needs for our community, including dependency problems and domestic violence. So we have a lot of partners. I just want to recognize that in our community and really appreciate, like I've said it for years, we're the most benevolent community around. So it was another nice reminder. So thank you for that. We'll go to administrative report, beginning with Jennifer Gregerson.

I have no report this evening.

You don't?

No. I mean, there's so many things, but I won't pick up your time.

Okay, how about our city attorney, Ramsey Ramerman?

Thank you. No comments, but I am asking for an executive session tonight pursuant to 4230-110-1-i to discuss legal risks and 4230-140-4 to discuss labor issues expected to last for 30 minutes with no action to follow.

Okay, thank you very much. All right, so on to our consent items. We have three consent items. Do I have a motion and a second?

A motion on the consent items. Second.

Okay, motion and second is made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Bader. Yes. Vice President Ryan. Yes. Council Member Burbano. Yes. Council Member Tuohy. Yes. Council Member Weir. Yes. Council Member Zerlingo. Yes. President Schwab.

Yes. On to our proposed action items. Item number four, Council Bill 2608. It's been read on the record. Does Council have any questions or comments? Okay. Hearing none, our third and final reading will be September 23, 2026. We have one action item, item number five, Council Bill 2608-47, third and final reading, adopt an ordinance creating a special improvement project entitled 41st Street and Rucker Avenue Corridor Phase 2. Do we have a motion?

Council Member Bader-Simos.

Second the motion.

Okay, is there questions or comments?

I believe there's public comment.

Oh, are we having public comment on this? Oh, we have two. Thank you.

Stephen, if you could please come to the podium. Stephen. Please state your full name, city of residence. You have three minutes to speak.

Okay. Mayor, city council. My name is Stephen Faulkner. I'm from Everett, Washington, District 2. First thing I want to do is I want to thank Judy Toohey for her no votes on the outdoor event center when the consultants were asking for more money. And you were the only one that stood up and said no because they were doing a bit of a shell game. I do watch most of the city council. I'm sorry it took me so long to come down and say that. So I want to speak on this Rucker Avenue corridor phase two because I believe this goes into West Marine View Drive where I live and reading the PDFs that I was able to find You guys are the city, not you guys, but the city is going to take some buildings, some housing. I live there. Many people live there. Some of us, I feel, are going to lose our rentals because you guys are going to take it to widen West Marine View Drive again. And in the original, the original phase one of the West Marine View Drive expansion has turned what was a really nice neighborhood of really nice people into Excuse my French but hell the racing the noise the it's constant 24 seven it gets worse, all the time, and when this next phase is done it's probably going to be worse now some of us i'm sure are going to get out of this because. You're going to take our houses. But some people are going to be left behind. I would like you all to think about those people that are still going to be living there because nobody should have to live like this. Nobody. On that subject, I want to find out if the Federal Relocation Assistance Program will apply in this expansion. And we don't know if you're expanding to the east or the west yet. I would like to hear some comment if you guys even know what you're doing yet. But I would like to know what our futures are. Are we going to get moving costs? Are we going to be taken care of as renters? Are we just going to be tossed out and fend for yourselves? The other thing I am concerned about is my rental history. For 10 years, I've never been late on any of my rent payments. But I'm dealing with a property management company that is AI. If I were to go try to rent someplace else and they wanted my rental history, there is no way to get a hold of these people. which is how I know that it's happening because your persons, your, Oh, I'm sorry. Just finish up. Okay. Your person came to me because they couldn't get ahold of the owners or the, or the property rental company. And so they knocked on my door, which is how I found out about this. I know there was open house. I never heard about it back in 24. And, uh, I wish I would have. But anyway, those are my concerns is that we get taken care of and that you guys think about the people that are going to get left behind here that have to live in that. Thank you. And it may be me. I don't know. I don't know yet. Thank you. So thank you.

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

Hi there, my name is Frankie Gil 98201. I'm also a resident and representative of the 1201 Avenue, Pacific Avenue and Norton building that will be impacted by phase two of this corridor expansion plan. I'm here to sort of speak to the feelings and concerns that our residents do have there and would like just to just be placed on the record. The first sort of concern that we have, I feel like can be summed up with one word, which is afterthought. Many of us there do feel like and are frustrated by the idea that we had not been properly made aware that our homes would be placed in the line of fire or in a trucking lane. of these phase conversations when they began or when the project started to take shape at 41st and Rucker. It didn't appear like it would be work that would eventually displace homes, particularly not ours as far as we were from it. And the fluffy PDFs of the projected path of progress made little, if any, mention of what would happen to us, the people who were inside the shapes on those PDFs. Even if our home was on the chopping block only recently, still does it make us feel like afterthoughts that no one would have maybe potentially thought to pretend to give us a say in the matter by seeking our viewpoints out either via form or fire or public forum to hear ideas, to hear our concerns, or to explain the potential consequences of the project's movement our way. So we, at our building at least, would like to demand that, for the record, we do be kept aware in clear and concise language, because the language might be clear to you guys, but it might not be clear to the people who have to read them and the people who it affects. Of how our building noise concerns has been raised, and how our housing will be affected as well as this program, as this project goes on. And including, and importantly, yes, being informed clearly of who will be responsible, who we keep accountable for keeping us whole and housed via relocation assistance and costs when we're forced to move out so that business can move in. And we do plan to follow up at least on emails to make sure that we aren't left in the dark again when it comes to that. Because, yes, had it not been for your real property manager encountering my fellow resident while searching for business, the building ownership's contact, we still might have no idea that our housing could be dosed in two years. And congratulations on finding this gentleman, by the way, because we can never seem to. Apparently, he only answers calls when money is on the line and not hours when bigger money is on the line. The only other word that I feel like at least encapsulates how we feel is like a casualty, frankly. One lost through capture, a thing injured. A necessary cost, it feels like, for the battle that this administration, frankly, seems to want to fight to become the next Seattle it adjacent town. But the city's more than that. Its value is more than just somewhere where people who are rich enough to live elsewhere but not rich enough to live in Seattle can come for you and your big twice. We can't, some of us can't afford

If you could just finish up, it'd be great. Yeah.

Two of us can't afford to live here if we were moved from affordable housing. So please stop taking buildings that people can't afford to live in to put in more things that we won't be able to afford. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. That concludes our public comments.

We have questions or comments from the podium. Mayor? Mayor?

I just ask our team member Tom to step forward and maybe address some of the comments as well as the outreach and impacts that we are anticipating.

Thank you. Good evening, Council Mayor. Thank you. Tom Hood, Public Works. Yes, this project has been in the works for a few years. One of the residents mentioned the open house that we did back in 2024. I can't remember if that was actually the year, but we did do an open house during the alternatives analysis for this project. We wanted to do a complete look at the corridor, see what would make sense for the improvements before we dove in to full design. We wanted to get public outreach, public involvement. So we did have that open house. It was fairly well attended, got some great comments. And as a result of that, we concluded our alternatives analysis and moved toward final design, which is what this funding ordinance is for, to do final design. However, in the process of that alternatives analysis, we did leave the intersection of Rucker and Pacific undecided. in terms of which way we were going to widen and which properties we would impact. We had not come to a consensus yet. And that's part of the early work in this full design process is to determine what makes the most sense for the corridor. So at this point, we don't know who's going to be impacted, but it will be somebody. And we have had Darcy Bird, real property manager, or maybe Rory, her assistant, out trying to make contact with some of the property owners to start those initial conversations about things like relocation and all of that, all of those types of things that renters, tenants, or owners would be affected by. I know there was some difficulty in making contact with the owner of at least one of the buildings. In terms of federal relocation assistance, I'm going to defer a lot of this to Darcy as the real property manager because it's more in her wheelhouse. but we do not have federal funds in this. So technically we're not required to follow federal relocation standards. However, in my 28 years at the city doing these projects, it has been my experience that we do an equivalent amount of work compensation, relocation assistance, and all of that for all of the acquisitions that we make when relocations are required. So, um, I'll leave it at that at this point and certainly respond to any other questions you may have.

Tom, are there next steps? We haven't settled on a design for that intersection and that's the one that our guests referenced, our public commenters referenced. What are the next steps in the final design if council approves the funding and you move forward with that? How might folks get engaged or where are opportunities for that?

Yeah, absolutely. We do have some information on our website. As we learn more and develop more, we post more. The first steps will be getting the information on the properties near the intersection that we're looking at. This intersection at Pacific is really, there's going to be a lot of work done to it. It needs to be regraded from a vertical standpoint because low boys tend to drag through there. So we'll be tearing up that intersection and lowering it to make it flatter and everything. So those types of things will be looked at early in the design process. And then once we have a better direction, we can certainly do additional outreach. We'll already be working with the owners. The owner-tenant relationship versus the city is another area that I need to defer to Darcy on and I can get more information about that. But there are some limitations to that in terms of city directly to tenant.

I think that there's good examples that maybe we just like, you know, the mayor brought you up to the podium. I think that we have experience in other situations that maybe there's some things to learn. We can look into as the work goes forward too.

Question, Council Member O'Reilly?

Thanks. I just want to make sure we're all talking about the same intersection because the constituents are concerned about the West Marine View Drive Pacific intersection, not Rucker in Pacific. So the specific apartment building is the northeast corner.

If I said Rucker, I was mistaken. Yes, I am talking about West Marine View Drive Pacific.

Okay. So at this point, are there plans to eliminate any housing along any of the corridor?

Yes. There are two alternatives. One eliminates a west side structure at that intersection, northwest corner. The other alternative eliminates the northeast corner structure. And really, that's a result of turning movements for freight. There's restricted geometry right there now that we're trying to address as part of this project.

And some of our council members may recall that this has been a project that has been underway for several years. We have a industrial port that serves not only our Everett, but the entire region and state where they bring large freight vehicles. to and from and that's what's driving this it's not a city initiated process or something that we just got to be in our bonnet we wanted to widen the road it's based on uh requirements of the freight corridor that this is and this is one of the difficult decisions it takes a very long time to do these projects we the first was you know kind of the changes in how the traffic shifted off of rucker to Pacific and West Marine View Drive. And now this is the second phase. And so, yeah, just a reminder for some of you that may have watched this from before you were on the council or those that are longer serving council members that are under what this is.

So the area around 41st and Rucker, that's already completed. Is there more work there?

Well,

We're also looking at expanding the radius on the northeast corner for the westbound trucks turning right to go north on Rucker. We're looking at it. We don't know yet if we can actually accomplish that due to the proximity of the alley to the east.

Uh, customer beta. Okay.

Thanks. And, and Tom, I mean, look, I mean, when we say we've been talking about this for years, I mean, this has been almost like decades now. I seem to recall, uh, maybe even before the Stephenson administration, there were ideas of should we be building a viaduct across to cut those corners of Rucker and West Marine View? And I mean, so much bigger plans. And this is only, this is stage two. So for those of our constituents who are watching, There are further plans in a stage three beyond this that people need to be aware of, right? I mean, we're not there yet, but I mean, to be cognizant that there will be additional... There could be.

They're not currently programmed, but we could get there. And yes, the freight corridor has... You know, for years we've had trucks going through downtown, east-west. Nobody's ever wanted that. We've always tried to encourage the 41st, Rucker, Pacific, and West Springview Drive corridor as the truck route, especially since 41st at I-5 has the fairly recent new interchange, which has great geometry for big trucks.

Got some more tweets?

Yeah. Um, can you just maybe talk through how, once the decision is made, um, how that will be, uh, the outreach will be to the, the folks that are living there. I know it's, you're talking about the building owners, but will there be something that also will include the, the folks that live there?

Yeah, we'll, we'll be doing another, uh, open house in person as well as online. Um, We can certainly work with administration to right-size that. But yeah, absolutely, more outreach to come. Essentially, at this point, we need a little more information for the design process.

Yeah, just so that the folks that are here tonight know that they can expect outreach from the city and explanation and help.

Council Member Ware?

Can you just give a big, just a brief overview of what this, what area is impacted by this? Because you're talking about the West Marine View Drive Pacific. Is there going to be more in this phase two or?

There is.

Just because it's not like I'm reading through it again going, I don't know the specifics of the location.

We're essentially doing, it's mostly intersection improvements. On 41st at Colby, Rucker, and then Pacific at Rucker. A little bit at Grand and Pacific. And West Marine View Drive and Pacific is the big one. That's where there's actually taking of building going to occur. And then we're also going north up to Terminal Avenue, Everett Avenue intersection. And we'll be widening the radius on that, excuse me, for trucks going down into the port over the Terminal Avenue Bridge as well. And included in that will be a new concrete pavement on the West Marine View Drive portion between Pacific and Terminal. That will be very beneficial for us for maintenance. As you might know, asphalt pavement does not hold up nearly as well as concrete pavement to heavy loads like trucks. So we're taking advantage of the external dollars to do that.

Any other questions? And we're talking about the biggest concern would be the northeast corner. Is that correct?

That would potentially be the corner with the most residential relocations.

Yes. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. We have a motion and second. So clerk, please take the role.

Council member Bader. Yes. Vice president Ryan. No. Council member Burbano. Yes. Council member Tuohy. Yes. Council member Weir. Yes. Council members are lingo. Yes. President Schwab.

Yes. Okay. That concludes our action item. We'll now go into executive session. The current time is 739, 749. Thank you. No, 740. Thank you. And we're going to take 30 minutes plus one. So we will return at 812. How's that? We are returned from executive session for our September 16, 2026 meeting.