City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Kent City Council meeting for Tuesday, 05/05/2026. If you could all please rise and join me in the flag salute. Melissa, could you call the roll, please?

Mayor Ralph. I am here. Council president core. Here. Council member Boyce. Councilmember Boyd?

Here.

Councilmember Larmer? Here. Councilmember Michelle?

Here.

Councilmember Schocher? Here. And Councilmember Troutner? Here. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Item number three is the approval of our agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda as published?

We don't have any changes, your honor, but I would note that we do have a closed session at the end of the meeting as item 11 a. That is to talk about collective bargaining under RCW 40 two-thirty-144A. We anticipate that that will be about fifteen minutes and there will be no action following.

Alright, thank you. Hearing no changes, a motion would be in order to approve the agenda as published.

So move. Second.

We've got a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries, six zero. That moves us right into the public communications portion of our agenda. We are going to start out this evening with four proclamations. I will sort of give you an understanding of how we're gonna do this. I will step down to the podium, read the proclamation, and call up the person that's receiving that. We will come and do a quick photo in the front so we can share that proclamation with our residents on social media, and then I will ask you to say a few words regarding the proclamation.

All right. The first proclamation we have this evening is for ALS awareness month. And Karen Wise, the care services manager at the ALS Association is joining us this evening. So the proclamation says, whereas ALS, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive, fatal, neuro degenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles, slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new ALS cases are reported every year, an estimate show that every ninety minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS.

And whereas on average patients diagnosed with ALS survive only two to five years from the time of diagnosis, The exact causes of ALS are unknown and there is no known cure. And whereas securing access to new therapies, durable medical equipment, and communication technologies are of vital importance to people living with ALS, Clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life, and fostering assertive technologies assistive technologies for those living with ALS. And whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research globally and has committed more than $154,000,000 to support more than 550 projects across The United States and 18 other countries. And the ALS Association is committed to making ALS livable and make it to make ALS livable and cure it for everyone. And whereas ALS awareness month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of this dire circumstance of people living with ALS, acknowledge the terrible impact that this disease has on individuals and their families, and support research to eradicate this disease.

Now, therefore, I, Dana Ralph, mayor of Kent, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as ALS awareness month in the city of Kent and call upon our community to join in supporting ALS research, advocating for funding, and standing in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease. If I could now ask Karen to come up and join me.

I'm Karen Wise, Care Services Manager at the ALS Association, and I want to thank the city of Kent and the council honorable mayor. And also my friends Carl and Marilyn Moore for coming. Carl was the founding president of the ALS Association chapter here based out of Kent thirty years ago and has done so much work. So I really, really appreciate all that you've done in making this disease more visible and supporting us. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Our next proclamation is for Bike Everywhere Month. And joining us this evening is Tim Irwin, the vice chair of our Bicycle Advisory Board. Whereas Kent residents find that bicycling is a popular and viable means of personal transportation and whereas the Kent City Council desires to promote the use of bicycling as a mode of urban transportation in our city and whereas the role of the bicycle in Kent is an economical mode of personal transportation that decreases traffic congestion, reduces demands on parking facilities, and promotes health. And whereas bike facilities like the Interurban Trail, the Green River Trail, and the Seuss Creek Trail are intensively used for commuting, recreation, and other bike trips.

And whereas concerns about public or personal health, having clean air to breathe, and preserving the planet make the bicycle an increasingly attractive alternative to the use of the automobile. And whereas the city desires to have an active role in promoting the safety and well-being of those who use bicycles for all transportation purposes, now therefore I, Dana Ralph, mayor of Kent, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as bike everywhere month in the city of Kent and call upon the community to support this observance by riding their bicycles everywhere while educating and encouraging others to utilize this mode of travel. Tim will come over and take a quick photo. Yes.

I'd like to thank the mayor and the city council and the city of Kent for being such active partners with us in encouraging cycling as transportation, sport recreation. And I'd also like to remind everyone that on Saturday, May 16 is our bicycle rodeo from ten to one at the YMCA. It's a chance for kids to get out and practice safe riding. As far as the Bicycle Advisory Board, we essentially consult with the city and the transportation department on ways that we can further improve the bicycling infrastructure and encourage cycling in the city of Kin.

Thank you. The bicycle rodeo is a lot of fun. Kids, there's generally helmets, there's bicycle repair last year and the ability to compete against our police officers in an obstacle course. So if nothing else, there's a fun reason to come out. Alright.

Our next proclamation is for National Police Week, and chief Padilla will be joining me to accept the proclamation. So it says, whereas congress and the president of The United States have designated May 15 as peace officers Memorial Day, and the week of May 15 falls as national police week. And whereas the members of the Kent Police Department play an essential role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of citizens of the citizens of Kent. And whereas it is important that all citizens understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards, and sacrifices of our police officers, and that members of our police department recognize their duty to serve people by safeguarding life and liberty, property, and by protecting them against violence and disorder, and by protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression. And whereas the men and women of the Kent Police Department unceasingly provide a vital public service working to create a safer community for all while strengthening trust and building genuine relationships.

And whereas National Police Week is our time to remember all officers who have given the ultimate sacrifice and service to their communities. And while police week has always been important to us, it has take on taken on an even deeper importance in our community after we lost detective Foth in 2017 and officer Moreno in 2018. Now therefore, Dana Ralph, mayor of the city of Kent, proclaim the week of May 11 through the seventeenth twenty twenty six as national police week in the city of Kent and invite all residents to join me in honoring law enforcement officers past and present who have, by their faithful and loyal devotion to our city, have rendered a dedicated service and are committed to preserving the rights and security for all residents. And while we spend time honoring our officers, please also join me in recognizing and paying respect to the survivors of our fallen heroes.

Madam Mayor, thank you for the wonderful proclamation. You summed up pretty much everything I had here to talk about. I did also want to thank you for the proclamation for Corrections Week, which is currently ongoing. We are celebrating our correction staff right now. So Police Week is a time for remembrance and a time of gratitude.

It's a dual purpose of remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and then honoring the women and men who are out there today serving their communities. I had the opportunity this past weekend to go down to Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial in Olympia and participate in a memorial walk. And it was an invitation to the survivors and their families and it was a good reminder that there are many families still carrying the burden of that loss to stay. So we honor them as well. Policing is a demanding work and our officers respond to people on their worst days.

It's a difficult and dangerous situations that they're asked to go to. They make critical decisions and quick judgment calls under extraordinary pressure. And while remaining committed to serving others, they do this with professionalism, compassion, and integrity. And last, I just wanna say directly to my KPD family, including our corrections and professional staff, thank you. Thank you for having the courage and dedication and unwavering commitment to serving people. The strength of our department is our people. It always has been our people and I could not be more proud of the incredible work they do every day. Thank you.

Alright. Our last proclamation this evening is for National Small Business Week, and joining us is Zenovia Harris, the CEO of our Kent Chamber. So the proclamation says, whereas small businesses are the foundation of the City Of Kent's economy contributing to job creation, economic vitality, and the overall character of our community. And whereas small business represents a diverse range of industries and entrepreneurs the impact are in of and serve their our nation. Customers and strengthen our local economy.

And whereas the city of Kent recognizes the critical role of organizations like the Kent Chamber of Commerce in supporting small businesses through advocacy, business development, resources, workforce initiatives, leadership programs, and community partnerships. And whereas the Kent Chamber is actively supporting and celebrating small businesses through events, educational programming, networking opportunities, and initiatives that foster economic growth and opportunity throughout South King County. And whereas National Small Business Week established by the U. S. Small Business Administration provides an opportunity to recognize the contributions of small businesses and honor their impact on our local, regional, and national economy.

Now therefore, I, Dana Ralph, mayor of Kent, do hereby proclaim May the tenth, twenty twenty six, as National Small Business Week in the city of Kent and encourage all residents to support and celebrate our small businesses and the entrepreneurs who drive our community forward.

Good evening, everyone. Mayor Ralph, council president Kaur, members of the city council, city staff, community members. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak this evening and also for recognizing small business week through this proclamation. So on behalf of Kent chamber commerce, our board, our staff, our members and the hundreds of businesses that we serve. We're honored to receive this recognition.

I also wanna say thank you so much to our treasurer, Roana Docanis with BECU and Dee Scott with D Real Estate for coming here in support of this today. I also want to thank the work that you all are doing on behalf of the city. Kent is complex. We know it is diverse, hardworking community, and leadership here requires balancing the needs of residents, employers, families, workers, and the neighborhoods that we live in. Small Business Week matters because small businesses are not just part of the economy.

We've heard this before. Small businesses are the backbone of our community. They create jobs, support families, strengthen our neighborhoods, and keep dollars circulating locally. But I want to say this very clearly, small business cannot be treated as an afterthought. Investment in small business must remain a priority if we really want Kent to continue to thrive.

Our local economy is a big one. We have our large employers like Blue Origin, Amazon and other major industries that bring in jobs, infrastructure, innovation and economic strength to our region. But at the at that time at the same time our small and mid sized businesses are employing locally retaining talent supporting schools donating to community efforts and showing up for our nonprofits alongside them our human services division for the city. They're working with grassroot nonprofits, and they're filling in those critical gaps for our community. And those needs need to continue to be supported.

Large business, small business, nonprofits, schools, governments, community organizations all carry different parts of the same responsibility. When one part of the ecosystem is ignored or derailed, the entire community will feel that. As the taxes and the cost of doing business continue to rise at a state level, we know these pressures will have real impact, especially on our small to mid sized businesses. This is why the Kent Chamber would like to encourage a direct partnership with the city of Kent to conduct business retention and expansion visits, also known as BRE. These visits would allow us to get real time pulse on how businesses are doing, what barriers they're facing, what support they need, and where opportunities exist for growth.

This is not just about responding after businesses are struggling. This is about being proactive, responsible, and intentional about the challenges that will become too large to ignore. So as we celebrate Small Business Week, I want this proclamation to be more than symbolic. Let it be a reminder that small businesses need access, visibility, resources, capital, and intentional partnership. At the Kent Chamber, we will continue to highlight and support our nearly 400 members throughout Small Business Week and beyond.

We will continue telling their stories, connecting them to resources, advocating for their needs, and reminding our community that when small business succeed, Kent succeeds. Thank you again for this proclamation, and thank you for recognizing the value that your small businesses bring to this city.

Thank you. All right. We're going to move on to the next item on the agenda and that is recognition of our employee of the month. So, every month, here at the City of Kent, employees get together and they nominate one of their coworkers that consistently exemplifies our mission, vision, values, and goals here in the city. Many of these employees, it's both in individual projects or special projects, but mostly in the way they show up every single day and support their team and support the mission and our residents here in the city.

For the month of May, I am pleased to announce that our employee of the month is Mike McTudis. Mike was first hired on 06/16/1993 as an Engineer Technician III with the Public Works Department. His title changed to Senior Engineering Technician in 1995, He was promoted to an engineer one in 1997. Mike became a storm water engineer one in '99, and in 2001 was promoted again to engineer two. He was re classed to an engineering supervisor in 2003, and promoted into his current position 05/01/2005, as the environmental engineering manager.

As an environmental engineering manager, Mike supervises and performs complex and professional engineering duties in the management, implementation, and coordination, and direction of public works environmental engineering projects. He trains supervisors, supervises, assigns, and reviews work of assigned personnel while assuring efficient and effective functioning of the environmental engineering section. Mike was nominated because of his leadership during the flooding event last December really stood out with his performance, attitude, motivation, and dedication. When the situation needed calm direction and quick decisive action, Mike stepped in, in the right way, and guided both the team and the community through a fast moving difficult emergency. He is one of the few experts on the Green River with regards to stormwater, flooding, levees and the management of the Howard Hansen Dam.

Mike has expertise in understanding the USA COE Army Corps of Engineers. Thank you. I knew that one. Process for the management of the Howard Hansen Dam and resulting river flows that occur here in Kent. On December '10, Mike worked twenty straight hours to calculate the potential flows of the Green River and impacts to Kent based on the rapidly changing forecasts and as the third atmospheric river hit the Pacific Northwest.

Mike's knowledge provided critical information for the management of staff and resources during that historic flood event. When the breach occurred at the Des Moines Levy, Mike was one of the first on scene and coordinated with other agencies to address the immediate need of the river. Throughout the event, he continued to work long hours and provide information that helped prioritize needs and where resources should be spent, including the city's response to the airport levy that helped pump water off of city roads, private properties, and one sixty seven. Mike's knowledge during the entire event was critical. These are all of the reasons, or some of the reasons why Mike is absolutely deserving of our May employee of the month award.

Our public works director Chad Beeran is going to come up and Mike if you want to come up you can and if you'd always up to always up to you.

Thank you mayor. I think that it's great. Everything obviously said by Mike's peers absolutely accurate. I also think that the the flood just helped magnify what Mike brings to work every day. And so he while he's the employee of the month, he does this all the time. I've been here for twenty seven years. Mike was here for six years before I got here, thirty three years here at the city. And I've seen nothing but that kind of dedication. I jokingly behind the scenes call him our Jiminy Cricket. He's always making sure we do the right thing.

And I know if Mike gives me that look, maybe I'm getting a little too creative about things. I know he'll pull me back into the realm of doing the right thing. So I really appreciate that about him. And secret, he's one of the funniest guys we've ever met. And behind the scenes, he's hilarious. So it makes it extra special fun to be in the situations like the flood. It made it palatable to be in there and fighting it out. Got some good laughs out of it. So Mike, I will allow you to say something, but I bet you're gonna say I'm okay. All right.

Thank you for this honor. This is this is really a privilege. A lot of the talking as you said about the the flooding in December, that was that was really an extraordinary event and it was a really a privilege to be able to represent the city and and do what what all of us did. A lot of people did were working long hours for two weeks straight. It was like a week before the water even hit when we knew something big was coming.

And so the people were coming to work with a smile on their face. I mean coming in for the midnight shift with a smile on their face, looking forward to what they were going to find and how they could help. And it was it was very inspirational to be part of the city family. And I look forward to coming to work. I look forward during the flood event. I look forward to it every day. So, you.

Thank you, Mike.

Mike is absolutely known as the expert on all things Green River. The projects that we have going there, the levees, how it works, how it flows, has the ability to explain that and help people understand. I serve on several regional committees King County wide, and Mike is always the go to for information. I am fortunate to be always well prepared in those conversations, but I know that I can always turn and say, and Mike, what do you have to say about that? And he's got the information, and it is recognized at all levels.

So, Mike, thank you so much for everything you do for our city. Really, really grateful. All right. The next item on our agenda, council, is an appointment of the alternate position to the Arts Commission. I am pleased to bring forward this evening the nomination of Abdi Gadala.

Did I do okay? Yes. Okay. Abdi lives on the East Hill and works as a senior engineering manager for REI, and has applied to be on the Arts Commission because she values civic engagement and participation. Serving in this capacity, and this is a quote, serving in this capacity is an opportunity to give back to the city that I live in and to contribute time, skills, and lived experience towards initiatives that have meaningful public impact.

It's a really powerful statement, and I am so grateful for it. She's a classical Indian dancer, and is going to bring a diverse background and perspectives that informed by global artistic traditions, which feels like it fits so very well in our community. So counsel, this nomination for the alternate position is on the agenda this evening for your confirmation. Would you like to come up and say a few words about the application? You do not have to, but we'd be happy to have you if you want. Thank

you for the opportunity. I was looking for how to be part of the Kent City and offer to the community. And I was looking for an online space, what was available, and our commission portion was available. And I'm avid dancer, like I've been part of, you know, the heart community from the engage. And even now, I perform in the areas around Seattle. So I'm very active in the community in the dance performance. So I said, okay. What is the better way to start serving being part of the Art Commission? Right? So thanks for this is a great opportunity, and I I appreciate the consideration. Thank you so much.

Council, we have one more appointment that will be for consideration on the consent calendar, and that is an appointment to the King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission. Established in 1980 to ensure that historic places, material culture, and traditions are preserved for future generations. I think you will all agree with me that there is no one better in the city of Kent than Michael Johnson to be appointed to the Landmarks Commission. As you all know, Michael is a long time Kent resident, very active in our community, including the Mill Creek neighborhood and the Greater Kent Historical Society, as well as work with city staff. We formally recognize the Mill Creek Historic and Kent City code to ensure the preservation of those contributing houses that could be at risk for being torn down.

Michael, I want to say thank you for your dedication to the neighborhood and the community and your willingness to serve. I'm really, really grateful that you want to take on this role. So would you like to come and say a few words?

I thank you all last month for passing the code changes to protect the historic homes in the district, Mill Creek Historic District. That's one of the highlights of Mike living in Kent was working on that in twenty thirteen, fourteen to get us a historic district. Worked with King County Landmarks Commission do that. Kind of returning returning back to the original roots. And I'm, as you say, interested in preserving the history in Kent, all the buildings we have down here and on the hill that need preserving and yet be able to grow the city.

So it's an important thing for me and I appreciate the recommendation nomination. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. With that, we are going to move on to Community Events Council President.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. How many of you have been to assess the Sherwood Center for events or hockey or other? All right, wonderful. So we have on May 30, we're celebrating our diverse communities here in Kent with International Festival. I believe it's starting at ten goes on until 04:00 and we might see our newest Art Commissioner that are performing maybe.

It's wonderful celebration, we get to see performances, there's cultural exhibits and there's all sorts of learning opportunities. So I would encourage our community to attend this free event for Kent International Festival on May 30. And we also have Paw Fest coming back on June 6 and Parker McCollum on June 27. And for that, you can get tickets on assessorshowwarecenter.com. And that is all I have. Back to you, Madam Mayor.

All right. Thank you. We are now going to move into the report portion of this evening. Each one of our council members separate from these meetings serves on regional boards, regional or statewide boards and commissions to make sure that the City Of Kent's voice is being represented in those decisions, whether it be funding decisions or policy decisions. I am going to start with a quick report, then I will turn it over to Pat Fitzpatrick.

I want to say thank you. We had held a coffee and conversation event out at Woods Coffee a couple of weeks ago. I want to say thank you to everyone that came out and attended that. It's really just an opportunity to hear from the community and have very casual conversations. I want to say thank you to that. I also want to say congratulations to our essay contest winners. So our Kent Kiwanis Club has been sponsoring middle school essay contests for many, many decades. I had an opportunity to go up and meet with the essay award winners. It's always one of my favorite things during the year to hear their perspective. They're given a prompt and write an essay.

And A lot of times it's about things in their life that they have overcome and ways that they are building those skills. Really impressive group of winners this year. Last thing I want to report on, much in line with Mike being here with us this evening, we had our first King County flood control advisory meeting. The advisory board is a group of member cities that provide recommendation regarding projects and budget to the King County flood control district. Important work every year, but obviously highlighted by the flooding that we had in December.

I will continue to chair that group. We will meet through the summer and provide our ultimate recommendation to the King County Flight Control District Board of Supervisors at the end of the summer in August. So I will keep you posted as we work through that. But again, just really doubling down on why the investment is so important to all communities that have a river running through them and why we need to prioritize those projects that have a potential impact on not just property, but on safety as well. So, with that, I'm gonna turn it over to Pat.

Thank you Madam Mayor. Two issues. First one, I wanna say kudos to Public Works. If you I think you're aware that we had a water main break this week up on Kangley at 2 63rd Street. Super complex issue that they had to deal with. And and it took a couple of days. And the the crew was out there day and night, got it fixed, and service was not interrupted to any resident. So that's a huge win for them. It's just one of those things that happens when you run a water utility. Sometimes the pipes break, and just like in your house.

So public works did a fantastic job of getting that problem fixed and get the system back going. The other thing is, I just want to let you know that Keyhawk is inching closer to full opening. Flooring work is continuing and it's looking great. And I think you've counsel have toured that building as most of you have, and we should have that building open very soon fully opened very soon because it is occupied in some places. That's all I have. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Pat. Council President?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Earlier this evening, we had our community of the whole and our council workshop. We had a great presentation on our sanitary sewer comprehensive plan and that presentation is available on Kent TV twenty one and on Facebook page. I serve on King County Board of Health meeting. We had our meeting last week.

We had an update on twenty twenty six legislative session that just ended, but also had a very good presentation with Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention and our very own Chief Padilla was there talking about progress we've made on gun violence here in Kent and I'm actually looking forward to that presentation for the whole council soon, see if we can get that scheduled. I also serve on Association of Washington City's nominating committee and we had our and all the other candidates at our June meeting in person in Spokane. And the rest of my report will be in our council newsletter that comes out tomorrow afternoon. So if you don't already subscribe, you can subscribe to our council newsletter. It comes out on Wednesdays after the council meeting.

And, with that, I'm going go ahead and get started with Council Member Troutner.

Thank you, Madam President. I sit on the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority Governance Board. I am also on the Regional Transit Committee and I have nothing new to report but I have been busy these past few weeks attending different events and celebrations and there's photos and information on that in the newsletter. That is all I have.

Thank you. Thank you councilmember Troutenor. Councilmember Boyd.

Okay. This past Saturday, we had an event at the Station 74 for people who did show up. It was a teddy bear clinic. It was great. I mean lots of kids, lots of sun, lots of fun, was really good.

So, for those who didn't show up, maybe next year. I also sit on the arts commission board and just lately we looked at 79 different artists not artists but pictures and we're going to choose seven out of the 69 for our rap box that we're to be wrapping here in Kent and the majority of my information that I need to share with you will be on my newsletter that will be coming out this Wednesday. Thank you madam.

Thank you councilmember Boyd. Councilmember Larmer.

Thank you council president. So I sit on the King County Growth Management Planning Council after several delays and cancellations. It is still on my calendar now for May 27. So we think we're

going to meet for the first

time this year here in two weeks. I'll report at that time. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Larmor. Casper Michaud.

Thank you, Madam President. I serve as the council liaison for the Human Services Commission, and commissioners and reviewers are going through the grants. Reviewing them right now. We will have a meeting on May 21, a half day meeting, in our small groups and discuss our selection of grants, and then move forward to the next half day meeting. So, we are in the thick of that.

I also serve on the Regional Law Safety and Justice Committee. We had a brief safety briefing regarding FIFA. So, we had Seattle police, fire, emergency management, and the King County Sheriff and Metro all there sharing some information. I know some people might be concerned about the lack of communication so far. Trust me, there is a communications plan. They're just waiting until we get closer to the event before sharing everything. One thing people should know, if you plan on going to the games or going to Seattle, the entire area around the stadium will be closed. The roads will be shut down, and there will be no parking at the matches. So be prepared for that. And that's all I have.

Thank you, Councilor Thank you, Council President. I don't sit on any boards and committees yet, but I did get to attend an event at my old middle school, Meeker Middle School, which was a Colors of Connection event. I appreciated seeing all the students and teachers come together and celebrate culture and community. I also joined a community conversation with a nonprofit called One America and our chief, Chief Padilla, around public safety issues affecting immigrant communities.

Thank you, Councilmember Schroker. And I also want to say that I serve as a chair for PGSAN Cleaner Agency Advisory Council and we're actually meeting here next week in person in our council chambers. I'm looking forward to that. And as you can see, my colleagues here, we also run many different boards and commissions along with being here, showing up for our meetings and all that information is available in our council newsletter again. Please do subscribe so you can get those updates and see those fun pictures that we take for community events. With that back to you Madam Mayor.

Right, thank you. Item number six on our agenda is public hearing. We do not have one this evening, so that brings us down to the public comment portion of our agenda. Public comment period is your opportunity to speak to the council and the mayor on issues that relate to the city of Kent or agenda items the council will consider. This is not an open public forum and comments that do not relate to the business of the city are not permitted.

Additionally, the state of Washington strictly prohibits people from using this public common opportunity for political campaign purposes, including the support or opposition of a ballot measure or any candidate seeking public office. Speakers may not give political campaign speeches, but must speak instead concerning matters of the city council or the agenda or matters concerning the general business of the city. Further, in providing public comments, speakers must address the mayor and council as a whole, and remarks intended to target an individual on the dais are not permitted. The clerk will call each speaker. We do have a three minute timer that will go up on the screen.

And if when you come

to the podium, if you could state your name and city of residence for the record, we would appreciate it. I'm going go ahead and call our first speaker.

Barbara Clemens.

About what the city is doing to protect them from ICE. So far, there have been two reports by the police chief on block cameras, which I can find. One was November 18 and another on April 21. But there was no effort aside from a vaguely worded legislative overview or public safety reports on the council agenda to reflect on when this topic may come up. Chief DeVille really didn't field any questions in the November hearing that I could find and a few in the April hearing.

And none at all from the audience as a changer. We needed interactive public discussion of the pros and cons of that technology, which I realize is incredible, which the at home, going to the grocery store, doctor's appointments. Several families in my neighborhood are afraid to come out of their homes. And just today, the men at the Home Depot trying to find jobs were hiding in the trees when a report of ice sweeps started coming and pinging on their phones. Anna confirmed kidnapping of a resident by ice occurred on the Kent Auburn border yesterday.

Flock was adopted before this reality came to be and questions still remain to be answered. First, where are the cameras? Are they by a church, a school, a food bank, a law office, a sensitive area stated in the new law that needs to be removed or turned off? Tukwila has turned off three of their cameras and last night the Renton City Council voted to turn their cameras off entirely. Second, what does the master service agreement as it stands allow FLAC to do?

Many of the first agreements allowed FLoC pretty much carte blanche to share data as they see fit. The Tequila attorney and IT department are taking a hard look at the agreement and plugging back doors and language. They are rewriting it so ICE or a federal agency has to approach them with a warrant and that they will be informed if that happens. Do we have similar safeguards? You must remember that a major investor in this company is a huge Trump supporter.

These contracts need to be very tight. A policy of how the cameras will be handled is supposed to be posted on the Kent City Council website, and as such a page exists, I can't find it. And who specifically, by name, by post, can give approval? And finally, 2,602 mandated aggressive outreach.

Thank you.

Okay. One thing. So This is a time where we need to put stolen lives and people over stolen cars. It's just

We need you to wrap up. The time is up. Thank you. Okay. I would also please ask that there be no applause in the chamber so that we can continue to work through the speak the list of speakers. Melissa, can you call the next speaker, please?

Leslie Bidlak.

Hello. My name is Leslie Bidlak. I've been living in Kent for twenty five years, and I'm a member of Kent Indivisible. I have never spoken at a council meeting, so bear with me. I being a member of Kent Indivisible, I became aware of these flock cameras, and they were a little concerning. So I decided to delve into it. And it's it's definitely complicated both tech technologically and legally. It's a very steep learning curve trying to understand it all. It's very overwhelming. But, you know, I was looking at landmark supreme court cases.

I was reading newspapers. I was trying to understand this new law, state bill six zero zero two about flock cameras. I was looking at lots of YouTubes by experts. I understand that they do a lot of good. I under I also understand that there's a lot of abuse.

And so I just kinda came away with it being kind of confused, but also just knowing that I don't wanna live in a surveillance state. Today, I had to go get my car fixed. So I drove it to the garage. And I noticed, because I've been thinking about all this, two flop cameras on the way. So I was surveilled by because I wanna take my car to the garage. And I came back home. I was driving back home, and I started wondering how many cameras is enough. Is it every 10 blocks? Is it every five blocks? Is it every block?

And who decides that? I mean, how many cameras are enough to survey all of us all of the time? So then I came home, and I thought I'd look at this website called dflock.org, and I recommend it. And it tells you where all the cameras are all over the place, and there's a heck of a lot of them. Very interesting.

And sure enough, there was the two cameras that that surveilled me on the way to a garage. Anyway, I listened to an interview by the guy who actually the CEO of Flock Safety. And he called this organization that simply tells you where the cameras are, he called them a terrorist organization. And it's a crowdsourced site. So if I decide to put on you know, put put if I see a flock camera and I put it on the side, am I a terrorist?

We oh, and then I found out that flock safety also has sorts have these drones. So now are we gonna start surveilling everybody by having drones flying all over everybody's property? We are hurdling very, very hurdling very fast into a dystopian world where the novel nineteen eighty four is not fiction, but it's reality. And it needs to stop. Thank you. Thank you. Can

you please call our next speaker?

Erica Hoard.

Hello, madam mayor, madam president, council, council staff. My name is Erica Hoard. I'm the director of community engagement with a nonprofit by the name of Americans for Equality. Americans for Equality, I've been involved with, I will say, for about two years now. I started off my journey as a student out at the New Beginnings Fellowship Church on a hundred and eighth.

And I started the program as a student, like I said, in the inaugural cohort and then moved on to our internship program and from there into the position that I hold now. I wanted to come here to tell you all a little bit more about our program and the residents that we have served of the city of Kent. Me, I am currently an Auburn resident, but I was I am a former Kent resident. I was a resident of Kent for two years after coming out of housing instability. I was able to rebuild my family in the city, so it's near and dear to my heart.

Sorry about my nervousness, but Americans wear equality is a nonprofit that was created to bridge the gap between high growth careers and people who were historically left out of those careers. Our services are open to everyone. We don't discriminate by background or education. We serve residents in about 22 cities between Washington Washington, and Oregon, and about 200 of those the individuals that we have served, were residents of Kent. We have helped about 1,100 individuals with resume prep, and workforce development.

We have trained 700 individuals from the New Beginnings Church in our AI lab, and we have also helped about 40 individuals with our internship program that's currently based in Bellevue. I just wanted to come up here and speak about Americans for Equality because we wanted to be able to figure out a way to be able to expand our reach in Kent because we love this city. Of course, one of our bases is here, and we wanna figure out a way to partner with not only the city, but other nonprofits and even small businesses to be able to provide access to networks and to be able to get training to help individuals grow in this job market because as we all know, it's pretty tough out here. And we wanna be able to equip individuals not only with the skills technically and also professionally. We range anywhere from AI and cybersecurity to office management, marketing, anything.

Even if you just wanted to skill up and and work at your local Burger King or wherever you choose to work, we wanna be able to equip individuals with those skills and knowledges to be able to thrive and to be able to build economic stability for their families. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Juan, you're right.

Good afternoon mayor and council city members. Thank you guys for this time. My name is Juan Arribe, a resident of Federal Way. Played a long time soccer here in Kent, as well as did my twelve week course with America's Fourth Quality at Kent, at the church. We're here today simply to expand what we have going on.

We have served over 700 residents here from the city Of Kent, in the City Of Kent, as well as 200 individuals from the City Of Kent, and we have eight interns currently from the City Of Kent. We have a pretty big lab, 400 laptops equipped here in the City Of Kent, and we see the high demand, not only from youth populations, but as well as the older folks, whether that's starting a business or upskilling yourself, the need is out there. And workforce development, youth and education, and we are here to go ahead and be that stabilizer that a lot of the colored people are not seeing or that isn't currently available to them on a free basis. All our programs are free. We do offer hybrid, fully online courses as well and that internship opportunity, which is something that we're seeing is a big gap that we're filling from people going and transitioning from high school to college that need that first world world real life experience with hands on projects.

We're allowing them and giving them the opportunity to become fully prepared when they're making that big step in their career. And we're here to go ahead and figure out a game plan. If we can go ahead and meet with the council members and mayor at some point, we would love the opportunity to further discuss this opportunity. We really appreciate the city of Kent as we have been serving here for the last two to three years, and we just wanna go ahead and continue impacting the community and everybody around us in a positive manner. We do appreciate your guys' time here today. Thank you, mayor, council, city members.

Thank you. And your contact information is on the sign in sheet?

Correct, ma'am.

Alright.

My email and phone number.

Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Daniel Troyeshkov.

Madam mayor, council members, staff, everyone here, thank you for having me. My name is Daniel Chirishkov. I'm a program manager at Americans for Equality, and we really do wish to seek a partnership with you guys to build and expand. Know, starting off at the church, it truly has impacted many individuals. I myself am a resident, I have been, but my grandparents live here and my cousins live here.

So I've been active here and I've truly seen how much care has been put in to expand and grow Kent and we share that same value with the people that are struggling. Especially, know, myself, I came from a background of cooking. Right? I grew up as a chef. I never had technical skills.

I was able to pursue and really hone down skills in an environment that I was never accustomed to, but also being a part of a very diverse group. And I truly believe in the impact that technology can make on people and how it can influence people and what we can achieve together and I see this board, I see a lot of, you know, a lot of beautiful people that have different minds, different values, different backgrounds, but everyone has these ideas that you can bring in and share and, you know the technical world is missing that. You know, a lot of unrepresented people that never had that chance to and I truly am glad to be a part of it and we look forward to if there is a possibility to work with you guys to develop courses or boot camps or hackathons or whatever we can do to teach these technical and non technical skills, would appreciate it.

You. You.

Kara Haney.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Kara Haney, and I'm a resident of the Kent East Hill neighborhood. I'm here tonight to ask for something very simple but important, transparency and the courage to go beyond the minimum. Washington State law, ESSB six zero zero two, sets the minimum requirements for regulating ALPR cameras, but minimum is not the same as sufficient. And in a moment like this, when trust is fragile and fear is real, we need more than the minimum.

We need leadership. Right now in Kent, families are living in fear. A neighbor of mine works as a long haul truck driver. He provides for his family with commercial driver's license. But under new federal rules, he's at risk of losing that ability, not because of anything he's done wrong, but because of who he is and the status he holds. Every day, he's wondering if the life he has built here could be taken away. That kind of fear is spreading. In our schools, educators are supporting students whose parents have been detained. In our community, we are fundraising for neighbors held in the detention center, people who have to pay to call their loved ones, people who have to pay for basic necessities. This is, excuse me, this is not abstract.

This is happening here. And in that context, surveillance tools, no matter how well intentioned, carry a real risk. We are asking you to pause, to slow down, to open this up to the public. Hold a well publicized public hearing showing the community where these cameras are located. Show us how you are ensuring compliance with the law, and more importantly, show us how you will go beyond the law to protect the people who live here.

Other cities have done this. Kent can too. This is a moment to choose not between safety and rights, but to stand for both. Many of us out here are out here in the community every day using our voices, our time, and our privilege to support our neighbors and push back against the harm where we can. We are asking you to do the same. Be brave. Choose what is right. Show this community that you are on our side. Thank you.

Thank you.

Alright,

we are going to move on. The next item on the agenda is the consent calendar. Consent calendar is a compilation of items that the council has worked on both in workshop and committee of the whole, had an opportunity to have conversation, discussions, have their questions answered, and these items have all passed out of the committee of the whole without controversy. We have items A through K this evening. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar?

So move. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries six zero. That brings us down to item number nine under other business. We have this evening a resolution adopting the King County hazard mitigation plan and Kent plan annex. There is a public comment opportunity following this presentation as well. And joining us tonight for the presentation is Mike McTudis. Welcome back.

Thank you. Thank you. Happy to be back. So I will be speaking to the proposed hazard mitigation plan annex. And here we are, a very short presentation just running through what it is, why we're proposing it and the benefit to the city.

So there is a regional hazard mitigation plan that King County puts together. It goes through the regional threats to the county and then the annex is going to be more Kent specific. So, we talk more about the risk to the city of earthquakes, floods, all the rest and I'll talk through that. So the annex aligns with the county wide risk assessments and strategies. It meets FEMA requirements so it makes the city eligible for federal funding through grant programs.

So some of the benefits. It protects lives, property and infrastructure. It puts the city in a good position to be able to respond to those things like we have in the recent and in the more distant past. Reduces long term costs from disasters because we're able to mitigate some of the impacts upfront. Like I mentioned, it maintains eligibility for federal and state funding, which is very important in some of these very expensive emergencies and it develops a resilient community where we're able to bounce back quicker to impacts of emergencies that we're that we're maybe we're not be able to able to handle immediately.

So what the plan does, it identifies all the hazards and vulnerabilities. There's a lot of mapping, there's a lot of analysis that's included. It prioritizes what those the mitigation actions should be, quantifies the risks. So, can tell what and you can see by the mapping, there's a whole array of threats that we're trying to protect against and I'll talk through those pretty quickly. And then it provides an implementation roadmap.

So there's a two year goals, there are five year goals and there's long term goals about how to deal with each of the risks that we're going be facing. So some of the things that are included and I've talked about these a little bit. There's planning process that was done for this plan. It was done in conjunction with the city as well as the regional fire authority and Will Lugo and Kimberly Beheimer are here to be able to answer questions if there are questions that are more related to the process of it. There are mitigation plan priorities like I mentioned.

It integrates the plan so it makes it across departments within the city as well as across agencies. And then it provides the King County portion provides the regional risk assessment and the City Of Kent Annex goes more into the local risks. So there are a list of 14 items that are included. Most of these are addressed also in the City Of Kent Annex. There are a couple that are not.

The tsunami and avalanche ones are we don't really have those risks here fortunately, but the other 12 are addressed. So we have what the plan is designed to do is to help us mitigate impacts from these disasters to homes and businesses, roads, bridges, levees and the pictures that are up there, those were from the December storm event. Those two pictures were the Des Moines Levee Breach that happened on the during that event. Those are the levee breach was in Tukwila, but to give a really good example of the regional nature of this, the trucks there, you can see the Kent logo on the truck on the top. And the one the picture on the bottom, that's a Kent truck also.

There was Kent materials going in that levy breach and there was Kent staff there managing that event or helping with assisting King County to manage that event. Mitigation, it provides mitigation the plan provides mitigation strategies. So that is one of the critical parts of it. Again, the pictures that are on slide are from the December event. Those were staff, public works operations staff and there were other departments that were assisting with that, putting up these Hesco flood barriers the day the event was happening.

So the planning that we did ahead of time allowed us to put these in place, these barriers in places where the water would have gone over the levees if we had not put them in there. So these are some of the strategies, the operational readiness, like I mentioned, the community resilience, cyber security, levy improvements, seismic retrofits, provides training and exercise opportunities for city staff, training for the community, it improves resilience of the city's IT network, as well as the city infrastructure. And it includes 11 capital locations that were identified as part of the follow-up from the December flood event that we put into a brick pre application, a building resilient infrastructure and communities pre application, which will hopefully provide us some access to FEMA funding in the future. So the next steps would be to adopt and annex the hazard mitigation plan and what's included in the council packet is the King County Regional Plan as well as the City Of Kent Annex. It would allow us to seek funding for priority projects through the BRIC grant as well as some others that have come to light just in the last couple of weeks.

And it allows us to continue interjurisdictional coordination in line with the other agencies which have adopted this plan or are going to adopt this plan. That is my presentation.

Any questions for Mike? Yes, sir.

I don't have a question, but I do want to acknowledge the regional fire authority. Will Lugo and Kimberly Baymar are the audience tonight, and they were instrumental, to say the least, in creation of this plan. I just wanted to make sure there's awareness on that. So thank you.

Thank you both for all the work and for being here this evening. Counsel, if there are no questions, we do have an opportunity for public comment on the plan. Melissa, do we have anyone signed up? We do not. Alright. Seeing no public comment, then a motion would be in order to adopt the resolution. Do we have a motion?

Madam Mayor, I move to adopt resolution number 2,105, repealing resolution number two thousand one five, and adopting the twenty twenty five-two thousand thirty King County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and City Of Kent Plan Annex. Second.

A motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries six zero. Thank you. Thank you. Alright. We are going to move into item 10 which is bids. We do have two bids this evening. Joining us is Chad Bearden, our public works director.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council. Good to see you again. Two bids tonight. I I do need to make a minor change to the first one. It says 64th Avenue South and South James Street. There is no South James Street. It's West James Street. So if whoever reads that could please help me out, that would be great. First bid, 64th Avenue and James Street payment preservation.

Another one, I think I keep saying this when I get up here, but I'm super excited about this one. Grant funds to repave these two streets. We're also going to be able to go through these are on 64th Avenue, it's a four lane section, two lanes in each direction. We're going to have one lane in each direction with a two way left turn lane in the middle and then buffer lanebike lane on the outside. This is really nice to have through here because this area serves Kent Elementary School, which is a largely walk in school.

So this will provide a little more buffer for the kids walking to and from school on 64th and will have a very minor impact on the traffic carrying capacity of the road because a three lane road actually carries about the same amount of traffic as a four lane road because of the way turning cars affect the throughput. So excited to be able to have this minor change in here along with brand new pavement. Again, this was a grant that we got from the federal government for pavement preservation. Four bids were received. And I'm sorry about this used to just easily be Icon, but this is now PM Development Corporation doing business as Icon Materials was the low bid for just over $2,100,000 on an engineer's estimate of just under 2,900,000.

So a good bid and we recommend award.

Any questions? Alright, a motion would be in order.

I move to award the 64th Avenue South And West James Street pavement preservation project to CPM Development Corporation, DBA ICON Materials in the amount of $2,123,607,617 I'm sorry, 2,123,617 and 5¢ and authorize the mayor to sign all necessary documents subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the city attorney and public works director. Second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries six zero. Moving on to the second bid.

Second bid, very timely. We gave the presentation earlier tonight about the sanitary sewer system, and we make our dollars go as far as we can. We have twenty twenty six sanitary sewer, and also storm sewer cast in place pipe relining project. This is where they go in and they put resin into the pipe and essentially rebuild the pipe from the inside out with a resin material, giving an extended life to our existing pipe system and also allows us to go in and do it without excavation. So a lot less impact to traffic and the pavement itself.

So two bids received. Low bid was from SAK Construction LLC for just over $3,000,000 shy of $3,100,000 on an engineer's estimate of 3,163,007 and $88 So recommend award of this one as well.

All right. Any questions? Okay. Motion would be in order, please.

I move to award the 2026 storm sewer and sanitary sewer cured in place pipelining project to SAK Construction LLC in the amount of $3,088,909.20 and authorized the mayor to sign all necessary documents subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the city attorney and public works director.

Second. And a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries six-zero. Thank you, Chad. Right. At this point, counsel will be moving in to a closed session to discuss collective bargaining as per RCW 42.30.1404A.

We are anticipating ten minutes. There will not be any action following the closed session. With that, if everyone who is not here for that session, if you could please clear council chambers. Thank you. Good evening.

Council is returning from a closed session regarding collective bargaining. We went into closed session at 08:10PM and have come out of closed session at 08:28. With that, we have no other business on the agenda this evening, and we are adjourned.