City Council - Regular Meeting

2026 meeting of the king county council i'm sarah perry chair of the council joined today by vice chairs jorge baron and reagan dunn and our council colleagues and this meeting is called to order Before we begin, please join me in acknowledging that we are on the traditional lands of the Puget Salish people's past and present. We thank these caretakers of this land who've lived here and continue to live here since time immemorial, bringing their cultural ways of life and greatly enriching our communities. With that, Clerk Hay, would you please call the roll?

Thank you, Council Member Balducci. Council Member Barone.

Here.

Council Member Domboski. Here. Council Member Dunn. Here. Council Member Fain. Here. Council Member Lewis. Here. Council Member Mosqueda. Here. Council Member Von Reichbauer.

Here.

Mayor Perry.

Here. You have a quorum. Thank you very much. Next, please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Fain. Please stand if you're able. Thank you. Vice Chair Barone, may I please have a motion to approve the minutes of the May 26th, 2026 Council meeting?

I move approval of the minutes.

Thank you the motion is before us all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay minutes are approved clerk. Hey, are there any additions to the Council agenda? There are none. Thank you next. We'll turn to our special items. We have 5 Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished service awards followed by 1 proclamation. The Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Awards are an annual tradition for the council in honor of the legacy of King County's namesake, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It's a really special opportunity for council members to recognize individuals who represent exemplary service to their communities and whose leadership answers Dr. King's question, what are you doing for others? A note on logistics for members of the public. When it's their turn, each council member will head to the podium and give a brief introduction about their nominee. Then a KCTV video tribute about the nominee will play. Following the video, the council member will have the opportunity to say a few words, and then finally, the nominee will be invited to speak. After the nominee is done speaking, there will be an opportunity for the council member, nominee, and any guests they may have brought with them to take photos. as mentioned today we have five martin luther king jr service awards we will begin with my district followed by council members fain balducci mosqueda and dunn and with that i will go ahead and kick us off our award for district three thank you Today, I am pleased to honor a dedicated public servant who has immeasurably impacted thousands of lives, making a difference every single day and is deeply deserving of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award Medal, which asks, what have I done for others? Before I say more, I would like you to take a look at a video that KCTV has created here for us about this impactful work. in our communities and beyond by Detective Ed Christian.

My name's Ed Christian. I'm a detective with the King County Sheriff's Office. I'm the search and rescue coordinator for King County. Last night, I got a call of two subjects that missed a switchback and now they were lost. You get your sprained ankles, broken ankles. Missing Alzheimer's in the city, that's common. We handle plane crashes, helicopter crashes. In the winter, you're injured backcountry skier. So we go all over the place. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People vary. If they're in panic mode, which a lot of people are, that panic kills. So I try to calm them down. You get people that are extremely thankful. You get people, why is it taking so long? Well, it takes a while. It's amazing how many people are afraid of bears. You get people that are embarrassed, you know, and just, hey, relax. That's what we're here for. I have a group of about 600 volunteers from various different groups that I use on the search and rescue missions. When the call comes in, it comes in through 911 usually. So you have to investigate the call. Then you have to decide who are you going to use to affect the rescue. I have a 4x4 group. I've got a special vehicle unit with quads, mountain rescue group that are very great at technical climbing, dog groups. I got ski patrol. I work with our marine unit. Explore, search, and rescue. They're my infantry. These are our rescue helicopters. They have a hoist system. They hoist a person that's critically injured out of a very dangerous spot when time matters. Over the last 35 years of doing search and rescue, I figure I'm somewhere over 11,000 calls. It's still different every day. Is it challenging at times? Absolutely. I like the calls that I'm told it can't be done. We have found at least three people, two on day eight and one on day nine, that everybody said we were wasting our time because the person's gonna be deceased and we found them alive because we didn't quit. That means a lot. Just keep going from one call to the next, to the next, to the next, knowing that you can make a big change and you can help people.

I'd like to ask Detective Ed Christian to join me here at the podium. Detective Ed Christian has served our communities throughout a 40-year distinguished career in the King County Sheriff's Office. And I'm going to take just a moment to do this. Detective Christian joined the Sheriff's Office in 1985 and has held various roles in divisions across the agency. He served as a patrol officer, a field training officer, mentoring the next generation of deputies, and in 1991 became a canine officer and a search and rescue duty officer. Since 2012, he's served as King County's search and rescue coordinator, leading and supporting over 600 dedicated search and rescue volunteers. Detective Christian has run over 10,000, 11,000 search and rescue missions, locating and rescuing stranded hikers, downed pilots, and anyone in critical situations in the back country of King County and far beyond. His tireless work has brought loved ones home or provided critical closure where needed to families and communities. He was instrumental in the case of locating Mohammed Ibrahim, a young community member who went missing in the Little Sai hiking area in North Bend in 2023. It was through this case that I saw his vast search and rescue expertise, his skill as a leader, the passion and solemnity with which he treats his job, and the care he has for members of our community who are enduring the worry and grief of searching for a missing friend or family member. Side note, he also took time out of his schedule to join me with Muhammad's mother so that she could understand what had happened with her son and he took great care in my living room in Issaquah to meet with her and to share that. It just above and beyond not only in technical skills but in humanity and compassion. He is also great fun to be around. In addition to that, he takes his job very seriously, but treats his teammates with warmth and good humor, leading with kindness and compassion, and he has never met a stranger. Congratulations, Ed, not just on this award, but for being an embodiment of the kind of service that our county's namesake, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., held dear. We thank you for your unwavering commitment to so many and your positive impact on all of our communities. Please join me in thanking Ed and welcoming him for a few remarks.

Speech, huh? Yeah. All I can say is thank you, everybody. The job's not done yet. That's it.

That's it.

There he is. Thank you. Would our colleagues join us for a photo with Ed right here? Is that okay? Oh, man, a few words. I see the sheriff and undersheriff are here. Would you join us as well?

Thank you. Here we go, one, two, three. One more, one, two, three. One, two, three.

Okay, next in line is Council Member Fain speaking for her distinguished awardee. Please begin whenever you're ready.

Sorry. Turn a little bit. All right. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chair. Today I have the honor of recognizing someone whose work has helped shape the fabric of our community in South King County. Gwen Allen Carsten is the Executive Director of the Kent Black Action Commission, and it is a privilege to present her with the 2026 Martin Luther King Service Award for District 5. Thank you. For more than 15 years, Gwen has helped bring our South King County community together through Kent's annual Juneteenth celebration, one of South King County's most anticipated events, and a powerful celebration of black history, culture, and resilience. But Gwen's impact extends far beyond a single event. Through candidate forums, voter engagement efforts, Black Legislative Day participation, youth initiatives, and community conversations, she has spent years helping residents find their voice and engage in civic life. Guided by the belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table, Gwen has worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for participation, empower future leaders, and strengthen the connections that make communities thrive. most recently gwen served as the leading champion of the year's long effort to extend the martin luther king jr way designation from seattle into renton and kent working alongside community leaders legislators and state officials she helped secure unanimous approval from the washington state transportation commission to install mlk memorial way signage along state route 900 and state route known by us locals as Benson, creating a permanent public tribute to Dr. King's legacy without officially changing the street names. This memorial signage is a lasting tribute to Dr. King's legacy and a visible reminder of the values of equity, justice, and service for generations to come. I had the opportunity to attend the unveiling celebration last week, and what stood out the most was seeing Gwen's joy. After years of advocacy, organizing, and persistence, she was able to see that vision become reality, a reminder that meaningful change happens when people refuse to give up. So it's especially fitting to recognize Gwen with this award after she helped ensure that Dr. King's legacy will be permanently honored throughout South King County. I'd like to take a moment to show the video and then we will have Gwen join me at the podium.

This is a blessing.

You don't have to be somebody special to address your city councils, for example. And you don't have to be anybody special to get up and talk about how you feel. My name is Gwen Allen Carsten, and I am the executive director of KBAC, Kent Black Action Commission. So we wanted to formulate a group that could handle issues, not to set ourselves apart, but to make sure that our community was safe and protected and welcomed just as much as any other community. When we started doing our Juneteenth event, that was one of our special projects, and everybody looks forward to Quebec having a Juneteenth, and we engage other communities to come. I think that we've had an impact when it comes to allowing folks to participate and feel comfortable doing that. The way our diversity is out here in the city of Kent, We could be the photo picture for what Martin Luther King was dreaming about when he had that I have a dream where all black, white, blue, green, whoever children would be playing with each other and learning from other people. That's happening here in the city of Kent. How many cities have a Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard or Martin Luther King Jr. Street or anything like that? Because we live in Martin Luther King Jr. County. Just so happened that stretch of Benson that starts at the top of Talbot and it flows through south through the city of Kent. Well, it's about time Benson gets a new name. Well, the project for renaming, a memorial renaming for Martin Luther King Way in the cities of Kent and Renton took place at a very opportune time, we think, because we are now such a conglomerate of people out here in south king county and so we want them to feel proud that when they see that the signage or when they see or hear us talking about this we did this for all of us i found my voice in doing this work so it's been instilled in me to help and serve as much as i can no matter is not whether i have the funds to do it it doesn't matter that i don't know how to do it all i can see is you need help and i want to be able to help you

Gwen, your leadership, service, and commitment to this community have strengthened connections, elevated voices, inspired others to get involved. On behalf of District 5 and the King County Council, thank you for everything that you do. It's my honor to recognize you today. Please join me in congratulating Gwen Allen Karsten. And if you'd like to say a few words, you can do that, and then we'll do a photo.

Pardon me if I feel a little bit. I can't even find a word. But I'm thankful that my mom and my dad are watching down on this moment. If it had not been for them, and what they taught me about service to others, I would not be here. I am truly honored and humbled to receive the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award from the King County Council by way of Councilmember Fain. Dr. King taught us that everybody can be great. Everybody can serve. Those words have guided me so much and so much of my work and my life. This recognition is not just about me. It reflects the many people, organizations, volunteers, elders, youth, and community partners who continue to stand together for justice, equity, opportunity and unity throughout our communities. I want to thank my family, my husband, Charles Karsten, who keeps me when I need to be kept. He is our operations manager for Kent Black Action Commission and all those who have walked alongside me during this journey. Together we have worked to create spaces where voices are heard, history is honored, and communities are empowered. From our Juneteenth celebrations, civic engagement, and youth advocacy, to public service conversations, and the memorial, yes, the memorial of Martin Luther King Jr. Way in the city of Renton and Kent, I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you how much that particular operation and that project means to me. Because in my past and part of my past is I worked up on 23rd and Jackson for 17 years. I was a meat wrapper at the local grocery store. It was Thriftway then. And I tell you, those were the best 17 years of work and service that I have ever encountered. I loved being there amongst the elders who came in and asked for a little bit of something, not the whole package, and I was able to do it. I learned so much about people, and I learned that if I have a voice, I should use it. And so I turned back to the years before I came here. I've been here in the state of Washington for 54 years. I hail from Leesburg, Florida. My daughter and I came out here when she was two months old and we've been here ever since. So I have a special place in my heart for Washington State and a very special place in my heart for Kent. I've been there now, we've been there now for 25 years. So I'm just overwhelmed. I'm very appreciative and I hope that there's some young person who is looking my way and wants to ask, what can I do to get involved? how can i serve and make the needs of others more important than my own and that's what i do i want to thank all of my ancestors from wherever they came i want to thank them for allowing me to represent them in any way that i can i am a community servant and i'm proud to be thank you so much council member fain is asked that we join her at the podium

a little bit. One, two, three. And one more. One, two, three. Great. One, two, three. Perfect. Thank you. Congratulations.

Thank you very much and congratulations again to Gwen Allen Carson. Next is Council Member Balducci from District 6 presenting for her district. Please begin when you're ready.

Chair Perry, colleagues, this is always a great day in chambers when we get to honor the service and contributions of people in the community who often go unrecognized. And I am delighted on behalf of District 6 in the east side of King County to recognize Ken Wong as our District 6 recipient of the MLK Award for Distinguished Service today. And I'd like to ask the team to play the video, please.

I think what I like best about working with kids is just the energy they bring to each organization. I energize and they energize me from just the resiliency in this work and the resiliency they have. I'm Ken Wong. I work for the Bellevue School District. I'm a social worker currently for them and do district equity work. Our students are definitely facing a lot more nowadays in terms of the influences they have from social media, from the phones that we have, and just from peers.

Your artwork.

I walk along with them. So helping is participating in what they're dealing with and hopefully guide them in terms of giving them some suggestions of what to do differently. As I tell them, I'm disrupting what you're thinking and doing and hopefully processing to think of something different. And we'll walk alongside with you. I'm a son of immigrants. I'm an immigrant myself. And so understanding that has been hard for me when I was younger because I came to the United States not knowing the language, being picked on because I'm not American born, I'm a foreign born student, and being picked on for that, you know, the color of my skin and who I am. And so championing some of those rights. When I did a variety of things, especially around equity, especially around discrimination, especially around racial justice, I do echo it for the district right now in terms of supporting the district-wide initiatives that we have, supporting our BIPOC staff in terms of the needs that they have, but also the successes that they've been doing. I intentionally make sure that I have as many viewpoints as I can around me so that I have an understanding of what that looks like. And I share that with folks because if my beliefs and my understanding and my education is only one-sided, I miss something. I miss an opportunity of learning from somebody else. The award talks about Dr. King's quote, right? You know, what have you done to serve others? My mantra is what have we done to serve with others and building that sense of community and then also walking alongside folks.

Just love to take the opportunity to say a few more words about Ken. As you can see from the video, I mean, many people here know Ken, but if you're just getting to know him today, he is the kind of leader whose work can go unnoticed because he is so soft-spoken, so humble, always lifting up others before himself, not an aggressive style of leadership. In fact, when we notified him about the award, his response was primarily deflection about how his achievements really were due to the work of others, about how this award belonged to the community. And I think that's always a sign you found the right person to honor when they insist that all their work was done with somebody else. It's really how do we serve together, in your words, Ken. But don't let this humility fool you. He won't say it, so I will. Ken is one of the Eastside's most impactful and important leaders on equity and one of our most steadfast champions for youth. In his gentle way, Ken has never wavered from his values. He stands unfailingly and unflinchingly for justice. In a part of our county known for its wealth and privilege, sometimes more than other things, it can be easy to overlook the need for this kind of intentional work on racial justice and equity. Ken has been a steadfast and effective leader to change this for many years. He led the East Side Race and Leadership Coalition, one of the first racial equity organizations on the East Side. And for one key example of how this makes a difference, in 2016, Ken helped steer the response to a really terrible incident that occurred in the city of Redmond. Some of you may remember, a man left a KKK robe at a consignment shop owned by a black woman. It was a deeply upsetting act of racism in our community. And Ken and the East Side Race and Leadership Coalition responded quickly, supporting the store owner, holding community meetings, and ultimately creating the Peace Arch. And the Peace Arch is a traveling exhibition that invites people to decide what actions they will take to invite us to commit what we will do to combat racism, to write that commitment down on a piece of cloth and tie it to the arch. It's a physical reminder of an individual pledge and a beautiful, colorful representation of our collective commitment. It's now a common sight at community events all around the East Side and a constant call to us to build community together. They made such beauty out of something so terrible and help us to build together. That kind of compassion and creativity is a hallmark of Ken's service. He has also, as you saw, served generations of local youth, from founding the Redmond Youth Partnership Advisory Committee when he was at the city of Redmond, to developing a violence intervention and prevention program when he was working at the Youth Eastside Services, to creating programs to deal with gang issues at Bellevue School District. The list goes on and on. I really can't list all the things that Ken has helped to do to lift up the young people and give them better lives. He brings grace, kindness, and humor to all the work he does, making him a leader who is not only highly respected, but deeply beloved in our community. When we started telling people within Ken's circle that we were honoring him, we received many, many responses, and quite a few people are here today, all a testament to how highly regarded Ken is. messages of congratulations poured in saying things like what a well-earned honor somebody wrote this makes my heart leap with joy and in my mind and heart there's no other choice to be made for this honor and for us in king county district 6 there truly was no other choice so ken for everything you have done for our community and for everything you will continue to do i would like to invite you up to receive the martin luther king junior medal of distinguished service It is an actual medal. And I'd like to read this because I think the words are meaningful. The certificate says, the ideals of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the foremost civil and human rights leader in the United States, are held high at King County. King County was redesignated in his honor, and the county logo bears his likeness. Dr. King's vision of equity and social justice is infused throughout the programs and services of county government. Ken Wong has responded to Dr. King's question, what are you doing for others, by helping and empowering youth in Redmond, Bellevue, and beyond to meet their full potential, promoting equity and lifelong learning through his leadership of East Side Race and Leadership Coalition. The Metropolitan King County Council today presents Ken Wong with the MLK Medal of Distinguished Service for his outstanding commitment to the community and honors him as an example to all in our county, state, and nation. Please join us in congratulating Ken. And if it's possible, I would like to invite everybody who came here to celebrate Ken to come up and join a photo. Did he want to say any comments? Oh, I'm sorry. No. No, okay. Yes, of course, Ken. Please, say a few words. Thank you. I forgot.

Speech. Wow. Speech. First, thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. I'm just being honored to be in the presence of such amazing recipients and all the work that they've done. It's always an honor to be a part of this work and champion some of this work. But as I shared, it's a we organization. There's community members in the room here and then farther and beyond that have done this work, that have championed this work, but passionate about what we're trying to do around this work and it's not easy and there's some challenging days and as we know but we keep moving forward and yes i've done this for a long time so as you can see by the gray the gray hair and the lessening of the hair from where i am but it's an honor to be a part of this it's an honor to be honored here in front of the council and in the presence of all the individuals who have joined us in there thank you

Council Member Balducci is inviting us to join her at the podium.

How's that? Good. Yep, that's great. Here we go. One, two, three.

And one more. One, two, three.

Last one.

One, two, three.

Okay, congratulations again to Ken Wong. Next, we will hear from Council Member Mosqueda representing District 8 about her awardee. Please begin whenever you're ready.

I'm going to ask Miss McKinney-Howell and everyone who is here to recognize her to please come on up. And as you all walk up, we will then play the video.

We're right here in Georgetown. I'm Makini Howell, founder and CEO of Makini's Tofu. What happens here is we make tofu from the beans. So we have that giant silo in the parking lot and it houses all of our soybeans and our processes from bean to box. My journey is a creative journey. I used to design clothes in New York. When I moved home from New York, I started with a little cafe. I spent a ton of time just kind of nerding out on food. So then I moved into Plum Bistro, which a lot of folks know and remember. What was really cool about being a vegan chef for the past 20 years was I took a lot of raw ingredients and really found the beauty in nature, found the beauty in tofu. When I was a younger teenager, my dad taught me how to make tofu. He taught me how to flavor tofu. And we used to live in Alabama, and my dad used to smoke our tofu in these pits in the backyard. So it was something that we did together. He passed in 21, and he was the person in my life that I would always have a crazy idea, and I'd go to him and he'd be like, I think you can do it. I didn't know how to make tofu from the bean. I didn't have a tofu machine. I didn't have any customers. I didn't have any distribution. I didn't know how to build a tofu factory. But I was like, I'm going to build a tofu factory. And so I did. You know, and it's amazing the things you can do if no one tells you that you can't. The beginning of the process is the grinding from the beans. I'm sure you met William. He's our ops manager. Nothing comes and goes out of this place without William knowing about it.

We have to keep an eye on every single station to make sure everything is going well.

And then there's Marcos. Marcos is our production manager. We've worked together for well over a decade. So I'm sure you saw Claudel, our flavor master, who was smoking the tofu. Claudel and I have known each other since we were like 15.

I've been in this business for a long, long time. The most important thing is the seasoning, the flavor.

The beauty of manufacturing is that it forces us all to work together. And then we see how much we need our teammates. And when you see that, it's real hard to not get along with a person. You know, when I first started in business here, it was important to me to speak up for things like paid sick leave. We have a daycare for employees in the event that you got to pick up your kid. One of the main pillars of McKinney's is care. I'm really proud to make a product that is really a Seattle-based product because I think only in Seattle this kind of an idea can catch hold. This region is the best. There's space for creativity. There's space for women in business. I found a place to bring my dream to life here.

It was Dr. King who said, what does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee? It really all starts with food and ensuring we have access to justice, just wages, social justice, and equity. Kiddos can't learn if they have an empty stomach. We cannot fight economic injustice and housing injustice if we don't have food on the table. We cannot put our heads together to fight for how we create greater parity and equity without opportunity to have our bellies filled. With the opportunity to come together, we can increase access to equitable policies in our region, and we have an opportunity to fuel our thoughts when our bellies are full. It is in this spirit today that we honor McKinney Howell, who is not only a friend of mine, but has been fighting for civil rights, for social justice, and food access for as long as I have known her. She has fed some of our most cherished community members and our most cherished idols. You might not know that Miss McKinney-Howell in 2015 joined the Stevie Wonder tour team as the personal chef on his year-long tour, the 44 City Songs in the Key of Our Life Tour. As a restaurateur, McKinney revolutionized what vegan and vegetarian cuisine could be with her widely celebrated plum bistro restaurant leading her to be included in the New York Times list of 16 black chefs changing food in America list. McKinney opened the cherished restaurants and catering opportunities around our region, and you probably visited some of those, also in District 8, at Plum Bistro and also Sugar Plum. And her food truck, Plum Burgers, is widely known to have been the first ever vegan burger food truck in the country. Now, I won't be the first to say I am in awe of Makini's incredible, not only celebrity, but her powerful force, and she does not love being in the spotlight, so we're literally under the spotlight right now. And while we're here, I'm going to spotlight some of the places that the community can help continue to see the ways in which you're giving back to the community, as a chef, as an entrepreneur, as an author, as an auntie. as an activist. As an author, you can find her books in libraries around King County and in bookstores in our region. You can find Plum, gratifying vegan dishes from Seattle's Plum Bistro, published in 2013. You can find McKinney's Vegan Kitchen, the 10th anniversary edition of the Plum Cookbook. And you can find her book that we celebrated just two years ago when it was released in 2024, Simple Goodness, No Fuss, Plant-based meals straight from your pantry. You can also watch her in the spotlight on King 5. You can watch McKinney's Kitchen as a local TV celebrity chef. And it's evidence of the work that she continues to bring to our community to show how healthy cuisine can help fuel our entire region in tasty ways. And she's committed herself. she's committed herself to continuing to build community and also invest in workforce stability and opportunity i am thankful for her continued investments in district 8 which is part of the reason we wanted to celebrate you yes for the restaurants that you had in district 8 but also she opened mckinney's tofu it is a factory in georgetown in district 8 that employs so many people that are providing food to fuel our region and she is providing child care free to the workers there she's opening doors and opportunities for people to be able to have access to good employment through her restaurants through the factory that's currently in district 8 and also fueling the ability for people to be productive members of their community by having access to child care you can also find her tofu at pcc locally I am forever grateful to McKinney for feeding the heart and soul of our community in District 8 through Capitol Hill, now in Georgetown. But I'm most thankful for your work that you did in advocacy to advance public policies. to create greater equity and justice in our community. I met McKinney now nearly almost 20 years ago, right Joshua? When she was a member of the Main Street Alliance. She's been pivotal over the last nearly two decades in helping to shape public policies that invest in working families. She lent her voice as a small business owner to the halls of Olympia in our state legislature and lent her capacity and expertise to Seattle City Council. She helped shape the conversations and pass policy to increase the city and then the state's minimum wage. She helped pass the city and then the state's paid sick and safe leave. And she worked against all odds to pass paid family medical leave at the state level when our state partners said it wasn't going to be possible. She's a powerhouse in the policy arena and her work helped shape these critical benefits and help put food on the table. She did this knowing that sometimes she might be a lone small business voice up against the odds of people who might not agree with her. But she knew that by investing money in workers' pockets meant that they could spend it in local stores and fuel our local economy. Her work is so incredibly important from your restaurants, from your advocacy, from your authorship to the fingerprint that you have on our public policies in this region. And that's why we're thrilled to be able to recognize you. We have with us today to recognize you, your mother, Naomi Howell. We also have Moms Rising, the national organization, Main Street Alliance, the Teamsters, the Budget and Policy Center, Weld and Workforce Champions in the audience here today who are so thankful. that you have responded to Dr. King's question, what are you doing for others? By dedicating your life's work to connecting people through healthy plant-based foods and serving as a leader and as an advocate for economic and social justice, please join me in recognizing and celebrating our District 8 MLK Service Award recipient, McKinney Howe.

Thank you.

Thank you, Fran. She didn't tell me there was a speech. I just, you know, I like to help. And sometimes helping lands me in really fun places and with really fun people. And so I was just helping. With my tofu company, you know, I'm hoping to land my tofu in schools so I can help to feed children healthier protein options. So I just like to help. So thank you all very much. And you guys that I've worked with, come up here. Come on in. Come on, Mom. Come on.

Maybe we'll do a group photo with the folks who've come and then with the council. All right. Okay, sounds good.

Okay.

All right, let's join Councilman Mosqueda at the podium. Thank you.

Three, two, one, two.

Okay, congratulations again to McKinney-Howell. And to complete the Martin Luther King Jr. Awards for Public Service for this year, Councilmember Dunn for District 9. Please begin when you're ready.

Thank you, Chair Perry. Well, it's my distinct honor and privilege award from Council District 9, the MLK Award of Distinguished Service to Major Arianna G. Lindsay Savino. I'm deeply honored and humbled to be here today with the family of an American hero, Air Force Major Arianna G. Lindsay Savino, who was killed in service when her KC-135 crashed in Iraq on March 12, 2026. Major Savino's parents, Darren and Amira Lindsey, are here. And recently came from Puerto Rico, where in a posthumous tribute, the governor of Puerto Rico awarded the governor's medal to Major Savino. I wanted to do something local to show our community's thanks for her service. I know I speak for the whole council and council staff when I say that we are all incredibly honored and grateful to you. your family for being willing to join us here today as we honor the life of your obviously incredible daughter i also want to thank council member debbie harstock of covington who is here as well and for all that she has done to help honor ariana's legacy and memory in our community in the city of covington we've also got uh kathy mcphelan and bob and christine mayo here as well in support of the family Really, Major Savino represented the very best of our community and our country. Her life and career embodied the values of service, justice, mentorship, and moral courage. She was raised right here in Covington, Washington. She carried the spirit of community in every space she served, from the classroom to the cockpit to the community she uplifted. We're going to show a video in just a minute. But I want to be a little focused on her before to put it into context. Arianna's commitment to service began early through MCJ ROTC at Kentwood High School and continued at Central Washington University where she joined ROTC and earned a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management. She commissioned into the US Air Force in 2017 and quickly distinguished herself as a combat systems officer in EHC JSTARS, becoming an instructor, evaluator, and flight commander. Roles earned due to her outstanding peer leadership and tactical expertise. What defined Arianna was not only her excellence, but her deep belief in lifting others up as she climbed. As one of the few Latina officers in her field, she traveled to Puerto Rico on multiple occasions to speak at universities, mentor young women and kids, and advocate for greater representation in aviation and the military. She saw leadership as a responsibility to open doors for others, especially those who rarely saw themselves reflected in positions of authority. In 2024, Arianna earned her pilot wings and became a KC-135 pilot at the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, where she served as Chief of Current Operations. She managed a 21 million flying hour program, coordinated global taskings, and ensured mission readiness with precision and integrity. While deployed in support of US Central Command operations, she flew 348 combat hours across two aircraft, a testament to her skill, discipline, and commitment to service. Her peers describe her, and you'll see this in the video I'm just about to queue up for you. Her peers describe her as a mentor, a bridge builder, and a source of strength who brought out the best in every team she touched. She championed diversity, empowered young women, and modeled the kind of leadership rooted in dignity, respect, and compassion. So that's the background. I want you to see a little more in the video that King County Television has so graciously prepared.

Easy to follow. Charisma. This is the type of person who put service at a different level. She wanted to protect the people that were volunteering right next to her, and she was very well respected because of it. My name is retired Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Esparos. I am a family friend of Arianna's. We flew together on the EHC JSTARS, and then she worked for me for two years. She was easy to mentor, one of my superstar troops, I would say. She just had this unbelievable charisma on top of her tactical prowess as an aviator, as a navigator, combat systems operator, and a pilot. She had a spicy personality, which meant, like, she meant what she says, right? She says what she means, and people followed her because of her tactical expertise and her charisma. They knew that this person had their back. Her dad was retired, recently retired from Alaska Airlines. She really wanted to chase that dream of flying the aircraft and being in charge of the airplane. And she finally got to do that. And she ended up, just like her dad, flying a huge plane, a KC-135. She was a mentor to so many young, female, hopeful pilots and on the Latina culture. I mean, like watching somebody who looked like her in that uniform and being so successful. She carried that pride with her, but never boasted about it. She made me better. She made everybody better around her. I'm so proud of her legacy.

I want to, if you're willing, invite her parents to come up and stand next to me if you feel up to it. Thank you for being here. Let's give them a round of applause. Thanks for your willingness to come here. I know it can't be easy, but our community wants to thank you and your daughter for her incredible work and service. Her legacy continues to inspire airmen, students, and families across Covington and well beyond. She dedicated her life to serving others, breaking barriers, mentoring young people, and leading with courage and humility. And I, as you can certainly appreciate, can think of no one in Southeast King County more fitting for this award. Major Arianna Lindsay Savino lived the values that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. championed, service above self, courage in the face of barriers, and a relentless dedication to uplifting her community. Arianna made the ultimate sacrifice and service to others and to our nation, and we will forever honor her memory with the deepest of gratitude. It is my great pleasure and that of my council to award you posthumous for your daughter this Martin Luther King Medal of Distinguished Service. If you feel up to it, feel free to say a few words. If not, we sure appreciate your daughter's incredible service. And here we have the written award for your daughter's great work that I also present to you today. Thank you. All right, thank you.

It is an honor for us to accept this recognition on her behalf. We especially like to thank Reagan Dunn for the nomination and the Council for recognizing our daughter, Ariana. This is a moment no parent should ever have to stand in, but we are grateful for the love and respect shown to her. Over these months, we have had the privilege of meeting and reconnecting with many people from every chapter of Arianna's life. friends and teachers from her younger years in the Kent School District, classmates from her years at Central Washington University, and the airmen she served alongside during her time in the United States Air Force. What we continue to hear again and again is how she mentored, inspired, motivated, and encouraged others, especially young women, to believe in themselves and reach higher. As parents, hearing these stories has been both heartbreaking and healing. We always knew she made our lives better. What we did not know was how many hundreds of others she quietly lifted and guided. Learning this has brought us pride and comfort, and it has shown us that her impact continues to expand far beyond what we ever imagined. Haryana traveled to Puerto Rico in part to honor her heritage, and she traveled to other places to mentor young boys and girls about military service and aviation opportunities, especially for women. She carried her culture, her joy, and her purpose with her everywhere she went. We are proud of the exemplary life she lived, We are forever changed by her ultimate sacrifice. We hope her legacy continues to inspire others, and this recognition is a shining example of the impact she leaves behind. It is an honor for us to accept this recognition on her behalf. Thank you for remembering her. Thank you for seeing her. She'll never be forgotten.

Council Member Dunn, would you like to have us join you or would you not like to?

Yeah, please come on down.

Thank you. These awards are a powerful reminder of the inspiring and selfless work that so many in our communities are doing and of the importance of lifting up those who, without seeking recognition, make it their life's mission to choose service and action for the common good. Thank you to all of today's Martin Luther King, Jr. award recipients for what you bring to the community and for allowing us the opportunity to recognize you. With that, we will turn to a proclamation recognizing Gun Violence Awareness Day in King County, led by Council Members Mosqueda and Lewis, and Executive Zahilay, who will not be with us today, but who is joining in the proclamation. Please begin when you're ready.

Good afternoon. This recognition is one that I can't say I'm happy to participate in, but it's one that we must continue to do until this problem is solved. Gun violence is a serious issue that affects communities all across our county and our country at large. We've heard all the facts. We know the number of children that die daily from gun violence. We know the number of children that are injured by guns. We know the millions of children who live in homes where guns are stored and unsecured. We know what the best practices are, and in fact, In fact, King County has, due to the expertise and diligence of King County Public Health, made great progress in reducing gun violence locally. We must continue to work to address the root causes of gun violence, and I want to take this moment to not only highlight the importance of this issue, but also to lift up the great work being done on behalf of King County voters, residents, and taxpayers by King County Public Health.

Thank you, Councilmember. Today I too am honored to introduce this proclamation recognizing June 5th as Gun Violence Awareness Day along with Councilmember Lewis. Gun violence remains a public health crisis, one that affects our families in every community across this county and across this country. We see its impact in our hospitals. We hear about it from our own children in our schools. We know the stories of how it has affected survivors day to day who carry the trauma long after the headlines have gone or the statements have faded. I want to acknowledge and appreciate King County Public Health Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention with Director Aluthor Alish who is here with us today at the helm. As Council Member Lewis noted, the data that we see from this office of gun violence prevention has shown that data driven community rooted work in partnership with youth, in partnership with community frontline organizations, and taking the lead from neighborhoods most affected by gun violence has together shown positive trends. And that this partnership and taking the lead from our community organizations is essential to building long term safety. Through our investments in the Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention here at King County, we are seeing these results. Overall shots fired incidents in the first quarter of 2026 already decreased from that over 2025. A 28% decrease and the lowest that they have been since quarter one of 2020. The number of shot homicide victims are experiencing a 61% decrease compared to the peak in 2023. And we are reaching a low that has not been seen in eight years. However, we continue to see that gun violence, especially in underserved communities, is still disproportionate. In quarter one of 2026, 41% of overall shots fired took place in South King County. This is an area that has experienced continuous declines in incidents compared to quarter one over the last few years. But we still have much more work to do with South King County experiencing still disproportionate numbers of gun violence. I know that this is thanks to our regional office of gun violence for their work to reduce gun violence and show these incredible statistics. It is no coincidence. We have been scaling up the investments and scaling up the office's portfolio in South King County for years. Particularly in the work that signals that we are making a real difference is the trust built in community. This proclamation is more than symbolic. It is a commitment to the evidence based solutions to investing in community and to honoring the lives lost and families forever changed. We stand with the advocates, with the front line public health workers, with the residents in our community who refuse to accept that gun violence is inevitable. It is preventable. Together, we can build a healthier, safer, and a more just King County for all. Now, we'd love to read into the record, if you will, Chair, the proclamation that is in front of us. Would you like this one?

Whereas gun violence is a public health issue and the leading cause of death among children and teens in this country and

Whereas, according to Public Health Seattle King County, death certificate data between 2020 and 2024, King County residents aged 18 to 24 experience twice the firearm related death rate compared to the overall King County population. And?

Whereas King County is advancing best practices and implementing youth focused violence prevention, intervention and restoration services to support and protect young people in our county and.

Whereas we acknowledge all lives taken by gun violence and we honor the survivors, families and all those directly impacted who continue to carry the emotional and lasting weight of these senseless acts and.

Whereas the effects of firearm violence, injury and death in all its forms including community violence, domestic and intimate partner violence, firearm suicide, mass shootings, public gunfire and unintentional shootings inflict multilayered trauma in our communities. Urgently calling for a holistic public health response to address its distinct and devastating impacts and

Whereas, King County Emergency Medical Services reported an 18% decrease in firearm injuries from 2024 to 2025. Highlighting King County's effort to address gun violence by strengthening and expanding partnerships across sectors to better coordinate efforts that support improved health outcomes and long term safety for all residents and.

Whereas coordinated violence prevention efforts, community outreach, community centered public safety initiatives, and harm reduction activities like firearm safe storage distributions are vital to ensure all King County residents are healthy, safe, and thriving, and.

Whereas we all have a role to play in addressing gun violence, and no single entity can solve gun violence on their own, and.

Whereas the first Friday in June is recognized as National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Now, therefore, we the King County Council and King County Executive do hereby proclaim June 5th, 2026 to be Gun Violence Awareness Day in King County. And in recognition of the collaborative efforts to address gun violence through public health approaches that recognize our mutual responsibility to ensure safer communities for all. We'd love to invite up our to say a few words and receive the proclamation. And I will also note that our team from District 8 will be also in partnership at a gun violence buyback program tomorrow where we will be talking about this proclamation as well. Please go ahead.

Thank you so very much to all the members of the council and to Council Member Lewis and Mosqueva for co-sponsoring and the King County Executive. Thank you again for each of you for everything that you do every single day to ensure the safety and well-beings of the communities you serve and collectively as a council for all of King County. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to serve as the Director of the Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention. flanked, you will see that I am joined by members of our team, by one of our youth leaders, by the hospital-based interventionists that the dollars that come from your decisions go to to make sure there are bedside supports for every victim of firearm injury. Firearm injury, as Counsel Mosqueda said, firearm injury, violence, and death is not inevitable. It is preventable. And it takes the work along a continuum of prevention, intervention, the work of enforcement, and legal consequences, and then stabilization, restoration, and healing. And we all have a role to play. I just want to briefly acknowledge the important work of 911 dispatchers, of emergency medical responders, of firefighters, of co-responders, of community violence interventionists, of hospital-based interventionists, of the medical examiner's office all of us work together we call this week together we on gun violence week and we call in everybody who is willing and able to join us this week and beyond as we continue in pursuit of reducing gun violence in king county and sure and ensuring the safety and the hopeful well-being of all thank you so much for this honor today we're grateful for you

council member muscata would you like us to join you okay yes please oh sorry i don't have to say that see you every day good to see you

one two three and one more one two three thank you

All right, some incredible work being done by so many people for the good of all of us. And to recognize that today has been an honor. We'll now turn to the readings of items into the record and the hearing of public comments. Clerk Hay, will you please read the items into the record?

Thank you. Item six is proclamation of June 5th, 2026 is gun violence awareness day in King County. Item seven is proposed ordinance number 2026-0104 authorizing the issuance and sale of one or more series of sewer revenue bonds. and limited tax general obligation bonds payable from sewer revenues of the county in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $1 billion to provide funds for acquiring and constructing improvements to the sewer system and to pay the cost of issuing such bonds, authorizing the issuance and sale of one or more series of sewer revenue bonds and limited tax general obligation bonds payable from sewer revenues of the county to refund outstanding obligations of the county payable from sewer revenues and to pay the cost of issuing such refunding bonds, pledging sewer revenues to pay the principal of an interest on sewer revenue bonds issued under this ordinance, pledging the annual levy of taxes and an additional pledge of sewer revenues to pay the principal of an interest on limited tax general obligation bonds payable from sewer revenues, issued under this ordinance delegating authority to the county's finance director to approve the issuance and sale of sewer revenue bonds and limited tax general obligation bonds payable from sewer revenues within specified parameters and providing for the form terms and covenants of the bond under this ordinance item 8 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0121 relating to retail establishments changing the effective date of the requirement that retailers in unincorporated king county unless otherwise exempted must accept payment in cash Item 9 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0040 relating to the Department of Public Defense for Indigent Defense. And item 15 is proposed motion number 2026-0068 acknowledging receipt of the first semiannual report on the status of activities related to contract management and compliance reporting protocols.

Thank you very much. The council will now take public comment on those ordinances, motions, proclamations, and recognitions on today's agenda for action. Listening to public and taking into consideration the public's thoughts is an important part of our process and one that enhances our deliberations. In order to allow everyone time to provide comment, I'd like to set the following ground rules. First of all, I think we have 12 people in chambers to speak. And we have 30 people online, but we don't know if they've all raised their hand yet. So we'll have two minutes to speak at this point. And public comment may not be used for purpose of assisting campaign for election. of any person to any office or for the promotion of or opposition to any ballot proposition in addition for council rule number 10 please remain seated for everybody in the council please find a seat that's a council chamber rule and remain seated until your time for public comment and please don't make any audible noise during the meeting out of respect for others Speaking and then signs are not permitted at the podium or allowed to be held up in a way that prohibits anyone else from seeing anything. So just make sure if you're holding signs, it's not in the way of anyone else. And of course, no bullhorns or noisemakers as well. And for online comment, please press star nine on the phone or click the raise hand icon on the zoom toolbar located at the bottom of the screen to notify the clerk. The clerk will call the names or the last three digits of the phone numbers in order and will then unmute each line, lowering the hands at the end of the comment. With that, Clerk Foss, please begin calling the names here in person, followed by those hands raised online for public comment.

Thank you, Chair Perry. First name on the list in person is Austin Field.

Afternoon. No, just hit it once and wait, and it'll turn red, which is confusing. There you go. All right, start all over. There you go.

Thank you very much. My name is Austin Field. I am the elections chair for the DBD chapter of SEIU 925, and I'm a King County public defender. I'm here with many of my coworkers, all of whom are very, very busy, and all of whom have made time to be here today because of the importance of what we're here to talk about. And I'm here to tell you that your public defenders are tired. We're tired because we've been working for six months without a contract, and now we have to do this fight too. And we're tired because it's the same fight that we've been having to fight with the State Bar Association, with the State Supreme Court, with the State Legislature, and now here. We are here today fighting for the same thing we have always been fighting for, and that is the right of every single person in King County to have a real defense. And we're tired because the reality of being a public defender is the knowledge that there is always more that you could do to prevent injustice. There is always more video to watch. There's always more medical records to review. There are always more witnesses to interview and more motions to file. And we can't do any of that. Without the investigators and the social workers and the paralegals and the legal administrators and all of the other non-attorney staff who actually do that work and who defend our clients. And our clients, of course, are your constituents. They are our friends and our neighbors and our loved ones. And every single person in this room believes that all of them deserve the same defense that a rich person gets in this county every single day. And so what we are here today asking you for, particularly with Amendment 4, is to acknowledge explicitly the critical nature of their work. And to acknowledge that without their efforts, public defense is impossible. Thank you.

Thank you, Austin. Next on the list is Alex Zimmerman.

Would you please call the three names? Yeah, thank you. Alex Zimmerman, Laura. Mr. Zimmerman, please don't bring the sign to the podium.

No problem. Laura Robinette and Matt Sanders. No problem. Don't worry, baby.

Everything will be okay. Yeah. Hi, my name Alex Zimmerman. I'm president of Stand Up America, 15-time candidate for election. I speak from Tacoma to Overhead 5,000 times. This crook prosecute me. No, not crook. I'm so sorry. Dirty Nazi Gestapo bastard prosecute me seven times, seven cases dismissed. And he give me... 7,000 days of trespass. And I come to this consulate chamber for many years, probably from Tory. And what does I hear from them? Ordinary BS. And about gun, it makes me absolutely sick. Because when I come to Seattle 40 years ago, two people only killing. So after European city, what as I lived before, in big city, only in Europe, in different city. And I never see like this before. I talking about a nice, beautiful city. provincial village. You know what this means? 30 years later.

I'm sorry, Mr. Zimmerman, what is this pertaining to?

It's about gun.

Oh, thank you.

You're welcome. So right now we have a Seattle number one bandit city in America. Who did this? They did this. This is a Nazi, Gestapo, fascist junta who control us for last 30 years. How is this possible? Everybody guilty. We need stop and gun. We need stop and gun. How we can stop and gun when they don't doing this for last 30 year? Nothing. In 200, two and a half million idiot are sepsis, you know what this mean? Because they are, what is I call? Yeah. So stupid, you know what this mean? This is exactly what's happened. So, viva Trump, viva new American revolution, stand up slave and happy cow. Guys, I speak right now to these two and a half million slaves and happy cow. When we're not stopping this, love will be much dangerous. This will be like a Vietnam.

Thank you, Mr. Zimmerman, and God bless our First Amendments.

Up next is Laura Robinette and Matt Sanders.

Good afternoon, my name is Laura Robinette. I am a proud public defender and president of SEIU 925's public defense chapter. And I'm joined by about 30 of my colleagues here today. And we're once again here to urge you to vote in favor of proposed code amendments concerning the Department of Public Defense. I have spoken to many of you about the importance of these amendments. Today, I want to focus specifically on Amendment 4 concerning non-attorney staffing. Now last week, Councilmember Barone asked you all to review a table concerning the proposed costs associated with appropriately staffing DPD. And it is no mystery that a larger department will cost more money. But the language of this amendment itself is not a fiscal promise. And our interest in this language is not simply about increasing appropriations, but about the governance of DPD itself. This council has a responsibility to ensure that its departments are effective and efficient. And I am here to report that currently DPD is neither. While attorney numbers have increased, staffing ratios have also increased, leading to far greater workloads than are sustainable in either the short or long term. Constitutional representation is not merely the filing of a notice of appearance. It requires holistic service that includes the expertise of legal professionals, investigators, social workers, and more. While these staff often work in the background, their work is no less valuable or essential to the functioning of our department. In 2021, the University of Chicago published a study that found that smaller non-attorney staffing ratios led to lower rates of incarceration. And that because these staff cost less money than attorneys, increased hiring of non-attorney staff is a cost-effective way to reduce the footprint of the criminal legal system. I urge you to vote yes on all of the amendments to ensure the functionality of public defense in our county. Thank you. Thank you, Laura.

Up next, Matt Sanders and then Kevin Altheimer, Emily Willard.

King County Council, thank you for the opportunity to make public comment and thank you for your careful consideration of these amendments. Matt Sanders, Director of the King County Department of Public Defense. For those who have spoken to me about these amendments, it should come as no surprise that the Director's Office opposes these changes. We oppose these changes in particular because they would do away with the timeline to implement the new caseload standards and the staffing ratios. I share the concern of so many DPD staff that are in this room, which is why we have so steadfastly opposed these changes because they would slow down and lengthen the timeline for attorney caseload reductions and the staffing ratios. What we're doing is we're asking that the council consider pressing pause. for right now. The reason being is because of unprecedented recruitment and hiring of both attorneys and professional staff, we increased 61% last year in professional staff in terms of hiring year over year. We are ready for phase two. I know that the fiscal concerns relate to July, 2027. I understand that council being responsible stewards of public funds is reticent to stand by and hope that the lawmakers in Olympia step up. For years they have said that they would step up and the appropriations have never really matched the rhetoric. That's why DPD and that's why the director's office is taking action. We know there's the WASAC litigation that's suing the state for more public defense funding. In May, the Thurston County Superior Court granted DPD's motion to join that litigation. We joined that litigation because we believe that the King County taxpayers have a financial stake in that outcome. We believe that the residents have a stake in constitutional adequate public defense. We believe that the public defenders and professionals have an interest in the workloads, and we believe that the people who depend on public defenders do as well. So we're asking to press pause and then reassess in January in 2027 based on the financial outlook at that time. Thank you.

Thank you, Matt. Up next, Kevin Althimer, then Emily Willard, then Kellen Hoard.

Well, law and justice, Martin Luther King, what does it have in common with why I'm here today? It has a lot, because May the 14th, 2025, This council received an email by the auditor and it stated that she was going to violate KCC 2.20 and RCW 71, 24, 908, and 909. And what was she doing? She was veering off dropping the audit scope from juvenile diversion that Reagan Dunn for three years was yelling juvenile diversion. and she dropped it, and she came back with no findings for juvenile diversion.

I'm sorry, Mr. Altimer, is this on the agenda?

This is law and justice. Law and justice. Thank you very much. And this moved forward, and then what happened? Then she came out with the audit, and she told every last one of us a fib. There was two categories that did not get a dime funding from DCHS. Out of that $1.8 billion, it was two best starts for kids, who four of these people, Balducci, Dunn, Rob Demboski, and Peter, all voted 9-0 with the others that they would pass Best Starts for Kids that allowed stipends, that allowed paying rent, paying gas, paying all the things. What they did is they conflicted to actually create a manufactured crisis, and it's called a technocratical takeover where they actually make legislative. So what did they do on August 25th? The auditor came out and said, oh, there's all this fraud. And all four of the strategies were all black. On May 27th of this past month, the director, McLaughlin, said that it wasn't random. It was by choice they did it. And these guys are all guilty of it. And they need to be voted out.

Thank you, Mr. Altimer. Thank you.

Next on the list is Emily Willard, Kellen Hoard, and Brittany Porter.

Hi, my name is Emily Willard, and I'm an investigator with the King County Department of Public Defense. I am here to talk to you about why Amendment 4 is important, and I want to thank you members who have been supportive of us. So I have a visual.

I'm sorry. Oh, this is your visual?

Yes. May I use it at the podium, or can she hold it? Yes.

I can't. I'm sorry. If you could actually take a picture of that and send it to us on email, we can do that. But we have these rules that we have to uphold for everyone. Thank you.

So I want to talk about, so we have, how it works in my office is that when an attorney needs an investigator, they put in an investigation request. So for an example, there are six attorneys, and there are three investigators, and they may each file an investigation request. So that ends up being the number of cases the investigators have to work on. if you increase the number of attorneys right because we're working toward reducing caseloads which is a good thing then those three investigators now are working with let's say 11 attorneys and each of those attorneys have more time to work on their cases which means they can do more thorough work which is what we all want however if we don't increase staffing then those three same investigators now have to work with 11 attorneys who are putting in more cases so um have sometimes when i've worked the numbers over double the amount of cases that we're working on we have 40 hours in a week And when you increase that amount of work that we have to do, that causes moral injury, which is something that my colleagues and I and I personally have dealt with. Because when you have that many cases and that little amount of time, how am I supposed to decide which cases to work on? Do I work on the people who are in custody? That's a priority. But what about the people who are not in custody and possibly losing their livelihood and are stressed because of what's going on? And just thank you so much for hearing me out today.

Emily, thank you. And would you please take a picture of that and send it to us on email so it can be shared with us? Thank you.

Up next is Kellen Horde, Brittany Porter, Naresh Rajan.

Good afternoon, my name is Kellen Hoard. I'm here on behalf of the King County Democrats County Advocacy Working Group to speak on Ordinance 2026-0040. We are strongly in support of this ordinance. The state's democratic platform is explicit in support of impartial application, equitable enforcement of the law, and justice for all regardless of race, gender identity or expression, disability or class, and in building an inclusive society that ensures. social, political, economic, legal, and cultural rights to all persons. A robust public defense system is central to these goals, and we feel this ordinance is an important step in the right direction. And we're particularly supportive of adopting the court rule standard for reduced caseload limits under standard three, and adopting the Bar Association standard 1B to align assigned accounts of compensation with the market rate. We were disappointed to see, however, that the ordinance excludes the majority of the Bar Association's standard 4B on mitigation specialists and social workers, as well as standard 7C on legal assistance and paralegals, and 6B on investigators. The full consistent provision of professional support staff is essential to a public defense system which truly stands up for our neighbors most in need of assistance, and which provides constitutionally effective assistance of counsel. The empirical data is clear that better ratios of support staff improve representation and client outcomes. We therefore support the adoption in this ordinance of the Bar Association's 2024 standards on professional staff ratios. It's not sustainable to leave these critical foundations with cracks on a biennium to biennium basis. We're supportive of Amendment 4, and we recognize the need for physical flexibility, but flexibility itself cannot undermine the core service. When budgets are tight, the answer cannot be to shortchange the staff whose work is indispensable to provision of effective counsel. Thank you all for your work on this excellent ordinance. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Next name on the list is Brittany Porter, Naresh Rajan, Colin Bradshaw.

I've been working with DPT as an attorney since 2023. I cannot underscore how necessary it is to have proper staffing ratios. I would not be able to do my job without support staff. Each staff member is an essential seat at the table that creates effective, impactive representation. Representation that is a constitutional right, representation that we all need because any one of us can be in the positions that my clients are in. I want to read an excerpt from a client who had sent an email to me and my mitigation specialist once we resolved her case. This is a client struggling with sobriety who had two children under the age of two. She was in foster care as a child and was doing everything she can to make sure that her children didn't end up in that position. My intention of this email was to keep you updated on my status, but you have made me rethink the choices that I've made and the motivation to be more than I was settling to be. You, not the system, not the courts, not the jail experiences. You have made a change not only in me, but you have made a way for my baby and grandbaby to have a chance in their home with their mom and grandma. You caring and understanding when most would have dropped me long ago and the way you went above and beyond for me more than once. I've never had anyone be so non-judgmental and willing to work with me no matter where I was at. This last year was especially hard, homeless for the first time with no one but two small babies. You were the only reason I made it through this. I worked daily with my mitigation specialist, investigator, legal assistant, paralegal on this case to get the agreed upon resolution. This was a change that led to her sobriety, to her being successful with creating a life for her children that she never could have had. I could not have done this without my support staff. Passing this resolution doesn't just give us support staff, it gives our client's children and our client's family more chances to change their lives for the better that we would not be able to do without our support staff. I want to make one final note. The head of DPD spoke against this amendment. This leader has a 75% disapproval rating among our staff. He does not speak for me, he does not speak for my colleagues, and he does not speak for my clients. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Naresh Rajan, Colin Bradshaw, Andres Mendez.

Good afternoon, I'm Naresh Rajan, I'm an attorney with public defense and I'm also the lobbying chair at the SEIU 925 for the public defense department. Thanks for this opportunity. I just wanted to kind of signal my support for the amendment for the public defense ordinance that we're talking about today. And I want to kind of echo what my colleagues have said, but also to give you the perspective that as a felony attorney in Kent, I am sitting on a caseload that is not shrinking because I have a number of people waiting to go to trial. I get text messages from clients asking, when are we doing this? What are we doing? And I keep having to tell them, we have three investigators. And we have almost 15 to 20 attorneys. We have three investigators still who are trying to do all of the work for 20 attorneys. The thing is with the attorneys, we can work on the weekends, we can do work whenever we want to work because we're salaried employees. the investigators and the support staff only have the 40-hour window to work with. And so they are forced to choose, and it's a Hobson's choice. They don't want to shortchange any individual client, and yet they have to as a triage. It's kind of a triage situation for them. And so with... Recognizing that we need the staff to expand so that these cases can get moved along, I think is very important and bears, I guess, beating the dead horse. And so I'm here to urge you to adopt these amendments so that we can kind of start to codify a framework on how this department should go forward despite changes in leadership. Thank you.

Thank you. Colin Bradshaw, Andres Mendez, and Anna Mpinko.

My comments will focus primarily on amendment four. My name is Colin Bradshaw. I am co-vice president of SEIU 925 and a felony line attorney. I've been a public defender for almost five years now, the last three of which have been a DPD. At my previous job in Oregon, we didn't have a single mitigation specialist. We had one in-house investigator and one in-house paralegal for an office of about 20 lawyers. We had two legal assistants. I am able to provide much better representation here than I could in Oregon, but that's not what the Constitution requires. The Constitution requires that I provide effective representation, that I vindicate not just a select few of my client's rights, but all of them. I can honestly share with you that not a single one of my clients has the right to a speedy trial. I am failing my clients every day. I'm not able to give them the timely representation the Constitution demands that they have. My failings are due not only to my own workload, but also to the workloads of the professional staff. It is not uncommon that I have to ask for extensions of my client's speedy trials over their own objection. I have to argue against my own client to a judge that my client should not get to have a speedy trial because if I were to go to trial within the speedy limit, I would be acting unethically due to failing to diligently investigate. That causes a rift between me and my clients, and it means that many innocent people languish in jail while their lawyers prepare their case for trial. This is a routine occurrence in King County. It is a gross violation of indigent defendant's rights. As a lawyer, I am governed by ethical requirements that, due to our staffing problems, sit in tension with one another. I cannot vindicate my client's right to speedy trial while also fulfilling my ethical obligation to diligently investigate the allegations against them. The Washington State Bar Association regulates my practice. Wrapping up, it has provided very clear guidelines on what an appropriate staffing ratio is and DPD is not meeting those ratios. Thank you. It is negatively impacting my clients. I am negatively impacting my clients. Thank you. Adopt these amendments.

Thank you. Next on the list is Andres Mendez, then Anna Unpinco.

Hi, I'm a public defense paralegal working for the county and I'm going to keep it short and sweet. We cannot go one step forward and three step backwards. You need to support Amendment 4 to protect the staffing ratios to ensure quality representation for the underserved and vulnerable members of our county. It is like if in a kitchen brigade, you only hire executive chefs. No sous chefs, no line cooks, no prep cooks, no pastry chefs, dishwasher, etc. You get the idea, right? It's teamwork. That's what it takes to provide quality legal representation to our most vulnerable members of our county. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anna Umfinko is the last name on the list for in-person.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Anna and I'm a paralegal at DPD and a member of SEIU 925. I want to note for the council that black and brown people often enter this field as non-attorney staff. I think by now we all understand the barriers to entering any white male-dominated industry. SEIU's proposal for non-attorneys is in alignment with both the county and DPD's commitment to a racially just workplace in both hiring and retention. here the union is going the extra mile to make sure the most vulnerable staff is not exploited this is the legacy of the labor movement in the u.s i am in support of seiu's amendment for proposal if culturally empowered workspaces and services are important to you you will too thank you thank you is there anyone else here in chambers who wanted to make comment that did not have a chance to sign up anyone else here in chambers

OK, turning now to online. Is there anyone online who wish to provide comment and has not had a chance to do so? If not, press star 9 on the phone or click the raise hand icon on the zoom toolbar located at the bottom of the screen. okay well seeing seeing no further requests we will uh close the hearing i want to recognize everybody who came today we very much value your participation it makes a difference to hear your perspectives especially the sous chef appreciate that so please do continue to come and share your voice thank you everybody who participated thank you Turning to the first action items on today's agenda, consent ordinances 7 and 8. Vice Chair Barone, will you please move consent agenda item 7 and 8?

I move consent agenda item 7 and 8.

Thank you.

Clerk Hay, would you please call the roll? Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Here. Council Member Barone?

Here. I'm sorry, aye.

Thank you. I think Council Member Baldrige was an aye too. Council Member Demboski. I also vote aye. That's a new vote for me. Council Member Dunn.

I am here.

Thank you.

Demboski's new vote means yes. Aye. All in favor, aye.

Thank you.

Council Member Fain.

Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Yes. Council Member Von Reichbauer. Chair Perry. Aye. Go ahead.

If I'm right, my vote's aye.

Thank you.

The vote is nine ayes, zero noes. And I'm just going to check with our council, given our ability to answer in one direction. Would we like a five-minute break at this point, or would we like to? Yes. Okay, five minutes. We'll come back at 4.20. Thank you. We are back. Oh, I didn't. We are back from break. Yes. Okay. There we go. Turning now to item nine, proposed ordinance 2026-0040 relating to the Department of Public Defense Standards for Indigent Defense. Council Member Lewis, would you please move proposed ordinance 2026-0040? So moved. Thank you. Proposed ordinance 2026-0040 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to ask Vice Chair Barone, as sponsor of the legislation, if you'd like to provide any opening remarks.

Thank you, Chair, colleagues. Thank you so much for the opportunity to address this issue. And I first want to acknowledge all the folks from our Department of Public Defense who testified today. I want to reflect, and I know some of them left, but some of them might still be watching. So I just wanted to respond and say that while I personally haven't served as a public defender myself, I do come from the legal community. I represent people in deportation proceedings. I represent people on post-conviction proceedings for people who are indigent in criminal proceedings. And so I very much value your work. And in many ways, this proposal is trying to get it right for public defense. And colleagues, I know this is a complicated issue, and I appreciate the investment of time that all of you have put into this. I want to highlight that the challenge that we're facing is that the Supreme Court has issued revised standards that call for significantly reduced case loads for public defense attorneys. We have to implement those reductions in case loads, and I think there are a lot of important reasons and valid reasons that the Supreme Court imposed that requirement. so we don't have a choice in implementing those reductions in case those four attorney for attorneys the choice that we have is about the timeline the current code in our current code is being interpreted differently by the department of public defense and the executive and that's what i what i think presents a challenge for us because those interpretations those different interpretations result in different rates of reduction that will have significant budget implications And those differences will come to a head as early as next month if we don't clarify the code. You heard Director Sanders earlier saying that we were ready for phase two of the WSBA standards because DPD has taken the position that the current code refers to the WSBA standards. And I think that he may be right. I will acknowledge that he might be right about that. But that is assuming that we have the same number of cases that we do today. If there is a surge of cases over the summer, and we're supposed to be complying with phase two of WSBA, then we are going to be required then to have a lot more attorney staff at that point. And so I am worried about this idea of waiting because the phase two of the WSBA standards would go into effect in literally a month from today, on July 2nd of this year. So what I've been trying to do with this proposal is to do primarily three things. So one is to make sure that we're meeting the requirements of state law. State law requires us to adopt standards for public defense. Our current code kind of points to language, but it's not very clear on what standards we're using. So this ordinance would accomplish that by ensuring that we're actually complying with all elements of state law. The second is that under the ordinance that I'm proposing before you, we adopt all of what the Supreme Court has required as part of their standards. However, the state Supreme Court has not issued standards on every aspect that the state law requires. And so when the Supreme Court has not spoken, what I've incorporated into this proposal is that we rely on the expertise of the Washington State Bar Association as best practices as much as we can. So we, instead of trying to create our separate standards, we do rely on the expertise of the USDA. But with one kind of limitation, and that is that there are certain areas, and this is the third component, is that I've tried to avoid making financial commitments as part of the standards on areas that we don't currently already kind of comply with the standards. And so we leave some areas where we don't adopt fully the WSBA standards where the Supreme Court hasn't spoken. So that's the goal of all of this. I want to emphasize that the ordinance is not requiring us to comply with the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court is already required for us. It's just clarifying which set of standards we're using. Are we doing it with the WSPA timeline or are we doing it with the Supreme Court timeline? One thing that I do want to sort of emphasize because I think we've heard about the professional staffing ratios today. It is true that we did not incorporate the WSBA staffing ratios into the ordinance. And I want to explain again because I wasn't prepared to make that kind of commitment when we didn't know if we were going to have the resources to comply with that. But I also think it's important, part of the reason that I think it's important for us to do a more gradual implementation of the attorney case loads is precisely because I do think that the staffing ratios are very important. And I'm concerned that if we try to do the attorney case standards too quickly, then that would deprive us of resources to be able to balance the professional staffing ratios. And make it more gradual on both fronts, because I completely agree that the professional staff support is essential for a strong public defense system. So again, I know this is a complicated issue. I know we have amendments here, but I appreciate your consideration of this ordinance. I am concerned that if we don't take action, right, because I think that's the other question that I've been asked is like, well, why do we need to do this? And for me, the concern about it is that if we don't clarify, we have a situation where The Department of Public Defense thinks that our code says one thing, and the executive thinks it has another, and that's how we're basing our budget. And if we ended up in a situation where that discrepancy occurs, then we could end up in a situation where literally by a couple months from now, we could have cases being dismissed. Defendants being released because the cases are being dismissed, lack of accountability in our legal system, and I'm very concerned about that. And so that's why I want to make sure that we, as the body that creates our county code, that we have clear direction to our departments on what standards we're using for our public defense function. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilman Vice Chair Barone. I know there's been a lot of careful thought and work put into this critical issue, and I appreciate your timely leadership in bringing it forward. We have already had a partial briefing on this item last week, so I'd like to ask my colleagues before other comments if you'd like a briefing on either the underlying legislation or the amendments or both. I hear an ask for the amendments. Anything else, yes? Okay, so we are being asked for an overview of the amendments. Please begin whenever you're ready.

Good afternoon, council members. I'm Leah Krekelzoppe, council staff. The amendments are in the additional materials packet that came to you this morning, and they begin on page 27 of that packet. Amendment 1 would move what is now a statement of fact in the proposed ordinance into a finding that is in the body of the ordinance. Doing so makes that part of the law rather than background information. The finding that it would move is the provision of public defense services will be further subject to collective bargaining agreements with the represented employees in the Department of Public Defense and Appropriations. I'm going to move to Amendment 2. That's located on page 28. Amendment 2 would change the portion of the Washington State Bar Association standard that the county would adopt related to compensation. So compensation is one of those standards that the Supreme Court deferred. So the proposed ordinance was going to take the WSBA standard. This would truncate what the WA standard is or what portion of the WA standard would be in the county's adopted standard. And so under the amendment, the county would adopt standard 1A and the first paragraph of 1B from the WSBA standards and the actual amendment has a description of exactly what is coming out if you're interested but the portions that are admitted are being omitted via this amendment would be additional details about compensation for contract and assigned counsel flat fee and per case compensation agreements additional compensation and substitute attorney costs And then the portions that would stay in are compensation for contract and assigned counsel based on experience and comparable compensation to prosecuting attorneys. Now much of what is proposed to be omitted in standard one is required by the Washington rules for professional conduct or the ABA 10 principles of the public defense delivery system, which public defense attorneys must adhere to. Amendment 3 is on page 30 of the packet. This amendment would add an additional standard to the public defense standards that King County would adopt. It's not a standard that is in the WSBA standards or in the court rule standards. It would be originated from the county. And the standard would specify that in the event of a conflict between the county's adopted public defense standards and a collective bargaining agreement, or a CBA, covering DPD employees, the CBA would take precedent over the specific WSBA standards adopted by the county, but only if the agreement is lawful and approved by a county by ordinance. And only with respect to employees covered by the CBA and only for the issue and conflict. Amendment for one is on page 32 and it would state that the WSBA standards not adopted as part of the county's public defense standard, which are those that are mandating professional staff to attorney ratios, would serve as guidance to the county in delivering public defense services and making appropriations and that it would be made contingent on budget constraints. And then there's a title amendment that would conform the title to amendment for one.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. I want to let my colleagues know that we also have Capana from, would you pronounce that for me? Capana? Yes. Thank you. I'm from, um, executive staff available to answer any questions. Do my colleagues have questions or comments for discussion? Okay, seeing none.

Maybe can we ask the executive's position on the four amendments?

Indeed, yes. Can we hear from the executive's office about their position?

Chair, point of order. Yes, sorry, Council Member Balducci. Can we hear from the sponsor first and then maybe reactions to it? Thank you, to the amendments?

She asked for questions.

Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, I'm not trying to jump in.

Thank you, no, I appreciate that.

I didn't think she was gonna talk to me, yeah.

Thank you, would you like to- Withdraw the question.

Thank you, thank you very much. Follow regular order.

Can we hear from the sponsor? Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Amendment 4.1 is aspirational. It's intended to communicate that we understand the importance of the balance of attorneys to professional staff. I think you heard enough testimony today as to why that's important. I think we on the dais all know why that's important. We understand that there is the potential for financial constraints. However, what we're doing here is saying this is an important value for the county and we would just like to adhere to that value as we can, as possible. So again, it uses the word should, it uses the word guidance, and we added some language at the urging of my colleagues, and so I think that's all I have to say about the amendment, and I, I'm sorry, I urge your support.

Thank you very much. Would the sponsor of the other one, two or three amendment like to speak to that?

Well, I will say that I'm only sponsoring two, amendment two, so I'll just quickly speak to it. So amendment two is just, as Leah mentioned, we're just clarifying when we originally adopted all of standard one in the WSBA, which deals with compensation. But upon reflection, that incorporates language that, as Leah mentioned, is already required, but it's required by other court rules. And so we're trying to keep it clean to only the minimum that is required from state law for us to adopt. That way, if things change down the line, we won't have to be switching our code itself. So I'm trying to keep it narrow. That's the intent of Amendment 2.

Council Member Demboski.

Thank you, Chair. In the tradition of a colloquy to, for the record, lay down legislative intent of the sponsor on 4.1, it was my understanding, Council Member Lewis, that the standards in this are aspirational. That's correct. And that at the bargaining table, were they to be brought forth, they would be subject to affordability.

Yes, that's correct. That's what it says in the amendment.

And that the county would not be waiving any managerial rights by adoption of this?

Right. No management rights are waived.

I appreciate that clarification, and I want to say, colleagues, for the reason I'm asking for that is this, in my 13 and a half years here on this dais, is unprecedented. during a time where we have parties at the bargaining table to have what was described in testimony as seiu's amendment for proposal quote unquote brought forward for a vote normally we are pretty hands-off when the executive our bargaining agent is at the table this is a little bit unusual in that we are in a period of trying to clarify this and that's the purpose of councilmember varone's legislation i think it's very important But I do think it's important that we proceed cautiously and I would hope that we would not make this a practice. Typically our labor policies are developed with our Labor Policy Committee through a very deliberative process doing that. So this is just a little bit unusual. I too agree with the thrust of Councilmember Lewis's amendment here that we should try and expand investment in and reduce the workload on the non-attorney staff at dpd i think we need to do it in with the candor of our budget limitations we are this is a it's a very expensive undertaking and we're not getting a lot of help from the state and so i appreciate councilmember lewis's inclusion of that additional language around financial capacity and management rights which are things that are also included in our labor policy. So with this language, and I think the executive is supportive, I'll be supportive of it, but I appreciate the opportunity to have a little dialogue on the dais. Thank you.

Thank you very much. If there's no further discussion, no additional questions, we will take up the four amendments along with the title amendment. Council Member Lewis, would you please move Amendment 1?

I move Amendment 1.

Amendment 1 is before us. Council Member Lewis, would you like to speak to it?

I think Leah did an excellent job of briefing it, and I urge your support.

Thank you. Any discussion from my colleagues? If there's no further discussion, let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 1, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Amendment 1 is adopted. Moving on to Amendment 2, Vice Chair Barone, would you please move Amendment 2?

I move Amendment 2.

Thank you. Amendment 2 is before us. Vice Chair Barone, would you like to speak to it?

I urge your support.

Thank you. Any discussion from my colleagues? Council Member Balducci, your light's on.

I'm just ready to vote.

You're ready to vote. All right, let's do it. No further discussion. Let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 2, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Amendment 2 is adopted. Moving to Amendment 3, Council Member Lewis, would you please move Amendment 3? So moved. Thank you. Amendment 3 is before us. Council Member Lewis, would you like to speak to it?

I urge your support.

Thank you. Any discussion from my colleagues? Seeing no discussion, we'll proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 3, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Amendment 3 is adopted. Moving to Amendment 4.1. Council Member Lewis, would you please move Amendment 4.1?

I move Amendment 4.1.

Thank you. Amendment 4.1 is before us. Council Member Lewis, would you like to speak to it?

I don't have any additional comments, thank you.

Council Member Barone.

Thank you, I just wanted to add that I appreciate Council Member Lewis' work on this amendment. I know we, I think we've reached a good resolution with the language that you crafted, so thank you for that and I look forward to supporting it.

Council Member Bellucci.

Thank you, Chair. I wanted to just acknowledge a couple things about this particular amendment. Council Member Dembowski brought up a really good point. Our charter, which is the constitution for this government that we serve, actually calls it interference for the county council to step in between the county's designated labor representative, which is the county executive, labor unions and so I think it's important that we acknowledge that and I'm glad that you did. I, nevertheless, and as a former labor negotiator for this county, I see the benefit and the wisdom of keeping those things separate. This is all unusual. I can't think of too many other parts of the county where we legislate staffing ratios. And there's a reason that we do that with public defenders. It's because it is a constitutionally required function. Few of our functions are actually required by the United States Constitution. uh... and we are regulated we have regulatory authorities in fact that's the whole point underlying this legislation is to try to make sense of the fact that our regulatory authorities are uh... in dispute with one another at the moment we have to pick uh... but What I really appreciate about this amendment, and I really want to thank Councilmember Lewis for her thoughtful, measured as always, but important legislative language here is, you heard it today, but you don't have to spend much time talking to too many people who are working in this field. They are struggling. They are struggling to perform the functions that we rely on for the justice system to move. Justice system doesn't move. if we don't have adequate resources in public defense. And the gentleman who got up at first, I'm so sorry I'm forgetting his name, but he got up and he said, we're tired. If you talk to anybody who works in public defense, they will say that, they're tired. Nobody is prosecuting, they may have caseloads that are consistent and rising, but over time, But nobody's prosecuting shoplifting cases anymore. Nobody's prosecuting marijuana possession cases anymore. All of the cases are difficult, complex, have significant implications for the freedom and life trajectories of the clients. And so the entire caseload is harder than it used to be even ten years ago, and way harder than it used to be 20 years ago. So the idea that we would make a statement as an elected body that we not only support adequate provision for attorneys, but we also support adequate provisions for the professional and support services that help them to provide the defense that is constitutionally required. I think it's really important that we make this statement. I know it causes us budget discussions to be had later. And I don't know, I don't have a magic wand. Nobody up here has a magic wand for how we're going to fund all of this, but we should set our policy where our values are and then figure out how to fund to it. And today is step one. And that's why I'm very appreciative that council member Lewis took the laboring or to put pens and paper and make sure that we were making the statement because I think the people who work for King County need to hear it. And I'm proud to support it. Thank you.

Any other comments from my colleagues? Is that council member Dabowski? Did you?

No, I think that was a great addition to the dialogue. Indeed. I concur with everything Council Member Balducci just said. Thank you.

Council Member Lewis. I just want to say I would be remiss if I did not thank Leah for all of the work that she did on this, on my behalf, as well as Council Kendall Moore and Council Member Barone's staff for working with us in concert with us. So thank you.

Thank you very much. If there's no further discussion, let's proceed with a vote. All those in favor of Amendment 4-1, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, please say nay.

Nay.

Amendment 4-1 is adopted. Title Amendment T-1, moving to Title Amendment T-1. Council Member Lewis, would you please move Title Amendment T-1?

Chair Perry, you would do the underlying first and then the title amendment. Okay, let's do that.

No, that's incorrect. I'm sorry. You have to do all the amendments before you vote on the underlying amendment. Is it the striker that you're saying we've voted?

No, this is just a title amendment. Let's amend.

I'm sorry.

Thank you. Moving to title amendment T1. Council Member Lewis, would you please move title amendment T1?

I move title amendment T1.

Thank you. Title Amendment T1 is before us. All those in favor of Title Amendment T1, please say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Title Amendment T1 is adopted. With that, do my colleagues have any closing remarks before we proceed with the vote to the underlying ordinance, as Leah was mentioning, as amended? Council Member Mosqueda.

Well, I too want to add my notes of appreciation to Councilmember Barron and Councilmember Lewis for the additional amendments. Thank you for bringing forward this complicated policy and for helping to bring along myself. I'll just speak for myself. bring us along who are not as enmeshed in the alphabet soup. And to all of the community members and frontline staff who've really helped articulate the why this is so important to get right. I am so thankful that we are on the cusp of being able to put forward something that I think is moving in the right direction to creating the entire team that's necessary to care for some of our most vulnerable. I want to echo my appreciation for Well, for Melanie Cray on my team who's been really tracking this, she's our senior policy lead within our office who I know has been working with your teams as well to better understand the policy and the amendments. And I want to echo some of the comments that were made during public comment. I want to reaffirm support for the collective bargaining efforts. and the importance of this issue for not substituting our judgment for direct bargaining of impacted workers. I think that it's really important for us to express strong support for the collective bargaining process, and I think that this, as my colleagues have articulated, is a really unique situation. What I don't think is unique here is having labor's voice help inform us. Having labor members who are on the front line provide feedback and direction only leads to a more impactful policy. One that's more effective and one that's more efficient. So I really appreciate all of the conversations my colleagues have had directly with front line workers in addition to Director Sanders and his team. i want to thank specifically seiu local 925 for their active engagement the ways in which people have pulled us in to better understand the day-to-day and how this balance of the right support is going to yield better outcomes and and quite frankly reduce costs in the long run potentially save lives and save money I know that many of the staff members within King County don't step forward lightly to a podium during the middle of the workday. This is really challenging to be put in this position and I think it's a testament to how much the team cares about the people that they are serving and getting the judicial system in a better place. I also appreciate that Director Sanders is still working on building out trust and relationships within his team and I know he as well does not take it lightly to have to express an opinion that is Maybe seen as counter to that, but I'm really hopeful that after today's vote going forward, we have a unified approach through this statute that allows for us to move forward and move forward expeditiously. As Director Sanders noted, the importance of being able to move forward. I think that this is broader than just the sort of dynamic that I just articulated. We have strong support from MLK Labor, which is our central labor council, who sent a letter expressing their support, especially for amendment number four. And really want to keep in mind that the ability for our county to have effective government and effective services and really serve our most vulnerable, it is critical for us to ensure that we have a strong public defense institution that has every team member playing their part. letter of support stated, King County public defenders represented by SAU 925 have been working under an expired contract since late 2025. During this period, they have received no cost of living increases. The county negotiators are undergoing a long process here, a long standing contract provisions that need to be looked at again. so that we can guarantee staffing ratios between attorneys and non-attorney staff. The proposal directly conflicts with the Washington State Bar Association's 2024 public defense standards. This amendment, amendment number four, would ensure that King County's code aligns with statewide public defense standards and this is necessary, this step is necessary to protect the integrity of our public defense system and the rights of people who rely on it. I appreciate this being lifted up by the labor community broadly. I think my colleagues have strengthened the amendments that are in front of us today through your collaboration and flexibility. And I think that it helps to show frontline workers we are here to provide not only the legislation, but the continued support to make sure that your work is impactful. So thank you for everything that you have offered colleagues to bring more people into the conversation. Thanks to the labor community for your courageous testimony and to the department for being willing to work on how we, after today, move forward in an expeditious way to serve our most vulnerable community members. I'm happy to support this revised policy and thank you for, how many months has it been? A year and a half? a while of work on this legislation. So happy to support it today.

Okay, seeing no further, would you care to, okay, Council Member, Vice Chair Barone, or Council Member Dembowski, then Vice Chair Barone.

Two things. First of all, one of the first projects I worked on when I came to the council 13 years ago was the integration of then the externally provided public defense service into the county following litigation over really retirement benefits. And I helped write some of the charter language that governs our Department of Public Defense today. One of my driving values at that time and the work that I did was to ensure and to enshrine the notion of independence in the Department of Public Defense to ensure that they had as much independence to advocate for their position free from interference from elected officials like me and the County Executive who are subject to other pressures. And while I knew in writing that language, which was subsequently approved by the voters, that I might not always agree with a particular position taken by our Department of Public Defense, that was the whole point of the amendment. to enshrine protections in our constitution for our county for the advocacy that we have seen here today. And I want to just recognize that it's had a protective effect and I'm proud of that work. I'm proud of it because it allows us to, without fear of retribution, without fear of consequence, hear different perspectives and be informed. And so we've seen that work. And I've raised my concerns about costs and all of that. But I want to say thank you to the leaders in the Department of Public Defense who are raising this important issue and the issues that they raise around providing really the best in constitutional defense here in King County and I think we do that. My second thank you goes to Councilmember Barone for his diligent work on this issue. He has dug in and knows the details and as thoughtfully as he does on every issue about the consequences and where we ought to go. and it has not been easy work for him because not everyone likes what he's led here on but for that i think he deserves uh tremendous credit i will say that this notion uh that we are clearing up here today about which standard applies when we first wrote the the language there was no dispute because there was one standard the wsba standard matched the supreme court standard only because of the divergence and the lack of matching language in the charter have we come to this position. I think that we are on the big picture ordinance by adopting the Supreme Court standard, doing the right thing. And really not just because it will cost less, because the implementation takes longer. They have a longer implementation time. And by the way, that's the fallback. We can do it sooner, and I will say I would support doing it sooner if we can get some more money. And we're all committed to that. But the state Supreme Court went through a very rigorous public process. They took testimony from folks all around the state from all different perspectives and then they developed the standards that they've issued. And so I think because of that rigorous public process and the fact that the state Supreme Court governs the practice of law ultimately in the state of Washington, that I think Council Member Barone's suggestion that we clarify to our local language to adopt that Supreme Court standard is the right thing to do. It's a floor, not a ceiling. And if we can do better, you at least have my commitment, I think many others up here, to do it faster and to do it better. It truly is not a dispute about where we want to be. It's about how much we can afford to get there as soon as we would like to get there. So thank you again, Council Member Barone, for your thoughtfulness and your courage in bringing this forward.

Thank you. Council Member Dembowski, Vice Chair Barone.

Thank you very much, colleagues. I appreciate all the attention. I appreciate the gratitude. The legislation may have my name on it, but of course, it's a group product, a team product. And I want to acknowledge Claire Manahan from my team who spent the significant amount of time on this. I think it definitely has been months, if not a full year. And Leah, of course, who's helped us steward this process, as well as Kendall Moore from our legal team who try to navigate all the different legal things going on here. I do think this legislation is going to strengthen our public defense function, which is very important. I'm very committed to continue to do that. I will flag that I sense that we have the support for this ordinance today. But I also want to acknowledge that there's a lot of work ahead because actually delivering on the caseloads that the Supreme Court has directed us to do the work. And as Councilmember Dombrouski noted, that is a floor we do want to continue moving forward as quickly as possible. But that is going to take a lot of effort and ultimately I do think it's going to require the state legislature to help us with either revenue or funding to be able to deliver on the important standards that are in place and that we're going to be adopting through this legislation. So thank you colleagues and I urge the support.

Okay, great. Seeing no further discussion, Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll?

Thank you, Chair Perry. Council Member Balducci?

Aye.

Council Member Barone?

Aye.

Council Member Dembowski? Aye. Council Member Dunn?

Aye.

Council Member Dunn?

Aye. Council Member Dunn can follow up with an email by the end of the day on that vote.

It has to be at the meeting. It's right here. For the final vote. Council Member Dunn? No, you can't remember fame. I can't remember Lewis. I can't remember Mosqueda. I can't remember Von Reich Bauer. Chair Perry, I vote is 8 eyes and Councilmember done voting.

No, thank you. By our vote we have adopted proposed ordinance 2026 dash 0040 as amended. Moving to the hearing examiner consent agenda. Clerk Hay, will you please read the items into the record?

Thank you. Item 10 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0051 concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions the application for public benefit rating system assessed valuation for open space submitted by Bradford Smith and Joshua Finto for property located on Vashon. Item 11 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0052 concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions the application for public benefit rating system assessed valuation submitted by Janice and Cody Hodge and Teresa Steike for property located in North Bend. Item 12 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0053, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions the application for public benefit rating system assessed valuation for open space, submitted by Richard Young for property located in North Bend. Item 13 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0054, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions the application for public benefit rating system Assessed valuation for open space submitted by Scott and Michelle Harvey for property located on Vashon. And item 14 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0055, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions. The application for public benefit rating system assessed valuation for open space submitted by Penelope Clay for property located on Vashon.

Thank you very much. Consent agenda items 10 through 14 are before us. Clerk Haley, please call the roll.

Thank you, Council Member. Well, actually, they need to be moved first by Council Member Fain.

So that would be Council Member Fain. Thank you. Would you please move? Yes. Thank you very much. Items 10 through 14 have been moved. CONSENT ITEMS ARE BEFORE US. CLEAR K, WILL YOU PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

THANK YOU. COUNCILMEMBER BELDICHI. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER BARONE.

AYE.

COUNCILMEMBER DEMBASKI. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER DUNN.

AYE.

COUNCILMEMBER FAIN. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER LEWIS. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER MOSQUEDA. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER VON REICHBAUER. Council Member, thank you. Chair Perry.

Aye. The vote is nine ayes, zero noes. Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed substitute ordinances 2026-0051, 52, 53, 54, and 55. Turning next to the motion consent agenda, Vice Chair Barone, will you please move consent agenda item 15.

I move item 15.

Thank you. Consent agenda item 15 is before us. Clerk K, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Balducci.

Aye.

Council Member Barone.

Aye.

Council Member Demboski. Aye. Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda.

Aye.

Council Member Von Reichbauer. Aye.

Aye.

Chair Perry.

Aye. The vote is 9 ayes, 0 noes. Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed motion number 2026-0068. If there's no objection, the published marked agenda together with any changes made in today's meeting will stand approved as the first reading and referral of ordinances and motions items 16 and 17 as listed under other business and in accordance with King County Chapter 2.1. I want to remind my colleagues that there are three vacant at-large positions on the Women's Advisory Board, and I'm requesting that my colleagues submit nominations to fill the positions. Council members are encouraged to review the provisions of King County Code 2.30.060.A for the diversity criteria recommended by that section. Council members may nominate an individual by sending an email with the completed application forms to my office by June 8th at 5 p.m. All nominations will be announced at the June 9th council meeting and forwarded to the executive. Each of your chiefs of staff have also received this information by email. Also last week, I announced that in accordance with RCW71.24.590, the Department of Health has requested the council's consultation regarding the proposed location of an opioid treatment program by Therapeutic Health Services. The proposed location is in Kent. at 24823 Pacific Highway South. The Department of Health has requested a response by June 5th. My office has been working with staff on next steps and I want to provide a brief update. The County's Department of Community and Human Services is working to provide detailed information to the Council related to the proposed facility and the Department's recommendations. In the meantime, I'm requesting an extension with the Department of Health for Council response after June 5th. With that, do my colleagues have any other business for the good of the order? Seeing no further business before us, this meeting is adjourned.