City Council - Regular Meeting

Everyone to the June 23rd, 2026 meeting of the King County Council. I'm Sarah Perry, chair of the council, joined by Vice Chair Jorge Barone and Vice Chair Reagan Dunn and our council colleagues today. 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, Claire Kaye, would you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Here. Council Member Barone?

Here.

Council Member Dabowski?

Here.

Council Member Dunn? Here. Council Member Fain? Here. Council Member Lewis?

Here.

Council Member Mosqueda? Here. Council Member Von Reichbauer? Here. Chair Perry? Here.

Here.

You have a quorum.

Thank you very much. Next, please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Von Reikbauer.

Thank you, Chair Perry. Please rise if you are able to. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, and with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Vice Chair Barone, may I please have a motion to approve the minutes of the June 16th, 2026 council meeting?

Chair, I move that we approve the minutes of June 16th, 2026.

Thank you very much. The motion is before us. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Minutes are approved. Colleagues, I want to note that I'm adding proposed motion 2026-0166 to today's agenda for first reading and discussion and possible action. This motion would allow me in my capacity as chair to extend the current federal lobbying contract for an additional year of federal advocacy services on behalf of council and to negotiate and execute all necessary contract amendments. I plan to take this motion up following public comment. Clerk Hay, are there any other additions to the council agenda? I have no other additions. Okay, thank you very much. Before we take public comments to properly have items for public comment, we have a few procedural matters. To allow public comment, Vice Chair Barone, may I please have a motion to suspend the rules to discuss and take possible action on item 2026-0166 without referral to committee? This is a reminder to members that this item will be taken up first after public comment as there are additional procedural matters to address.

So moved, Chair.

Thank you, Vice Chair Barone. For the motion, it is before us. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay.

Nay.

The motion is approved. As a reminder, last week I announced my intention to relieve item 20, which concerns the proposed opioid treatment facility in Kent from committee, so that we can take action today to meet the Department of Health deadline. With that in mind, Vice Chair Barone, may I please have a motion to relieve the committee of the whole of item 20?

So moved, Chair.

Thank you, the motion is before us. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. The motion is approved. Next, it's my intent to take action today on item 21, which extends the executive's appointment of the acting director of the Department of Human Services. Vice Chair Barone, may I have a motion to suspend the rules to take action on item 21 without referral to committee?

So moved, Chair.

Thank you. The motion is before us. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. The motion is approved. Finally, I want to note my office has received a request for one week courtesy delay on item 13 concerning the creation of an inspector general division. As chair, I've granted this request, and for this reason, I'll not be taking action on the legislation today unless there are objections. That said, we'll be accepting public comment on the item today. Is there any objection? Okay, seeing no objection. We will move as stated next week, thank you. With that, Dr. Kaye, would you please read the items into the record?

Thank you. Item 7 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2025-0286, an ordinance authorizing the execution of a franchise agreement with Hyperlocal of Washington LLC for use of certain King County Road right-of-ways in unincorporated King County for the construction, operation, and maintenance of wireline telecommunications transmission facilities. Item 8 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0062 relating to the king county district court electoral district boundaries for 2026. item 9 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0116 relating to the sale of environmental attributes held by the county authorizing the county to enter into an agreement for the sale of environmental attributes related to biomethane produced at the south treatment plan to carbone energy llc Item 10 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0071, making a net supplemental appropriation of $69,297,000 to various general fund agencies, a net supplemental appropriation of $147,858,000 to various non-general fund agencies, and a net supplemental appropriation of $208,368,141 from various capital fund budgets. Item 11 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0103 relating to rates and charges for sewage treatment and disposal. Item 12 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0132 regarding the King County Noxious Weed Control Program, revising King County's Noxious Weed Control Program assessments. Item 13 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0101 relating to the prevention, detection, and response to fraud, waste, and abuse of county-administered monies and creating an inspector general division within the Office of Public Complaints. Item 14 is proposed ordinance number 2026-0154, an ordinance approving and adopting the coalition labor agreement negotiated by and between King County and the King County Coalition of Unions representing employees in the King County Sheriff's Office and establishing the effective date of the agreements. Item 20 is proposed motion number 2026-0155 approving the county legislative authority consultation form in support of the proposed opioid treatment program facility and council district 5. item 21 is proposed motion number 2026-0157 approving the extension of the executive's appointment of Megan Peterson as acting director of the king county department of human resources. Item 22 is proposed motion number 2026-0142, a motion confirming the executive's reappointment of Jay Blasey, who resides in Council District 8, to the King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee as a representative of manufacturers located in King County. And item 31 is proposed motion number 2026-0166, a motion declaring the council's determination to retain services for federal lobbying and authorizing the chair to take all appropriate action.

Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. The council will now take public comment. Clerk Hay, can you tell me how many are in person for public comment and how many are online?

There were seven in person last I knew, and I see six hands raised online.

Very good. Thank you. Okay, so we'll now take public comment on those ordinances and motions on today's agenda for action along with comments on any topics directly related to county business as it is the fourth Tuesday of the month. Listening to public and taking into consideration the public's thoughts is an important part of our process and one that greatly enhances our deliberations. In order to allow equal time to provide comment, please limit comments to two minutes. Remain seated until time for public comment. Do not make audible noise during the meeting. It's a reminder also that public comment can be used for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of any person to any office or for the promotion of or opposition of any ballot proposition. In addition, disruptive behavior can or may lead to the commenter being asked to leave the meeting or being muted. Disruptive behavior includes standing rather than remaining seated, making noise from chambers except when being called on to speak, holding signs that obstruct free passage or view of others attending the meeting, or holding signs at the podium that is not allowed. For online comment, press star nine on phone or click raise hand icon on the Zoom toolbar located at the bottom of the screen to notify the clerk. The clerk will call the names of the last three digits of the phone numbers in order and will then unmute each line, lowering the hand after the commenter has concluded. With that, Clerk Camp, please begin calling the names here in person, followed by those hands raised online for public comment.

Thank you, Chair Perry. First person on the list is Kevin Alfimer.

on May 14th you people sitting up there on the council were derelict. You allowed that auditor to go outside of the scope, create it, and brought in funders who had nothing to do with the Best Starts for Kids or DCHS. You brought in stopped the school-to-prison pipeline, and you also brought in the liberated village. Now, all of you people sitting up there are not black folks, with the exception of Lewis. And that was pretty racist, what you did, because you violated your own oath. to hold up the constitution and the charter of this council and this king county now ordinance 2026 0101 is the most ridiculous thing i ever heard because you had amber green john gerber dean Valerie Stugmeier, Kevin Lowe, Edmund Sutton, all steal money from Best Starts for Kids and to pay for an investigation with Carrie Overson, where she was paid $300 an hour. Now you want to say all of these black organizations with that wizard up there who has basically... a harm black and brown organization especially what you're false now you remember what i did december the 9th i came into this ordinance into this this chamber and i told you guys and i also gave you a 60-day notice of a lawsuit i dare you to try that i mean the lawsuits coming down the line all of those ordinance from ordinance one nine nine seven eight is gone plus what balducci did because i met with her on the 18th of august before this thing came in you guys had all of this planned and this is why reagan dunn didn't say anything about juvenile diversion i thought the guy had lost his mind but you guys had it all planned you guys are criminals and what you did is that you deceived the Thank you, Mr. Alfheimer.

The next person on the list is Alex Zimmerman.

Hi, my name Alex. My name Alex Zimmerman. I want to speak about agenda number 13. Yeah, about general, you know what I mean? Yeah, something. Ah, general, yeah.

It's the fourth Tuesday, Mr. Zimmerman. You can speak about anything that's county business.

It's okay, no problem, yeah. Inspector General, rules, what has you established right now for fraud, waste, and abuse? I want to explain to you two example what has happened right now. Example number one. Yeah, Sound Transit Board right now have $35 billion in debt. Yeah. And you know everything about this. Everybody know about this. All America know right now about $35 billion. what they're stealing from us. That's number one. Number two, about King Country Housing Authority, what they spend $100 million for not legal immigrant, give them apartment, what they take this apartment from senior American senior citizen. It's a crime too. So $35 billion stealing is a crime. Spend $100 million for not legal immigrant is against law. Federal rules, total against federal rules. So this makes situation very interesting right now because by this new... Number 13 rules, you know what it means. You all criminal. You not report. People who not report crime is a criminal. You supposed to be arrested. You guilty of everything. You present everywhere. You present in Sound Transit. You present in King Country Housing Authority. You not report about this for many years. Is this a crime? Is a violation officially? Viva Trump, viva new American revolution, send up slave and happy cow. You all supposed to be in jail. Thank you, Mr. Zimmerman.

Next up is Elaine Wu.

Good afternoon, council members, neighbors. My name is Elaine Wu. I'm honored to be here this afternoon to speak on behalf of the Bellevue Botanical Garden Society, where I'm a member of the board of directors, and where I also volunteer for the children's and youth education programs, as well as for the adult education programs. I am thrilled to share that the society has recently been awarded two competitive and vital grants from four culture. First, the public free access grant and other one is the sustained support grant. Equity is at the absolute heart of our mission and these four culture funds allow us to remove financial barriers for King County residents and visitors. This funding will help us host and document over 23,400 completely free program participants and over 5,600 reduced cost participants. As we look forward to the next 12 months, these grants will directly support securing the future of our most vital community assets. They ensure that our Living Lab elementary field trip program remains 100% free for public, private, and home school students, and we have bus scholarships available, so there's truly free access. Finally, this funding ensures that our hallmark winter event, the Garden Delights, stays accessible through multiple ways. Through discounted admission nights, sensory friendly visitation, senior socials, and the distribution of thousands of free community tickets to local non-profit organizations and community centers. We want to publicly thank 4Culture, our state, and our King County Council members for making public funding a priority for science, heritage, and the arts. Thank you so very much, we appreciate the support.

Thank you.

Next on the list is Justin Hunt.

Sorry we don't have all the money in the world over here. We got to take it from over here.

Hello. I would like to bring up about the best power plant proposed in Snoqualmie. How could this be a good location for this power plant? So close to residents, bodies of water. Where fire happens, the fire just has to wait itself to die out. All the while spewing toxins into the air, environment, waterways, where the residents, us, we... Residents but not the actual employees of this remote Operated battery plant have to deal with all it takes is one fire for to truly ruin the lives of residents Futures from health health related issues down to wrecking home investments Outside these chambers on a sign it states that this council is committed to the environment I hope this rings true and by rejecting this proposed battery plant.

Thank you Thank you very much

Oropa?

Hello, Council. My name is Jesse Scarupa. I'm a director with Snoqualmie Valley for Responsible Energy. I'm also a PCO for the Democratic Party and a leader within Snoqualmie Valley Indivisible, where we've organized food bank drives, canvassed for progressive candidates that support strong environmental protections, and organized No Kings rallies within the Snoqualmie Valley. I share my background because I want to make clear that I am both your constituent and we share many common values. But I'm deeply disappointed. When opposition to Cascadia Ridge Best first surfaced, I assumed NIMBYism, a comfortable community wanting clean energy without hosting what I thought it required. But I'm naturally curious, so I researched lithium ion battery energy storage systems. The fire risk, the proximity to schools, the environmental risk with the creek feeding directly into the Puget Sound, I realized this is not safe and this is not environmentally friendly. Furthermore, some of the same people I've marched with are now themselves throwing around the word NIMBY as a way to shut down a needed conversation. And while they do that, they're giving a free pass to BlackRock, one of the most aggressive and least accountable actors in private equity, to site dangerous lithium-ion infrastructure wherever it's cheapest. Those are not progressive values. That is convenience dressed up as principle. I'm asking for common sense setbacks from homes, schools, and waterways. I'm asking this council to engage with the evidence rather than dismiss the people delivering it. I want to march alongside you again. Help us find a solution that makes that possible. Thank you.

Thank you. Next person on the list is Yvette Dynash.

Good afternoon, Yvette Downey speaking. I won't be speaking long because I just had oral surgery, but I did want to hand this out. It's regarding a unique invention that turns backpacks into insulated beds with solar panels. And this came to mind not only for those unhoused.

I'm sorry. Ms. Dynash, I'm so sorry. Can you share that with the clerk rather than having it at the... We can't have any signs at the podium. I'm very sorry.

Oh, no, this is just an information sheet. It's not a sign.

Okay. We have a rule about not holding signs, and I have to hold that for everybody.

I didn't realize you think of it as a sign. I'm sorry.

Yeah, just share. But we will take a look at it if you share. Oh, okay. I got you.

So anyways, turn backpacks into insulated beds with solar panels. And also be good not only for the houseless, but also in emergency situations. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The last name in chambers is Alistair Horwood.

Hello. Hello. Hello. People, council. I'm here today because I know people who live in Snoqualmie, my relatives, and they could, there are risks from having a, battery energy storage system near the residential areas where they live. There's a possibility of fires and the prices of electricity could get more expensive in the areas where the battery systems are. So, yeah.

Well done. Thank you very much. that was the last name in chambers chair Perry would you like us to move to online now please thank you let me just check is there anyone else in chambers that wanted to speak and did not have a chance to speak anyone else that did not have a chance to speak that wanted to speak are you seeing any Seeing any raised hands? Clerk, are you seeing any raised hands?

There are no hands in the chamber. OK.

Thank you very much for letting me know. OK, go right ahead. Go online. That would be great.

Thank you. First name online is Eliana Horn.

Good morning, Council members. My name is Eliana Horn, a policy analyst with Puget Sound Stage, and I'm here today to express concern about the stringent requirements being placed on Best Start for Kids and a deeper concern that the county is swinging hard away from the progress we've made on resourcing BIPOC-led community-rooted organizations through revenue sources like Best Start for Kids. as the king county youth and children advisory board explained in a letter to the council the audit done on bsk funds represents 0.036 percent of the entirety of the bsk lobby while the findings are serious and deserve attention the requirements for director certification of all grants and council approval for reallocations creates the appearance of accountability but in reality is not addressing the root issues and will make it increasingly difficult for smaller organizations to receive much needed county funds The audit reveals that organizations actually need more support, not more obstacles, and more obstacles will likely just make it more difficult for these funds to be used as they are intended to. These are requirements that only apply to Best Start for Kids. No other funding source has this kind of requirement, and as such represents a significant departure from the county's commitment to equity. Additionally, these requirements create a deep concern for us that the direction the county is headed overall is moving away from resourcing a robust ecosystem of BIPOC-led organizations doing vital, transformative work and repairing the centuries of harm done by this government, among others, to those communities. BSK is vital and the grants are vital. I ask that you take measured approaches that address root causes and provide more support, not less, in response to these findings and preserve the vital work that BSK is making possible across the county. And I hope that we can have continued dialogue about ways to ensure that taxpayer money is used appropriately across the county, not just for BSK, and can still support the vital ecosystem that we need. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Ishan Taj.

Hello. Hello. Yeah. Sorry, I'm listed as Ishan Taj, but I am Vandana Thomas. Good afternoon, council members. Thank you, council member Sarah Perry. You've been a great supporter of cricketer in the region. I am a King County resident and a local business owner and the co-owner of our minor league cricket team. But most importantly, I am a cricket mom. I am here today to urge this council to finalize and double down on building the Cricket Community Park at Marymoor Park. For my family, this is deeply personal. My son, Rayanth Taj, recently made history as the first fully homegrown cricketer from the Seattle area to make the USA Under-19 Men's National Team for the ICC World Cup. But his success came at a heartbreaking cost. For the last eight to 10 years, because our region has zero dedicated public cricket infrastructure for professional cricket players with turf grounds, my son has had to travel almost every single weekend across the country to Houston, Dallas, North Carolina, and even internationally just to access professional turf pitches. He spent his high school years landing at SeaTac at 2 a.m. on Monday mornings, only to wake up a few hours later for school. I can't tell you how it breaks my heart or how it broke my heart every morning when I had to drive him to school at 7.30 a.m. Cricket is in the DNA of our massive South Asian community. It keeps our youth fit, focused, and gives them a place to belong. Yet our 5,000 active players are still forced to borrow local fields with dangerous makeshift concrete pitches. Furthermore, our region is one of the only six in the entire United States to have a major league cricket franchise, the Seattle Orcas. Yet local families like mine have to spend upwards of $2,000 on flights alone just to watch our own team play. Our local aspiring pros and fans are entirely locked out of their own sport. The time to act is right now. With the LA Olympics approaching, this facility isn't just a park, it's an economic powerhouse that can host major and minor league teams. gains and drive local revenue and give our youth a local pathway to professional career the community is ready 1700 residents have signed the petition and the seattle orcas are backing this i respectfully urge this council to work with the city of bellevue and push this project across the finish line let's build a home for our kids our community and king county's future

thank you for letting me talk today thank you bandana next on the list is james hutchinson hutcheson hello hello i am james i am representing a group of concerned uh people who live in fairwood um as you're probably aware king county parks and rec has been pushing through a disc golf course in petrovitsky park We're fairly confident that Parks and Rec committed to the project prior to public input in environmental review and won't stop until their disc golf course is built. Parks and Rec used, as several experts have described it, a flawed survey technique using targeted Facebook ads to manufacture a case that a disc golf course is overwhelmingly supported. We complained. They said not to worry, that it was just to see if there's any support at all. And now they're using this very same survey to claim that strong support among park neighbors and regular visitors. That's a lie. When I speak to people at the park, I discover that most are unaware of the project and do not support it. As we speak, parks and rec are attempting to blitz this through permitting by suggesting a 27-hole disc golf course adjacent to wetlands, permanent open space, a wildlife corridor, and through undeveloped forest does not require SEPA review, public input, nor a public hearing. They will, as an arborist put it, ruin this rare example of pristine urban forest. Within a one-minute walk, you're greeted with a beautiful northwest rainforest consisting of extensive ferns, trees, moss, wildlife, and picture-worthy views. This course will ruin that aesthetic, negatively impact the local ecology, is not wanted by the surrounding HOAs, and does not clearly have community buy-in. Several of the holes are within throwing distance of the baseball fields and neighboring homes. Not once did Parks and Rec discuss the downsides of the project. They only attempted to sell us on the idea. We do not trust the checks and balances of King County to properly ensure due diligence is carried out. I do not understand why we are the ones bringing the data and the experts, nor why a handful of unelected officials can push through a large project on public land. Nobody asked us what we should do with the property, and we are seeing an outside interest group monopolize it and taunt us while they try to rip it away what makes it special and unique. We are the ones who are kept up at night spending hours doing research while parks and rec is allowed to create a rain cloud over our heads with insufficient data. I'm under the impression that King County's methodology for doing this correctly is to get sued into doing it correctly. And that's a waste of time and money for everyone involved. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the list is coalition on homelessness.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers. My name is Hallie Willis. I'm the policy manager at the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness, which has over 50 member organizations who house, shelter, and care for people experiencing homelessness all across King County every day. I'm here today to support Councilmember Barone, Fain, and Dombowski's proposed amendment to allow funding to continue for harm reduction supplies like clean smoking equipment while you request a report from Public Health. We've heard from our members who serve people who use drugs that providing harm reduction supplies, including safe smoking supplies, serves two very important functions. First, it helps reduce the risk that people use more dangerous injectable drugs. Second, it gets people in the door to access essential other services like wound care, food, water, substance use disorder treatment, and help accessing housing and shelter when it's available. if public health stops supplying these supplies less people will get access to the care that they need we were extremely concerned to see the original expenditure restriction and we urge your support for this amendment to allow people to continue accessing the harm reduction supplies and other services they need thank you thank you next on the list is jerry blackburn

Jerry, we can't hear you. Are you muted?

There we go. Good afternoon, Council Chair Perry and members of Council, and thank you for your time today. And a big shout out to the young person who joined today. That was awesome. My name is Jerry Blackburn. I'm a proud resident of District 3, as well as the co-chair for the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board. I'm joining today to speak to the proposed expenditure restrictions in Ordinance 2026-0071. As somebody who's served and supported children and youth in nonprofit spaces for over 20 years, I'm deeply worried about the undue burden and bureaucracy this will create for our youth-serving organizations and, at the end of the day, the children they care for. I think everyone is on the same page regarding wanting fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of our dollars. I'm a taxpayer. I know I do. However, these proposed changes would unnecessarily impact hundreds of organizations who are beyond reproach and whose work is vital in the community. Talking about mentoring programs, substance use prevention programs, mental health supports, early learning programs, the list goes on. And as somebody in the past who has managed a variety of Best Starts for Kids contracts, I can attest to the unbelievably rigorous oversight that's involved Like lots of late nights trying to figure out how I can make sure everything was in place to support that contract process. I would ask that we please consider that this response is not necessarily proportional to the small amount of potential concern behaviors that we're looking to address. I'm asking that we could perhaps consider standing up the supports we currently have in terms of the evaluation process, the technical assistance that's available, organizational capacity building and rigorous contract monitoring that's already in place. If mistakes are made by organizations, they get to amend those opportunities, right, and fix them. That's what Best Starts for Kids is about. If smaller grassroots organizations lack the infrastructure and that's recognized, let's give them that capacity building and let's just make that mandatory as part of their contracts. We can fix that easily. And finally, if organizations knowingly commit transgressions, we cancel their contracts. All of these things are in place already. Again, the added bureaucracy is really going to slow the process, and these organizations can't withstand that long, elongated contract payment structure that's going to be, unfortunately, part of the byproduct. So, yeah, there you go. Thank you for your time and consideration. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Next on the list is Joe Kunzler.

Hi, thank you for having me. Joe Kuntzler here, rigor commenter. As it's the fourth Tuesday of the month and there's also a relevant resolution in 2026-0163, I am asking you to declare an air defense emergency and make clear that the King County Council, there is no home for hate and there's no home for anyone making comments about someone's faith or someone's ethnicity or someone's original nationality. As you are probably well aware, and I want to be careful how I say this, this Friday the Iranian soccer team will be here in Seattle to play Egypt. There is a troubled individual who continues to make comments about Iranian Americans, and we saw that on his sign today, which made it on camera. I asked him to stop, please. We're all better than this. We all are. We just are. I really appreciate this chair being polite but firm in enforcing the rules of this chamber, and I hope that that continues going forward. I think it's important that Martin Luther King County Council be a welcoming place and a light of democracy, a troubled time for our nation and arguably our state as well. I will conclude with this thought. I am deeply grateful for your service and your ability to have citizen oversight over the large government that is King County government. I'm sorry you don't hear that gratitude as often as you should. I know you're away from your families, your friends, various sporting events, community events and such to be there, so it is much appreciated. Thank you. Have a great week.

Thank you, Mr. Councillor. Next on the list is Nick Duda.

Hello, my name is Nick Duda. I'm a King County resident in District 8 and I'm deeply concerned about the addiction crisis in our region. I'm calling in support of Councilmember Domboski's original expenditure restriction to the supplemental budget that removed the funding for foil and pipe distribution by the county. let me be very clear there are some harm reduction measures that make sense like needle exchanges which prevent blood-borne transmissible diseases like hiv and aids and importantly keep needles out of our parks playgrounds and streets it's an exchange not a giveaway but passing out foil and pipes is very different it contributes to dangerous trash on our street which erodes a basic sense of safety and order and importantly has at best extremely limited benefits for the individuals to reduce harm Advocates often say there's a reduction of potential burns and cuts, an increased willingness to trust outreach workers, and a higher likelihood to use needles in the absence of clean smoking supplies. But making that last choice to inject because of the lack of a piece of foil is definitionally a sign of self-harm and poor judgment by an individual in the throes of addiction. They need treatment in that case, not enablements and free supplies. i understand there are amendments today being brought to this effort to further study we need action as we lose hundreds of lives each year not further delays in study i encourage every council member to speak clearly about this program in particular so the residents of our county know where you stand on this important issue that affects nearly every aspect of public health and public safety in our community we can and should do better thank you for your time today thank you very much next is gracie mcdonald mcdanald

Hello, my name is Gracie McDonald, and I am a resident of District 9. I also serve as a young leader on the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board. I'm speaking to you today to express my concerns for the new expenditure restrictions found in Ordinance 2026-0071. I believe in having full transparency and accountability of the taxpayer funds, but the proposed expenditure restrictions are quite overstated. In the DCHS audit, Improper payments were found, but this amounts to approximately 0.036% of the total Best Starts for Kids levy, which is around $900 million. It is important to note that since the audit, DCHS and Best Starts for Kids have made significant internal improvements to strengthen their resources and how they can support small grassroots organizations through capacity building. I am very concerned about these expenditure restrictions as they will single out organizations and may cause harm. To effect change and ensure that every tax dollar is accounted for, we need your help in building resources with DCHS and Best Starts for Kids to help these organizations create successful establishments in our communities that will support youth and their families. I know that asking the executive and the council to approve each change in a contract will create more work in your already busy schedules and create longer wait times for getting taxpayer dollars back into the community. DCHS and Best Starts for Kids already have a chain of approvals in place when contracts and funding allocations change. I know it is important to you all that council have oversight in this manner and that is a part of the reason why the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board exists. We serve as members of the community who can have a closer eye on these matters. Through Best Starts for Kids briefings and serving on RFP panels, adding more oversight is truly unnecessary. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Next on the list is Vishal Bhargava.

Yes, good afternoon, Chair Perry and members of the County Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. My name is Vishal Bhargava and I serve on the Bellevue City Council. I'm here today to speak in strong support of a major league cricket facility in King County. King County does not have a dedicated cricket venue despite being home to one of the largest cricket playing populations in the country. That gap is now a competitive disadvantage. major league cricket the seattle orcas and minor league cricket the seattle thunderbolts already play in this market backed by community and by major regional employers fostering an existing fan base and a fast-growing interest in the sport a dedicated venue on the east side would position king county to host major league cricket matches national team games and potentially world cup tier events Those are multi-day visitor draws, hotel stays, spending at local restaurants, leveraging the new Marymore Village light rail station. As we are seeing in the World Cup right now, sports tourism can be a major win for our region. Bellevue is a home to a significant Indian community, with 45% of Washington's Indian Americans currently living in east side cities. With three times as many Indian Americans as in Seattle, the East Side is truly becoming a home of the Indian American diaspora. Unlike other conversations about sports and tourism, this opportunity is about culture and about belonging as much as it is about anything else. A dedicated home for cricket on the east side is a way to give meaning to a large part of our communities, both who came up holding a cricket bat and others who are just discovering the sport now. Yes, the county could see increased tourism benefit as a result of creating a permanent home for cricket on the east side. That is speculative, but highly likely. However, what is certain is this. It would make... Real, a sense of place and community for the cricket players and fans of today and of tomorrow. Professional, youth, and pickup leagues alike. A pitch to call their own. I hope the County Council can help make this dream come to reality. Thanks again.

Thank you, Isha. Next up is Yordanos Teferi.

Good afternoon, my name is your Donald to ferry and I'm currently serving as a Co chair for the best starts for kids communities of opportunity advisory board and governance group. We wrote a letter to council earlier this year, and I would like to read portion portions of it today. 1st, we want to express our appreciation for the council's longstanding. leadership, and support of COO and Best Starts for Kids. We also want to take this opportunity to lift up the COO investment area, which has consistently modeled community-led, principled, transparent, and accountable governance, even as countywide conversations about audits, oversight, and contracting have intensified. COO was built to support a local movement of partners who believe that every community can be healthy and thriving, and that equity and racial justice are both necessary and achievable. For nearly 12 years, this initiative has demonstrated long-term impact through work grounded in skill, care, and steadiness across King County. At its core, COO is rooted in the belief that investing in strategies that build community power is essential to achieving structural change toward equity, justice, and thriving self-determined communities. What we cannot lose sight of Amid heightened attention to county oversight, there is a real risk that public conversations about risk are used to justify pulling back from investments in communities that have been historically underrepresented, underfunded, and overlooked. We cannot let that happen, and we believe this is a commitment we share. COO was created to do the opposite, to repair, rebalance, and rebuild trust by ensuring that resources reach the places where systems have failed people for generations. We want to fully highlight that we will not step away from supporting community-rooted investments. We will not support gatekeeping disguised as caution. We will not embrace narratives that frame equity-focused investing as inherently high risk. Instead, we will continue working toward what this initiative was designed to do, develop bold, responsive strategies that ensure our shared public funds reach the communities that have carried the most while being given the least. To that end, we do not support the proposed expenditure restrictions that will impact BSK as they appear to be an overreaction and stand to lead us to more inequitable contracting processes and practices. Thank you.

Thank you. Next on the list is Alden Farr.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Aiden Farr. I joined Metro in 2018 as a transit operator and now serve as a senior business analyst. My remarks today are my personal views about the executive's budget proposals for RTO and on behalf of the experience of thousands of King County employees, especially those with disabilities and caregiving requirements. The executive's RTO mandate is predicated on the idea that one solution can fit every employee and every department. The experiences of county employees show that it cannot. For many county employees, work from home makes their service to the people of this county, your constituents, possible. For one, work from home and a flexible schedule eliminated the need for full-time care for a disabled adult child. Another with a life-threatening allergy worked from home before the pandemic. A third developed Yambare syndrome after long COVID and struggles to leave their apartment. Yet employees in these situations are being denied requests to continue the accommodations that have already proven successful. The county has informed them, and I quote, if the restriction regarding your ability to return to office is permanent or long-term, we may need to discuss a medical separation from your position. Meanwhile, other employees are being told to return to offices they never worked from. Permitting will return to King Street Center in Seattle, far from the unincorporated communities they serve. This will create millions of dollars in costs that will ultimately be passed on to their permit applicants and which are not included in either the $5.7 million you will vote on today or the $16 million the executive will ask for in the next omnibus. The question before you is not whether return to office is good or bad. The question is whether a proposal with millions in direct costs, unknown indirect costs, unresolved accommodation concerns, and no publicly stated success metrics deserves the same level of scrutiny that you routinely apply to other major expenditures, just like the restrictions other commenters have addressed today. I ask two things of you. First, insist that the executive disclose the full cost of this plan, not only the renovation costs you'll be asked to vote on today, but the ongoing costs, the costs borne by other departments, and the impact... Hello?

Clerk? I'm not sure what happened on that one.

Okay. Maybe he'll come back, go ahead and move on.

Next on the list is Jeremy Ward.

Thank you. Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, go right ahead.

Hi, I'm Jeremy Ward with the Protect 17 King County IT Bargaining Unit. I've been a King County employee for nearly 30 years now, and I care deeply about serving our constituents and enabling the best possible working conditions for our coworkers. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to us on this issue. And thank you very much for the work and advocacy that some of you have already done on this issue. A few of you may have heard a version of these comments before, but I really wanted to make sure the whole council was able to hear these. I remain very concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability with the proposed RTO spending. In terms of transparency, it appears we have little visibility into the true cost of RTO. For example, did you know that departments have already spent millions on RTO? We know that these numbers are not present in the omnibus or other materials presented by the executive. Council asked about the long-term costs of RTO. The exec answer was that these costs would be wrapped into the core charges to the departments. In other words, the question wasn't answered. The executive did not provide a number reflecting the long-term costs of RTO. When you acquire or rent additional real estate, there's a significant real long-term cost. When you pay for more floors in a building or don't rent them out for revenue, there is a cost. When you unmothball an old retired building that no one wants to work in and later have to move employees from that building to a newer building, There are real costs. There are additional long-term costs for utilities, security, and other costs. The county is $150 million in the hole, and each expenditure must be understood. It would be fiscally irresponsible to fund RTO expenditures without understanding the long-term costs of RTO over at least 5 to 10 years. My ask is that you forestall the $5.4 million in the current omnibus until, at the very least, the executive provides to you and to the public the full short and long-term costs of RTO. In terms of accountability, I do not see how we can justify to the taxpayers and constituents the requested one-time costs of $22 million that does nothing to solve their problems when we are $150 million in the hole. Thank you for your advocacy on this issue.

Thank you.

next up is brandon duncan hello my name is good afternoon council my name is brandon duncan i'm a capital project design engineer in the water and land resources division and i've served king county for nine years i'm here to share my personal view of the return to office funding and the agenda I want to tell you what remote work has meant for my family. It's what lets us earn two incomes to manage the high cost of living, especially since my spouse serves our country overseas, leaving me largely to solo parent our kids. My situation isn't unique. Many families across our region struggle with the cost of housing and childcare, and long commutes only add to that strain. The previous work from home policy was a much needed pro-family policy in a country that offers families very little support. I love what I do, and I believe in doing it with excellence. In fact, I've earned an outstanding rating in each of my last two annual reviews. I'm not against working in person. What I'm asking you to protect is what was already working. Our previous teleworking plans let teams decide for themselves how often they needed to be in person. That gave work groups the face time they needed for both work and relationships while getting more out of the county's people and space. This is a model the county already invested in. It spent millions remodeling the King Street Center's sixth floor collaboration center, which fully opened last year and works very well for exactly this kind of collaboration. Spending millions more now would be paying to walk away from a policy and a space that's already serving us well. Work-family balance isn't a personal problem to be accommodated. It's a structural policy choice, and the old policy was a good one. I'm asking you not to approve the return to office funding in doing so to protect a policy that's working. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next is Ben Brujas.

Good afternoon. Can you all hear me?

Yes, please go right ahead.

My name is Ben Brunges and I'm a professor at the Evans School of Public Policy at the University of Washington. I study government contracting and I've worked as a procurement policy advisor to many federal, state, and local agencies. I'd like to speak briefly about ethics in government contracting and the delicate balance between legislative oversight and administrative discretion. Unfortunately, fraud is part of public procurement. Around the world, officials steer contracts to their friends and their allies. No branch of government is immune to these temptations, but we hope to limit them as much as possible. So let's talk a little bit about whether DCHS has taken steps to limit fraud. They wrote contracts of interest during COVID to spur investment in King County and to ensure that local youth continue to receive services. This kind of spending is inherently risky. For example, at the same time, the federal SBA was making loans to businesses around the country. Today, the SBA estimates that more than 17% of all those pandemic assistance loans, that is totaling more than $200 billion, went to fraudulent sources. The King County report notes that less than 3% of the audited contracts were potentially fraudulent, suggesting that DCHS did a better job limiting fraud than the federal government. DCHS is also following many of the leading procurement management processes, including working with high-performing agencies, improving staff training, and terminating unethical employees. Before us today, we have legislation that proposes to increase oversight on DCHS contracts. Will that work? Well, it depends on what this commission values. More oversight will be less efficient because it will drive up the cost of contract management at DCHS. More oversight will add burdens to contract partners, reducing the pool of contractors who are able to bid on or receive DCHS contracts. And finally, more oversight may improve process transparency. It could make procurement more accountable, but only if the information that is gathered is both useful and used. This is a classic administrative dilemma. How do you balance oversight with the need to get work done? In many cases, the cure, more oversight, turns out to be worse than the illness being treated. Here we have what amounts to a common cold. DCHS experienced something that nearly every government agency goes through. They've taken the usual steps to address the problem. You could liken ethics training and financial.

Was that the timer?

I don't know what that was.

Yes, it was. Oh, it was the timer. Can you please wrap up your comments? It was a two-minute timer. Thank you very much.

Sure, of course. DCHS has taken the usual steps to address the problem. You could liken ethics training and financial management systems to bed rest and hydration. The question is, will an inspector general be needed? The answer is probably not to cure the common cold. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Appreciate your participation.

Up next is Chloe.

Hi, good afternoon. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Go right ahead. Good afternoon, Chair Perry and Councilmembers. My name is Chloe Gale and I do policy and advocacy work on behalf of Evergreen Treatment Services and the REACH program. We're an opioid use disorder treatment agency in King County and we provide our largest street outreach team in Central and South King County. I'd like to ask you to support Councilmember Barone's thoughtful proposed amendment to allow continued funding and examine the impact of distributing smoking supplies in our community. I call your attention to a letter sent by a coalition of substance use treatment providers highlighting the research provided by our colleagues at the University of Washington. This annual survey has clearly demonstrated that a judicious use of smoking supply distribution has brought a tremendous increase in engagement of connection and connection to services for some of our most vulnerable neighborhoods on the streets downtown. This engagement has been critical to the public health array of services in Belltown and the many layered treatment access opportunities there. As you probably know, people can get critical health care interventions and multiple forms of treatment directionally at the Fourth Avenue Public Health site, including naloxone to prevent overdose deaths, oral and injectable suboxone, basic wound and transmissible disease care, and referrals to ongoing case management. My agency in particular, Evergreen Treatment Services, brings a daily treatment in motion dispensary van to the curb at this exact location to bring treatment as accessible as possible for people downtown. Last year we served over 500 people downtown and we enrolled 161 new people into treatment, 40% of whom identified as BIPOC and many who had long histories of homelessness. We all know that we need to create treatment access for everyone in our community and I ask you to continue to support this crucial collection of treatment engagement providers at Downtown Public Health, including the supplies that are supporting our continued engagement. Thank you. Thank you.

Up next is Namrata Singh.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Namrata Singh, and I'm a resident of Bellevue. I'm a physician at the UW. And most importantly for today, I am coming in as a parent of two young boys who love playing cricket. And I'm here to speak as a third person already on the comments today in strong support of this proposed cricket community park and to urge you that the time to act on it is now. I'll tell you my story is that every weekend my family packs into the car and we drive significant distances just so my kids can play a game that they so passionately love. Not because there isn't a demand for this sport and not because this community doesn't have passionate players, but simply because we lack the infrastructure. Why do I care that they play cricket? Just because it keeps them active. It builds a community. It builds discipline for them. So I am here for anything that takes screens away from their hands. And you know, this was my part of the story. I might ask if you allow me to pause for a second and maybe think personally. Please think about your own child, your grandchild, your niece, your nephew, anybody, a kid in your family, and imagine if the sport they loved so much had no home in the city. Imagine driving hours each way, sometimes taking flights across the country, every weekend just so that they can feel included. I know you would do it because that's what parents do, right? But you'd also want someone someday to build that field for them. And today, council members, you have the power to be that someone. A cricket park in our community is just not a facility. It will be a statement that the King County welcomes everybody and it welcomes and builds for everyone, not just one person. And please vote yes. Our kids are watching and they're counting on you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Thank you very much.

Next on the list is Diane. Diane?

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Go right ahead.

Hi, good afternoon, Chair Perry and the council members. My name is Dian Dian, and I'm here today representing grassroots organizations that serve immigrant low-income women workers in the King County. I'm speaking about the agenda item 10. I'm speaking in strong opposition to Proposal Substitute Ordinance Number 2026-0071, specifically regarding the proposed budget restrictions and funding cuts to the Communities of Opportunity CEO Initiative. Through COO funding, our organization runs a vital space in the Chinatown International District. It's not just a space, it's a critical lifeline for these low-income immigrant workers, particularly women. They are the ones who keep our local economy running, but they're not always got their rights guaranteed. They're not always treated equally because language barriers, because they lack knowledge of our laws and ordinances. So we have the, because of the CEO funding, we were able to build that trusted spaces where they can receive all these essential support, know your rights trainings and all the community resources. Over the past few years, we've been reached out to over 500 low income immigrant workers. But if these funding cuts and restrictions move forward, it will create a heavy burden on grassroots community-based organizations like us. And it will be such a bad news for all these workers we support. Also, like, we understand, as some other people mentioned, that ensuring accountability is important, but proposing a restriction is such an overcorrection. Yeah, so we just worry they will risk creating deeply inequitable contracting practice that harms the most marginalized groups. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Next up is Carrie Chihak.

Good afternoon council members. I'm Carrie Chihok and I'm King County's former evidence and impact officer and I also many years ago served as your lead staff to the Board of Health. I now lead a group called Beyond Measure and I continue to work with organizations, local governments across the country to embed rigorous evidence to help advance equitable outcomes.

I'm here.

I've submitted some written comment and I wanted to also testify in front of you today orally on in support of public health. continued ability to distribute safer smoking supplies. There's a very strong evidence base behind these programs that has been studied over many years in the context of many different kinds of harm reduction programs and more recently with regard to safer smoking supplies in particular. These programs reduce disease transmission, they reduce transition to injection drug use, And they increase engagement with treatment and health services, and particularly in a way. That is is very difficult to to replicate in any other kind of context. So I'm urging you to take action today that would support public health's ability to continue this. There are several concerns that are often raised in terms of harm reduction programs. such as enabling drug use, wasting public funds, undermining recovery, attracting disorder to neighborhoods. Those have all been also well studied and are refuted by the evidence. I know you all too, you know, you've taken many actions in the past that have, you know, led to Public Health Seattle King County's very well-earned reputation to use science and evidence in support of advancing community outcomes. and I urge you to continue that today. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next on the list is Ankita Seth.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Ankita Seth. I'm a mother of two young cricket players, and our family has been deeply invested in this journey for over eight years. I'm also a finance professional with 13 years of corporate experience. which is why I'm looking at this cricket field proposal strictly through an ROI and economic lens. First, we can capture the FIFA effect year round. Seattle businesses are currently anticipating an $846 million windfall from the World Cup. Cricket is the world's second most popular sport and a permanent venue lets us harness that exact same international tourism energy on a recurring basis. Secondly, we are actively exporting our revenue. King County has a massive cricket demographic and our own major league cricket franchise, the Seattle Orcas. Because we lack a permanent facility, the Orcas are forced to play in other states. We are literally handing our hotel and dining revenue to other states such as Texas and California. Thirdly, look at the $534 million precedent. During the 2024 T20 World Cup, Texas hosted four matches and generated $100 million in economic impact. New York hosted eight matches and brought in $434 million. A permanent home at Marymoor positions Redmond to host these lucrative global events instead of watching them go elsewhere. Finally, cricket brings a multi-day local multiplier. These aren't two-hour in and out games. They are multi-day tournaments drawing an affluent traveling demographic. An international series translates directly to sold-out hotels across Redmond and Bellevue and a recurring boost to our local tax base. The financial upside of building a dedicated tournament-grade cricket field at Marymoor is undeniable. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Jessica Guillot.

Hello? Jessica, are you muted? Maybe we can come back to Jessica. Let's keep going.

Next on the list is Ramesh.

We're not hearing you. Are you muted?

Good afternoon, council members.

Afternoon.

This is Ramesh Raju. I'm wearing two hats today. I'm an ICC certified cricket umpire with eight plus of years experience doing more than 500 games, kids levels to the minor league level. I witnessed a lot of cricket in Seattle and around uh different cities in u.s where i can see massive difference between the skill levels of the kids and adult professionals from the seattle to the other cities whenever our kids travel to play the tournaments outside seattle there's a huge gap between the skill levels of kids playing in other cities where they have the real turf grounds so i'm in full support of like having dedicated cricket public turf grounds in around seattle where our kids can practice and play a lot of games and even though our kids and adult cricketers are highly skilled, but lack of practice on the tough pitches. The performance levels are differing just because of lack of practice on the tough pitches. So if you can get a dedicated ground where our kids and adults, professionals practice and play regularly on these pitches, definitely Seattle can produce many cricketers like Ryan Taj, who already represented us in ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. There are many, many skilled cricketers. coming up in Seattle. If you provide them with the right infrastructure to grow, definitely will see future starts representing both at under 19 and international level playing many, many cricket World Cup and with the LA Olympics coming up, we can see many cricketers from Seattle representing that. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. I'm going to try Jessica Geode one more time.

Jessica, we're not hearing you. Are you muted by chance? Are you still with us? Okay, let's move to the next. Do we have any more? We do.

We have eight more. Okay, thank you. Up next is Rachel Sun. Hello.

Are you able to hear me? Yes, go right ahead. Hello, Rachel. Hello, thank you. Thank you for this opportunity to speak. I'm an organizer with the Massage Parlor Organizing Project. We serve and organize immigrant working class folks across King County with resource distribution, outreach, language access, labor rights intakes, and just supporting workers with the myriad of legal and institutional challenges that they face. I wanted to speak on 2026-0071 with the proposed expenditure restrictions around the Best Starts for Kids levy. A majority of funding for our services and programming come from this levy under the Communities of Opportunity grants. With this funding, we have achieved things that we can only dream of we started in 2018 we now support a space in chinatown where needs are met leadership is cultivated and resources are shared i have similarly met hundreds of represented representatives from other organizations who have equally grown benefited and been able to serve their own communities from this funding it is clear that the foundation for sustained collective power is continuously strengthened and made possible with funding from this levy As a fundraiser for a grassroots organization, I want to speak to what proposed expenditure restrictions would mean in practice for organizations like ours. The current funding climate is already deeply volatile, and community-based organizations and human services groups are stretching thin to locate and mobilize resources. Adding more administrative obstacles will not prevent mismanagement. It will discourage the organizations doing the most essential work from applying or trying at all. Accountability for taxpayer resources matters, and I understand the impulse behind increased scrutiny. There is, however, a real cost when compliance burdens falls on heaviest on the smallest, most under-resourced organizations and communities. The communities who have benefited from this levy deserve funders who make access easier, not harder. So I urge you all, please do not approve of the proposed expenditure restrictions and instead continue believing in the leadership and vision of our community. this investment has not only provided extremely critical resources but has also affirmed the importance of our work thank you thank you very much up next is jing hang chen hello can you hear me sure can go right ahead

Hi, my name is Jing Han and I'm a former resident of Roosevelt and currently live near and work in Chinatown in a grassroots organization called MPOP, Massage Parlor Organizing Project. And like Rachel and other folks who have given public comment today, I want to talk about agenda item 10, which is ordinance 20260071. And just to not repeat too many of the points that were made, I will quickly share. I understand that preventing fraud is important, but much of the review work that this legislation requires already occurs through BSK's internal process. COO and BSK is one of our grassroots orgs major funders. And without this funding, we would not have staff and part-time workers, our worker center space, or most of the programming that we do. The budget expenditure restrictions that are being posed by the leadership team, budget leadership team, will make these funds much less accessible in the future and make it much harder for organizations like us to receive money from the county to do this essential work for marginalized immigrant communities that are being targeted. um i would urge uh council members to not pass this bill with er1 and 2 expenditure restrictions please consider the amount of work and organizing that is a result a direct result of having this funding um and please do not make access to um this crucial and um this crucial work that evinces equity harder than it already is. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Next on the list is Catherine Chen. Hello.

Hello. Hi. My name is Catherine. I'm a resident of District 3 in Seattle, and I am here to also talk about the ordinance and I urge you to oppose the expenditure restrictions that are being A lot of folks have already very eloquently articulated why these restrictions would make it a lot harder for essential work that's being done. I'm also part of a grassroots organization that directly benefits from this funding, and especially during this climate of increased cracking down on immigrants. we provide a lot of um very essential services know your rights to cantonese speaking mandarin speaking and spanish speaking workers in the chinatown international district and so among other services and so i urge you to think about the impacts that this that these restrictions would cause on in um in this line of work and already um Circumstances, we're finding a stress break. Then people are really burnt out because of the current climate. So, yes, again, reiterating that that fraud is important to combat. But this is an overcorrection by the council and that there are already measures that mitigate fraud that are done internally by BSK. So really just urging council members to listen to several of the folks that have talked. And vote no. Thank you. Thank you.

Up next is Sege Gebu.

Good afternoon, King County Council members. Good afternoon. My name is Sege Gebu, and I'm the Executive Director of Horn of Africa Services. I'm talking today, express strong concern regarding the proposed expiry restriction for the BSK for the Kids Fund. The BSK fund have created an immersed measurable impact in our committee. This initiative directly support refugees and immigrants by providing cultural specific programming in the vital language access and the tailored mentorship that help new arrivals and navigate unfamiliar system in the tribes. Our youth benefit deeply from this program, which offer foundation stability, early child development support, and the resources that explicitly bridging the gaps. Furthermore, the CEO Fund plays a critical role in our community safety through targeted gun violence education prevention initiative by supporting collaborative partnership between several CBOs, local churches, markets in the Seattle, Police Department. This funding actively dismantled the school to prison pipeline. This program provides vital intervention, mentorship, and a positive partnership for BIPOC immigrant refugee youths who are disproportionately affected by systemic vulnerability successfully preventing gang violence and fostering never peace. Altering this funding process to require additional layers of council approval and bureaucratic oversight will introduce severe destabilizing challenges. For a small organization, community-route-based organization operating on the front line, this administrative shift bring a mountain of hardest and critical funding delays, distracting the continuity of this funding directly threatens the life of families rely on.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate your participation.

Thank you.

Next on the list is Mehar Singh.

Hi, can you hear me? Sure can, Mehar. Go right ahead.

Excellent. Good afternoon, Council Chair Perry and members of the Council. My name is Mehar Singh, and I'm the Interim Development and Data Director at Fair Work Center. We provide essential legal services, education, and worker leadership development to immigrant and low-wage workers who are most vulnerable to labor exploitation. I am speaking today in strong opposition to the proposed expenditure restrictions in file number 2026-0071. I am concerned about the burden these requirements would place specifically on BSK staff. Every additional approval process, notification, and review requirement will take time away from supporting grantees, strengthening the existing accountability systems, and helping our organization succeed. As a development staffer, I've seen firsthand how important it is for funding to move in a timely way, especially in the current volatile fundraising landscape. Delays in contracts or contract amendments can delay services, create uncertainty, and make it much harder for our organizations to respond to community needs. many of the organizations serving communities most impacted by inequities are smaller organizations led by immigrant communities communities of color and other historically underserved communities these organizations have deep trust and strong relationships in their communities but often these are also the organizations that do not have large administrative teams dedicated to navigating complex and bureaucratic contracting processes we should not confuse an organization's administrative capacity with their impact on communities I urge the council to continue strengthening accountability while avoiding policies that will create barriers for the very organizations and communities Best Starts for Kids was designed to support. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much.

Up next is Kamna Sharma.

Can you hear me?

We can. Kamna, go right ahead. Awesome.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Kamna Sharma. I live in Bellevue. I'm here to speak for the cricket infrastructure, being a member of the local cricket community here in King County. And I'm probably the sixth person advocating for our community today. I have two children who are actively involved in cricket. My older one attends the University of Washington and tries to participate in inter-college cricket while my younger child currently plays under 13 cricket. I see both ends of the journey and at both stages the lack of local infrastructure is a real barrier. With cricket becoming part of the 2028 LA Olympics, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We want our future generations to not only watch cricket on TV and see it on the world stage, but to walk out in their own backyard and play it, to see it live, to practice it locally, and to grow up believing that they can compete at highest level. My younger child loves the sport and dreams of competing at higher levels, but without the proper local facilities, I worry about the same pattern I've already seen. Kids who are passionate eventually drop off, not because they lose interest, but because there's less infrastructure to support them. The time investment of travel far to find a proper ground becomes unsustainable alongside school and work commitments. A dedicated cricket community park would give young players like my U13 player a place to grow and a college student at UW a place to keep playing right there in their own backyard. We have an incredible invested population and community here. Just looking at what's happening with FIFA right now, the Seattle streets are packed, local businesses are thriving, energy is undeniable. Cricket has that same passionate, dedicated community right here in King County. A dedicated infrastructure would be a home for our sport and would allow our kids to dream big. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Next on the list is Sidi Patak.

Sidi Patak, we're not hearing you. Is your phone on mute? Okay, maybe we can come back.

Are you unmuted, Sidi Patak? Next on the list is Jessica Guillot. Oh, Sidi?

Yes, are you able to hear me? Yes, we can hear you now. Perfect. Sorry about that. First of all, thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak here. I represent Women's Cricket Foundation, which is a foundation that it's a nonprofit that helps growth of women and girls cricket in our area. And I have a dream. My dream is to see multiple Seattle women and girls representing the LA Olympics as well as all national fronts. Today, we have exactly one girl from Seattle who plays for Team USA. And for me, that's not enough. A few years ago, exactly two years ago, there were less than nine women and girls who were playing leather ball cricket. And with a lot of effort, we've been able to increase that number of all ages to more than 70 people. However, we lack talent. We don't like talent. We like infrastructure today. A lot of our women and girls have to go travel at least 6 times a year to different cities just to showcase their name. And when we travel, we can only take about 12 to 13 girls out there. And if our women and girls don't go out there, nobody's going to know their name. Nobody's actually going to give them an opportunity. They're going to be talented, but their name is not going to be known by people. And we're not able to bring tournaments to Seattle because we do not offer a turf field. Without a turf field, different teams within the country don't want to fly down here and play with us. This impacts not only Seattle, You've already heard from a lot of other people today about cricket already. I'm vouching for the fact that Seattle does not lack talent. We lack infrastructure. And because of our infrastructure, our talent is not able to shine at the highest levels. I would love for this council and our county to do something about it. I would really appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next on the list is Jessica Guillot.

Hello, can you hear me? Sure can. Go right ahead. Great. Good afternoon. My name is Jessica Guillot, and I've been working as an ecologist with King County permitting for five years, and I would like to talk about the RTO mandate and funding. My statement is a reflection of my own personal views, and I am not representing my department in any official capacity. I was hired to King County permitting in the middle of the pandemic and during a historic permit backlog. While working remotely, we cleared that backlog and prepared to meet the new timelines required under SB 5290, which, as you know, mandates partial refunds if we miss the timeline. We've met that standard at a nearly 100% success rate, even through a hiring freeze and staff losses, all while working from home. Based on the commitment to working from home, colleagues have relocated to cities hours outside of Seattle. These colleagues continue to go above and beyond building new systems to meet deadlines, absorbing the extra workload for positions we can't fill during our hiring freeze and working closely with applicants to meet county requirements. If we return to the office, we will lose some of these employees. A three to four hour daily commute is not feasible. Losing them means losing years of institutional knowledge and experience, potentially putting our permit timelines, our refund obligations, and our budget at risk. While I am lucky enough to live in Seattle for the RTO mandate, I would face a nearly two-hour daily commute by public transit. My family chose our home to stay close to my father's assisted living facilities so we can help manage his care. Losing that time could mean paying for additional care services we currently provide ourselves. As part of my job, I review residential permits using website databases and field visits to ensure that they meet county, state, and federal requirements. I currently have 315 open projects. including dream homes, garage additions, removing hazardous trees. None of these applicants has asked to meet me in our Renton office. They prefer email and Teams so they can loop in their consultants and contractors and review plans together in real time. I'm asking the council to reconsider the RTO mandate. We can't afford to lose skilled staff, fall further into the deficit, increase pollution, or take time away from our families. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much.

The last hand raised on line is Shiku Wainaina.

We're not hearing anything. Are you muted by chance? Okay, maybe they'll call in again. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else that has not had a chance to speak that would like to? Any other hands to raise that have not had a chance to speak who would like to?

There's one named Chris Holcomb. Okay.

Hello, can you hear me?

Sure can, Chris. Thanks very much.

Great, thank you. My name is Chris Holcomb. I'm also an ecologist with the King County Permitting. I really appreciate Jessica Guillotte's very well-organized statement. She summarized a lot of things very well that reflect a lot of well-thought-out conclusions on this that many employees have stated. I guess I should say that I'm a King County ecologist. I work for the county, and these are my personal views and don't reflect my agency. I am just going to speak about my personal feelings on things. There is a lot... As Jessica pointed out, we have worked very hard to adjust SB 5290 timelines and brought down permit volumes almost to 100%. It has been a lot of hard work. And this return to office mandate causes a lot of problems with our work environment and our lives. And because of that, people are thinking about – there's a possibility of people – of us losing valuable talent. And I want to explain why this is such a concern. In our line of work at Permitting Division, it takes – there are very specialized skills that people need to learn only on – and learning technical procedures for our jobs. And it's basically on-the-job training. And so when you hire somebody and you invest in training them by working on the job, you really don't want to lose them. And we feel like, and I'm very concerned we're going to lose people. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is there anyone else online who would like to speak?

I don't have any hands raised. Okay, great.

All right, well, I want to thank you very much to everybody who took the time to provide public comment today. Really, really appreciate the time and the effort. It's very important to us. We'll close public comment at this point, and I'm going to ask for a five-minute break to reconvene at 3.07. Do you need anything else from me for that?

We are good. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And again, thanks to everybody who participated in sharing and expressing your views and comment today. We really appreciate your participation. Moving on to our first piece of business, which is the motion concerning a federal lobbying contract. Vice Chair, will you please move proposed motion 2026-0166? So moved. Thank you. Proposed motion 2026-0166 is before us. And I'm sharing with members that I've received a request for a one-week courtesy delay on this item from Council Member Mosqueda. And as chair, I'm granting this request unless there are two members who object to that today. Do we hear any objections?

I object.

Who is that, Reagan? Dunn. Dunn.

Thank Council Member- I also object.

Okay, that's a second. So Council Member Dunn objects. Council Member von Reitbauer is a second. Okay, one moment. Okay, well, then we will vote on this.

Speak to the motion.

Oh, you can speak to the motion. Sure. Go right ahead.

Thank you. The individual who's seeking the the courtesy delay on the matter. Is she able here to speak to the reasons for the delay?

I'm here. Oh, okay, great. Councilmember Mosqueda, can you speak to the reasons for the delay?

As I mentioned in committee last week and the week prior, I was gonna be absent today given that this is a late walk on, I was requesting additional time so we could have a fuller conversation. Again, in partnership with the executive's office.

Sorry, we lost that again in partnership with the executive's office and we lost whatever you said after that.

In partnership with the executive's office, it'd be ideal to have a discussion with them about coordinated lobbying efforts in state cap in the federal capital it's important for us to be able to have joint reporting efforts so we can be as efficient as possible in this time we have compounding federal attacks in this moment and to make sure that we have a lobby team that has been vetted by the executive through a competitive rfp process again with five applicants submitting applications three applicants being interviewed and a competitive process leading to this suggestion from the executive, I think it's well worth our time to spend another week, meet with the selected contractor and have a conversation about how to amend the contract for true drawing.

Are you finished or were you cut off council member Mosqueda?

Finished.

Okay, thanks very much. Council members Dunn or von Reichbauer, would you like to speak to it?

Just briefly, I do appreciate the maker of the motion for the courtesy to lead to speak. That's good. Generally, we grant these, but we have been discussing this ad nauseum for a long, long time, and I think the best interests of the King County Council are better served if we address the matter today. We have all the information we need. It's been available for a long time, and I think we should discuss it. I urge people to have the discussion on it today and not delay to some future time.

Thank you. Council Member Von Reichbauer, would you like to speak?

I think, again, we've had a long time. I believe the original language came here some time ago. I think the members have had an opportunity to review it. I think the majority view should be respected. And I think we should come together after that and work together because what has best been for King County has the legislative branch working together and the executive branch as partners.

Okay, thank you very much. All right. Will all those in favor of the chair's ruling to grant a one-week continuance on Ordinance 2026-0166 say aye? Wait, wait, wait.

Point of order. Point of order.

Point of order. Vice Chair Dunn.

The motion is to overrule the chair. So the aye vote would be favoring the motion that I made to overrule the chair.

Oh, well, that is not what we want to hear. Okay, so those in favor of overruling the chair's vote to grant a one-week continuance on the Ordinance 2026-0166, those in favor of overruling the chair's motion to grant continuance, say aye. Aye. Those who want to vote in opposition Those who are not... Can somebody help me with the language the second for the nay?

You oppose Dunn's motion, vote no.

If you oppose overruling the chair, I think is what you're...

Okay, those who oppose overruling the chair, vote no.

No.

No. Okay, the motion...

Chair, I'm going to ask for a division on that. I did not hear clearly.

Okay. Voices, a vote. Okay. We'll call a vote, please.

Yeah, Clerk Hay, please call the vote. Thank you. Council Member Balducci. Aye. Council Member Barone.

No.

Council Member Demboski.

Aye.

Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. No. Councilmember Lewis? No. Councilmember Mosqueda? No. Councilmember von Reigbauer?

Aye.

Chair Perry? Aye. The vote is five ayes and four nos. Those voting no are Councilmember Barone, Fain, Lewis, and Mosqueda.

Okay, so the motion... We proceed. We will not have a one-week delay. The vote will continue today. So before we proceed, I'd like to note that April Sanders from Council Central staff is available to answer questions. Before we have discussions, I'd like to make some brief remarks. My intent in bringing this motion forward for action today is to follow the will of the body to move forward after weeks of discussion with a shared or separate lobbyist contract, regardless of the outcome. We have the option to either join with the executive in working with a new federal relations contractor or to create a separate legislative branch contract with the existing federal relations contractor for a period of at least one year. The motion proposes that I, in my capacity as chair, would assume the current contract with Washington II Associates, which the executive currently holds on behalf of both branches. And I would assume the contract specifically for the legislative branch for a period of at least one year. This motion would give me the authority to negotiate, prepare, and execute all necessary contract amendments with Washington II advocates. With that, do my colleagues have any questions or comments for discussion? Comments or questions? Okay. Seeing no further discussion.

Chair, sorry.

Yes, Vice Chair Barone, sorry I missed that.

You're asking for comments and discussion on the underlying motion, correct?

Correct, correct.

Well, colleagues, I appreciate the comments that have been made. I know we talked about this in our briefing meeting. As I noted then, I believe that we don't need to have two lobbyists. I think I would prefer to have a coordinated lobbyist uh situation uh and i'm concerned about the the uh the cost of this as an as an additional expense at a time when we're facing some budget challenges in the future i know it's not a huge amount in the overall budget situation but i think this to me seems like a a nice to have perhaps not a need to have. And I also think that I'm actually kind of concerned about having two different lobbyists because I think that that could end up making it more difficult in terms of coordination. So for those reasons, I'll be voting no.

Thank you, Vice Chair Barone. I see Council Member Von Reiklauer.

Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Council Member Barone, for your comments. And I respect you, as you know, very well. I have been a part of this process, this legislative process, for longer than anyone. And I have been part of a process where we've had two different individuals involved with our federal legislation representing both the county executive and the county council separately and together. I think we're very fortunate in the last period that we've had Washington to advocates because we had a group of individuals who have performed well who have been recognized by their peers and who, quite frankly, have been individuals that have opened more doors for us, whether it's members of the congressional delegation or staff. And for that reason, the fact that they have a deep-rooted relationship history of involvement with our state legislative delegation as well as our state council our king county council i think that their success to date merits their continuation and i'm hopeful eventually we can have an assimilation council member boron of both but right now i think it's more we're in a more trepidatious period than i've ever seen in my life given the federal government and i do not want in the words of fdr to switch horses and roll the string. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member von Reikbauer. Other comments or questions? Okay, call out. If I don't see them, please call out, but I'm not seeing Council Member Mosqueda. Apologies for the background noise here. We can't hear it. Go right ahead. but now we can't hear you. We cannot, are you speaking Council Member Mosqueda? So we cannot hear you.

Maybe come back to her.

Yeah, let's come back. Council Member Mosqueda, please try again. We were not able to hear you, unfortunately. Okay, seeing no further discussion. Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci. Point of order. Can somebody just make sure? I want to know what the vote means before I can.

Yes. Thank you. That was very confusing. I apologize for that.

Is the motion, has it been made?

This is the underlying motion. Yeah.

Can someone move it?

Council Member, Vice Chair Barone moved it initially, and then I asked for the extension, and then we voted on the extension, and that did not pass. And now we are voting on the underlying motion that was made to make the decision to allow me to work with Washington to associates on behalf of the legislative branch. Okay.

For a one-year extension?

For at least a one-year extension. Correct.

Thank you. Thank you for the point of order.

Yes. Thank you very much for the clarification.

Second point of order. Second point of order. Yes. As Washington advocates inserted in the legislation, we have to do that by amendment now.

Is the Washington Washington two associates inserted in the legislation? I believe it is.

April Sanders Council policy staff. Yes, Washington two advocates is listed in the proposed motion. Thank you.

Thank you, April. Thank you, Vice Chair Dunn. Any other points of order or questions or comments? Okay, seeing none, clerk, hey, would you please call the vote?

Thank you, Council Member Balducci. Aye. Council Member Barone.

No.

Council Member Demboski.

Aye.

Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. No. Council Member Mosqueda. Council Member von Regbauer.

Aye.

Chair Perry.

Aye.

The vote is six ayes and two nos, Council Members Barone and Lewis voting no, and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed motion 2026-0166. Thank you, everyone. Turning now to the first action item on today's agenda, which is the ordinance consent agenda, items seven through nine. Vice Chair Barone, will you please move consent agenda items seven through nine?

I move agenda items seven through nine.

Thank you. Consent agenda item seven through nine. And before us, Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci. Aye. Council Member Barone.

Aye.

Council Member Dabowski.

Aye.

Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Aye. Council Member Von Reigbauer. Aye. Chair Perry.

Aye.

The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you very much. By our vote, we've adopted proposed ordinances number 2025-0286, 0062, and 0116. Turning next to those ordinances on today's agenda for discussion and action, beginning with item 10, which concerns the county's supplemental budget. Council Member Dembowski, will you please move proposed ordinance 2026-0071. So moved. Thank you. Proposed ordinance 2026-0071 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to note that Jean Paul and Olivia Bray from Council's central staff are available to answer questions and brief the amendments. With that, I'd like to ask if Budget Chair Dembowski would like to make any opening remarks.

Sure. Very briefly, Chair and colleagues, this is our first supplemental budget for the 26-27 season. It's, I think, about a $425 million supplemental budget, $69 million of that in the general fund agencies, $148 million to non-general fund agencies, and about $208 million in capital funding across capital fund budgets. This is before the full council today with a unanimous do pass recommendation six zero from the budget and fiscal management committee. We come out of that with a general fund ending undesignated fund balance of $75 million, which is about seven and a half percent. Our range, we like to be in the six to 8%. The executive transmitted his budget over and we, three of us worked as kind of a mini budget leadership team. Council Member Fain and Budget and Fiscal Management Committee Vice Chair Barone and myself working with Olivia and Jean as the lead central staffers to kind of review the executive's budget, make amendments. And I think with that, I'll say my further comments on the contents of the budget in terms of highlights for after we get done with additional amendments.

Very good. Thank you, Council Member Dabowski, for your leadership on this significant body of work. Do my colleagues have any comments or any further discussion before we hear from staff on the amendments?

Chair Perry.

Yes.

I would respectfully suggest, because there are a number of the amendments, that we get them briefed and then vote on them, ask questions and then vote on them after each briefing. After each briefing. If that would be okay.

That is great. Yep, that is great.

Okay. I think I can help with the first one. I'll offer Amendment 1.

Very good. Okay. Let's see. One second here. So let's go ahead and have a briefing on it, or would you like to make comments on it first?

See if you need it after I get done. Amendment 1 would make an additional appropriation to council administration to fund the action that we just took.

Okay. Would anybody like to hear anything more? Or questions or comments? Okay, seeing none, let's vote. All those in...

Chair, I see Council Member Mosqueda's hand is up.

Oh, thank you. Council Member Mosqueda?

Yes, for the record, I was a no on the last vote that just occurred. And again, can you hear me now? Yes, we can. Go right ahead. Again, I would emphasize the point that Council Member Barone made previously, which is the lack of dollars that we have on the horizon, the concern that this necessitates us putting money in to a contract that is currently fully paid for by our partners at the executive office. I want to underscore my appreciation for everybody's thoughtful approach on how to address this issue of compounding federal crises in this moment and having a strong federal delegation that lifts up and invests in King County is critical right now. But it's also important for us to recognize that this is an additional investment that the county does not have the ability to make in addition to all the compounding needs. I mentioned for reference, $250,000 is the amount that we were able to secure thanks to the budget care and the BLT members for their support for additional support for health insurance supplements. We could nearly double that amount with this amount right now to help address the crisis that the federal government is creating. So from a pure fiscal standpoint, conservative perspective. I think that it's not a great investment at this moment. And respectfully, I look forward to additional conversations about how to make sure that our council and the executive have joint and coordinated representation. But again, don't believe that this is a necessity at this moment and also encourage us to continue to look for ways to save money by partnering with the executive.

Thank you very much. I'm glad you were able to get back on. For Amendment 1, I'm seeing no further discussion. So let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 1, say aye.

Aye.

Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Nay. Do we need a voice vote? I think that was the ayes have it.

Chair, I move Amendment 2 on your behalf and would defer to you to speak to it regarding cricket activities in King County.

Thank you. Let me first say Amendment 1 is adopted. Okay. Moving to Amendment 2. Thank you. Really appreciate the movement of that, Councilmember Dembowski. Colleagues, I'm offering this amendment, which would proviso the Executive's Office to come to the Tree Committee and give a briefing before the end of the summer on updates regarding professional cricket in King County. The Council and the County have been very supportive of cricket in King County, expanding opportunities for both recreational and professional cricket, including the 2022 Council Motion that directed DNRP to work with the cities of Bellevue and Redmond to site a facility at Marymoor Park. King County became home to our first major league cricket team, the Seattle Orcas, in 2023. The Seattle Orcas are at risk of losing their major league cricket license if they don't meet the requirements to have a facility to host a major league cricket game in 2027. This amendment requests a briefing from the executive to get an update on what the executive is doing to help the Seattle Orcas keep their professional cricket license and the time sensitivity to major league crickets requirements for a license. What the executive is doing to engage and support our cricket players and enthusiasts throughout the region, tens of thousands of them, and share updates on citing a cricket pitch and Mary Moore and other county funding sources identified to complete the project. The briefing will bring a much needed update to council on how current efforts are going and how we can be additive to those efforts, and I do urge support. With that, do my colleagues have any questions or comments for discussion? Council Member Valdici.

Thank you, Chair. I really just wanted to say my appreciation to you for bringing this amendment and taking an interest. It is a very... Our needs studies on the east side for a long time have been showing the need for more cricket facilities. It is a growing sport. It's one of the biggest sports in the world, and it is growing here. And so I really appreciate you taking an interest and taking the lead on this proviso, and I'm very happy to support it and see if we can't take advantage of this incredible opportunity and support our community in this way. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Council Member Von Reichbauer.

Thank you, Chair, and I want to build on the comments that Council Member Balducci made. Thank you very much for taking a leadership role in this. I was pleased to bring the first group of cricket players to our King County Council, and you've expanded this support. And as I want everyone to understand, this is not just an Eastside project. To me, it's an all-King County project because it's going to benefit cricket throughout our region because cricket is very strong now in South King as well and will benefit by your suggestion. Thank you.

Thank you. I think this started at the Roanoke. Thank you very much, Council Member von Regbauer. Any other comments? Okay, seeing no further.

Sorry, this is Dembowski.

Yes, Council Member Dembowski.

To the extent it matters, at this morning's meeting of your mini BLT, we reviewed this amendment and the working group is supportive.

Oh, great. Very good. It matters. Thank you very much. Seeing 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. Thank you. Moving on to Amendment 3, Council Member Balducci, would you please move Amendment 3, and would you like to speak to it?

Chair, I would like to speak to it and not move it if that's okay. I know it's a little unusual, but I can pick this up a bit because I'm not going to offer 3, 4, or 4A, 4A or 4B. All of these next three amendments are related to trying to continue the reprieve for Harbor Island Studios to make sure they can keep their doors open, continue to be available to the community while the film community and the county work together towards what the future is for that that asset that we have spent so much time and money and relationship building to create. The good news is, as we heard, I believe it was committee, so just over a week ago, the executive's representative who has made this a priority, Derek Baker, was with us and shared that there was discussions going on to continue operations of Harbor Island Studios. And today, we learned that they have made really good progress. They're not 100% there yet, but we are very confident that they will get there in time to not have to have a debate about this proviso or those big funding asks. It's a much more elegant solution that they've come up with. They're not ready to make an announcement yet, so I'm being a little vague, and I apologize for that. But there will be an announcement soon, and it will be positive, and it will enable us to continue to work towards what we still need to build, which is the long-term future for Harbor Island Studios. So I'm not going to offer these amendments. They are unnecessary. We are moving in a good direction. I look forward to more news very soon.

Thank you. Thank you to your work and to Council Member Muscave's work as well and support of this as well as others. Any other questions or comments before we go to the vote? Okay, seeing none, we will remove those from not voting. We will remove those from our amendment list and we will move to Amendment 5. Council Member Dunn, would you please move Amendment 5 and would you like to speak to it?

Move Amendment 5 for approval and like to speak.

Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Chair Perry. Last year, this legislative body, along with the flood control district, took action to purchase the site of a proposed asphalt plant along the Cedar River. We allocated $10 million, some from the flood, some from King County, to do that. With these funds, DNRP appraised the property and began negotiations with the property owner, Lakeside Industries. The appraisal for this parcel came back, kind of shocked all of us, at $16.7 million. DNRP went back and I think quite wisely negotiated a purchase price of $14 million, so $2.7 million under the appraisal. And DNRP at the time with different leadership made a commitment based on the expectation of available CFD funds and Cedar River acquisition funds. And so it's changed just a little bit with new leadership. And what this amendment would do is use $400,000 allocated to District 9 capital projects plus an additional $600,000 to provide a total of an additional $1 million to purchase this project. So just to be clear, the $400,000 that I'm allocated in my district for capital would go to this, as well as what I'm asking you to approve is the $600,000 additional. This would be combined with existing funds that has already been put forward from the other governments I talked about. and would close the gap for the final purchase price. And this will allow us to really preserve this critical piece of property along the Cedar River. It's right across the road from the river for public use and preservation. The acquisition is part of a plan to prevent the siting of an asphalt plant and other industrial uses in the rural unincorporated areas of King County. Importantly, this site is part of a much larger plan to preserve an open space corridor to connect McGarvey Park at the top of the valley all the way down to the river. And the flood control district can use this for construction, siting, and staging as well. And I would urge your support. I understand it is supported by the chair of the Budget Committee.

Thank you very much. The chair of the Budget Committee would like to speak.

Thank you. Yes, speaking in support of the mini BLT did review this item and is supportive of it. This is one that adds a little bit more spending. It's the 600 K is a bonded amount and that's about $75,000 a year, assuming that it remains the source of payment. One of our principles in reviewing this budget was to give special priority to challenges facing the county as a result of federal action. as a result of changes in state funding since our biennial budget were adopted that require county action or other pressing and emergent needs this falls into that last category because there's a deadline running with the respect to the ability to acquire this parcel from the sellers and so because of timing we've Council Member Dunn has brought it forward at this time and I think it's a prudent investment to cap off all of the work we've already done to acquire this site and I think it also gives us time once we get it secured to look at other backfilling or replacement sources including conservation futures application but the cycle for that is going to be up to another two years because of deadlines and things like that so it's affordable and it's

actually fairly urgent and encourage members support thank you any other questions or comments okay seeing none all those in favor of amendment five say aye aye aye all those opposed say nay amendment five is adopted moving on to amendment six which i understand is largely technical council member dembowski would you please move amendment six so moved Thank you. Do the sponsors or any colleagues have any comments or questions for discussion?

It's a classic technical corrections amendment recommended 100% by staff.

Okay. Seeing no further discussion or questions, let's go on to the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 6, say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Amendment 6 is adopted. Moving to Amendment 7, Councilmember Dunn, would you please move Amendment 7 and would you like to speak to it?

Move Amendment 7, and this amendment would simply allocate to District 9 councilmatic grants addressing emerging needs, the Cedar River Range, which is flood repair, and the Maple Valley Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce summer wacky dash fun run we had to throw in there. In addition, it makes a technical correction to a District 9 councilmatic grant. I urge your support.

Thank you. Any further comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, say nay. Amendment 7 is adopted. Moving on to Amendment 8, Council Member Dembowski, would you please move Amendment 8, and would you or the other sponsors like to speak to it?

so moved and i'll give it a opening set of comments amendment 8 modifies language in the existing budget before the council that came out of committee relating to reallocation of best starts for kids money among strategies and sub-strategies. So there is a process in the Best Starts for Kids plan if there is underspend or if an initiative has been halted in the Best Starts for Kids program to reallocate those monies to other strategies. It's not small money, it can be, but some of these are hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars of reallocation. What this approach does is say, hey, if you're gonna do that after you get approval from the Children Youth Advisory Board, if it's above a certain amount, send a letter to the council and let us know what you're doing. Put a little more visibility on it. We're in the last year and a half of the program. There's been some challenges. And then the thrust of this piece of the legislation is to get a little bit more visibility on any movements among strategies or sub strategies in the final 18 months. The amendment that we are bringing forward softens the requirement that's in the current legislation, which would require council motion approving it, and shifts it to a well-used strategy that we've adopted many times, which is send us a letter, give us a couple of weeks, proceed if we don't take up an action to essentially veto it. So the executive is not stopped from proceeding unless the council, five of us, take action. within 14 days. So rather than requiring affirmative approval, this uses our standard approach. I call it standard because we've done it often to say, let us know what you're doing, and if we timely adopt a veto amendment, we can do that. MS.

Very good. Any comments or questions from colleagues?

I do have, I'm sorry, while folks are thinking about whether they want to talk, we developed this language in partnership with the executive branch and are using their language precisely. Oh, that's great.

Okay, seeing no further comments, let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 9 and Amendment 8 say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say nay. Amendment 8 is adopted. Thank you for keeping me honest. Councilmember Domboski, moving on to Amendment 9. Councilmember Domboski, would you please move Amendment 9, and would you or the other sponsors like to speak to it?

Sure. I offer Amendment 9. Amendment 9 is new language not in the budget. Again, increasing some transparency and visibility in the Best Starts for Kids levy. And in particular, it's focused only on new contracts or grants. So let me be very clear. If an organization has an existing contract or grant, this does not apply. if you're getting a cola or a little bit of additional money in your existing contractor grant this does not apply but if in the last 18 months you are going to be a new provider this asks for the department director to give us a certification a letter to the council that says these things and i'll just just kind of highlight it because I don't think they're that complicated or difficult. But it says identify the strategy and the contractor grant and certify that the following is true and correct to the best of the director's knowledge. That number one, that the program proposed for support advances the goals of the best starts for kids levy and the applicable strategy with identifiable and measurable outcomes. Those are things frankly that are already in the implementation plan shouldn't be a challenge for an applicant or the department to make that certification. Number two, for new proposals or support, let us know that there were at least two proposers or grantees considered. And if there weren't two, say why the program, you know, where only one grant recipient is qualified to do it. So we're trying to ensure that there's kind of competition for new things in the final 18 months. And if there isn't, that's okay too, but just let us know why. Number three, that the proposed grant recipient is qualified, capable, and prepared to deliver the required services in a responsible and timely manner. Again, nothing earth shattering, pretty straightforward, but confirm that for us. This is not unusual in government contracting. For example, HUD requires it in federal contracts for their participants, or very similar language. Number four, that the contractor has the necessary financial management, accounting, reporting systems, and qualified personnel to responsibly administer the funds to be provided. It should be fairly straightforward. Shouldn't be a big challenge. But let us know that you've checked this and that you're confident the department is confident that it can be done. On number five, that the grant program the grant recipient or contractor has the capacity and capability to accurately and timely report to the county on desired outcomes for the program reporting requirements are in the best start for kids implementation plan that shouldn't be a challenge and then finally number six this is long longer in here but basically that the contractor or persons in leadership or manager responsibility have not been found to have improperly obtained county funds in the past or wrongfully used monies as identified by King County government. And a little bit of a carve out, some feedback we received. If somebody or an organization was found by the auditor to have done that, that all reasonable steps have been taken to recover previously misused money and adequate corrective action has been implemented. So you can have had a mistake or an error or a bad actor in your organization. we're not going to ban you. We're just going to say, let us know that you've fixed the problem and certify that that's in fact the case. So that's what these, it's a certification. We ask that the director on any new program make that certification. They can ask the contractor to certify to the best of their knowledge that those things are correct. And the thrust of this is to kind of give a final check at a level of accuracy accountability that's visible to us, that there's confidence in a new start program with perhaps a new provider. Being able to do the basics is what I would call it. It doesn't slow it down, doesn't add any new requirements to any grant recipient, doesn't change any money or allocations. There's no reduction in funding for anybody. But I do think that our public, at least my read of the public and my inbox Want some reasonable. Action taken with respect to some of the challenges we've had, and I think this is one additional step that we could take to add some visibility and in high and enhanced responsibility at the high level highest level of Department. We have worked with the executive branch on this. They support this language, as does the Department director.

Thank you, Council Member Demboski. Other comments, questions, thoughts? Council Member Mosqueda.

Thanks so much. I appreciate the chair's explanation here as the sponsor of the Amendment 9. I do worry that we could potentially slow the ability for DCHS to get dollars out the door to communities in need with this.

Having just seen this as it was sent over with the packet recently, I think that I'm going to have to be a no on this. I do think that the council should be in close partnership with the department on oversight structures but making itself available to help provide the resources is i think the ideal i'm concerned that this helps move in the direction of making us the arbitrator of which contracts are worthy or not and look forward to having additional conversations this fall about how to support the department thank you any further comments or questions

Okay, seeing none, all those...

Sorry, maybe just to close, and I appreciate Council Member Muscata's perspective on this, but this does not add any additional time requirement. This does not set up a process for the Council to engage by motion or anything. It's simply filing of a certification that some additional confirmations of capacity and capability have been done.

Thank you, Chair, Council Member Dabowsky. Seeing no further discussion, Let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of this is nine. This is 10. This is nine. All those in favor of amendment nine say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Nay. Okay. Amendment nine is adopted. Moving to amendment 10. Council Member Dembowski, would you please move amendment 10 and would you or other sponsors like to speak to it?

Move amendment 10.

Thank you. Go ahead.

Amendment 10 revises fairly substantially language that came out of committee in the budget proposal related to safer smoking supplies, pipes, foil in particular, just two of them. And in the budget that is before us today, the funding for that would be stopped. We, as you know, share a public health department with the city of Seattle. And last year, the city of Seattle adopted that language. The language in the budget precisely picks up and inserts the city of Seattle language, because we had a department. Implementing a policy and consistent with it's 1 of our 2 partners us in the city. We heard a lot of feedback. I don't know if it's a lot. We heard some feedback on that, which raised concerns and asked that we take a harder look at it and. What this language does is ask for some information on the program from the Department of Health, the number of supplies distributed, the costs for that, as well as some collecting and providing of research related to the efficacy of programs like this. There is movement in this field, for example, the City of Seattle. San Francisco, as of April, changed their safer smoking supplies program to require a connection to folks receiving care for their addiction and that it be done inside. So, you know, this area is evolving, and I think what we are trying to understand is making sure we are actually on the whole engaging in harm reduction with the program and making sure that's as effective as possible so this amendment would restore or would be it would remove the elimination of the would remove the language that cuts off the funding and allows it to continue but ask for some more information i think by september 15th questions or comments from council members council member lewis you're off mute would you like to make a no okay

OK, seeing none, let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 10, say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Amendment 10 is adopted. Thank you. Moving on to Amendment 11, which is my amendment. Vice Chair Barone, would you please move Amendment 11?

I move Amendment 11.

Thank you, Vice Chair Barone. Colleagues, I'm offering this line amendment in partnership with the executive in support of our roads division, specifically for the quick response program. The roads quick response program allows roads to address the most urgent unexpected capital failures or emergencies. The proposed $5 million in appropriation would allow roads to do so in the near term as well as to continue work on the Bering Bridge. Without maintaining this level of appropriation, roads would only have $400,000 in quick response appropriation to address unexpected capital needs between right now and the end of 2026. Winter weather can start as early as October, and there's potential for other asset failure before the end of the year, and a lack of sufficient appropriation can mean major unaddressed asset failures, road closures, slower responses to emergency situations. The Quick Response Project had $7.7 million in appropriation authority heading into 26-27. The quick response budget was substantially depleted during the December 2025 flood event. The executives transmitted omnibus included 11 million in REIT backed requests for the quick response project. The striking amendment removed this entirely. The proposal for the 5 million is intended to get them to the end of this year in case something arises. There may be additional conversations about this fund in 2027 with a new KCTD revenue. Until then, this revenue will allow our roads division to be able to respond to emergencies and urgent needs through the remainder of the year. I would urge support. With that, do my colleagues have any questions or comments for discussion? Council Member Dabowski.

Is 5 million enough? Yeah. You mean 10?

Yeah, probably not. That's right. That's exactly right. Council Member Balducci.

Sorry, you may have said this, and I apologize if I missed it, Chair, but can somebody say again where this 5 million is coming from?

I did not say that. Capital. Capital.

Council Member Balducci, I might be able to help on that. Please. I think Council Member Perry mentioned that this is appropriation authority, but there's an expectation that the new transportation district funding would supply the dollar starting next year.

So not general fund is the main, I guess, was it? Yeah. Very good. Thank you. Thank you all.

Good question. Any other comments or questions? Okay, seeing none, let's go on with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 11, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, say nay. Amendment 11 is adopted. Thank you. Moving on to Amendment 12, which is also my amendment. Vice Chair Barone, would you please move Amendment 12?

I move Amendment 12.

Thank you, Vice Chair Barone. Colleagues, my office awarded, this is technical, or not technical, but specific to Councilmanic. My office awarded some Councilmanic dollars for a project in our district, and we've identified some challenges with the proposal. This amendment would disappropriate one of the District 3 awards until we can resolve the concerns and bring forward an updated proposal in the second omnibus. I would urge support. Do my colleagues have any questions? Comments? Councilmember Dombrowski, you're off mute. Is that...

I'm ready to excitedly vote yes.

You are excited to go yes. Okay. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Amendment 12, all those opposed say nay. Amendment 12 is adopted. Thank you. Moving on to Amendment 13. Council Member Balducci, would you please move Amendment 13, and would you and Vice Chair Barone like to speak to it?

Thank you, Chair. I move adoption of Amendment 13.

Would like to speak to it.

Yes. And to speak to it. Colleagues, you may recall we had a discussion in committee about the funding proposal, $5.4 million in this budget for facility upgrades at the Dexter Horton building. And I believe about $2 million of that was for facility upgrades at the admin building. Specifically for the purpose of upgrading those facilities to prepare for the return to office of something like 12 or 13 or 1400 county employees for an additional something like one day per week. During the very detailed discussion of this proposal that was led by the budget leadership and for which I very much express gratitude, we learned quite a bit about what's going on with the return to office proposal, including that there is an additional Approximately 16M dollars that will be requested in the mid by budget coming up in the fall. So, at committee, I proposed an amendment that would have allowed the Dexter Horton funding to go forward on the theory that that building is a big part of the future office space of King County and will need to be upgraded regardless. but held off on the admin upgrade until we understood better what the plan was for return to office, including the conditions that people would be working in in that facility that is mothballed now, except for pass-through areas, and that is slated for demolition in the future. So we heard about this a little bit today, about the concerns of employees, but at the same time, we're just looking for a plan. What is the plan? And then, you know, and so... That amendment failed in committee, but in committee, Budget Chair Dembowski suggested, what if we did a fairly standard proviso instead, holding back $100,000, which is what this proposes to do, of the budget until we get a report outlining the RTO alternatives analysis expenses and timeline, and that this should arrive in time for us to have that larger discussion about the larger investment we will be asked to make in the fall. It is strictly informational, and the information should help us to make what is going to be a bigger investment decision than we're being asked to make now. So I urge your support. Thank you.

Thank you. Comments or questions from our colleagues? Council Member Demboski.

Just rising to speak and still staying seated to speak in support of the approach that's being taken here. This is a lot of money and it's a big policy move. And while the roundtable was super helpful and answered a lot of questions, it also raised a lot of questions. I think that this inquiry here will get us some answers on paper that will allow us to engage as meaningful and equal thought partners with the executive branch on the return to office initiative. And I think that questions are appropriate and we should dig into this. I want to thank Council Member Balducci and Council Member Barone for their hard work on it and thoughtful approach.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, let's proceed with the vote. All those in favor of Amendment 13 say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Amendment 13 is adopted. Title Amendment T1. Moving on to Title Amendment T1. I understand that staff needs some time to write the title amendment based on the amendments that were adopted for this reason. April, can you help me out here? Council will go into recess for approximately...

Chair Perry? Yes. This is Gene Paul from Council Staff. I was able to distribute T1 moments ago, so it's in your email box. We don't need to do a recess to draft that for you.

Thank you very much. This meeting was not, I do not need to call it back to order because it was not in adjournment. So thank you to staff for preparing the amendment. Council Member Dembowski, would you please move Title Amendment T1?

I offer T1.

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

Aye.

All those opposed say nay. Title Amendment T1 is adopted. Thank you, Jean Paul, for your timely work. and team. Turning now to the underlying ordinance as amended before we proceed with final adoption, do my colleagues have any closing remarks? Council Member Lewis. You are muted.

How about now? There you are. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Just a few words. Budget Chair Dembowski mentioned that the focus or the emphasis for this supplemental was funds for things that the federal government or the state government, things that our constituents were counting on funding and that funding is either gone or in jeopardy. And I just want to speak to that a little bit. So first I want to say thank you to my budget buddy, Council Member Fain, and to Chair Dembowski, you know, as well as the budget leadership team and staff. Budget work is, it always takes a lot of time, and it's a heavy lift. However, our involvement as a council collectively representing all corners of the county is critical to ensure that King County is responsive to community and constituent concerns. I just want to take a minute to share how this budget impacts District 2 specifically. District 2, along with all districts in King County, feels the impacts of changes to federal support for food. Fortunately, in District 2, we have an organization primed and ready to help ensure families have access to food which will meet their nutritional needs. The Rainier Beach Action Coalition established a food innovation hub designed to provide food to families living in the urban area from local farms. The hub supports both local farms and local families as a win-win for local food security. This budget helps support that ongoing effort. This budget also addresses a vital need in District 2, the need for increased public safety in the community following the loss of two young lives to gun violence. We can be proud of the King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention for stepping up and working with Rainier Beach High School and the surrounding community 24-7, immediately following the violence that we experienced. This budget adds funding to continue the work of ensuring safe passage for students from their bus stop to the high school. This budget also asks Metro to look for ways to improve safety at that bus stop. Thank you. This budget also provides funding to support victims of human trafficking, specifically in District 2 and countywide, by funding the work of the Silent Task Force and Muslimas Against Abuse. These organizations are expecting to exhaust their resources during the World Cup here in Seattle, and this funding will enable them to continue to serve people countywide. So finally, District 2 will benefit from a critical and time-sensitive property acquisition. I was pleased to work on this with both Budget Chair Dembowski and Budget Buddy Thane. Funding in this budget will allow Mount Zion Church to secure a remaining small piece of property to move ahead with their master plan for affordable housing, childcare, and business startups on the same block as the church. An ancillary goal of that project is to build on the history and legacy of the neighborhood as being family friendly for people of all ages, all income levels and vocations. I'm really gratified to see the church and its partners step up to community needs and to invest in future affordable housing and child care. So in closing, I'm pleased that this budget was able to be responsive to time-sensitive and immediate D2 community needs. I look forward to voting in support. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, I see Council Member Fain.

Oh, I think Council Member Barone was next.

I thought he was as well, and then he jumped spaces. Would you like to go first, Council Member Barone?

I'm happy to go now that you called on me. I lowered my hand as I was trying to unmute. That's what happened.

Oh, yeah. Well, please, go right ahead.

Thank you, Chair. Well, I just want to express my gratitude to Council Member Fain and to Chair Dombrowski for the work on this budget that I know, as Chair Dombrowski mentioned, of our budget committee was supposed to be kind of a small task, but it became a little bit bigger. But I think it's a reflection of the fact that we are in a in a challenging moment, particularly as we respond to changes at the federal government in terms of both funding decisions and policies. But I'm grateful for the work that's been done. I appreciate in particular to the point of trying to preserve programs that were at risk of losing support. There's funding here to support a program called Survivors First. that has received funding in the past from other sources and that was at risk of closure by the end of the year. And so we're taking action to at least provide a little bit of bridge support. I do think that I want to reinforce that some of these things are only kind of like things that we might only be able to do in a one-time basis. But as we try to preserve capacity that is already existing in the community, I think that's been important. I also want to highlight that we are, the executive had proposed to maintain kind of a risk reserve, but a number of us advocated on making sure that some of the funding that the executive proposed to have available to address potential cutbacks by the federal government in support for homelessness services would be appropriated so that the money would be available to be used if necessary. So we constructed a language that allows the executive to tap into some of those resources if it becomes needed. We hope that it will not, but we want to be prepared to respond if those needs arise. So I appreciate that. I'm very grateful that we are able to also add funding for election security as UEC changes and potential changes from the federal policies and potential Supreme Court decisions. in the coming weeks on that front. So grateful for that. And just generally, I think we're making some investments that are important throughout different systems. Also acknowledge the executive proposed an additional $2 million that's included in this proposal. for immigrant and refugee communities to address the impacts of those communities are facing in our region and as well as the rental assistance at a time when we're seeing still a record level of evictions and at a time when, you know, just today we got the results from the point in time count at the that the King County Regional Homelessness Authority released showing a continued increase, unfortunately, in the level of homelessness in our community. And so the additional rental assistance that supplements what we had already allocated in the budget previously, I think it's important to try to stem the flow of people falling into homelessness. So a lot of important work that has been done in this budget. I appreciate all the effort from everybody, both on the Council and the staff, to work on this proposal and urge your support. And thank you again to my colleagues for the collaboration and this effort.

Thank you very much, Vice-Chair Barone. Council Member Fain.

Thank you. I said it at our last meeting on the budget, but thank you again to Budget Chair Dombowski for your leadership and including me in this process. I really enjoyed working with both you and Council Member Barone. There was so much collaboration and open dialogue, and it was really, really just a thoughtful process, and I'm very pleased to have been a part of it, and thank you. I just echo what has been said around the importance of this budget and how we really work to make it, to focus it on urgent needs in our communities, providing support to the organizations and the services that are facing funding gaps and emergencies, uncertainty in state and federal funding. And it really is a package that makes targeted investments across King County and including in my district in South King County, critical investments in food security and public health and community-based organizations, and with a very strong focus on maintaining fiscal responsibility. And so I think this omnibus strikes a very careful balance between responding to those immediate needs and protecting the county's long-term financial health. I know there's a lot of work to do, but we really also couldn't have done this without our central staff, April, Jean, and Olivia. Thank you so much. Budget Chair Dabowski's Chief of Staff, Christina Logsdon, who really took the laboring oar on what ended up being a much larger body of work. And then, of course, to my Chief of Staff, Lily Hayward, who really helped facilitate all of this work. And we couldn't have done it without all of you. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Member Fain. Council Member Van Rycke-Barre, followed by Council Member Balducci and Moschetto.

Thank you, Chair. As someone who shares the other end of the hallway with Council Member Dembowski, I know how many hours he spent working on this budget. But most importantly, I also paid attention to the fact that so many members walked in and were there working with him at night. And to me, when you have a budget The most important element is listening, and he really, truly tried to understand how diverse our county was and is and what we needed to deal with to deal with the problems that affect all our region. I would also point out that he has made sure this budget is a responsible budget. The only thing worse than not addressing a problem in our society is promising that we will do it and then finding out we have to withdraw the money that we thought we'd be able to spend. It's very important going forward that we make sure that we're as responsible as possible. We can see in Olympia, folks are going to have to revisit some of the things that they thought they could do because they were not responsible in their budget making process. And I thank Council Member Dembowski for listening and understanding the concerns we have. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Balducci.

Thank you, Chair. Not to be too repetitive, but I've been through a few budget processes and they're not always as inclusive and communicative as this one has been. And I just wanted to state my strong appreciation for the budget chair for listening, for making sure every office felt like we were fairly treated. and you know prioritizing the needs throughout the county from border to border uh it was this was a as as has been pointed out more work than it started out looking like but uh landed in a really good place and uh and i wanted to appreciate the chair for all his work to make sure that happened sorry thank you council member balducci council member mosqueda

Okay, thank you, Chair. Can you hear me okay? We sure can. Go ahead. Excellent. Thank you. I, too, wanted to jump on and express my appreciation to Budget Chair Dombrowski and the members of the Budget Leadership Council Member Barone and Council Member Fay. I am thankful that we've been able to make some investments here in this mid-year budget that allows for us to make some significant investments in really vulnerable community members and in high need areas, especially with the federal cuts that we talked about. I, too, want to thank the chair and the central staff members who provided a tremendous amount of work. In addition to my own staff, thanks so much to Erin House, our chief of staff, who's lead on budget, and our entire team, Chris Lampton, Melanie Cray, Layla Brown, and Marilyn McKell. And especially on some of the latest conversations that the chair mentioned related to public health investments, we have appreciated that there is more work to do and more conversations to come. And the critical eye that our community members have lent to how we can be serving the community and communicating how these strategies are improving the population's health at large, I think are going to be important going forward. So I appreciate all the letters that we received specific to District 8 to mirror what Council Member Lewis offered for District 8. We too are very proud of the investments that the BLT has offered for programs like Becoming a Man, Somali Community Services of Seattle, the Seymour Community Health Center and White Center, King County International Airport Community Coalition, Condoleezza Integration Network, Downtown Emergency Services Center, Comunidad Sin Fronteras, Survivors First program, and of course, art and murals to make sure our community is not just surviving, but thriving. So thanks again to the budget leadership team and my team for all the hard work that went into this. And now we get to do it in three months. So here we go. Thank you so much, all.

Thank you very much, Council Member Mosqueda. I want to throw my thank yous in for the council and executive budget staff, as well as to Chair Dembowski and the budget leadership team for the substantial work everyone has put into bringing the proposal forward. This is a measured budget, making thoughtful investments in areas of critical need. And in addition to supporting organizations that provide direct services to residents across the county, I'm pleased to see investments in election security, housing and assessment of food security needs, implementation planning for a strategic climate action plan, updates to our ethics code and the creation of an inspector general function within legislative branch. Also appreciate the budget team's inclusion of several District 3 priorities focused on access to basic needs, community safety, emergency preparedness, including a proviso directing DNRP to establish a farm-to-community baseline purchasing report, an important step identified in recent King County agriculture sector study toward strengthening partnerships between farmers, food banks, and hunger-related organizations. King County Search and Rescue funding to replace failing emergency response equipment and purchase a forward operations vehicle and command trailer, helping to ensure that search and rescue continues responding effectively when needed most for all of us. Eastside Fire and Rescue funding for river rescue boat trailer communication systems and related equipment, restoring critical emergency response capability that was lost after sustaining damage in evacuation operations during the December 2025 floods. And funding for The Circle, an organization serving immigrant communities across King County through community navigation, access to services and resources, educational programming, and therapeutic counseling with great demand and limited support. Again, thank you to everyone who worked on this budget with an exceptional and special thank you to my chief of staff, Libby Hollingshead. Council Member Domboski to close.

Okay, wow. First of all, I want to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to each of my colleagues for your very kind remarks. They're very humbling. I often said I would not want to be a judge because I don't want that kind of responsibility resting solely on me. And I think that we have tried to take that approach here even with our budget document by making sure that we had a team approach. And I express my sincere appreciation to Vice Chair Barone and Council Member Fain for working on that process. It was personally rewarding and professionally meaningful work and I I'm very, very grateful. And it was also fun and meaningful to work with all of our colleagues and our staff. I, too, thank, of course, my chief of staff, Christina Logsdon, who was very helpful, instrumental, essential in making sure the process moved forward in a thoughtful and smooth way. Olivia and Jean, much gratitude to both of you. This was your first big budget as leads. You did a great job. April Sanders, thank you for your mentorship and leadership of the staff. You know, Joe Biden said, don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value. And I wish that... The residents of the county could for a while, just the last few weeks, be in the chair that I was in without some of the press. But to see the requests that came in from each of you, because I think they would be proud to have. YOUR REPRESENTATION ON THIS COUNCIL BY WHERE YOU ASK THAT INVESTMENTS BE MADE. YOU KNOW, COUNCILMEMBER REICHBAUER MAKING SURE THAT YOUTH APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS IN FEDERAL WAY HIGH SCHOOLS RECEIVED ADDITIONAL FUNDING. COUNCILMEMBER BALDUCCI MAKING SURE WE'RE BEING THOUGHTFUL AND SMART IN HOW WE RUN THE GOVERNMENT. Councilmember Dunn working to ensure that we acquire that very important piece of property off of Maple Valley Highway that has caused such community concern. Councilmember Lewis responding to horrible, tragic deaths of young people in Rainier Beach and building a future at 23rd. at the Mount Zion Church to combat displacement at an historic site. Council Member Mosqueda fighting to ensure that rental assistance continues for unhoused refugees. Council Member Barone making sure that we had a fallback plan for continuum of care funding if we lose the federal support, as we may well. Councilmember Fain ensuring that investments were made in her district. Did I leave any? Oh, Councilmember Perry. Working on food security and making sure farmers have an economic future that contributes to the county by making sure that we bring their products to market in a way that's helpful and sustainable. and serves the nutrition needs of the county. Those are just examples, just highlights that come to mind from the requests that came in. And again, I think if folks got to sit where I sat and see your priorities, they would know what your values are. And I think everyone across the board, by and large, would endorse them. Thank you for letting me have the privilege of serving in this position. It's very meaningful and grateful for all of your work. Please vote yes.

Thank you. Thank you very much, budget chair. Dembowski. So at this point, seeing no further discussion, I'm assuming Council Member Van Rijkberk's hand is still up from prior. Claire Kaye, would you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Aye. Council Member Barone? Aye. Council Member Dembowski? Aye. Council Member Dunn?

Aye.

Council Member Fain? Aye. Council Member Lewis? Aye. Council Member Mosqueda? Aye. Council Member Von Reichbauer?

Aye.

Chair Perry? Aye. The vote is 9 ayes, 0 noes.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed substitute ordinance 2026-0071 as amended. Now, turning to something really fun, our sewer rates. Council Member Demboski, will you please move proposed ordinance 2026-0103? So moved. Thank you. Proposed ordinance 2026-0103 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to note that Jenny Giambattista from Council Central staff is available to answer questions. Caitlin Hall and Cameron Gurl of the Wastewater Treatment Division are also available to answer questions. With that, Council Member Dembowski, would you like to make any opening remarks?

I'll defer to staff if members want a briefing, but I don't have anything on this.

Thank you. Would staff like to make any comments? Do my colleagues have any questions or comments for discussion or requests of staff?

Sarah, when the time comes, I'd like to say a word.

Okay. Council Member or Vice Chair Barone?

Yeah, I was also just going to make a comment before final passage, but I don't know if other folks have questions for staff.

I don't think so. Why don't you go ahead and then Council Member Balducci can follow.

Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to comment, you know, we obviously had a very full discussion of this item and overseeing this in the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. I did want to sort of close the loop a little bit because during that meeting, I had some questions and felt like I needed more information, and that's why I think the proposal advanced without a recommendation. I did want to just share with all of you, I had a meeting with WTD leadership on the issue of the year in balance and got kind of more clarification on the issue there. So I feel very comfortable with the information that I was provided. You know, I think that we still, obviously I'll be supportive of the proposal today, but I do think that it's important that we continue to work. And I know there's been a lot of work from Council Member Balducci leading the the Regional Water Quality Committee on this issue. And I look forward to kind of the continued collaboration as we work on a proposal that addresses some of the long-term concerns that we're hearing from our residents and from local jurisdictions. So thank you, colleagues. And I just wanted to close the loop on that conversation that we had at BFM.

Thank you very much, Vice Chair Barone. Council Member Balducci.

Thank you, Chair. I think we are in violent agreement on this council and across all of our partner jurisdictions that the wastewater treatment rates are going up at an alarming trajectory and that it is not sustainable. I won't go into all the different ways that we have attempted to get more information because knowledge is power and we can change the trajectory if we understand it. over the last several years, but yet here we are with another 12.5% increase. We considered at the RWQC the request from the City of Seattle Council to reduce this rate from 12.5% to 10% increase. and decided ultimately to not recommend that because we are trying to balance two ends of the spectrum. One end of the spectrum is affordability. The other end of the spectrum is having a sustainable system because not having a sustainable sewer, regional sewer system has got really, really dire consequences for water quality and public health and a number of things that are our primary mission here. I want to make sure that everyone is aware that because of the efforts of this council and the regional water quality committee, there is a work plan in place that we passed in a prior budget that the wastewater treatment division is now working to, to try to continue the work to get our arms around this trajectory. Next year, as part of that, we will see multi-year rate proposal for the first time. I expect it will be a two year rate proposal. which much like the biennial budget will help us a little bit get off the hamster wheel of doing annual rate constantly and will enable us all to focus more on longer term actions we can take to make it more affordable and to sort of bend that curve downward. There is a lot of talk going on about amongst local jurisdictions and utilities about how regulations really drive a lot of cost. And if we can have a conversation with our partners in this work that balances water quality and scientifically proved benefits with the level of investment we are making in various major infrastructure projects, And yeah, and there's just a ton of work going on. And again, I don't wanna make this an entire report on everything at RWQC, but I do want to share that there is a lot of focus among cities, county representatives currently at RWQC, that's myself and Council Member Lewis, and the Environment Committee at TREE, one of the E's in TREE's environment. So more to come on this, but we did recommend as RWQC that this rate be adopted with several conditions that are already in process. So I would urge your support with obvious concerns and need for more work. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Balducci.

Council Member Fain. Thank you, Chair. I will also be supporting this legislation today while recognizing that affordability concerns have been raised by cities and utilities and rate payers really throughout this process. But just last week, I had the opportunity to tour the South Treatment Plant and see firsthand some of the very significant capital infrastructure needs myself. And that really reinforced for me both the importance of these investments and really the scale of the challenges ahead involved in making and maintaining critical wastewater infrastructure. At the same time, we have a responsibility to deliver these investments efficiently and transparently and with affordability in mind because these costs ultimately fall on our residents and our businesses through their utility bills. So I really appreciate the work of council member Balducci as chair of the regional water quality committee and staff and all the stakeholders for elevating these really important discussions around rates and affordability and long-term financial planning. This legislation addresses important infrastructure needs, and I look forward to continuing the conversation about how we meet those needs. while keeping affordability at the forefront.

Thank you, Council Member Fain. And leading up to today's vote, I will throw in that I've had concerns. I've heard concerns from residents and elected officials in my district as well about this rate increase and the impact it'll have on households across our region. And I share these concerns. and do take them very seriously. I do have real concerns about approving a double-digit rate increase, and at the same time, I recognize that the alternative proposals by some jurisdictions setting the rate increase at a lower rate does not meaningfully address affordability concerns, nor does it provide sufficient resources for the wastewater treatment division to move forward with needed investments in aging infrastructure and maintenance, particularly as we prioritize projects required under legally binding obligations. Our infrastructure is really, really important. And I share Council Member Fain's observations. Nothing like being there. Nothing like seeing it to really impress upon a person what is needed and how important it is. And for those reasons and more, I'll be supporting this proposal today. I want to be clear. I don't view rate increases of this magnitude as sustainable, nor do we have an interest in supporting increases of this size in the future. And we all agree on the need to get this into a place that is manageable. I look forward to working with the Regional Water Quality Committee, the Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee, the Executive, the Wastewater Treatment Division, and my council colleagues to chart a more sustainable path forward, one that balances the infrastructure needs of our growing region with the affordability challenges facing households throughout our county every single day. Thank you very much. Any final comments? Council Member Domboski.

question for staff and if they don't have the answer that's okay but uh jenny in the every year we get a um when the rate proposal comes over there's kind of a forward-looking estimate if you will it's not binding but do you recall last year what the department where the division said the rate was expected to increase this year what percent that was

Thank you, Council Member Dembowski. For the record, Jenny Giambattista, Council staff. Yes, last year, the division did project a 12.75% increase and made a commitment to maintain that commitment, the projected rate increase for 2027 for consistency.

Could you say that last part again? I didn't understand what you were saying there.

Yes, the division made a commitment to maintain the projected rate that was proposed last year for 2027. That projection was 12.75%. And so the rate, annual rate increase that you're seeing today and considering for approval is that same amount at 12.75%. Okay.

So they told us last year this was the expected number and that's the number they're proposing, correct? OK, thank you very much Jenny. Thank you chair. If I might, I'm I'm teetering on this one, but I think because it's consistent with what they told us last year, it's a little bit late in the game. I think for me to receive a lot of the input and then do something with it about the amount. You know this was kind of a public number over a year ago, There is definitely work to do here. Council Member Balducci is leading Herculean efforts over at the RWQC to wrestle these issues to the ground. I want to just share, we had a discussion in March in the budget committee about the capital costs. And Director Gural noted that, you know, we're going to have kind of an auditor type capital auditor function come in. But what I'm looking for going forward is some more strategies on managing these capital cost increases, which literally go into the hundreds of millions of dollars from initial projection to final. And the answer is always the level of knowledge from the engineering gets better as things go along. But I just struggle with the repeated practice of kind of a low dollar amount in the beginning relatively speaking, that grows by hundreds of millions of dollars on a project, either because of scope creep, cost, further design refinements, things like that. And it's no way to run an operation. We just can't because we can't manage the finances behind the curve, behind the capital projects curve of knowledge. I know it's a multi-pronged approach. I think we need to get more aggressive with respect to our regulators about what a good investment of money is to achieve the ultimate outcome of good water quality. You know, the old way of thinking to achieve that may not make sense, particularly when the costs have risen so much. I think it's harder in some cases to justify the value in terms of outcomes. I know that folks are looking at that. I think we need to have this conversation in the region about the combined system in Seattle. versus the largely separate system outside of Seattle. And by that, I'm talking about the stormwater and sanitary sewer and city it's combined. And a lot of these huge capital expenditures in the system are in Seattle to serve that combined sewer system where we get big flood events compounded by climate change. And we got to store the water or treat the water in different ways. And whether it continues to make sense to have the entire region Contribute to to that to that system that's maybe disproportionate requiring disproportionate investment in the city. So I'll be a yes today, but I kind of I almost I'll just tell you, I thought about a no to really kind of send a signal that I'm serious. I mean, I think we all are. We can't we can't keep going at 12 and three quarters percent. When I shared that with a group of constituents in Wedgewood of the neighborhood meeting, the jaws dropped. Jaws dropped and gasps were heard, you know, and that's in the most progressive tax friendly part of my district, but it's, it's, I don't want to keep doing these at 12 and three quarter percent. Thanks.

Thank you. Council member Dombaski. Appreciate that. Seeing no further discussion. Clerk. Hey, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council member Balducci. Aye. Council member Barone. Aye.

Aye.

Council Member Dembowski.

Aye.

Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Aye. Council Member von Reichbauer.

Aye.

Chair Perry. Aye. The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed substitute ordinance 2026-0103, Council Member Domboski, will you please move proposed ordinance 2026-0132?

So moved.

Thank you. Proposed ordinance 2026-0132 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to note that Jenny Ngo from... Council Central staff is available to answer questions and brief any amendments. And with that, I'd like to offer a few remarks on this legislation. As part of the 2026-2027 Biennial Budget and Ordinance 2004 Noxious Weed Control Program assessment rates were intended to increase by 31% beginning in 2026. Noxious Weed Control Program is a county program aimed at eradicating controlling and preventing the spread of noxious weeds countywide. The noxious weed control program provides services for public outreach and education, property owner assistance and identification, field surveying of sites and weed control and eradication. The executive transmitted this legislation to council because the assessment rate in ordinance 220004 is not correct. This ordinance fixes the formula and the proposed rate would be assessed beginning 2027 with no retroactive assessment for 2026. This change is anticipated to generate an additional $45,000 a year in revenues over the amount assessed under Ordinance 20004. This amount was already assumed in the 2026-2027 biennial budget as revenue amounts were calculated, presuming the higher rates. We have to make sure that we are meeting what we say we're going to do. Do my colleagues have any questions or comments for discussion? Okay. Seeing none, Clerk Haley, you please come up. I'm sorry, Chair. Council Member Demboski.

I should just explain my no vote. It's an important program fighting things like Tansy Ragwort and all those nasty weeds out there, mostly in the rural area, but they do some in the urban side. But it was a 31%. I just felt and feel that maybe the department could have foregone the $45,000 and given the ongoing inflation and cost of living challenges we're facing in the region, maybe just tighten the belt just a little bit. So that's why I'm going to be a no on it today, but I understand where we're at.

Thank you very much, Council Member Dembowski. Clerk Kaye, would you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Aye. Council Member Barone?

Aye.

Council Member Dembowski?

No.

Council Member Dunn?

No.

Council Member Fain? Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Council Member von Reichbauer.

No.

Chair Perry. Aye. The final vote is five ayes, three noes. Those voting no are Council Member Dabowsky-Dunn and von Reichbauer and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted Proposed Ordinance 2026-0132, Let's see. We have a one-week courtesy delay on item 13, which is legislation concerning creative inspector general. So that'll be next time. And item 14, coalition labor agreement. Vice Chair Barone, would you please move proposed ordinance 2026-0154? I move that we approve proposed ordinance 2026-0154. Okay, thank you. Proposed Ordinance 2026-0154. Before we proceed, I'd like to ask Erica Newman from Council Central Staff to provide a briefing.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Erica Newman, Council Central staff. The items for proposed ordinance 20-26-0154 begin on page 526 of your packet. The proposed ordinance would adopt the collective labor agreement between the APHIS Guild, which is the automated fingerprinting information systems.

Is that the Conclusion, or are you frozen?

I think we lost you. Am I frozen?

Can you hear me? We can hear you now. We just said automatic fingerprinting. That's where it ended.

Oh, okay. APHIS is the Automatic Fingerprinting Information System Division within the King County Sheriff's Office. And the employees are represented by the APHIS Guild. They begin bargaining on February 25th. and didn't reach an agreement until the end of April of 2026. As the updated dependencies go, there were no changes to the wage ranges and holiday provisions were modified to align with the CLA. And they increased the amount of compensatory time for employees from 40 to 60 hours. But of course, that's still subject to management approval. The cumulative total for the duration of the agreement, which is 2026 to 2028, is about $800,000. coming directly from the APHIS fund. And there will be no, there's no expectation that there'll be any additional requests in the supplemental budget to implement this agreement. On Zoom, we have executive staff from the Office of Labor Relations that include Angela Marsh, who is the interim director, Chris Mott, who is a labor relations negotiator. And Madam Chair, that concludes my remarks.

Thank you very much. Colleagues, do you have questions or comments? Okay. If no further discussion, we'll proceed with a vote. Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Aye. Council Member Barone?

Aye.

Council Member Dabowski?

Aye.

Council Member Dunn?

Aye.

Council Member Fain? Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Aye. Council Member von Reitbauer. Aye. Chair Perry. Aye. The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you very much. By our vote, we've adopted proposed substitute ordinance 2026-0154. Turning next, the hearing examiner consent agenda. Claire Kay, will you please read the items into the record?

Thank you. Item 15 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0074, 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 Derek And Mizzou ho King for property located in item 16 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026 dash 075, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions. The application for public benefit rating system assess valuation for open space submitted by Holly Simpkins and Lewis Guntherver property located on. Item 17 is proposed to substitute ordinance number 2026-0076, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions, the application for public benefit rating system assess valuation for open space, submitted by Courtney Secor for property located on Vashon. Item 18 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0077 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 Isabel and Nicholas Ormseth for property located on Vashon and item 19 is proposed substitute ordinance number 2026-0078 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 Graham and Lois Laughlin for property located in Renton.

Thank you. Excuse me for just a second. Thank you. Council Member Fain, will you please move consent agenda items 15 through 19? Move consent agenda items 15 through 19. Thank you. Consent agenda items 15 through 19 are before us. Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci. Aye. Council Member Barone.

Aye.

Council Member Dabowski. Aye. Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Aye. Council Member von Reichbauer.

Aye.

Chair Perry. Aye. The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you, by our vote, we have adopted proposed substitute ordinance 2020, excuse me, by our vote, we've adopted proposed substitute ordinances 2026-0074, 75, 76, 77, and 78. Turning to item 20, which concerns a proposed Opioid Treatment Center. Vice Chair Verone, will you please move proposed motion 2026-0155.

Move that we approve proposed motion 2026-0155.

Thank you. Proposed motion 2026-0155 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to ask Sam Porter from Council Central staff, if she hasn't left for dinner yet, to provide a briefing, given that this item has not been heard in committee. I'll also note that Denzel Besimer and Rick Molly Crawford from DCHS are also available to answer questions.

Sam, begin when you're ready. Thank you, Chair Perry, Sam Porter, council, legislative staff. The staff report for this item begins on page 648 of today's packet. Proposed motion 20260155 would direct the council chair to submit to the Washington State Department of Health a completed county-city legislative authority consultation form included as attachment A, to the proposed motion in support of a proposed opioid treatment program facility operated by Therapeutic Health Services at 24823 Pacific Highway South in Kent in Council District 5. Therapeutic Health Services is a behavioral health treatment organization operating in King County since 1972 that provides services for mental health and substance use disorders. THS operates nine branches throughout Puget Sound, primarily in King County. DHS has operated the Kent location since 2010, providing both substance use disorder and behavioral health treatment programs at that location, including those supporting King County's Drug Court. The revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code or WAC outlines the review process for opioid treatment program applications. As part of the application process, the Department of Health is required by RCW to consult with the county and city legislative authorities in the areas in which an applicant proposes to locate a program. Moving on to the analysis, if approved, this would be the sixth licensed opioid treatment program, medication-assisted treatment, or medications for opioid use disorders, that's MAT or MOUD, program operated by therapeutic health services in the region. MAT and MOUD refer to opioid use treatment programs that combine FDA-approved medications like methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone with counseling and behavioral therapies. Therapeutic Health Services submitted an application to expand opioid treatment program services at their Kent location to the Washington State Department of Health. And as a result, the State Department of Health is conducting a review of the application as specified in RCW and WAC. The application includes a community relations plan and letters of support that were distributed today at 1229 p.m. by Angel Foss in the revised green folder. The letters of support are from DCHS and Public Health Seattle and King County, King County's Drug Diversion Court Services, the Mayor of Kent, and the Low Income Housing Institute. THS also conducted outreach to the surrounding businesses, including in-person visits and mailed notices. Executive staff indicate that this outreach resulted in no major concerns being raised. To comply with RCW, the Department of Health sent an email to the King County Council on May 18th, 2026, with the consultation form for the proposed program. The email requested a response within 14 days. On June 4th, council staff requested an extension, which the Department of Health approved until July 8th. Staff in the Department of Community and Human Services Behavioral Health and Recovery Division completed the form and indicate in the form that, quote, King County supports expanding access to opioid treatment programs in South King County, including therapeutic health services program expansion in Kent. A critical component of an evidence-based strategy to address the fentanyl crisis is ensuring easily accessible opioid treatment program services. across all regions of King County, and this new location would significantly improve access for South King County communities west of I-5. Rising fentanyl-related overdose deaths and limited capacity among existing MAT and MOUD providers underscore the urgency of this expansion." The form includes a question about zoning and land use. DCHS staff stated that the responsibility for zoning rests with the City of Kent and that THS has engaged with the City of Kent. Under RCW, the state is required to consult with the City of Kent directly and can only license or certify programs that will be cited in accordance with the appropriate county or city land use ordinances. Based upon the updated Department of Health deadline of July 8th, the council would need to act on the proposed motion no later than July 7th full council meeting or would need to request an extension from the Department of Health. That concludes my remarks. We did have Danelle Bessemer on the line, but she had to leave. I believe Rick Molly Crawford was trying to join, so he may be available as well.

All right. Thank you very much, Sam. Colleagues, do you have questions for further questions for staff? Okay. Thank you. At this point, Council Member Fain, a sponsor of the legislation, would you like to offer some introductory remarks?

Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Sam, for your work on this. And just to emphasize again, this is not a new facility, but an expansion of services that are already offered at Therapeutic Health Services' current Kent location. As Sam said, the programs received support from DCHS and Public Health Seattle-King County, the King County Drug Diversion Court Services, Kent, and the lower income housing institute uh south king county continues to experience some of the highest impacts from the opioid crisis and so expanding access to evidence-based treatment including medications for opioid use disorder is a critical part of reducing overdose deaths and helping people move towards recovery at the same time i think we've all seen that treatment facilities also need to be good neighbors and so i very much appreciate the outreach that ths has already done with the city of Kent and public health and King County behavioral health staff and nearby businesses. This is also located right on the border of Kent and Des Moines. And so given the proximity to Des Moines, I would also encourage continued engagement with the city, with that city and surrounding stakeholders. I'm very happy to hear about THS's commitment to ongoing communication through a dedicated community liaison. after it opens. And I look forward to working with all parties. Sorry, I'm going to turn my camera off because I keep losing internet. But I look forward to working with all parties and local governments and the surrounding community to ensure that this facility is both an effective treatment resource and a responsible neighbor. And I ask for your support.

Thank you very much. Any final remarks before we take a vote by anybody? And thank you for your final remarks, Council Member Payne. Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll? Thank you.

Council Member Balducci. Council Member Balducci. Aye. Council Member Barone.

Aye.

Council Member Demboski.

Aye.

Council Member Dunn.

Aye.

Councilmember Fain. Aye. Councilmember Lewis. Aye. Councilmember Mosqueda. Councilmember von Reichbauer. Councilmember von Reichbauer. Chair Perry. Aye. The final vote is seven ayes and councilmembers Mosqueda and von Reichbauer excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed motion 2026-0155, turning to item 21, which concerns the extension of the executive's appointment of Megan Peterson as acting director of the Department of Human Resources. Vice Chair Barone, will you please move proposed motion 2026-0157?

I move that we approve proposed motion 2026-0157.

Thank you. Proposed motion 2026-0157 is before us. Before we proceed, I'd like to note that Erica Newman... Oh, is Erica gone?

On the right, Barbara Butch, aye. Very good.

Thank you. I believe Erica is available from central staff to answer questions. Vice Chair Barone, would you like to make any opening remarks?

Chair, this is just to extend the appointment of Megan Peterson. As you all know, she's serving as acting director of our Human Resources Department. The executives conveyed that they are in the process of hiring a permanent director for that position, and they expect the permanent position to be filled this summer. So this just allows Ms. Peterson to continue in the role for an additional 90 days.

Great, thank you. Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments or discussion at this time? Seeing no further discussion, let's proceed with the vote. Clerk K, will you please call the roll?

Chair, just a clarification.

Council Member Dembaski.

I'm not looking at the agenda, but my notes had this as item 23. You called it as item 21. I just want to make sure that we are voting on...

I do have it as item 23. Item 21 on the agenda. I mean, item 23. Excuse me, item 21. Okay.

Thank you so much. Just my notes are off.

I appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Please, please, everybody, keep me honest here. Clerk K, will you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Aye. Council Member Barone?

Aye.

Council Member Domboski? Aye. Council Member Dunn?

Aye.

Council Member Fain. Aye. Council Member Lewis. Aye. Council Member Mosqueda. Aye. Council Member von Reigbauer. Aye. Chair Perry. Aye. The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed motion 2026-0157, turning to item 22, which is the reappointment consent agenda. Vice Chair Barone, will you please move consent agenda item 22. So moved. Thank you. Consent agenda item 22 is before us. Clerk Hay, will you please call the roll? Thank you.

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 Reitbauer.

Aye.

Chair Perry. Aye. The vote is eight ayes and Council Member Mosqueda excused.

Thank you. By our vote, we've adopted proposed motion number 2026-0142. 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 23 through 29 as listed under other.

Chair Perry.

Yes.

Chair Perry, Council Member Dunn here. Having voted on the prevailing side of item 11, I'd like to move for reconsideration. I made the wrong vote on that and I lost track of it. I'm hoping you'll be willing to grant a re-vote on item 11, which is the sewer rate.

Sewer rate, item 11. Colleagues, can we take the vote again?

Point of order. First, it's a motion for reconsideration. Yes, point of order.

Council Member Balducci?

The first motion would be a motion for reconsideration, yes or no. And so you could interpret Council Member Dunn's request as a motion to reconsider, and then we could vote on that procedurally.

Thank you. Motion for reconsideration has been presented. Those in favor, say aye.

Oh, whoa.

Whoa.

Point of order. I'm sorry. I'm sure Council Member Balducci and Council Member Donahue, this is Council Member Domowski, has got this right. I'd rather not vote twice to raise the rates. Maybe we could just let Council Member Dunn change his vote. Is that possible without objection?

Is it possible? I need some help here. Could somebody pipe in? Yeah, thanks, Monique.

Monique Cohen, legal counsel for the council. So Councilmember Dunn has made a motion for reconsideration under Council Rule 21. And as he is on the prevailing side of the vote, that motion is before the council purposely. For all of us to reconsider. It's already been adopted by the council, so it would be proper to reconsider. take the vote on that.

Okay. So moving for a vote.

Chair, I see Council Member Balducci has her hand up.

Council Member Balducci. I just want to state for the record that I'm going to vote no to reconsider this vote to let the vote stand. And I would encourage my colleagues to do the same if we don't want to vote on the right again.

There's a motion on the floor for reconsideration. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye. All those opposed say nay.

Nay. Nay.

Do we need to do a voice? Yeah. Kirk Hay, could you please call the roll? Thank you. Excuse me. Council Member Balducci?

No. Council Member Barone? No. Council Member Demboski? Aye. Council Member Dunn?

Aye.

Council Member Fain? Aye. Council Member Lewis? Aye. Council Member Mosqueda? Council Member Von Rykbauer?

Aye.

Chair Perry? Aye. The final vote is six ayes, two noes, those being Council Members Balducci and Barone and Council Member Moschetta excused.

Motion for reconsideration has been approved.

Do you want me to speak to that real quick?

Yes, sure, please.

I am really sorry, gang. I really got that one wrong. I apologize. Look, I know this is a really tough vote. I want to do a no vote on that just to continue to put pressure on the bureaucracy to do everything they can to look for cost cuttings just consistent with the comments that everyone made today. Thank you.

Thank you. Clerk Hay, would you please call the roll?

I like it less, even less the second time.

Clerk Hay, would you please call the roll?

Thank you. Council Member Balducci? Aye. Council Member Barone?

Aye.

Council Member Dabowski?