City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, everybody. Thank you for coming out this Wednesday, the 26th. It's now 6.30, and I'd like to call this council meeting to order that Director Williamson can get the roll call.

Francie? Here. Gagan?

Here.

Hodgkin? Hubbard?

Here.

Moynihan? Here. Nipper?

Here.

Grado? Here. Radjic?

Here.

Shaw? Here. Swore here, Taylor here, Wilson here or here. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

invisible with liberty and justice for all i'd like to make a motion to excuse house member hodgkin she is out of town listening second is there any discussion on this um and i'd like the motion to be a group tonight's agenda

And seconded by Councilperson Francie. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Thank you. Now we'd like to open it up for public comments. And remember, please start with your name and your ward or the city you live in. And you have three minutes and be kind.

My name is Michael Stoddard, and I've been doing my whole entire career here, working in different jobs and stuff like that. So we need to move the background with the handouts of what I've done. And I've been on the task force since 1998. I've had the privilege of working with Wes Peterson, Carl Harris, and Stacey, and done a lot of projects and different things, and One of the complaints it gives me is that we didn't the park board didn't set the visions, but the past directors have always set the agenda, the vision, the goals and the priorities for us. And we took them back to the park board and we discussed them and found this common ground to move forward with our agenda for the citizens of Aberdeen. That format somewhat is broken and the park board is not responsible for those divisions and goals and a priority. It's not solely upon us as a park board, but as the director with us. And that is currently not happening. Then I would address the frustrations and I have a little bit of a passion and it gets a little bit frustrating dealing with the mayor sometimes. The mayor really doesn't know me. We've got three or four different park board meetings, maybe a couple more from last year. And I'm not sure if that is really knowing that somebody who's been on the park board for 28 years as a volunteer and trying to make me resign from the park board over disagreements. Any board, anybody who has disagreements and you try to correct them and move forward. I had a meeting with the mayor, and he asked me to resign, and obviously I refused, and that's one of the reasons why we're here today. Some of my bigger disagreements is with the parks and recreation and even maintenance being separate. I don't think that's been the right decision, but going forward, we'll see how it works out. I disagree with the city administrator and mayor directing the parks programs. with little experience in parks. I disagree with the park work being canceled by the city administrator and not letting us reschedule the meeting. And so I set the agenda, I set the meeting date and But then after I sent out that meeting date to all the board members, within about five or 10 minutes, I go to those back, and the mayor has canceled our park board meeting. Well, I'm not sure if the park board appreciated that, since the mayor does not have the authority to speak to that, I believe. So I realize that we need better communications from the park board. and transparency and trust. And in order for this to happen, the mayor, we need to work better together to make it better for the city. I have never disrespected any park board member or prevented the board from going forward at all. As a citizen of the avenue for 70 plus years, I do understand the community needs in this area. So I'm passionate and it's, Concerning the Aberdeen, especially the parks and recreation programs for you.

And I don't want to see those standings, maybe sir. Thank you. Is there any other public comments? My name is Buzz Scott. I'm the cause modelist.

A little background about myself is I've probably been involved in the Parks and Rec for 30 years. I'm only 45. I've probably had every job you can have in the Parks and Rec besides being a full-time administrator. I've worked in log cabbages. I was a caretaker at Mountaineer Park. I come to Mountaineer slow pitch. I went to basketball. I know some Preston, but that would be Little League. I played slow pitch, kickball, volleyball, every sport you can. So I would say I have a pretty good pulse about the parks department. My father was on the park board for 20 plus years with Mr. Stoddard. I have been on the park board for almost three years now. I took in my father's position when he stepped down with pleasure. I'm very passionate about the park. And Mr. Stoddard has been on the park board for the rest of it. I attended these meetings and I do not consider him get a different community in any manner i consider himself very professional and it has been a new transition for us um not having a director and it's been difficult for us at the board and a vision moving forward but also i think we're in a very slippery slope of when you have involved here about 20 years IN AN UNPAID POSITION, GIVING HIS TIME TO BE REMOVED OR HAVE A RESOLUTION IN FRONT OF THE COUNCIL TO REMOVE HIM, WHEN AS A BOARD, I BELIEVE YOU WANT MULTIPLE INPUTS. WE DON'T WANT A YES MAN, ALL ONE VOICE, OR I BELIEVE YOU HAVE MULTIPLE OPINIONS. So it's a kind of a slippery slope when you can have a unpaid volunteer from City Council to be removed. After 28 years, I thought I might be here to see my son and receive the key to the city or a plaque or something for his dedicated service. Here I am defending him.

Thank you. Any other public comment?

My name is Stacey Barnum. I am the president of Central Fair. Good evening, Mayor and city council members. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you tonight about an issue that I believe deserves thoughtful consideration. a resolution to remove Mike Stoddard from the park board. I worked for the Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Department for 37 years, and I had the pleasure of working with Mike Stoddard for the 28 years he was on the park board. After I retired in December of 2025, the park's director position was not filled. While that was not a decision I supported, I understood that the city had to make decisions about staffing and resources. Since that time, the city administrator has served as the staff person working with the parks board and Mayor Moore has also attended some of those meetings. I'm particularly concerned by the mayor's message that was given to the parks board that it is not needed and that there is an effort to eliminate the board altogether. I cannot imagine what it feels like to volunteer your time only to be told that the city you have dedicated that time to is no longer considered necessary. The Grand Park Board members, Mike Stoddard, and Beth Scott, and Nick Acena is here tonight, and Leslie Bowings are all people who care deeply about Irving Parks and the programs that are provided to the residents. They're passionate about what they do. Sometimes passion can come across as frustration or even anger, but I believe there is, I hate this microphone, sorry. But I believe there is an important distinction between being a difficult or frustrated committee member and being someone who is unwilling to serve the city's interests. Disagreements, strong opinions, and difficult conversations are not necessarily signs that someone should be removed from a volunteer board. Our community depends on people who are willing to volunteer their time and experience to make Aberdeen a better place. Removal from the city board or commission should not be taken lightly. It should be reserved for circumstances that truly warrant such action. not simply because a member has strong opinions, asks difficult questions, or occasionally expresses frustration. My current term on the parks board runs through December 31st, 2027. I respectfully ask the mayor and the city council to allow him the opportunity to complete the term for which he was appointed. More importantly, I hope the council will recognize the value of the countless hours Mike and the other parks board members have freely given to this community. You may not always agree with them. They may not always express themselves perfectly, but their willingness to show up, participate, and advocate for Aberdeen's parks is something that should be respected and valued. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Is there any other public comments?

All right, Casey Morrison, board one. Um, this just started a lot like in my baby, 28 years. I mean, I'm going to get in trouble for this by using the word disgusting, but it's disgusting. We don't live in an echo chamber. The world is not an echo chamber and people are not going to agree. You and I don't agree. And most of the people out there cannot stand in. That's reality. We have to find common ground. And for somebody that's volunteered 28 years of time, and you're just going to throw them off because they don't agree with you. UNP. If this was the first time something like this had happened, I would be more forgiving, but I've been on the receiving end of not agreeing with you. I'm going to kick off committees and mercilessly, you know, stop. You know, people want to, I've told you this before, people want to work with you. Whether they agree with you or not, you don't give them the chance if they're not going in the same direction as you. Now, this would also be a Let's just stop with that. Additionally, I would like to know and I would like to file public records with us. I would like to know how much it cost the city of Aberdeen to draft up this resolution and consult with people to dismiss the volunteer at 28 years. Thank you.

Is there any other public discussion? Yes.

Good evening to all of you. I am Fred Scott, the aforementioned former member of the board. I have served for 25 years and recently resigned, bringing up the sign for a new generation. But I want to just publicly comment that I think my daughter is the ultimate, as far as a leader and a compassionate person within the wall of slavery. for the improvement of the park system. It was quite a working with me alongside him. He's a good friend and I support Mike Sautter for citizen of the year.

Thank you. Thank you.

I do have a couple comment to read into the record.

Sure, absolutely.

Thank you, Mayor. My name is Wes Peterson. I'm the previous director of 33 years of the city of Akron. I came here in 1970 and was served all the way until 2003. I'm very quite concerned about the action that they're taking as the mayor. The message you're sending to the community that they don't agree with you, you're going to get rid of them. A volunteer is very, very important to all of us. So I would be concerned if I was a current volunteer, that if I disagreed with you, that I would be next to be exited. The important part is what happens, what message is sent to the future volunteers. Those of you that don't know how the Park Board exists, it exists by city charter. It meets the rules and regulations. and they enforce them they work with the council and the mayor they don't have the ability to pass budgets but they set the rules and regulations so the idea of submitting having that removed concerns me it's no different than u.s council people serving on the finance committee public works or anything else And how many times are you going to disagree with the mayor on some of those? The good thing for you is he can't remove you because you're unlawful. So I think that is something you should think about, how we strongly, strongly recommend working with the mayor and the parks and roads to make things happen. When I heard about no longer having a director, I've had many conversations with groups. And I think somewhere along the line, the communication has broken down. And I think that could be repaired relatively easily without having people dismiss. Thank you for your time. I greatly appreciate it. And have a good evening. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Any other thoughts or comments?

good evening there council members my name is eduardo ron burport i'm debbie abedin in ward 6. i'm here today to express concerns about a church that's across the state of new york called paleos and i have had many people come to me that um expressing that good slanderizing my name when i've never walked in to that building and furthermore they are telling people that work there volunteers that if they mention my name or mention my girlfriend's name that they're automatically fired on the spot i don't see that as being justified in any way shape or form um i i don't think one's name needs to be in an organization that is doing such a job for the people, the homeless, feed them, and all that other stuff, and they want to try to put themselves in a room-and-go situation. So I'm asking you guys, all six, whoever needs to take care of this issue, to take care of this issue and testify here.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Is there any other comment? I do have a public comment to read in the record.

Okay, so this was a public comment that was received by email. This is from Doug Farmer. Dear Council members, I'm writing regarding Resolution 202632, which recommends the removal of Mike Stoddard from the Aberdeen Parks Board. I would like to express my strong support for Mike and his continued service on the board. I had the opportunity to work with Mike during my time at the Aberdeen Parks and Rec Department, including 19 years as a full-time employee. During that time, I saw firsthand his dedication to Aberdeen Parks and his commitment to serving our community. Working alongside Mike gave me a personal appreciation for the knowledge, experience, and perspective he brings to the Parks Board. Mike has dedicated more than 20 years to serving on the Board. That level of long-term commitment demonstrates how much he cares about Aberdeen's parks, recreation system, and the people who rely on them. His willingness to continue serving is a reflection of that commitment. One of Mike's greatest assets is the knowledge he has gained over those many years. In particular, his understanding of the history of Aberdeen's park system is extremely valuable. He has seen the development of our parks, the decisions that have shaped the system, and the challenges and opportunities it has faced over the years. That institutional knowledge provides important perspective and context as the board considers current issues and plans for the future. Having spent 19 years working full-time for the Parks Department, I understand the value of having individuals on the Parks Board who have long-term perspective and genuine understanding of the department and its history. Mike brings that perspective to the Board. His experience, dedication, and familiarity with our park system make him a valuable resource to the Board and to the City of Aberdeen. For these reasons, I strongly encourage the Council to reconsider Resolution 202632 and allow Mike Stoddard to continue serving on the Aberdeen Parks Board. After more than 20 years of dedicated service, his experience and knowledge are invaluable. I believe Aberdeen and its park system are better served by having Mike continue to share that experience, knowledge, and commitment with the board and our community. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Doug Farmer.

To the consent agenda with the council president in support.

Motion to approve the next agenda, which includes minutes for the second meeting, accounts payable, and case.

Second. And seconded by council person one. Is there any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes. Thank you. All right. So moving on to the mayor's report, and I just wanted to about a few things here. I was at the ribbon-cutting for Terminal 4 for the Port of Grace Harbor, and that was a wonderful event. It was nice to see about 600 representatives from all over the state and the country come to that. I can't wait to see them in full operation. Seth and I have gone to all the businesses We met with Mayor Spaner last week from COSMOPLUS, and it was a great discussion. I'm glad to hear she depends on this a lot, and I'm really glad to be here for them. And it looks like, unfortunately, they'll have to postpone the North Street Bridge, the Yonge Street Bridge, for about a year as we're about $7 million shy with inflation and everything, prices have gone up. So that's going to be about another year while they look for more state and federal funding for that. And so maybe late 2027 when it starts. attended Summerfest and the Bobcat. There was an event called Family Feud, and Director Scott, Chief Green, and Administrator Clems and myself were the Bobcat team. And I hate to say it, but we kicked Oakland's butt. So we love Oakland, but it's fun to run the wind. Summerfest was really well attended. and then pass it on this year to somebody else. So I hope next year will be just as good or better. Ruth and I met with Representative Birnbaum about finding, filling short holes, shortfalls that we have in some of our funding for North Shore Levee and also the North Street Bridge. And then we finally got our order to go through for our Christmas decorations for downtown and around the city. So, yeah, look forward to that. And then I just wanted to end my report on, we love volunteers. This city has so many organizations that depend on volunteers, and I know they're the lifeblood of all these organizations in the Parks Department. And we don't take that volunteer service lightly. So I just want to make sure any volunteers that are out there listening, we do appreciate every minute that you give to our city and any volunteer organization. We all depend on your help and we do appreciate that. And then finally, before I end, I just wanted to congratulate Councilperson Carrie Hubbard I owe her one frame because I did a good frame for you.

So a lot of certificates. All right.

Thank you. Now we'll move on to council reports. Council President Swart.

Yes. On July 31st, I also attended the grand opening for the new Marine Terminal at the port. We've been hearing about this investment for a number of years, and it was truly remarkable to see it in person. We were able to get a tour of the facility and get to see that it's not as close to work. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it's going to become some new automation, but luckily, there's something that will be eliminating any jobs down there. I met with my seatmate, Council Member Shaw, I believe it was last week. to discuss what we've been working on during the legislative process. Much of that was centered around economic development and using a transition board, and next steps on the committee will be established to take a deep dive on all things EMS and health and community. I also attended summer class with my family. It's always good to see folks getting together downtown. I highly recommend that if you are in any way, shape, or form a Barton Key fan. Had lots of excellent chat tips. And lastly, we held the Economic Development Advisory Community Meeting on the 17th. We will be looking into the idea of working with a consultant on a rebranding project. One of the big focuses on the group is to encapsulate all the different things in the address to be so great. And one of the core elements of this to move through the way you kind of do the signage is that it's designed to naturally sign on the break.

Thank you. Any other thoughts about what we have for Christian to bring us in?

Let's see here. I participated in a museum collection meeting. Transition. Transition. Transition. I also participated in a casework department meeting. Since we're not there, I didn't have a lot to say, but, you know, the people putting all the music on there, but, you know, If our members have a lot to say about our public works department, have awesome name and. Let's see, I also is part of the first commissioning and I participated in the same format with Weston Creek University Park. And then I worked on claims to Astor Park and perfect.

Good job. Thank you. That's what it's doing.

So while we're on break, council members Wilson and Lippert and I have been working on the youth council and we put together a bunch of materials to get out. We will be attending Bob Kitten Days tomorrow. We're still trying to get through to corporate high and then to the game days as well. So we can have information, get kids on board, So hopefully we'll approve that study and then I won't have to be canceling off getting this far.

Great.

So while we were on break, my husband and I did go down to Summerfest as well, but I also hosted my own block party during National Night Out and got to talk to a number of constituents in my area. And I got a lot of food. A lot of food and of course worked on the Youth Council stuff, trying to get everything set up with the district and.

Thank you. Looks like this side of the table. I'm happy to report that.

The Water Bill Relief Program has received a donation of $692. and that is just in the last two months.

And this has helped nine residents with their water. Thank you. All right, the council person also.

I also went to Summerfest and it was quite active. I was surprised how many people were there. And we held a night out in our park over at Amnesia Manor and thanks to all the police and temporary cadets. Is that what they are that come out? Yeah, they were just awesome and we had a really great time. So thank everybody for doing that night out thing. It's amazing.

I don't see any more, but I just also wanted to comment that the movies in the parks have been really well attended. There were about 200 previous week. Last week there was about 250, you know, close to 300. So really well received.

Next week is the Goonies.

The Goonies is the next one, yeah. I'll say that. Okay, so we'll move on now to staff reports with the demonstrator funds.

Thank you, Mayor. A friendly reminder that the Council Budget Workshop is next Wednesday, and it won't begin until 6 o'clock. One of the things that we'll be going over, the Community Satisfaction Survey, the budget and the budget priority survey, excuse me, review the 2027 budget as it stands right now and go over your legislative budget. You have your own budget in the budget itself. So that's a fund that, you know, I'd like to go over with all of you. And I want to also better understand your priorities as we're figuring out what we're going to, how we're going to prioritize the budget. Again, it's an off-main street. They had meetings. We are also in an audit at the State Auditor's Office on site, and so it's kind of our annual thing. know and then we'll have the exit conference so if you're interested in attending the exit conference please get a hold of my name is director katie williamson so i don't know that you want to get part of that just forward you an email of calendar invite um museum transition committee um is moving along this is a really great team of people um who are very active We have been working with fire marshals, city electricians, building officials to get a temporary certificate of occupancy, but they are very clear on their direction and their directives from the board and what you would like to see. So we have a date of October 31st is the date I have to move out of the museum building, so that's what we're aiming for. So more than one, but they are doing a wonderful job working together. I also wanted, I was in Kennewick earlier this month for the Washington City Managers Association conference and one of the things that we go there and we get ideas from other cities and there were several cities that have agenda small groups. So that's one of the things that I learned and they found that By having small groups prior to the council meeting, I know it's like one more meeting for you guys to attend, but we can do it virtually. But I wanted to propose that idea to any of you who might be interested in just kind of meeting before the council meeting to go over the agenda, to answer any questions you might have, to discuss everything. So that's just something I kind of heard other city managers doing, and I thought that was a pretty good idea that I would love to explore with any of you who are interested in it. We do, the Aberdeen Cares team, we do have a presentation today, so we'll talk a little bit more about what we've done, but we've been working very hard, and we are, again, aiming for a September 1, like, full-life date. So, yeah, we'll go over that in the presentation. And as Mayor Sagan, yes, the movies in the park have been a huge success with lots of families attending it. Between 200 and 300 people have been attending the movies. There have been so many movies that we had to purchase new speakers in order for people in the back because the crowd went extended all the way to the hospital. And so we had to be for people to be able to hear. But you know, very well attended. Tomorrow is Goody's, so I hope to see somebody there and we will hopefully have some three vendors as well. Friday, Friday, Friday. Wishful thinking. Any questions on my report?

Thank you. Alright, thank you.

Are there any directives?

I'm asking council to consider the situation, not simply as a question about one board member, that is the question about the city's responsibility to its employees and the environment in which they expect them to work. Administrator Clemmons has served as a staff representative because she cares about the board, its work, and the city. She's continued to show up, remain professional, and work to move the board forward. Unfortunately, her interactions with one board member have become increasingly difficult. The repeated personal nature of comments, focus on past failure, and behavior that infused productive discussion have made it increasingly difficult for Ruth to perform her role effectively. This is not about a disagreement. Board members have every right to question staff, challenge proposals, and express concerns. I'm asking the council to recognize the difference between legitimate disagreement and conduct that becomes personally demeaning or prevents productive city business. If this were an employee-to-employee situation where one employee really belittled or undermined another and made it difficult for that employee to perform their job, I, as the human resources director for the city, would intervene and focus on changing the working arrangement immediately. Ruth is asking for the same consideration. The council determines that Mr. Sautter should remain as a board member. I'm asking that Ruth be treated with respect, reasonable workplace boundaries, and the ability to do her job without being repeatedly subject to conduct that has become unhealthy and unproductive. It is your responsibility as city council to help create a way for all employees to serve the community without having to continue the working relationship that's become unmanageable.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

There you go. So I really want to thank the Council for the support that we got from the Careers team. I wanted to go over, since we have a go-live date of September 1, I want to go over the work, like what the program is, how it can be used, who we anticipate using it, and how we plan to communicate with our partners about the program, and then the items that we still have to work through. The ACT project team is a collaboration between the City of Aragon and the Coastal Community Action Program, also known as CAP. We do have council sponsors. I said Hodgkin, Mel Taylor, and then Fred DiBlanco and myself and Daniel Hargrove, as well as Chief Brainerd, kind of the executive sponsors of this particular program. And then we have DJ Cox, who is the City's Code Enforcement Officer. He is the Act Programming Coordination Lead. Cash McCollum is the CAP side. So we have two teams essentially. We have CAP and the City of Aberdeen. And while we are working together, we do have two separate teams because I don't direct CAP employees and CAP doesn't direct the City of Aberdeen employees. So we will have like positions on both sides. which has been a really good pairing, by the way. We have cash and we did work together to build certain aspects of the program. And then the outreach specialist position that we have is what we call the care coordinator. And they have identified a couple of people who serve in those positions, but I don't believe that it's going to be official. So I want to come and I will be providing more information as we go along with the program. So, the ACT program is the right help at the right time. Like I said, it's a coordinated partnership, and how this differs from anything that we've had in the past, the care coordinator will respond to non-emergency needs involving any kind of behavioral health, substance use, homelessness, or social services issues. crisis that people might be in that don't necessarily require police response or fire response or emergency services. This is something that is similar, if not identical, to the program that we had with Elena Moore. And except that we won't be sharing this person in Hoplium. And while we did split the cost for Elena, I believe a lot of her time was spent in Hoplium. So this isn't a program that's just specific to our game. So it will add services that go alongside traditional emergency response if officers or responding first responders or first responders are required or needed. So ALCAD addresses gaps in the current system. Our hope is, and this was something that we identified with the Utility Rate Advisory Committee, super users or repeated users of police and emergency services, emergency room. Our hope is to kind of assist in lessening the number of people or the repeated use of these services. We also want to connect people to services to address any instability in their lives that might be homelessness, substance use, and address behavioral health concerns. Or those people who have been disconnected, maybe they signed up and it got away from them and they didn't follow up or they didn't have any follow up. This will allow someone on the ground, who's on the ground to provide and follow up with people and to ensure that they are connected. Another hope that we have is this short-term intervention. I would like for this position to also interrupt any negative behavior that's happening on the streets. For instance, last year we had a very difficult time with people On F Street, in an alleyway on F Street, we've been anywhere between 20 and 30 people gathering in an alleyway to collectively and openly abuse drugs. Our hope is that we can deploy someone to kind of interrupt certain behaviors that are that are similar to that and that are happening in public spaces. We also see this as a tool for business partners, especially business partners to use. I think that's something that I want to kind of mention to all of you is that while we recognize community-wide there are a lot of issues and a lot of problems that could be solved through this, we want to really focus on the business community and just help support downtown revitalization. And we also, so that is something that we're hoping to start out with and go into the focus areas. This again, it does not replace 911, law enforcement, fire, or crisis response services. It does not replace that. It is simply a tool that can be used to deploy a person to assist someone who might be in crisis of some sort that is not necessarily an emergency. And I think that the more that we educate people as to how to use this program, I think it will become easier for people to identify when is the time, when is it time to call 911, when is it time to call the hotline. Again, it just is involving a lot of coordination, connecting people to services. You know, we also wanted to kind of We were able to ask CAP some difficult questions like, well, how does this differ? How is this going to differ from anything that you do? The community is going to need to see some changes. They're going to need to see visible changes. I need this person to be visible within the community. Our first few weeks of working with CAP were really getting through those difficult conversations about like maybe their performance or their perceived performance by the community. And we really wanted to make sure that they understood that we have, the city has an expectation and that the community has an expectation from this program and how we expect it to perform. And so while their approach is far more compassionate, ours is maybe more traditional in a sense. So we had to really marry those two ideas together to ensure that the community can see visible changes. So how this will work is that there will be some sort of referral, whether a business calls the hotline or a police officer calls the hotline, Or a community member calls 911 and then the non-emergency line dispatches that call to an officer and the officer can determine and triage the call and determine whether or not that should be a referral to the ACT program. person, the care coordinator will act in a very similar fashion than what CAP does right now, which is they will assess the issue, they will try to connect the person with resources. Again, it's also to interrupt any kind of behaviors that are happening. And then also work with, we have a list of partners that we identify behavioral health partners or the hospital or, you know, we have a whole list of partners that this coordinator can pick from to kind of determine how to best help the person in need. And I think that the most important part of this is that, again, this is to be a visible position position that walks around downtown that's driving over to the east side of town especially those those hot spots and is a everyday presence similar to the way that we are using our code enforcement officer who goes around and wakes people up this person will start at 5 30 in the morning will also be assisting with waking people up and ensuring that they're connected to services so the goal is not simply to provide like a referral it's to actually help the person through the continuum of care to stability. So what will success looks like? These are some of the success measures that we've identified and that's connecting to ensure, and we will be tracking, the city will have its own tracking methods as well, and CAP will also be tracking. It's to connect more people to appropriate services, reduce repeated contacts to our first responders or repeated visits to our jail and just to improve coordination and accountability, not only with the city, but also with our partners. Again, I understand, you know, I know that there's a lot of rhetoric out there as to like what, you know, our partner CAP does or like what kind of services are they providing. So this is also an accountability tool for us to closely understand what our partner does in this space. and to identify any service gaps and just, again, to help people move towards greater stability. ACT is about outreach and engagement. It's about those basic needs assessments. It's about providing transportation. It's about that follow-up contact. It is not a replacement for 911. The ACT care coordinator is not going to remove any camps. That's where the coordination with the city comes into play. They're not going to promise people housing. They don't have keys on them and will be handing out housing. They still have a process that they still have to follow and availability is a very real thing as well. And they will not be entering any states that are unsafe. Emergencies will still be with 911, you know, still call 911. So there is going to be a little bit of, again, education that we're going to have to provide. So about the project, this has been a very, very intense legislative session for us. We have been working very hard. There are five of us on this project team that have really been, like, have broken up all the aspects of this down to a science basically and how we plan to launch this um we've been again working through the client program planning and all the agreements um i will be bringing an mou to all of you to sign through next at the next meeting we have our legal team reviewing it as well as cap has their legal team reviewing it as well um we are finalizing our training um our training program. We have already talked with the public works team about the program and how they can use it. We still have to make a lot of communication tools and hand those out as well to equip staff with as well as our businesses. And again, we're planning a launch of the program on September 1. Our service areas of focus are downtown and east average commercial areas. And then other parts of the city, as we will, that person will be deployed. So we have this proactive approach, which will cover downtown and East Aberdeen. And then we have reactive as calls come in as to where to send just the care coordinator. Our hope is to reach seven days a week of availability, and we have two shifts, 5.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. with a lunch, and then 2 p.m. to 11 o'clock. These times, like, we're literally building the plane as we're flying it, and so we, like, reserve the right to adjust these because I don't know how active Aberdeen is at 11 o'clock at night and how much of a need there is downtown, so we'd love feedback that way, and so we're going to listen to our care coordinators as we finalize these hours, especially as we enter into the winter months. These are the uniforms. These are designed by DJ Cox. I think it's great. He designed the emblem on it. It's a triangle that you saw on the first slide that says Aberdeen Cares team. And this is the uniform that you will see around town. We hope that the city and the community will grow familiar with the uniforms and come to the feel safe or safer knowing that there is a presence downtown to help them. These are some of the tools we have identified stakeholders. We just created our communications plan so that we can build scripts for like our finance department or any people that interact with the community. Our tools include any number of these things, from business cards to printing things out on the utility bill to in-person presentations for different groups like maybe the court or the Quinault Indian Nation, those stakeholders that might have a vested interest in this program or may find this program useful. So what we're working on, some of the things we have to finalize is we do have to get the phone number up and running, which will be printed on different cards and communications tools. And then we also have to deliver and finalize our staff training. Again, we're already starting to deploy it and let staff know how to use it. But I think it would be really helpful to have like cards in each vehicle or decals. And we do have our uniforms on order and we're scheduling our partners communications and we still have to finalize our .

So I'd love to open it up for any questions any of you might have. Jared.

So just to be clear, so there's a few different avenues to contact this. It sounds like hotline after some education will be primary, but there's also 911 can direct as well as the non-emergency number, is that correct?

If it's 911, then it's probably, it may not be a number, it may meet that board of law. That's where we will let the police officer kind of make that determination if this is a co-response or if this is like something that he can, or they can deploy the team.

uh the care coordinator too so um i don't do you have any thoughts on that that's accurate the dispatch will make a determination that something needs a discussion officer in progress um you know the key term as we can mention is intervention our goal is to stop the criminal activity before it begins um it's not going to uh prevent us from showing up and taking a close connection which is going to continue to do that it's just a few more times i think i also forgot to mention that um

We received $145,000 from the Association of Washington Cities for this, and that there was no matching funds or anything, so this is fully funded by that. Another, oh, I'm sorry.

Yes, Council Member, I have a question kind of sitting right in the line. So, our 911 is hosted by the county, so this information obviously needs to be provided to them as well, and I understand that You've answered some of my questions, but we've just finalized our communication plan for the downtown businesses. Did I understand that right? Yeah. How do we plan to disseminate this information to them?

For the downtown businesses, we've determined that it might be best for the care coordinator to do introductions and walk and just hand out the frequently asked questions that we have prepared. I did have a meeting today with the executive director of 911 and I introduced the program to her and explained like, you know, she did have some questions that I didn't follow up with the team on, but she's aware of the program and she is looking forward to working with it. But she wanted to know if dispatch could call the program. And I think that I, we'll have to talk with the team. And I think that's maybe where maybe dispatch to a police officer to let the police officer determine the referral is necessary. So more to come on that. But yeah, I did communicate with just today.

And is there a future component where a care coordinator could be dispatched to a police officer on something that is maybe less dangerous and more relevant to say a mental health episode?

Oh, yeah. think that, you know, if a police officer believes that they want a care coordinator or if a care coordinator feels unsafe, they absolutely have the ability to call police and ask for assistance that way or a co-response. So we want to leave it open and we want to see kind of, we scaled this program to fit our needs. So again, I feel like everything's kind of on the table as far as like we want to determine what works for us and what works for our community.

It sounded like it was one or the other, so I just wanted to make sure there was room for our staff.

Right, correct. Yes, there is.

Will the caller have any ability to choose whether they want? Somebody's expecting a police officer now, so they call 911, and then after they hang up, the dispatcher decides whether to send a person or a police officer in the way for the police to show up. things may be escalated and I just wonder, will they be aware of who's being sent or how are we going to communicate that to the agro-caller who's in need of what type of response is coming their way?

Right, so that's a discussion that I had with the executive director of 911 today. She asked the same question for me, just, you know, to establish, you know, this program. I personally, I kind of have a sense between would prefer if we allow the police to return to dispatch police to the call, if that's why someone called, and then let the police officer determine if there's like a co-response or a, you know, this is something that the...

I would almost suggest that we would send an active member on every call during the beginning of this until things just kind of balance themselves out, then we'll be able to easily determine They don't familiarize them with it in a more comfortable way. They put less risk on our workers implementing this and this and this. So we've talked about our fees and crossed our eyes. But there has to be some type of liability as well. And are those uniforms ready? How much more than it would be to say that there's a really nice staff group material, at least a staff group material. So as they put themselves in age and in the mental health process, at least get a staff group material, speak in uniforms,

Councilmember Dinkin, I don't think the intent is for people that are in mental health crisis to be dispatched to the accident.

If somebody's actively in crisis, that's going to be a local crisis call, and it generally does. But, you know, things can escalate very quickly. Absolutely. They show up, somebody's talking, so when the conversation gets going, they're being chased out.

And that's where we're leaning on CAP, and that's something that we have talked about, and CAP is very sure that they will provide training and, like, to their staff to recognize escalating situations or dangerous situations and when to call, you know, when to remove themselves from it and, you know, maybe call 911. So that's our hope. And that's why we're leaning on Duke Health because they have a lot of trauma-informed practices that are going to be that important.

Maybe you can go as far as giving them a radio directly to the police channel. Instead of calling 911 on their phone, they can radio right in, hey, this looks out. I mean, obviously.

Essentially, like, sorry to jump in, but I mean, that's pretty much what the volunteer, the VIPs have, right? They have the radio that connects directly to the officer.

I think that would be really beneficial. Sorry, anything else? Yeah. Any other questions?

right please feel free to reach out if you do have any follow-up questions all right thank you uh now we'll move on to uh finding us with the check person cradle okay uh we've got a resolution uh requesting request recommending the city council authorize the surplus of a 2002 shipping 350 from facilities resolution 2026-31

Chief, what's your report?

Second.

Seconded by Councilperson Maverick. Is there any discussion on this? All in favor say aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Thank you.

I would call on the public safety chair, Ms. Maverick.

We had our very last meeting. That was all of. Nine minutes. But during that nine minutes, we discovered. So, during the month of July, our VIPs retreated with 192 hours to the environment. And at the national volunteer rate of $34.79 per hour, that equals a contribution of over $6,000 worth of service to the environment. So, big thank you to our VIPs. Also, we want to welcome our newest police officer. She's a former BBB Explorer cadet, a former Explorer. She started in August 1st. She's going to attend the 17th Baseball Acquisition Academy starting on September 15th, and she'll be graduating in January 1st. WE HAVE A REQUEST RECOMMENDING CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL AMENDMENT NUMBER ONE TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF ABERDEEN AND PUBLIC CONSULTING GROUP FOR WASHINGTON STATE GROUND EMERGENCY AND MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM ACCOUNTING AND CONSULTING SERVICE. SECOND.

SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT YEPERS. ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS?

I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I ALREADY TALKED TO Um, she told me about this. There were a couple of places when the original contract that reference the state of Iowa left. And so they will be, um, they'll be giving that taking care. So I just wanted to be approved, just to prove it with those amendments in mind that they'll, they'll get that corrected.

Any more discussion? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Next, we have a request from the City Council approved to send the current affiliation agreement between the City of Aberdeen and Pierce College Paramedic Program to 2029. And I recommend that we do this.

Second. Seconded by Councilperson Retchie. Any discussion? Any non-voters? Say aye. Aye. Thank you, fellas.

And finally, we have a request recommending City Council approval to accept a grant award in the amount of $22,245.28 from the Washington Department of Labor and Industry's Fires Grant Program for the purchase of a personal protective equipment washer extractor. I'm going to move that, please.

Second. Seconded by Councilperson Branson. End of discussion.

All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes.

That is all for the meeting.

I will do all the public works, we will start first with Francine.

Public works, I am fairly in command of the discussion. We are in the electronic scene. We have three reports today. For response to the request recommended, City Council authorize the Professional Service Support Instruction and Inspection Services for the H Street Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project authorized for July 22, 2027, Councilor. Second.

Seconded by Council President Sporter. Is there any discussion on this? All in favor of your request, recommending the City Council authorize the professional service support for construction management and inspection services for the H Street sanitary sewer replacement project authorized at July 22nd, 2026. We need to say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Thank you. Our second item is a request recommending City Council alter as the Public Works Engineering Disorders Deployment Institution permits from Timber Cell 18-S-26-2027. Second.

Second by Council person. Is there any discussion on this? Call the paper, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

Okay, thank you. Our third item is the first reading of an ordinance on the proposed vacation of an elderly writer with any block on the Black Hopkins addition at the moment of the bill number 2631. I'm going to move this application forward.

Thank you. Okay, thank you.

So, I'm going to invite Councilperson Wagner. Is there any discussion? All in favor of first reading of the ordinance on the proposed vacation of an alleyway within block one of Flat Hopkins, addition of North Aberdeen, bill number 26-15, say aye. Opposed? Passes.

That's all we know.

Thank you. Now we go on to special community items for the council president's floor.

I'd like to make a motion to be open to public hearing to receive public testimony on the ordinance to create a youth council and establish chapter 2.56 of the AMC. This would be for bill number 26-14. Second.

Seconded by Councilperson Hubbard. All in favor of a public meeting?

I would make a motion to close the public hearing.

Second. Seconded by council person matching. Call in favor of closing the public hearing.

Aye.

Opposed? Thank you.

And so I'll make a motion to accept the second reading. With the names sticking out. So we'll approve the ordinance to free youth from the syllabus. Which is Actions 8.56 of the AMC. Again, Bill number 26-14. Is that it?

second by Councilperson Hubbard. Any discussion? Oh, sorry.

I just want to commend Councilmembers Hubbard, Knipper, and Wilson for their dedication to getting this project done in an extreme and timely manner. I mean, this is going to be an exceptional opportunity and will expand our reach to the world. So thank you.

On the paper of accepting second reading recommending City Council approve the ordinance to create a new council and establish chapter 2.56 of the ANC bill number 2614. Say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

I'd like to make a motion that we suspend the rules and accept the second reading as the third. Second.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

I'd like to make a motion that we approve the letter for the Boys and Girls Club to reestablish the organization and avenue.

Second. Seconded by Councilperson Ratzinger. Is there any discussion? Council President's floor.

Each of us received an email from two representatives that are needing to reestablish a Boys and Girls Club here in the city. In case you didn't review the letter in its entirety or for anyone in the audience,

the letter does not make any financial guarantees it's just signifying that some council in every city would like to see this found in question in session are we all in favor of accepting a recommendation of accepting a request a request recommending to the council for the letter for the boys and girls club to reestablish that recommendation in aberdeen say hi hi Is there any new codes? Yeah, thank you.

And lastly, we have a resolution that is a request recommending the city council offer as resolution 2026-32 to remove Mr. Steyer from the purpose board. Second.

Seconded by council person member. Is there any discussion?

Yeah. I've got a few. items or issues with this. First of all, I feel like we're being asked to make this discussion or decision with not really any sort of background on the situation. Second of all, this to me feels like something that would have been better suited in a ethics and I can't think of the word right now, but more of an ethics board type of situation rather than coming here for a vote. I just, I can't get behind it because I don't feel that I've got enough information about the situation. And yes. Okay, Mr. Evans.

Oh, I was just wondering how long is the term that he's going to be explaining for if he stays?

My apologies for me being this vague. It's not easy to assess this sort of thing and how I've been doing around this. In the last four years that I've been in the city of Aberdeen, the city has made great effort in progress, including its position and quality of life for its residents. I've done the best job that I can working with directors and analyzing areas that require attention and improvements. I'm also no stranger to working with dysfunctional committees and difficult personalities. I have successfully transformed and or led committees that have solved challenging issues throughout Aberdeen. including homeless response, homelessness response, museum transition, and finance committee. I took over the Parks Department in January and was met with adversity. I attended meetings leading up to January in an effort to create a smoother transition from parks forward and to understand the inner workings and dynamics of the board. Those meetings were tense and they did not improve in January when I eventually took over supporting the parks board. Mr. Sautter was the parks board president at the time of the transition and is board president for the current year. In my time when working with him, I do not believe that his actions and behavior as a parks board member are in alignment with the city council's code of conduct and professional expectations, nor do I believe that they are in the best interest of the residents of Aberdeen and what they deserve in the community volunteer. With discretion in mind, Mayor Orr attempted to dialogue with Mr. Sautter on August 12th and asked him in private in a private meeting to resign from the Board on his observations and experience with Mr. Stoddard's abusive, unprofessional, disrespectful, disengaged, and demeaning behavior during Parks Board meetings. Mr. Stoddard declined to resign and, according to Mayor Orr, stated that he planned to get a hold of his attorney. Mr. Stoddard's behavior on the Board has caused distress for staff members and impeded the forward progress of the Parks Department as the Board is disengaged, in my opinion. due to the tone set by his lack of leadership skills and unprofessional behavior. I do not hope and would not allow staff to be bullied or abused, and I feel that I deserve the same protection. I want to be clear, our board members have every right to agree to city decisions, question administrative recommendations, advocate strongly for the parks, and criticize policies. This is not an attempt to silence disagreement or retaliate against anyone for opposing decisions. However, disagreement, does not justify personal attacks, disparaging remarks, repeated confrontations with the mayor, or disrespectful treatment of elected officials or staff. Since the organizational change in the Parks Department, I have experienced a pattern of comments and conduct from the Parks Board President that I have found personally demeaning and inconsistent with the professionalism expected of someone serving in a city-appointed leadership position. He has publicly blamed me for the condition of the Parks Department, made snide and dismissive remarks, and engaged in hostile exchanges with the mayor during public meetings. I also want to distinguish criticism of my performance from unacceptable conduct. As city administrator, I expect to be questioned and held accountable. I do not expect agreement with every recommendation I make. However, public service does not require elected officials or employees to accept conduct that's personally demeaning hostile, or persistently disrespectful. If there are legitimate concerns about park conditions, staffing, maintenance priorities, or administrative decisions, those concerns should be presented specifically and constructively. They should identify the problem, the location, the desired outcome, the resources required, and a proposed solution. Personal accusations do not include our parks. Park Sport exists to provide thoughtful advice and recommendations and to help advance the city's adopted priorities. Its president has a heightened responsibility to model respectful conduct, maintain productive meetings, and help other members work effectively with elected officials and staff. This situation is affecting more than me personally. Conduct that becomes hostile and personal discourages participation, damages working relationships, distracts from the board's purpose, and undermines public confidence in city government. I have watched how other members of the park boards have to awkwardly face whether to speak out against this behavior or stay loyal to a parks board member who has served for many years. It's not right to stay silent, but I think it's even worse to put people in that situation in the first place. Our support needs leadership that can advocate passionately while maintaining professional relationships with the mayor, council, administration, staff, and the public. Based on the climate that I have experienced for more than seven months, I believe the working relationship has deteriorated to the point that effective service is no longer a reasonable possibility. The resolution before you is on conduct. not his opinions, criticism of city policies, or opposition to eliminating the Parks Director position. My goal is not punishment. My goal is to restore the Parks Board to a functional part of the Aberdeen community where they engage with and understand the community, protect city staff and officials from unacceptable treatment, and ensure that the Parks Board can focus its energy on improving Aberdeen's parks.

okay um so my first question is what has changed materially in the 18 months since you asked us to put them back on the board um so So 2025, right? He was brought to council and asked to be a state referrer for an intern. So here we are 18 months after that. And so my question is, what has changed since then when he was something that was a good person to have on the board? And so what's changed in that time? And then just throwing on the HR hat for a minute, Typically, when there's a behavior issue that isn't critical or crisis, there's usually a discussion of these are the things we expect. This is how you're not meeting those expectations. This is what we need from you. And so my question is, has that been discussed with him and has he given him an opportunity to work?

I have made an effort to reach out to Mr. Stoddard and ask if we could talk. I just wanted to kind of discuss some of the behaviors I was seeing, and I was told that he would not meet with me and wouldn't meet without, wouldn't meet if he wanted to meet in a public setting, you know, with the parks board. And so my goal was discretion, try to like, you know, just to keep the board moving forward and lessen the amount of drama around it. So that was my effort to address it, on top of just addressing the behavior when it was happening in parks for babies. And the thing that changed is the elimination of the director position. I was told repeatedly about the unhappiness and just leaving the director and I just couldn't, it didn't feel like I could move them off of that. This is the new normal that's, you know, so.

Just also on that is the director. Administrator Clemens is is the parks director and I believe that he refuses to accept that that he is there and she to put up with that on a regular basis. So asking him to stay was not an option and changes. It's not a sexual abuse, but it's similar to that. And then that conduct, that just can't be.

If he doesn't get to answer these charges, is the park board going to be able to stay for more than just the three minutes?

That's a good question. We're not being here. That's absolutely okay.

So, ultimately, this comes down to really two things. So, first of all, this is not the message that we want to send to volunteers when we need volunteers. We have three people by the ERAC. We have three open positions on the EDAC. I mean, we're trying to build a student council here. What are they supposed to think when they hear that people are being kicked off for being difficult to work with, allegedly? And I don't want to belittle what's happened, and I don't want to make light of your experience, but you just stated yourself that this is a conduct issue, and we have a process for this. This is not that process. If it's legitimately just a conduct issue, We just passed an ordinance about this. We just watched the first one go through at our last meeting. And that's why I printed a copy for everyone. It specifically states, including board and committee representatives, that this is applicable to. So this is how this should have been done. Putting this out there and essentially, to me, it feels like trying to tarnish someone's name who's been here volunteering their time for almost 30 years.

We're certainly not trying to tarnish names.

This was recommended because they are in the charter. This was recommended by the attorney to go this route. So that's why it went this route.

No, I understand that the legal advising advice was to do this. But if it's a conduct issue, then we have a way in-house of dealing with it. We shouldn't have even needed to consult with legal.

Again. The conduct that you're describing is or through the AMC and the Charter Trump's the AMC. So this was the way that was more when looking at it from a risk perspective. That the the attorney felt that this was the more like the safest route in the city to go. And so that's why we're here. And again, Mayor Gore had attempted to have a conversation and so

Yeah. It's not about disagreeing with anything that, you know, the Parks Board decision. I can say that I certainly was not happy at the last Parks Board meeting where you said maybe there shouldn't be a mayor in the city and was very hostile towards me during the whole meeting. So, I mean, I'm not happy with that, but I was certainly willing to let that go. But when it's being passed on or directed at one of my employees, I don't have a right to let that go. That's my responsibility to speak up.

Is Mr. Stoddard going to have an opportunity to address these situations? Is he going to be able to answer these charges that are being brought against him the accusations because because right now at this point you know we have one side but i would really like to hear the other side as well because sorry i mean i can throw accusations all day and if the person doesn't get the opportunity to answer them then it's just kind of a one-sided thing So I'm just asking, will that be, will he be given that opportunity?

I guess we can go to the next round and we can try it at least. If that's what you feel you guys want to do.

And this is what's to be surprised is that most of this letter from me that we've all received, this is speaking to them. I do wish there was a memory to the fact that I was with Marshall Central.

What's the crime?

What happened? I just see that unless there's, when we first established this ethics, it was on the basis of whenever, there was a big problem. It was a huge crime in this community. We were trying to move that person and we kind of panicked. It never resolved itself while we're coming up with this. And now since its conception, and I believe the way it's being used is opening a floodgate for potential misuse. And I'll use the metaphor as if it feels like handing a machine gun with gold bullets to a chimpanzee and blow their energy. no budget, just keep you by our bullets. We keep sending some people that would have somebody to sue that. It might be unless someone commits a crime or presents harm, physical harm to you. We all just need to put it on our big auditions scan. Yeah. We're watering down our policies to get our points across to each other. And I plan on making a motion to send 2.24. I don't think it's ready yet. We can bring it back, do it again. Put it out of the way. No, it's too big. It's too... It's a power cut. versus dogs with a few stones blowing back and forth. Next thing we know, we're throwing handfuls of rocks and there's, we all have four or five different people we wanted to bring something up against us. We're turning rumors into weapons, conversations into problems. It shouldn't be. It's a waste of our time. Unless there's something serious that happens, we all just need to, I do agree to disagree as we should, as it was when we all were elected to these positions. Just because we don't like it doesn't mean we can change. We're voted in. We've got to stop trying to remove each other the first time.

Right then.

No, I think this should just remain that we're talking about this case and not scenarios that could be reported. This is on my desk.

The thing I'm talking about, this was used as fuel for the decision tonight that we should all be considering this while it's being handed down. I think it needs to go away before we start actually poking each other with it.

Okay. Yeah, I want to jump in real quick. I'm really rather uncomfortable with the process and how this has come to Council in the way it has. And I gotta ask. Because unless I missed something, this is the first time we're hearing of things that are this serious that are this problematic. I take it really seriously on both sides. And we have our HR director making comment tonight. I'm curious if we have a wallpapered file. HR reports on this that would indicate that there's work been done, that there's counseling been done, that we're addressing these codes of conduct. Has there been any attempt to bring any of that in the past to the council? I take the entire situation extremely seriously, but I honestly feel like this is just a problem that the city has not been able to work its way through, and let's just hand it off to the council. to pull the pin out of the grenade. And I think it needs, we need to be a little bit more circumspect in this. We need to respect our employees and our people that are involved. And we need to respect our volunteers. And I'd ask if this is, you know, for me, this is probably, it was mentioned as a code in an ethics situation. I really think this needs to get turned around and reviewed. And if it is an HR safety issue, or a legal issue that required a legal counsel, we need to know more about that and we need to have that brought to counsel before we're asked to pass an ordinance that goes in the history of this city removing somebody. So I just ask that we be a little more circumspect and we stand back and we deal with the problems. And I'm not afraid of removing somebody, but we're not doing this in the right way. That's what I got to say. Yeah, go ahead.

Yes, I have spoken to HR on mold probably every month after our board meeting. I have spoken to her about my concerns, my interactions with Mr. Stoddard, my concerns, my concerns with the board itself and leading this group. So I have because I do see it. And as a city, we do have these things can escalate to employee complaints that can turn into other things. So that's why I'm happy that you're taking this seriously. Because I have taken it to HR and have spoken to her on multiple, multiple occasions.

Excellent to know. And I appreciate that. But I got to say, I haven't heard about it in the council. And what we're doing right now is we're basically handing this situation to council, asking it to make a very important decision. Personally, I don't think we have background in this. We want to believe everybody. I don't think this is something that this is the way to handle it right now.

Go ahead.

okay uh thank you for the one person on this council that reached out to me about my perspective oh my gosh i i would say pretty long and i don't think this is the proper place to report it so i know it might be good for the list of the ethics community um the land of policies are going to make anybody has to be fine

Maybe I just need to get back to you.

As we thought about.

Yeah. It's okay. I'd like to make a motion that we follow the question. And then when he sees you, we'll probably find it.

Francie.

I'm sorry.

Is this a situation I can abstain from? I mean, I was in the . You can abstain. That's okay. That's what I'll do.

Kagan?

I don't have to leave. I don't have to. Sorry. No.

Hubbard? No. Moynihan?

No.

Nipper? No.

No.

Radjic?

No.

Shaw? No. Swore?

No.

Taylor? No. Wilson? No. Motion fails.

And now we'll go back on to public comments. Is there anybody who'd like to make a public comment?

For 25 years, I worked with

paid staff and volunteers. And I heard you talking about your employees and volunteers. The reality is that volunteers are unpaid employees. And I dealt with all kinds of crazy things. But one of the things that I learned early on is volunteers are unpaid employees. and they should get an employee book and they should understand what the policies and procedures are. And when you have a bad situation as the, whether you're the team leader, the crew leader, the boss, the executive director that's working with someone, go to the policy and procedures manual, you look it up, here's the situation. This is the way that we deal with that. And I recognize that you have an ethics committee But really that was, if my understanding is right, that was to deal with meetings on the other side of that stake. You would deal with the staff through the ethics committee. Okay. Which, you know, maybe that's the way to go. But I do think, I mean, I've been a volunteer for the city on a number of different things. And As a volunteer, you get it really quick. This is what we're trying to do. And then we go to work. And I've never received a thank you for being a volunteer. When you volunteer to the city, this is what the expectations are. And I think that maybe that's something that would help address issues like this in the future. Thanks.

Thank you. Any other comments?

I have to state my name. Every day I'm on the protocol. Do I say my name and where I live?

You could do that.

My name is Scott Cosmopoulos. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, I think you deserve Mr. Stoddard to apologize. You sat up there and semi-accused him of almost a sexual assault crime. Unfounded, he had no chance to rebuttal the claim. Ruth, I'm sorry that you felt that way in meetings. I have attended a majority of the arts board meetings, and I've seen the quantum and whatnot, and I'm sorry you haven't felt that way. I hope I haven't made you feel that way. It isn't before's interpretation. In my years, I've never... seen the mayor come to me. The mayor, as I have found, I have not gone to the park. He hasn't served on the park. He didn't attend the meeting as the park board. But I have seen the mayor come and sit in and almost insert himself into our meetings. Check out how strange. And also, in regards to the HR director, I have never seen him an HR director at many of our meetings, nor have I or anyone else on the department board talked to HR. So, Ruth explained that she best looked into HR after meetings and voiced her concerns, but once again, as many of the panelists said, you're only hearing one side of the story. And sometimes feelings can be misconstrued Mr. Stoddard and the department, we are passionate about the park. You know, we have said that we don't come to parks directly, which we have always said. Yes, we have made that clear moving forward in the meet, but I was appalled to sit in the stands and hear a volunteer that's given close to three decades of service to the city be accused in a public forum as this gentleman said, to possibly go in the records forever. And the city records blows my mind. I know there was a big line of volunteers, people knocking down the door to get on board, but boy, that makes me want to stay on the board to know that my name can be thrown out there for judgment. Absolutely embarrassing.

Thank you. Any other, any other public comments?

Stacy Barnum, I live in Central Park. I want to thank the council for not adopting a resolution tonight. And I worked with Ruth for three years, and I very much enjoyed working with Ruth, and I'm sorry that she's feeling that way at the first board meetings. I was disappointed that my son shared the email that he received from Ruth on those two or three sentences and let him know that there was a resolution that was going to be presented to the council on August 26th that we were doing from the board, what time the meeting was, and where it was, if he wanted to speak. So we have three minutes to defend 28 years and whatever he's making a case of. And as you guys pointed out, you weren't given a lot of information. I have not attended those meetings, so I don't know what's happening in those meetings. But as a former parks director, I could suggest that maybe Austin Weber, who is the assistant parks director, could possibly be the staff person that attends those meetings. And Ruth, or I know Rick is involved with parks too, could be invited to those meetings when it seems like we need to have someone who's a director posted. It's just a suggestion. I don't work here anymore, but it sounds like things are, you know, pretty stressful. And Austin Weber was a good balance for me because I think he's a difficult person, but Austin's a really happy-go-lucky, gets along with everybody person. So he's definitely going to be somebody who I think can do a good job working with a person.

Thank you. My name is Wes Peterson.

I live in Aberdeen, Washington. I'd like to thank the council for the consideration and well thought out response. I'm concerned, I guess, more than anything else is that there's no opportunity. It was no disappointment for, you know, she wanted to meet with you privately. That's one of the problems. He met with both of you privately, so there's no chance today. Both of you had opportunity to talk for 10 minutes, and yet you didn't get a chance to defend yourself. Prepare the letter. I think there's a lot of stuff that could be better in the future for the park director and a member of our communities in 1970. I'm quite embarrassed about what happened. I do commend the council for what they're trying to do. If there's a policy and a process that I appreciate being done, to me it felt like a railroad. I was on the train and was not going to stop. That's very disappointing. I guess there's a little advantage in life. I was taught by my mother, treat people like you want to be treated. And Mr. Mayor, the question, if you were treated like this, would you be happy? And that's what I have to say. Now, can the communication get better? As a part of Parks Department, employment, and citizen value, I'd like to start attending the meetings. I'll try to improve what we can do, improve the communication. But that was a two-way street that has to also come from you guys. So I thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to working with you and appreciate the years ahead. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Senator.

I just want to thank the Council. Thank you very much for the support and I hope that they work with Cindy and get a small group or whatever and finding the solution to this problem and going forward. It needs to go forward and So thank you very much.

Thank you.

See more as the word when I just want to offer a real simple solution since it's 20.6. Maybe to avoid confusion since most of you guys are not able to attend part of the meeting.

All the meeting is recorded.

don't have to keep them forever maybe just long enough for everybody on campus to get caught up whatever i think they're public meetings i don't think it should matter we have a quote every moment just the government is the public but i didn't give any other public comments okay seeing none that's a little bit of opportunity to present the order

I move to the Parity Council to appeal Chapter 2.24 of the African Municipal Code and Subtlety. It is actually 2.24.01 through 2.24.050 with the purpose to demonstrate priority on the complaint process and enforcement of penalties from non-compliance. All of the associated evidence to me to appeal is based on Chapter's globally broad and vague language, which risks being weaponized for political retaliation rather than upholding genuine ethical standards. going to be participating in strapping i voted against adoption precisely on these flaws and with the recent events demonstrated the concerns operations flaws under data there's no way to reach it 2.24 2.24 amc 2.24

2.2. Is there a second question? 2.242.

And the ethics code. And the ethics code. We don't have the code. We don't need the committee.

Okay. So you want to resend 2.2? 2.242. That was the entirety of all five chapters. Okay. Sorry. Is that it? So we have a motion and a second to rescind AMC 2.24 and it's entirely. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? No.

Do we want to do a roll call?

That's necessary. Okay. Thank you. Anything else?

Actually, I wanted to say that a violation of any kind does not have to be violent or physical. And some of the things that have been said or possibly been said, since none of us know what they were, can be as damaging as a physical growth.

And I just wanted to make sure that everybody realizes that one word, one word can do it. It doesn't have to be a punch.

Thank you. And over here it was Francine.

Yes. Okay. Over the years, I have looked at the municipal code, but I have not looked at the municipal code, It is super easy to understand, takes like 10 minutes to read it. There's a lot of important things in there. I'm supposed to have a patent, health board, fire chief, the charter. to the House officers and the House committee. That would not be helpful. I just would appreciate that. I wouldn't urge everybody else to go through and . Like, my personal thing wasn't like, I bought a shed . Section 3752, Saved in Sanitary Measures, where it starts off talking about the universe and having fire slaves. But then it goes down to revive the declared cleaning and purification of water sources and canals, and for the drainage and filling of the ponds and private property. Within its lines from the same, shall we advance it, to the census, we're dangerous to death. and to charge the respondent with the property's statutory benefit and to regulate and control the divide for the prevention and punishment of all defilement and pollution in all streams of running through its corporate limits, or in distance of five miles beyond its corporate limits, or in any stream from which the water supply of the city is made to take And to make all quarantine and other regulations necessary for preservation of public health and to remove all persons with any continuous diseases from someplace to be provided for their parents. And I just urge everybody else to read it. There's a lot. It's not a long book. It's not like our state constitution. It's . Then it can be found at aberdeen.municipal.codes. There's two tasks, the municipal code and . Okay, thank you.

Anything else?

President Esparza.

I need a motion to accept the meeting as to be no longer than 9 p.m. Second.

All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, so now we go on.

I just want to make sure I got that motion on the line first.

Okay, so this is the order now. Now we're going to move into executive session.

Yeah, I would like to make a motion that we move into executive session where discussion with legal counsel about current or political delegation may take place. This is under RCW 42.30.110. You'll be in session no longer than 30 minutes, and no action is suspected after the second. Second.

Second right now. So $200, they were saying. Do I have any privilege to yell at me? I was hoping you didn't mind this session. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. We are back in session. And can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved.

Second.

All right. All in favor of attorneys? Say yes. Aye. Thank you, guys.