City Council - Regular Meeting

Tuesday, May 5.

Recording in progress.

Hi, Naomi.

Hi. How are you? Good. Are you? Good.

I Harold Booker wanted these copies distributed. Do I distribute them?

Hey. How are you?

I told you.

Mhmm. Yep.

Good evening, and welcome to the Federal Way City Council meeting for 05/05/2026. Would you all please rise for the pledge of allegiance? 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, with liberty and justice for all.

Alright. Welcome, everyone. It's great to see everybody here. Alright. Now excuse me. Excuse me. The first order of business is item a, meant three a, mental health awareness month proclamation. Council member Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor. Is Michael Clark in the room today?

Michael was unable to be here.

Okay. We will go ahead and read the proclamation then. Mental Health Awareness Month. Whereas the annual observance of Mental Health Awareness Month was founded in 1949 to highlight the importance of mental well-being, educate the public, reduce stigma, and promote support for those affected by mental health conditions. And whereas half of the population will experience some type of mental health challenge during the course of their lifetimes.

And whereas, one in five adults in The United States experience mental health illness each year. And whereas, mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being. And whereas Mental Health America named the 2026 theme to be, quote, more good days together, end quote, encouraging everyone to reflect on what a, quote, good, end quote, day looks like both for ourselves and for our communities to shape advocacy, education, and community engagement. And whereas having a safe and positive community can create strong connections with others, providing a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times and a sense of purpose. Now, therefore, we, the undersigned mayor and city council members of the city of Federal Way, do here by proclaim May 2026 as mental health awareness month and call upon the community to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of mental health and supportive services.

Signed this May 2026.

Alright. Thank you very much. Alright. Now we're on item b, the older American Americans month proclamation. Council member coach Mark.

Thank you very much, mayor. Would the senior commission please come to the members come to the podium, and would the president stand front and center? So I'll read the proclamation, come down and give it to the president, and then hi there. Then whoever wants to have something to say maybe about your health fair would be a good thing. Okay, so is it David is the president?

Oh my goodness, you're it. Thank you. All right.

Well, I'll just say

Well, what, what, what? It's okay, you're doing good. I'll talk first, and then we'll invite you. Then we'll do some pictures afterwards. Whereas the city of is home to a growing number of older Americans who contribute significantly to our community, greatly enriching our neighborhoods, and whereas the diverse experiences, strength, and wisdom of people born in different generations helped shape the community of Fidoue, including generations of older Americans such as the greatest generation born before 1928, the silent generation born between 1928 and 1945, and the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964.

And whereas in 2019, I'm sorry, the city council created the senior advisory commission recognizing the value of utilizing older Americans' experience, knowledge and viewpoint to advise them on important issues facing the senior population. It's amazing how our children don't think we know anything, but whereas the twenty sixteen for Older Americans Month is Champion Your Health, focusing on prevention, wellness, and personal responsibility as cornerstones of healthy aging through taking an active role in managing health, advocating, accessing preventative care, and supporting independence. Now therefore, we, the undersigned mayor and city council members of the City Of Fiduciary, do hereby proclaim May 2026 is Older Americans Month and invite the community to join with the older adults in their lives in the twenty twenty six Senior Health and Resource Fair at the Fiduciary Performing Arts And Events Center on May 12, beginning at ten a. Signed this May 2026. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm gonna turn oh gosh.

We're getting

this. We're doing fine. Okay. Here's the proclamation. I'm gonna shake your hand. Thank you. And then hold on for a pic. I'll let you behind. Alright.

You want to? Thank

you very much. Now it's okay. Just

thanks for letting us be here, and thanks for the declaration of Older Americans Month. We appreciate it, and we have a couple of things to share so I'm gonna turn the time over to

Kathryn, did you wanna add?

Think I'm gonna wait and do, I've signed up for a three minute thing so I'll wait till then.

Okay, it's you? Okay. Well then, Tammy.

We'd like to say how honored we are that you do indeed feel that we are a society of people that have contributed so much to the city of Federal Way and to The United States and the world as a whole. And we are willing to make a deal with you. We'll give you back the certificate for the long asked for, prayed for and begged for senior recreation center in Federal Way, Washington. Do I have any takers? Come on, Melissa. But once again, thank you again for recognizing it. And again, there is so much wisdom with age. You're right, so many younger people don't realize what we do know. And we just don't wanna tell them because they have to learn it their own way.

Exactly. Have to rehearse it.

That's right. Any other person.

Would anybody else like to say a few words?

No. Wait. You can say

whether you trade or

not. I

I go ahead,

Katherine. Go ahead.

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, everybody and there's some flyers over here on the table for the senior health care next Tuesday, the fourth annual. I wanna thank the mayor and the city council for forming the senior advisory commission back in 2019. Several of us are original members, and I'd like to see this taken a step further.

And maybe your people and our people could get together, and we could look at options for a gathering place for seniors. I know a lot of seniors that go to Kent or Auburn because they don't have anywhere here to gather like, you know, other cities do. And hundreds and hundreds of people signed a petition. You probably have them in a closet somewhere. And they were federal weigh ins who were seniors. They were also interested in looking for a gathering place for us. So maybe we can look at some options. We can put together a task force or a committee or something. But anyway, hope to see many of you next Tuesday. Thank you.

Hi.

My name is Debbie. I think most of you know me, but I wasn't going speak now, but I will speak later. I do have something planned. But I just wanted to say that I think so often, we think sometimes of the older generation of the retired, they sit home in rocking chairs, and they really don't do much. And I think this commission is proved differently.

I mean, I think we have worked hard and diligently over the past, what, seven years Mhmm. To provide a caveat for seniors to get together, socialize, have dinners, have lunches, you know, be more active. And I think there is just a wealth of experience with seniors who are volunteering for the city and all the things that they do. So I just wanna say thanks to everybody in the commission, and thanks to our our public and our citizens for supporting us as well. Thanks.

Alright. Thank you.

Should we

do a thank you, everybody. Should we do a group picture? You can can you guys come over here and we'll council will stand up? It's not official till we do a big group picture. Yeah.

Yes? How

many are baby boomers? Raise your hand. Who's a baby boomer?

Yeah. Where is Dave? We're just waiting till they get that phone over there.

Exactly. Alright. Thank you. Exactly. Thanks, everybody.

Hey,

mayor. One other thing I read that if you're in your eighties now and you live another five years that because of AI, you will probably live to be 100. So many of our children have to learn from us that you will live longer, healthier, happier and involved. And I have some women in curves in their 80s who beat my butt every week. It's amazing how healthy people can be as long as they stay. If you don't use it, you lose it.

Right. And staying active. Okay. Thank you everybody. And then item c, the Asian American native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander AANHP Heritage Month proclamation council president.

Good evening. Could would Cely Fido go to the podium, please? She is with the elders program at the Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington. So I'll go ahead and read the proclamation and bring it down to you. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Whereas Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month was first observed as a weeklong celebration in 1977, amended to a full month on 05/09/1990. And whereas the Federal Asian Pacific American Council has named the twenty twenty six theme to be Power in Unity, Strengthening Communities Together, highlighting the importance of leveraging their collective power, telling their stories, and being bridge builders in their communities. And whereas throughout history, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have transformed adversity into opportunities for public service, efficiency, and innovations resulting in lasting change that resonates beyond our community and with positive impacts across the globe. And whereas the resilience is woven into the fabric of success and is a testament to the unwavering spirit of dignity and strength. And whereas Federal Way is proud to be home to a large Asian American, native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population that contributes greatly to the prosperity and enrichment of our city.

Now, therefore, we, the undersigned mayor and city council members of the city of Federal Way, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Asian American, native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and call this observance to the attention of all residents signed the May 2026.

That kind of felt like I'm a celebrity here. Those are some of the few languages within our Pacific Islanders that we use. I don't want to sound like we're having a luau, but it is greetings from all of our Pacific Islanders. And for some of you that maybe have never heard of Pacific Islander, if you go to the coast of Washington, touch the water. That's us.

This is where land meets the sea. Right? It is such an honor for myself, and representative of our, our ED is away for another meeting. But my name is Tiare Chanel. I am a senior manager for our Culture Weaver's program, our elders program.

And I am so excited about our elders that are here. That is definitely a lot of the topics that is happening in terms of trying to continue finding more ways to accommodate, to serve, and care for our elders. So I manage our elders program. Pikawa is a Pacific Islander organization. We are just two blocks away from here.

We are kind of like the first PI org here in the state of Washington. We established ourself during 2021 just wanting to have space to provide all sorts of services and resources for our Pacific Islander community here in the city of Federal Way. As we see a lot of our Pacific Islanders sort of like migrated from Seattle on down south, And we wanna make sure that we are here to support, to help navigate a lot of our Pacific Islanders who also migrate from Samoa and American Samoa here to this beautiful city of Fetterway. I love Fetterway. I feel like we're in a village setting here.

So it sort of like aligns with how we try to provide that environment for our community here in Washington. We have quite a few projects for our elders program, but with Pikawah, we're able to provide services resort, food sovereignty program to help accommodate the needs of our community. Then we also have the elders program that I manage to sort of like giving them a wellness, a safe space, because a lot of our elders were not made to be babysitters, but we want to make sure that they're there to also socialize, bring them out of isolation, and just giving them a place where they could be loved. We come from an island where there's, like I shared before, where there we don't have places to put elders in because our priority is to care for our elders. And so we want to continue to share that culture with everybody.

We have a Pacific Islander elders second year, fair coming up. We wanna continue sharing that value as well as honoring our elders. And that's August 21. Thank you for the opportunity. Have a wonderful evening.

Thank you. Alright. Thank you so much. Alright. Now moving on to mayors or emerging issues and report.

Okay. Let's go back a step. That's our King County council member, Pete Von Reichbauer over at the Little League ball fields when they when the Federal Way National Little League got their they had their big jamboree with all the kids out there. Many of the council members, almost all of them, I believe, were out were out there and, so was Pete. And, actually, our King County councilman has, got some, some good funding to be able to turf two of those fields, and a million dollars. So it's gonna be a big deal for our community, for those kids, and and, for the community. Alright. Next. So we had a town hall meeting on 04/30/2026. We had the entire council there.

We had the staff there. Most importantly, we heard from the public. That was over at Olympic View Elementary School. It was really actually, I think we were there. We started at six, and we almost went to to 9PM. It was, like, 08:45. So we had a great discussion, lots of great questions, and, some presentations. The chief did a really good presentation about kind of where we're at with, with, crime statistics and also, an update on ICE and what what the law is and what our practice practices are with with that regard. And, then we heard from EJ, our public works director. And we also heard from Meredith Neal, our economic development director, about, kicking it Federal Way, and we're gonna talk about that in a few minutes.

K? Alright. Now that's the Federal Way National Little League. You can see the council members there. It's a beautiful day on April 25. Just a great day to be out there and and again to seeing all the you know, we've got such a great asset in the Federal Way National League. It's so great to see them all lined up and get the get the season started. Last Saturday, May 2, we had the I'm Hooked family fishing event. Boy, they just did a great job with the the good news department and the parks department. Saw Cassie out there first thing in the morning, and, just a great team.

And and, there were 600 young, fishers, you know, signed up. 600 youth signed up for that event. Absolutely fantastic. So, thank you again, to the parks department who made that a tremendous success and the volunteers that were part of that that come, wide and far with their expertise. Okay.

Then let's see here. We had, last Saturday night, we had to celebrate Center Stage on on May 2. And, again, that's, that's, Angela Baylor, our managing director. And I have to tell you, you know, I've been to a lot of auctions, a lot of events, but we are so fortunate to have Center Stage in this community. They it was really it it was really sort of emotionally moving about the connection that Center Stage not just makes with the community, but the youth and all of the actions all of the programs they've done with the youth and getting them in there and introducing them to to live theater.

And, we're so fortunate to have Center Stage. And there's our friend, Mary Lou, that's that was a part of it as well. And Bill Vadino was there, and and I sat right next to council president and council member Hamilton and and council member Moore. It was just great to see everybody there, and we great great organization. Okay.

Then, the picture below was yesterday's picture, and that picture's in my office. It was May 4. Seattle Pacific University has brought brought in some, college students. Some, they're either, actually, they're all varying years of from sophomore to senior in college at SPU. And doctor Shah, Mohammad Shah from SPU, this is the second year in a row that doctor Shah has come, and and we we put him in the conference room, and, boy, they ask a lot of great questions. I think we were talking, like, for two hours yesterday. And so, you know, once they got me started, it was hard to stop. So, anyway, it was great. A lot of great questions, a a good time, and and just talking to young people is really the the the best thing I get to do as mayor. Alright.

Next. Okay. The the week is finally here. The the the Federway Farmers Market is opening 9AM this coming Saturday at its brand new location between the Town Square Park and the Performing Arts And Events Center. There's parking up above. There's parking, over in the, on the Northeast Side. And, and I I believe it is permissible permissible to park in the Sound Transit parking lot as well. And so there's parking available all over. We're gonna start the program at 10AM. Just to I mean, the program is gonna be basically welcome, and we'll have a a few minutes to talk, and it's gonna be a a a great event. Council president?

Will there be a band?

Well, I I you know, it's it's there'll be a musical performance, but I don't wanna ruin it.

Okay.

It's not me.

Okay. Okay. Okay. So that's 10AM when it when the ceremony and for those people looking for Mother's Day flowers, and that's always what so it really helps me out. It's the day before Mother's Day, a very, very special day, for the people that really make our homes. And so they've usually have a couple of great vendors. John, any idea how many floral vendors there are this year?

Several, I believe, but I don't have an exact number.

Alright. Good. Thank you. You didn't know there was gonna be a surprise test.

Thought I'll study for next week.

What kind of food?

All kinds. And any idea of the kind of food, food trucks?

Wide variety every week. There you go.

That's the right answer.

Thank you. Yes. What's that? I studied for that one. Wide variety, lots of different tastes for everybody.

Is the coffee truck coming?

I believe there is a coffee vendor.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Unless I'm wrong. I'm joking. Think there's

come over better answer as quick as they stay home stay home

next month.

Alright. Exactly. That's right. Okay. Thank you, John. Okay. So we, that's really a fun thing. If you can just stop in and and, it's also a really fun thing to do with the community, kind of a touch touchstone to be able to, you see people, on on Saturday mornings. Okay. And it it is also really important to make sure that, the people have access, to fresh food, And I'm just really, really, proud of the work that the city has done to make, the fresh vegetables and and fruits available to to people in our community. We've got the senior health and resource fairs we talked about. That's next Tuesday, May 12. Council president, are the hours again?

Ten to to one, but I would like to talk about it more in my council.

You bet. Okay. We've got the fourth annual arts explosion on May. And I have to tell you that the arts explosion, it's at the pack. This has really turned into a really special event. And like anything, it it starts off, you know, you know, smaller steps. But how it has turned out in the last couple years is really, it's amazing. Great artist. Great time to come to the community. I see you there, Karen Bergado. Thank you for the work you and your and your commissioners do. Let's give her a big round of applause. She's a she's a big reason why this is a big deal, and a big thanks to our staff over there that are making this happen, and I'm really proud of that event. Okay. Let's see here.

Okay. That, then we've got touch a truck. It's always really fun with with the little kid. Kids love all kinds of, you know, fire trucks, dump trucks. The fire department's gonna be there. The, you know, the the oh, let's see. What are some other medical folks, the SWAT vehicles? They do a really good job bus metro buses. So if you've a little one, or, you know, the the small ones at home, they they love it. And some of the big kids do too as, present company included.

We talked about kicking it Federal Way, June. If you have not had an opportunity to go over the Performing Arts And Events Center lately, just drive over there. I think last Thursday, they were in the process of starting to put that field in, and now the field is in. John, can you tell them right what's right next to the performing arts at events center now?

The, event is coming together nicely, including, as the mayor just mentioned, a tremendously, brand new, beautiful artificial turf field. Parks department built the base for it, and the brand new carpet was installed Thursday and Friday of last week, and it is looking fantastic. Other amenities are being added as we speak, including murals on storage containers that will serve as concession stands and different functions over there. A stage will be there for live music through the entire time. This is a fantastic event.

Probably one of the coolest events in the whole region that's not in Downtown Seattle. It's probably one of the coolest soccer events around. We are hoping for attendance in the 10,000 people per day if if people come to it and take advantage. It's all free. It is going to be absolutely fantastic. Big kudos to Meredith, the staff, and Autumn Gresset from Parks just done a fantastic job putting it together. Our parks maintenance crew has done magic with that area. It is really, really looking good, and we'd like to welcome all of you to come. Please tell your friends. It's the best way to enjoy the World Cup if you're not sitting at Lumen Field.

So Yeah. Big thanks. Thanks, Sean. And bit and to your folks at the pack. And, Meredith, thank you so much for all the work you did to help make the to tee this up, so to speak. And tell us about the games or or the the where where could people watch the games? And Sure.

So June 19, we will start live streaming all of the matches that are playing that weekend. So there are 12 matches starting with the Team USA game that's being played up in Seattle. There are a lot of fun matches that people will be able to watch that weekend. Along with that, as John mentioned, we have an outside stage. The headliners for the main stage are all confirmed, and the PR announcements will be coming soon for those.

But we wanted to give you all a little sneak peek. So on Friday night, there's an indie folk band called the National Parks that's going to be playing on the main stage in the evening. Saturday night is Leo Brooks, who's a country rock musician from the acclaimed band Neon Union. And Sunday is Jamie Wyatt, who's a country musician known for her vintage outlaw music style, which I had to look up. Outlaw style is apparently a more authentic, less polished version of country music.

That's great. Thank you very much. Yep. And something really special. At the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington DC in January, the FIFA president was there, and, he promised, and they are are in the act of following through, have donated 200 soccer balls, to each city that requested them. Federal Way is one of them, and so we've got, they're gonna wait. They're gonna let us inflate them instead of inflating them on the back end. But we're gonna get 200 soccer balls from FIFA, and we'll we'll figure out where those go. I've already talked to John, and and we're gonna figure out a way to get those out in the community. But that's gonna be a lot of fun and very generous on behalf of FIFA.

So that's great. Okay. And thank you again. We've got movies at the park. Disney's this is a Town Square Park, totally free to the public. And this is kinda one of the fun things I get to do as mayor ever, but early in the year, I get to pick, the movies that that people see and, or that the kids, yeah, get to see, at Town Square Park, and the parks department also does a great job on that. The first one up is Zootopia on June 27, and that's always a Zootopia two.

I have watched that movie.

Yeah. The second one?

The first one.

Oh, yeah. I I saw the first one. My wife and my son, even though, you know, Ben's in college now, I he still likes you know, he and my wife went to Zootopia two, they thought it was really good. So bring your kids and and, or just yourself and, you know, a blanket or chairs, you know, and it's a it's a great opportunity. Okay. Do we, Johnny, we still do the popcorn?

Yes. We do. Every year. We'll have popcorn there for everybody.

Free popcorn. Alright. It's a great show. Okay. Upcoming community events. We've got, the Miles for Miso five k Walker Run on July 4, first thing in the morning. That that organization, you know, the individuals who started it came from here, and, their husbands, suffer from mesothelioma. And, that's raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for that cause. So race starts at nine?

09:00.

Yep. 9AM. But you wanna get there earlier and and hundreds of people, yeah, show up for that. That's really it's a great or great time. Then we've got the red, white, and blues festival on July 4. Think we get started around 04:00 at, you know, right around Celebration Park. Hey. Did we get the corn dog guy this year?

Oh, you've ruined the surprise. Yes. We have. The corn doggery will be there.

Alright. Alright. It was funny you guys when we did that. We did something with the kids over at Steel Lake Park, and, we didn't have and they and this was earlier in the year, and, it was the pick this is the best corn dogs I've ever had, which is saying something. And, I I basically invited him to July 4, and this is the second year they're gonna be there. Alright. So, let's see. And that's just a great event. Okay. Upcoming community events.

So we talked about oh, on July 25, the second movie, which will be DC Studios Superman, so that that relaunch of the Superman, so to speak, the the the Superman movies. That actually is a really good movie. Kids day at Steel Lake Park, August 5, and then we've got the community festival, August 8. With that, that concludes my report. And now let's kick it over to the council members. We've got council committee and regional committee reports. Council member Walsh for for land use.

Alright. We had a land use and transportation committee meeting last evening. We have did one item that will be going on to the May 19 meeting agenda for the first reading. It is something that will be streamlining the permitting process by consolidating the permitting into the community development department. So this should make things much better for the growth of Federal Way.

And then four items going on to the consent agenda, and those are for the May 19 meeting, those things on. We had a great discussion on transportation, pedestrian safety, safe routes to schools, and a few other things, a lively meeting. And one thing I'm in I'm I'm the last four years, before this year, I was the chair of the the Parks and Recreation Committee, and I would just like to make one comment kind of for for in in that realm. The mayor was asking John about how things were going with the some of the things at the the Farmers Market, and John was kinda stumbling. So I was gonna just say, John, next month, you don't need to be here.

Going to go ahead and take the rest of the time off for the role.

The secret is John is retiring later this month after many, many, many years at Federal Way, and he has done a wonderful job. It's been great to work with him over the years. Fantastic job to do. Over thirty four years. Thirty four years. Fantastic. Fantastic. Thank you. And with that, that is my report.

Alright. Thank you. Council member Sessoms with the Parks Recreation Human Services and Public Safety Committee. The

Parks Committee met on April 14. Our next meeting is on May 12 at 5PM. As chair, I attended the April 29 public forum and heard our department heads share our critical information. I also heard the community's concerns about the flag policy. So I just wanna give everyone a brief update and a brief timeline which, started a while back.

We have discussed it at our council retreat and at at least one council meeting. So at the April 14 Parks Committee meeting, our city attorney provided a flag policy overview that many of you heard. It was very informative. So as the chair, we need to make a decision next week at the parts committee meeting, and I'm hoping we will have great attendance there. Are we sticking with the current policy policy as is, or are we proposing to add it to the council agenda for a new vote on a new policy during the full council meeting on the nineteenth?

One thing is for sure, we are not going to do what Boston did with their flag policy, which is essentially which essentially saw them give up their government speech authority and instead enact a come one, come all ordinance, which created a public forum, which opened them up for lawsuits. Whatever policy we we enact, it has to be explicit. It will respect government speech and ensure that it remains government speech and not a public forum. We will have the aid of our city attorneys who will be on hand to summarize and synthesize the committee's findings, and we'll take a stab at drafting on an ordinance. So to my colleagues on this dais, come prepared to discuss the merits of whatever ideas you will have or care to propose because in the end, we do need four votes to move this out of the committee into the full council on May 19, if that is what we choose to do.

The flag policy can or could stay the same or it could change. How? I don't know. Essentially, there are going to be essentially, are there going to be four votes for the Juneteenth flag? I don't know. Are there four votes for the pride flag? I don't know. Are there four going to be four votes for the Irish American flag to commemorate Saint Patrick's Day? I don't know. Ultimately, we have to come up with a consensus and give a list to the mayor if that is what the council decides to do.

The process will take time, and we need to get it right. Everyone will have to be okay with this policy for at least the next few years while respecting all residents. Ultimately, I am seeking a new policy that honors diversity. This is just me. And I will encourage us to to and that that honors diversity and will tie flag raisings to proclamations or civic celebrations and one that respects all residents.

But I recognize that I have to be fine that that I have to be fine if the policy remains the same. I am open to everyone's participation next week. Please do come. Make your voice heard. I encourage everyone to come. If you can't come physically, sign up for public comment virtually. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Cochmark.

Thank you, Mayor. Most of the items on the consent agenda of the Zidignia were went through our Finance, Economic Development and Regional Affairs Committee meeting. That's items C through N. There were two discussion items, but no action was taken. Ordinance related to art in public places and tourism enhancement grant for street manners. Now the ordinance related to art in public places is going to be discussed at our next meeting. And our next meeting will be held May 26 at five p. M. In Council Chambers.

All right, thank you. Councilmember Sapodossa.

Thank you, Matt. For lodging tax advisory council, we did go through the grants last time and we kind of discussed it and it went to FedRAX. So item numbers G through N on the consent agenda are all those grants. And our next meeting actually is scheduled for July 14. So we have two months off before that.

And can I talk about SCA Yes? And Okay. Sound Cities Association, there's a lot of activities and events going on. So I really encourage my colleagues here to attend a couple of those. This coming Friday, it's going to be there's going to be a countywide housing needs assessment, Lunch and Learn.

It's on Zooms, but you have to register for it, where they're going to discuss how to fund affordable housing, and it's going to be a data driven analysis that they're going to use and try to figure out how to really move forward with affordable housing countywide. And then next Tuesday at 10:00, SCA has a presentation with Department of Community and Health Services, King County. And that one's going to be discussing youth crisis care center procurement and citing presentation. So I think that also is something that we might be interested in attending. And then they're seeking applications for a number of positions that are available.

So if you're interested, you could go on their website and see which Board and committees you want to join. And then our next PIC meeting is next Wednesday, the thirteenth. And some of the topics for that discussion are potential affordable housing regional initiative, which is going to take the bulk of the time. And then there's going to be discussion around the proposed sewer rate response letter and Sound Transit Enterprise Initiative. Again, I would highly encourage our my colleagues to attend, but if possible, also, I'd like to see the potential affordable housing regional initiative to be presented at a special council meeting at some point, if possible.

So I'd like to suggest that.

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And with that, I end my Okay.

All right.

Council President Honda.

Thank you. So thank you, Senior Commission, for coming tonight. And the Senior Health Fair is next Tuesday, which is awesome because the Commission has worked really, really hard the last few months planning this, and it's something you don't want to miss. As I've said before, if you're a senior, you need to be there. But if you want to be a senior, you need to be there too so you can learn what you need to know to be a senior.

The sponsors this year are Soar Like an Eagle Real Estate, Home Instead, Virginia Mason, Franciscan Health, St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way Mirror, Fusion, Housing Families in Need, Fidelta Home Care, and Still Lake Presbyterian Church. And a shout out to Steel Lake Presbyterian Church. They have sponsored the senior health commission in one way or another since its inception. They have been our biggest sponsor, and they are amazing and wonderful.

We have 85 tables. So you will learn something. Come at 10:00 and plan to stay till one because you're gonna need that time. And if you all know who Sharon is, Sharon is the therapy dog. I think we can call her a therapy dog that Saint Luke's has.

Sharon will be there. So if you need to pet a dog, Sharon is amazing. She'll let you pet her and talk to her, and you can tell her anything you want, and she won't let anyone know. So I hope to see you all at the health fair on Tuesday. Also, skateboard, which is a regional transportation board, which I've been a member for several years, has also written a letter to Sound Transit about the concerns, the budget concerns, and how they impact the South King County area.

And we'll be voting on sending that off to Sound Transit next week. Some of the individual cities are talking about writing letters as we wrote a letter to Sound Transit so that Sound Transit understands that we cannot be forgotten. We've been paying into this program for years and years and years, and we need what was promised to us. And then on another note, today is Children's Day in Japan. It used to be called Boys Day, and now they combine it into Children's Day and it's where you celebrate your children because children are our future. And I have two boys and five grandsons, so happy Boys Day. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Alright. Now, for the most important part of the meeting, hearing from you. Public we've got public comment here. And I will, I'll read the names, and, I'll I'll call the first few. If you sort queue up, toward the back. And then once we get, through those, then we'll call out some more others. We've got, the first one, which is virtual, which is, Marybeth Birney.

Thank you. Can you hear me?

We can. Yes. Please proceed.

Okay. Wonderful.

Thank you, mister mayor and federal council federal members. My name is Mary Beth Bernie, and I am with the Washington State Massage Therapy Association government relations program. And this comment has to do with the massage therapy ordinance. Here in Washington State, massage therapists are part of the health care world. We process claims through health insurance companies just like doctors and other professionals, and we adhere to the same uniform disciplinary rules just like doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etcetera.

Unfortunately, the massage profession has been hijacked by bad actors. Municipalities and state massage therapy organizations and associations must work together to solve this complex issue. The Washington State Massage Therapy Association has been working with municipalities and their law enforcement for quite a few years now, and we have created what we feel is a what we refer to as a best practice ordinance. We recently have worked with Bremerton, Spokane Valley, Woodinville, Olympia, Tacoma. And we have created a kind of a standardized massage business municipal code, which we think will go a long ways toward alleviating the whack a mole approach that currently exists, where the bad actors just move from city to city to city.

We do believe that we have created an ordinance that could go a long way towards helping to solve the problems that you are experiencing in Federal Way, and it could actually strengthen the Federal Way ordinance that you have developed thus far. What the Washington State Massage Therapy pro program is more than willing to work with Federal Way on making some additions that we think would make your ordinance even stronger. We respectfully ask that you would perhaps pull this ordinance and and make some re revisions. We also have submitted some written comment, which I will let stand for itself as I'm sure all of you have have read that. Thank you for your consideration, and thank you very much.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. Next, we've got, Dave Kaplan with the Port of Seattle, then Katie Astron, then, Karen Bergado, Debbie Harvey, Jeffrey Tancriti, and, that's good for now.

Dave. Mister mayor, council members, I'm Dave Kaplan, local government relations manager for the Port Of Seattle and an older American from Des Moines. Here tonight to just follow-up on the email that I sent you a couple weeks ago as the port promised giving you the thirty day heads up on the publication date for the Sustainable Airport Master Plan draft SIPA draft EIS, environmental impact statement, which will be published on Friday, May 22. The port commission will be briefed on Tuesday, the twenty sixth, and the Highline Forum will be holding a presentation on the on the release of the EIS as well on Wednesday, the twenty seventh. I've reached out to the mayor and staff to schedule a presentation specifically for the Federal Way City Council if you would like one.

And there will be four public open houses, including one here in Federal Way as there was for NEPA and in the week of June 22. And we encourage everybody who has an interest in following this to please sign up at the CEFA site, the SAMP site, which is sea-samp.com. C-samp.com. And that way, you'll be able to get all the notices on on what's coming up. So with that, if you have any questions, please reach out to me, and happy to answer them. So

Great. Thank you very much for for being here. Okay. Katie Astron.

Good evening, council. My name is Katie Astron, and I'm a member of the Arts Commission. Tonight, I'm here to talk to you guys about the public art ordinance as well as the budget of the Arts Commission. So at the last FedRAC meeting, ordinance 94 dash two one seven, which establishes the Capital Project Art Fund, was discussed to be rewritten with several changes considered and was moved to the next committee meeting. A council member brought up the idea that the arts commission should be involved in the process by emailing and talking with council.

Thus, after the next arts commission meeting, I'm gonna email recommendations to the council, but unfortunately, it is not an item on our agenda. And with such short notice, it can't be guaranteed there will be sufficient time for the deliberation from the entire commission, especially with the arts explosion coming up this month. So with us, I hope the council will consider doing a study session on the ordinance, comparing not just the public art fund policy to other cities, but also considering the total support and funding for the arts. At the FedRAMP meeting, it was pointed out by a council member that since our capital project fund is set to 2% compared to 1% like neighboring cities, then we must be doing a great job at supporting the arts. This logic fails to take into consideration that such cities with a 1% policy like Tacoma have greater sources for funding the arts, such as a program called the cultural access program that is labeled as Tacoma Creates, which was voted unanimously in October 2025 by their council to provide approximately 6,400,000 in funding for various arts, culture, heritage organizations.

And what they did was they reinstated a local one tenth of a 1% sales and use tax to expand the arts. Now Tacoma is a large city in comparison to us. Even places like Auburn with a lower population than Federal Way receive more money in funding. Just as last twenty twenty five to twenty six budget, they were provided 627,339 in funding for the arts. Meanwhile, our arts commission budget has been stagnant at $65,100 for over the last ten years.

Now our most recent capital art project at the Operation maintenance facility, it was a $175,000 contract for art. Now public art is an investment. And without the capital project fund, it'd be more challenging for the city to continue to expand the accessibility of the arts as our budget is not even conducive to inflation. Our commission used to be able to budget four traffic graphic sorry, four traffic graphics a year, but due to the rising costs and the stagnant budget, we can only afford to do two a year now. And we've all seen the impact within our local community that this form of public art has on reducing graffiti and tagging. Thus, I appreciate everyone's time, and I really do hope that the council takes in consideration the impact of their changes to the capital project fund on the public arts as a whole. Thank you.

Thank you. Karen Bergado.

Hello, city council. City council president Honda and mayor Farrell. I am here as a concerned citizen, but I'm also on the arts commission. We have been given a rewrite of ordinance 94 dash two one seven. It was began in 1994, so it's been around quite a while, and all the arts commissions know about it.

This specifically came up because we have been asking some behind the deas, some senior staff members a question. What happened to the 2% for the arts and Public Places Fund for the $5,100,000 repair, renovation, and remodel of the Fetaway Community Center? We've gotten some interesting answers. Not one of you has said that you would apply the 2% in accordance with the ordinance. So the rewrite is important.

I understand that. We are an advisory body to you. We would appreciate being asked because we know and we have specific ways that we could change this, specific ways that you may not have even considered. But one part of the rewrite that that got me interested the most is from the legal department that said the state auditor has pointed out an apparent discrepancy between written policy and actual practice. Discrepancy.

Well, they I have been in possession of a copy of a letter from the office of the state auditor, Pat McCarthy, and she she says, we determined that the city is not complying with ordinance 94 dash two one seven. The community center project meets the definition of a a qualifying capital improvement. The city did not properly set funds aside. We make a recommendation to the city that it strengthen its control controls and properly set aside arts and public places funding as required by ninety four dash two one seven. During the Arts Heritage and Cultural Forum last fall, all of the candidates said that they valued arts and history.

We hope that the city actually places importance on arts and culture for our citizens' lives. We hope that the city government is honoring this responsibility. With faced with the ordinance doing good for the city of Federal Way and for the state auditor, we we hope that you don't gut this law. We hope that you work with us and and find a solution for this and give it funding. It is not our money.

It belongs to the city. It belongs to the citizens of Federal Way. It belongs to everyone, and we are obligated to make sure everyone gets it from the Pacific Islanders, progress pushers, Federal Way, Black Collective, Phenomenal She, African young dreamers, Moher Al Volunteer. All of these can receive funds. So thank you.

Thank you. Debbie Harvey.

Hi. Thank you, mayor, city council, council president. I wanted to take just a few minutes to talk about, once again, senior center here in Federal Way. And so I took the opportunity to kinda look at some, pros of having a senior center here in the city of Federal Way. So a few things I wanted to point out is enhanced social engagement, reduce loneliness.

So a central location could make it a lot easier for seniors to attend activities, classes, and events without long commutes. The proximity fosters strong social connection, reduces feeling of isolation, and supports emotional and cognitive health. Greater accessibility and inclusiveness. Being in the heart of the city ensures visibility, easy access for all age groups, including those with mobility challenges. The central placement can attract diverse range of participants for 60 plus residents from integration groups.

Integration with the community services. A center could serve as a hub for benefits for enrollment, transportation, assistance, referrals to health and wellness programs. Health and wellness impact can centralize access to fitness programs, nutrition services, health screenings encourages regular participation leading to a better physical health outcomes, fewer hospital visits, and improved quality of life. Economic and social benefits for the city. A senior center can stimulate local business activity, support local vendors, create jobs, and also strengthens community cohesion, making the area more attractive to residents as well as visitors.

Lifelong learning and volunteer opportunities. You can centralize these programs, can offer classes, workshops, volunteer roles, keeping seniors intellectually engaged and contributing to the community projects. Resilience and adaptability. Again, the central location allows for creative adaptations during crisis. An example would be like in the pandemic era where we had virtual programs, outdoor seating, drive through meals while maintaining a strong community tie.

In summary, a senior center in the heart of the city acts as a vital social and health and community hub, improving the well-being of older adults, enhancing city livability, and fostering a more connected and resilient community. And with that, I'd like to leave you with one quote. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, I find the great thing in the world is not so much where we stand as is what direction we are moving. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail and not drift nor lie nor anchor. Thank you.

Thank you. Jeffrey Tanqueridi.

Good evening, mayor, council president, council members. Good to see you. Jeff Tanqueridi, federal resident. Every student of history knows the Democrat party was the party of slavery and Jim Crow. The Republican party was the party of emancipation and racial integration racial integration. Democrats were the Confederacy. Republicans were the Union. Jim Crow Democrats were dominant in the South. Socially tolerant Republicans were dominant in the North. But then in the nineteen sixties and seventies, everything supposedly flipped.

Suddenly, Republicans became the racists, and the Democrats became the champions of civil rights fabricated by left leaning academic elites and journalists. So the Republicans, the party of Abraham Lincoln, were now to be labeled the party of rednecks. But this story of the two parties switching identities is a myth. In fact, according to doctor Carol Swain of Vanderbilt University, it's three myths wrapped into one false narrative. Myth number one.

In order to be competitive in the South, Republicans started to pander to white racists in the nineteen sixties. Fact. Republicans actually became competitive in the South as early as 1928 when Republican Herbert Hoover won 47% of the South's popular vote against Democrat Al Smith. 1952, Republican president Dwight Eisenhower won Tennessee, Florida, Virginia. And in 1956, he picked up Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia after he supported the supreme court decision Brown versus Board of Education.

And after Eisenhower sent elements of the hundred and first airborne division to Little Rock Central High School to enforce integration. Myth number two, Southern Democrats angry with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 switched parties. Fact. Of the 21 democrat senators who opposed the civil rights act, just one became a republican. The other 20 continue to be continued to be elected as democrats or were replaced by other Democrats.

On average, these 20 seats did not go Republican for another twenty five years. Myth number three, due to the interest of time, I will continue with myth number three at the next council meeting. Thanks for your time.

Thanks, Jeffrey. Okay. The next five names, Antonieta Ramirez, Jennifer excuse me. Jennifer Chan, Perfeng Shen, Maria Anseria, Robin Robin Blake, and those are the five. So, Antonieta.

Hello, City Council of Way. My name is Antreta Ramirez. I am a solo licensed massage therapist with a solo practice in Tacoma. While I'm not a resident or business owner in Federal Way, this city holds a special place in my heart. It is where I got my first apartment and attended massage therapy school at the former Cortiva Institute.

It saddens me to see cities, including my own in the past, attempting to enact ordinances that harm licensed massage therapists, their clients, and the broader community. On our restrictions, curfew restrictions make us inaccessible to clients who work graveyard shifts, have medical conditions affecting their sleep, or face other scheduling constraints. There is no RCW authorizing cities to place our restrictions specifically on massage businesses. Under RCW 30 five-twenty one-six 92, cities cannot hold licensed massage therapists to standards not equally applied to similar health care providers like physical therapists or occupational therapists. No such restrictions exist for those professions and none should exist for us.

And then on the equal treatment of licensed practitioners, RCW 18.108.050 has been misapplied to favor massage therapists in certain settings over solo and mobile practitioners. The exemptions in that law exist to clarify who does not need a massage license, not to create a two tiered system among those who are already licensed. In Washington State, all massages health care regardless of setting. A massage therapist working independently holds the same credential and meets the same state standards as one working alongside a chiropractor or physical therapist. RCW three five dot two one dot six nine two prohibits treating licensed practitioners differently based on where they practice.

And for prohibiting cash payments, it has no basis in state law and creates hardship for both small business owners navigating rising credit card processing fees and clients who rely on cash as their means of payment. I hope the council will consider these concerns and treat licensed massage therapists with the same consistency afforded to other health care providers under Washington State law. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Jennifer Chan.

Good evening. My name is Jen Chan. I'm a licensed massage therapist with eighteen and a half years of experience and thousands of hours of education. I'm a Federal Way resident of 14 and the owner of a mobile massage practice specializing in bodywork, geriatric care and mental health supportive massage. I'm also a founding member of the King County Knockouts, a Federal Way BNI Chapter chapter established in 2020, a member of both the Washington State Massage Therapy Association and Associated Body Associated Bodywork Massage Professionals.

As a Chinese American, born here in America, a small business owner, I value the diversity and safety of our community. I wanna thank my client who pays me cash today, who rescheduled her appointment this evening so I could actually be here to speak to you all because it's very important to me. I'm concerned about several provisions that are that may unintentionally harm legitimate state licensed practitioners and limit access for vulnerable clients. Section one million two sixty five thousand and eighty restricting of business hours. Many of my clients are parents, caregivers or shift workers who rely on early morning or late evening appointments, limiting hours would reduce their access to care.

A handful of them have submitted written comments to you all. Section one million two and sixty five thousand one hundred, prohibition of cash payments. Some clients, especially my geriatric clients prefer to rely on cash. Removing this option creates unnecessary barriers and this appropriately affect affects my small business. As of right now, because of a car accident, I'm seventy percent of my clients are geriatric clients.

This will result in age discrimination. Section one two six five zero nine zero, restrictions on locking front doors. For solo practitioners, especially women, the ability to secure the workplace is a critical safety measure. This provision raises significant safety concerns. Lack of clarity from home massage therapist as someone who does not operate from a fixed location is unclear how these requirements would apply to my mobile practitioners.

I urge the council to provide explicit guidance for adoption. These changes could unintentionally impact elderly, homebound, disabled, otherwise vulnerable populations depend on flexibility, accessibility, and accessible massage services. They may also place disappropriate burdens on the hundreds if not thousands of solo practitioners in our region. I respectfully ask the council to reconsider or revise these provisions to ensure they support public safety without restricting legitimate therapeutic practices or limiting community access to care. I also encourage the council to engage with professional organizations such as the Washington State Massage Therapy Association, which can provide valuable insight into effective evidence based regulations.

I wanna thank all my fellow massage therapists who've come here from all around the state and also wanna thank all you you, all council members and council members and the mayor, for your service and your time and consideration for these concerns. Thank you.

Thank you. Pefeng Chen.

Hi. I'm nervous. I'm not prepared like them. So I practice in Federal Way on 9th Avenue right next to the post center, that building, Lakeside Building. For twenty five years, I've been there.

And as a resident here about fifteen years, I like Federal Way, but I'm also a massage therapist. I I'm here to support my colleagues. They they already expressed I'm really concerned about unable to lock the front door. Can you everybody imagine if you're at your home and if we you can lock your front door, what what would you think? What would you feel like if you are safe? That's really a concern. And the other thing is,

yeah, for the the

cash paying clients. If it's prohibited, I think it's for me, I just feel like that's so weird, and it's kinda discriminate for people who doesn't have a credit card or they don't have other option if they only have cash to pay. So that's my my concern for for for this. K. That's it.

Thank you. Maria

Hello, council mayor. My name is Maria Ansera. I'm a massage therapist of twenty two years. I operate in Bellevue, Washington, but I'm here to support my colleagues as this affects us all. There is definitely a safety issue when working in solo practice. And so as Jennifer had stated, she works with the geriatric community. I do as well. I would like to provide them with the safest area possible, and having a lock helps that and ensures that nobody will walk into their session. They're vulnerable. They could be disrobing or on the table, but yet minimal clothing for them, and it's all within my scope.

My main goal is to protect them and myself. So with the safety, we usually have panic buttons, and this is not to see who's coming into our building. It's who is on our table. So that's a protection for myself and or my client. If my client felt that I was ever being inappropriate, they can hit that panic button, someone's gonna come out and into that room at that time.

Those things are we need those things in place for everyone's safety. So to prohibit that, again, it's gonna cause a lot of harm there. The cash only, not accepting of cash. Again, you're segregating against a population whether it be immigrants who may not have bank accounts or elderly who do like to pay in cash because they know where their funds are going to, and they have tight accounting for that. They budget for these massage therapy appointments, and I am grateful for them for doing that.

There are also differential hours that we work as some massage therapists have families. And so when one parent is home, they're able to leave their home and work in differential hours. So hospitals, midnight to maybe 04:00 in the morning. These are these are people who will come in and receive these services. They're not criminals.

We're not criminals, but we all wanna be safe. So I think you need to look into the time restrictions, the cash, and the safety issue, and definitely take into consideration the AMTA, massage therapists. Ask the massage therapist here a federal way. I think we're all here just to kinda help and come to an agreement where we don't want these illicit businesses operating because it does hurt us as well. We don't want those type of clients in our establishment. I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Robin Blake.

Dear Federal Way council members, mayor Farrell, chief Huang, if he's here, as well as assistant city attorney, Gadbury. My name is Robin Blake. I am the Government Relations Program Director for the Washington State Massage Therapy Association, also known as WMTA. You already heard my colleague, Mary Beth Bernie, speak. Our profession faces a really significant challenge.

Some business owners deliberately operate illegal prostitution businesses disguised as legitimate massage therapy clinics. These operations have nothing to do with our profession. They are not massage businesses. They are illicit places of prostitution. Unfortunately, in attempting to regulate these operations, cities often create municipal codes that regulate legitimate massage businesses, which are almost always not involved in prostitution, treating two very different types of businesses as if they are the same, and they are not.

Massage therapists must comply with numerous RCWs and WACs to operate legally. The operation of a prostitution business cannot mirror those of a legitimate massage practice. A strong municipal code builds on these RCWs and WACs to clearly define lawful massage business operations so that when an illicit business is identified, it can be shut down for violating those standards. More effective codes go further by assigning accountability to all individuals responsible for the illicit operation, not just the owner, just a shareholder. When WSMTA reviewed federal ways proposed municipal code, we identified areas where it could be strengthened as well as provisions that could create some unsafe conditions as already has been talked about for both massage therapists and their clients.

Here are a few areas where the code could be reinforced. Code 12 dot 65 dot o five o references owner, director, manager, or other person in charge, but it doesn't define who these individuals are and how they're identified. In other municipal codes that we've worked with, there are up to 14 distinct methods of identification, which you're you would be missing. There are many RCWs and WACs under which an owner, director, manager, or other person in charge could be held accountable in your proposed ordinance, but they currently are not. Again, these are missed opportunities for effective enforcement.

In WSMTA's memo to the City Council, we outlined how four sections of the proposed codes are punitive to massage therapist and may compromise the safety of both massage therapists and clients of those or excuse me in three of those sections. WSMTA believes the federal way massage ordinance can be made more effective without compromising safety of massage therapist. We respectfully ask that you temporarily pull the ordinance and make revisions. WSMDA is willing to assist the process. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Robin Robin, did you have one more did you have were were you in the middle of a thought there?

I was just gonna conclude

that Robin, go go ahead and come back to that state. I you know, you were very I I appreciate the promptness with which you stopped, but if you were in the middle of a sentence, go ahead.

I was going to say that WSMTA is willing to assist in the process to make an effective ordinance that helps to keep out illicit businesses with the least amount of impact to massage therapists. Thank you. So thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Okay. The, final six. We've got, Mike Dickinson, Billy Hairston, Paul McDaniel, Nathan Orf, Ron Kahler, and Harold Booker.

And the city clerk, do you have, mister Booker's materials? Oh, right there. You're gonna pass him down with his time? Okay. Okay.

Mister Dickinson.

K. Mayor and council members, I'm Mike Dickinson, Federal Way resident for forty one years. This is America, land of the home land of the free, home of the brave. Many people have fought and died for this country and for our freedom, but freedom doesn't mean free handouts. Freedom doesn't mean communism or socialism.

Freedom doesn't mean you get to put your hand in my pocket and take my life and my livelihood away from me. Freedom means you can come here, work hard, take care of yourself. It doesn't mean you get to come here and steal my life away from me. That's how I was raised. You work hard and you get out what you put into it.

And if you aren't willing to work, then maybe you don't get anything. You don't deserve to take my freedom or everything else freedom away from me. Senator Nathan Wessenberg of Minnesota was sitting in a labor committee two weeks ago. He heard someone come in and say, forty hours a week is hard. They actually said thirty two hours a week is too hard to work.

It's just too much work. I started working around 12 years old. Here's some of the jobs I had. Seattle Times paperboy, gardening, babysitter, cleaning horse stalls, worked at a plant nursery, landscaping, tile setter, marine corps, remodeling houses, worked at McDonald's, Super twenty four convenience store, Pony Express, Drive for Metro. I did that to take care of myself because it's not the government's job.

It's your job to take care of yourself. There are people who truly need help and we should help them. But we know there is rapid fraud in Washington. If auditing was better, they would find some find that Sound Transit has plenty of fraud fraud. Fraud.

And one of look at what Doge found, but hasn't changed anything. There's no common sense amendments added to the millionaires tax to make sure the fraud would be dealt with. Nothing was earmarked or design designated for schools, daycares, or small businesses. It is theft from the workers. It's stealing.

You can't depend on anyone but yourself. You must make your own way in life. Sometimes you have to go without the niceties and save money until you can. Just because someone else has something doesn't mean you deserve it as well, and that's not the government's job to step in and give it to you. Government subsistence shouldn't be forever. It should only be a stopgap. Thank you.

Thank you. Billy Hairston.

I'm trying to find the time. Hello, mayor, council. Thank you guys for the time. Appreciate it. My name is William Hairston.

I serve as one of the senior directors for Center for Children and Youth Justice. It's been a while since I've been in front of the body, wanted to just stop by and give a few updates on some of our youth link work, which is our group and gang assistance program. It is a version of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's comprehensive gang model, which, CCYJ operates as a coordinator and convener where we bring together our system partners like, our wonderful friends, and SROs at Federal Way, Police Department and our community providers, court, probation, what have it to have a better and a more holistic view of young people as we work to help them get out of gangs and, and community violence. From 2020 to date, the YouthLink program has served almost 400 young people. Of those 400 young people, that are still being served, from 2025 to date, almost 300 individualized service goals have been accomplished ranging from, court ordered requirements and probation, education, housing, and basic needs, but most importantly, group and gang violence assistance.

This work is only possible due to our amazing community partners. Our system partners also, but our community partners really kinda carry the load on their shoulders. And we're fortunate enough to partner with folks such as Freedom Project Washington, Choose one eighty, Pro Se Potential, and Urban Family. The link program holistically does a lot of things, but CCYJ also coordinates and convenes the YouthLink conference, which brings together this will be our fifth annual this year if anyone wants to come, but the conference brings together upwards of 300 people or stakeholders from law enforcement to educators or folks in education, DCYF, JR staff, detention staff, and community providers of all kinds, whether that's outreach or housing or employment, mentorship, apprenticeships, folks all in one space for professional development and networking opportunity to be collective together. The city of Federal Way last year, I believe, sponsored and supported the conference.

We appreciate that. Thank you. I believe the city has also agreed to sponsor this year. I think we'll be asking for more money this year than last year. Do what you can.

We definitely appreciate that, and a big thank you from CCYJ. But to kinda highlight the conference, two of the staples of the conferences, we try to bring between twenty and forty young people to the conference as well every year to create a professional development and learning opportunity for them so they have their whole own youth track. And then we also have our what we call our community violence intervention and prevention ecosystem panel where we have folks from all over the ecosystem and across the state speaking to the collaborations and actual connectivities that all of the work has and working to keep all of us safe, right, feeling safe and being safe and all being together in the process as Washingtonian. So thank you guys very much for your time.

Have a good day. Thank you, William. Paul McDaniel.

Thank you. Paul McDaniel, city residents since the early 1990s. I'll reiterate what you said, I've been to that conference twice, it's a good conference. If you've never been there, check it out, you'll get educated on quite a few things. I also want to offer saying thanks, I'd like to thank the city staff for the education they gave me while was on council. It still pays out to this day, makes a lot easier to read the agendas and know what stuff is. I also like to thank people came to talk today, that's your job, come, keep speaking. The only thing that has changed is if you guys come and speak. So thank you for coming to speak today. And thanks for giving the opportunity to actually finish up.

I appreciate you calling back and let her do that. So thank you for that. Now I'll get to my point. My point is on the consent agenda, it's items G through N and and has to do with the LTAC or the tourism enhancement grants. Back in 09/20/2024 at the FedRAC, we were brought forward the grant proposals at the time.

And that was the first time the city had actually put their name on it. During that time frame, we got educated on what could and could not be put onto those grant formulas. And at the time, I made the comment that as we start doing it now, we're going to keep coming back to this trough. I was at the most recent FedRAC meeting on 04/28/2026, and of the 10 items that were on there requesting money, four of them or 40% were the city. From that, 445,000 or roughly 80% of the money that is being granted out potentially is for the city.

That's not what it's meant for. I do know there's provisions in that grant proposal that allows you to do equipment, maintenance facilities, stuff like that. I do know that heads and beds are not actually required. So my question is if the city is gonna be going to that trough to pull out money, then why wasn't the art explosions or the community festival or the seniors health fair put on there for a grant request? Why was it a $150,000 for the kicking it party?

We also have $25,000 for flags, we have an additional couple thousand dollars for other items, and then on top of that some of the items that were asked for by other locations was Wild Waves who will be leaving us after this year, but yet Wild Waves was used as the reason for one of the grant funds of a $120,000 for tourism. And we have a $150,000 on the pack. I actually agree with that one. I think down $50,000 should be just mandatory every year. I think it makes sense to actually use that.

It's the other money I have a question with. We also just raised taxes less than two months ago, Then after raising the sales tax, we approved budget items, items that were not part of the budget. We increased the money because we didn't have enough money for the budget and then we increased spending outside of the budget. We need to say no more often. It's a budget year, wait on everything if you can, push it off for a couple more months, look at the big picture. I don't wanna keep seeing money being used from different trust just because it's available for us. I want the money to be used wisely. A couple of items is we still do a 10% contingency on all projects. I don't know why. If they need to come back for more money, have them come back for more money, drop to 10%. It's the first thought you guys can do. Thank you and good luck tonight.

Thank you. Nathan North.

Hello, everyone. Nathan North, Federal Way resident. Last week, I tuned in to what sounded like a pretty standard FedRAC agenda. I was appalled at what I witnessed. Our new judge, a judge elected by the majority of Federal Way's citizens had discovered she had inherited an issue that had not been properly administered by the previous court.

Our new judge came to the committee and asked for approval on applying for bonds to cover the costs of administering and making whole those who are affected by the Washington Supreme Court's 2021 State v. Blake decision. A decision wherein our state's highest court decided to try and make families whole after a legacy of overly harsh drug laws tore them apart. The opportunity to vacate certain nonviolent drug possession convictions and return overly harsh fines in a city where we see the impact of unemployability and constant economic struggle is a godsend. And I, for one, thank judge Danielle Havens for bringing the issue back to our attention.

As a humble viewer, it also appeared that the committee tried to blame our new judge for the previous court's lack of movement on a legally required action. I can respect that many of the members of the council are friends with the prior judge in question and have every right to call them to ask for their opinion. However, the appearance of stating that you need to call a retired judge, a man, to get permission for the new judge, a woman, to do her job is not a good look. I believe this was unintentional, but appearances are important. It is also worth mentioning that the flag policy came up in a way that I think caught everyone off guard.

Apparently, our current policy is preventing the city from hanging up banners on our existing light pole banner stands to advertise various events around the city this year. Our farmers market is opening in four days. And while it would be nice, we can't hang banners to tell the people of our city who don't attend these meetings or follow the city's Facebook to come down and spend money at our local businesses. This kicked off a healthy debate about unintended consequences. One of our council chimed in to remind everyone that the current policy is the current policy.

To that, I would say the prior policy was the current policy before it was overturned and whatever comes next will be the current policy until it too is eventually overturned. Your job as a council is to set policies to meet the city's current and real needs, not to steer us into a ditch because someone is afraid they'll catch feelings if they see a rainbow. The current flag policy has exposed itself as shortsighted and is now causing real economic harm to our city. It is time to reverse it until a policy can be developed that meets everyone's needs. Thank you.

Thank you. Ron Keeler.

Good evening, mayor, council president, and council members. I'm always grateful when I come to the council meetings that we start our meeting off with the, pleasant allegiance to our flag. I'm a, naval aviation veteran, Cub Scout, Boy Scout, you know, God I trust and all like that. But I wanted to bring today is this day in history from wall builders about George Washington's inauguration. It was 04/30/1789.

It's actually two hundred and thirty seven years, not two hundred and fifty years ago. But, the title of this little, story is, so help me, god, and a nation's prayerful beginning. On 04/30/1789, George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of The United States under our new constitution at Federal Hall in New York City. A massive crowd gathered in the streets below the balcony as chancellor Robert Livingston administered the oath. Washington placed his hand on a bible to Genesis 49.

It just happened to be open to that. That rested on a cushion. He raised his right hand and rejected the recited the oath. He then bent over, reverently kissed the bible, and added the words, so help me, God. An eyewitness captured the original profound moment in a dated letter just a few days later.

That letter stated, the scene was solemn and inspiring, beyond description. Just picture that scene. The devout fervency with which he repeated the oath and the reverential manner in which he bowed down and kissed the sacred volume. All these conspired to render it one of the most grand and interesting spectacles ever exhibited on this globe. It seemed a solemn appeal to heaven and earth at once.

Washington followed the oath with the first presidential inaugural address, invoking divine providence and offering fervent supplications to the almighty being who rules over the universe. The day concluded with a procession to Saint Paul's Chapel for worship service with clergy led prayers. This historic event established powerful precedences, including the use of the Bible, public prayer, and the expressions of faith that have been repeated by subsequent presidents. It reminds us that America's government was launched with a clear recognition of God's role in our national life. What a fitting beginning for the American presidency.

So that's, in honor of our two hundred and fiftieth years. Thank you. Thanks, Ron.

Alright. Mister Harold Burger.

Good evening, mister mayor, members of the city council, council president Honda, and the public. Thanks for the opportunity to share a few thoughts. Last week at the community forum on April 30, I was speaking off the cuff, and I feel like I was not as articulate as I would like to have been. One of the three topics which I addressed was the quality of the city's plan to address the homeless situation. Yes.

The city spent time building a thoughtful plan with a significant amount of community involvement and expert assistance. I believe that was completed seven, eight, nine years ago. To the best of my knowledge, it hasn't been reviewed, modified, or updated since its original acceptance. While that effort was critical and substantial, in the the arena of homelessness, Since that time, we've had seven, eight Richter scale seven earthquakes that have changed that arena. I'll just list a couple of them.

Substantial changes in our government policy and funding, the fentanyl crisis, the COVID pandemic, increases in the use of tiny home villages as temporary shelters to help move folks forward. Shelter in tiny home villages and permanent supportive housing developments are increasingly partnering with behavioral health organizations to provide on-site services to assist those folks moving forward. And the increasing knowledge that higher acuity individuals experiencing homelessness will not be successful without that support. A plan that doesn't keep up with the current existing landscape becomes shelfware. It matures out of usefulness.

My thought, my hope is that we can review, consider, and then adjust the plan before the plan really just becomes a notebook. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Thank you. Anna Patrick and then, Brian Fontillas Or yeah.

Evening mayor, council president, and council and public. I would like to speak to the mental health proclamation. I was really looking forward to hearing from Michael Clark. Thanks for inviting him. It's too bad he couldn't make it. Be curious to know what the latest is there. And with that facility, of course. And I just wanted to add a suggestion for the next funding cycle for human services. I think we should find a way to get more support for our community for navigating mental health challenges. I don't think there's enough support in our community for that.

Families that are work helping their children navigate those challenges, navigating the systems such as healthcare systems, which can be very challenging trying to figure out insurance, and navigating the process of getting better. And I like the idea of walk in clinics, which is what Michael Clark was going to be offering. I think that's really valuable. It used to be that that was available in colleges and was a very valuable thing. I think it might still be, but I'm not sure what it looks like.

But I just think that there should be more focus on that. I know we've had a lot of other focus with human services, but I think that should be a bigger focus, not just for proclamation, but for our city year year round. Thank you.

Thank you. Brian Fantillas. Is Brian here? Okay. Alright. That concludes public comment. Thank you all very much.

Yes. I'm wondering if our attorney

I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. He's online. Because we I just got it, so that's why I was a little confused. Okay. Thank you. Mister Frontylus is on online. Brian, can you hear us?

Hi. Yes. I can hear you.

Alright. We can hear you too.

Alright. Thank you, mayor and council. My name is Brian Fontillis, and I'm a resident of Federal Way. I would like to take the opportunity to make an oral comment at this time. But for the record, you'll also see my name in the written comments for today's meeting.

I respectfully request that previously submitted written comment online for today's meeting not be read into the record and be withdrawn and deleted. But that being said, I'm speaking today to express my concern on the proposed massage ordinance. I have people in my community who have used mobile massage services. I do have a concern for how this may affect mobile massage businesses because the ordinance seems to be directed towards businesses in single locations. Another concern I have is the prohibiting of cash as a payment method.

The majority of elderly people who use the majority of elderly people use cash as their primary method. My partner and I spent over four years with their grandmother in an elderly community as caretakers, and I've seen this firsthand. How can we expect elderly people to become financially literate with credit slash debit cards at such short notice? My concern is also for individuals who are in financially abusive situations. Paying with cash may be the only way they are capable of providing themselves with the physical and mental care they need at a moment's notice.

So please take into consideration how this ordinance would impact massage businesses businesses who do not have a single location and all the customers in difficult situations. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you very much. Okay. Councilmember Kochmar, did you

I'm wondering thank you very much, Mayor. I'm wondering if our attorney, Brian, would be interested in giving his opinion on what I believe is a misconception regarding the courts and prior vacation of, as a vacation of a

Drug conviction.

Drug conviction, and thank you for the words. Versus because different judges have different opinions, and I just wanna make sure that that's respected.

Ryan? Sure. Yes. I I don't think it's helpful to characterize judge Larson's rulings in the past as inappropriate or unlawful or ignoring the supreme court. He was the sitting judge at the time, and he he made a policy call, I believe, consistent with the law and what he thought should happen. We have a new judge now. Judge Havens is has the same authority and discretion that that judge has and I believe that what she's proposing is also consistent with the law. So I encourage counsel to defer to our sitting judge.

Yeah, thank you and I believe what he had said was that he didn't have the personnel available to up He believed that the vacation, vacating the previous drugs were legalized. And so to vacate the previous conviction that there was a fine for, he would have to have a person who would be able to apply for that. And he didn't believe it should be part of the court's, his court system, it should be part of the prosecutor's office. I believe that's what he was trying to say. Anyway, that was his belief. Thank you.

Alright. Alright. Thank you. Okay. Now we are onto the consent agenda.

I I should go back a bit. The Blake decision, for those that may remember, the Blake decision was the decision that invalidated the statute under chapter RCW 69, that basically the possessory the felony possessory, and actually even the gross misdemeanor, I believe, did not have the word intentionally possess. Did not modify possess, but the words intentionally. In order to commit a crime, you have to you have to intend to do so. And and therefore, the the the state supreme court ruled that that that statute was unconstitutional and vacated all prior convictions under that statute.

Now that's a monumental. I just wanna let everybody know. That is a monumental decision that there's entire sections of offices at the prosecutor's office, at the defense at the public defenders, and even down with the state supreme court and the court to make sure that they administer that. What what is at issue? I just wanna make sure people the question is is whether the court should proactively engage that or whether we wait to hear from the individuals and and they where they apply for it.

That was the discussion, and that was the philosophical difference of opinion. Our our judge, our new judge, Danielle Havens, is was concerned because that Blake money is starting there was a set of of money set aside for this purpose, and that money is starting to is starting to wane down. So it's a philosophical difference, and I thank you, city attorney Cole, for talking about that process. It's always about trying to just be fair, and and people have a have the right to decide things basically within the confines of the law. So that that just wanna let everybody know what that's about.

And I think that he was concerned that the person who would process should be from the prosecutor's office rather than the court Right. Itself.

Yeah. On on its own motion. I did that's what they called. Okay. I don't need to get into the the the Latin phrase for that. But, anyway, thank you. Okay. Consent agenda. These items have gone through committee. It can be passed all at once. I will read through each of the items and ask whether a council member would want to pull an item for separate consideration. Item a, approve the minutes for the April 21, twenty twenty six city council special meeting and regular meeting. Item b, approve the minutes for the 04/30/2026 city council special meeting. That was our town hall meeting, folks. Item c, approve the AP vouchers and payroll vouchers March '31, 2026.

Item d, approve the monthly financial report March 2026. Item e, approve the administrative office of the courts, the AOC, Blake intra agency grant agreement. Item f, approve the award to Civic Plaza container purchase. Item g, approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, parks kicking it Community Festival and FIFA viewing party. Item h, approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, Elite Productions.

Item, I, approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, Ribic Productions. Item j, we approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, Greater Federal Way Chamber destination guide marketing project. Item k, approve the, lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, WildWave's fiftieth season celebration. Item l, approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, Seattle Sports Commission annual membership. Item m, approve the lodging tax tourism enhancement grant, Pacific Raceways full season.

And item n, approve the lodging tax advisory committee recommendation tourism master plan for 2026. Council, are there any items you would want pulled for separate consideration?

Yes.

You okay. Alright. Council president?

I'd like to pull item m, approve lodging tax tourism enhancement ground Pacific Raceways full season.

Okay. Council, any other any others? Do I see a oh. Council member Kussmoor?

I just wanna say that many of these items went through the lodging tax advisory committee of which Lydia, council member Seth Dawson was chair, those those were approved through them before they came to our finance committee.

Alright. Thank you very much. Alright. Alright. So as to A through L and item N. Council President, do have a motion?

Yes. I move approval of the consent agenda items a through l and item n.

Second. Second.

There's been a motion and a second to approve those mentioned items. Is there any is there any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Opposed? Matters passed unanimously. Item m. Council present.

Thank you. We discussed this at late at FedRAC, and I there were some questions, and I was wondering if Meredith had those answers. One of them was what other cities have approved or given money to this program this year.

I believe that we have John Ramsey, who's the general manager of Pacific Raceways. He should be joining us via Zoom, and he should be available to answer some of those questions. Okay. Thank you.

John, are you are you on line here? Is he is he able to comment? What's that?

Was that for me, John?

We're trying to get someone on Zoom. Is there a person in front, so to speak?

I was not told there would be anybody.

What's his name? John Ramsey.

John Ramsey. I just have a John,

so I'm assuming that's him. Okay. He's good to speak.

John, can you hear us?

John, can you hear us?

Mister Ramsey?

Can can you hear me?

Now now we can.

Okay. I'm sorry about that.

Okay. Go ahead.

Council Member, could you repeat the question, please?

So I have I have three questions. One is what other cities have given financial support to this program this year? I know in the past, I believe Auburn and perhaps Kent had given financial support. How does this impact Federal Way since it's not in the city of Federal Way? And how many heads in beds, and how will that be documented this year? In the previous years, we've heard that it will be documented, but there's never been a clear answer as to how many people have stayed in our hotels and how will you document that this year. And thank you for being here. I appreciate it.

Yeah. Thank you. So the answer to the first question, we have not received funding this year from either Auburn or Kent. We've applied for funding to both cities, but have not been approved yet. In the past, we have received funding from the city of Auburn. And for one year, we did receive funding from the city of Kent, but we have not received funding from Kent for the past two or three years.

Do you know when Auburn will be making a decision and how much they're they're looking to support you with?

We have asked for a $100,000 from the city of Auburn, and I'm not sure when they're going to make their decision. I haven't heard yet.

Okay. Thank you. And how does this impact Federal Way?

Well, we're a regional motorsport park. We draw competitors and fans from around the Northwest in in British Columbia British Columbia. And we feel that Federal Way is can be a destination for our fans and for our competitors. And primarily, the the hotels in Federal Way are are close to the racetrack, and we've in the past, we've been able to promote those hotels.

And can you tell us how you're going to how you will be documenting how many people are staying in our hotels? Because that's where this money comes from. It comes from lodging tax.

Exactly. Yes. We have dedicated a person on our staff to visit the hotels monthly, and we'll do that. We began that already, actually, to meet with hotel managers and document how many of our competitors and fans are staying at the hotel. And as we progress into the season, we'll ramp that up. And during the heavy part of our season, which is July, we'll be out there meeting with the hotel managers and and and people on a weekly basis to to gather those statistics.

And one more question. So last season, you did you have a different process or could you could you let us know how many people stayed in our hotels?

We had we had 647 room nights in 2025, and those were primarily centered around our big Northwest Nationals.

Okay. Thank you. I appreciate the information.

Okay. Thank you. And council president, do have a motion now?

I move approval of item m.

Second.

It's been a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? That is the matter passes unanimously. Thank you.

Mayor?

Yeah. Yes.

Can I just do a personal privilege if that's okay? Sure. I just wanna take the time to thank judge Danielle Evans for being here. Mhmm. I know that she was requested to be here, and she didn't get a chance to present. But I just wanted to say thank you for making the time and being here. And I believe we have judge Bales. Is he on Zoom or He's on Zoom.

He may have already signed up.

Well, I I just wanna say thank you for your efforts. Thank you for what you're doing and to judge Bales as well. And of course, I'm grateful that this got passed. So

Alright. Thank you, your honor. And I I I was just actually out in the public and I somebody, ran into me and made they were serving they had served on a jury, and they wanted to make sure that they expressed what a good job you did and and what a great experience it was to be on a jury.

So Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

That's so nice to

be here.

Yeah. And we can't run our municipal court without our without, people in the community serving as jurors.

So important. Yeah.

Everyone needs

to show

up for jury duty.

Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So now we are in the council business. We've got, youth commission appointments. Council member Sesems. I move to remove miss Keer from position number one

due to unexcused absences and to appoint the following candidates to the youth commission. Justin Sin, to position number one for a term to begin immediately and expire April 08/31/2027. Hazel Del Rosario to position number two for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2028. Ian Lee to position number three for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2028. Lyle Lee to position number four for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2028.

Yaha Aslam to position number six for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2027. Annie Fan to position number seven for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2027. George Mehdi to position number eight for a term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2028. Emmanuel Mawangi to position number nine for term beginning 09/01/2026 and expiring 08/31/2028. And finally, Christine Gauthana, alternate position number one for a term to begin immediately and expire 08/31/2028.

Alright. Is there a second?

Second. There's been a motion to second regarding those items. Is there any discussion? Council member Yeah.

These are to to the community that's here and to the community that's listening, as it was indicated earlier, we we had the chance to interview these individuals. And it's really interesting because they're coming from Federal Way High School, they're coming from Thomas Jefferson and they're coming from Decatur High School. Go Gators. And I I have to say that I am really, really impressed with these youth. They're doing above and beyond.

But in addition to that, they decided to take that extra step to become in the know, to be engaged in their in their city, and to have a say to have a say of what happens here in Fataway, and to be a part of the action in terms of creating that atmosphere for our youth. So I really am thankful for all the folks that all of our students that have applied, and I'm I'm looking forward to working with them and listening to them as well. Thank you.

Alright. Okay. There's been a motion, a second. Does Council member Walsh.

Yeah. I would also just like to comment that about the youth commission. One of the people who is currently serving on the youth commission, Claire Kim, she I believe was chair of the Youth Commission, outstanding young lady and she is going to be in a, what, two weeks? Shortly.

June.

End will of be receiving a scholarship from the Association of Washington Cities. Just outstanding, it kinda shows the quality of young people that serve on our youth commission, the outstanding quality of the young people here in Federal Way.

Alright. Thank you. Council member coach Mark. Oh, okay. You got your microphone on? Did I see your microphone on too, or did you have anything? Okay. Alright. Alright. Okay. There's been a motion, a second, a discussion. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? It's unanimous. Congratulations to our new commissioners. Thank you very much. Alright. Alright. Next, we're on to, item seven. Second, we're we've got, two, ordinances around for second reading. The first, item a, council bill nine three zero, ordinance, repeal of local authority authority over class, Roman numeral four forest practice applications. Would the city clerk please read the ordinance title?

Council bill number nine thirty, ordinance repeal of local authority over class four forest practice applications, an ordinance of the city of Federal Way, Washington relating to class four general forest practices applications, amending and repealing federal way revised code as detailed in the written title.

Alright. Customer walks, do have a motion?

I move approval of the proposed ordinance.

Second.

It's been a motion. A second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Passes unanimously. Okay. Item b, second reading and enactment, council bill nine three six ordinance approval of massage business ordinance. Assistant city attorney Adam Gadbury, will present this item, and, and then we'll go from there.

Good evening, mayor Farrell, council president Honda, and council members. At at the request of the mayor, I'm gonna run through how ordinance relate or is compared to the two cities that we started this whole process with. The police department had done a preliminary city survey and had selected Renton and Kent as the two ordinances that they'd like to model our ordinance off of.

So I'm

just gonna run through that briefly. So Renton has a licensing scheme that they that they had established. So under their ordinance, owners are to notify the city of massage therapists employed within five days of hire. They it prohibits the hiring of unlicensed therapists for obvious reasons. Massage therapists must wear opaque clothing, and the manager must be on-site at all times.

They also include structural requirements. They have regulations on their doors like ours with also a requirement to abide by the sign code. They also have many once a year inspection that's triggered at the application or renewal. There is an appeals process for denial or revocation of a business license. Outside the licensing scheme, Renton's Ordinance does regulate the locking of both interior and exterior doors during business hours.

It prohibits the provision of massage services without a state issued license. Prohibits, obviously, employing massage therapists who are not properly licensed. It also prohibits being in the room while a client is undressing. It also prohibits both client and massage therapists from exposing themselves to one another. And then it also places a burden on the property owner when a business owner is leasing the space.

It puts an an onus on the owner to inquire about the operation of that business, ask for a copy of the business's license and permits, and there's also an affirmative duty placed on the business owner to report violations known violations of state or local law. I'm gonna come back to Olympia. Kent requires massage therapists to be properly licensed, requires the owner or manager to ensure the employees are properly licensed and also over the age of 18, requires the business to be open for inspection in common areas only during business hours by the police. It requires a valid license to be conspicuously displayed at each location of massage therapist practices, prohibits unlicensed thought therapists from lying about being licensed, and then penalizes the customer receiving a massage from unlicensed therapist or a minor if the customer knows or reasonably should have known that the massage therapist was either not licensed or was a minor. Kent also adopts various WAC provisions regarding coverage and draping, breast massage, restricted touching of certain anatomical areas of the human body, certain equipment and hygiene requirements, and the record keeping.

So those are all just provisions adopted by the WAC. Criminal penalties for Kent, first violation is a misdemeanor. Subsequent violations are a gross misdemeanor. Civil penalties upon conviction, the court will order the forfeiture of any Kent issued business license held by the offender. And then how do I get backwards?

There we go.

Olympia does have a licensing scheme, so they require a business license. The fees for that on the initial license is 75. The base fee is 50 with an additional 25 for processing. An employee license, is $30 on on a form that are created by the city clerk treasurer. I tried to find those forms online, in preparation for tonight.

I could not find them. They may be somewhere on Olympia's website. I just couldn't find them, or it's something that Olympia just gives the applicants directly. Under that scheme, both applications, both business and employee licenses are reviewed by the chief of police who then endorses either approve or disapproval, and then ultimately city council's final authority to grant or deny either application. And under their statute, there's no appeals process reference in their statute.

Regarding their regulations of massage businesses, they don't permit alcohol to be sold or consumed on on the premises. It requires a closure between midnight and 8AM. It requires businesses to be open for inspection at all times by police, licensing department, and the health department. It exempts massages provided in hospitals, and then their criminal penalties are not to exceed a thousand dollars or ninety days in jail or both for a first offense. And then on subsequent offenses, the civil penal the criminal penalties are upwards of $5,000 or no more than three hundred and sixty five days in jail or both.

Civil penalties for noncriminal violations are fifty, one twenty five, and two fifty depending on first, second, or third offenses. And with that, I am done. So that was just some background information on Olympia, Kent, and Renton. And then, obviously, if there's any questions for the diocese, I'm here to answer

those.

Alright. Councilmember Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you, Adam, that presentation. I have a few questions, and then I just wanna kinda share my my thought process as we're discussing this policy. So my first question is, do you know how many cities have enacted similar ordinances, or are working on ordinances with similar regulations to what we are considering?

I don't know how many are actively considering any. Renton And Kent's were kind of our model. They've they adopted theirs many years ago. Obviously, Olympia just adopted theirs in '25. I I forget who else you said you were helping, Bremerton.

Adam, could you repeat that to make sure that it because I don't think we caught that, on the microphone and for the public record. Could you repeat what she just said?

She said that her understanding of Olympia's ordinance is different than what I just relayed. She said that it wasn't a licensing scheme or a fee that was adopted.

Adam, where did you let's just let's talk about this. Yeah. Where did you get your information regarding the Olympia statute?

Off of Olympia's code directly. So I It's published. It's possible that they've not updated theirs potentially off their website, but if it was adopted in '25, I'd I guess I assume their code was updated six months later. So Okay.

Okay. All right.

Go ahead.

So my second question is how will our ordinance impact mobile massage therapists? Because we what I'm hearing is that there's two different ways to provide service. One is through a brick and mortar business, and I think that's where the real problem lies with the human trafficking issue, rather somebody who goes and does house calls. How does our ordinance

Certainly. So under our definitions, we actually carved out an excluded mobile massage therapist from the definition of a massage business. Kind of with that in mind, our our in talks with police, our focus was really on these illicit brothels, for lack of a better word, that are being set up. So we we carved out an exception, not just for mobile massage therapists, but for others. But we did exclude mobile therapists from these regulations.

Okay. I think that's probably a wise decision because I don't think that's where the problem lies. So the issue that I'm seeing is we have a known problem to address, and that's human trafficking. And the community has seen this, the city has seen this, the police have seen this, and massage therapists know of this as well as as was stated earlier that, unfortunately, the industry has been hijacked by bad actors. That that's a great way to put it, and I agree.

And the issue I see is we have we have a human trafficking problem right now, not just our city, but all along the I 5 Corridor. And these are victims, in my opinion. They're they're not people, you know, who are prostitutes, they're victims. Women. Sometimes they're minors.

Sometimes they're migrants who have had their passports stolen from them, you know, and have come over under false premises. And so I'm really torn between, you know, how to address that because I think this is a very serious issue that we need to address. I think just as a general rule, I want to be careful that I'm not creating policy on on edge case scenarios. And because, you know, we got a lot of public comment about very specific, very unique situations, and I think we can hopefully, you know, if we pass this, if we don't, I don't know how it's going go, but eventually, you know, if we do pass something, I hope that we can target those very specific situations and provide some sort of accommodations maybe. Right now, I'm leaning in support of it with the commitment to address those unique situations as well as to me, it's very important also that we stay in communication with our police, with our executive branch, and ensuring that victims who are rescued out of these situations receive the services and and the victim advocacy that they need.

Because like I stated before, it's very easy receive to get someone out of this situation, but then if there's no services, they're just gonna go right back into it. And that's really the issue that we're trying to address is the human trafficking issue. And so those are my thoughts. I look forward to what my colleagues were where they're thinking on the issue.

Alright. Thank you. Council member Safa Dawson and then council member Moore.

Okay. Thank you so much, mayor, and thank you for the presentation. And I do appreciate the people here also who did speak during the public comment. Having this in place and in the books, of course, allows and gives opportunity for our for our police, for enforcement. And this definitely is not banning massage parlors, but just giving the authority for for actions to be taken if and when needed.

My

concern is really well, let me ask a question. One is one question is, is there do we have data of how many people or how many how much of this has been going on in massage parlors, human trafficking or prostitution or any of these activities, either in Federal Way or or in our region? Do we have that information?

I don't. Deputy Chief, do

you have Deputy Chief Jones?

We've identified 40 illicit massage businesses in Federal Way. We've shut down three or four of them, so we're either at 36 or 37 remaining.

Okay. Thank you. And so my concern is I don't want us to deal with unintended consequences. And also, don't want other businesses that are legitimate, licensed and whatnot to fear coming to Federal Way and working in Federal Way because they're important. It's a fabric of our community.

Also, as this becomes evident, yeah, I would not want for people not to have the business in Federal Way. But if, and this may be for Deputy Chief, If and when you do have businesses that are conducting these illicit activities, do you have support for the victims? Is there any do you do they go somewhere for for help, or what happens to them?

Our special investigations unit has recently be been working with retired FBI agents who run a nonprofit that helps victims of human trafficking get out of the business. They offer wraparound support. We take them with us. We've they have funding, and they're looking to help.

Okay. Great. Thank you so much. Because that's important to my decision making for this ordinance. And then ban on cash transaction, I do have a problem with that because even, you know, I go get my nails done. And for their debit card and or credit card and debit card transaction, there's a place that said they will charge me an additional 18%, and I do cash because I don't want to pay an extra after 18%. So it goes between 5 and $18 And we heard earlier that there's concerns. Some people like to use cash. I have friends who go to a restaurant and use cash, gas station and cash. And even gas stations, you know, we see the price where it's 30% difference when you use card versus cash.

And so doing that actually is going to harm people who may need the service. And so I would like to see that not be part of this ordinance. And then I also want to make sure that there's no profiling here because a lot of our massage providers are Asians and I want to make sure that there's no profiling or discrimination based on because of this ordinance. And so we need to have safeguard on that. And hopefully there's training for law enforcement to really do it equitably and correctly because I can see it being as front and like you said if there's been enforcement, if there's been activities that show that this does happen then I think we do have to have safeguards for that and support our the victims.

But at the same time I would like to make sure that we're protecting people who are doing a legitimate business here and who are doing their job well and have no problem regarding licensed therapists. So let's make sure that there's no unintended consequences with this ordinance. Thank you.

Chief Jones, what's your take on that cash provision? How how important is that in this?

Every time we do an an operation in one of these places, they have, like, $30,000 cash, $40,000 cash. So clearly, know it's cash business, and we'd like to put a stop to the I'm talking about the illegal places that we've been into.

Alright. Thank you. Kesseler Moore?

Thank you so much to both my colleagues. Thank you for your comments. I think they're both very well take taken. So where does one begin? I guess I'll begin with questions. Are and maybe mayor, if it's okay, I don't know. Maybe somebody. I don't know who. But what what are how are other cities handling the cashless situation? It's one thing I would like to know.

If you know, and then we'll we'll see what deputy Jones deputy Jones

to massage therapist or just in general?

What we're talking about here, which This.

This. The ordinances.

Of the ordinances that I've reviewed, the cash prohibition is unique to federal ways ordinance. Now I've not done a complete city or statewide review of every single city's massage ordinances, but at least for the ones that I have reviewed, we are the only one that has a cash provision.

Okay. And then the mobile and helping out with the terminology, mobile massage businesses that's excluded right with the cashless so they can use cash? Correct. Correct. Okay. And then I guess my other question is so overall and this is the deputy chief here. So this has been a problem for how many years is my first set of one question.

Adam can probably answer when the city repealed the Fed way used to have robust massage parlor ordinances, and our officers would do proactive work in them. And then the state enacted some laws mostly centered around licensing, but the city at that time believed that their the state laws preempted our laws. So we took them we scrubbed them from the books. Is that is that right, Adam?

This obviously preceded my time with the city. But, yes, essentially, that's kinda what happened. So my understanding from historical review of of the of the state statutes was there was a patchwork framework where a dozen cities were implementing additional licensing requirements on massage therapists, and that the state determined was unfair to you know, massage therapist who's practicing potentially in two different jurisdictions would have multiple different requirements to become licensed to operate in those localities. So the state preempted the licensing function and just clawed that to themselves. So the only ones who can really license a massage therapist are is the state.

Now the state did still permit local units to charge a licensing fee for massage therapists, but we we're we're prohibited from in a licensing specific standard, implementing a higher standard on those massage therapists seeking a a license. So you can you can charge a a licensing fee that's typical of what you would charge other health care professionals, but you could not, from a licensing standpoint, implement a higher standard, which is also why our particular ordinance doesn't get into licensing restrictions because we we view that as the state's kinda preempted that, and we we have tried to avoid getting into any kind of licensing scheme.

And I apologize. May may maybe I wanna clarify my question. That's how long have you known that the 37 or 40 businesses have been doing illicit activities, potentially having human trafficking practices, all that? How long have you known that this has been an issue? I'm assuming since the 90s.

Yeah. We've working on it for years. It was burdensome to work through not having some of the ordinance not having an ordinance to support us. When I was in the special investigations unit, that was in the 90s and early 2000s. It was an issue then.

So it's been a so so it's been I apologize, deputy chief, for interrupting. So it's been a problem for a long time, and I think you just stated it, which is but you've not your hands have been tied, you have not been able to do anything.

We became a soft spot. I actually, it was in the I believe it was the early or mid two thousands. And when the ordinances were scrubbed, we became kind of became a soft spot where other cities had more robust ordinances. They didn't open up shop there. They they came to Federal Way.

Got it. And so I think the the reason why I was asking that question is is that where I'm at as one policymaker is this has been a problem for a long time, and our law enforcement officers have not been able to have the tools to do their job. And for me I wanna make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to go after those 37 businesses that have illicit activities and that's just not okay. It's just not okay. But at the same time I appreciate the residents that have come here that have said hey I live here, I have a business And and I I do wanna see if there's a way we can work together.

And I think what where I'm kinda going with this for me is I'm gonna vote on this tonight because I think we need to send a loud message. And I think we need to be I think it's time that we give our officers the tools that they've been waiting for for a very long time. However, the beautiful thing and I'm gonna talk to the business owners that live here is policy is never a final thing. Policy is something that we can come back to the table and review it and work with still. And so I think that's really important for me to say that because for me, I wanna make sure that we can continue to make sure that there it can be a win win situation.

So but right now, I I think where I'm at is I'm I'm gonna vote in favor of this because we need to give our officers the tools and resources. And I'm happy to hear that this is not gonna be affecting much of the mobile massage businesses. That is really important. So thank you.

All right. Customer Coach Mark.

Well many of the nail salons and hair salons prefer cash because if they process a credit card, it costs them money as well as costs us money, some cards. Okay, I've been going through a particular business in a strip mall for years and this massage parlor, it says massage parlor on it, next door, has been worrying me for a long time. So I'm wondering about, you know, the closure of the door. I'm not sure if it's locks to keep the girls in or to keep the people out, but So, I'm just gonna describe it kind of So, there are girls there. The people in the business I go to know that there are girls there.

They never see them. They never see them and the business I go to is open late. They never see the girls come out and they never see the girls go in, but they know the girls are there because they can see them through the glass of the door when somebody comes into the business and they're scantily clad. Now, I'm not gonna say anything about the business one way or the other. I am just wondering how the legitimate massage parlors can address the issue of a locked door versus an unlocked door, and the unlocked door, you worry about the safety for their clients. So I'm just not sure how to handle that.

Yeah. I mean, it's a good question. And I mean, candidly, I think it's a valid concern that the sole proprietors have raised. Because if they are truly in facility by themselves, you know, that does pose challenge if there's a I prohibition on locking the think that would be a policy decision by the council if they want to revisit.

So we could pass it and then revisit it later.

Or, you know, provide more time to think of a solution here on that. But council can also adopt it as it's written. But that is a bit of a challenge, I would concede.

Mayor, can I offer?

Yeah. I don't mean to interject, and I don't want to sweat counts too much, but I don't see a downside in taking the time to at least vet and entertain the comments that we've had from the public. This is the first time we've heard from the group that represents the professional organizations that we're trying to avoid incidentally impacting unnecessarily. So un undoubtedly, regulation is going to impact legitimate businesses to some degree. That's just the nature of regulating a business. But we don't wanna do so unnecessarily.

Mhmm.

So I I would encourage counsel to maybe send us back and and let us talk to them and bring another ordinance forward that maybe everyone can vote on instead of having different opinions.

What what committee would we send this back to? A special It

went through it went through the parks and public safety. I I think it would just go back to to that committee.

With that in mind, Council President, do have a I'm sorry.

Well, that's fine. And I'm fine with that. I just I want to make sure we do it right. And also that we protect the people that I think are being victimized. And I think it's about time we took action for them. You know, we've been to other countries where massage parlors are an accepted way of life. But it's not here. And just think that we need to do something about it. Thank you.

All right, thank you.

I I make my comments want to remind counsel that we recently had an ordinance, we were on the second reading, and Master Builders Association, which is a very powerful organization in King County and Snohomish County, asked us not to vote on it yet because they had not realized that it was coming to this council, which is the second reading that we did tonight on repeal of the local authority over class four forest practice applications. So this won't be the first time that we pulled back an ordinance at second reading. And with the I'd like to thank you all for coming and for the emails that we have received. And I do think that we need to pull this back and we to look at this a little bit closer with the concerns you have and the concerns other massage therapists have stated because this is your business and we don't want to hurt legitimate businesses. But we also at the same time want to protect people who are being trafficked, people who are being hurt.

And the only way we can do this the proper way, in my opinion, is to pull this back and to put some more, you know, study this a little bit more and find out how we can protect those that we need to protect and support those businesses that we need to support. And so that's what I was gonna recommend that anyway. I talked to a couple council members about that. But before I do that, I do have a question for the deputy chief. Of the businesses that were shut down, the four businesses, how many victims did you find?

Only one of them would be a victim. The rest of them wouldn't talk to us.

What? What was that?

Interesting. Okay. So anyway, I would I would really support that we pull this back and and do a little bit more work on it. We don't want to there's other elected bodies that move forward with ordinances and and then, you know, six to twelve months have to revisit it. I don't wanna be one of those. Okay. I'd like to do it right the first time.

Alright. Thank you. Alright. Alright. Customer Walsh?

Yeah. You know, we we've absolutely gotta take action on this, but we need to take the right action. And I agree with what the Council President says that we need to revisit it. Just a few comments on the cash situation. With my own business.

And I have a small business, so I understand what it is like to run a small business and there's enough challenges as it is with running a business. But with cash, I need to charge my customers an extra 4% if they use a credit card or debit card. Never heard of an 18%, that's crazy, that's insane. An extra 4%, but that definitely adds up for the consumer or for the or for the business that they're not doing and it makes a big difference. I I understand that the concern that the chief Jones mentioned with with finding this large amounts of cash in the businesses that they shut down.

I would, contend that if we can use other means to shut them down, we don't need to worry about that cash, whether or not they're they're accepting cash, if we're able to shut them down by other means. And so that would not be it would not need to be relevant if we can shut them down by other means. You know, with the the doors locked for safety, I mean, you know, absolutely. You know, earlier in the day, assistant city attorney Gatberry and I were were were talking and and, you know, he was saying, hey. Maybe, you know, require that the interior doors be be kept unlocked, something like that, you know, so that that's a possibility there.

But but we need to get input from the from the profession, especially from the from the the professional association. One thing that that that I tend to think is that that the you know, every massage therapist needs to have their own license, and it needs to be posted there where it's visible for all all to see. And as I see it, one of the enforcement mechanisms should be that if they do not have licenses posted there, then there's a fine. I mean, you know, maybe a thousand dollar fine, something like that if they don't have have license posted there, and then subject to closure if they if they do not remedy it. And so, you know, I I think back in the what was the twenties or thirties when they were hitting organized crime, you know, that back in the gangster, period.

A of them didn't go to jail because of the terrible crimes they were committing. They went to jail because of tax fraud. And so this, I mean, if we can make it so that, you know, that they're they're getting put out of business because of lack of of proper licenses, you know, we're accomplishing the same thing without being able to have the the the police go in with with stings and and things and and and treat it that way. So those are my thoughts, but I think that we definitely need to to revisit it. You know, I hope that we can bring this back very, very soon.

It needs to come back soon, but we need to protect the legitimate businesses while addressing the the real concern that is you know, I'd say that the the number one thing is the human trafficking. Number two is prostitution. But number one, above all, is human trafficking that we need to address and and and put these folks out of business that are that are doing the human trafficking.

Yep. Councilor Sesems.

Yeah. I I totally agree, that it should be pulled back and studied further even though it came through, the committee that I chair. So thank you for, stepping forward with your testimony. It really enlightened me about the nuances of the business, the massage business. But it's too bad that there are bad actors out there convoluting the whole scene.

And, you know, it's it's it's a noble profession. You know? I've been rear ended in a car accident and had to have massage therapy, and it really helped me. But I I think there are going to be ways for us to take a look at this further. There might even be ways to distinguish the bad actors from those legitimate businesses.

I go to restaurants, take my family out to eat all all of the time. And the way you can tell a good restaurant from a bad restaurant is by the little graphic on the door that says excellent or poor. Why can't we have a graphic of a massage license on the door? So that way, if I'm at the light and I see a business and it says massage, and I could see from the street that little graphic on the door, it is a legitimate business. Meanwhile, if it's absent, I'm gonna be suspicious.

I'm, you know, looking at that as a place of ill repute. But I would encourage us to study it a little bit more. There are victims out there that we need to be aware of. Let's have wraparound services. I wholeheartedly agree with most well, everything that has been said, especially council member Hamilton's.

Let's take care of the trafficking victims. Make sure that we have wraparound services services to get them around out of that situation. So I'm I'm actually happy that we are moving towards and thank you, attorney Ryan, for making that suggestion that we're moving towards studying this further. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Councilor Hamilton?

Thank you, mayor. This has been a great conversation, and I'm I'm really happy to hear what my colleagues have stated and what they've presented. And it sounds like the majority of the council is wanting to revisit it in a committee and I think that we can do that. You have convinced me to go ahead and do that. I do have a question about well, first of all, I just wanna say I'm happy to hear that the the services because I know we had talked about CASARC being possibly, you know, a way to help victims, but I was looking for more something very specific for human trafficking because that's just a whole unique set of issues that people, you know, need services for.

So I'm happy to hear that there's something else also available. The debit the debit credit cash now I know WinCo, you know, will only take debit. They say that's how they keep their prices low. Is there are there fees for credit and debit, or is a debit exempt from fees? Or

It's probably on their card processor, but I I I hear from the peanut gallery, it sounds like they do are they do charge fees on both debit and credit.

Okay.

Object to this.

Yeah. I I handle both of them. There are fees for debit as well, they're less than what they are for credit.

Okay. Well, that's something to consider when we go back and and revisit it in committee. The other thing is is when we do kick it back and thank you council president Honda for mentioning, you know, the previous ordinance that we kicked back. That was important. I think the assumption has been that the ordinance is only going to harm massage therapists' businesses, but I think we also need to look at how this is going to benefit legitimate massage therapists.

Because for every massage therapist that's not a good actor, they're actually harming the good actors. That's what we're trying to get a handle on. So I would like to discuss more in detail how our ordinance can benefit legitimate massage therapists. Because I think we want to make sure we're doing that. And also just it is about human trafficking.

That's what we're trying very desperately to address. And so we need an ordinance that's strong enough to address human trafficking in a meaningful way, but also not be extraordinarily burdensome on business owners. So thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Councilor Yes,

thank you. I do think this is a good idea to move it back to committee and to get another review on it because one of the things I failed to mention earlier is I do worry about the cashiers. I think my colleague to my right, Councilor Morisovada made a lot of good points to that. I think that's really important and I think locking the doors is a safety concern as well. And I think there needs to be a study of what are and we have the massage therapist association so they obviously have a lot of information.

I would invite them to come. Of course business leaders in this field are welcome to come to I guess next time we cover this issue at the committee meeting. But I'd be interested to find out how other cities are handling all this. And I think it's a good point to kind of bring back, let's review this so we A, we can be consistent with what we've done in the past but also make sure that we have a good policy that supports local businesses that are doing good things, that are being ethical but yet like my colleagues to my left go after the 37 businesses that are doing disgusting things. I need to be held accountable because that's unacceptable.

That's not okay. And they've been doing it for a long, long, long time. And I am I will say that I am anxious to give our police officers the tools to do their job. So that's that. But thank you.

Council president, do you have a motion?

Yes. I move to take council bill number nine three six, ordinance, approval of massage business ordinance back to the parks council committee for additional discussion and work.

Second. It's

been a motion to second. Is there any further discussion?

I would like to see it there as quickly as possible, probably not next week. I think that might be too soon for staff. But the month after that, I would would hope. Does that make sense?

The June meeting?

Yeah.

I think that would be doable potentially. Okay.

Does that make sense, chair? Oh, we have

No. We can't. We're we're not gonna take

Well, I just wanted to make a call back if

you No. I'm sorry. We don't that's we don't conduct business that way. Okay. Thank you.

Sorry. It's just

a I it's okay. With that, we we just don't we don't conduct business that way.

I just wanna make sure we take it back and whatever how I give staff as much time as I need.

Right. What I would suggest, Adam, is working with the association and with the practitioners. And the folks that are here today, I would I would be in touch with legal counsel and on the city regarding regarding this. You have or you just get ready? Okay. Nope. Alright.

They have

Nope. Nope. Okay.

Was there any other discussion? Okay. There's been a motion, a second discussion. All those in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Opposed? Alright. Matter passes unanimously. It's back to committee. Now we're into council reports. Council member Safiedawson.

I don't have any oh, the town hall meeting town meeting was great. It went long though, more than longer than we expected. But I was hoping to see more people there. So I wonder what it would be like to when we do our next one, how we can promote it better. And I don't know what we could have done differently.

But I think this is important and I hope people understand that this is a different way of reaching out to people who can't make it here in the evening, but also maybe considering a Saturday daytime because a lot of people work and that could be dinner time. So that's my only comment. But otherwise, I appreciated the tables that were there and the people who were there were also very engaging. And with that I end my report. Thank you so much.

Great, thank you. Councilwoman Moore.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. You know, I think the only thing I I just have to say is that to chair Sashram's thank you for what you said about the flag discussion. I think one of the commenters, Nathan also said it that I think our flag policy may be hurting other things. I think there is unintended consequences there and so I'm hoping there is an ability to review this at the committee and actually come up with some thoughts and suggestions.

And I worry to be quite blank blunt that I think there are at least four if not five that have already made up their minds. This is an assumption. I may be totally wrong. I'd love to be wrong. I want to be wrong. I've already said nope, the policy is good, we're gonna keep it the same. So I urge my colleagues to attend that meeting and to come up with suggestions. Let's come up with compromises, let's have a policy discussion and write an ordinance. I think it's really important that we're thinking about everybody. We're not just saying it but we're we're we're doing it.

But my concern is that I don't think it's gonna happen. And so I hope I can be proven wrong and I'm happy to have more sidebar conversations on that. Also I just really want to thank our youth for not only today but for also coming to the town hall meeting. I know there's going be a recording available at some point of snippets I think if I understood it correctly. And I was really impressed with the questions that they had asked.

And it just goes to show you that our youth are listening, they are paying attention and they're watching. And how do we handle those moments? What message do we want to send to them? Mayor, I think it was a there was some difficult moments in that but I think you handled it as authentically and right. And I have to say that I do think that I sensed a movement in your thought process when it comes to ICE and I and I felt like when I was listening to you mayor, you showed concerns that I think was really really important because at the end of the day you're a dad, you're a community member, you're a family person and I I just wanna say thank you to you because I think concerns residents might have seen that.

And I think they needed to see that from our chief executive officer of the city. And so, you know, and it's frustrating because not much can be done but there's always something creative we can do. And so that's I'll leave it at that. And then I do wanna thank the the massage therapists and professionals that are right outside this council chambers. But I just wanna say thank you to them for coming and and being thoughtful.

And I'm glad it's I'm glad that we're going taking us back and and reviewing this. So I think that's the best part of our policies that it may not be perfect, but we can always massage it until we can create some win wins. And I think that's really important. So especially if you have business owners that are doing good ethical work in our community. So with that, I've got nothing else to say. I'll hand it off to councilmember well, I'll hand it off back to you, mayor.

Alright. Councilmember Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor. Couple of activities that I took part in in the last couple weeks was the little league opening day. That was really fun. You know, sports are are just they bring people together, and I really think that young people learn a lot of life lessons from being on a team and playing in sports. And so it was great to see all the young people out there for the opening day and celebrating that as a council and and with the mayor and and our county council member as well.

I had a couple of constituent meetings these last couple weeks centered around homelessness. So that was great to hear from the community that's reaching out to to me individually to talk about that issue. And then I thought the town hall went great. And one thing I'll say about town halls is town halls are one of the oldest democratic traditions that's out there. And so it's a great place where the community can connect directly with their representatives.

And sometimes, you know, it's very lively discussions at these town halls, but that's kinda how it's supposed to be. And, you know, it that's America. If if we if we can discuss civilly at a town hall situation, I think we're doing it right. So great job on the the town hall mayor.

Thank you.

And then went to the the center stage celebration fundraiser. Oh my goodness. They raised so much money at that. I I had no idea how much money they were gonna raise there, but it was a fantastic success and a lot of fun. Know, I think people who are who are artsy and I'm one of those people, you know, I'm a musician and and I was in drama, you know, as a kid and and they're just really fun people. And so it was a really fun event and I was glad to see community investing so much in our arts and and culture. And then lastly, on a more serious note

Thank Kim.

Speaking of homelessness, I am extremely concerned about what is happening at the county level. And King County has decided to take a regional approach on homelessness, And I think we're all seeing it in the media. It concerns me that $13,000,000 is unaccounted for at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Because that's $13,000,000 that doesn't get to address homelessness in a meaningful way. I'm extremely disturbed by that.

I think the public needs answers on where that money went. I understand they did a forensic audit, and that's how they figured out that the money was missing, unaccounted for. They say, they assure that there hasn't, you know, been proof of fraud, but I'm not convinced. If you don't know where the money went, how can you say there's no fraud involved? So I talked to you about this mayor, about my feelings about this.

And if we're gonna be serious about homelessness, we need accountability for the people who have been tasked with addressing homelessness. And so I think as a council, I think we need to send a statement on what's happening at the county level because it's affecting us. Like I said, the county has taken a regional approach and we're part of that county. And I'd like to know where that money went and what can be done about putting measures in place so that we are actually meaningfully helping and addressing homelessness in our community. And with that, I will end my report.

Thank you. I I agree with that. We're gonna be reviewing that the the audit findings, and well, I'll share with counsel, the results of of the internal review here about whether we take any action, with regard to calling for, perhaps even a criminal investigation about where $13,000,000 went. That's a very serious, serious matter.

Mayor? Yes. This afternoon at the King County Council meeting, one of the council members mentioned that that audit only went through last June.

Yeah.

So it could be substantially more.

Yeah. I I think at the end of the day, I think that law enforcement probably needs to take a look at what happened. Council member Walsh?

Yeah. Yeah. I I'd like to second everything that that council member Hamilton said about the home homeless situation. Also, about the the Little League Champoree. I mean, the mayor and and council member Hamilton mentioned it. Several of us were there. Talk about a fun event. I mean, seeing all those especially the little ones. I mean, that was was was so much fun. And the town hall meeting also was great.

I'm looking forward to the opening day Saturday at the Farmers Market. And I wanna give a a big kudos to Bill for the work that he's done, everything that the Parks Department has done, others, I know Meredith's been involved and finance and everything. And so great, great job on that and I think we're going to have a great opening day. I'll probably only be able to be there about the first forty five minutes of it before my business calls me away and I will not be able to make it that same day, a little bit later is the Bonsai Fest and it's one of the Our Bonsai Gardens is one of the great things in Federal Way. And, you know, I would encourage people to to go there as well.

The the next thing I mean, I'm sorry councilmember Sesems and the mayor and councilmember, Moore. But for the rest of the council members, I want to wish you a very happy Mother's Day. Okay. A very, very happy Mother's Day. And the the other four council members are are mothers and and what a great thing Mother's Day is.

I mean, I I honor my own mother who, if she were still living, she would be, last, a couple of weeks ago, she would have been 110 years old. Wow. But she passed away at a 103 back in 2019, and just an amazing woman, and my wife, an absolutely amazing mother of of five. And and all three of my daughters are now amazing mothers as well. And and just just I I wanna give hats off to to mothers, and I see a still a few mothers out there in the con in the audience as well. And with that, I will end my report.

Alright. Thank you. Councilmember Sesems. There

were a lot of proud moms at the Jamboree. I saw a lot of happy faces. I had a blast there, and it was great to see a lot of people, a lot of familiar faces out there as parents wearing a different hat. I look forward to next year. Let's see. I also agree that the public forum was a great event.

Was it

was a chance for me to see up close and personal transparency at work. I thought the mayor did a great job providing and all of the directors providing and sharing out information that was critical. It was right in my neighborhood too. That Olympic View School is is a very beautiful structure. And and I think with just a little bit more tweaking to the traffic patterns outside, you know, I think it'll be a very safe neighborhood.

So looking forward to next year or the next time we do that. Wednesday of next week, I'll be going to the SCA PIC meeting, Sound Cities Association Public Issues Committee meeting. Let's see. I also had a chance to attend the board meeting of the South County Fire Department on April 28. I I expressed my gratitude for their service to our community, But in the process found out that they offer a plethora of services that are free to the community.

Free car seat inspections, free blood pressure checks, and bunch of other services. But I encourage people to visit their stations, get to know your firefighters and your first responders. Several years ago, they saved my life, so I owe them a great debt of gratitude for their service. And then lastly, I am looking forward to the big discussion next week on the flag policy. Please show up.

Please, to my colleagues, please show up with your ideas, and let's take action and advance this flag policy.

With that, I Thank you, councilmember. Councilmember Kochmark.

Well, thank you. I I wanna I don't want to reiterate what everybody else has already said. I'll just simply say that when we give money to home health care or home or day care, I just want to make sure we follow-up that it's being used appropriately. I've had one person tell me about home healthcare assisted living with nobody there. I mean, I don't know whether that's true or not or whether it just happens to be at the moment.

But I just think that we need to make sure that we're not having issues in our city. And then with Mother's Day, thank you, Councilmember Wolff, My kids gave me a gift already which was really pretty nice with my recent problems with the hand. I said, thank you for taking care of me because they've all been taking turns. And they said, well, you took care of us. That was nice. Yeah.

That's sweet. Okay. Council President Honda.

Thank you. Excuse me. So don't forget the senior health and resource fair next Tuesday, May 12, ten to one at the PAC. You will regret it if you're not there. I mean, I'll be there, but you know Sharon will be there.