City Council - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress.

Good evening, and welcome to the Federated City Council for City Council meeting for 03/03/2026. 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. Great to see everybody. Alright. Let's see here. Now, we first have, we've got a number of proclamations. Item a for three a is the Red Cross, Red Cross month proclamation. Council member Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor. City Of Federal Way proclamation Red Cross month. Whereas president Franklin d Roosevelt proclaimed March as Red Cross month in 1943 to raise awareness of the organization and its humanitarian mission and whereas the American Red Cross aspires to turn compassion into action with countless statewide volunteers who have helped our friends and neighbors during disasters by providing access to safe shelter, food, and critical health and mental health services. And whereas due to the American Red Cross efforts and local community blood drives, anyone can access blood and blood products. And whereas the contributions of local Red Cross volunteers give hope to the most vulnerable in their darkest hours, working to prevent and alleviate human suffering and strengthening community resilience.

And whereas the City of Federal Way depends on the American Red Cross, which relies on donations of time, money, and blood to fulfill its humanitarian mission. Now, therefore, we, the undersigned mayor and city council members of the City of Federal Way, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as Red Cross month and encourage all residents to join the commitment by volunteering, giving blood, or learning life saving skills to further the mission and humanitarian efforts signed this March 2026. And this will be going to Christy Merrill, an American Red Cross volunteer.

She's wearing red.

What's that?

It doesn't look bad.

It doesn't look bad. No.

But thank you. Of course.

Thank you for this opportunity to be here tonight.

It

wasn't but just a couple years ago that I was in this room, and the Red Cross was here for our sound the alarm program that we have where we come in and install free smoke alarms to help those that are that could use them to have a safer home. And I think we ended up installing it was it was over four hundred four hundred alarms that day. So and then we had a lot of community support. So thank you very much. Thank you, mayor Ferrell, as well.

It's a pleasure to be here, as I said. And for myself, I've been here working or volunteering with the Red Cross for six years now. I have I wear several hats, and one of them is I am on the board of directors for King County and grateful to have this opportunity. One of the reasons I chose the Red Cross is for our mission, and there's just four elements that I'd like to just go over, and that is to prevent and alleviate suffering, focus on immediate aid during, a crisis, and mobilize volunteers and donors utilizing community support. Disaster services providing food, clothing, and health services.

Emergency preparedness, teaching safety skills, and community training. And our military families, of course, we cannot forget them assisting with communication and emergencies. Red Cross has been here in the city of Federal Way many times in helping with home fires. I myself help with home fires and helping those that are recovering, and, it's been an honor to be able to help your citizens here. For over half of our country's two hundred and fifty year history, communities like Federal Way have cared for each other through the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross month, we thank you for recognizing this ongoing support and the people who deliver our humanitarian mission as a time when humanity is often what our world needs most. Thank you.

Thank you for your work. And there's a real problem the Red Cross gets called. Thank you so much for the work you do and for everybody that works with you. Okay. Women's history month proclamation. Proclamation. Council president Honda.

Thank you. I'd like to give a little history on Women's History Month. It started in California in 1978. And in 1980, president Carter declared a week for Women's History Month, and Congress expanded that to a month in 1987. These are the words from President Carter on 03/02/1980 when he signed the declaration for Women's History Week.

From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often, women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well, President Jimmy Carter. When we look at our local history in Federal Way, Federal Way was indeed built by women. Our first mayor was a woman.

Our first council had several women on it. And our chamber of commerce has had women leaders throughout the history of the chamber. Our school district has had school superintendents, women school superintendents, women on the school board. Our water commission has women. The fire commission finally has women.

We're really glad about that. And Federal Way is an amazing place to be. And we are just just the history here of how women have helped form federal because we're really a new city. You know, we started on 02/20/1990, and and we've done amazing things here. And it's a lot of it is because of who have been the leaders.

But the most important women are are the people who are raising families, running their businesses, teaching our kids. It's it's just everyone. The most important leaders, the women are not the leaders sitting here, it's everybody else. So we are going to read the history, the proclamation, and I'd like to invite Amanda Miller, who is the CEO of the Tula Library, and Becca Martin, who is the CEO of our Chamber of Commerce, to come up. And Council Member Coach Martin and I are going to take turns reading paragraphs on this.

So I will start. Women's History Month. Whereas women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways.

And whereas women have played and continued to play critical economic, cultural and social roles in every sphere of the life of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home, and whereas women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions displaying their unique role as the majority of the volunteer labor force in the nation, Anne.

Whereas women have served our country courageously in the military. Whereas women have been leaders,

not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all. Now therefore, we

need the undersigned mayor and city council members of the City Of Federal Way to hereby proclaim March 2026 as Women's History Month, and we encourage all residents to join in the celebration of women of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, signed this March 2026. So I'm gonna bring down some proclamations for you, and we'll have you speak. Give us a few words. And then if possible, mayor, I'd like all the women in the audience to step forward for a photo

That'd great.

As we do every year.

Yep. That'd be great. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. I blew in here, so sorry about that. I got a sick six year old, appreciate this. This is a great honor. I I really appreciate the privilege of being here and accepting this proclamation today.

And I just wanna highlight the fact that we celebrate Women's History Month. It's it's a beautiful thing, and we do this because we have to acknowledge the valuable contribution, as you so graciously listed, that women have made in our country. But why does women's history month even need to be highlighted? It's because women have been making history forever, but systems of inequality have erased their contributions, and there are many many other folks that have also had that challenge. So I just would take this moment to say, that many other communities, are fighting. And right now, I can't say that there is any question in my mind that women had to fight very hard for their position as well and to just keep fighting for what is right. So thank you all.

Thank you for this recognition, that I actually look forward to every year. Every time a woman opens a business, she's not just opening the doors for her self. She is drawing a map for what is possible for her community. In Federal Way, there are so many businesses that are small and locally owned. Women entrepreneurs aren't on the sideline of our economy.

They are the economy. History doesn't wait for perfect conditions. It's made by women who saw a gap in the market, in leadership, in opportunity, and decided to fill it with themselves. That's not just courage, that's strategy. When we invest in women owned businesses, we're not checking a box.

We're building a stronger, more resilient local economy. One where talent isn't left on the table and every voice shapes the future of commerce. As commerce goes, I am an obvious woman in business serving at the helm of the greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce. Businesses owned, directed, supported, and invested in by women may be less obvious, but they are nonetheless the backbone of our shared history. I hope that women know that. Own a store? You're making history. Bringing home a win from the stomp competition in Washington? Hey. You are making history.

Fixing a tool? I didn't know which tool to pick. Amanda? So any tool because Amanda can fix them all. That is history. Working in senior care? History. Kids off to school with matching socks? I'm talking teens, not toddlers. That's history. How many ways can you deliver macaroni and cheese? Ask a woman. Hundreds. The women who came before us didn't ask for permission to lead. They were dancing into the future, and some of those steps and continue to be hard.

But they built a foundation, and the best way we can honor that legacy is by connecting to each other, men and our women, taking the lead in our own dance together stronger and louder. So that's how it is in our corner of the world. And let me assure you, man or woman, none of us need permission to lead as we take the federal way to success. We just need to do it. So thank you very

much. So

if all the women can come up to the in this area, and we can get, if you want to be included in the photo, I'd love for you all to be come up and be included in the photo. Everyone. Yeah.

Yes. Everyone. Yes.

Can we stand up behind? Yeah. I think yeah. We we well, we'll stand up. Yeah.

Want me down there?

Want us down oh, yeah. You should

be down there. Okay.

You. And now all the way from Todd Beamer High School, item C. We've got the Todd Beamer High School cheer team, the twenty twenty six state champions, and here is their proclamation. Council member Asafa Dawson. Yes.

Thank you. And thanks for being here, by the way. And then I'm gonna read the proclamation and if anybody wants to speak, please go ahead. And mayor, if you don't want and if they're willing, maybe they can show us a thing or two.

That'd be amazing.

Alright. You're on the hook now. Okay. Whereas on Friday, 02/06/2026, the Todd Beamer High School cheer team competed in the Washington State cheer competition and whereas at the competition, the Todd Beamer High School cheer team earned the highest score of the day, earning the title of state champions and whereas this state championship win is the first win for the team since 2003 and whereas the student athletes on this year's squad represent Federal Way with excellence, discipline and pride And whereas their dedication, hard work and teamwork showcased the incredible strength and determination of our local youth and school community. Now therefore, we, the understand mayor and city council members of the city of Federal Way, do hereby proclaim Todd Beamer cheer as Washington State champions for 2026 and encourage all residents to celebrate this historic milestone for this team and our community signed this third day of March twenty twenty six.

So go ahead. The floor is yours.

We would just like to say it took a lot of us are seniors. There's about five of us on the team that are seniors, and we're only made up of seven. It took all four years for us to get here. We've had many setbacks, but we've pursued through all of them.

I also just wanna say, like, thank you to all my teammates. They worked really hard, and my parents definitely. And coach Bree, she is one of the reasons why we able to do this and get to where we are. She never gave up on us, and we just all worked and pushed really hard. It was a great experience. Thank you.

I just wanted to say that I am so incredibly grateful for this program. It has brought me, like, teammates and family, and I'm so thankful to coach Brie. And it not only has changed me as an athlete, but also as a person.

Hi.

I'm coach Bree. I first wanna give God thanks in my family and this amazing team and parents. Like the girl said, this is four years in the making, many setbacks, but through it all, these girls have been here for me. They supported me through everything. And to think that next this summer, actually, I'll walk into practice and their faces won't be there is very heartbreaking. But I know they'll be in college doing cheer and amazing things. So I'm really excited, I'm really blessed, and just thankful to have the support I do.

Alright. I can't wait. Okay. Alright. Councilmember Moore, before you guys, I think one of our councilmembers wanted to say something. And, councilmember, did you wanna say something?

No. I was just making sure wanted to.

Councilmember Moore?

I just wanna say that you guys are making Feta Way proud of you guys. And you guys are putting a good light on Feta Way. And for that, I just wanna say thank you. Also, it took courage, it took patience, it took leadership, and it took working together to achieve what you guys have achieved. Getting the score that you guys got was not easy.

And the fact that as I indicated to some of you guys earlier, the fact that had to listen together, work together, trust each other, it that took a lot of courage. That took a lot of leadership and you really ought to be proud. And I just wanna say thank you to you guys. I also wanna say thank you to our coach.

I'm sorry, Rob. Actually I think we just lost recording and everything.

So could we maybe take a

short recess to reset? We're offline.

I could

Can we just can you hold that just for a moment? We as you saw, the power just went out. Right? I don't remember a time that that's ever happened.

Have power equipment.

Exactly. That's right. That was called true power surge. Dang it, Allison. That was my line.

Thank goodness for IT. Where's your cake?

I I gotta wear it the whole time.

Where's the power box?

Yeah. Yeah. We're still

Where's that?

What do

you call that one box?

Oh, we're still

online. Yeah. The

yeah. We're online.

The control box. What's that? Oh, really? No. You're

good. So we're good.

Oh, okay.

On the other side, we need to update this

room. Yes.

Oh, is it everyone

here? So

Hold on. Ryan,

Okay.

Okay. Can you guys proceed over there? Clerk?

Can we have a couple minutes to start

at the computer? Sure.

So come on.

Maybe that. But we wanna make sure it's well

and I wanna like, wanna finish up.

Okay. Heather, would you mind if we if We're almost there. Almost there? Okay. Alright.

Alright. Well, Alison Fine gets the punchline of the night.

Great. You don't even have public comment yet.

Just getting started. That's what I like to hear.

Alright.

Sounds good. Thomas, you ready?

Yeah. I'm gonna go grab a ladder and see if I can figure that back to life, but I'm gonna get this going first.

Okay.

Yeah. But you we're good.

We're good. Okay. That's a high voltage area. You may wanna be careful over there. Yeah. I'm gonna have to you. Yeah.

You will never be my ghostwriter.

Yeah. Exactly. Ben's Ben's good for that.

Well, Brian's calling up. We

don't need a ladder? Is that what you're saying?

Okay. Councilwoman Martin.

Thank you. So I'm just gonna start all over here with my I'm just joking. So I just also like I was saying, I wanna thank the coach and all the supporting staff, all the supporting team members, parents, and and a shout out to Izzy. Izzy, can you wave? The do the princess wave.

Okay. That's for you Becca. So I've known Izzy since she was extremely just a little baby. She is the daughter to a dear dear friend of mine that I went to high school with. And Izzy, I sure hope you've taken the time to thank your mother profusely because I have heard the stories and all the trips she's taken with you and the entire team. So to the rest of you guys, take the time to thank your parents because without them this it wouldn't have been possible. So I just wanna say thank you, congratulations, celebrate, and thank you again.

Very good. Well, are we is there is it possible to get a a cheer?

A little roasty. Oh, well,

come on. Let's let's right here. Right. Okay. Come on up.

Hey.

State champions. That's how it's done. Really, really proud of you all. Thank you so much, and congratulations. The city of Federal Way wants to just say congratulations. Great job, and, really proud of you. Okay. Well, that's hard to top. But Brian's gonna try. Man, that's two.

I think we've got a professional comedian in the house. I think that's what's going on. Exactly. Seems a little dim.

He does.

It doesn't. That'd be good.

A yellow.

Looks like it's coloring. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Alright.

Now you

do this.

Okay. And now it's time. Thank you so much, everybody. And now it's time for the mayor's emerging issues and report. That's me when I came right up from the, state of the city address that young scout was waiting. He wanted to make sure he got a picture and asked me a question, and it was really it was one of the highlights of the night. And Ben got a great picture of the two of us. He was standing there waiting. He shook my hand and and congratulated me, and and I for him as well. So lot of fun. Alright. Next. Okay. As you we're just talking about, we had our state had the state of the city address on February 19. As it says there in the bottom picture, the state of the city is strong.

If you wanna take a look at the entire, speech, you can go on to, our city of Federal Way city of Federal Way Facebook page. It'll be playing on channel 21, and we've got it on other platforms as well. Right?

On our YouTube channel.

Very good. Yeah. You can go into YouTube and just put in stay the city city of Federal Way 2026. It was great. I really wanna thank everybody that helped make it a success. Pam, who helped with just making sure Pam, my executive assistant, made sure that we I think how many tables did we have?

67.

There were 67 separate tables of, exactly. Six, seven. I'm sorry. Exactly. The Allison, you're you're a bad influence. So, anyway, we had a a great turnout, really brought out the community, local governments, local nonprofits, organizations. It was really just a great community event. I wanna thank everybody who came and and and all the departments who did such a a great job and really appreciate it. And the event was just absolutely fantastic. Okay.

Next. We had the good eggs breakfast. As you may recall, that's something that Pete Von Reichbauer, our King County councilman has has been doing. That rip that picture up there, This is at Emerald Downs, some of the mayors and elected officials, from South King County. And, King County councilman for Von Reichbauer brought in, doctor, Sandra, j, Valenciano, the interim director for public health for Seattle King County.

And it was fascinating to hear about all the work that that great organization is up to, and and she's got a tremendous background, has been literally all around the country in various roles, and we're very fortunate to have her. And it was very interesting to hear her perspective. Then on Saturday, you see council president Susan Honda and myself at the Young Life fundraiser at Jimmy Mac's just this past Saturday on the twenty eighth, the day before council council president Honda's birthday, who's The day of. The day of. That's right.

The day of. And her birthday actually coincides with the birthday of the city, and it was our thirty sixth, birthday of of the city. And, so, there's Todd Zurn, who's the area, one of the area, directors, for Young Life, and he's this area director. It was just a great event. Next. Okay. We had the family prom at the community center. I know, at least one of our council members was was present with his family, and, a great job at the community center for pulling that all together. Just a great family time. Then this morning, we were there at, Steel Lake for the Ripple Fiber Fiber ribbon cutting.

We've got, a different fiber companies coming in, and, they did a great job. And our, the CEO of our Chamber of Commerce, who we just saw, just a few moments ago, she was there along with, council member Walsh, council member Hamilton, and representatives of of Ripple Fiber. So it was, great, to, be part of that. Alright. Now we've got upcoming community events.

We've got the repair cafe at South King Tool Library, something that Amanda is very interested in and and, obviously, works hard on. And then we've got Parks Appreciation Day on April 18. We've got three sites, Brooklake Blueberry Farm, the Steel Lake Annex, and Celebration Park. And thank you so much for the folks that make that happen. And let's go back a step to the repair cafe at the South King Toole Library.

That's over at the Masonic Lodge. And be thinking, you got stuff around your house you think needs maybe a little repair, if you got knives in the drawer that need sharpening, if you need, you know, something that just maybe needs a little bit of work or some some really fun thing at the house that you wish could figure out how to fix instead of replacing it, bring it down there, and it's fun to watch, the folks they have there, repair that. So it's a really it makes Federal Way. Sometimes you know, I grew up in a small town. I grew up in Yelm, Washington.

Actually, we end up going to the same high school, a couple years apart. But sometimes, Federal Way, a city of a 100,000 people, can feel like a small town in certain ways in in the best sense of the word. And this repair cafe and the things they do there, the tool library, really shrinks it down and, in in the best possible way. It makes it feel like a small town. You can borrow a tool. You can get your stuff repaired. They have all kinds of great activities. Okay. Now we, then we have unhooked free family fishing event at Steel Lake Park on May 2. That's really one of my favorite events when Benjamin, our our one and only son who's now in college, when he was a little guy, we'd always hand out head out there.

If you get an opportunity and in fact, actually, where'd John go? It starts, I think, probably about 07:30, don't you think? Early. Yeah. It starts off really. Yeah. So you might wanna get there early before all the fish are gone, and, it's really fun. They've got the, hey, John. When does the, the Hooked On Fishing event usually start at Steel Lake? Time of day or Yeah. I think it's around 09:00.

Yeah.

Could be Could be seven. Could be seven. Exactly. That's right. Exactly. Study for this test. Wow. Go talk to Allison. She's much more prepared. Alright. So just kidding, buddy. Alright. So great event. They've got the polls. They've got experts. They even help me catch a fish every year, which is somewhat embarrassing. Alright. Then we've got kicking it feather away at June 19 through the twenty first, all about the World Cup. And it's coming, we're gonna be a part of it. And it's just a really exciting really exciting thing, and that's gonna be over at the Performing Arts And Events Center.

There's gonna be all kinds of ways that people can watch games. There's gonna be food trucks, all that kind of thing. So, gonna be a lot of fun. Okay. Yes.

Yeah. The photo

for parts appreciation, but you you didn't say anything about

it. Oh,

I did. Yeah. Actually, council member Walsh, can you talk about parts appreciation day?

Yeah. Got got got it rolled back to the right photo, though.

Yeah. But what's that? Yeah. Could you, go back?

Yeah. Alright. The lower one here. Parks appreciation day, one of the most important days in the city of Federal Way. Everyone here should be at oh, you you did mention it after all. I I remember now. I was thinking about but at that, Steel Lake Park, Blue Blueberry Farm Park, Celebration Park in the Steel Lake Annex, from nine to noon, you can go out, support the city, support each other, work together, shoulder to shoulder to beautify our city, beautify our parks makes Federal Way a better place to live. And it is families can do it. Kids can do it. Some of you here on the diocese have heard this before, but we've had this going for twenty years now.

And the most memorable story that I've heard about it is that one day, there was a kid walking home from school, a middle school kid walking home from school, and his some of his friends wanted to do some graffiti tagging at a park. And he said to them, we can't do this. This is our park. This is the park where we come on Parks Appreciation Day to work. You can't do that. But one of the things it does, it creates a sense of ownership, creates a sense of pride, especially in the young people. So whether you're young, old, or very old, come out and help and support the community.

Thank you, council member. Oh, and I've gotten updated information. The I'm Hooked On Fishing event at Steel Lake Park on May 2 starts at 7AM, John. 7AM. I'll see you there.

The fish don't sleep.

Exactly. The fish don't sleep. There's a there that that's a punch line of something. But, anyway, okay. Thank you. That's my report. Thank you, Ben. Great job. Okay. Now we're on to the most important part of the meeting, which is the public comment. And oh, I'm sorry. No. We've got regional council committee and regional committee reports. Let's do the councilor Walsh, do you have a land use and transportation committee update?

Yes. Our, committee met last evening, right here in council chamber. There are five items that came out of it that will be on our next meeting in two weeks on the on the consent agenda for that. Our next meeting will be Monday, April 6, 05:00 right here. And and also everybody that's interested in land use transportation should also be interested in going to the parks appreciation day. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you very much. Councilwoman Sessoms, Parks, Recreation, Human Services, and

Public Safety Committee. Yes. We met on February 10, and our next meeting is on March 10, 5PM, and I hope to see everyone there. Thank

you. Thank you. Councilor Rokochmar, Finance, Economic Development and Regional Affairs Committee.

Thank you, mayor. We have seven items on the consent agenda, one of which is very interesting, excuse me, which is that we're going to have a, we've received a grant of some money from Congressman Adam Smith's office that is going to provide a tent, an event tent in front of the Performing Arts And Events Center in conjunction with the pack that will hold, you could even hold a wedding in it, and will have food vendors around it. And so somewhere around, I think in another month or two, you're gonna see this event tent in front of the pack, will be a good addition. And our next Federac meeting, finance meeting is March 31 at 5PM in Council Chambers.

Alright. Thank you very much. Okay. Councilmember Safa Dawson for the lodging tax advisory committee.

Yes, mayor. Our next meeting is next Tuesday, the tenth at 2PM.

And regional committees. K.

So Sound Cities Association tomorrow for those of you who signed up, it's gonna be a networking dinner at 530 Mercer Island, and hope to see you all there. And then with PIC, there's two very heavy topics that's going to be discussed. One is the potential affordable housing regional levy. So this is not going to be due until maybe 2027, 2028, but SCA wants to get ahead in front of it and start just the conversation and making sure that all council members are aware and familiar with it. And then the other one, which is also very interesting, is the King County Transportation Benefit Board, Benefit District.

So last year, SCA wrote a letter opposing it and it had kind of died and then now King County is resurrecting it again and they're proposing a sales tax, not proposed yet, but it's going to go we're all gonna pay the sales tax, but it's to benefit the unincorporated King County areas. So there's also gonna be a discussion around that and see where all cities are gonna how they feel about it, and SCA is going to represent us. So they're in conversation with the city of Seattle, which is not part of Sound Cities Association. So that's going to be very interesting. And then with Central Puget Sound Economic Development District Board, there's a meeting also tomorrow at 10:00.

And some of the highlights would be the regional economic strategy update. And then there's Challenge Seattle Economic Plan Development where former Governor Christine Gregoire is going to be the speaker. And then the economic update where Puget Sound Region has lost 12,900 jobs in 2025, so that's going to be the conversation around the economic development. And then in May, it's gonna be the general assembly for EDDB. With that, I end my report. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you very much. Now it's time for the council president report. Council president Honda.

Thank you. So for council AWC, we'll have a session recap on April 14, probably at lunchtime, but they haven't given us the time yet. It'll be on Zoom, and it'll be talking about what happened in in Olympia. The last city action call is this Friday, 12:30 to 01:15, and you do need to preregister. And for National League of Cities Congressional City Conference, there is an email that went to all of us from Betsy Hildreth last Friday on what to expect at National League of Cities, and it has a lot of good information for you if you want to follow that.

And I want to follow-up a little bit on the Transportation Benefit District discussion. This is gonna be coming to the regional transit committee next week and or in two weeks. And when I was on pick last year, King County Council has a regional transportation district. So King County Council has a regional transportation district, but it's separate from the King County Council. But all the board members are King County Council people.

It is confusing, but that's the way they've set it up. It's something that the state allows cities and counties to do, and they allow cities and counties to raise money for road projects, infrastructure road projects, maintenance and transit, excuse me. And they do it in several different ways but it all involves money coming out of our pockets. And so when King County Transportation District wanted to assess a 0.1% sales tax on everyone in King County for their transportation board. The pick members, all the cities except Seattle and King County said, nope, not gonna happen.

Because they also had on the they were we were voting on the parks levy at the same time and we said just too much. And so King County stepped back. But now they've stepped forward again and they would like to do this. The problem that I would like you all to know about is what happens on King County Council very often impacts every city in King County, and this will impact us. If King County goes forward with this and they do not need voter approval to do this, the 0.1% sales tax could be implemented, but it'll impact roads in unincorporated King County, not in Federal Way.

And so if you look around our roads, some of our roads need some maintenance. Drive thru Celebration Park, you know, it's speed bumps all the way. Those are tree roots that are in the road. Campus Drive has the same issue. So I would like you all, if you can, to pay attention to this. This is gonna happen really fast because they need to do this by April so that they can get money in 2026. And we have a great King County Council Member. You can let him know your your feelings. You can follow this. They're going to have a special King County Transportation District meeting again coming up in a few weeks, and that'll be advertised.

And we can put it on our city page so that you can all follow that. But what happens on King County Council often impacts us, and this is really important. We will be paying into this, but it will not impact our streets in the city of Federal Way. It'll be an unincorporated King County. So if that is something that you're interested in and you want more information, I can provide more information. There's a lot of information on this. Or you can just follow along with King County Council. So it is really in my opinion, it's it's really an important issue for us in every city in King County. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. Now we are on to public comment, the most important part of the evening to hear from you. So, I'll get started with, Ariana Graham. Graham? Ariana?

No timer.

My name is Ariana.

Oh, on the one side. Here you go. That one. Go ahead. Try that one.

Name is Ariana. I am 11 years old. I live in Federal Way. I want to share something important to me. March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day.

If you didn't already notice, I had Down syndrome, and I rock my extra chromosome like a boss. Oral Down syndrome day celebrates me and all of my friends. We want to be accepted, included, and valued. We may be different, but we are not less. I am not suffering from Down syndrome.

I am doing amazing. From March 1 to the twenty first, I am doing 21 acts of kindness. I am putting hard hands all over Federal Way. And some of my favorite places for random people to find. Our world needs more love.

I want to give a hard hand to each of the city council members tonight. Okay. One last thing. We are all human. We all deserve kindness.

Thank you so much, Ariana. Great job. Okay. So World Down Syndrome Day, March 21. Thank you so much for coming.

May I Yes. Can I just say that, Ariana's mom and dad, when I was in the state legislature, I passed a bill that the governor signed that would put information in pediatrician's offices that would explain what Down syndrome was and how special these children can be? So thank you for having Arianna.

Thank you, Arianna. Thank you. Alright. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Date,

time and maybe we can get it on our agenda. Yeah.

Great job. I'm going put this on my bookshelf, Ariana. Thank you. I'll look at it every day. Okay. Great job. John Cameron.

That's me. And for what it's worth, your face when the cheerleader got within a few inches of that light very entertaining.

That was pretty fun to watch.

I watched your face more than, either way. So I'm John Cameron. I live and own property in Federal Way. I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm speaking tonight regarding a special, session, a little bit of a heated special session that happened last month. I wanna begin by saying I have no personal stake in the matter, no political stake. That that part doesn't bother me. I initially didn't review the situation as inherently dangerous or illegal. However, that's not why I'm here tonight. What stood out to me during that special session were two things. First, it was clear there was significant rift in the council and that, somebody chose to act on some division that may have happened.

And second, that it is evident that the council does not currently have an effective process for resolving internal conflict professionally and at the lowest possible level before taking it further. Like many residents, I value transparency in our local government. Public comment is important. Open proceedings are important. Clarity is important.

In that sense, I appreciate the formal process that happened for that to go down. However, I don't believe the council fully considered the domino effect that happens after you do something like that in a community. Because the council could not resolve its differences internally, opposing groups of residents were brought into a charged environment and vote emotions ran high, voices were raised, accusations, defamatory statements were made, statements about council members, the chief of police, the mayor, none of that did anything to resolve anybody's problems. Leadership is not proven when things are easy. It's proven in moments of disagreement.

What we witnessed at that special session did not reflect strength, unity, professionalism, or anything near it. It reflected a failure to manage conflict before it reached a boiling point. The residents of this city deserve better than public officials bickering and making a spectacle. We deserve a council that can disagree respectfully, respect each other, and to work through their differences constructively, present shared commitment to the well-being of the community and what's best for everybody in Federal Way. I urge you all to find a better way forward. You are not here for you. You are here for us. Please always remember that. I'm not pointing out anybody individually. As a body, please learn to work a little bit better with each other. Thank you.

Thank you, John. Lana Bastik. Bastik. Sorry. And then after that, after after Lana, it'll be Anna Patrick, and then Barbara Barbara Kuhn, Allison Fine, and Paul McDaniel.

Am I on?

Yes, please.

Hi. Good evening. My name is Lana Bostick. I've been a resident of Federal Way since 1981. I'm coming tonight because I'm a part of a group of citizens that are concerned about ICE in our community and their actions.

Understand, two, three weeks ago when we had the, special meeting, the mayor said that we were gonna have they were gonna have a town hall, and I believe that's gonna be the April. Yeah. Maybe. So, anyway, I am urging the council and the federal way police to make a public statement before that that shows exactly how our citizens can and will be protected. And I would have you refer to the 2019 keep Washington working act, to kinda get some ideas about that.

Washington State has 325,000 undocumented people according, from a 2022 report, and one in 10 students in Washington has an one undocumented parent in our state. As you know, Federal Way is an extremely diverse city, and I want you to provide a clear public policy for our citizens so the so there is less fear and confusion. I think when there's no policy, then people get afraid and make up things that that aren't exactly true. I would also like the flock cameras to not be giving any information to ICE, and the citizens need to do exactly what the Federal Way Police Department's role is when with dealing with ICE. Many cities have already set up this in place, and I would urge you to consult with them, on how to do that.

I kind of feel like that you're dragging your feet a little bit on this, and I don't want it to end up like the flag pavilion issue, which it just keeps going on and on. Ice is real and in our community, and our citizens are in peril. I don't know if you really need to have a town meeting to figure this out. I think you should know from the meeting on the tenth how people feel about ice in our community. Sorry.

You guys are our elected officials. You work for us. You need to protect us. I want you to do your job and figure out something about this so people will know that they can go to the grocery store, they can go to schools, they can go out in public, and they're not gonna be worried about ICE. And what the police are gonna do, if they're gonna be with them or not, this needs to be taken care of. And I just don't think you need to have a meeting with everybody's input. You guys are elected to do just do this job, and I'd like you to do it. Thanks.

Thank you, Alana. Alana, I want you to know that we're working on a town hall meeting that will cover that multiple other issues facing the community. We're looking at April 30, right now, and we're we're securing a site, we'll get the word out. But that'll be one, issue. I want also wanna let you know that that that our city retreat that was covered by the media, that the chief of police has gone through exactly the the issues, our position on the, keep Washington working act and our position on that.

So that that has all been explained publicly, and, you know, there is no, you know, we're unaware of any operations inside the city of Federal Way. You know, we're there are certain restrictions on what our police can do. So it is true. It's absolutely bedrock true. We're gonna have a meeting. It'll be on the thirtieth. It'll cover that and many other issues. Also, mister Cameron, I want to let you know that we are going to be following up with a second retreat of the council that will be talking about exactly what you're talking about. And in fact, council president, you wanna talk about the the retreat that we that is in the planning stages now?

It'll be on Saturday, April 4 in this room, nine to nine to three. And the public is, of course, invited. And we will be working with a facilitator that we've worked with before. And he does this all around the state. We're not the only counsel that is having issues working together, and he has a lot of experience. So we are working on the agenda right now. And as soon as that's set in stone, it'll be published and available to the public. Thank you. But you're all welcome to attend.

And and chief, do you you wanna weigh in on what what our city position is with regard to the keep Washington working act and what our policy is?

Sure. I I could share some information. Five and a half years ago, a state passed a law. It's called the keep Washington working act. So based on that law, it prevents, municipalities, counties, state agencies, not to share any information, not to cooperate with immigration custom enforcement.

We do not honor detainers, in jail facilities, and that's probably the biggest change. Prior to that law change, Washington State honored detainers. So if immigration never played a role with federal way even before this law, we didn't do any immigration enforcement, but we would just do our job. Immigration had no factor. When people were incarcerated, that's when the jails, you know, would honor that detainer, and they would be turned over to, you know, federal authorities.

That keep Washington working at prevented from any jails from honoring detainers. So that is probably the biggest change, but what I could tell you is policies are just policies, and every city could have policies, but there's a state law. And the bottom line is the Federal Way Police Department, city of Federal Way, fully complies with the Keep Washington Working Act. So we're in full compliance. We don't do any immigration enforcement.

I've checked with my staff. We have no record of immigration custom enforcement conducting an operation in the city of Federal Way. One of the speakers a couple weeks ago said, hey, chief, you just need to check the Internet. I went and checked the Internet. There's no record of publication or articles, anything about immigration enforcement city of Federal Way.

So up to this point, everything that's been briefed to me by my staff, to my knowledge, we have not had immigration custom enforcement. Now if residents feel that whoever's conducting or they don't think it's immigration custom enforcement, they can call 911, and we will do our part to respond and ensure that there are law enforcement officials. That's how we will protect. We will protect our citizens by no matter what type of call that we go to, whether domestic violence, assault, immigration will never play a factor in the terms of how we conduct the investigation, how we do our job. That's how we'll protect our residents.

Alright. And you explained at the council retreat, did you not?

Yes. There was a PowerPoint presentation explaining the keep Washington working act and our how we're in full compliance with that law.

Alright. Thank you very much. Alright. Anna Patrick.

Evening mayor and council. Somebody left their coffee here. So I'm wearing these pearls today because they belong to my grandmother. She fled Italy under Mussolini's rules searching for a better life and came to America by boat. She purchased these pearls at Frederick and Nelson's where she loved to shop.

I wear them in honor of Women's History Month. As a resident, I want to speak briefly to how this council conducts itself. Strong language and broad labels can unintentionally divide people and stall productive discussion. When concerns are raised about process or rules, they deserve to be addressed respectfully and on their merits. The public is best served when the council speaks thoughtfully, avoids categorizing one another, and focuses on moving conversations forward together. That's all I wanna say. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Barbara Kuhn. And then Alison Fine.

Good evening, mayor and city council. I want to speak to you about the co living units that are proposed, specifically about the fact that they only have a quarter parking space for room in the unit. I want to tell you a brief story. When I was young, I moved to Los Angeles, and I moved into an old apartment building, and there was no parking. So you had to fight for spaces outside on the street.

And everybody got towed any number of times because there was a parking structure with high rent on it right next to it. And if you didn't park in that parking structure, well, the meter mates were on the top level of the parking structure they put their their vehicles there. And every morning, they'd come down and hit all the streets really close to the lot. Needless to say, my car got towed a number of times. I was did not have a lot of money in those days.

We did the best we could. Keeping up with all the parking signs was not easy. So why do I care so much about parking? The council has power to push for our city with state representatives and our senators and governors. When it's state's goal to put more and more low income housing units in our city, they can at least help provide for good housing units.

One quarter parking space per room is not adequate. And what's gonna end up happening is people are gonna get tickets. They're gonna get towed, and the police are gonna spend all their time dealing with that. That's not a good situation. So I wanna encourage you to sit just to say to you, you have more power than you know.

When you go to the state leaders, the governor, the senator, the representatives, I encourage you to speak up for better housing. And if that includes better parking, that's what it includes. I don't want the state and the county to railroad us. And I know you guys work hard, so, you know, I appreciate that. But be pushy, please. Just so we get better housing, better information, all kinds of situations, let them be better because you guys worked hard. And I thank you for it.

Thank you. Okay. Allison Fine. And then Paul McDaniel.

If this is whiskey, I will drink it. Just say the word, friend, who after left this up here. A couple things. First of all, Susan said 1978, Women's History Month was birthed. I know somebody else great who was birthed in 1978. I see a coincidence they're not. Four four women are on the city council. Two read the proclamation. I don't know if that was an agreement, but the optics were very weird. So I don't I I'm not sure why the two of them were left out.

The state of city event was great, but I do wonder how often Jim sits at home, in his pajamas with Bailey just watching himself on channel twenty one over and over until he has to put his CPAP on. He's talked about it. That's public knowledge. Sorry about the six seven reference, but I teach full time sixth grade right now, so if I gotta hear it, so do you. And I'm not sure why we need a big tent outside the pack, but I hope that it is, financially accessible for my neighbors to actually use.

A lot of things at the pack are great, but they're just not accessible to community members and small organizations. So I hope that when that's happening, we can be thoughtful about that. Some more serious stuff. I had a Latino sixth grader, say in a question, a bell question, a thoughtful question one day. Who would you wanna interview, and what would you And he said flat out, I would ask God if ICE was part of his plan.

I want you guys to think about that. I would I know that we have a lot of things going on with the flag policy, but I would I will continue to ask that there's a stop gap in place. Saint Patrick's Day is in two weeks. Pride month, Juneteenth, is coming up. I am formally asking once again and will forever until we have policy ask that a banner be placed outside as the twelfth man banner was, representing these things if we can't have a flag that we do something.

And I would be remiss if I didn't express my disappointment again that a month ago we were here dealing with diversity commission appointments. There was confusion, and there were two appointments that were done four months early. When I asked why, I was told, it because it's really hard to get a special meeting on the calendar. And that was proven a week later not to be true. Also, we with all the confusion that happened about who was eligible, I definitely think that that we could have waited on those appointments and really sussed out some of that stuff because, like, tonight, you guys are gonna be addressing a different commission's appointments.

The hypocrisy CV Wonder could see the hypocrisy in what's going on here. So, Susan, I guess you're sleeping. I don't know what's going on right now. Please do better.

I was looking at my iPad, Allison. Thank you so much.

Paul McDaniel. Man, you guys keep

it entertaining at least. Paul McDaniel, residence in nineteen nineties. First of all, Mayor, you're correct. I do watch and listen. So I caught your last comment and last one. So you're correct on that one. First of I'd to say thanks. Director Groom sent me a nice email to some of my questions I had at FedRAC. I will respond to that in an email so we have a good paper trail on that one. There is some concerns I have still I'd like to know about the federated farmers market. It's supposed to start off another season. I have no clue how last year went. And then there's ARPA money that you email makes me wonder how that's gonna be worked out in the future. Moving forward on top of that one, I'm gonna talk about the NLC. I believe the whole council is going to the NLC this year.

So my request is actually to the council president. I'd like to see when you guys get back the cost structure. It's usually about 20,000 plus to go to these events. And also the agenda for which each council member went to and also takeaways from those meetings. We spent a lot of money and time on those. It's a complete waste of time and money if we don't actually bring back and apply some of the stuff we learned there. The last thing I'll have for today is the Todd Beamer cheerleaders. There's seven of them. They won state. There's seven of you guys. You guys talked about how well they work together as a team. You guys should be working as well as a team. They had five seniors. A few guys are on your second or third terms. Some of you are on fourth terms.

So there's plenty of, people in there with experience and stuff. I'd like to see the councils, most of the residents have mentioned also, work like the, team that's just one state. I mean, exactly seven. I mean, you can't get much better than that. So I'm gonna leave you guys my minute 30 back. Have a great night.

So you wanna see a routine by the council or at on on camera? Is that what I'm hearing? Okay. We're working on the retreat. Alright. So we're gonna need help with John. John needs to be there and help us. John Cameron. Alright. Okay. Thank you very much. I I really need to find out where to get one of those sweaters, So so thank you. A lot of fun. Okay. Anybody else? I don't have any other pink sheets. Alright. Thank

you. Mayor, can I respond to Yeah? You have really, really good comments, mister McDaniel. Really appreciate that. But when you go to Washington DC, it's difficult, you need to understand, there's close to what, 300 cities in this state.

The only ones that really get any money are the ones that show up and you don't just show up and they give you money. It's a process. So and I can tell you from experience and I can tell you this is what happened, I went five years, well probably seven, just to get $12,000,000 not that it was carried forward, carried forward, carried forward, carried forward, that created the exchange over by Costco so that coming off Highway 18, instead of going a big backup, you go up over I-five to head to Tacoma, Pierce County. You needed the $12,000,000 as seed money to get money from the state of Washington, which was 100,000,000 in order to build the project. So it's not just a one and done, it's a long process and that's the reason you need to go.

And the reason we go as a group is so that we have power in number and so that they will remember us. And so it's just a long process. And the only way I found that out is when I had gone a couple of times and found out that like the city of Redmond was getting far more money than we were, and I assumed it was because they had Microsoft, but they also had powerful elected officials, and so I figured, well, we better just become powerful ourselves, and so that's why we So thank you, Mr. McDaniel. I just wanted to explain that to you. And by the way, I took my own vacation from my work in order to do that. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Council President?

Thank you. So the last several years at National League of Cities, in our council rules, it actually does talk about a report afterwards. And there were three council members, myself included, that did sit down and write a report after our last visits. And we talked about it during the council meeting. Every council member can do that if they so desire and I would encourage that.

There are different classes to take, different organizations to meet with at these events And they do keep track of who attends what. And I don't know that they would give that to us, but they do scan your name tag when you go into a meeting or a class. So I am looking forward to it. We have have seven people going, which means that we can each attend different things and bring back different things to the community for discussion. So it is looking forward to it. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you for your comment, mister McDaniel. I appreciate it. Okay. Any more public comment? Alright. Thank you, everybody. We very much appreciate your public comment. Okay. Now it's time for the consent agenda. These items can be passed all at once. Bye, Ariana. Bye bye. Bye. Okay. These items have gone through committee. It can be passed all at once. As I read them, I'll, you know, after I read them, I'll ask if any council members would want an item pulled for separate consideration. Alright. Item a, approve the minutes for the 02/17/2026 city council special meeting and regular meeting.

Item b will be pulled. Council member, Hamilton has asked for that to be pulled. Item c, approve the monthly financial report for January 2026. Item d, approve the amendment number one, a, attorney general, number 25 dash zero three zero, the interlocal agreement between Pierce Transit and the City of Federal Way for Police Services. Item e, authorization to apply, three Washington State recreation, and conservation office RCO grants.

Item f, authorization to apply Port Of Seattle for the twenty twenty six to twenty twenty seven tourism marketing support program. Item g, approve the grant for the 2024 congressional directed spending grant for Federal Way Downtown Civic and Community Space. And item h, authorization to acquire computer equipment for the integration of sound transit security cameras within Federal Way. The council, other than item b, are there other items you would want pulled for separate consideration? Alright. Council present.

I move approval of the consent agenda items a and c through h. Second.

There's been a motion. A second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The man has passed unanimously. Item b, council member Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor. I pulled this because it got brought up in our FedRAC meeting publicly, and so I thought it would be good to have the answer also publicly even though the chief had given me the answer privately. When I was going through the vouchers, I noticed that there were payments made to the range for our police officers, but there was no line item for the ammunition that they were using. And so I really would just like the chief to to explain the what you explained to me so that the public understands as well.

Chief? Yes.

As far as the ammunition, it's in our police supply budget line item, and there's $206,000 in that item. And that purchases uniforms for our officers and so forth. So that's where we use that funding for ammunition purpose. We pay about $250 to Federal Way Discount Guns that allows officers to go shoot anytime they want to at Federal Way Discount guns, whether on duty or on their private time. We we will pay for that, and that's about $250 a month.

As far as ammunition cost, we have on a quarterly basis, we have open range. So officers can come on a quarterly basis at Cascade Range in Ravensdale. We'll have range masters there, and they can come shoot their weapons. We provide all the ammunition for that. Once a month, if they go to Federal Way Discount Guns, we will provide a box of ammo for them to shoot at Federal Way Discount Guns, and that's costing us about $600 a month.

About 25, 30 officers take advantage of the ammunition that we provide for them. And if you're a brand new officer, when you get hired, our range master takes them to Cascade Range, and we provide training. That usually occurs about, once a month. And then annually, they have to qualify with their pistol, and annually, they need to qualify with their rifle. So those are the shooting opportunities for officers. We've been doing this practice for some time, and we pay for all their ammo and range time.

Thank you very much. And so the the ammo that they're using to be certified annually, they can shoot as as much as they need to. Right?

Yes. When they come out to open range, we provide all the ammo. It's, if they wanna just shoot on their own, we provide a box of ammo per month at Federal Way Discount Guns, and they bill us directly. And that's been running about $600 a month.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Alright. Council president?

Chief, I grew up in Northeast Tacoma, Browns Point area, and at the bottom of Snake Hill, or official name is McMurray Road, there is a shooting range that the Tacoma Police Department uses. Do we ever use that? It's because it's so close.

No. We don't use that. We we have a contract with Cascade Range and Federal Way Discount Guns. Those are our two facilities. I'm not so sure why we don't. I I'm just assuming they probably don't want other agencies coming and shooting there. They do get complaints about, you know, noise and so forth, so they probably don't wanna use it more than they need to, but we never explored getting a contract. I think our contract cost at Cascade Range is, 1,600 a year, So it's pretty it's not very it's not very expensive.

Okay. I was just curious. Thank you. Alright.

Alright. Well, councilor Hamilton, you wanna make a motion? Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Councilor Moore.

Thank you so much, mayor. I appreciate it. Chief, thank you for your response to this question. So just help me understand this. Was there a time when the city of federally, police department did not cover this?

No. There, there was a time that we, used to give, you know, officers, like, just ammunition anytime they wanted to. But there are periods of time, like, during the Iraq war. I mean, the ammunition got extremely expensive. In fact, we couldn't even find ammunition. We were worried we were gonna run out of ammunition. So there we go through different periods, but I think what we're doing now is kind of the sweet spot. For example, we have, an area in our police department. You can dry fire your weapon as much as you want. And, really, getting proficient with your firearm, drive firing is, like, probably the most effective way.

And the actually firing a firearm with ammunition, it just verifies the fact that you're using right techniques. So we provide that training as well. So some departments don't provide any ammo on their own time. I don't know of any agency that charges officers for, you know, qualification. That's that's given. But to just give officers ammo, some agencies do, some officers don't, some agencies don't and do, but we provide a box of ammo. And it seems like it's addressing the officers' needs.

Okay. Wow. You walked into my next question, but I'll hold off in a second. So you mentioned that they get, one box, per month, if they go to the Federal Way gun what's the name of that place?

Federal Way discount. If they just wanna shoot on their own, we'll pay for their range time, and so there's no expense at all. They can go 10 times at Federal Way discount guns. We'll pay for each of their visit, but we just provide a box of ammo, 25 rounds per month for them to shoot their own weapon on their on their own terms.

Okay. Interesting. Okay. So but if they run out of that box and they wanna go shooting at that place, it's covered?

I think if I'm answers answering your question Well, understand you're not talking about We give box of ammo. Yeah. It's our cost, and we get billed directly from Federal Way Discount Guns. The officer signs in. They also sign in. We get that sheet. We get an invoice at the conclusion of each month. And we usually have 25 to 30 officers that take advantage of just going there on their own.

Okay. And and I guess, like you just stated, it sounds like that is pretty the officers there that are serving, they're pretty happy and pleased with that.

Yes. Yeah. I say I would say it's working out. Internal communication with the officers and their labor group, everybody seems to be okay with what we're doing.

Okay. Okay. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Alright. Thank you. Council president?

I move approval of item b on the consent agenda.

Second. Been a motion to second. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Alright. Matter passes. Alright. We're on to item seven. Excuse me. Item six. Six a, Parks and Recreation Commission. Council member Sesems.

I move to appoint the following candidates to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Jeffrey Tan Creedy to position number three for a term to expire 04/30/2028. Mikayla Birch to position number five for a term to expire 04/30/2028. Karen Brugado to position seven for a term to begin 05/01/2026 and expire 04/30/2029. Carina Martin to position number eight for a term to expire 04/30/2029.

And finally, George Fedino to position number nine for a term to begin 05/01/2026 and expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

It's been a motion to second. Is there any discussion? All the let just okay. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Alright. Congratulations to our new commissioners and the returning. Alright. Item seven, ordinances. Item a, second reading and enactment. Would the city clerk please read the ordinance title?

Council bill number nine thirty two, ordinance co living housing code amendment, an ordinance of the city of Washing or the city of Federal Way, Washington relating to co living housing, amending Federal Way revised code nineteen zero five zero four zero and nineteen zero five one ninety and adding new sections as described in the written title.

Alright. Councilor Walsh. Yes. I move approval of the proposed ordinance.

Second.

It's been a motion to second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Matter passed unanimously. Okay. Council reports. It's the first meeting of the month. So position number one, council member Asafo Dawson.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you for short, great meeting. I just wanna say I'm glad that chief has continuously told us that ICE has not been in our city, and, you know, they haven't been active here. And that's good news, and I hope it continues that way because it's good to be in front of it. But at the same time, we were at a town hall meeting a couple of weekends ago, and I remember state rep Jamila Taylor saying that they actually came to our house. So maybe you haven't heard about it or, you know, maybe it wasn't reported, but that's something that she shared publicly.

And so I just wanted to bring that and share that with you. On a personal note, a couple of weeks ago, a very dear friend of mine, her daughter committed suicide, a young daughter, on her brother's birthday, which also coincides with his him committing suicide a couple years earlier. And so just I'm just sharing this because it's very heartbreaking for her, for friends and family, but at the same time, health is real. Suicide is real. We really need to pay attention to our youth, take care of them, and make sure that they're well.

And so I think collectively, we could do better when it comes to our youth. And I just wanna say this hit home for me. It's very close dear and close to me personally, but at the same time, I don't think they're an exception to it. It does happen, and it's here. And so I just want to say let's love on our youth and make sure that they're good, and let's make sure that there's enough programs that help them when they need it. And so I think prioritizing that and our youth, think, is very important and critical because they're our future. With that, I end my comment. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Councilmember Moore.

Thank you so much, mister mayor. Councilor Esophaldosta, thank you for your comments. I for your report rather. I I appreciate them. You know, I I do believe that on an official capacity we're never gonna know if ICE isn't fed away.

And I think that's why I'm guessing that's why the chief is saying what he's saying because normally when a federal agency comes through FBI or whatnot, I'm assuming there's always coordination and there's always some sort of communication. So I don't I I think on our official capacity, we're not aware that ICE is is in fed away, but I believe that they are. And that's just my my opinion. And I I also had the the opportunity to attend the town hall with our two of our amazing two of the three amazing state lawmakers. And I know that representative Reeves had hers, I believe on Monday, which she she did a great job with.

But you know, it's really profound when when a state representative talks about the story of how ICE did show up in her neighborhoods and how she had to rush down, stop what she was doing, rush down from Olympia to come into Federal Way. And I think that's of concern and that's why I've always said that I will not be a council member that ever says that's a federal issue, I'm not gonna a non issue here. When it touches the limits of Federal Way and when it touches our residents, I will be certain to listen and advocate and do what I can as a council member for that person, for our immigrant communities. And especially when you're talking about a federal agency that is unhinged and is acting chaotic and that's that's not right at all. And so that's my truth.

I expect people will agree and I expect people that will not agree and that's that is perfectly okay. And so I think that's really important. I think the other thing is I have been meeting with two amazing organizations. One of them is Progress Pusher, which I believe, mister mayor, you had them here at city hall last year, I believe, something like that. Yep.

I don't know when. And I've also met with the Federal Way Young Life. And what a two great great organizations. You know, one of the best things about Federal Way is and I've heard this saying several times in my time serving the council in the eight years I was on the council is the the answers are within the community. The answers lie within the community.

And we have a lot of gold here in Feta Way, a lot of talent here in Feta Way. And you know, when you get to sit down with progress pushers and and listen to the work that they're doing and listen to their own stories, it's pretty dang profound because they are truly solving the challenges that our youth are facing. And they're doing a lot to keep our community safe And I can only hope that their message and the work that they do can be amplified. And I am looking forward to continuing to learn what they do. And not only that but Fedaway Young Life is another great organization.

And what I love about them besides they have a fantastic area director who just constantly makes me smile is the fact that on a Friday we know that our students get out of school early and they essentially have nowhere to go and a lot of parents are often working. And so they have answered a need in our community of how especially at Federal Way High School, they have a little house that's part of what church is that? It used to be known Steel Lake Presbyterian Church is what it used to be known as. What? Ukrainian

First Baptist Church.

Thank you. Thank you. Ukrainian First Baptist Church is what one of my colleagues said. And so, but they open up their doors right about 12:30, 12:45 and they offer food because if you know kids, they just love to eat. And not only that but they just provide a space for them, for them to be at, to be safe and to just be a kid, to do what they like to do which is to socialize and gossip.

And so I really admire that Todd has created this program that opens up the door to quite of interesting possibilities, financial education for our youth perhaps but anything to keep our kids busy during that early dismissal period of time so that way the parents can know that they're safe in a place and so I look forward to amplifying what they do in that capacity. And so there's so many other organizations that I'm hoping to connect with and amplify because it's budget time as I've talked to Steve and to our mayor and to some of my colleagues. It's budget time and I hope that our budget can be reflective of our entire community and the needs of our community as well. So with that, I will end my report and hand it off to the next person. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Councilmember Hamilton.

Thank you, mayor. I have the privilege of speaking with the Federal Way Kiwanis about what we're doing as a city and policy work, and I was joined by council member Coachmar and council president Honda for that. And my colleague is correct. The answers are in the community, and we have a lot of service clubs in Federal Way. Kiwanis is one of them, but we have Rotary. We have Lions. We have Saroptimist. We just have so many organizations doing so many great things. And so I would encourage any community members if they're interested in community service, join a organization. I I promise you it will be a great experience. And attended state of the city address and well, great job, mayor.

Well, thank you.

I had community members and neighbors coming up to me saying that it was inspiring, and they felt the optimism in the room. And also, I had a great time connecting with the community booths. Now I have to share one little story. The service dog Sharon, yes. So we had Kevin come, and I actually met Kevin, who talked about the service dog last time, at a Hot Off the Presses event.

And so speaking about community, I would encourage you to go to the Hot Off the Presses event because you never know who you're gonna connect with. He had heard me say that I worked in law enforcement in the past, and he he had reached out and said, hey. Is there a way I can get connected with, you know, the police department? And I said, why don't you just come and talk about your program to the whole council, and the chief will be there, and and we'll all hear it together. So shout out to the mirror for for hosting those events. That was a great connection. Attended the thirtieth district town hall by rep Taylor and senator Wilson, and then I popped on to rep Reeves Town Hall. I think

it was

yesterday after the the meeting we had. Always good to hear about what's going on in Olympia. Short sessions, so we're almost to the finish line there, and we'll know what bills passed and and what bills didn't. And then also attended the historical society open house event. That's always a fun place to visit and to look back and, saw some old campaign signs.

I think some of them might have been yours. But, it was it was great, going back and seeing all of the the history that Federal Way has, and there's a lot of it. And then lastly, today, as we're recognizing women's history month, I've been reflecting personally just on how far we as women have come, especially women in leadership and business. There was a time when women couldn't vote, 1920. That was an era that my great grandmother lived through.

And then in 1974, women could actually get their own line of credit. Believe it or not, we could not get our own line of credit prior to 1974. That was the decade I was born. So that's not ancient history. That's recent.

And and, you know, even today, women in leadership are sometimes described differently. When we make firm decisions, we're we're told we're clutching our pearls or when we're speaking with conviction, we're described as shrieking or yelling. Sometimes we're told we should be seen but not heard. And many women in leadership positions know what those little microaggressions feel like. But ladies, we keep leading anyway.

We keep speaking out. So I do wanna celebrate all the women who continue to lead in their communities and in business and in their government and their workplaces. And I also want to just especially thank the women who stopped by my office, who called me up on the phone, who would stop me in the hallway and just say thank they they said thank you for for sharing my my story. I'm not gonna share it again, but I shared it at the last council meeting. It was a vulnerable moment for me.

One in three women one in three women have a very similar experience in this country, in this world. So I just wanna say thank you to those women who who came up to me privately to to say that that was their story too. And if I can be a voice for women on this council, I certainly plan to be just that. So with that, mayor, I conclude my report.

Thank you, council member. Council member Walsh.

Yes. First off, thank you to all of you who who who come to the meetings, to who come and and are involved with the community. I wanna give a special thanks to the the the new Parks Commission members. Thank you for applying or some of you already served on the commission and for the other commissions in the city. Thank you for volunteering for doing that work.

It was mentioned that there was a lot of of great service organizations in the in the city, and there there are so many great service organizations. There's a great spirit of of serving in our community. And and, we we live in a what wonderful, wonderful community with many giving giving people. Just another resource for for helping to serve. There's there's a website called justserve.org that helps connect service opportunities with people who want to serve.

And so if you're looking for an opportunity to serve or if you need help with an organization that needs help with service, that's a great, great resource. I want to thank those people who make make public comment. There were several public comments that that as a council, we can do better. I I I agree. I firmly believe that we can disagree without being disagreeable, and I I think that we will we will get there once again.

Firmly believe that. Also, a big thank you to the mayor for a great state state of the city address. I've sat through a lot of them, and this was the best one yet. And very there's we we do live in a wonderful community. Great opportunities ahead of us, and we, not just as a council, but as a community, we control our destiny. And we can make better way better each day. And that is my comments and parts appreciation, April 18.

Good. Afternoon.

Thank you. Councilor Sesem.

So I'll start off my report by commending the mayor for his leadership and having an outstanding event, the state of the city address. I think one of the highlights of that was before and after I had a chance to meet the vendors in the community based organizations fair. I met so many people who also, like me, love this community, and they wanna see us flourish. So I I applaud you for that, and I hope to see many, many more just like it. March, I'll be attending the NLC conference in Washington DC along with my colleagues.

I will come back with a report. In my professional capacity at the University of Washington, I do a lot of traveling and I have to come back with reports on these various conferences and the people that I meet. So I'm pretty adept at meeting people and networking with them and connecting with them. I wanna come back and share out what I've learned. That's my commitment to you. I am moving on. I am looking forward to the council retreat on April 4. I I do hope that we are able to get things accomplished. Our communication styles vary. Our political stances vary.

There we're very diverse. I'm I'm learning that right now. But I think if I can get along with my neighbor who lives across the street from me, is a, Republican, who is so in many different ways different than myself, if we can get along and be neighborly, then I can get along with them. I can begin to appreciate them. I hope that my viewpoints are going to be respected.

I am a principled leader, and, I wouldn't expect anything less. So I know they have their proverbial guns that they like to stick to. I have mine. So we're going to need to start from there and work our way forward for the benefit of the community. I look forward to participating and rolling up my sleeves in the Parks Appreciation Day.

John Hutton and Jason Gessett are outstanding leaders. I know John Moore So I've known him for several years, and I look forward to having some fun while we clean up the parks. April 25, I'm not sure if you all will be in attendance, but I will be in attendance at the Garifuna Heritage Month celebration at Town Square Park. If you don't know or have never heard of the Garifuna people, they are an Afro indigenous community in Central America. So appreciate them if you ever have a chance to meet someone from that community.

In fact, come down and learn about their culture. They are a part of federal waste, cultural fabric. I had never heard of them until I received the invitation. So I'm assuming everyone is aware of that and everyone in the community is welcome. In celebration of Women's History Month, I will be in attendance to celebrating Women's History Month breakfast on March 14, sponsored by the American Association of University Women.

I've not don't know anyone in the local organization, but I'm connected with a few individuals at the university where I work. So I'm excited to be in attendance here. April 30, I look forward to the Federal Way Public Forum. That's going to be pretty informative and insightful, And I'm glad we are having a professional mediator, for lack of better words, or consultant to come in and actually roll up their sleeves and help us through this process. We've got a lot of work to do, people.

And the young lady who was here earlier, Ariana, bless her heart. I am going to cherish this gift. It's really important that we see individuals who have Down syndrome and and and and just acknowledge them. They are human beings as well. So with that, I am finished with my report. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Councilor or coach Mark?

Well, good job, mayor. We're gonna teach you how to get a standing ovation next time.

I'm working on it.

So I grew up in an era when you graduated from college, could only be a teacher, a nurse or a social worker or you wouldn't get a job because you wouldn't get hired. So why go be an attorney, you wouldn't The guys wouldn't hire you. And by the way, grew up with brothers, I'm very competitive. I first moved, so I became a social worker for three years until I decided to kind of work in a bank or anywhere else but in social work. So as time went on, I changed careers, I changed things I was doing.

And just to let you know, when I first moved to Federal Way in 1972, it was a city of 50,000 people and it was dirty, we had overhead wires, it was the first thing when I first saw it, I said, I'm gonna clean this place up, looks awful. And by the way, some of those street lights, that's my idea. Otherwise, you'd have a round ball and a black pole. So next time, look at the street lights and think about that for a minute, they were much more attractive. Women think about things like that, guys don't.

So and thank you, Les, for talking about AAUW because really, the city was formed by the business community and AAUW and Mary Gates was a big part of that as Debbie Ortell, our first mayor. So I wanna talk to you too about something that was said earlier that two of the women were left out. They weren't left out earlier with Women's History Month, they had their own presentations that they had made and so I was the only one left out. Susan included me in her presentation so just so you know. And anyway, so thank you for getting everybody together and yes, Ariana was a wonderful, wonderful little lady and I'm so proud of people that take care of and understand that people like that are so special.

So I do wanna talk about some things that are going on personally I'm dealing with in my own personal family. Heart health, not myself but So you guys out there who are 50, 60, 70, get your heart checked out. Heart attacks are not fun and your arteries clog up and you don't even know it so that's something you need to watch.

So

thank you, mayor.

Thank you very much. Councilmember Zanda.

Thank you. So the Federal Way Quanta Salmon Bake is happening again, Friday, July 24 at Steel Lake Park. This July, we have five Fridays and it's always people think it's always the last Friday of the month. It's always the fourth Friday in July, not the last on those rare times that we have five Fridays. It's from four to eight, and tickets will go on sale probably in the next four to six weeks.

But the club is 71 years old, and this is our seventieth year at holding the salmon bake. So it's really a special time for us. Today is a holiday that we have celebrated in my family since, well, since we had our daughter, and I I don't know how old she is. I think she's 36. I don't know.

After she turned 25, I I kept stopped counting. But it's girls day in Japan for for little girls, and you celebrate having a daughter. And you give them a little wooden Japanese doll and honor them for for who they are and just having a daughter in your life. We have two granddaughters. Harlow is seven and Ray is four.

And happy girls day. It's also our my grandson, Owen, it is his thirteenth birthday today. And when my daughter was close to having him at 7PM on girls day. I told her she needed to hold on until midnight so in case she ever had a girl, they didn't compete. She wasn't too enthused about that.

Boys day is May 5, so we don't leave out the boys. And now they actually have combined Girls Day and Boys Day into Children's Day, which is celebrated May 5. And but we still celebrate them separately. I would like to thank our council staff, Amy Glandon, for all she does for us. Not only does she support us individually as people, but she supports us all as a council.

And I have had people in the community reach out to me to let me know how special she is and how much she has helped them find information out that they needed to find out for the city and their own benefit. And I just want her to know we don't take her for granted. We are happy she's with us. She's been with us for four years now. And thank you so much. I appreciate you. I know we all appreciate you. And I know you don't like attention, so I'm sorry. But thank you very much. And that's all I have.

Alright. Thank you. Oh, yes.

Councilor I'm sorry. Councilor president Honda, I actually appreciate you saying that. I guess I'll apologize to Amy as well, but I I've gotten to know Amy only for a short, what, four, five, six, seven weeks maybe, slightly longer. And I will say that in the time that have come on, she has done extraordinary job of making things easy. And she's incredibly fast at what she does with accuracy.

And it's pretty amazing because I've for example, I've had many many calendaring requests and she just makes it happen. And and so there's so many other things I could say, I just wanna say, Amy, seriously, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do.

Alright. I thank you. And with that, thank you. Alright. With that, we're adjourned.