City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, residents of Everett, Washington. I would like to call to order the Everett City Council meeting of June 3rd, 2026. For information on council meetings and how to participate, please visit everettwad.gov slash city council. Please note, we do not allow comments of any kind of campaigning, whether for or against ballot measures or candidates running for office. We also do not accept comments focused on personal matters that are unrelated to city business. Clerk, will you please take the roll?

Mayor Franklin.

Excuse.

Council Member Weir. Here. Council Member Zarlingo.

Here.

Vice President Ryan. Here. Council Member Bravano.

Here.

Council Member Tuohy. Here. Council Member Bader. Here. President Schwab.

Here. At this time, I'd like to ask Council Member Bravano to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance. Sir.

And at this time, I'd like to ask council members Arlingo to read the land acknowledgement.

This council acknowledges the original inhabitants of this place, the Tlaloc people and their successors, the Tulalip tribes. Since time immemorial, they've hunted, fished, gathered on, and taken care of these lands and waters. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. We will strive to be honest about our past mistakes and bring about a future that includes their people, stories, and voices to form a more just and equitable society. Thank you.

In the absence of the mayor, I'd like to invite Chief Goetz to introduce six new police officers.

Good evening, Council President Schwab, council members, and members of our community. It is my privilege to introduce six outstanding individuals who have chosen to serve the city of Everett as police officers. Each of these men has successfully completed a rigorous training process designed to identify candidates of the highest character, integrity, and commitment to public service. They now began a career dedicated to protecting our community and serving others. Tonight's oath is more than just a ceremony. It is a commitment to uphold the Constitution, enforce the law fairly, and earn the trust of the community they serve. We are proud to welcome these six new officers to the Everett Police Department and grateful that they have chosen a profession of service. I would now like to introduce our newest Everett police officers. Victor Pio. Victor was born and raised in Los Angeles, where his family still resides today. After graduating high school, Victor enlisted in the Army. He served four and a half years stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and worked as a wheeled vehicle mechanic during his service, completing one deployment to Jordan in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. When Victor's enlistment ended, he started the process to become a police officer. Victor chose a career in law enforcement to help people who grew up in situations similar to his own. He hopes to show others that there are different paths in life and that no matter where you come from, there are opportunities to succeed and make positive changes. Victor knew Everett was where he wanted to build his career after going on a ride-along. That's a common theme that you'll hear tonight. The professionalism of the officers, the strong sense of community and the opportunity for growth made it clear that Everett PD was the right fit for him. Victor graduated from the Northwest Regional Academy on June 2nd and looks forward to starting patrol, continuing to learn the job and gaining experience as a police officer. He's excited for the opportunity to serve the community, build relationships with the people he encounters, and make a positive impact through his work every day.

Thank you, Victor.

Kevin Bauer. Kevin was born and raised in Missoula, Montana. After high school, he moved to Arizona and studied audio engineering at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. Joining the Everett Police Department is a second career for Kevin. For the previous 15 years, Kevin worked in Seattle's tech hub, focusing on software quality assurance for various companies. He decided to become a police officer because he wanted a more fulfilling career with new challenges where he could make a meaningful difference in people's lives and where no two days would be the same. Kevin chose EPD because of its strong reputation for professionalism, officer support, proactive policing, and commitment to ongoing training. He also appreciates that Everett is a large agency with many opportunities for growth in his career. He lives close to Everett and values the community here as well. Now back from the academy, Kevin looks forward to getting out on the road and applying everything he's learned to real-world situations. He's excited to continue learning from experienced officers, brand new bonds with his colleagues, and working as a team. Kevin joins EPD with his wife, Sarah, and their daughter, Avery. Brandon Bullock. Brandon was born in Riverside, California, but raised in Victorville, where he developed his love for baseball and graduated from Oak Hills High School. After high school, Brandon enlisted in the United States Navy. During his time in the Navy, he traveled quite a bit for training and with his assignment on the USS John S. McCain.

Excuse me.

Brandon spent some time in Japan before the ship became stationed at Naval Station Everett. He spent a couple of years in Everett where the ship was deployed for that specific year before leaving the Navy in 2025. Brandon knew he wanted to continue to serve and to make a difference in other people's lives and felt law enforcement was the best way for him to do so. He chose Everett PD after interacting with our officers and seeing how they carried themselves during interactions with the community. Brandon also completed the Academy on the 2nd Now back at the department, he looks forward to continue his learning with experienced officers and engaging with our community members. Jay Coy. Jay was born in South Korea, but grew up living in Boston, Massachusetts and here in Everett where he graduated from Cascade High School. Jay continued his education at the University of Washington, entered a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 2025. While in college, he also had an internship working for a medical equipment company. After graduation, Jay practiced and taught Taekwondo as an assistant master, attending competitions, participating in community events, and building a trust community at the facility. Jay's interest in police work was sparked early on by an interaction he had with an EPD K-9 officer while still in elementary school. When deciding on a path following college, he knew he wanted to serve his community and make a positive difference through his work, so he decided to pursue law enforcement. Growing up in Everett, Jay found EPD to be an easy choice as he truly loves the community and believes his family familiarity with the city will serve him and others well. Now back from the academy, Jay is eager to meet new people and help serve the community he grew up in. He's also looking forward to becoming a member of the team other officers value working with. Thank you, Jay. Ryan Vidal. Ryan was born and raised in Texas and graduated from CC Wynn High School in 2020. Ryan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps that fall. During his time in the Marine Corps, Ryan was deployed with his unit to Okinawa, Japan. From there, he completed a mission in the Pacific in support of the Filipino National Defense Force. Ryan served for a total of five years in the Corps. When Ryan's enlistment ended in May of 2025, he moved to Yakima to be closer to family and started exploring his career options. Ryan has always been drawn to serving and protecting others, so law enforcement was a natural fit. He decided Ever Pretty following a ride along. He appreciated how the officers conducted, he appreciated how the officer conducted himself and interacted with community. Ryan is excited to be finished with the Academy training and looks forward to getting out into the Everett community to begin making a difference. Along with Ryan, we also welcome his wife, Jacqueline, to the EPD family. Thank you, Ryan. Israel Hoyda. Israel was born in Brewster, Washington, but moved to Wenatchee at the age of 10 and graduated from Eastmont High School. After graduating from high school, Israel joined the United States Marine Corps where he served four years as a radio operator at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During his time at Camp Lejeune, Israel deployed to Japan and South Korea. When his time in the Marine Corps ended, Israel moved back to Wenatchee where he worked as a security officer for a hospital. Israel was inspired to pursue law enforcement after seeing how police officers made a difference in their communities while viewing the TV show Cops. Israel chose EPD following a ride-along, noting that every police officer was easy to talk to and they were professional with everyone. Now finished with the academy, Israel looks forward to starting his field training. He is eager to begin interacting with the community to make a positive impact and hopefully inspire the next generation to pursue a career of service. Israel joins the EPD family with his girlfriend, Myra, and their son, Izzy.

Thank you, Chief. At this time, do I hear a motion to accept Victor Pao, Kevin Bauer, Brandon Bullock, Jay Kao, Ryan Vidal, and Israel Hoya to be the newest members of the Everett Police Department? So move the motion. Seconded. Motion and seconds have been made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Weir? Yes. Council Member Zarlingo? Yes. Vice President Ryan? Yes. Council Member Brabano?

Yes.

Council Member Tuohy? Yes. Council Member Bader? Yes. President Schwab? Yes.

Yes.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I state your name.

Do solemnly swear. That I am a citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent resident.

That I am a citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent resident.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution and laws of the state of Washington.

The Constitution and laws of the state of Washington.

And the charter and ordinances of the city of Everett. And the charter and ordinances of the city of Everett. And that I will faithfully, honestly, and impartially. That I will faithfully, honestly, and impartially. Perform the duties of police officer.

Perform the duties of police officer.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

Yeah. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Okay, so we'll move on to old business. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes for May 27th, 2026? I also have a Ryan so moves.

Second.

Motion and second's been made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Weir. Yes. Council Member Zarlingo.

Abstain.

Vice President Ryan. Yep. Council Member Bravano.

Yes.

Council Member Tui. Yes. Council Member Bader. Yes. President Schwab.

Yes. On to public comment, I would like to make an announcement and a little bit of a challenge. There has been several requests to have an interpreter on site here or someone to give their public comment. This is a very unusual request and not a lot of precedent setting. It is, although it's very important that, and I know I'll speak for all of us, we respect and I think it's very important. We have set, we have 80 plus languages from our residents in Everett. And it's, we're all, I'm personally very aware of the need to assist in some of these areas. Engagement is very, very important to all of us. Unfortunately, this is somewhat of a rare request. We do have some precedents, including a planning meeting, and it took several days, even almost a week to get an interpreter in plan. It just certainly isn't that easy. The city doesn't have those types of resources. So it's very difficult to have these types of requests, especially the day of. Of course, there is maybe some potential, always a legal discussion. So I want to refer to our deputy city attorney if you have any comments on these types of requests.

Obviously, we can voluntarily accommodate what we have. But when we've looked at it in the past, I don't think there's a legal obligation for us to provide an interpreter. And so we have refused that in the past as well.

And that's always reassuring, of course, but more important is that our citizens and business owners get a say in and as we review policy. So I just want to make that aware at this point, we don't have, we weren't able to grant an interpreter for the request today. So Dave Kuntz, Excuse me, only when you're called upon Thank you so at this point. Dave Kuntz, we'll do do public comment and we'll begin with angie if you could guide us through the various requests.

Sure. So we have multiple individuals on zoom and I just want to share that your name must match the name that you registered with to participate in public comment. I think there's one individual here, uh, Lisa that did not register. And so if you registered under a different name, please rename yourself on zoom. And I'm going to start with Chang. C H E N G and just want to make sure I'm pronouncing that right. And if you can accept being a panelist, and unmute yourself. And if possible, turn on your camera.

My understanding of giving ma'am ma'am, we have need to order here. So ma'am, please, please.

Okay, there's, I'm going to hold on that person, but Grace, I'm going to move on to Grace.

Is there someone here that I take it someone in the audience that has some authority to speak for these people or?

Well, this person, if we could speak to Grace, because she put her hand up, so she might be a person that can speak on behalf.

Okay.

So.

Before we go there, you obviously, ma'am, were somewhat aggressive here in your speaking. I hope you have something.

I don't think I'll be aggressive. I raised my hand.

No, that isn't how we work here. So do you have something that you can contribute to our challenge?

Yes. Okay.

You have three minutes to speak.

You would like to go first. Okay, great.

So you have three minutes to speak. You need to come up to the mic. Turn on the mic, state your name and residence, a place of residence, and you have three minutes.

Can you hear me?

Yes, thank you.

Okay, my name is JM. I'm coming from Seattle. And we are here to participate in the council discussion around massage licensure. So you, Mr. Schwab, you mentioned that it was rare, but I don't think it should be rare because this ordinance actually impacts Asian workers. So I'm actually surprised that Asian workers aren't allowed to share their comments, or there's not been more prior outreach done to make sure that we are able to share how this legislation impacts us. But I just wanted on the record that we also went on your website where it says that if our language needs are not accommodated, that we should file an anti-discrimination case. So that's something we would like to move forward with to file an anti-discrimination case with the city council. In any case, we are providing our own interpretation. And I would like to ask for some accommodation online to allow our interpreters to be able to translate. Unless, on the record, you're saying that you do not want Chinese speakers to talk about this issue. So if you do want the people who are directly impacted by your ordinance to be able to offer public comment, then please accommodate us having equal amounts of time to be, as per language justice practice, to be able to share our thoughts online as well. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. Yes, if she, I think what she was saying there is that she is prepared to help interpret the comments from our online commenter. Is that what you're saying? So we have someone who wants to comment but isn't going to speak English but she can translate for us.

I guess the other alternative is to postpone and delay this ordinance vote until we are able to set up interpretation that equally reflects people's opinions and thoughts, because I think you deserve to hear that.

Okay, ma'am, if you would like to interpret and if the speaker would give permission, that would be fantastic.

Okay, we will interpret for free for the city of Everett. We will have that on record. And we do want to make sure that you get a different perspective and hear from the people who are directly impacted by any legislation you might pass.

Okay, thank you, ma'am. And if you could work with our HR department for future needs, that would be fantastic.

We follow the instructions on the website.

Okay, that goes to our HR department. Thank you. Okay. So how we want to set this up. Do we have and thank you for your offer. I appreciate it. OK, so.

I need names or a name of a person who would be interpreting so I can let them in as a panelist at the same time as the person speaking that's needing interpretation. So who would that be? Well, I have like I've had like two or three people raise their hand, so I don't know. I don't know who to call on for interpretation. I can't let everyone speak at once. And I have like 12 people sitting here that I would have to do a roll call with or whatever you want to call it. Not a roll call, but checking in.

How about we just pick one at a time if they need interpreter and then someone's willing to do let's make your mission.

Okay, so it looks like Chang is, I'm going to ask one more time just to be sure. I'm not sure if they do want to speak at this time. So I'm going to try right now and see.

Make sure they get permission. Thank you, by the way.

Okay, so Cheng is declining. So we'll go to Grace. Grace, would you like to participate?

Yes, I'm here.

Good evening, today I would like to share about anti-inflammatory therapy. This therapy is mainly because it can quickly and effectively relieve nervousness and pressure and is recognized by the public. So it is also often used to relieve various chronic diseases and insomnia symptoms.

Can you repeat it? Can you speak slower? Because I need to listen.

Okay. Tonight I would like to share about anti-inflammatory therapy massage techniques.

So today I would like to speak to the ordinance around massage parlors.

这种反射疗法因为能够快速而且有效地缓解 精神紧张和压力而被大众认可。 So the massage that is done in these parlors help to relieve stress for a lot of people in the community.

它也常常被用于缓解各种急慢性的疼痛以及失眠的症状。 And it helps to address insomnia and any kinds of pains that people might experience.

所以我希望政府在制定和颁布法律法规之前能够先倾听到我们普通民众的声音。 I hope that before you pass this legislation, you can take time to listen to regular people.

立法的初衷是为了帮助人们创造健康的生活环境和生活方式,还是为了制造压力和限制? So the law should be aimed towards supporting people's health and wellbeing. It shouldn't be used to restrict that.

We should have the right to pursue our workers' rights and ability to work freely. So thank you. Okay.

So thank you for that I just want to let you know that each individual needs to state their full name and their city of residence and then, if you could just for the record for this one time state your name and city of residence. For the record, and then they all have we're going to give in addition to the three minutes we're giving another three just to allow time for interpretation, so a total of six minutes for each person.

Okay, thank you. Okay, so we're moving on to Dian, D-I-A-N. Mm-hmm.

And if you could turn on your video if possible, but if not, please. Can you hear me? Yes.

Okay. Yeah. So my name is Dian. I live in Shoreline, but I actually go to Everett a lot. I work my dog there in Howard Park almost every week. I'm also a regular customer at massage parlor in Everett. My wife and I both go regularly. She's a software engineer with a lot of screen time and the chronic neck and shoulder pain. So most weeks she needs a massage several times just to get through the week. She often works till 8 or 9 at night, a very heavy schedule, and then grabs a quick dinner, then heads out to parlor, sometimes at 10. So that's just her normal schedule, nothing specious. We also often go to affordable Asian massage parlors, no insurance, paperwork, referrals, or appointment booked weeks ahead needed. So you can just walk in, get some relief, relax, and then go home and sleep. So for us, these ordinances would ban that after 10 p.m., also cut us off completely, kind of like also cuts off income for those workers during some of their busiest hours. I also work with the Massage Parlour Organising Project with JM who's doing interpreting there. MPOP spent eight years doing outreach to massage workers across greater Seattle, going door to door, including in Everett. Most of these workers we met are Asian immigrant women. Since the Bothel raids, they've been scared. They are afraid of inspections, afraid of law enforcement, because they know that even a small violation, a misdemeanor, can affect their immigration status. That's their real risk. So this ordinance makes it worse. It will allow announced inspections by police, by fire marshals, and code enforcement with no prior notice, and the criminal penalties for small technical violations. For someone who's a new immigrant, misdemeanor isn't just a fine. It can start a deportation process. And the Washington state already has a full system for like regulating massage therapy. If the goal is to protect workers and to stop trafficking, we don't think announced inspections is the resolution. Community education is, language access is, which you are still lack of. These workers were never consulted. No outreach was done in Mandarin in Cantonese or Vietnamese, not in their language. So our request is please table this ordinance and come back with a process that actually includes the people it affects. Thank you. Thank you.

Ma'am, just one moment, please, just. OK. OK, I'm sorry.

These are the names of people online.

OK, thank you. Erica. If I can have you be an interpreter for the next person, but if you are wishing to speak for your own public comment, please do so. And state your full name and city residents and you have three minutes to speak.

Okay, sounds good. I'll start with my own public comments, and for the future, I can also interpret for other workers. Thank you. My full name is Erica Wang, and I live in Seattle. I'm here to stand alongside these Massage Power workers, who are just like my big sisters and aunties, and I'm also here to interpret for them because their voices deserve to be heard here. I want to talk about the Everton City Council Bill 2005-28, To be honest, we are angry because we are exhausted by the constant stream of abuse passed against us. Abuse written without our input, without our voices, and without any community members at the table. We are all immigrants. English is not our first language, yet we are targeted and criminalized simply because of our limited English proficiency. Because we cannot defend our rights well, everyone sits here and make decisions for us. We were not invited to this meeting. When we reached out to the ADA coordinator, we were told this is a rare cases that interpretation could not be provided. When you hear these workers speak and you understand nothing of what they are saying, that is exactly how they feel every single day and also within the current licensing system. So the Elrond City Council bill 2005-28 seeks to further criminalize unlicensed massage work. Asian massage workers bring deep experiences and cultural expertise to their practice. Unlicensed Asian massage workers exist not because they do not know how to do their work, but because the systemic barriers they face as low-income immigrants with limited English proficiency. Criminalization means marginalization, and under this era, it also can mean deportation for workers. How can we justify this kind of targeting of Asian immigrants as protecting public health? City resources should be redirect toward removing barriers so that immigrant workers and businesses have real pathways to save and dignify work, not to further fund the police raids and increase the barriers. Thank you.

Thank you. Ray, if you could unmute. And if you are, I'm not sure, if you need interpretive services, then we'll give you six minutes to speak.

Hello. I don't need interpretation. Thank you, though.

Thank you.

Hello, council members. My name is Rae, last initial S. I live in Seattle currently, but I previously lived in Everett for four years. I am a social worker and organizer with the Massage Parlor Organizing Project. I have been part of outreach and research efforts around their work and well-being for the last five years. I strongly encourage you all to either table or vote no on this proposed bill. because it will disproportionately harm Asian immigrant workers. I understand and I agree that all workers should be able to practice safely. This includes licensed massage therapists and people who are unable to access these traditional paths to licensure due to language barriers, class, or immigration status. Unfortunately, proposed bill 260528 will harm the latter. I also share your concerns around force, fraud, and coercion, and I want workers to feel free and safe in any workplace. However, the current model for combating this is not effective. As we have seen in the recent bottle raids, law enforcement will frame their investigations as combating trafficking and rescuing workers, but massage workers often see law enforcement as the biggest threat to their safety. If workers are abused or robbed, calling the police isn't an option because unlicensed massage work carries harsh penalty. Doing so would mean risking an arrest, and an arrest means having a criminal record and potential deportation. The inability of massage workers to report incidents at work or seek help, along with the stigma that comes with their work being criminalized in the first place, makes them vulnerable to exploitation and violence like the horrific attacks in Atlanta five years ago. I believe in fixing the root causes of exploitation instead of simply reacting with pretextual stings. We need to establish an accessible pathway to this work, like expanding pathways to licensure. To end my comments, I implore you all to reflect on these following questions. Has the community been consulted on the potential drawbacks of this bill? Has there been any outreach or have enduring efforts been made to support the workers who wish to obtain a license but are unable due to language, class, and immigration status? Where is the empirical data on trafficking charges following these raids and crackdowns? I know AANHPI month has just come to a close, but let's not forget that support for this community does not end just because it's a new month. Let's show our support for Asian immigrant workers by either tabling or voting no on this proposed bill, and let's resource and empower those who are just trying their best to navigate a system filled with obstacles. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Mia, if you could unmute and you can state your full name and city of residence. And you have three minutes to speak.

Oh, hello. Yeah, I'm Mia Wang, and I live in Seattle, but I travel a lot during weekends in Washington. And I'm a software engineer, and I care a lot about workers' rights, especially like immigration and Asian workers' rights in Washington state. So last month, I joined like the Martin Luther King Jr. Council Labor Council in Washington, and which represents like over 115 union and more than 220,000 workers. So during the meeting, I learned a lot of like current barrier, like the immigration issue, massage worker they are facing. So they are facing like system medical barrier in current massage licensing progress, because that is extremely difficult for them to overcome. So for example, the current massage licensure exam is not provided in many people's native language like Chinese, and it's only providing English and Spanish. And also the license require like 30 to 70,000 training fee and over 600 hours of training. And it doesn't count for years of experience and cultural practice for Asian massage workers they have. And this results in racist exclusion of Asian massage worker from the industry. So I think in Washington state, even for the driver license test, which I think it's more important in the massage license test because if you are a driver, if you are not driving good enough, it can cause really serious consequences. And the driver license, the exam provides many language The test is in many language, including people's native language, but with such lessons test is not. So yeah, I got a lot of inspiration from the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council meeting. And I think it's important for us to listen to people's need and to stand solidarity with them. Thank you.

Thank you. And we are just going to move to one individual here in chambers, so if Sharon could please come to the podium and we have a MIC here for you. Or if you'd like to stay there, you can stay there too it's whatever you like. And please state your full name and city of residence and you'll have three minutes to speak.

Okay. Yeah, my name is Sharon Ani. I live in Lake Stickney. And I do have an Everett address. And I'm here to talk about and be in support of Everett Paratransit, since I obviously use them all the time. So I'm voicing my concern. I know that you guys are looking at possibility of not having Everett Paratransit. serve your city. And I have great concern about that. Everett Paratransit, it's just a wonderful company. I'm wondering whose idea this was to disband them. And I know you've got budget issues. I understand that. And you're working hard to resolve that. And I think that's probably part of it. But it's just such a wonderful company. And I have used both DART and Everett Paratransit the last eight years in my wheelchair. And you guys have a jewel of a company with Everett Paratransit. And I can't tell you the difference between those two. So without going in and being negative about DART, I'm just going to focus on the positive. But the bus drivers are wonderful. They walk me into my front door, close it when I'm gone. And they're just so professional. And I just feel like you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater. And they're just excellent, professional bus drivers. The buses are clean. They're always on time. One of the bus drivers has his own CDs that he plays for us while we're on the bus. On Sunday, they pick four of us ladies up all the same, and we go to the same church. And that's very considerate because we all know each other. And they're just such a personal company. And I really hate to see that go to Dart, which is a for-profit company. And also there will be the potential they'll raise our rates as well, double it. So I'm just here to support them. And I wasn't asked to be here by them. They don't know it. But I just, I wish you would reconsider that.

Thank you.

Okay.

We will go back to those on Zoom. And if Dong can unmute. Dong, are you able to unmute?

Okay. 谢谢,我是董,住在西雅图,Belleville.

Could Erica or Mia?

Yes, I can do that. Thank you. Hi everyone, I'm Dong. I live in Belleville, Washington.

我觉得按摩门槛不应该那么高,我们是放松型的按摩,只是为了大家缓解疲劳。

I think the bar for licensing of massage shouldn't be that high. We mainly provide relaxation massage. Our purpose is simply to help people relieve their body pain and also mental stress. We serve clients from diverse backgrounds. There are laborers who need their muscles to be loosened after hard physical work. And there are software engineers who have like bad chronic neck and shoulder pain. Some of our clients are actually low-income workers who have no health insurance and they cannot afford expensive medical massage treatment.

So our service is actually very essential service for them.

I think the key for massage is the technique and skill and caring for every single client. We have that skill already.

I have just reviewed our reviews and I see

One of the bills listing that there could be inspections with no prior notice. I think inspections with no prior notice do not help us or improve our working conditions. They only make us afraid. In the current immigration enforcement climate, we all know that further criminalizing the massage industry puts our workers at risk for detention and even deportation. I think this bill is essentially just anti-immigrant. There are also consequences that when inspections and re-ease happen more frequently, our parlors become the targets for criminals as well. They can impersonate police officers and to take money away from us.

消防检查中有些情况完全是能够帮我们改进,很快就能修好。 他们只是粗鲁地让我们关门,这样是没有好处的,而是伤害。

Recently, there are a lot of fire inspections happening to massage parlors. They point out some fire violations. Those are minor violations and could be fixed quickly. However, their reaction is to simply shut us down without giving us a chance to correct the problem. I don't think this is protection for us, for massage parlors. It's just more harm.

我们的工作条件和生存的状况希望能够帮助我们为我们争取更多的劳动权益能够堂堂正正的工作有底气的对于伤害我们的客人或者老板说不不要

Dear council members, if you really care about public health, if you generally care about our working conditions and our livelihoods, then help us. Help us fight for our labor rights, help us work with more dignity so we have the standing and the confidence to say no to clients or employees when they harm us. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Jan if you could unmute. Okay, and if you could please state your full name and city of residence and you will have six minutes to speak if you're needing interpretation.

Hello, good evening council members. My name is Jan Curio and I'm a resident of Linwood. I'm a college student. I attend classes at the Washington State University at the Everett campus. Although I'm not a resident of Everett, I spend a lot of my time here. I come to Everett for school. I work here and I also spend much of my free time in the city. I'm speaking in support of the housing goals in the Everett 2044 Comprehensive Plan. As a student, I understand how important affordable housing is for people pursuing an education and starting their careers. Rising housing costs can make it difficult for students and young adults to live near where they work or study. So I encourage the City Council to continue supporting policies that increase housing availability and affordability as a priority as Everett continues to grow. By prioritizing diverse and affordable housing options, the city can remain accessible to students and families who contribute to the community every day. So thank you so much for your time and consideration. Thank you.

Okay, next if Radha could unmute. And please state your full name and city of residence and you'll have six minutes to speak if you need interpretation.

I don't need interpretation, but I appreciate it. Hi my name is Radha. I live in Seattle, but I have family in Everett. Just this weekend, we attended the Taekwondo tournament up in Everett, the university up in Everett there. It was pretty fun. I'm here to speak against the bill that y'all are trying to pass. Your city council starts at six. That's pretty late. But as I was listening to the beginning part when y'all were swearing in the officers, the cadets, now they're police officers, they talked a lot about service and service to the community. And I'm just wondering if you could reflect on why y'all want to run for office or want your seat at office there. And I hope it's the same service that the officers wanted to... help out with the Everett community there. The bill, this massage bill, it's not going to service your community. These are folks that are brothers and sisters and moms and fathers that work and live in Everett that work as massage workers. And as you heard from the testimonies of the massage workers, there is a problem with the state licensure process. It's only given in English and Spanish. So there is a barrier there. And instead of passing this bill, I hope that the Everett Council can actually come together and advocate this. for the state to pursue more equitable massage license policies so that folks that actually know and have been doing the work can actually be licensed. And that way they won't have any fear of retaliation from these bills that criminalize their work. Thank you.

Thank you. And if Erica or Mia could share with individuals online that if they registered with a certain name but are naming themselves differently on Zoom, that we won't be able to give them access to speak. We can only allow those who registered. So if one of you could express that to them. okay i'm gonna do that right now i'm sorry i didn't hear what you said she said she was gonna do that real quick okay thank you and uh actually we have

One worker who speaks Mandarin, Cheng, she missed her turn because she didn't realize because we were speaking only English at that time. Is it okay for her to speak at this time?

Yes, so I will give her access to unmute.

Okay, thank you. Cheng Cheng, you can speak now if you want to.

Hi, my name is Cheng Cheng.

I live in Bellevue, Washington. I'm a massage worker. I've been in this industry for four years. Along these four years, I've been serving a lot of customers, and many of them are from a lower class.

当我看到他们拖着疲惫的身躯来到我的店,然后精神焕发地离开,我很有成就感。

They usually come to see me with a lot of muscle pain or just looking very tired. And when they left, they looked so re-energized. I feel very proud of being able to help them. 我为我的职业感到自豪。 I'm also proud of the career I'm doing.

你们现在... 我们也不敢说 因为我们没有按摩执照

I want to voice out that I think this bill is actually bringing a lot of harm to us both directly and indirectly because some customers, some bad customers would know that massage workers are very varied right now because some of them might be unlicensed and they would use that fear to come to take care of the services without paying us because they know we are too afraid to tell anyone about this.

我们没有迟到并不是因为我们笨。 我考驾照的时候我只看了三天。 考的时候我只错了一道题。 We are on lessons not because we are stupid or we don't have the skills.

When I'm getting my driver's license, I actually only use three days to prepare myself and I only missed one question. 因为它是用的我的母语。 Because for that test, I can take it in Mandarin.

我们的顾客我们是全美联署八家店 我们的顾客很多 我的英文虽然跟他们不能沟通 但是简单的词汇我们都可以的

My parlor is a chain parlor. It has several parlors among Washington. And although my English is not good enough to remember all the medical terms, I can still use them to communicate easily with my customers during the services.

I hope

you can do something to improve our working conditions and to do something that directly relevant to our happiness and livelihood.

I think this bill is not only harmful to massage parlor workers, it's also a bad idea for our customers. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, if Ping An can unmute. Okay, please state your full name and city of residence. You have six minutes if you need interpretation. Hello.

Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, you can. Hi, my name is Ping An. I live in Bellevue, Washington.

I joined this meeting really last minute because I realized this meeting is discussing about our massage workers. And I'm like, really annoyed when I see there is regulations on our closing hours.

为什么单单针对我们亚裔群体的按摩来规定时间? 为什么赌场不规定时间? 你们有什么权利来规定我们的营业时间?

I'm upset to see there are actual regulations on the hours of operation exclusively for massage parlors. I wonder if that applies to other businesses. If the casinos have this kind of regulations, why targeting Asian massage workers?

Why does the fire inspection officer not even give us a formal document and just put a note on our door?

And also, we see that it's possible for police or fire departments to conduct inspections without prior notice. I wonder how we are considering that rule because I experienced that myself and the fire department came to my parlor and they just like put a notice at the door to shut our business down, without saying anything to us, without trying to improve the conditions in our parlors.

为什么整个西雅图地区没有针对中英文的培训学校?

Also, I want to ask why the licensing in Washington state does not provide schools that can teach in Mandarin or provide any tasks that can be performed using Mandarin.

即便有一个或者是两个都一万多美金, 而且还要耗时半年至一年才能让我们拿到结业证书。

You may not be very familiar with the current status of the licensing, but even if there is one or even two massage schools that can provide Mandarin instruction, they will cost more than $10,000, which is so high for us new immigrants. And it will require long, long teaching hours.

我们辛辛苦苦上完了学,然后学校取缔了,我们的小时证作废了,谁给我们把钱退回来?

As I said, there are so many bills that keep changing and impacting our lives. I think there was an incident that our students fulfilled our requirement. We completed the massage school. Then we just got a notice that this massage school is no longer valid. And all the efforts you put in are now invalid.

We are immigrants, we are minorities. I think there should be assistance to help us survive and to help us do our career under a good working condition. The fire department is here to inspect. They can give us fire equipment. We can pay for it. Why don't the fire department give us fire equipment? Why don't the fire department give us fire equipment?

Back to the fire department, they literally came to my parlor and they said nothing but to have the notice on my door. And I think someone else also came in to force us to buy very expensive fire coat equipments. I think that's really unfair.

Don't target us, these vulnerable massage groups. 我们付出了劳动,我们合法的纳税,我们没有得到公正的对待。 I want to say please do not target our Asian massage workers anymore.

We are taxpayers. We are working to provide ourselves. We should be treated fairly.

为什么不要借鉴加州或别的州来制定我们华盛顿州的按摩培训?

I also want us to look into other states' rules. For example, California, they have different rules and different accommodations for workers speaking different languages. I wonder if the council members here can want you to support us in finding a way to benefit our livelihood in Aberyn and in Washington state.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone.

Okay, thank you.

And I'm gonna step in as Erica, can you still? Can you still hear? You're the council? Yes, I just want to thank you very much for giving giving the speakers a voice and you did a great job.

Thank you i'm i'm also bilingual English is not my first language, I just hope in the future when we are discussing this kind of issues, especially when it's so relevant to. Asian workers Asian immigrants that we can provide interpretation as a choice for people.

Angie okay we have. other individuals not pertaining to this item but if Rosita can unmute and if possible turn on your camera and state your full name city of residence and you have three minutes to speak

Hi, good evening. My name is Rosita, and I am a resident of Salton, Washington. I am a social worker student at a university on the Everett Community College campus, and I am here to express my support for the community, I'm sorry, the California State street, bridge, and pedestrian corridor project. I feel that this project is an important investment in safety, accessibility, and connectivity for our community. Many residents rely on walking, biking, and other forms of active transportation to get to school, work, parks, as well as local businesses, such as the Recovery Cafe, which is located on California Street, and it's used by individuals who utilize their services. Creating safer routes helps reduce the risks of accidents and encourages healthier transportation options for people of all ages and abilities. The corridor also supports broader community goals by improving mobility, reducing traffic congestion, and making our neighborhoods more connected and welcoming. Safe pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure benefits not only those who walk and ride, but also drivers by creating a more organized and predictable transportation system. I encourage the Council to continue supporting improvements that prioritize safety and accessibility for everyone who uses our streets. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. And Vanessa, if you could unmute and turn your camera on if possible.

Vanessa, are you there? Hi, can you hear me?

I can hear you. I was making you a panelist if you want to share your video.

There we go.

And when you're ready, state your full name and city of residence, and you have three minutes to speak. Are you there, Vanessa? Can you hear me? Because I can't hear you if you're talking. I did hear you.

Oh, can you hear I'm here? Can you hear me?

Okay.

I don't know what happened when you allowed me as a panelist, but okay. I'm ready. Sorry. Good evening. Hi, council members. My name is Vanessa Capone and I'm actually a resident of Lake Stevens, but not too far from Everett. And I'm a master of social work student. And I'm in the city every week, actually attending graduate classes at the university center. and spending time in the community as part of my professional education and development. As a social worker student, I have a particular interest in policies that either support or create barriers for marginalized individuals and communities. My education has taught me to examine how public policy affects people's ability to access resources, opportunities, and support systems, especially those who are most vulnerable. I am speaking today in support of the proposed California Bridge Project. And from a social work perspective, transportation is a social determinant of health. A person's ability to access healthcare, education, employment, social support, and community resources is often dependent on having safe, reliable transportation. While many people rely on cars, not everyone has that option. And for some residents, bicycling is an affordable and practical way to travel throughout the city. I'm especially supportive of this project because of its local location to and near the Everett Recovery Cafe and other community resources that serve individuals in recovery from substance use disorder. For many people in recovery, transportation can be a significant barrier to receiving support, access to counseling, peer support meetings, healthcare appointments, and even employment opportunities. Safe bicycling infrastructure is more than transportation investment. As a social worker student, I have learned that lasting change often comes from addressing barriers that prevent people from accessing the resources they need. Supporting safe and accessible bicycle routes is one way that the City of Everett can help remove barriers to access and promote greater equity for all community members. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for your patience as I worked through the issues here online. Have a good night.

Thank you. Okay, so Um, who would JM be? Okay. So I just want to make sure that, um, we got everyone covered. Um, it's saying that you would like to speak in the beginning. So I just want to make sure if you want, you've already participated in the three minute public comment. Okay. So, okay. So then if you want to speak now, okay. So come on up and then state your full name and city of residence and you have three minutes to speak.

Yeah, my name is JM. I'm here from Seattle. And thank you for your time listening to our public comments. We really appreciate that and for the arrangement that we made. And I believe that the city of Everett really cares about diversity. And really, a lot of you have ran to say you are a city that supports immigrants, you know, that you're opposed to immigrants. everything that the Trump administration might be pushing to create a hostile climate for immigrants. So we're calling for you to really think through this proposed ordinance because there are really unintended consequences for immigrants. And as we have seen today, there was... no effort that was done to actually consult the people who are directly impacted, right? And language access is just the tip of the iceberg. And we really call on you to either delay or vote no on this legislation, because as you have heard, this legislation actually makes workers more vulnerable. It actually endangers them when there are people who know that immigrants in this climate are afraid of law enforcement, are afraid of a lot of impacts of criminalization, and will use that in a really nefarious way. And so we're asking you that if you really do care about workers, immigrant workers especially in this moment right now, that you actually use city resources to think of municipal strategies that can allow for diverse ways for workers to be able to access safety and dignity. What you heard today was a lot of people talking about the structural barriers of accessing state licensure. And actually, this is a conversation that's happening on the state level. And there's actually a lot of things that cities can do to change that as well. So rather than using your resources as City of Everett, to invest in municipal strategies to penalize and make work more dangerous for workers. We're asking that you actually use those resources to consider municipal strategies that will make workplaces way more safe and accessible, including certification, licensure, recognizing existing experiences, recognizing that this recreational massage is actually a form of care. that a lot of working class people, immigrants or not, access for relaxation, stress relief, acupressure, things like that. And so we ask you really to think about, as all the other speakers have shared, just how important it is to really think about community, right? This is a time when our communities are really stressed and scared, right? To think about those amongst us who are most vulnerable. That includes people with disabilities, that includes youth, that includes immigrants and we call on you to really invest your money in that rather than creating more legislation creating more fear more anxiety in your communities and so we call on you to please hold off on this vote until you have done what you all have a diversity advisory board is what i saw right that attempts and initiatives made within the city to really consult and take seriously ways to address racism, ways to address, you know, communities that have historically been marginalized and either to do that right now or to vote no on this ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you. And thank you for help interpretations.

Do we have any written comments, no, we have no written comments Okay, I just want to confirm that these and jh and William. Do you do you wish to speak now, or do you want to wait till we get to item seven. Okay yeah. So please state your full name and city residents and you have three minutes to speak.

Hello, council members. My name is Kay Chen. I live in Seattle, and I'm here with the Massage Parlor Organizing Project. As you have heard from multiple massage workers, all the barriers that folks have listed, the Council Bill 2605-28 will only increase those barriers. So I urge you to oppose this bill or delay it. Solutions to protecting workers and protecting public health are not criminalization, but rather reducing barriers. And Jay mentioned municipal strategies. There is precedent of this on the Washington state level. Doulas for All was this campaign that successfully created alternative licensure for Black people. doulas, or for doulas of all races, but specifically centering Black granny midwives that were discriminated against in the medical field because licensure and certification for midwifery and doulas was created to specifically keep them out of competition with white doctors. So we are drawing on this parallel. We have been in solidarity with their work. They have supported us and we are in solidarity with a lot of other labor movements and organizers. We last month, MLK Labor Council successfully passed a resolution in support of Asian massage workers, recognizing the systemic barriers they face. And so. This is an issue that we hope you take seriously. Unlicensed massage exists because of systemic barriers for immigrant, poor, low English proficiency workers. Language accommodation was explicitly struck in 2012 during the drafting of Washington legislature after racist anti-Asian testimony, including a quote that said Asian community lacks a lot of laws and doesn't understand laws. Massage workers must also take a Department of Health-approved school, costing between $13,000 to $17,000, usually English-only, and 625-plus hours of unpaid training. These are barriers that immigrant workers often cannot overcome because they were designed to be exclusionary. Workers have cultural expertise. They have been massage workers for years. The current system makes it very difficult for them to become licensed. And I urge you to think of other strategies, alternative certifications that you can provide in the city of Everett to address these barriers. And I want to be explicit that the term illicit massage is associated with Asian massage parlors because of racism. The narrative that all unlicensed massage workers are trafficked is steeped in Orientalist tropes. extending back to the Page Act of 1875, the first law in the U.S. to bar immigration on the basis of race, enforced against Chinese women claiming that they were all immoral. With the recent attacks on immigrants from the Trump administration, we have seen criminalization of massage workers directly lead to them being detained in the Northwest detention center in Tacoma. So I urge you to really think about the impacts that this legislation causes. Criminalization does not help workers. Reducing barriers does. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. J.H., would you like to wait or speak now? Okay. Please state your full name and city of residence, and you have three minutes to speak.

Hi, can you hear me? My name is J.H. Chen. I am also from Seattle. I would like to just echo that using civil penalties like fire, building, and health code violations to close Asian massage parlors while justifying this as sort of anti-trafficking measures is happening across the country. A lot of these strategies are pushed by a nonprofit called The Network. For example, in Tacoma recently, there were 45-plus parlors shut down one day by the fire department, and workers have told us that they were visited by fire inspections prior to those shutdowns, and they were in the middle of implementing those suggestions that were left by the fire department a week prior. But when they returned to their shops on this day, they found them sealed and one worker described that because a pipe had burst, the fire department used the issue of no running water to shut down their parlor even though they were just waiting for the landlord to fix their pipe. And so I want to ask this council members, if this is really about preventing trafficking and forced fraud and coercion for Asian massage workers, why is this level of targeted civil enforcement happening? Last week, there was a suggestion raised by council members to add language to hold landlords and property owners accountable for the legal violations of, you know, tenants and business owners operating massage businesses. But this ignores systemic racist barriers to licensing that Asian massage workers face. As folks have previously mentioned, workers are forced to pay exorbitant prices for massage training schools. A lot of the times they're caught up in scams because the lack of language accessibility and they have to start their training process all over again. And these barriers, as Kay previously mentioned, were very much designed with testimony of describing Asian practitioners as backwards included with these changes. And turning landlords into yet another arm of punitive enforcement against workers only exacerbates the marginalization that they face here. State enforcement already exists, the DOH already conducts inspections, and there are already significant barriers to licensure. We are asking for municipal strategies that address the root problems of working conditions for workers through workers' rights instead of these retroactive and increasingly punitive policies like CB 260528. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you. William, do you wish to wait or speak now? Just giving you an option. You get on this topic, yes. Okay. So please state your name and city residents, you have three minutes to speak.

William parents silver lake every Washington. So what happens when sex workers retaliate with turf wars and shootouts? When the city cracks down on vice crimes, I don't want to live with shootings like King County down the street. This is all over. a misdemeanor crime and taxes. When city intensifies crackdowns on vice crimes like prostitution, the effects can ripple through the underground economy in ways that sometimes increases violence and instability, including turf conflicts and shootings. This has been studied in criminologies and public policies. here here's what tends to happen at a high level i can't explain at a much super higher level than that germany the netherlands green light red light districts but um they're trying to back out of that but um Sex work markets, especially illegal ones, often develop informal rules and territories over time. Who works where? Which groups control which areas? Police crackdowns can suddenly displace workers and organizers from established zones. This creates a power vacuum which multiple groups compete to claim the same space. Increased role for criminal individuals crackdowns on unintentional let me slow down but yeah I wrote an email on it hopefully they don't retaliate from you guys cracking down on the massage parlors but that's all I ask thank you

Thank you. Next, if Rene could please come to the podium. Please state your full name and city residence, and you have three minutes to speak.

Hello. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Rene Pairuo. I live here in Everett. taxpayer on the border. And I would like to address a little bit about the merger between Ever Transit and Community Transit. I'm a very logical person. I would like to understand why things happen. And I would like to try two points with you today. One of them, the first one is that, according to what I've read and what I heard, There is no oversight regarding the antitrust laws. There's no Federal Trade Commission present. So there's nothing that will define or identify if this merger is or not harmful. So there are several ways safe regarding a transaction that takes part and where the parts are trust in one of the says basically is like, do not leave the cats in charge of the butcher shop. So I don't know if you understand that, but there's another say that says, do not trust the wolf to divide the herd. In reference to this point, the lack of supervision in these important items is just wrong. So it's just the need to follow the survival principle, trust but verify. There's nothing wrong with that. The second point that I would like to address is the fact that the state legislation uses the mechanism that takes away the voting rights of the people and gives it to the council, to you, but it does not prevent you to reestablish that voting right back to the people. This is very interesting and reminds me a little bit when I was trying to pursue an engineering career that I went to my first physics class and the guy started with just a small equation known to everybody. Velocity, while distance divided by time. And then he started adding more variables. How do you add the add variables? Oh, I just add a zero. X minus X or Y minus X. So why do you do that? Oh, because I want to integrate more variables that I can control so I can pursue my objective. So, and I believe that this is what's happening on this legislation. They are adding variables saying, hey, you have the power, but you can give it back to the people. That's a kind of a... an equation, I add in a zero. And that's interesting, especially because once that you study a little bit of what it means, there are several uses in which this legislation or methodology can be used. One is a legal one, and the other one is a nefarious one. On the legal one, it is...

If you could finish up, sir.

Okay, basically it's that it's looking for efficiencies in the system, but this merger is the only thing is that it's benefiting the efficiency in the system. It's the other part is the community transit, not the ever transit. And you are not liquidators. You basically are holders of all the customers.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you. Cindy, if you could please come to the podium. And please state your full name and city residency of three minutes to speak.

Good evening. My name is Cindy Lewis. I am currently an employee at the city of Everett, Everett Transit for 14 years. And I live in the city of Marysville. Thank you for allowing me here this evening. I'm here tonight to talk about trust, specifically a two-way street of trust that forms the bedrock of our local democracy. During your election campaigns, each of you sat in community spaces, you knocked on doors, and asked for the people's trust. They gave it to you. Ballots were cast believing you would represent the voices, safeguard the community assets and uphold transparent government. You are trusted to lead, but leadership does not mean shutting the public out of the most significant municipal transformation in Everett's recent history. Utilizing a state loophole, to bypass a referendum is not what they've trusted you to do. If you expect Everett residents to respect the decisions made in this chamber, then you must show the same respect to the voters. Forcing a permanent merger that doubles transit sales tax without the consent signals a profound lack of faith in the people who put you here. If this consolidation with community transit is truly the best path forward for our city, let it be proven transparently. Present the facts, make the case, and trust the voters of Everett to make the right decision at the ballot box. They are smart enough, they're invested enough, and capable enough to decide the fate of their own local transit system. Everett Transit belongs to the people of Everett. If you vote to give it away via a closed door interlocal agreement, you permanently strip the voters of their voice. You transfer control to a regional board that cannot directly be held accountable. Do not let this choice be made by a handful of people in a single room. Honor the trust placed in you by placing your trust back in the residence. Let the people vote. Thank you.

Thank you. And John, if you could please come to the podium. State your full name and city of residence and you have three minutes to speak.

John Peoples Everett. Good evening, City Council. I begin by acknowledging that ultimately this is God's land. He made it and everything and everyone in it. It is his will that we are here. That we are here today is a good thing. The city of Everett is a good thing. Snohomish County is a good thing. Our Republic of Washington is a good thing. And our great American Republic is a good thing. It is also good that our Indian neighbors are here. It is not a mistake that we are here and no one here has made a mistake or a past mistake that needs an apology. The sacramental land acknowledgement is defamatory and insulting to the people of Everett. It is unjust. and unfair. Contrast that Weasley civic sacrament with the heroic acts of our founding fathers. Just yesterday, 250 years ago, the Lee Resolution was introduced in the Second Continental Congress, formally asserting that the 13 original colonies should be free and independent states. Weeks later, Cesar Rodney rode overnight through a thunderstorm from July 1st to 2nd from Dover to Philadelphia to cast the tie-breaking vote for independence for Delaware. Upon signing the declaration, along with 55 other brave men, he risked death by hanging for us. During this month of fidelity and humility, we should be grateful to him and all the others since then who helped to get us here today. I invite you to join me in casting off the me, me, me of pride and embrace the society building we of fidelity and humility and gratitude. As for the possible change to the Everett Municipal Code Section 1616, I'd recommend you simply repeal it. The city has already demonstrated that it cannot keep a promise to enforce its own code. Plus, we shouldn't even be fining vacant commercial building owners any more than we fine owners of a vacant house. And the title of 1616 says that it's for the core commercial zone, not West Casino Road. And I'd like to invite you in joining me and having complete confidence in the residents of that neighborhood in their ability and their business savvy and their resilience in filling the gap where Fred Meyer's once was. It's a great thing that Fred Meyer was there for all those years. Thank you, Fred Meyer, for all that you did for the community. Now that it's no longer there, the residents are completely and utterly capable of filling that gap with mom and pop shops for all that Fred Meyer used to provide. Thank you.

Thank you. And Kate, if you would like to come to the podium. Please state your full name and city residence. You have three minutes to speak.

Hi, my name is Kate Walden.

Can you press the button? Sorry, there you go.

Hello, my name is Kate Walden, and I am a resident of Mill Creek, but I work and spend a lot of my free time here in Everett, and I lived here for 15 years. Thanks for allowing me to speak today. I'll keep this short, as everyone has spoken so eloquently on this topic already, but I would just like to note that I am strongly urging you to vote no on Ordinance 2605-28. This will not make the public safer, but it definitely will disproportionately impact immigrant workers in our city that have already been excluded from our current massage licensing system. Especially in this unprecedented time of federal immigration enforcement, the city of Everett needs to focus on reducing barriers to safe and dignified work for all, not increasing punitive enforcement tactics against vulnerable populations. This ordinance is racist and deeply flawed, and it will cause harm. If the goal of this council is to ensure the safety and ability for all Everett residents to thrive, then it's clear that we need to proceed with proactive support, not more barriers that rely on increased criminalization. Please vote no on this bill. And I also would like to note that I did also send some hostility in the room towards the MPOP workers that came here today, and I really want to do better here in the city of Everett. I really love this town, and I think we can do a lot better than this. Thank you.

Thank you. That includes all of our public comments.

Okay. Thank you very much. We'll move to council comments beginning with council member Weir.

Good evening. First off, thanks to everyone that came forward to speak either online or in chambers today. We do value you taking the time to share your perspectives and recognize that there often are unintended consequences to things that are proposed in decisions and we're So it is always good to hear the other side of things. Also congratulations to our new officers that were sworn in today and thank them for choosing Everett and their commitment to serve our community. And happy Pride Month. Everett Pride's holding their annual block party on June 20th, so that should be a good time. This weekend, Sorticulture is kicking off Friday through Sunday, and it's more than just plants. There's great garden art. Yoga Shell is doing free drop-in classes in the Wetmore Theatre Plaza, as well as the Public Library story times there in the morning. See what's been going on last night we had our district one town hall in the performing arts Center and that was amazing it was great to see so many people come out, we had about 50 Community members there we had updates from the mayor. and a really engaging Q&A session. And so I want to thank those residents for getting involved in their neighborhoods and in the community. This morning, I attended a ribbon cutting for North Point Recovery Services, which is across from the Everett Costco at Silver Lake area. It's a beautiful new facility that's going to provide more local access to much needed addiction and mental health services. Our health and safety committee met this evening prior to this council meeting. And we had an update from the executive director, the director of property management and director of development regarding the Baker Heights and proposed park district development in the Delta neighborhood. They shared background on the site, as well as health and safety issues of those structures, having sat there for seven years, you know, unoccupied, but just that there are issues with the facility, the buildings themselves that are dangerous as far as asbestos and lead, lead paint, and the dangers that come with those properties being, you know, people breaking into them, not just to those that might be inhabiting them unknowingly to the owners of the property, but also to the residents in that area. So just that safety is a big concern there. And so they are trying to continue minimizing break-ins and nuisance behaviors, but their top priority is coming up with a solution for the abatement and demolitions, but that seems to be timeline dependent on funding security, and they have not had an opportunity to do that yet. So We're hoping to get more of an update from them in the next few months, but it was great to at least have them come in and share where they are at this point and that they are actively continuing to pursue that project. That's it for me.

Thank you. Council Member Zolingo.

Well, in the interest of brevity and a long meeting, I'll only cover one item and not repeat Council Member Weir's thanks and acknowledgments. This morning I attended the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District Board, representing Everett on that. Maybe a kind of a technical thing, but the important thing is this is the federally designated economic development district for our four-county area that's kind of a mate to the Puget Sound Regional Council. It's a separate organization, but housed within Puget Sound Regional Council. The important point there is they're kind of an organizer and gatekeeper for federal funds that encourage economic development in our region. So That's why it's important for us to be involved in this. And there were some interesting presentations. It was a two-hour meeting, so I'll only go over one or two bits here. They discussed in particular some of our region's major advantages and some things that are holding us back and how those things have changed over the past few years. A couple of important lessons that came out of that for me and I think for us as a city. One is that permitting resources matter. That validates the kind of choices this council and administration made over the past couple of years. to increase staff, to reduce permitting delays that are, to investors in our region, costly and discouraging. And then one other factor that was mentioned by people who are doing the outreach and business development and negotiation was the rhetoric from public officials. One important element that has worked in Everett's favor over the past years is really well-informed staff, elected officials, where our door is open and the approach is to very deliberately balance business development and public interest and that of labor and the environment. These are difficult challenges and a lot of trade-offs. And I think the effect that they mentioned in terms of rhetoric is most clearly illustrated by the contrast with some of our neighbors to the south, where intemperate and poorly considered comments and especially inconsistent attitudes that are expressed are really discouraging to those who want to take a chance on starting a business, bringing in a business or expanding one in our region. So I think we're headed in the right direction that way, especially by contrast. That was it for me. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Wright.

Great. Thank you. Thank you so much to our commenters today. I agree we can and should do better for language interpretation and support for language access. Thank you for being here and advocating for that. I'd be happy to take the lead on helping to improve the process for better access to public comment. So I'm happy to take a look at our page and get a better understanding and reaching out to our language justice advocates as well to make sure that people who aren't proficient in English can also provide comment because their comments are absolutely valuable to the work that we do here. I wanted to mention too that I also appreciate the suggestion about petitioning our state to remove barriers to state licensure tests. And I would be glad to keep that in mind as we look ahead to the next legislative session. So I appreciate bringing that up. And I'll keep the other comments in mind as we move to that portion on the agenda later. Congratulations to our new officers. I'm curious what our current vacancy rate is, because last I heard it was about nine officer vacancies, and then we swore on six. So I'm aware of one retirement, so I'm working on the math here. But I think that's worth sharing if you have that number handy.

I believe we are back up to about 14 now because we had several retirements over the last couple of weeks. It's ebbing and flowing, but our goal ultimately is- Oh, you're being corrected. Oh, 10, 10. So it's going up and down depending upon retirements and hires.

Great, but still at historically low levels.

Very much so. And we tasked Inspector Gill with getting us down to just single digits by the end of the year.

Great. Appreciate that. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, too, to the folks sharing their continued comments about paratransit. It's great to know what a gem that we have in this service and that it's a gem worth preserving. So I can speak for myself only to say that if or when an ILA comes to Council recommending a CTET merger, I'll be looking closely to ensure that our paratransit services are at minimum maintained. if not improved. Last Thursday, I attended the AWC Large City Advisory Committee and was glad to share more about how this past legislative session has positively or negatively impacted Everett and which priorities we'd like to see AWC's support on to advocate for during the 2027 legislative session. Of the folks that were in the meeting, there was unanimous support for continuing to address the 1% cap on property taxes. So hopefully the state legislature can make progress on that during the long session this next year. I hope to see everybody at the Port Gardner Neighborhood Association meeting on Monday at the Everett Public Schools Community Resource Center starting at 7 p.m. and would also like to invite folks to join next Friday, June 12th, for the Jackson Elementary PTA end-of-year barbecue where they will not only be celebrating the end of the school year but the end of the school itself. The barbecue starts at 5 30 and is open for the public to come and join and walk the halls of the elementary school one last time before it is demolished over the summer and i heard that webley might be there as well and also happy pride month to all i'm proud that everett is supportive of pride month with pride flags and events which is a public affirmation that we are all welcome in everett thank you thank you councilman brabano um so yesterday the board of parks commissioners took me on a tour of some of the parks in the city it is always exciting to see the great work

the parks team is doing. It is unfortunate to note that the tarp that provides shelter to the gathering area at the Walter E. Hall playground is not installed yet. On a happier note, however, we visited the trail access on 90th Street Southwest, which connects the Westmont neighborhood with the Walter E. Hall playground. And that is a great success. Lots of users walking, biking, running, and walking their dogs. That's it pretty much, and happy Pride Month.

Thank you. Council Member Tui.

Yeah, just real quickly, I want to thank again all the speakers. I appreciate the interpreters that stepped up to help tonight. It was very important. I would like to, you know, along with Council Member Ryan, would like to have Jennifer look into the state policy business license applications and see if we can't make it more accessible for other languages. And then I just want to congratulate our new officers. Thank you. That's it.

Council Member Bader? No comment, no report. Yeah, and I just wanted to go along with that. I think it's just not massage therapy licensing. There are other small businesses too. I'd be very interested to see what the language barriers are for other small businesses. And I once again want to thank those that interpret it. I appreciate your passion. And I just want to say that we've had a lot of meetings with a lot of intensity and motion over the years, and it's really important to refrain from outbursts and those sort of things. So strict but fair for all. So I just wanted to make that point. And I want to go to administrative report, Mike.

the council president nothing to report from administration at this time how about our deputy city attorney ramsey um no report but i am asking for an executive session based on rcw 4230 110 sub 1 sub i to discuss a pending litigation matter we're expected the last 10 minutes with possible action to follow okay thank you um on to our consent items we have four consent items um

I'm sorry, did I miss anything? Okay, all right. I just saw you jump there. I thought, okay, what did I miss? All right, onto our consent. Onto our consent items. We have four. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve the consent items.

Council Member Ryan seconds.

Motion and seconds been made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Weir. Yes. Council Member Zarlingo. Yes. Vice President Ryan. Yes. Council Member Burbano. Yes. Council Member Toohey. Yes. Council Member Bader. Yes. President Schwab.

Yes. Okay, moving on to our proposed action items. Item number five, Council Bill 2605-29, second reading adopted ordinance creating a special construction project. It's been read in the record. The third and final reading is 61026. Are there any questions or comments from Council? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to item number six. First reading, Council Bill 2605-30, adopt an ordinance creating a special improvement project entitled California Street Ped Bike Corridor Phase Two. The third and final reading will be June 17th, 2026. Does Council have any questions or comments? Okay, thank you, Santa. We'll move to item number seven. Action item, Council Bill 2605-28, third and final reading, adopt an ordinance creating a new chapter of the Everett Municipal Code relating to massage and reflexology services and prescribing penalties.

That's Mayor Bader-Sumas.

Okay, motion. Is there a second?

Second. Second.

Okay, motion and seconds made. Is there a comment or question, Council? Council Member Rubano.

My only comment is there is a certain concern of having multiple languages when it comes to the permits and permits applications and all of that. As an immigrant and the son of immigrants, I... I remember growing up, going around translating for my parents every time we needed to do something or fill out some paperwork. So I certainly can see the benefit and I appreciate when there is multiple languages available to fill out paperwork and forms and that type of thing.

Council Member Ryan.

Thank you. Yeah, the underlying ordinance has been amended. So I was hoping that we could get on the record the updated language and changes and then also see if maybe we needed a separate motion for the amended language.

Yeah, a question for our city attorney. Do we need to make a motion to amend this?

Dave Kuntz, If the Council would like to adopt it with the amended language, then yes, someone would need to move to him and.

Dave Kuntz, Okay, has the Council members reviewed this language or have an on hand Okay, is there, we want to do a motion to amend.

Karen Hollweg, Council of Orion moves to amend or the ordinance to include the language reflected in the drug.

Dave Kuntz, Seconded gate motion seconds are made, so now we have a report on that amendment.

Yes, I will go over the amendment just briefly. It was provided to Council, I think, yesterday. That amendment adds a layer of civil liability attributable to landlords. So it makes a new civil penalty of $1,000 for any landlord to knowingly lease property to a business that the landlord knows or should know is repeatedly violating the provisions of the new ordinance. All right. and requires them to take mitigating steps, including but not limited to potentially terminating police if that's a legally viable option for them or working with city officials to mitigate and abate some of the issues. So the failure to do those steps is the civil liability in $1,000.

Questions? Council Member Zorlingo.

yeah is that liability on the part of landlords applicable to other other laws other types of businesses and permits.

As far as I know, without doing a deeper dive into some of the other. aspects of our emc that would be yes.

Any other questions, can I run.

For the $1,000 fine, how often could that be imposed?

Yeah, so it would be based on the Chapter 120, so the kind of code enforcement issuing a letter to the landlord saying these are the mitigating steps, failure to do that is the resulting violation. So practically speaking, I don't think there's any limitation on how many times we could do that or how frequently we could do that. But practically speaking, there would be a process every time we seek to enforce that penalty, including an appeal process and timeline for all of that interaction with the landlord.

So would there be a need to codify the frequency or set a limit of $1,000 fine no more than every so many days?

That's certainly an option. From my perspective, I don't know that that would be necessary because it's the knowing... maintenance or entry into the lease after learning of repeated violations that then triggers the violation. So the continuation of a lease after all of that would be a violation. Entering into a new lease would be a violation. I wouldn't want us to limit our ability to enforce in this mechanism when there are repeat violations by the same landlord.

And then how would a landlord or a building owner either be notified that a violation has happened or that we would know that they knowingly know that violations are happening? It's a great question.

The beauty of having it enforced through Chapter 120 is there is a very robust process for communication with the landlord. And because it was drafted to be a knowing entry into a limit and a knowing violation of the provisions of the ordinance, and it specifically limits that the occurrence of violations at the premises is not sufficient to sustain a violation. It has to be done after notice. There is a formalized process in Chapter 120 to begin that negotiation with the landlord. And it includes things like city officials providing them with, these are the things that we think are viable solutions to evade this process. What do you think sort of negotiation?

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah. I have a couple of questions that somewhat repeat. There was an hours requirement in the ordinance. Is that correct? That's right. Yep. Could you repeat what those were?

10 PM to 6 AM.

Okay, they couldn't operate that type.

That's correct.

From 10 to 6 a.m., okay. And then another question I had, I think we discussed this before, but just remind me about the process of assisting these types of businesses and complying, like some outreach. I mean, Mike, if you could address that a bit.

Yeah, sure, Council President. So I just confirmed with Chief Goetz a few minutes ago as well, the administration intends to conduct pretty thorough education and outreach before deploying any enforcement mechanics on the part of EPD. That outreach and engagement will include social workers, partner organizations, other efforts to make sure that We build awareness around the tool that we are adding to the toolbox in the context of this issue, but at the same time, make sure that we do robust engagement prior to any enforcement activity being conducted. And I'll just note that In this regard, not dissimilar to the ordinance the council recently passed as it relates to illegal food vending in the city. Again, robust outreach and engagement in language outreach and engagement. That'll be the case here as well. And to date, there have been no citations or enforcement action taken on any illegal food vending operations in the city. And we have also had no complaints to the mayor's office. So we feel that that's been a useful tool to add to the toolbox. We think this is as well. And if there's any more questions in terms of what that outreach would look like, I'm sure Chief Gantz can elaborate.

Thank you. Any other questions? Council Member Weir.

Yeah, just to that. So you're saying that we will ensure that that outreach is done in the languages that are spoken by the individuals that are being approached or potentially receiving these charges?

Yes, Council Member Weir, I can confirm that that's the case. In fact, Chief Goetz just confirmed with me that we have a Mandarin speaker within our social work cadre. police cadre that can provide that in-language support. And of course, we would run that as needed based on the communities we encounter out in the community. And Councilmember Toohey and Councilmember Ryan, I'll just reinforce your comment. Well, I will close the loop with Jennifer Gregerson, and we will look at how we can engage with the state legislature as part of our legislative agenda to advance considerations as it relates to language access, interpretation, and barriers to the licensure process. not just with regard to massage licensing, but as Council Member Schwab identified, there could be other areas that I think this is ripe for advocacy from the city.

Thank you. And my understanding, since we're on that subject, sorry, we like having you up here, though. I do believe after our last incident of interpretation that administration was addressing that through perhaps maybe through the HR department. So If you just follow up here, we could follow up and have a discussion about that.

Happy to, Council President.

One more thing. I think the hours restriction would not apply to sole practitioners practicing out of a residence, for example. Yes, that's right.

Thank you for that. Any other questions? Comments? We have an amended Council Bill 2605-28 with a I think we vote first on the amendment. Okay, on the amendment. So do I have a motion? Well, we have a motion. So let's vote on the amendment.

Council Member Weir? Yes. Council Member Zarlingo? Yes. Vice President Ryan? Yes. Council Member Brabano? Yes. Council Member Tuohy? Yes. Council Member Bader? Yes. President Schwab?

Yes. Okay, now we have Council Bill 2605-28 as amended. Any more discussions? Council Member Ryan?

Great, I was holding all my stuff till we got to this part. I wanted to check in on the concerns that have been brought up about outreach to the community and stakeholdering. I appreciated the really great reminder about our diversity advisory board. And I do think as a whole, I'll speak for myself. I would love to hear more often when our boards and commissions do review the ordinances and measures coming to us and to know that in their function as an advisory body that they also advise that we move things forward or whatnot. I'm not sure if Lacey has... An update or if we could talk a little bit more about stakeholder in process for this specifically if outreach has been done if our diversity advisory board has been asked about it. Like what are what other inputs have been received or other pieces of legislation and other cities or whatnot if you could comment on that that'd be great.

So as far as I know, no advisory committee has reviewed this. And I can say that in advance of this legislation, I personally did a lot of research in this area, not only in Washington, but nationwide. I did a lot of research in this area. I have not, and I'm not aware that anybody has reached out, particularly to the practitioners who may be affected by this, other than that we've received sort of limited feedback and support from licensed practitioners here in the city. One of the barriers that we've identified here tonight, we've been identifying in advance of this is the language barrier. And so even just as recently as eight hours ago, people in the police department were meeting to discuss how to go about outreach to the people who would be most affected, the people that are working in these clinics. And particularly if they're meeting with barriers like access to safe places to live and maybe they're living on scene there in conditions that we know can be dangerous. And so some of our plans include, as pointed out, outreach involving community partners. We've identified maybe half a dozen community partners that operate in this realm, particularly in the commercial sex work area, as well as Asian immigrant communities, regardless of kind of their stance on something like this ordinance. Like they might not be experts at massage specific areas, but they have tapped into a certain community. that may be affected by this and so we're working with our cares team and we're working within the police department to make sure that you know it's not just a police forward operation that we're providing education and opportunities for people who we may encounter when we're doing this education and outreach that we can create a relationship with them and hopefully provide an avenue for them if they're not comfortable coming to police with some issues that are happening Maybe they've been victimized in ways beyond those that we're contemplating here, that they have an avenue to reach out in a way that feels comfortable to them. So these are ongoing conversations, and we want to make sure that it's accessible in languages that we may encounter, as well as sort of being conscious that not everybody wants to or feels comfortable talking with police officers in this environment.

Thank you. Yeah, one of the commenters, the quote that they had was really startling. It was that they had said that they want to feel empowered to have the courage to stand up to clients when they harm us. That was really hard to hear. That was really hard to hear. I would love a commitment or a reassurance that the city's mindful of this, that it is hard to step forward when you're victimized, especially when your home city and your home, your only source of income could be on the line and jeopardized because you came forward to stand up for yourself. So I'd love to hear more about the city's commitment to protecting immigrant rights and worker rights and ensuring that people in our community are being supported in times of need.

Council Member Ryan, in the absence of the mayor, in my role, I will assure you that this is something that the administration has prioritized. In my short time here, I have seen not just the Mayor's office, but every PD, fire, really the entire city family engage in very proactive and meaningful dialogue with our immigrant and refugee community. It has not been lost on the administration or the city that This climate has been incredibly challenging and difficult and recognize the importance of having that open and trust in the dialogue and having trusted advocates and messengers in community for those conversations. And certainly I will add Our appreciation for the public testimony tonight, reminding us of that particular set of issues and sensitivity in the context of this ordinance. And you have my commitment, you have the administration's commitment, the mayor's commitment, that we will continue to be proactive and forward-facing with protecting and engaging our immigrant and refugee communities around this issue and other issues that may impact them.

Thank you. And I think last question. I'm also concerned about some of the testimony regarding workers' rights. And being paid under the table isn't always the best way to receive a dignified income. Are there parts of this ordinance that require the therapist to be licensed or I want to put a couple pieces together of where there were concerns about the licensure process and the barriers to becoming licensed. Are we targeting licensed massagers or is it more about businesses that are providing a space where people can be exploited in the conditions that they're providing?

I think I'm understanding your question, but stop me if I'm not. The ordinance itself is not targeting anybody. I would say it's very content neutral. But to the extent that there is sort of an emphasis in enforcement, our emphasis on enforcement will be on the folks who are maybe more in charge or are sort of putting people in these compromising positions for their own economic gain. And you'll see that example in a couple of instances in the ordinance, such as for example, there's an escalator to a gross misdemeanor as opposed to a simple misdemeanor for an owner who is coercing somebody to engage in sex work or sexual misconduct as defined in the WAC. And so to the extent that the structure of the ordinance is intended to to emphasize that the bigger fish are the ones that we really see as driving these businesses in the city and in the region. And to the extent that we can enforce at that higher level, I think there's definitely a desire to do that.

Great. So yeah, I did the terrible job phrasing that. Does the ordinance, is it just requiring businesses to be licensed or is it also requiring employees to be a licensed massage therapist?

Yeah, it does both. So it requires the business to have the city business license and incorporates the existing RCW that requires anybody practicing massage or reflexology have the applicable license. Okay, thanks.

Any questions, comments? Okay, we have a motion and a second with an amended version of Council Bill 2605-28. Is there a motion? We have a motion. Okay, clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Weir? Yes. Council Member Sarlingo?

Yes.

Council Member Ryan? Yes. Council Member Bravano? Yes. Council Member Tuohy? Yes. Council Member Bader? Yes. President Schwab?

Yes. Okay, we will take a 10-minute executive session with a potential decision to follow. Okay, we are back from executive session. Thank you for your patience. And I'll refer to Deputy City Attorney Ramsey Rammerman for a potential motion.

Thank you. We're asking the council to authorize the mayor to sign a settlement agreement in City of Everett versus Rodriguez for $25,000 to end all litigation. Okay.

Move to approve.

Second the motion. Okay, motion and seconds are made. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Weir. Yes. Council Member Starlingo. Yes. Vice President Ryan. Yes. Council Member Brabano. Yes. Council Member Dewey. Yes. Council Member Bader. Yes. President Schwab.

Yes. And with no further business, we are now adjourned.