City Council - Regular Meeting

OK. Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to go ahead and get started. Good afternoon.

I always try to avoid to use the gavel. Hello, hello, hello. Hey, we're going to start the meeting. People in the front, we're going to start the meeting. Can we start the meeting? Will you let us start the meeting today? Can we start the meeting? Hello. Welcome. Cliff, welcome. Can we start the meeting today, my friend? You heard me. Can we start the meeting today? Thank you. We're going to start the meeting. I might have a conversation with you after the meeting. No, you're not. After the meeting, we're going to have a conversation. Okay, the September 15th, 2026 meeting of the Seattle City

We are at ease until we can start the meeting today.

No, we're waiting until everyone's quiet, until we have quietness so we can start the meeting. All right, perfect. The September 15th, 2026 meeting of the Seattle City Council will come to order. It is 2.06 PM. I'm Joy Hollingsworth, Council President. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Awesome. Welcome back, colleagues. Really happy to have this is our first meeting after recess. So we're happy we have a full agenda today. And so we are going to get started today. Councilmember Foster will present a proclamation recognizing September 15th as Clean Air Day for Blue Skies. Councilmember Foster, you are recognized to present your proclamation.

Thank you so much, Council President, and so excited to start today off with the presentation of this proclamation. I want to share my gratitude to Mayor and the rest of the Council for signing this and establishing today, September 15th, as Clean Air Day for Blue Skies. I also want to express my... Yay! I want to express my deep gratitude to former State Representative Velma Valoria and the King County International Airport Community Coalition, who advocated for this proclamation in order to bring more attention to air pollution and other aviation-related health risks. that are facing our com

Yeah, no, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Foster. Thank you for your leadership on this. I want to see if any other council members have comments before we suspend the rules. And if there's no objection, we're going to go ahead and suspend the rules so we can present the proclamation. And I believe that we are joined by Representative Velma, who is joined by members of King County International Airport Community Coalition as well. And so we'd like to invite you all to the front to be able to provide some comments. And if there's no objection, do we have people speaking on this And then if there's no objections, we'll suspend the rules for the presentation. Go right ahead. Welcome. Thank you so much.

Would you like a picture as well? Awesome. All right. So just come up here. We'll have Deanna Lee be in the middle here. We're going to take a quick photo with the council members. So many times. I know y'all know how we do it.

Now we're getting... Okay. Thank you all. Blue skies. Thank you, Council Member Foster. Colleagues, at this time, we're going to open the hybrid public comment period. Comments relating to our last agenda item, which is Resolution 32218, regarding Washington State Initiatives 101 and... 6 3 8 are not going to be accepted at this time and we're gonna open up a separate public comment period when we reach those agenda items So when we reach agenda item number five, we'll have two separate comment period for both of those resolutions today Just FYI at this time Please keep your comments to items

Okay, so that is over 30 speakers. So everyone has one minute in our council rules. Just a reminder that for agenda item number five, which is resolution 32218 on initiatives 101 and three, or excuse me, 638, we'll have a separate public comment period for that as well. If you've signed up today to just give public comment about general stuff, you can talk about some of those issues in general form but not necessarily the initiative specifically does that make sense to people for this public comment period and then when we get to those agenda items you're able to talk about those specifically

Okay, we'll call people up. We'll call people up in five. So we have Tyson Holman, Jessa Davis, Sawyer Stearns, Deborah Osborne, and Ryan Donahue. So we have those five speakers. If you start making your way to the front, Tyson, Jessa, Sawyer, Deborah, and Ryan.

Thank you, Jessa. Sawyer, followed by Deborah, then Ryan.

Awesome, thank you, Sawyer. Next, we have Deborah, followed by Ryan. Good afternoon. Thank you.

Bring the microphone, we'll start your, bring the microphone to you. Yep, you can pull it closer to you. You can like actually physically pull it. Don't worry, you won't break it.

Thank you, Ms. Debra. Thank you, Ms. Debra. I hate to cut you off, but I'm more than happy to give you my card. We'll connect with you and Council Member Kettle as well. I got you. Thank you, Ms. Debra. Next, we have Ryan. And then the following names before you come up, Ryan. And I apologize. We have our school board director, Ms. Jen Lavallee. We have a tradition where we ask our elected officials to come speak first. So I apologize, Debra. Director Lavallee, but we have you next, and then we have Jake, then we have Ryan, we have AJ, and then we have Phil. Okay, so Jen, Jake, Ryan, AJ, and P

No, no, no, go right ahead. I called you. Go right ahead. Thank you. No worries.

Welcome, director. My apologies as well. We're not recognizing.

Awesome. Thank you so much, Jen. Next, we have Jake, followed by Ryan, AJ, and Phil. Welcome.

The vendor Acton can pull Seattle's footage.

Thank you, Jake. Jake, thank you so much for your public comment. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Next, we have Ryan followed by AJ and Phil. Welcome.

Thank you. Next we have AJ followed by Phil. Welcome AJ.

Next, we have Phil. Welcome, Phil. Before you go, Phil, I'll call the next five speakers. We have Will, Tatiana.

I'll figure out what this name is. I think it's Clifford. Cliff. Okay, Cliff. Awesome. Welcome, Phil.

Thank you, Phil. Next we have Will, Tatiana, Cliff, Noah, Ashley. Welcome. Welcome, Will.

Thank you. Well, next we have Tatiana, followed by Cliff, Noah, and then Ashley Ford. Welcome, Tatiana.

Thank you. Thank you, Tatiana. Next we have Cliff, followed by Noah, and then Ashley .

Thank you, Cliff. Next, we have Noah. And FYI, that amendment was passed about a month and a half ago, and it's being implemented. Noah?

Next we have Ashley. Before you go, Ashley, I'm going to read the next five. We have Lars, Madison, Phil, Cedar. I apologize if I mess up your name. And Marceline. Ashley, welcome.

Thank you, Ashley. Next we have Lars, followed by Madison. Phil, welcome.

Thank you, Lars. Next we have Madison, followed by Phil, Cedar, Marceline. I'm sorry if I mess up people's names. Welcome.

Thank you, Madison. Next we have Phil. Welcome.

You can speak whichever one is easiest for you. OK. Awesome.

Thank you. And before you start, let me say the next five people. Thank you. So we have Howard Gale, followed by Richard, Angelique, Taylor, and SEPT. S-E-P-T, SEPT. And then we do have more that I'll read as well. Go right ahead.

Thank you so much. Howard Gill, followed by Richard, Angelique, Taylor, and Sept. Good afternoon.

Thank you, Mr. Gill. Thank you, Mr. Gill. Next we have Richard. We have Richard. You just put that in the box and we'll be able to get it. Thank you so much. Thank you. We have Richard followed by Angelique and then Taylor and then Sept. Hi, Richard. Welcome. One second. You should be good. Awesome.

Thank you, Richard. Next, we have Angelique, followed by Taylor, and then Sep, and then we also have Guinevere, David Haynes, and Yvette Dynish, and those are all in person. And then if you're listening online, we'll come to you after six more speakers.

Give her another minute, because it's two of you. Give us one second. One second, we're going to give you another minute, because it's two of you. Okay, so you get two minutes, because it's one and two. All right, go ahead, continue your public comment.

Thank you so much. Taylor, welcome. And I did recognize you did say my dog's name when you said hello to me, so I appreciate that. Taylor and then Sep.

Next, we have Sept. And then after you, we have Guinevere, David, and Miss Yvette. You all are next. Guinevere, David, and Miss Yvette. And then we'll jump online. Welcome.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Next we have Guinevere, followed by David, and then Miss Yvette. Welcome, Guinevere.

Next, we have David, followed by Yvette, and then we'll go online. Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you, David. Thank you, David. Thank you, David. Now we have Miss Yvette. Welcome, Oregon Ducks. Shout out to Council Member Strauss.

I know it's laborious, good luck. Thank you, Ms. Yvette. Now we're gonna go straight to online. We have Lisa followed by Neil and then Mike. Lisa, star six, unmute yourself.

Thank you, Lisa. Next, we have Neil Buchanan, followed by Mike Stewart, Star 6.

Thank you, Neil. Next, we have Mike Stewart, followed by Dew. Star 6.

Thank you, Mike. Next we have Rose, followed by Mr. Alvarez.

Thank you, Rose. Next, we have Mr. Alvarez. And just FYI, if you have signed up online for public comment and you are signing in about the initiatives, you will not be called on until we reach item number five. So you've signed up right now. It says you've signed up for the initiatives. That's agenda item number five. You will be able to speak on those when we get to agenda item number five. Mr. Alvarez, you are next.

Next we have Colleen followed by David Glauger and then Nathan Wall. Star six, unmute yourself.

Thank you Colleen. Next we have David. I did call on you Nathan Wall but I see you're signed up for agenda item number five. So the last person we have speaking for public comment period is David Gloger. Welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, David. Next, we have our last in-person speaker, Kim England. Is Kim here? Welcome, Kim. That's our last speaker, and then we're gonna transition into our agenda items. Welcome, Kim. You done took the long way around, didn't you? I'm just fine. She just went right here. No, you're good. Go ahead, Kim. Can you speak into the mic? We're gonna restart your time. Just speak right into the mic. You can get real close to it. There you go. Okay. Perfect.

Thank you, Kim. Thank you so much. Are there any more public comment period people in person? No. Okay. So we're going to jump right into our agenda. I actually didn't open the meeting up like this and I forgot, but could we have a moment of silence? We lost a community member, KL Shannon last week, and she was an amazing person. I know a lot of people, she would come to council meetings. And so if we could just have a moment of silence to honor KL's life and her impact on the community. Thank you. Thank you, colleagues, and thank you, KL. Hearing no objection, so we're gonna transition into o

It's been moved and seconded for us to adopt the consent calendar. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Awesome. Consent calendars are adopted. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes and legislation on the consent calendar on my behalf. We're going to jump right into committee reports. Will the clerk please read item number one into the record.

Council Member Foster, as chair of the committee, you are recognized to provide the committee report.

Thank you so much, Council President, and I believe I see Director Larson coming up from the back. Colleagues, I'm so excited to bring forward the appointment of soon-to-be Director Larson for the Office of Housing. One of the things that stood out to me when we had Director Larson's appointment in committee was the broad uh broad support that she enjoys from community we heard a little bit of that today from some of our public commenters but from the years of experience um i feel like i've gotten to know her resume quite well you know whether that was before coming to the city working directl

Awesome. Thank you, Council Member Foster. Colleagues, are there any comments regarding this appointment? Council Member Strauss.

Thank you, Council Member Strauss. Colleagues, are there any more comments regarding, I almost called you Dr. Larson, but Director Larson's appointment for housing. I'm grateful. I can't wait to vote for this. I think you've been phenomenal in a lot of the efforts that we've elevated to your office and looking forward to the continued partnership as well with Office of Housing. So really appreciate this. Director Larson, very excited. Okay, well, will the clerk please call the roll on, will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation appointment of Director Larson?

Awesome, ayes have it, and the appointment is confirmed. Congratulations, Director Larson. You well deserve, you're more than welcome to come to say a few words, so congratulations.

Awesome. Thank you, Director. Congratulations. Next, will the clerk please call or call the roll? Will the clerk please read item number two into the record?

Awesome. Thank you. Council Member Foster, as chair of the committee, you're recognized to present it. I know Council Member Rink is sponsor, so I'll let you all handle that. Council Member Foster.

Thank you. I'd like to thank Council Member Rink for sponsoring it and pass to her to speak to this as a sponsor of the bill.

Thank you so much. Every family is different, but every single one deserves equal protection under the law. This bill would update the existing protected class of sexual orientation to do three things. First, remove reference to the male and female gender binary. This is consistent with past city and Washington state policy choices, and that is to recognize non-binary gender identity. Second, we're recognizing pansexuality and asexuality as sexual orientations subject to civil rights protections. And third, to clarify that a person's protected attitudes, preferences, beliefs, and practices per

Thank you, Council Member Rank. Are there any further comments regarding this bill before we call the roll? Oh, I'm sorry, I was supposed to pass it over to you, Council Member Foster.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Council President. I want to again express my gratitude to Council Member Rink for sponsoring this legislation and just echo what Council Member Rink already said about what we heard in committee. That was, I think, one of the most moving and community-spirited committee meetings that we've had in the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee. I know a lot of the folks who came to the committee are here today. I just want to take this opportunity again to thank you for your organizing, for your advocacy, and for your vulnerability. It truly is making a difference.

Awesome. Thank you, Councilmember Foster. Really grateful for you, Councilmember Rink, bringing this and looking forward to voting on this as well. Any other comments? No? All right. Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Go pass this chair, we'll sign it. Awesome, and will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? Congratulations, Councilmember Rank. Will the clerk please read item number three into the record?

Councilmember Kettle, as chair of the committee, you are recognized to give the support. I know Councilmember Rivera, you're the sponsor of the bill. I'll let Councilmember Kettle do his thing.

Well, yes, as chair of public safety, I will ask Councilmember Rivera to start us off.

All right. Colleagues. As you heard me say, I'm trying to find real solutions to address gun violence in Seattle. That is why this resolution is before us today. Concerned residents have come to council chambers and written letters asking for concrete action and real solutions. From our students being killed, young girls being sex trafficked on Aurora, to the conditions in the CID, the mass shooting at the Bight of Seattle, the killings in Belltown and other shootings across our city, our residents have had enough. With this legislation, we're asking the mayor to implement the National Network

Thank you, Council President. Do we move this resolution?

No, we don't have to. Okay. Because it's already on the agenda. It's a committee recommendation. So Council Member Kettle followed by Council Member Lynn.

Okay, thank you, Council President. I wanted to start by saying gun violence in young adults came to my attention fully and in a direct way on the day that Amar Murphy Payne died. I was invited to join Council President Hollingsworth and then Mayor Harrell to the Mount Calvary Church. And I remember listening to Bishop Witherspoon's words and meeting for the first time the community safety teams, the organizations that we know like Urban Family and Community Passageways and others. It made a strong impact and it brought me to a community and a community that was grieving today. Then later, lat

Thank you, Council Member Kettle. We have Council Member Lin followed by Council Member Rink and then Council Member Saka. Council Member Lin.

Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Council Member Rivera for bringing this forward, Council Member Kettle. I will be supporting this today, but I also wanna speak to why I abstained and sort of why I'm supporting and what I think this means going forward. First, I wish I could have attended this symposium, obviously, with the closed-door session, and for good reason. You know, these are sensitive discussions. But, you know, representing the district that is most impacted by gun violence, I mean, we've all had tragedies, and one tragedy is too many. But I feel a particular... responsibili

Thank you, Council Member Lin. We have Council Member Rink followed by Council Member Saka. Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President. Council Member Rivera, I understand that the National Network of Safe Communities was referenced in the 2015 and 2025 auditor's report. I wanted to do some of my own due diligence on this matter as well, so I do have a couple of questions for you as sponsor of this resolution before we voted on this item because I do believe it's important to get some of this information on the record before taking our full vote. So we know that any unified approach to addressing gun violence is going to require, as Council Member Lin noted, close coordination, collaboration, and

And I will pass it to you, Council Member Rivera, to answer that question.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Council Member Ring, for the question. One of the first things that the network does, the National Network for Safe Communities, is do a type of landscape analysis because this focus deterrence approach will have to work for Seattle. Not every city is the same. So they work with us collectively to make sure that this particular strategy is going to work in Seattle. And so in terms of where the work sits, in some of these other cities, the work sits in an office that has been created within the mayor's office. I understand that in this case, the mayo

Thank you, Council Member Rank. Council Member, so I know that there's gonna be questions between Council Member Rank and Council Member Rivera. You all don't have to go through me if I can be able to not have to do that. So I'll let you all have those questions back and forth if that's okay, all right? Sure, of course. I won't go back and forth. So Council Member Rank.

Thank you, Council President, and I appreciate that, and thanks for hanging with us just on the parliamentarian part. I'm seeing that Council Member Kittle would like to chime in.

Yes, I just wanted to add that this program, as mentioned, the team is local. And so placing that coordinator in care, that is the one really interesting piece. And that person may be Sam Darnold or, due to injury, Drew Locke. But that is the area of interest, because a lot of the different pieces of the mayor's plan have already been there. Like I said, this violence intervention piece was already in the care department. But placing that disposition, and I talked to... Director Kim about this in terms of passing from you know budget from HSD to care and so forth We did it before with PDA that

Thank you, Council Member Kettle. Council Member Rink, the floor is still yours.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you for that response, Council Member Rivera. I appreciate that response because it also spoke to a couple of other questions that I had, particularly around where your intention for this contract to be housed, whether it's through the Human Services Department, which I oversee as chair, or within the Care Department. I'm hearing from you that that is to be determined and just would like to confirm that point. I do believe that HSD is the only department that has the authority to issue sole source contracts. So with the executive unifying gun violence un

So I will say, Councilmember Rank, I thought you were asking me about if we enter into the relationship with the National Network for Safe Communities where that work would be housed. Typically this contract would sit within a mayor's office. That is what the National Network for safe community Says works best and it makes sense because it is a mayor who needs to be very actively involved in bringing all the partners together so I will say in terms of the actual contract with the National Network for safe communities is the vision would be is that it would sit within the mayor's office because

thank you for that. My initial question was related to the interplay between what the mayor had laid out earlier today and the second question, the specifics around the contract. I appreciate you clarifying that point. You spoke to as well our collaboration with the county. You're thinking about right now coordinating efforts between city and county because we know gun violence doesn't end at city line and the felony prosecutions are within the purview of the county, not the city. And so I'm wondering about your communications and work and how we're mapping and working with King County Sheriff

Thank you for the further questions. That is to be determined with the National Network for Safe Communities. They come here and they help identify all the partners that would be involved and then we would be identifying all these pieces. So that is part of the work that they do. And that's why I want to partner with them to come here and help us to be able to organize and determine all these pieces that you have just mentioned. That' s part of what they do. I want to say one other thing because in every city that the national network for safe communities has gone into folks have similar quest

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera. I appreciate you answering these questions. And in the interest of time, I will just add my closing remarks on this point here, as I think the additional questions I have, it sounds like just in the main of some of your responses, A lot of details need to be determined just given the process that this organization engages with cities in developing their plans. And so I do want to thank you for your attention to gun violence prevention in our city. I believe we all agree that the city needs to do more. move with urgency and a cohesive plan. And I'm grateful for

Thank you, Council Member Rink. We have Council Member Saka followed by Council Member Lin. Councilmember Sacco.

Thank you, Council Member Saka. We have Council Member Lynn. Can we have Council Member Foster, the people that haven't spoken first, and then Council Member Lynn, is that okay? All right, awesome. Council Member Foster. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you, colleagues. I'll start with saying thank you, Council Member Rivera, for the convening that you pulled together earlier this year. I know my staff was able to participate in part of that. And I think, you know, for me, coming into this conversation today, I have been thinking a lot about actually some of the same things that Council Member Lynn said in terms of gun violence in our community. and the disproportionate impact that it has. The gun violence, whether it's in South Seattle, whether it's at Seattle Center, whether it's in Belltown o

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Foster. And now we have Council Member Juarez, and then I'll double back to people that have already spoken. So no disrespect, Council Member Lynn. Council Member Juarez.

Thank you, Madam Chair, or Council President. I wasn't going to speak because I've been supportive of anything regarding gun violence and what we've dealt with in this city, particularly in light of North Aurora and... Seattle Center. And I didn't want to make this political. But I just feel in good conscience. I've never abstained. I always had an opinion. And y'all had to hear it sometimes. I am supportive of what Councilmember Rivera is doing. And I think the questions that we put to her is why we would hire or put out there the National Network of Safe Communities to come in and assist us

We are already doing the extreme risk protection orders. We are working with that on the former administration and certainly with the city attorney, Erica Evans, now. And I want to thank Council Member Ketel for working with me to co-sponsor the position to stop sex trafficking. An additional prosecutor would be cross deputized between Seattle and King County. That's actually doing something. Not grandstanding, not being performative, not speaking to your base, but for the whole damn city. And we've been unable to do that. So I'm going through this whole thing with a critical eye, highlighter

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. With that, thank you for giving me the opportunity and the honor to speak my mind and be straightforward and just ask that we have common sense when it comes to people picking up guns, particularly our babies, and shooting our other babies. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Juarez. I see Council Member Lynn. Council Member Foster, is that an old hand? Okay, thank you. Council Member Lynn. Thank you.

Thank you, Council President. I do just want to clarify a little bit, and I think as others have said, it's not about the cost of this contract, but it's really about the next steps of what has to happen. And it's a little bit awkward to do it through a resolution. I know it's non-binding. But what I see in this sort of contract and this model is, you know, first the landscape analysis, but then there's going to be recommendations. that come out of that analysis. And there's going to be recommendations about how to do the positive supports, again, the mentoring, the jobs, and those will all co

Thank you, Council Member Lin. And colleagues, we've spent a lot of time on this, on item number three. I'm not trying to rush us, but I do want to kind of close this out. So Council Member Kettle, the floor is yours, and then I will have Council Member Rivera for closing remarks.

Yes, I just wanted to quickly add to Council Member Lynn's point and speak to my colleagues. This is what we spoke to last Wednesday in the meeting that I had with the mayor and the community, that we will take the action, it'll be comprehensive, and it'll be on the timeline. And I offered to do it in collaboration with her because at the end of the day, it does have to be a legislative executive because we can pass laws, but if they're not implemented, then it's like doing nothing. And so I'm committed to that. That's the point that I made to the mayor on Wednesday last week. With the communi

Thank you Thank You council member kettle council member Rivera.

Thank you, and thank you colleagues for the lively discussion around this at the end of the day I we need to save lives I mean to me this plan was a no-brainer I've been giving my Revere due diligence to this for almost a year and at a certain point like I said we just need to act and I don't want to leave it unsaid that I haven't been working with the mayor's office since they got here because they did I put this in last budget I've been working on this since before this mayor came into office, and as soon as they came into office shortly thereafter, I was talking to them about this effort. I

Thank you, Council Member Rivera. Are there any, there's no other final comments. That was our final comments. I'm happy to support this, Council Member Rivera. I know you worked hard on this, and I will support anything that helps deter gun violence in our community. in our community, everyone knows my story about gun violence and I don't have to talk about it. Nothing's performative or politicking. I think we all want to see solutions and actions. Okay, so will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

The resolution is adopted. The chair will sign it. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? All right, colleagues, we have two more items on the agenda. We'll do item number four. Will the clerk please read item number four into the record?

Council Member Rankin is chair of the committee. You're recognized to present the committee report.

Thank you, Council President. I'll also speak to this just as sponsor of the bill. And by way of background, colleagues, in 2018, Seattle became the first city in the nation to pass a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which in addition to establishing the Domestic Workers Standards Board, this bill codified fundamental labor rights, including minimum wage, meal and rest breaks, and protection against retaliation and sexual harassment of domestic workers. Now, earlier this year, the state legislature passed a statewide domestic workers' bill of rights sponsored by our very own 34th Legislative D

Awesome, thank you, Council Member Rink. Are there any comments regarding the bill before us? Okay, awesome. So we are going, any closing remarks, Council Member Rink? All right, awesome. Thank you for your leadership on this. Very happy to support this bill at full council. So we're gonna go ahead and get it started because you all have been sitting here for two hours and 20 minutes. My favorite time, 420. Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

One second, Jody Reddies. Awesome, all right, we got clarification. Will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?

Bill passes. Chair will sign it. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? Congratulations. Awesome, thank you. All right, now we have the adoptions of other resolutions. So will the clerk please read item number five into the record?

Council Member Rank, I recognize Council Member Rank to move her resolution.

Thank you, Council President. I move to adopt Resolution 32218. Second.

It's been moved and seconded to adopt a resolution. Council Members, this resolution addresses two Washington State Initiative measures on the November general election ballot. TO THE REVISED CODE OF WASHINGTON AND SEATTLE MUNICIPAL CODE, THE COUNCIL MUST ALSO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE TWO INITIATIVE MEASURES. TO MEET THIS WE WILL DISCUSS EACH INITIATIVE MEASURE SEPARATELY WHICH WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC TO DETERMINE WHICH INITIATIVE MEASURES TO ADDRESS AND COMMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED IN SUPPORT OR IN OPPOSITION TO THE INITIATIVE JUST AT

Thank you, Council President. I'm actually going to refer to the other sponsor on this resolution to get us started, Council Member Foster.

I apologize. You're both sponsors, Council Member Reed and Council Member Foster. Council Member Foster.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you, colleagues, for engaging in this conversation around these ballot initiatives that I believe are dangerous for children and families around Washington state. One thing that is important to me as a parent of a school-aged child is knowing that my kid has access to safe adults. I count myself as a safe adult as a parent, but for all kids, that might not be the case. It might be a school counselor. It might be another trusted person at school. And this initiative removes protections that could result in our kids not feeling safe talking about t

Awesome, thank you Councilmember Foster. Are there any comments from Councilmembers on initiative number IL26001 concerning parental rights relating to children in public school? Councilmember Rank.

Thank you Council President and well stated from Councilmember Foster and I'll just add that from time to time this body has raised its voice via resolution to weigh in on ballot measures and express our stand as an elected body on measures to our peers in Olympia. These actions are not playing politics. I believe they're an extension of our charter duties in, quote, protecting and enhancing the health, safety, environment, and general welfare of the people to allow fair and equitable participation of all persons and to meet the broad needs for a healthy, growing city. There are three initiati

Awesome. Thank you, Council Member Rank. Colleagues, are there any other comments from council members before we transition into public comment? Okay, seeing none, we're gonna transition into public comment. This concludes comments from council members and we now provide equal opportunity to hear comments from members of the public who wish to speak in support or opposition to Initiative Measure IL-26001. The registration form is in front of here on the front and we will double check to see how many speakers are in person and then online. Mr. Nathan Wall, we'll start with you first because you

It is, and I apologize. That's okay. I just had...

Okay, thank you. It's fine. Don't worry about it. Go ahead.

Thank you, Nathan. And make sure when you come up to, when you're speaking, let us know if you're opposed or supportive of the initiative, just so we have it for the record. Thank you. Go ahead, Ashley.

Thank you, Ashley. Next, we have Madison, followed by Ed, and then we will go online to Dr. Janice Clark. Welcome.

Thank you, Madison. Next we have Ed. Welcome, Ed. Come on up.

Let's go ahead and pause the time real quick, Ed, just so I can double check. Is that okay? Clerk?

Do what you do, Ed. All right, let's go ahead and let's restart your time. All right, go right ahead.

Thank you, Ed. Okay, are there any other comments? People signed up, okay, awesome. We'll go online, Dr. Janice Clark, star six to unmute yourself. And then after we do Dr. Clark, we're gonna go back and see if from the bill sponsors for IL26638, Dr. Clark.

Thank you, Dr. Clark. And I do have to apologize to you and Nathan with some of the mix up regarding the public comment as we're managing. I didn't realize that you all had signed up for general public comment. So that's definitely my bad and my mistake. So thank you, Dr. Clark, for those words. Colleagues, there's no more public comment regarding this specific measure, so now we're gonna talk about the other one. So the floor is now open for comments from council members on initiative number IL26638, concerning participation in athletics at K through 12 schools. I know that Council Member Rin

Thank you so much, Council President. Thank you, colleagues. So as we move on to this discussion about the other initiative that's going to be on the ballot, I will share first, I am somebody who is not very good at sports. When I was a kid, I was made to play basketball for a season, and we won exactly one game. And I learned a lot during that season, built a lot of character, as my mom told me. And I would say, carry with me some lessons from that that I have today. And when I think about that experience, I think every kid deserves the right to play. Every kid deserves the right to have acce

Thank you, and just really quick, if there's no objection, I have two council members that I have to excuse, Council Member Juarez and Council Member Rivera for the remainder of today's meetings. Is there any objection to that? Okay, hearing no objection, Council Member Juarez and Council Member Rivera are excused for the remainder of the meeting. Sorry to interrupt, Council Member Rink.

Thank you, Council President. So this bill very clearly discriminates against all girls in Washington, cruelly specifically targeting just a handful of kids, creating barriers to participation in sports and all the benefits that that brings to kids and their families and our schools and our communities, and for what? All of this is in service to Well, it's not in service of the needs of Washington families, but rather to the desires of one wealthy MAGA megadonor. After failing to convince lawmakers of both parties in Olympia to get on board with his radical politics of exclusion and discrimina

Thank you, Councilmember Rain. So are there any other comments from Councilmembers on Initiative IL26638 before we go to the public? Oh, sorry, Councilmember Lin.

Thank you, Council President. Thank you to my colleagues for bringing this forward and it's really powerful listening to you, listening to the public comments. You know, I think about our youth who are struggling in many ways with, you know, issues around mental health and, you know, kids, as Council Member Foster mentioned, kids, should just have a right to be kids. They should just have a right to participate in school and sports and other programming. And unfortunately, too often some of our kids are bullied, are discriminated against. And it's gross that this initiative would double down o

Thank you, Council Member Lin. That was our last comment from Council Members, and so now we'll go to the public. I will like to start with the person online with Dr. Clark, because she's been on for a long period of time, and then we'll come to the people that are in person. And it's only one person online, so we'll start with online first really quick, and then we'll move to Ashley Ford, Madison Jones, Nathan Wall, Ed Son, and Guinevere. Dr. Clark. Dr. Clark.

Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, you're good. Dr. Clark, we're accepting comments regarding the initiatives, IL-26, 638, if you're opposed or in favor. Yes.

No worries. You're good. Thank you, Dr. Clark. Next, we'll go back in person. We have Ashley Madison, Nathan Wall, Ed and Guinevere. Welcome back, Ashley.

Thank you, Ashley. Next, we have Madison, followed by Nathan, then Ed and Guinevere. Welcome again. Hello again.

Thank you, Madison. Next, we have Nathan Wall followed by Ed and then Guinevere. Welcome. Nathan, next we have Ed, after Nathan and Guinevere.

Thank you, Nathan. I will take responsibility for that, because I didn't cut her off. So that, no, that was my, it was my decision. Thank you, Nathan. You all know how I run meetings. I'm very lax. People talk over me all the time. People continue to, when their time is up. And so we are just, thank you so much. But I appreciate you, so I'll take full responsibility for that, not the speaker. Thank you. So we have Ed, followed by Guinevere.

Thank you, Ed. Next, we have Guinevere. That's our final in-person speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Gwen and Vera. And there's no more public comment period. There's no more public commenters. We'll just do a quick check for in-person. Nope, okay, awesome. Thank you all for staying and commenting. I know we're three hours in. I really appreciate your time being engaged in this process. So seeing no further speakers signed up in favor or opposition of Initiative Measure IL-26-638, public comment period is now closed. And now we're gonna transition into voting. which we can vote on both because it's one. It's one resolution. Thank you. I will go back to the sponsors if they have any closing remarks.

Awesome. Will the clerk please call? Oh, I can't go back. Okay. The clerk said no. Okay. So will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of the resolution?

Motion carries. Resolution is adopted. The chair will sign. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf. Colleagues, we have reached the end of our agenda. Are there any items that council members want to bring for the good of the order? Okay, awesome. So we've reached today's agenda, the end of today's agenda item, the next city council meeting. And this one is important. So I'll make sure I articulate this correctly. September 22nd at 2 p.m. will be our last city council meeting before we start budget deliberations. And so what that means is we'll be able to, the