Remarks by Ben Zarlingo
43 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
“First of all, thank you for our public commenters. And last night I attended the Valley View neighborhood meeting. This is actually in Council Member, Council Vice President Ryan's district, but it happens in my district and I go there whenever I can. And just a quick note that there was a great presentation by the Snohomish County Public Utility District focused on their rebate programs. So certainly consider that if you heat your house or your water primarily by electricity, you may qualify. And some of that can be done whether you do it yourself or have it hired. But one thing I thought…”
“I'll start with a couple. And I guess, well, one thing I would say is it sounds like there's going to be a, there has to be some sort of inherent limit to that because the actual cost to provide such an Uber-like service is probably similar to what it costs Uber to do that, which is far above a dollar or two or 250 or something like that. And I guess that's kind of an inherent limit of what we can do that way or with paratransit as I understand it.”
“What would, since we're talking about 30-minute or longer intervals between buses in some cases, what would stop everybody in that zone then from calling for a 15-minute microtransit trip?”
“A couple of other questions about the diversion, but thank you for that. uh director godwin had uh talked about uh the bus service as a public good which i think is an important thing to keep in mind because i know the bulk of the um costs for these systems actually this is a question more forever transit but uh what portion of the budget is funded by this the sales taxes”
“Rick, I had asked you this question before. I'm interested partly because I'm interested in the situation where that might be significantly different in one agency for another in terms of the practicality of a merger. And one other question for now, then I'll defer my other ones probably until next week. But the representation, it currently would be one board member on a board of 10, if I understand it correctly. What's the process for the future of that to see that that representation continues proportional?”
“All right. Thank you. Those are governance questions. I wanted to make sure I understood those.”
“Well, it just brings up one clarification. I want to see if I understand this correctly. The whole idea of the center running buses is to have a dedicated bus lane, which gives buses some of the things, the benefits you get with light rail, which is it isn't competing with the traffic and the timing is predictable.”
“So that's the reason to make such a big change.”
“Thank you. Council Member Zarzlingo. Well, I would also like to thank our public commenters, also our representatives from India explaining us a holiday and a culture that I was not very aware of in detail. And also I'd like to thank Council Member Barbano for explaining to me what a pump track is for bicycles. I had not understood that as distinct from things like BMX tracks, had not understood how the pump tracks can serve a wider range of age of writers and the skill of writers. And so I'm intrigued in that and I'm looking forward to hearing more about those kinds of possibilities,…”
“This Council acknowledges the original inhabitants of this place, the Tlaloc people and their successors, the Tlaloc 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.”
“cared about Paul come on over and that's it for me council members well no report just a quick comment to follow up on council member Bader's comment about housing in the Silver Lake area there is a proposal now in in code review or in permit review for I think two sites and about 53 townhouses there so I want to congratulate the administration the city for working on this and And I think it ratifies the decision a couple of years ago to staff up and increase training and the management of that team to be as productive as we can, as low friction as we can be in terms of delivering new housing.”
“That was the point I was going to ask about, so thank you.”
“Good evening, residents of Everett, Washington, and interested parties. I would like to call to order the Everett City Council meeting of September 9th, 2026. For information on council meetings and how to participate, please visit everettwa.gov slash city council. Please note that we do not allow comments of any kind on 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. We also ask that the audience refrain from clapping, cheering, or booing, and no signage of…”
“Here. I'd like to ask Council Member Burbano to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Council Member Bader, will you please lead us, and will you please recite our land acknowledgment.”
“Thank you. And on to old business to hear a motion for approval of our minutes.”
“Yes. And now it's time for public comments. These include written comment acknowledgement. Under our rules, written comments are considered in the same manner as oral comments, with the person submitting comment providing their name and city of residence. Written comments require this to be made part of our official council record.”
“Thank you. And now we're on to. Oh, sorry. Did you have another one more?”
“And now we're on to Council comments. Council Member Bader.”
“Council Member Bravano. No comments this week. Thank you. Council Member Weir.”
“Thank you. And I will just also second the request for people to get involved in boards and commissions. It's a great way to connect with the city and to get connected with other people here and see how you might serve the rest of us. Now on to administration. Jennifer?”
“Thank you. Here for the office of city attorney is Lacey Offit.”
“Right. Thank you. We'll move on to our consent items. We have eight consent items. Do I have a motion to pass these items? I'll second.”
“We have a motion and a second. Clerk, please take the roll.”
“Yes. And then moving on to our proposed action item. This has been read into the record. This is Council Bill 2608-47, the second reading. Adopt an ordinance creating a special improvement project entitled 41st Street to Rucker Avenue Corridor Phase 2. Does the council have any questions or comments? All right, the final reading, the third and final reading is expected on September 16th, the week from tonight. Now on to our briefing and proposed action item. First, I'll read this into the record. This is Council Bill 2608-49. Adopt an ordinance approving the appropriations of the 2026 revised…”
“And I think we usually have three budget amendments in a typical year.”