City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a regular meeting of the Redmond City Council held on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026, commencing at 7 o'clock p.m. I will call roll starting with Council President Stewart. Here. Council Member Nueva Camino. Here. Council Member Kritzer.

Here.

Council Member Parsi. Here. Council Member Prakria.

Here.

And Council Member Soni. Here. Is there a motion to excuse Council Member Forsyth from the meeting tonight? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you so much. Is there a motion to approve Councilmember Prakriti as attending the council meetings next week remotely?

So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded.

Councilmember Prakriti, I would like to speak to this item.

Yes, thank you for the opportunity. I believe it was May, I may be mistaken, where we made a change to our council rules and procedures requiring council approval for more than three meetings remotely in a quarter. And I will, this is my third, next week will be my fourth for the quarter. So I'm requesting to be able to attend that one remotely due to still being in Washington, D.C. for the moment.

Is there any other comment on this item? Seeing none, this is a voice vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. And Council Member Proctor, you are excused, or you are able to attend remotely next week as well. Thank you. We're going to take a moment away from our agenda for a special item tonight. It is with great sadness that I share that former council member Arnie Tomac passed away over the weekend. We Many of you who have been around a while have seen him. He has been an engaged member of our community for quite some time. He also in the audience tonight is his wife, Mary, and one of his daughters as well, as well as Pat Vache, a former council member, and his wife, who are very good friends with Arnie. For those that don't know, Arnie was a member of the Redmond City Council for 12 years. He was also the council president for part of that time. He was elected in 79 and took office in 1980. In 1977, Mary and Arnie helped pass the $2.5 million Redmond Park Bond. In 1977, he chaired the Redmond's first Development Guide Committee. And he was a big advocate for the creation and implementation of Redmond's Light Rail. He also advocated for our financial stability. He created our first financial reserve system. He was a key advocate for resolving our golf course dilemma in the 80s and 90s. For those that don't know, Redmond Town Center used to be a golf course and has gone through so many changes. But he also supported the development of Redmond Town Center. He also helped us implement our budgeting by priorities process that we have now. He was also the founder of the Redmond Bike Committee, which we still have in our city. And because Arnie was always a supporter of the community, supporter of the city, Limitless energy, unbounded optimism in the work that he did. He continued to engage with the city over the years. Most recently, he was part of our latest salary commission, and he was also on our senior community center stakeholder group and met with many of our staff members regularly to ensure that, in fact, with Director Hamilton, that our parks supported our community. Outside of the city of Redmond, somehow he had more time. He was also a 30-year Bellevue YMCA board member. He worked for Puget Sound Energy. He was an engineer and planner. He was a former Cougar. He was a Cougar. Go Cougs, I guess, for those that are. And he also, even up to the summer, was consulting in this work with Kent University. He was a Qantas board member. He was just such a dedicated volunteer for the community, always willing to share a smile and a great story. And he also, since 2029, participated weekly in cultural events, online conversations with his friends. We are going to miss him terribly. We're very sad that he has left us. Thank you, Mary, for sharing him with us all these years and for the work you and he did for our community. But I just want to make sure our community understood some people are just real gems, and Arnie was one of those. I would love to open up if any other council members want to share a few words before we dive into our meeting.

Council President, would you like to share a few words?

I would, thank you. I will keep it short. That's a reflection on me and my abilities and not the impact that Arnie had on our community. Everything that Mayor Burney has just shared is a sampling of what Arnie participated in and achieved. But I think the how someone gets work done, good work done also matters. Arne is one of the legends, someone I had the privilege of calling a mentor. The best advice that he ever gave me was the moment I became a candidate for office was to make sure I was seated right where the audience is seated today. which I did for the better part of a year, so that should the community give me the chance to serve here, that I would be well prepared to do it. And that is advice I still give to lots of up-and-coming leaders all around our community. Arnie came to see me just a couple of weeks ago. A few times a year, he would come to my office hours to make sure that I knew about something that was going on, something I needed to be thinking about. And in this particular case, he brought a youth leader who was doing incredible work helping families navigate transportation decisions. e-bikes, regular bikes, e-motos. This young woman was doing such incredible work that the city of Redmond ended up using her resources in one of our e-newsletters, and she's doing incredible work. And Arnie wanted to make sure that this young leader had a chance to meet the council and meet a council member. So Arnie was engaged until the very end. He absolutely influences the way that I participate in service today. And I'm very grateful for the Giants who let us stand on their shoulders and keep making good progress. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Kritzer.

Thank you. And I will also keep it short since I'm feeling a bit emotional at the moment, but I did want to just recognize what an incredible impact Arne has had on our community and personally on my journey as a leader. I've also been very lucky to call him a mentor. And I first met Arne when I was on the planning commission here in Redmond before I was a council member. And I remember hearing from him about all that he had done in our city and realizing that having grown up in this community so much of how I have experienced life here in Redmond and across the East side is really due to a lot of the leadership that he provided. And really the city that we're living in today is so much set by the vision and the leadership that he brought. In particular, I think one of the things that struck me in a recent conversation with him was just the amount that he also had a hand in being able to make sure that we support the most vulnerable among us, making sure that we also support food security and making sure that everyone in our communities have what they need and really looking at the problems that we see in our community and not just saying that we can't solve those, but finding a way to do it. And that's something that I take with me as I move forward in this work and really in what it means to give public service. I think Ernie embodied the best of that and he was doing that until the very last day. And so I just want to thank Ernie. I want to thank his family, for lending his time to us and honor him. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Vice President.

Thank you, Mayor. Very appropriately, I was, I found out of Arnie's passing, I was on a bike ride and I was on the Sammamish River Trail and I was taking a break. I had seen that I had missed a couple of phone calls. and I was taking a break at the senior center in between the senior and community center and city hall on municipal campus when I learned of his passing and I thought how appropriate that was. Arnie and I, it was our similarities and our differences that had us be as close as we were able to be. Our similarities because of our love for cycling as well as our very deep love for Redmond. And I'm grateful to have known him not only as a former council member and someone who also cared deeply about Redmond, but someone who understood the importance of making room for others and knowing that we're stronger because of our diversity. Now for those of us of color stepping into leadership in this community, Arne created a very welcoming space. He offered mentorship and encouragement through his lens and perspective and made sure that we knew that we belonged in the room at the table in Redmond and throughout East King County. And that kind of leadership is so very much needed. I'm personally grateful for the way that he showed up for me, and I know that his impact is going to continue through many people whose paths he made a little wider, Little deeper and I'm going to miss seeing him out and about in community because as you've heard Arnie was absolutely everywhere And of course, I'm gonna miss seeing him on his bike Thank you Anyone else Once again, I want to thank his family for being here and friends and

We will miss him dearly, and as Council Vice President mentioned, we can see him everywhere as well, as we bike, as we walk, as we see what the city has become. He's made a great impact. Thank you, everyone, for indulging us in that. We just really want to make sure we give a little taste for what a wonderful community member Arnie is. All right. Next, our first other item on the agenda is a special orders of the day. I have a proclamation for National Hispanic Heritage Month. Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from September 15th through October 15th as an opportunity to honor the histories, cultures, traditions, and achievements of Americans with roots in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. And whereas this annual observance began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson and was expanded as a month-long celebration in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. recognizing the independence anniversaries of several Latin American nations and the enduring influence of Hispanic and Latino communities throughout the United States. And whereas the 2026 theme, Unidos Somos Mas, Together We Are More, celebrates the strength that comes from unity, cultural connection, and shared community values, recognizing that when people come together, their collective contributions can create lasting and meaningful change. And whereas Hispanic and Latino communities continue to demonstrate resilience, leadership, creativity, and service, strengthening our neighborhoods and contributing to education, business, healthcare, and the arts, public service, technology, and every facet of community life. And whereas we recognize the accomplishments of Hispanic and Latino Americans who have helped shape our past and present while celebrating today's innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, civic leaders, and community trailblazers who are creating new opportunities and helping build a more connected future. And whereas the City of Redmond is strengthened by the diversity of its residents and is committed to fostering an inclusive community where every person is valued, every heritage is respected, and Hispanic and Latino residents are encouraged and supported, in participating, leading, and contributing across all areas of civic and community life. And now, therefore, I, Angela Burney, Mayor of the City of Redmond, Washington, do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. And I have some Staff members who are going to accept this, and I'm missing Chip because he retired. Lorene, could you come take a picture, please, since I see you making eye contact with you? Thank you. And my staff members are going to introduce themselves, and each has a few words they'd like to share with you.

Hello, my name is Susana Mojica. I am an employee of the city of Redmond. I work in the Park and Recreation Department over at the Redmond Senior and Community Center. In the words of Dolores Huerta, have faith in yourself, but also have faith in other people, because you can't do it alone. We are more united. Es con orgullo de ser hispana que me ven aquí antes de ustedes. Estoy aquí porque otros vinieron antes y lucharon por tener un lugar y una voz en la sala. Solo puedo hacer cambios y dejar mi huella, pero unidos como toda una comunidad, sin importar dónde nacimos nosotros o nuestros padres, podemos asegurarnos de que nuestros cambios y esfuerzos lleguen a mucho más. Hello, hi everybody. My name is Carlos Guerrero. I'm also a program coordinator with the Parks and Rec Department.

I'll be saying what Susana said in English. Thank you, Mayor Bernie. To quote Dolores Huerta, have faith in yourself, but also have faith in other people because you can't do it alone. Unidos somos mas. It is with pride in being Hispanic that you see me here before you. I am here because others came before and fought to have a spot and a voice in the room. I alone can make changes and leave my mark. But united as an entire community, regardless of where we or our parents were born, we can ensure that our changes and efforts reach many more. Working for the Parks Department, I own that I am one of the people responsible for making sure our Hispanic brothers and sisters are represented, feel valued and seen, and safe in our spaces. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Bernie, and thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here. It is truly an honor to receive this on behalf of the Mexican community in Redmond, especially meaningful since today several Latin American nations celebrate their independence. So it is truly an honor, and also a lot of people in Mexico are gathering today to do an... reenactment of El Grito. So truly, thank you. Thank you so much.

And Mary, can you introduce yourself, please?

Oh, sorry.

Mary Santiago.

I am the admin, or admin, oh my goodness, admin coordinator for the executive office.

Thank you so much. And thank you three so very much. It was wonderful to have you here tonight. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is a presentation on the One Redmond 2025 Annual Contract Report.

I have.

All right. And I have Christina Hudson, CEO of One Redmond here. Philly, are you speaking as well? No?

Okay.

Thank you.

We're just making sure we have technical. Did that work? How do we know it works? It would show up there. Oh, I think I have to select something. So AV system. And we have to select laptop.

It's locked.

Do you want to share? All right, well, thank you for your patience. I think we're running into a little bit of technical difficulties, but Philly's gonna come to my rescue and share for me, I believe. Should I go ahead and disconnect, do you think? Okay. That doesn't cause any problems, all right.

Oh, there, there we go.

All right. Well, thank you, everyone. I'm so happy to be here today to talk to you about our program, our annual economic development update. I know that you all have met with us in the past, but since we don't have a lot of time, I'm going to go ahead and get started. All right. Perfect. Thank you. All right. One Redmond is comprised of leaders dedicated to fostering economic vitality in Redmond. We are a collaboration from business, education, government, and community. We are a unique combination of economic development enterprise, chamber of commerce and community foundation. We are the only public private economic development partnership in East King County. We are led by a board of directors from diverse industries and backgrounds. And of course, I have to mention our small but mighty team that is at the heart of our programs. One Redmond was originally formed in 2013 to drive and support economic development for the city of Redmond. At that time, public and private sector leaders in our community understood that these partnerships are key to resilient and strong economy. And we see public-private partnerships continue to be reinforced today as a key recommendation through the recent Challenge Seattle report. We see this partnership through the city's contracts and how it is paired with One Redmond's private sector investments. Together, this funds a senior and highly experienced economic development team that has created innovative and nationally recognized economic development programs with a team that is known for adapting quickly to the changing needs of the business community. Our ultimate barometer of our work is seen through our annual metrics of jobs and dollars in our community. Our contracted business retention efforts include coordinating and managing the business walk program, small business assistance, displaced business support, and general business visits. And these are all designed to keep our businesses here in Redmond. It is also an opportunity to learn about any issues that our business owners are facing as early as possible so that we can identify resources available to assist with their needs. The goal of our business expansion is to increase jobs, increase the payroll in Redmond. The more workers we have in Redmond, the more foot traffic our small businesses will receive. Our team also leads the business recruitment response for the City of Redmond. A majority of our leads come directly to us because of our long-standing relationships and economic development. We also receive leads from the City of Redmond directly and Greater Seattle partners. And a note about business recruitment, the recruitment of these larger companies that bring primary jobs to Redmond is a critical and foundational support for the Redmond small businesses. These are the companies that have the employees, the vendors, the customers, and the partners who spend money in Redmond's economy, in our restaurants, in our retail, our local suppliers, and our hotels. Our teams combined experience over the years here in Redmond and with former experience at the Washington State Department of Commerce and the King County Economic Development Council. We have worked with tens of thousands of jobs to the region as well as billions into capital infusion into our economy. Our One Redmond's team has strong expertise in developing innovative and emerging economic development clusters. One tactic we use is through economic development branding. This strategy was pioneered with the Washington Interactive Network and again with the Redmond Space District in partnership with the City of Redmond. And of course, our team has executive experience across technology, entrepreneurship, economic development organizations that allow us to identify opportunities in innovation and partnership. Another outcome beyond the ever-important jobs and dollars into our community has been national economic development program recognition. This partnership gives the City of Redmond institutional knowledge, adaptable programming, and decades of trusted relationships for a fraction of the cost thanks to private sector contributions to our shared economic development goals. Together, we have achieved significant results in 2025. These are One Redmond's and One Eastside's combined results for 2025. But since we are well into 2026, I want to give a bit of overview of what we are doing. I can certainly, I know you've probably seen some of these metrics before. And again, always happy to answer questions at any time. So next, I'm going to start covering some highlights for 2026 on what we've been, what's been happening over at One Redmond in the City of Redmond. So building on our 2025 results, the economic development contract continues to prioritize the strengthening of small businesses, displacement support, business recruitment, and industry cluster support. To date, we have conducted four business walks with the other four planned and ready to go. The first of four walks took place in the areas of downtown, Marymoor Village, and some on Redmond Way. And during these walks, we collected information and feedback on how these businesses were doing. You know, there's absolutely a need for more visibility and more marketing and connection with the community. Our small businesses need more foot traffic. The rising costs of doing business is of course another main issue. The ongoing staffing challenges, finding team members to work, and the lack of affordable commercial office space. To further support small business, we have our One East Side Small Business Advising Services, and through this program, we provide fee-free advising services to businesses and nonprofits in Redmond and East King County. In the first two quarters, there have been 135 small businesses advised with one-on-one sessions. A new group advising program was created and was held over multiple days throughout April and May. This was highly successful. We had seven cohorts graduate. Primary topics covered during this group session as well as the one-on-one were business plans, lean canvas, financing, of course, the grants and how to scale, leasing, and marketing. Some trends that we saw with these meetings, we have seen an increase in AI consultant businesses, as well as an increase in service-based businesses. Commercial space is a common theme. The availability is low, and the lease terms have been a challenge. We have seen more inquiries on folks looking to start a side business along their full-time job. And then, of course, the need for marketing and getting more foot traffic through the door. All right, for the home-based and emerging businesses, we have curated pop-up opportunities at Redmond events. This allows for product visibility, testing, and new customer connections. In 2026, we featured six vendors at some tasting locations at Redmond Town Center during our Redmond Wine Walk, And through the month of September, there is four Saturdays. We've already gone through two. Two more to go. We have some activations at the Redmond Downtown Park in partnership with our sister organization, One Redmond Foundation, and our concert series. And we have our home-based businesses that have booths there as well. In 2026, we continue to meet with businesses in the areas that are likely to be redeveloped. As development in general has slowed down, we are seeing that businesses and nonprofits that were originally told to vacate in early 2027 have now been notified that they can extend beyond their original timeline and in those locations to 2029 and beyond. Even with this extension of time for these at risk businesses, it is imperative that we continue to build relationships with these developers to uncover any and all opportunities and options for our small businesses who are being displaced. Moving to business recruitment, here's a snapshot of the year so far. We have fielded over 16 leads of qualified projects. Four have regular inquiries on an ongoing basis and request information as of in September. These four projects represent well over 3,000 potential jobs, which could bring significant economic injection into our economy. This work that we do entails a variety of items, and the menu is actually endless because it depends on what their needs are and their industry is from. But it could be customized real estate searches, local workforce statistics, could be commuting, could be information on the incentive programs available, as well as connecting these companies to our regional partners. With our industry cluster experience, which we'll talk about in a little bit in a few slides, we are also poised to be able to provide industry-specific resources as well. The industries that drive Redmond's economy are, of course, our traditional tech, enterprise software, big data, AI. But we also have clear leadership in interactive entertainment, VR, MXR, mixed reality. And we are seeing growth in this space of life sciences as well. So next, I'm going to do a little deeper dive on two of our industry cluster programs. And you're all familiar with the Redmond Space District. The Redmond Space District is not a physical location, as you all likely know, but a brand that was created as an economic development tool to showcase to the world that Redmond was one of the premier space clusters in the world. We bring together advanced manufacturing, engineering software innovation, communication, and public-private collaboration to shape the future of the global space economy. Redmond's history begins with Rocketdyne as their propulsion systems are almost on every vehicle that has been or is about to go to space. And of course today two-thirds of the satellites around the planet are built right here in Redmond. Because of the talent and companies we have here, Redmond can showcase our strengths in advanced manufacturing, satellite engineering and space systems, space communications and ground infrastructure, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, advanced optics and sensors, and emerging space technologies. In partnership with the City of Redmond, our vision is to support the continued growth of the Redmond space industry through strategic partnerships, business attraction, workforce development, advocacy, and innovation. And our partners extend beyond the City of Redmond. We work with the Washington State Department of Commerce, Space Northwest, our higher educational institutions, and more. Some of our latest efforts in this space is the ongoing work to develop a Washington State Space Commission, an industry-focused trade mission in 2027 to go to Japan and some of the trade relationships that can be made there, helping to land and support a regional space accelerator, and of course we have Space Week coming up in just a couple of weeks, and we want to make sure that Redmond Space District is represented well. Moving on to another cluster that One Redmond has been managing since 2014 is the Washington Interactive Network, or WIN. Building on the momentum of WIN's program in 2025, we continue to partner with Seattle Indies and leverage the WIN audience and network to bring educational events and programming to entrepreneurs in the game and interactive entertainment sector. This workshop series was branded The Business of Games and was modeled after Wynn's game startup series that had launched numerous indie development studios in the last decade. This year we created workshops around funding, building communities around their content, and virtual and in-person workshops on how to build a demo around your game. Because a lot of these game developers, they know how to build a good game, but they don't know how to run a business. So our thoughts are we need to teach them how to run a business so they can be successful. So brands like the Redmond Space District and Washington Interactive Network, they not only foster innovation and economic development, but they also foster community within these sectors. And I know my time's running out, and with our short time, just wanted to give a quick snapshot of some photos, our non-contracted activities with One Redmond's body of work. Since we were built primarily as an economic development organization, every One Redmond program and effort we make is focused on the goal of fostering economic vitality in the city of Redmond. So we've done programs like our One East Side Economic Outlook, our Lunch and Learn, Small Business Education, the Small Business Showcase at the State of the City, the Wine Walk, we've done Pubchella, Barks and Bikes, and currently we have the Arts in the Park program that we just talked about. Coming up, we have our Redmond Spotlight 20, which is an inaugural program. We have an overwhelming response. We had almost 90 people apply for this program, and it's really about sharing the stories of the organizations and businesses and nonprofits that make Redmond who we are. And we're going to be announcing that tomorrow morning. So we're going to be sharing throughout the month the honorees that got selected. And we are having a recognition breakfast on the 22nd. So I hope you all will join us. And hopefully I made it in time.

Any questions? Thank you so much. That was a lot of information packed in there. Are there questions from the council members at this time? Council Member Soni.

Thank you so much, Christina, for this detailed presentation. I've been part of One Redmond executive board for over a decade, and I have witnessed some of these good work that's happening with One Redmond. Seen a lot of changes that has happened, the world where we are living, even our small businesses really need a lot of hand-holding and support, so thank you for doing that. And just want to applaud all the good work that has been happening and looking forward to have more support for not only for our small businesses for economic development, but also for our community. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Council President. Thank you so much, Christina, for coming and sharing all of your great work with us. There is no greater focus right now than the economic focus on the rare but did occur decline in job numbers in our region recently. And there's a lot of conversation at all levels and across jurisdictions and across both sides of Lake Washington also. But I really want to commend you and your team for the part that you play closest to home here, and especially with supporting our small business community. When we adopted the Economic Development Strategic Plan, there were a couple of things that stood out for me. Number one, the idea to build on what we have going, and number two, to really support our small business community, including the creative economy and so much that that entails. I do wanna ask one, I have one request of one Redmond as you're doing this great work in regards to the Space District. And we've talked about this a couple of times. I love your enthusiasm for the Space District. I don't know enough about it. And so I really do hope that as the body that is here to implement the economic policies of the city and to inform those policies in the future, that we have the opportunity to also learn about something that is helping to diversify our economy in a big way. I think space and life sciences are two really exciting areas that we would love to see the city, to see the jobs in the city grow. I have no idea what Space Week is, but if it's coming up and there's an opportunity for the council to learn more about it or to be involved and simply hearing about how it's going beyond the big announcement that we had a couple of years ago in this room. I think the council would appreciate a chance to learn more. I'll just speak for myself and say I would very much like a chance to learn more.

I would love that because you all are the lead salespeople of the city of Redmond. So the more you know, the more you can talk about it, and that would be amazing, and I'd love that opportunity. And just so you know, we're trying to, we're working to try to get Space Week in Redmond next year. So that's our, that's what, it takes a while, but fingers crossed. Love it.

Thank you. Council Member Kritzer.

Thank you so much for the presentation, Christina, and for all the really wonderful work that you do to be able to help us to build an even more vibrant economy and attract more businesses and help our businesses that are here to be able to thrive. I appreciate what you mentioned about the walk-in talks and some of the work that your staff does to be able to engage with different parts of our business community. We often hear as council members from folks that are wondering about the types of support that we give to our businesses, and in particular, different types of businesses in our economy. And I understand that you're also doing some roundtables this fall. Can you share a little bit more about what that looks like to be able to deep dive on different types of sectors within our economy?

We are, we are. And this is, we're doing two new ones, and they haven't happened yet, but we have one in September, one in October. The first one's a real estate and development roundtable, just to make sure that we We need to continue to develop and to provide more spaces for our people and our businesses. And then the second one is about business climate. So I think that's something that we're all acknowledging has been really tough, especially for our restaurants and retails, especially double, especially for our restaurants, and really need to make sure that we're supporting all those small businesses as well. So yeah, we are bringing a variety of different types of businesses to those roundtables. So it's not just all big companies. You're going to see a little bit of each of the, like we'll have a restaurant there, we'll probably have some big businesses there too, and everybody in between, and have our leadership as well. Because to solve that business climate question, we all need to have our arrows pointing in the same direction. And so this is about trying to all get together on a few things that we can move the needle on. Because at the end of the day, we're all successful when our businesses are doing well. Well, thank you so much, and-

I'll just note, as you have learnings out of that and can share those back with the council, especially around what we can do from the city perspective to be able to support that, especially our small businesses and being able to thrive, something to hear about from constituents a lot.

It was suggested to me to do a monthly update. So I got to work on figuring out what that looks like, but that's what I would love to do. I used to do that during the COVID years and then it didn't happen for a while. So I think we can do that. So you're a little bit more connected there. rather than my once a year report. So, and our phone lines and emails are always open. So questions, concerns, just pick up the phone and let me know.

Great.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions for our CEO of One Redmond?

All right. Well, thank you so much. Really appreciate the presentation and the information and would love to see you more often. All right. I'd love it. Thank you.

Council President. Mayor Bernie, I would like to make a motion to reorder the agenda so that item number three, the consent agenda, comes before items from the audience tonight.

Thank you so much. It would be to approve our new commission members. Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on this item?

Council President. I'll just explain the procedural maneuver here. Sometimes it is prudent for us to reorder the agenda when we have friends and family members waiting to see their loved ones sworn in for their new commission seats. So everyone's been very patient with us tonight. I think we should reorder the agenda and swear in these brand new commissioners. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments on this item? Seeing none, this is a voice vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. So now I'll go, would anyone like to move consent item number three?

Mayor Burney, we have reordered the agenda, so now I will make a motion to move the consent agenda.

The whole consent agenda. Okay, sorry.

I thought it was just item three. It's the whole consent agenda. Is there a second?

Second.

Any comment on this? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Point of order.

Point of order, yes.

Are we gonna remove item three from the consent? Are you gonna ask for items to be pulled?

Oh, I'm sorry, yes, items to be pulled. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Council Member Kritzer, would you like to pull that item? I believe it is item three. No, it's part two of the... I think it's item number five. Sorry, I was trying to look at it.

Thank you. The part two of the community stability funding recommendations, I'd like to remove, to pull that item.

Yes, item number five has been removed. Any others to be pulled? Thank you. All right, let's try this again. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. And with that, we have approved two new commissioners, one for the library board and one for the Human Services Commission. If they would like to come up and get sworn in, we would love to have you. And if there's any family or friends who would like to take a picture of this happening, you can go ahead and move around to do that when the clerk swears them in.

Together. So right next to each other. So I'll be swearing. Plenty of time for photos, too. But yeah, you can come over here. Welcome. So I'm the city clerk. I'll be swearing both of you in at the same time. And when I am done reading the oath, then if you agree, you say I will or I do. And then you will sign those and then you will go shake hands with the mayor and council. All right. So raise your right hand. Do you, Jenny Lisk, having been duly appointed to the Library Board of Trustees, and Hannah Pressinger, having been duly appointed to the Human Services Commission of the City of Redmond, Washington, do solemnly swear that you will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of your office as prescribed by law and to the best of your ability, and that you will support and maintain the ordinances of the City of Redmond, the laws, and the Constitution of the State of Washington and the United States of America?

I will.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you

Would anyone like to move consent item number five?

Move consent item.

I move consent item number five. Would anyone like to second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Consent item number five. Council Member Kritzer, would you like to share why you pulled this item?

yes i would um like to abstain uh due to the the fact that i serve on the board of hopelink in my personal capacity even though um i do serve on on that in uh hoping hoping has a very interesting uh tri-board member structure that they about a third of the board are elected officials a third are community members and a third are folks who have received the impact of their services and so it's a really wonderful board And I've recently had the opportunity this year to serve on this board just to avoid any perception of conflict of interest Although I won't be gaining anything personally from this. I would like to abstain From this boat.

It's actually recuse for cues. Yeah, we choose yourself in the boat Okay, so councilmember Chris or will not be voting on this item.

So item number five is our auditors. I is the approval of the 2026 Community Stability Funding Recommendation Part 2. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? And motion carries 6-0. With all that, we have... Madam Mayor, it is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 0. I'm so sorry. Yes, because Forsyth is not here. Thank you. Thank you. Everything's a little different tonight. Thank you. 5-0. With that, there are two ordinances I need to read in the record. Ordinance number 3268, an ordinance of the City of Redmond, Washington, amending RMC 930.060, tax levied upon gambling activities exemptions Use of revenues to remove conflicting language on prohibitive activities in Redmond as set forth in RMC 930.020.

State law applicable providing for severability and establishing an effective date.

Ordinance number 3269, an ordinance of the City of Redmond, Washington, amending Title 21 of the Redmond Municipal Code, known as the Redmond Zoning Code, to complete the 2026 annual code cleanup, providing for severability and establishing an effective date.

All right, next we will jump back up to items from the audience. I have the sign-in sheet for members of the public to speak tonight. When I read your name, you will come up to the podium and have three minutes to address the council.

Council members generally will not respond to comments or questions directly at the meeting. Members of the public are welcome to email the council anytime at mayorcouncil at redmond.gov. The views stated by members of the public do not represent the opinion of the City of Redmond And as a reminder, RCW 29B-45010 prohibits any public comment during the council meeting in support or opposition of ballot propositions, measures, or candidates.

All comments must pertain to the City of Redmond business as indicated in the sign-in sheet except on the subject of the public hearing. So just to make sure, there were two sign-in sheets. One was for items from the audience and one was for a public hearing. So when I call your name, if you, for items from the audience, just make sure that's the thing that you signed up for. And I will make sure at the end of items from the audience, if there's anyone who meant to sign up for that, we'll make sure we get you in this. So, and I call up the first four names. and then I try to keep rotation so you know when you're coming next. First is Jillian Wallace, then David Morton, then Celica Proctor, and then Iqbar and Adam.

Greetings, Jillian Wallace. I was born and raised here in Redmond and am teased for venturing far when I purchased my home all the way in Sammamish's Englewood community, which is where you may have heard of my work with last year's public roads debacle. I've met some of you at events and up at the Met Market's political meetups. So with the community influence as the honorary mayor of the historic plot of Englewood, I would like to offer my services a prediction. To avoid devastating catastrophe, please increase human services funding. Next week's proposed final draft has severe defunding of vital human services programming, particularly in early learning support. Council, please speak up and request a shift in funding. I participated in Redmond staff budgeting community engagement session this past week as both a current kindering parent and advocate. Phenomenal, by the way. I wish Sammamish did opinion-gathering events in this style. Nicely done. But tonight, I'm also representing so much more. I am also representing Little Bits Therapeutic Horses and Community, as seen in the Derby Days Parade, along with Pete the Mini Horse, the Lake Washington School District, supporting such anti-bullying and anti-suicide programs as newly featured in Evergreen Middle School, and several of Norse Mamish's school building cultures. Know Your Ride, a student-led initiative for bike and e-bike safety, who has received Washington State's Proclamation for Bike Safety Awareness. for the Together Center community and, of course, kindering, whose inclusive early learning support programs directly protect our most precious resource, the kids. As children grow in an inclusive culture, they learn understanding, accommodations, and patience for others. We sidestep slurs and hate crimes. Children deserve to be seen, heard, and respected as people. They, in turn, perpetuate kindness, respect, and equity, therefore reducing the need for higher-costing later-in-life interventions. Renvin is known within the parenting communities having a higher than average child suicide rate. Why? Actually, I started looking at this problem from a totally different perspective. As a member of the school district's equity board, some of us were wondering, why are more families of young children choosing North Sammamish over Redmond or Kirkland when the bigger cities are offering more housing and transportation options? So I investigated. A strong desire for the inclusive community and social-emotional learning that is supported within the building culture of early learning public schools. So please preserve and protect our beautiful Pacific Northwest safety bubble and voice the request for fully funded human services action plan with emphasis on early learning support. Thank you for your time, consideration, and this opportunity to present in a safe and accessible space. Cheers.

Next is David Morton, then Salika Proctor, then Iqbar and Adam, then Erin Hamilton.

Good evening, Council Members and Mayor. I'm David Morton. I want to raise three code and process concerns, not the funding requests which I'm bringing to your budget hearings. First, the tree code, RZC 2172 and 2178, currently route every discretionary tree retention determination through qualified tree professionals hired and paid by the applicant. However, the code does not include a double check by a city arborist. I've already flagged this same self-reporting structure to the Council and the Planning Commission. Whatever the Council decides on staffing, I'd ask that the final ordinance also include a structural safeguard such as a spot check trigger and an audit provision or a requirement that reviewers are not paid by the applicant. Such a safeguard would ensure that the Code does not depend entirely on future budget decisions for the Code to function as intended. Second, water management. My review of Redmond's water programs against the Redmond 2050 goals turned up real gaps. First, number one, the 2013 watershed management plan is out of date. Two, the stormwater and surface water systems plan has not yet been released to the public and doesn't yet reflect current critical aquifer recharge area pressures. And three, recycled water and gray water reuse remain largely unaddressed. I encourage the council to ask for a public timeline on updating the watershed management plan independent of the budget cycle. Third, the former all-wood recycling site, aka Department of Ecology cleanup site ID 3793, sits up gradient of monitoring well 25 and city drinking water wells 1 and 2. The city intends to disturb potentially contaminated soil in a portion of the Allwood recycling site as part of the Evans Creek relocation project. On a broader scale, this raises aquifer contamination concerns within the entire Southeast Redmond Manufacturing and Industrial Center. But right now, I'm asking for a public status update. One, where does Ecology's review of the all-wood recycling site currently stand? And two, will that status be resolved before the City commits to development decisions nearby? What's needed is a commitment that these concerns won't get lost between budget cycles, that the code itself, the planning documents, and the public record all get updated on a schedule that is not waiting for funding to force the question. Thank you for the time and work that you put into these issues.

Thank you. Next is Salika Proctor, then Iqbar and Adam, then Erin Hamilton, then Wolf Adriatico.

Sit down.

Thank you. Good evening. My name is Salika. I'm here tonight because I live approximately 100 feet from the municipal campus pickleball courts. And I want to tell you what it's actually like to live with that sound every day. Because I live so close to the courts, the sound isn't something I occasionally notice. It's a constant part of my living environment. The court's hours are 8 AM to dusk, but I've heard players there as early as 5 AM. Dusk is somewhat arbitrary. Player continues as long as there's barely enough light. The sound itself creates an impulse noise similar to a vehicle backup alarm. A recent study documented pickleball pops reaching frequencies of up to 1,200 hertz, or approximately 70 dBA. At the courts near me, the sound events can average to 20,000 to 60,000 times a day. The character of the sound combined with the player's shouts and screams carry throughout my home. Just imagine a vehicle backup alarm at 6 AM on your day off, except all day, every day. Over the past three years, I've tried just about everything to cope with the sound, essentially the IT version of have you tried turning it on and off again. I've tried headphones, sound machines, noise cancellation, trying to simply adapt to the sound. Short of moving, which I cannot do, I've tried to find ways to live with it. Despite everything, nothing has resulted in permanent relief. With the doors closed, I can hear the sound through the windows on either side of my apartment. I cannot sit peacefully on my porch with a cup of coffee. Even when it's raining, players continue on playing. I feel trapped in my own home. The constant repetitive noise has taken a significant toll on my daily life, causing noise-induced headaches and making it difficult to concentrate, sleep and function at home. This became especially apparent after my ankle surgery and I've been trying to recover without access to a quiet environment. I don't know how to stress enough that this experience is like to me. To me, the closest comparison is water drop torture or even gun practice. It's constant, loud, out of my control, and I cannot escape it. And knowing that another pop is potentially coming makes it difficult to relax. My experience is not unique. Countless others are experiencing similar difficulties in their neighborhoods, and headlines about these concerns are beginning to appear around the world. I know this issue will persist long after I leave. I urge the city to look into this growing problem and find solutions that can work for residents and players alike, because everyone deserves to feel a little peace in their own home. Thank you.

Next we have Iqbar and Adam, then Erin Hamilton, then Wolf Adriatico, and then we have one person signed up to speak remotely.

Good evening. My name is Adam Elgazar.

My name is Ekter Esmail.

And we are seniors at ICS, International Community School.

Right now, 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's. By 2050, this number is projected to reach nearly 13 million. This is a frightening statistic because Alzheimer's is fatal. It accounts for more deaths than breast and prostate cancer combined in older people. Alzheimer's isn't only a problem for individuals and their families, it's a problem for the whole community. Alzheimer's steals the memories that make a community unique and allow it to thrive. This is especially serious in somewhere like Redmond, where we have so many unique cultures that survive through memories. However, despite how terrifying the disease is, it is not inevitable. In fact, according to the Lancet Commission on Dementia, nearly half of dementia cases are linked to causes that we can actually prevent. The first step to minimize defective Alzheimer's is to spread awareness, which is what we are focusing on. We want to provide information to people on how to reduce their risk of Alzheimer's, how Alzheimer's patients can deal with their disease, and how to help families of those with Alzheimer's. In terms of distribution, so far we have partnered with the Redmond Library on creating an interactive display where everyone in our community can come and share their answer to a simple question. What is one memory you would never want to forget? At the library, we are also circulating brochures with basic information on Alzheimer's and how to get help, hoping to reach older adults and their caregivers.

We also created an Instagram named Memiro, underscore A-L-Z, spelled M-E-M-I-R-O. where we post information on Alzheimer's disease. By doing so, we hope to reach younger audiences that can start taking action to reduce their risk of Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, we're working with the UW branch of Dementia Friends to launch a social media campaign where we have people share their answer to the question of what is one memory you never want to forget through a social media post where they tag our account. Hopefully this campaign can highlight the importance of every memory each individual holds. We ask that everyone takes some time to learn about Alzheimer's prevention and that they take part in our campaign, whether it is going to the library and sharing their memories over there, or whether it is sharing it online, or if it's just talking to a friend about the importance of Alzheimer's prevention. Thank you.

Would you like to share your website address again, just briefly, gentlemen? Come on up to the mic. You have to say it into the mic or the homonigans can't hear you. A little closer. A little closer. There you go.

Our website has the same name. It's memiro.net. Not Netlify, sorry. So memiro, M-E-M-I-R-O dot N-E-T-L-I-F-Y.

Great. Thank you so much. Thank you, gentlemen. Next, we have Aaron Hamilton, then Wolf Adriatico.

I just want to start that with I'm very glad that I'm able to stand here right now, flying back from here, from Texas. I almost got arrested for using a bathroom. So I'm very happy to be back in Washington. But September, the month of September is Suicide Prevention Month. As you all know, this is a very important topic for me. The best way that I know I've been for preventing suicide has been the Law Enforcement Corresponder Program and the MHPs, especially Mary, who does a wonderful job, and Sergeant Ford. There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding this open, not open, exists, doesn't exist, second MHP position that is approved in the budget, was on hold for some reason, but is now not on hold, but nobody really knows about it, and there's nothing being posted for the position to start recruiting, but then people seem to think that We need to get an MHP spot available by passing this sales tax thing. So I've sent an email about this before everybody went to recess, never got a response of trying to get the confusion unconfused of, Does this position exist still? If it is, why are we not recruiting for it? I know personally that we are missing out on very qualified, very recommended people to fill this role, and they simply cannot wait for the city of Redmond to open it up. Or does this position not exist? And we got to pass this sales tax thing so that law enforcement can get another MHP hired to help juveniles. Nobody seems to know. The people I talk to don't seem to know. I don't seem to know. So getting some sort of clarification of what's going on would be great. Also, briefly, every time that I've come up and talked about mental health, I've always stated that we're always treated like prisoners in these facilities, crisis, Kirkland Connections, whatever, or hospitals. Now that I'm advising with correctional teams on jails, policies, and procedures for trans people, I now know a lot about jails and have gone through the process of drop-off, booking, housing, and the programs and release. And now I can confidently say prisoners are treated better than mental health patients at hospitals and especially better than Kirkland Connections. And I just want that to sink in a little bit. Prisoners are treated better than mental health patients. That's a big problem.

Thank you. Thank you. Next is Wolfie Eratico.

First, I'd like to acknowledge the city beginning teen engagement. I look forward to seeing how the feedback from the upcoming sessions is directly applied to decision-making. I was going to directly quote other teens comments, but the council might not take kindly to their irreverent vocabulary. And while I'd love to go in depth about how crass words are protected by the First Amendment and are not prohibited by K1 of the council's rules of procedure, an argument over semantics isn't worth the minutes. So just know that other teens see this method of engagement negatively. To explain why, though personally I'm withholding judgment and trying to lend good faith, They're framed exactly like last year's listening sessions, which my peers have already directly criticized for being one way rather than conversational, having no transparent results, having very little time to discuss, and for the city allowing input only on leading questions. It is unclear how, when, or if this input will be used by the building designers. And lastly, simply, the community has already been badly burned. The few times I've been able to see my peers in person, one such time being at a rage room, I can see this situation has left them in a far worse mental space. In conclusion, I am holding out hope that the council stays involved to ensure its promises of centering teen voices is kept and that this community engagement process is more than a PR play like it appears to my peers.

Those are all the individuals that signed up for in-person public comment from items from the audience. But because we have a public hearing too, I want to make sure there's no one in the audience that want to just speak from items from the audience. Yes, ma'am. Did you want to speak for the public hearing or for items from the audience? Come on up to the microphone and then we'll sort this out because it would be easier for me to hear you. Yeah, I'll tell her. Okay, so are you here to talk about the capital budget or just to share some thoughts with the council? Please go ahead. And if you could tell me your name, that would be fantastic.

Sorry, I'm a bit tall. Hi, my name is Lauren Paulson. I'm a resident of Redmond, originally from Kirkland. I just had some things to say and I was late and so I couldn't sign up. I was gonna talk about LED lights because I feel like they're making us go blind. And there is, let's see. our MC chapter 20D period 90 in regards to the enforcement of LED lights and the height of them in conjunction to buildings or like security floodlights, things like that, or zoning. I'm really concerned about those because I have to see them every day and they're blinding me. Headlights are a problem, of course. But, you know, I live at a location where a business is right across the street and they've installed huge LED floodlights. And I've called them to handle the issue. I have also contacted enforcement from the city and have not received a response. I believe I go about conflict in a rather diplomatic and reasonable way usually, but I'm not commonly respected. And I feel a bit inspired by some of the community members that came up here to speak because we have a very LBGTQ friendly environment or community. I'm intersex, so I'm both male and female by birth. And I get treated like... shit all the time. And I'm not respected as a citizen. And I hardly leave my house. You guys, I've spoken with Vanessa on the phone maybe twice in my entire life. But I hardly leave my house. I hardly go anywhere. And it's been that way for almost a decade because I am treated so poorly by people. And it's not just been this past year. It's been going on for a very long time. You guys do things to help people. That is a sentiment that is noted, but it's not actually really doing much. There's a different culture here. We don't actually talk about things. We don't handle conflict in a way that's conducive. We handle conflict in a way that's very hush-hush, very like under the table. And that gossip, passive-aggressive, post-colonial aggression is what permits oppression and the oppression of people who are marginalized. We are continuing that practice of culture by not actually doing anything. We just do performative justice. Performative justice is when you do something to say you're in allegiance with something, but you don't actually do anything to stop it. Thank you.

In conclusion, thank you. And just so you know, and for our public as well, we keep the sign-up sheet outside until 7 o'clock, and then we bring it in. So if you want to come back and sign up next time, make sure you get here before 7.

Yeah. I was just a little late because my dog pooped.

I'm sorry. Not that you asked. All right. Thank you. One person has signed up to speak remotely. It's Max Ruhlman.

Hello?

Hello. You have three minutes to address the council.

Perfect. Good evening. Director Hamilton, at the direction or at minimum with the support of Mayor Bernie, has deprioritized recreation programs and services for people who are not like them, people who do not fit their mold. This has been a strategic and concerted effort to prioritize focus to those who do fit their mold, and especially those who have the ability to pay. Not necessarily deprioritizing the RIPAC group of teens, but impacting marginalized groups who still rely on services. Teens, seniors, and those with disabilities have been the targets, and it was by design. Less and less is offered, notably without heart or passion, all done out of obligation instead of service. We've talked almost exclusively about teens, but I encourage the council to have some conversations with the seniors. What's been described is a slow reduction of service that's now a sham compared to what the senior sensor once was. Today, I want to represent a group that hasn't spoken up, but for my work in the adaptive recreation program and providing inclusion support, I can tell you that services have been deprioritized. Adaptive sports were offered year-round, soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and other sports every Tuesday night. Adaptive recreation went nearly a year without any programs, and now, looking at the fall recreation guide, basketball, which used to mirror the four-month Parks and Rec Youth Basketball League, has been reduced to a six-week early fall season in the off-season before the Youth League starts. That's clearly deprioritizing services for those with disabilities, ultimately sending the message that you are not important. In addition, I know that inclusion services this summer have been the victim of poor management and lack of understanding on how that program has been run. The people who were at all competent in their duties have been chased off, fired, or quit, leading to poor outcomes for campers with support needs. This is a severe management issue that directly affects our community. If you talk to people like me, Adip Ghosh, and Varnika Bhargava, both former RIPAC presidents and adaptive recreation staff members, all of us are disappointed with the failure to prioritize and reestablish programs and services. I encourage council members to talk to people, visit with seniors, teams, and if you can, attend an adaptive recreation program, that is if you can reestablish them, and ask questions. Look at old rec guides that show the slow dismantling of the program. Don't be like Congress and just allow things to happen without question. We're in this mess because of a lack of transparency. Do not repeat your mistakes and be clear about your goals. Why the size increase for the new teen center? Any impropriety that you see is a mild reaction to the desecration of beloved life-saving programs. Your job is to support Redmond's constituents, not simply align with the mayor for political favor.

Items from the audience is now closed. We've already passed the consent agenda, so our next item of business is a public hearing on the proposed 2027-2032 Capital Investment Program, or CIP. The public hearing is now open. I have the sign-in sheet for members of the public to speak in person tonight. When I call your name, you'll come up to the podium and have three minutes to address the council on the subject of the hearing. There are four people signed up to speak in person tonight, and no one has signed up to speak remotely. So I will call people up in order. David Morton, then Linda Seltzer, then Steve Hitch, then Kelly Reefer.

Good evening, Council Members and Mayor. I'm David Morton. First, I want to focus on a project in the proposed CIP, the Evans Creek Relocation, project number 0995. The packet proposes $10.66 million in 2027 and $3.68 million in 2028 committed to construction and contingency involved in rerouting the creek around the industrial property formerly known as Allwood Recycling. That property is Ecology Cleanup Site ID 3793, listed with confirmed or suspected contamination under the Model Toxics Control Act. The property sits within Redmond's Critical Aquifer Recharge Area 1, where groundwater can reach municipal supply wells in under five years. In August 2013, a multi-day fire there was extinguished with the help of firefighting foam that likely contained PFAS. Roughly 1,900 fish in Evans Creek died from the foam. The City's own testing shows levels of PFAS in supply wells 1 and 2 that will require treatment before the 2029 federal deadline. I've asked the City in earlier budget comments to fund soil and groundwater PFAS testing at this site before construction disturbs the soil. That's an operating budget request, so it won't appear as its own CIP line item. But this CIP is what makes it time sensitive. Once construction dollars start moving earth in 2027, any contamination on site gets disturbed, tested or not. Soil and groundwater should be tested for contaminants including PFAS, before they're disturbed. Once excavation starts, contamination in the ground mixes with clean fill and spreads along the corridor, making it far harder and more costly to trace and contain. I'd ask Council to direct staff to sequence pre-construction testing ahead of this project's move from design to construction, and to fund it as part of the cost of doing this specific project responsibly. The park's portfolio budgets $210,000 in 2027 and $220,000 in 2028 for the urban forestry tree planting program, with roughly $2.7 million of its $4.5 million total pushed out to 2033 and beyond. I encourage council to ask whether that pace is consistent with the city's 40% canopy goal and whether it's paired with employing a city arborist which is needed to independently verify tree retention determinations under the new tree code. Thank you.

Next is Linda Seltzer, then Steve Hitch, then Kelly Reefer.

Yes, my name is Linda Seltzer. I live in Redmond. I've lived here now for about 18 years, and my most recent activity until until the end of the Biden administration was that I served on a White House team in the Biden administration, a volunteer team for the Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. So that was one of my qualifications. Anyway, what I want to say about the budget is that the... I hope that you will really de-emphasize funding out-of-state consulting firms with the kind of money that's been spent. Like I noticed tonight, this meeting was announced on Zoom, but I remember a few years ago getting up here and testifying against a proposal to spend a million dollars for the audiovisual expenses to have these meetings on the Microsoft platform. Now I don't even see them using that Microsoft platform. The money that's being wasted on these big out-of-state consulting firms, they make so many mistakes. For example, with the parking, they spent money on an aerial study at 11 a.m., But all the parking in my neighborhood takes place early in the morning when the parents take their kids to school and at 3 p.m. So the whole thing was done at the wrong amount of time. And I see these mistakes from these big consulting firms. We have to stop paying people to talk about problems and spend more money actually giving people to... giving people money and paying for people who are actually homeless to get them into apartments, to get them healthcare, to get them the services they need. And the same with the ride service, this new rideshare and ride van. That was organized by out-of-state consultants. So even with the recent expansion, they have ignored our block, but our street is the diversity neighborhood of Redmond. There are several King County housing projects on my street. There is the Emma McRedmond. There are two senior apartment complexes, of which I live in one, There are several other fairly low-cost apartment complexes. But we didn't get that service at all. And even when they expanded that van service last week, they didn't put our street on it. And it's because it's run by out-of-state people who don't know the neighborhoods.

Okay. Next is Steve Hitch, then Kelly Reefer.

Good evening, Council, Mayor. I'm Steve Hitch. I have lived in Redmond for 23 years. In that time, I probably rode my bike on every street in Redmond. I'm here to talk about bike safety. So about 20 years ago, I was out riding my bike with my three-year-old in a trailer behind my bike, and we stopped at a crosswalk to cross the street, waited for a car to stop. It did. The car behind it plowed into the back, pushed the car through the crosswalk, up on the sidewalk, over my bike while I'm frantically pulling the trailer out of the way. Redmond Fire took great care of us and got a ride home in the ambulance and the bike got to ride home in a fire engine. And I got a souvenir to remind me, this teddy bear reminding me of just keeping my eyes open and head in a swivel while I'm out on the roads in Redmond. In the time that I've been doing that, I've seen a lot of improvements, right? So we started with paint stripe on the streets, telling cars, stay out of the bike lane. And that's been great. But if you go out on your car or on your bike and you go around and watch and pay attention, you will see people stray over the line every day. I see it every single day out on my bike. Couple years ago, I saw rumble strips getting added into some of the paint and that was great. So now the people driving can kind of feel it as they cross over into the bike lane. But I'm really excited about the new improvement that just happened on Bell Red Road. So that's a space that, you know, after this event happened, I stopped riding on that road altogether. And now we have this amazing bike lane with the plastic pickets all the way up the road that are really a strong visual barrier for the cars to keep them out of the bike lane. And now it's part of my daily commute to work every single day. So thanks for that. I think the next step is concrete barriers separated, grade separated, taking more steps to create a safer environment for bikes. I'm very excited at seeing in the CIP the new connections from Miramore Park to Idlewood and then to the great facility that Bellevue has along with Lake Spanish Parkway. That's going to be an amazing connection. It's been part of my regular commute route when I was here commuting into Redmond years ago, and I'm very excited about that. So I want to thank the council for the vision to make investments in bike facilities over time and encourage you to continue doing that and thank the mayor for her staff's investments and identifying some really great connection points. So thank you.

And last is Kelly Reefer.

All right. Hello, my name is Kelly Reefer. I'm the Executive Director at Move Redmond. Earlier this year, Council, you passed a really visionary transportation master plan that laid forth really important goals around reducing vehicle miles traveled and improving our street safety and multimodal connection. And the CIP has the plan to actually make those goals a reality on the ground. Last Thursday, we held a Bell Red Bike policy ride where we talked about the level of traffic stress. And we just heard Steve describe that Bell Red is a major improvement and we can't agree more. And it really is about the physical separation. It's the tough posts that create the barrier between passing vehicle traffic and people biking. And studies have shown that it's the physical separation that improves road safety outcomes for all users, not just people biking, but people driving and pedestrians as well. So we really want to see those implemented in all of the bike projects moving forward. It's not just enough to have a buffered bike lane. It's really critical to have that physical separation. And so we've noticed that projects like Old Redmond Road and Parts of 156, the language is buffered, so really pushing forward that protection to get lower traffic stress. It's really important that we build on that connectivity, so building out from Bell Road Road to West Lake Sammamish Parkway, you're starting to get that network effect, and that's really what helps people shift their habits. Right now, I'm a mom, I bike with my daughter, she's eight. I would let her bike on Bell Red Road, but I would not let her bike on West Lake Sammamish Parkway. It's why that connectivity is so critical. And then I really want to lift out the active transportation safety program. This is really exciting to see in the budget and I know The city's done great work around safer streets for all. But $383,000 isn't gonna go super far, and so we're urging you to consider expanding that. I just saw that Spokane is looking at emergency traffic improvements. So when there's a serious injury and a fatality, they can have a budget item that allows them to go and implement traffic calming really quickly at the scene where someone was injured. And I think that's what this active transportation safety budget could be and is a really big opportunity going forward. We just saw from the Redmond speed study that there's really high speeding in front of our elementary schools. And if we had a budget item that was able to be used for quick build projects around traffic calming, then we could do that in a matter of weeks instead of a matter of years. Also, really big cheers about the ADA transition plan, really critical work for making sure that we're an accessible, inclusive city. And finally, I really want to just lift up the importance of maintenance and operation or maintenance and preservation for our transportation system. So thank you.

No one has signed up to speak remotely, and our public hearing is now closed. Our next item of business is a staff report for the second quarter 2026 financial report. Kelly Cochran, finance director, will introduce this item.

It works? Okay, we're good. Good evening, Council. We're here with the second quarter financial report for the 2025-2026 biennium. We continue to monitor all of the economic factors that we have since the beginning of this biennium. And it's continued to be a somewhat bumpy and interesting ride. I read somewhere recently that there has been over 50 policy changes to just the tariffs alone since the beginning of the new administration. And it's made it difficult to forecast some of our expected performance. regionally. We are partnering or relying on information from the state and King County, and things are in alignment with our forecast. The inflation, they have continued to project that inflation will stay above normal ranges. Earlier in this biennium it was thought that inflation would be at about 3% at this point of the biennium and we are hovering at about 3.8 and we expect to be at that rate through this year. They are expecting that we may see some potential decreases by mid-year of 2027 but obviously very early to tell. For the factors or the performance measures that we look at for the county in regards to growth in sales tax, valuation, and employment growth, we have seen them decrease or well, yes, decrease, their forecasts for all of those factors a little bit less. It's just slight factors, and King County is still projecting better results than the state is. Neither level of government is yet feeling or seeing indications of a true recession, but there are definitely some transitions in place when it comes to jobs and trade, and we'll dip into that a little bit more deeply next year, or not next year, excuse me, next week when we look at the revenue forecast. For our performance, when it comes to our revenues, we are still meeting our expectations, if not beating them. Specifically, sales tax is generating quite a bit of revenue for the city due to the implementation of Senate Bill 5814, which expanded taxing to some professional services in the IT realm that previously had not been included. In the month of June, the city received our highest sales tax receipt ever in the amount of $10 million. Typical for us is between $3 and $4 million. All of that reflected in the new sales tax. We are at this point accounting for that revenue as one time, and we will continue continue to do so until it sunsets in 2029. But that is the biggest reason for our great performance so far. We are also seeing development activity remain higher than we had anticipated. And it does look like the project pipeline for that will continue to be strong into the next biennium as well. Our business licenses is an area that we've been watching. with concern with layoffs and job losses within the area. At this point, I expect that we will exceed our target or our budget for this biennium, but we will know quite a bit more in October when some of our major employers renew their business license. That's where we'll be able to see some true disparities if there is any with our forecast. But right now, we are expecting to be above target. The total over collection or over performance that we're looking at is about 12%. Do anticipate that that will grow to more like 15% by the end of the biennium. There are some pending budget adjustments that council approved in July and you will see reflected in the third quarter report. So it will change some of our numbers but just account for some of the revenues that we hadn't in the original forecast. On the expenditure side, we are estimating that we will end the biennium with about 4% savings. That's largely due to our salary and benefits as well as some of our professional services. The salary and benefits right now are a little less, almost to 5% under and I'm expecting that by the end of the biennium we'll be seeing that at about 6% under. Professional services, there's been quite a bit expended during the third quarter and we expect a heavy bit of spending through the fourth quarter as folks complete service enhancements that were funded during this biennium. There is a small portion that we will carry over to complete some of those improvements in the next biennium, and we'll give you an accounting of that as we go into budget discussions. Any sort of large expenditures that we've been trying to... absorb that happened earlier in the biennium. We are seeing the success of that. So some of those big tariff increases that hit us in the early biennium that some of the departments have had to absorb, specifically our TIS department, when it comes to some of the costs of their hardware, we've seen them be able to manage so far in this biennium. Departmentally, it's really our public safety and public works department that is managing through budget stress. A lot of it is due to overtime as was reported earlier. Departments have measures in place, plans in place, and we're working closely with them to make sure that we meet our budget goals as well as the estimates that we've assumed for the budget. We anticipate that all departments will come in under budget, but we do have some departments we're working more closely with. The overtime for the fire department was covered earlier this afternoon. The police department is really in that same situation where they are managing through vacancies or one-time assignments that are causing an increase in overtime. But they are managing that with savings on the salary side. So for the most part in the public safety realm, they are managing these expenditures. There are other pressures and we are helping them. The CIP, we did have a chance to talk about this forecast last week. It, through the second quarter, was performing very well. We've seen revenues for REIT as well as our impact fees pick up over the summer as some of our development activities or development projects have moved through the pipeline. This, we're not anticipating any collection issues with the current targets and this baseline is what has informed the capital investment program that you are currently reviewing. On the expenditure side of our capital programs, our CIP portfolio is reflecting a fairly good spend rate. That mostly reflects the property purchases that have occurred this biennium that were somewhat unplanned for Lewitt, as well as for the MOC. And for our BTIP portfolio, they are a little behind on the spend rate, but they will be able to bring you up to speed on their project plans for the next biennium and the status of their projects. Those conversations will occur on October 13th at our FAC meeting. The water wastewater utility, again, this is a check-in right before our summer months when there always is a little bit of stress between our expenditures and our revenues. Over the summer, we've been able to make up these deficits. We were about 6% under as of the second quarter. Our financials for the months of August and July for our utility billing cycles have again kind of pushed us to where our expected levels of collections are due to summer usage. We plan to finish the year in the biennium where we expected no gaps and no impact on the rate forecast that we'll be bringing to council next week. As far as the baseline budgets go, there's really not a lot of concern. I'll walk you through a couple of areas that sort of stand out, but really all of the departments are managing within their resources. On the wastewater management budget plan, there is a slight overreach here, and that's really due to the timing of our King County invoice. So they bill us on a $3 month rolling cycle and this invoice came before summer revenues did. In safe and resilience, you'll see that there is a variety of public safety offers that are trending over, but also an equal number of budget offers that are trailing under. So they are managing their budgets. It's just crossing over into different budget plans. So departmentally, they are plugging along well, and we expect them to be where they were expected per budget by the end of the biennium. For strategic and responsive, the human resources budget is slightly high. That's due to medical claims being higher in 2025 than expected. We're working to manage that overage in 2026. We believe that we'll be able to do that without having to pull any of the resources from reserves within that fund. And our financial accountability offer is slightly over or getting close due to the payment of our risk management insurance going out just towards the end of the quarter. And for Vibrant and Connected, really not a concern here. I just want to call out that the low level of spend shown in the light rail offer is not really anything for concern. This is a project that is wrapping up. We really had just budgeted what was remaining in the contract, and we are working our way through the completion of that. NO CONCERNS ON THAT CONTRACT OR THAT WORK. WE WILL BE BACK WITH YOU NEXT WEEK TO DIVE INTO THE FINANCIAL FORECAST OR THE REVENUE FORECAST FOR OUR PRIMARY FUNDS AND BACK FOR OUR THIRD QUARTER REPORT IN EARLY DECEMBER. CAN I ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FOR YOU?

THANK YOU, DIRECTOR COCHRAN. ANY QUESTIONS FOR TEAM? COUNCIL PRESIDENT?

Yeah, thank you so much, Director Cochran. Really appreciate you and your team bringing this forward and previewing a little bit more. The discussion will continue next week. My comment really is on the general fund revenue slide with the table. And we are going to talk, I just want to preview for the council, we're going to talk a lot about sales taxes next week when we do the forecast with Director Cochrane. So looking forward to that conversation. I wanted to offer a comment that is a question that I'll be looking to have answered over the next couple of months. And I'll state this question for the benefit of my colleagues who know that this question is on my mind and also to pull together some of the pieces that even we heard about tonight during items from the audience. So the utility taxes revenue is performing above target. The 1% utility tax that the council agreed to levy in this current biennium, it's new to us in the city, and it was part of a series of packages to make sure that we could fund our public safety, including the alternative crisis response positions that the Council wanted to fund. As was referenced tonight by a speaker from the audience, some of those positions have not been filled yet, and I am looking forward to, as we go into the budget conversations, understanding where we're at with those hires, that is still unclear. And perhaps it might be worth considering having Chair Procrea put some time on the agenda in his committee to help us have an update on that and the current plan for that. But also as I know that there is a department that is encouraging community members to come and speak with us about increasing sales taxes for this same topic. And right now, I need to make sure that we're not raising these utility tax revenues and not spending them or not spending them for the purpose that they were raised for. So I'll really be looking to have those kinds of questions resolved for myself as we head over. And I don't know if others are interested, but I would be interested in having a touch point on the current plan for those positions. Come back to committee if others are interested. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you. Any other questions?

Council Member Kritzer.

Thank you so much. I just add as a comment to the council president that I would be interested in that conversation. So I would be supportive of council leadership or chair Prakriya working on that.

Thank you. Any other questions for our director?

Thank you. All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Cochran. Our next item is Ombuds Report. The month of August is Council Member Procrea, and then for September we have Council Member Soni. Council Member Procrea, would you like to start?

Thank you, and I think I gave my whole report at the last meeting for the entire month of August, so no report for now.

Okay. Do you have any other Ombuds Items to share since we have you?

Any other Ombuds Items? I have had two conversations about tenant protections, one about a bike lane on Northeast 48th Street, and then one about a couple of roundabouts in Redmond. But that's pretty much about it.

Great. Thank you so much.

We'll dive into Council Member Soni.

Thank you so much. So for the month of September, so far the emails that we have received, there was an email from one of the developers regarding requests for administrative modification and partial waiver of the requested binding site plan fee for a Type 1 lot split. It is a discussion with the planning department, and there has been a response already made. There was a resignation email from our former planning commissioner, Brian Copley, during his increasing responsibilities in his other arenas, and he decided to let someone else join the commission for his position. So I just want to take a moment to thank Brian Copley for his services as a planning commissioner. There was another complaint regarding the unpermitted drumming at the Marymoor Park Despair Prior King County Commitment. And there was another email sharing concerns regarding the updated rideshare route providing the specific locations and housing communities that are constituent beliefs like they still remain underserved, and this has been escalated. There was another email regarding the tenant protection. So these were the emails that we have received so far for the month of September.

Thank you. Are there any other ombuds reports this evening? Council Vice President.

Thank you, Mayor. Discuss parking issue at Providence House for caretakers when they are coming to care for and be of service to residents that needing to move their car every couple of hours can be problematic if they, depending on what they may be in the middle of doing. So continued parking conversations with our parking policies. And I attended on Sunday El Grito, hosted by Central Cultural Americano, celebrating Mexico's independence. Also, Happy New Year to all those that also observed last weekend. And on topic of Hispanic Heritage Month, I'm so proud to be celebrating generations whose courage, culture, and contributions have paved the way, as well as those trailblazers that continue on. That's the end of my report. Thank you.

Any other ombuds items? Council Member Kritzer?

Thank you. Well, I will say that I really enjoyed attending our council conversations last week at Spirit Brook Park and had so many great conversations with community members. It ranged a lot in terms of the conversations that we had, and it was actually wonderful to hear different perspectives from community members on issues. different topics. For example, the topic of public safety funding and how we approach public safety was a really interesting discussion amongst community members as well as with me. So it was really interesting to listen on that and discuss. Quite a few that wanted to talk about AI, drone policy, and generally how we think about privacy. Actually, one suggestion that was brought forward was whether we have like an AI and technology committee or commission, similar to some of our other commissions. Also was brought up by a community member whether we should have a transportation commission once we got into the commission discussions. So a lot of good fodder for conversation and follow-up there. Also got into a lot of conversations with folks about bike safety and feedback on some of our new bike lane infrastructure. And I'm just actually hearing that a lot, getting feedback out in community about that. And I think especially folks what we actually heard from items in the audience tonight, or maybe actually during the CIP discussion, have been hearing a lot of discussion from our community about that. So that's been really interesting. And I think I will, oh, and then I will actually echo Council Vice President Rava Kamina to just wish all of our Jewish community members a happy new year. Shana Tova.

Thank you. Any other ombuds items to share tonight? Council President.

Yeah, thank you so much. I will start off by thanking everyone so much for coming to council conversations. It was another beautiful evening where the sun is going down and you can't possibly drag us out of the park because we're having such great conversations and really appreciate the neighbors who came out. In addition to some of the topics that were already discussed, I also just really appreciated hearing about how things are going in that particular neighborhood. When we get the email list from our support staff, I'll of course make sure on behalf of the council that we're able to thank everyone and make sure that the council knows where those registrations are posted. A couple of the conversations that I know I will be following up on from that included a couple more pieces of feedback about some ongoing challenges with the Recology transition. And a concern around unleashed dogs, you know, in the park. So a few things like that I will send along to staff. But really appreciated the conversation and appreciate the council. Thanks so much. Council will have a booth this Thursday at the downtown Redmond Art Walk from 4 to 7 p.m. in the park. So we'll be back out there and look forward to seeing everyone. I also had a visitor to my office hours to discuss the teen center and in particular questions around the new square footage that are associated with that project and all the questions that that creates. We actually, as a council, we do have a touch point on this topic or this project rather in council member Sonny's committee next week. So looking forward to that. I also had a series of meetings over the last few weeks with home builders and energy utility and a large employer. I'll also say that one of the big conversations that's coming up organically for me in a few ways is a conversation around the Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee. And the way the conversation is coming up is I think if we add on to the prior conversation about the interest in more commissions, I think there's an enthusiasm for being involved civically right now. I'm really excited because the council and Mayor Bernie have some ideas that are... going to come in the next biennium for how we can support and nurture that. But I think what's coming out for the bike ped committee participants right now is an interest in having more responsibility as that advisory authority. and feeling like it's a place to kind of come and get information at the moment. So all to say, I'm just continuing to listen to this feedback. We have a lot of irons in the fire as a city right now, including a fairly large reorg on the table. So as we get going and thinking next year about civic education and civic opportunities to engage. This is just a topic that I'm going to keep my ear to the ground on and check in with staff a little bit more when it is more appropriate time for them in their capacity at the moment, but did want to acknowledge all the community members who brought that forward. Thank you. Thank you.

Would you mind sharing when the Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee meets? I can't remember it off. I feel like it's on a Monday.

It's on Mondays, and I believe it was yesterday, so... Second Monday?

Third Monday. Third Monday. Third Monday. But the reason I wanted you to mention that is because it's a committee where you can actually just show up. You don't have to be appointed or sign in or anything like that. And when we have community members who are interested in that, it's kind of great for them to show up and become part of that.

So thanks for mentioning that.

They really do amazing work in our community and for the city.

Council Vice President, did you have another ombuds item you wanted to share?

I did. I would be absolutely remiss if I did not acknowledge the remembrance ceremony that we had here at City Hall last Friday. Several of us had attended, but I really just wanted to thank Mayor Yu, Chief Shepard, Chief Lowe, and Deputy Chief Whitney for the words that were shared that I think one of the biggest takeaways, and candidly, one of the thoughts, it was a curiosity, was we're at 25 years of anniversary of the attack, and I thought, how long, of course 25 years, It's a significant anniversary, so we want to acknowledge that. But how long do we continue remembering? And it was a curiosity question. And it was one that I continued listening for types of inspiration that I could then pass on. And of course, it was definitely found in everyone's speech that day. And it was acknowledging both the tragedy that happened, but that some of our country's best days came following that tragedy. And that it was just very clearly that we are most definitely stronger when we are together and not divided. And that this is one of the ways that we can continue moving forward. So thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

Council Member Soni. I just wanted to share one more report. I recently assisted a constituent who was facing several and serious challenges including domestic violence and employment and an active eviction notice. So I just want to give a big shout out to our Chief of Police Diaz, who actually helped me with the swift support. The individual has now been able to move to a safe location and I really appreciate this continued support and efforts that has helped to ensure the immediate safety. Thank you so much.

Okay, any other ombuds items tonight?

Seeing none, are there any committee reports?

Many reports. Let's start with Council Vice President. We'll go to the Council President.

Okay, I attended the Disability Board with Council Member Forsyth approving some medical claims that came forward. I attended the Cascade Water Alliance Resource Management Committee meeting. And one thing that is definitely to bring forward to point, especially for the listening public, we do continue to explore Reclaim Water. And we want to make sure that we are doing so thoughtfully and working with the county on that. And also there was a report for our upcoming weather, and that is that we are experiencing some of the highest sea level temperatures that we've ever recorded. and that we are expecting a strong, I believe that it's technically called a very strong El Nino winter, which means warmer than normal and very, very wet. So we're going to see those reservoirs filling up, refilling very quickly, but we really need that snowpack. So hopefully they're wrong on that. And then council leadership has been meeting with the fact chair and finance director to help council get ready for continued budget discussions.

Which is coming. The budget is coming. Thank you. Council President.

Thank you so much. I have a lengthy list. I'll try to make it quick. It's just my turn. Sorry about that. I do want to let the council know that the Association of Washington City's Legislative Priorities Committee has concluded our draft of the agenda and transmitted it to the board. I have stayed in close contact with Mayor Bernie as well as our staff team and lobbyists. So we're staying in good contact there. Overall, the agenda is quite focused on financial sustainability for cities and the tools that we need to do that. And there are a few other things on the agenda, but I think that this year we are trying to be as focused on this one main message as we can. Overall, I really support the direction that this agenda ended up in. I also attended the Sound Cities Association Public Issues Committee where I'm the vice chair. The two big topics this month were, number one, regarding the Breaking the Cycle Revenue Work Group. Mayor Burney is actually one of the two SCA representatives on the work group. In this particular context, we had a staff presentation on the revenues that are being evaluated for the levy that it's looking like is coming. So more to maybe be said and more that Mayor Bernie can share later, I'll just say that the Public Issues Committee of the Sound Cities Association is still very eager to hear for what are we raising the revenues and has a lot of questions about how those dollars would be managed and lots more questions to be answered. The second main topic of the Public Issues Committee, it was of course the state and county legislative agendas for the Sound Cities Association. I'll pass these along. I would invite anyone who's clicking through to pay the most attention to the draft county legislative agendas. The Sound Cities Association doesn't actually have a state lobbyist or an advocacy arm at the state level, but at the county level, it does kind of set our work plan. I also attended the Regional Water Quality Committee at King County, and in addition to our regularly scheduled meeting, we were invited to attend the last of the Washington Waters Future Round Tables. These are being put on with Director Sixkiller from Ecology. at the direction of the governor and the feedback that is being generated about some of the tough water challenges will be compiled into a report later this fall and to help inform strategies moving forward. What I want the council to know from this work is just my observation, and I was also supported by Amy Tsai and Amanda for this particular outing. I want the council to know that my hope is, having seen the work in action, that actually if Ecology can do a good job collecting the information on the solutions that we are hoping to implement when it comes to storage and water quality and all of that as we weather climate change, pun intended. It will mean that the state may have a better strategy for helping us with the capital projects that we'll need for that resiliency. So that was my personal observation from our committee's participation. And finally, I attended the Sound Cities Association deputy mayor's meeting. I just want to convey to the council how lucky are we to be here in the city of Redmond and to be able to begin our budget negotiations knowing that our current biennium is performing as planned and that we continue on solid footing. Several of my peers in that group are already dipping into reserves and starting their budget conversations from a footing of deficit to significant degrees. Really grateful for the generations of great financial management here in the city, which allows us to have a conversation very different here in the city of Redmond. So much appreciated.

Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Kritzer?

Thank you. We had a Finance Administration Communications Committee meeting last week where several of the items that we voted on tonight were discussed and moved forward to the consent agenda. And so if anyone wants to see some of those items that we just voted on, some of the discussion that we had at those, feel free to watch that. There are also several items that we'll be following up on, including the 2027 pay plan updates, and some proposed changes in there that I think the council will want some more touches on before we approve it, approve the changes or proposed changes and look at what we want to do with the upcoming budget. Also, continued discussions on the pay plan for the mayor's salary. So those we'll have some more touches on going forward. We also, and one item that we discussed is on new business tonight and had quite a bit of discussion around our human resources assessment. So we'll continue that tonight. And then lastly, I'll just note that we had an update from our new Respect, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program manager, Teresa Lee, and a lot of good work going on there in terms of the program activities. One of the things to note right now is that it is welcoming week in the city of Redmond. And tomorrow we're going to have an exciting welcoming week activity here. So want to make sure that everyone knows about the opportunity. It's going to be from 5 to 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Together Center. So please join us. And also there's programming throughout the week across the east side. So that was something to note, as well as something notable out of that was that we're doing a lot more in terms of being able to measure our progress on the ready work. And we'll look forward to seeing some more of how that gets reported out over time in our committee. Thanks.

Thanks. Any other committee reports? I just had one thing to share. I guess this is good enough time. I was able to join a few of our staff members last week. We received a zero plus champion of sustainability award through McKinstry and we were able to attend the Seahawk scheme and get honored there with a few other cities as well.

And I just want to thank the team for the work they've done on our facilities to ensure that we are reducing our carbon footprint and really proud of the work that we're doing on that.

And thank you, Director Hamilton and team on the facilities to make sure that we are doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint. And it was really nice to get honored. So that was pretty cool. All right, next we're on to, we have no unfinished business. Our next item of business, new business, is approval of a consultant service contract with Project Core in the amount of $318,500 for the human resources assessment. And I have Assistant COO Marr who will come up and introduce this item.

Good evening, Council. Lisa Maher, Assistant COO and Interim HR Director. This evening, we are revisiting what Councilmember Kritzer just referenced, which is our HR assessment contract for $318,500. I have with me this evening Shelly Gaddy, who is the CEO of Project CORE, also here to answer any extra questions that did not get answered in what I followed up with to you yesterday, which was a question matrix from everything that came up in the FAC meeting last week, as well as case studies and information that you had asked from that Shelly has provided for your review.

Are there any follow-up questions from this item for our staff or the consultant? All right, I don't see any. Thank you, Lisa. Of course. Oh, we do. I'm so sorry. Please, Council Member Parsi.

So I wanted to learn a little bit more about how we chose this contractor and what was our process to come to this conclusion. So, for example, I would love to know how many candidates we evaluated, interviewed, and kind of what was the selection process. Would you be able to speak more to that so the council can have more confidence in our decision making?

Yes, I did reference that in the matrix. The consultant was chosen by referrals that we received, a demonstration of their successful outcomes with jurisdictional human resource issues, technologies, and their 20 years of experience. We did a sole source contract for this due to the expedited timeline given the lack of trust and erosion from the failed pay issue. That happened on May 22nd. So the mayor exercised her right to sole source this given that we are looking to expedite this assessment process to make sure that we don't have any other HR risks in place.

Please. So I understand that we discussed that this was a referral from SPD and potentially some other groups. But I didn't know if we interviewed just one group. group. If we negotiated the pricing, for example, to kind of look at different prices competitively as we do kind of shopping for anything, we look at, you know, competitive pricing to compare what prices we get. Looking online as at As similar as I could find contracts, this was order of magnitude higher cost than similar ones that I came across. And I understand that scopes, cities, different organizations are different. But from what I could come across, this was... significantly higher cost than I would have expected. So it raises a little bit of a concern being coupled with the fact that this was, you know, I'm not hearing that we interviewed lots of other candidates to, for example, ensure that we have a, we evaluate qualification of, for example, the the folks who conduct this work. And I'm sure they might be fantastic, but in absence of other candidates to evaluate, it makes it really difficult to kind of justify. So I'm looking for you to kind of to help me kind of build confidence in the decision that we're making tonight to see how this would be the best decision for Redmond.

Again, we did not do a competitive process for this. It was a sole source contract. We did not seek other agencies or other vendors' price or estimates on this. We did negotiate this price with this vendor. It was proposed for a longer duration with a much higher price tag. And we, thinking of the... the issues and wanting to expedite it, we asked them to cut the price and also move it to, I believe it was about half the time that they had proposed to do this. So that is where we ended up today.

And I can add a little bit as well.

When we were starting this process to look at someone who could do this work, we asked around for referrals for people who have had great success with companies. We wanted to make sure that we got the best we could to do this work and this company rose to the top very easily. Not a lot of companies do this kind of work and not a lot of companies do as much robust work in this arena as this company in particular and so this was the best choice for the city to get the product that we want to get out of this. Do you have a follow-up too? Thanks.

And would you be able to speak more, and I would love to hear from you directly, on the qualifications of the members who would be conducting this work directly. I would love to hear your feedback from kind of interviewing them or discussing the scope of the work and the milestones with them to help us build confidence in this decision.

So I can refer you to Shelly, but I believe all of the information was sent to you in the email that I sent you yesterday regarding the qualifications that I looked at, the 100% success rate that they have had over 20 years working on HR assessments and projects like this.

Would you like to hear from the owner of the company?

No, that's okay. You mentioned 100% success rate, 100% self-disclosed or kind of 100% kind of how are we evaluating that 100% success rate?

By what the CEO has shared with us and by the case studies that they gave you a sampling of and the information that we sent on.

And have we interviewed, okay, thank you so much.

Thank you. Council Member Kritzer.

I did appreciate the additional information of the types of projects. I think perhaps a different way of getting at some of the questions that my colleague are raising. I do think it does seem like a very large price tag and it's an unbudgeted expense that we would be approving. to be able to do this. It is of importance for us to make sure that I think that we do move forward with looking at how we can improve our HR practices, especially as we're going to be hiring a new HR director and making sure that we're uncovering any gaps to be able to deliver really a really great experience for our employees here in the city and to make sure that we are a very high functioning organization. So I appreciate the intent here. I do have a question just in terms of even your assessments. And it sounds like when you looked at it, you thought of a particular scope of budget if you went from a larger amount and said we need it to be less. Are there comparable types of projects that you have in mind that you use to ballpark if you didn't get any other comparable types of bids for this project to get the sense of $300,000 being the approximate right price for doing this work?

It was more based on what the original scope and price was. That was not in something that we could afford with the extra salary savings within the executive department and the HR budget did not have extra funding at the time to put towards this. So it was not based off of other consultants. We have not done this level of analyzation in the HR department before, nor do I believe that I'm aware in any other department in the city. So the scope of this work was something that I am not aware of that we have done before, so that was where my knowledge of what I have learned as being the interim and the need to expedite this assessment to ensure that the city is not at any other risk for any other area of business.

Great. Thank you. And if I may, since we do have the consultant here, I think as a follow-up, just in terms of what is actually being proposed to be paid for here, I would love to hear if she's amenable. So what seems to be scoped here is a senior consultant working full-time for 20 weeks, for 40 hours a week, and then also a principal consultant working 25 hours a week for 20 weeks, plus additional support. So just curious if we can hear a little more detail on why we see that kind of level of intensive work from the consultant for that duration of time for the scope of what we believe the outcomes to be. Sure, that's a great question.

No, thanks for asking it. So when we do this, by the way, I'm Shelley. Nice to meet all of you. When we do this kind of work, when you're starting to scope something like this and lay it out, we're trying to be really thoughtful about being very conservative about what it's going to take to get the work done. So for example, even though we said 40 hours a week for one person and 25 hours a week for the next, it could be that it's 40 hours a week for one person and only 15 hours a week for the second person. So when we talked about, and one of the council members asked a great question about success, Success is measured by are we delivering on schedule or better, under budget or on budget, and with the scope that's established or even greater scope. And so when we measure our success, we look at all those aspects. Coming in under budget for over the last 20 years on very large projects down to very small projects. delivering greater scope than asked for within the budget required and doing it within the timeline or less. So when we came up with this approach and we came up with the budget and the timeline, it was really based on our best understanding of where we are and what you're wanting to do. But as Lisa knows, every week we have a status report and status meeting and we status it every week about where we are. So we can then better gauge, gosh, will we get this done a couple weeks ahead of time? Will we come in a little bit under budget? We report on that on a weekly basis. So this is not just, hey, here's the lump sum money and this is what it is. We're very careful about statusing every week.

Thank you very much. And I do recognize that the scope of this project includes identifying really the current and best practices for an organization with over 700 employees. So that is a significant HR role. operation. How would you describe starting on this project, what you would see success looking like?

Sure. Let me, if I may, I'd like to use a recent example, if I may. And if I'm taking up too much time, please let me know. So one of the examples we put in there was about the Seattle Police Department. Seattle Police Department brought us in in a very similar way. And we started the project in a very similar way where you start out understanding who are the right people to interview. Let's look at all the documentation. Let's look at the standard operating procedures. Let's understand the policies and procedures. Let's look at the organization and understand the complexity of what was going on. In that example with Seattle Police Department, and this is not something you're gonna find through public disclosure, but for the very nature of the work that we're doing here, if given the opportunity, the work we did at the Seattle Police Department, we uncovered within the first six months $30 million worth of savings, $30 million. And that came from overpay. It came from incorrect establishment of how people were recording their overtime and their event pay. It came from understanding how their systems weren't working together and therefore incorrect data If you heard about the workday rollout, the ERP rollout that was done about two years ago, they didn't have things properly categorized, didn't have folks properly categorized. It added up to that amount of money. And so the amount of money they spent on the assessment, and I'll tell you that we also competed with a big four firm for that work. They wanted to charge fourfold what we charged for that work. That's a pretty good return. So we are very savvy with what we do. We're very quiet and careful about it, and very thoughtful. And every job we do is a little bit different. So what we would have done for SPD might be a little bit different here once you start working. You're going to talk to certain people, understand what they do, what they don't do, where the gaps are, understand are people following processes? Are there new processes you have to follow? There's lots of things you start to get into, and it's really a discovery process. Is that helpful? Yes, thank you.

Thank you. Council President, did you have your hand up?

Go ahead. Okay.

Council Member Newayo-Kamena?

Thank you. Council Vice President, excuse me. Thank you, Mayor. Assistant CEO, COO, a question around And I may ask this of Shelly as well from her lens. Did we consider whether or not we would, we should, if it would be more advantageous or in our best interest to do this before we brought on a new HR director or after? And if so, what were the pros and cons that you discovered?

We did discuss this. Given the risk and some of the recent things that had happened in the HR department, we discussed doing it prior to bringing them on to be able to ensure that director what was working really well and was efficient what systems were in place that were functioning perfectly, and also be able to show where there might be some gaps in service, or also any red flags or risks along the way that they may find, so that when the director arrived, we could provide a foundation in this report to show them, here's what's great and what we need to do more of, here are the gaps we've identified, and here's a prioritized list of what we found that was shared with you and with the mayor, so that that director knew what needed to be tackled once they started.

Follow up to that. So then if I'm following the logic behind it, then we're going to wait 20 weeks until we bring on our HR director?

We are not. We will get weekly updates as the progress happens with the consultant. So as we're building toward that final report, we will be able to share that.

Hang on, because you lost me. I'm trying to follow along on the timeline. And I'm understanding you to say that we're moving forward with this assessment. We're going to bring on the HR director, but it's going to be an overlap. So the HR director will be coming on before the assessment is completed, but after the assessment has begun. And we're in hopes to then hand over a solid foundation But there's an overlap time. So what are they doing in the meantime?

Possibly there's an overlap time. When we looked to contract this, we didn't know if the recruitment was going to take three months, six months. It wasn't intentionally done to say we're going to have a director on X date and this report is going to be delivered at the same time. It was just as quick as we could expedite it, as quick as Shelly's team could get us the information, and if there is an overlap, that was something that I couldn't control.

My question still stands.

May I?

Absolutely, because I would love for counsel, for myself and for counsel, to have clarity on if we're bringing on a consultant before we have the HR director with the justification of we want to hand off something that is essentially clean. Here you go, here's solid foundation. go forth and succeed. However, we're not going to wait until 20 weeks until the conclusion of the assessment to bring on the HR director. So during that time, there's going to be some overlap. So then how are we bringing on an HR director and setting them up for success while this is still going on? And would it not be more prudent to wait to bring on the to bring on the HR director so that the timing works out?

Yeah, so you're asking a great question. And this is the same situation that happened with SPD. Because what you had happening is they needed to have, and it worked to their benefit to have both and happening at the same time. On the one hand, when someone's brought in new, they do want to have an understanding of foundationally where are things. So your choice is you can wait till a new HR director comes in, you delay, discovery of gaps, discovery of issues, discovery of compliance challenges. You delay that by having the HR director come on first and then doing the assessment, okay? One of the best ways to do it is actually to start the assessment bring in the new HR director as you're going through this because that new HR director can be then a part of the process and they can begin owning it and there's going to be execution things they're going to be doing to execute upon this assessment. There's going to be things they're going to have to get done right away once they get started. So it's actually a really nice balance to do it this way and it worked to SPD's advantage to do it this way. As a recent example.

Council President. Thank you for taking the time to be with us here tonight. I just wanted to acknowledge a couple of the concerns that I've heard tonight and also express that I think this assistant CO Omar said it correctly at the beginning that our task here tonight is to make a choice that helps restore trust and takes a step toward that. One of the changes in our conversation tonight is that literally the project title in our packet materials and the like is called the HR assessment. It was previously called a payroll assessment and that created a few questions when we looked at this last week. I bring that up because, and thank you for the clarification in the materials, it helps a lot. I think that one of the concerns I've heard from the council tonight is around the sole sourcing of the contract and the discomfort with that because this is a project in restoring trust. Council leadership and the fact chair, when we were in our planning meeting earlier last week, we discussed with the finance director that council leadership will actually have a seat on the committee for the RFQ committee for the payroll audit. So that's news I wanted to be able to share with my colleagues to ally some of the concerns that we may not be able to walk back with this particular project, or maybe we will. I won't claim to know. But they are, in fact, two separate projects, and that piece is being taken care of there. Unlike the previous speaker, I actually think if we're going to do this, we've got to get going. And I... I wish we had had an opportunity to see some competitiveness. Your story is very compelling, and I look forward to the rest of the conversation here tonight with my counsel. And coming to a conclusion as a group certainly doesn't need to be unanimous, but coming to a conclusion hopefully that, again, prioritizes the restoration of trust. Thank you.

I'm just going to make sure if there's anyone else. Council Member Parsi has another question, but I wanted to see if there's any other council members with questions. All right, Council Member Parsi.

Thank you. So I just wanted to kind of put some of my concern in a different light. So hopefully the rest of council can kind of understand my perspective better and hopefully maybe we can address some of my concerns. So the expense for this contract is roughly $300,000. One of the questions in the matrix that I asked was, what are the top most important decisions that we could make differently based on the learnings from the outcome of this contract? To which the staff responded, what are the immediate operational and compliance risks, FHR department's level of readiness to implement and sustain the labor contract, it's about the labor, the labor and contract provisions and focus on systems processes and the structure of HR department and staffing to meet current and future services, service expectations. These are some of the expectations that I would have from an HR director who would join the department, and they would evaluate their department, and they would make these decisions. They would have the observations from their staff, from their department, and they would make these judgment calls. to spend this amount of money versus having the HR director who could join us and have these observations and could bring this expertise directly as a part of their role is something that I am battling with tonight to see if this is something that is our expectation from our new HR director or is it something that we should rely on an external external party to kind of bring as a input to the city. So thinking about this, I would expect this to be, you know, the first like three to four months of a new HR director to bring in this expertise and bring in this input to the city versus a kind of This could be the style like, you know, three hundred thousand dollars compared to the salary of HR director This is a significant number even for the for that salary so that is where some of Some of my concern is coming from that while I understand and appreciate that this work needs to be done There is a question of who does this work and how it's done so my expectation from what I heard and what I'm seeing in this is that I would honestly love to see the HR director come and do this. And, you know, other items are, you know, restoring trust. I think with bringing a new HR department, that is part of the restoration of trust. And I would love to make sure that the new HR director kind of drives this change to the city. So that's kind of where some of my concern is coming from.

Thank you. Council President?

I would like to, through the chair, thank my colleague for clarifying the concerns. And I hear the nuance in the question. For my part as someone with executive experience, I would really like the new director to be able to come in and execute. And that includes getting going on the day-to-day operations and the day-to-day delivering on the service standards that need to be their focus. I do actually believe that we do need a third party, an outside party, to do this scan for us. It's really important. So I understand the nuance in the question and I do appreciate it and it actually clarified for me of this overall project and being done by a third party and getting going quickly. I hear you on the expenses and I almost wish we could See it in phases or something like that. But again, we're it's being brought to us on a compressed timeline. So For my part, I'm I'm likely to vote in favor of the project that's in front of us and I I Agree with the the challenges that we're all wrestling with.

Thank you Council council first president

On the topic of restoration of trust, I agree that we should be going to a third party for it. My rub with that in rebuilding the trust is that we did not go out for a competitive bid, but understanding the circumstances as they are, we do want to get moving on this very quickly. because of the risks that already exist. And I think that my colleagues are also feeling that rub. Yes, of course, we want to restore trust. We agree that it needs to go to a third party. However, when that third party has been referred or chosen by part of where we need to restore that trust, that gets us in a bind. So I would be remiss if I didn't state that for the record. And I will likely be voting in support of it.

Council Member Prakria?

Thank you. And I echo all of the comments that were just made by the Council Vice President. I would like to ask, I guess, what can we do to make sure that we at least have a more competitive bid process in the future? Because this is not going to be the last $300,000 contract that we assign, because we are in kind of a bind where we all feel that this is something that is needed. Some of us look at the price point and We're like, yeah, wow, this is the same as a full-time employee, but we recognize the need for some independent verification. We also recognize the amount of financial damage currently being done to the city, which likely greatly exceeds the $300,000 cost of this piece of work. But I guess what can we do in the future just to make sure that every bid goes out competitive, even bids that are of short term emergency like this, because I, I do believe that that is that is what residents want to see. They want to see that there is no even potential conflict of interest.

I can answer that question. This was an unusual circumstance, as we all know. But as an example, the work that we're going to do with the payroll audit will be going out to RFP. So BECAUSE WE HAVE TIME TO SET THAT STRUCTURE UP. WE DO SOIL SOURCE CONTRACTING ON OCCASION. IT DOES HAPPEN. IT IS JUST NOT THE NORM.

OKAY. BUT IT DEFINITELY IS NOT THE NORM, BUT FOR SOMETHING THAT I WOULD SAY ON OUR LIST OF PRIORITIES FOR COUNCIL HAS KIND OF GOTTEN NEAR THE TOP AT LEAST IN TERMS OF SHORT-TERM PRIORITIES OF THINGS TO FIX IN THE CITY OF REDMOND, I personally, just in the future, for any future project, would very much like to see at least something going out to RFP, even if it takes a couple extra weeks, even if we already have a contractor in mind who has done good work in the past. In the future, I would not feel comfortable voting for something of this scale of importance, a single source contract.

Council Member Stoney? While I do understand that's really important to restore the trust, but I do hear the sentiments and I do agree that, you know, we definitely needed a competitive bidding for making the selection just to be fair and, you know, fair and open for this thing. I also had the concern, it's like, you know, while the statement of work has explicitly stated that this is just a baseline diagnostic and a roadmap, and it's not including any implementation, execution, and maybe a policy rewrite or any system reconfiguration, and then we are looking forward to having an HR director to come in place and then, you know, start working on some of these activities. I just want to understand if whatever is going to be the diagnostic and a person coming new to the team, how this will be handled. So this, you know, is there still any time where we can wait for this thing or if it's really an urgency to do it now because, yes, we have to restore the trust. or is there any way that we can try to do both of these things in parallel instead of waiting?

Our goal is to get this work done as quickly as possible, and that's why we did this process in this way. We are in process of also hiring an HR director, as been discussed, and so it is hope probable that things will happen in parallel.

This kind of assessment, as Deputy CO Marr mentioned, we've not done this in the HR department to do this kinds of assessment, and it will give the new director a really great baseline. To Councilmember Parsi's point, that will be up to the HR director to implement these things and have the full information in order to ensure that our HR department is functioning as highly as possible. So it is a yes and to all of this. We have acknowledged that there are significant issues and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything we can to improve those things as quickly as possible.

So in order to vote, is there a way we can still understand and know if it's like the rates and everything, even though we haven't done any competitive analysis, but is there any data that can help us to support that this is what is in accordance with the market rates and the scope of the work? Anything that can be used as kind of a good comparison to justify?

Would you like to share? Let me answer this the best way I know how. When we go out and we compete for work like this in other jurisdictions, we're competing with Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey, primarily. Those are the firms we're competing with. And what we find across the board is we are 25% to 30% of their total bid. We're well under their total bid. So competitively in the market, we are well below what market is. And the caliber of our work is higher. So one of the reasons we're successful in doing this work is because we drive great value. And I would also want, if I can, provide a little bit of a feedback to one of the previous questions you asked. What we're gonna do is not only do the assessment, the baseline and diagnostics, we're gonna do as much execution as we can in the time we have. As much as we can with the new HR director coming in.

Council Member Kritzer?

Thank you, and I appreciate the comments from my colleagues, and I am glad that for the next assessment that we're doing, especially around payroll, that we'll have the RFP process, including representation of our council president on the review committee for those, and I think that's a good practice, just to speak through the chair to my colleague Council Member Prakriti's suggestion just of what we can do in the future. I think that's a good practice for us to look at in the future to address what's happened with this situation. I guess I would weigh in, as it seems like we're moving towards taking a vote potentially on this, to say that I appreciate the information provided tonight. It's given me more confidence in this. And I do think that having the third party, instead of just asking our new HR director to be able to come in, get to know this organization and solve for all these issues is important because having a third party who can do interviews, be able to assess with people throughout our department anonymously, who can be assured of anonymity to be able to give the feedback so we can get those gaps they're not going to give that to a new HR director who's going to be their boss, for example, or who is going to, or if they're not their boss, if they're not in the HR department, who they're going to be engaging with. So I do think having that outside piece to be able to identify what we need to do to do better is important. And that piece was addressed in the matrix that was shared with us yesterday. I do think the, and in particular, we were assured that the final report, the findings draft and final reports will be sent directly to council. So I just want to reiterate that's the expectation that we'll see that. and that also the that the employee um inputs will be anonymous and confidential so that way we can get kind of the best assessment i just wanted to reiterate that i think those are two of the two uh very important pieces in making sure there's accountability and kind of this this very third party um investment thank you council vice president

Thank you. Thinking about in recent meetings when we were discussing the reorg and the possibility of a new department, we had a consultant assessment on the table and we didn't move, it didn't seem like we were going to be moving forward with everything that the consultant had recommended. In this case, has it been discussed and agreed upon then if the consultant recommends something but the new director is not on board, who has final say? That is actually a very good question. As bringing on a new director and wanting to have a sense of partnership and being able to trust your director.

Absolutely. Yeah, I think that that will be part of the conversation of bringing on a new director with this work that's being done. whether it's in tandem or it's done before the director comes on. I think there will be a lot of discussion around, if not taking all of the recommendations, why and what would be the best practice. So I think there will be a lot of questions around whether or not those things are going to be implemented and how. I think that, you know, obviously you have to trust a director to know what's best, but with the work that we're going to be doing here, I feel like it's imperative to get ourselves involved on a different, on a better footing. And so it will be part of the discussion about how we move those things forward. And I think that will be part of future discussions as well. As was mentioned, the council will be getting this report when it's all done. And so I think when a new director comes on, I think there will need to be some discussions on if not doing all of this, why and what's working and what's not. So I think, I see it as a great start to a baseline and then continuing to work. I hope that answers your question.

Thank you.

Any other questions by council members? Council Member Parsi?

Finally, would you be able to share a little bit more about the expertise of the actual person who will be spending the most time on this project? Have they been potentially new to the organization? Have they been involved in SBD? And can you speak a little bit more to their specific expertise too?

You bet. That's a great question. So the primary consultant, her first name is Shannon. And she has spent her entire career in HR. And she cut her teeth in HR working for the Boeing company for the first 15 years of her career. And then she decided she wanted to step away and do something more creative. So she's been in our organization working with us full time on HR work full time for the last five plus years. And to your point, She she did she was the the key person on point for SPD on the work done there So she's coming right off of that yeah, is that is that helpful?

Thank You Shelly are there any other questions tonight? Oh, I see council member Prakriti

yes thank you um so we've heard about a lot about the spd project and also about the 100 success rate i was just wondering if you could speak to a few other projects particularly which projects were most similar to the one here at redmond understanding that all cities are different union contracts are different you don't know the full extent of what's going on in redmond but what what tangible solutions were you able to deliver to those cities um or other jurisdictions if they weren't cities like SPD. What benefits did they get, and how could you quantify those benefits monetarily compared to the price of the contract?

Sure. The reason you're hearing me talk about SPD is because if you think about Seattle Police Department, you have about 1,200 employees roughly, and you have about 750 enter here. So when you look at the size and scale there, so when you look at the benefits that SPD got, I'll just speak about that specifically. SPD is getting not only, that organization didn't have any processes, no standard operating procedures. They didn't have any understanding of where the people were supposed to go in the particular positional boxes. Therefore, they weren't being paid correctly. There weren't the systems in place to document overtime correctly. and take care of their benefits and leave correctly, which is so all these things got fixed. So in terms of that big bucket of money I told you about earlier, that is the sum total of what we're able to uncover. in year one. So for spending, say, $400,000 plus with us, they get a return of a minimum of $30 million back from that. In addition, the new HR director coming in will have a clean slate to start with. In addition to that, the work that was done with an SPD uncovered some things that across the city they weren't doing. So not only did it lead to what had to get fixed in SPD, it led to what had to get fixed across the city, which is going to lead to more savings in the fire department, in parks, in SPU, in Seattle City Lights. So that's one example right there. Let me give you another example. I think we have one of them in there, University of Washington, I believe we had the College of Arts and Sciences in there, JSIS. Is that one of the examples I have in there? JSIS, I think. So the Jackson School of International Studies, well, I'll even give you a bigger example. Any Husky fans there on the panel here? Okay. So as you know, the College of Arts and Sciences makes up half the academy at the University of Washington. And what was happening was... UW College of Arts and Sciences, the dean and the COO got together and said, we have to start planning ahead for what's going to happen to us financially when we hit this cliff in a couple of years. So we went in organizationally and operationally and did an assessment over all of the College of Arts and Sciences to understand, do they have the right capacity and capability to carry out what they need to carry out? Do they have the right staffing? Do they have too much staffing or too little staffing? That work that we did a couple of years ago, which I don't think we put in the packet, but I'm gonna give it to you because it's a good example. That work that we did is allowing the College of Arts and Science at UW to weather this financial storm they're hitting. because they planned ahead. So they were able to streamline what they were doing from a capacity and capability and personnel perspective. So it's allowing them, and it was done a couple years ago, but it's allowing them to weather the storm financially. So they're gonna be well positioned as the academy, half the academy, to continue on, whereas the other colleges are struggling. They're struggling financially at UW. That's another, I think another really good example. I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU SIMILAR EXAMPLES HERE. I REALIZE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES IS A BIG ONE.

DOES THAT GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES THAT YOU CAN TAKE IN?

YES.

THANK YOU.

I just want to ask this last question because we are going to coming back and talking with the examples, which I know they are examples, to talking about specifically things related to payroll and how we do categorization or other types of things or how that happens. And my understanding is that's not in scope for this contract and has been part of what was raised initially when we wanted to be able to address some different issues. You know before we approve this I think the other question that I would love answered it's just to be sure on is do we really think that It won't create an inefficiency to to exclude payroll from the scope of this contract if we're going to be already doing the work to Interview employees to assess the HR department which previously has had payroll until now And and to really wait and do that back-to-back

One of the things that we will be looking at is the HR component of payroll, which is the handoff of the benefits that comes from HR and then is sent to payroll to process paychecks, as well as FSAs, all of the other things that can come through an employee's benefits. That handoff and that process is coming from HR to payroll. So that is one of the things that within HR we will be looking at.

Okay. So are you saying also then that will allow when we do the payroll piece, it'll be scoped a little bit smaller to be able to focus on the remaining issues since we'll cover some related pieces in this contract?

I think I would refer to Director Cochran to speak specifically of what she is looking for in the other contract. I don't feel comfortable speaking to that.

Okay.

Good evening. So what we are looking for on the payroll side is really what I would refer to as a forensic audit. We're looking for someone that can come in and look at our systems and our processes and make sure that we have the internal controls and the level of accuracy that's expected from our employees and from our governing bodies. So we are looking for someone that will look at all of our timekeeping and make sure that we are doing the appropriate measures from you know, recording time, approving time, submitting time, and then did it get calculated correctly. So we're really going to be going in and making sure that we have all the right approvals in place, all the right steps in place, and that this employee, from the time that they started until the current time, has had all the appropriate adjustments to their pay. So we're looking for control and for accuracy. A lot of the payroll processes have been reviewed and improved through the work that's been done so far with the configuration of the UKG process. And it's pretty, It's not super exciting. You start here, it's very just routine, how to process payroll. Where the risk comes in and what Lisa will be working on is that connection between HR actions and So when someone gets a, let's say a performance review and it's, let's say it's a little bit late. So now we have to get the bump in pay processed and we've got a manual retro adjustment that we need to do. So they'll be looking on how do we improve this? How do we get the review submitted at a time on time, first of all, but secondly, how do we automate the work between HR and payroll to reduce risk? Did I answer your question? I said a lot of words.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you, Director Cochran. Any more questions this evening on this item, Council President?

Thank you, and I'll reiterate, this conversation is kind of going at all levels of elevation and all over. We just unfortunately got off on the wrong foot, and so we're having to do it this way. My question, based on the last response, was for Miss Gotti. Gotti, is that how you say it? Yeah. Does your firm employ forensic auditors, and do you regularly participate in a bid environment for auditors audits like the one that we will need for our payroll system? Yes. I think I am curious why we, if I could, Assistant CO Omar, did we consider scoping this project to include the forensic audit with the same vendor?

Again. I think I would need to refer to Director Cochran because I did not work on the payroll part of this. I worked on ensuring that we would review the HR products that are the handoffs between HR and the payroll department. And at the time we were doing this was as that transition and review by Director Cochran's department was going on.

Okay, thank you so much for that response. Mayor Bernie, I can sense the frustration in the room because we're going around on this, but this particular finding that in fact perhaps for the dollars that we're paying we could have something more conclusive leaves me to no longer be confident in an ability to vote on this item tonight. That is my feedback on the overall project and I would feel more comfortable having a chance to restart the conversation perhaps. Thank you.

I just wanted to share that the reason we started this in sections was because we felt the work in HR needed to be done immediately and the work on the payroll wasn't ready to get started yet. So that's why we broke this into two pieces. And then we also intentionally wanted to make sure that the work on payroll went through RFP process, not just including a council member on that, but also different members of our staff on it as well. And so that's why we chose to split this up as we did. As council knows, we've received input from staff on the urgency of evaluating H.R. as we move forward, and because payroll has been moved into finance, it did split the project up.

May I add something briefly on this? You know, when interviewing folks coming in as a third party, and of course we assume we would Someone would say something about payroll processing. What we would be doing is simply documenting that information so it's documented. But because of the scope of the effort, we're not going to go beyond that, right? Because we knew that payroll got moved out of HR. So that was our plan all along, is to do that, is to document it. But we weren't going to mix the two. because they are two separate functions at the city of Redmond.

Council Member Parsi.

I just, I share the same concern and frustration as some of my other colleagues. I think I will just kind of summarize what I'm hearing that the council is interested in seeing a transparent candidates election and fair and competitive candidates election. ensuring that we have confidence in that the price for the scope of work delivered for the city is a reasonable and justifiable or easier for us to understand and reason about and also coordinating HR improvements along with payroll and how that gets transferred between the departments. So I share those concerns and I would love to have a different opportunity to kind of look at this from a different lens.

Council Member Pacquiao.

I'm just wondering, just to get a sense of scope, the amount of money per hour rate in the contract for a forensic accountant, is that roughly similar to what we are being charged right now for the non-forensic accountant portions, expert analyses in the contract? Let me pull up the dollar amounts.

Yeah, I'm happy to answer that. Generally in forensic accounting, if you're just looking at forensic accounting, it's very expensive. It's very expensive. And as I said, how the city of Redmond is looking at this, I think is the correct way of looking at it. You've got to get clear about your gaps and what's going on in HR to understand your compliance issues. That's really foundational and very important. and your payroll processing piece, and this forensic piece you're talking about, having that done separately with the knowledge of HR foundationally is understood, you understand your compliance issues, your process issues, your gaps, that is foundational.

And I'm gonna go back to the SPD example again to say- So what is your deliverable for this current scope of work? And what is the time like urgency behind this?

What is the timeline urgency behind the work?

Yeah, let's say if it was postponed out another month and a half, what kind of damage does that cause? And I guess, can you give me a clearer idea of the deliverable here?

Sure. I don't have the SOW in front of me, but generally what we do, I know Lisa's got it in front of her. In these SOWs, we have several deliverables. You're going to have an interim report. You're going to have a final report. You're going to have a clear understanding of every week what we're doing throughout this process. There's never going to be a question as to where we are in the project because we report on it every week. But we've got a series of deliverables in the back end of the contract that's... They have a copy of it. Oh, they have a copy of it. Okay. So you've got a copy of it. So you're asking what the urgency is? What the urgency is is we're responding to the urgency of there are HR challenges and issues happening right now that have happened previously that are currently ongoing. We've got to find out what those are and close those gaps quickly. And that's the issue. Close the gaps quickly. Deal with the compliance issues quickly so that you can actually close the gap whilst the HR director is being brought in to address these issues going forward. Because it's not only impacting central HR, it's going to be impacting your HR business partners out in the city departments.

Well, I'm just wondering, maybe someone in the city can speak to the Because from my perspective, and my perspective may be flawed, and it's also 1 a.m. where I'm at, so my brain is not in the most cogent state. But from my perspective, the urgent HR issues are the fact that we had misaligned payroll issues. And actually, I was someone who had payroll issues myself, and it can happen to anybody. That seems to be, to me... like the urgent problem here. I'm wondering what are the other urgent HR problems to which this scope of work that's separate from the forensic accountant is so urgently needed?

I can answer that question. So as we started to evaluate the challenges that we're facing with payroll and began to move payroll into another department, what we found is that we had Lack of systems in place, which is why it led us to some of our challenges that we had. And the more we investigated, the more we uncovered that we had really a big need to evaluate the entire HR department to figure out what the best processes were. So the payroll was kind of a result of some of the challenges that we were facing. but there were other significant issues that we were seeing inside of payroll. And that's why we decided to go this route to do an assessment.

When you say lack of systems, what systems specifically are we talking about? Systems to do what?

Well, I think as you onboarding what people's pay codes are, you can take any number of issues that we have had over the time and see that the As we got down and dug deeper, what the problem was, we didn't have consistent systems in place, and we were doing a lot of manual inputs into things, and it led to a lot of the challenge that you saw with payroll. So we've separated the two. We've moved payroll out of this department, but we're still concerned and seeing issues with inconsistencies and lack of full system processes along with other things. But those are probably the most imminent things that we saw as being a risk to the city and continuing having challenges with how people are managed from those aspects. I don't know if Lisa, if you want to add anything else from what you've seen on your part.

So I would like to add some more general things in to speak to this. If folks in the council don't have a lot of HR background, if you've not actually worked in an HR department before, some of the things that really hit hard are the compliance issues that you aren't following. If you aren't following certain compliance issues and you don't know that, the price tag goes up, up, up, up, up. So that is a big issue in HR organizations.

In addition, have we experienced, I'm sorry to interrupt. Have we experienced like penalties for, for, for not holding the bikes? We can point to like very specific, this is a screw up in how much someone was paid. Right. I can, I can point to that even, even like, like I mentioned with, with how I was paid, but do we have like these specific problems we can point to in terms of compliance or any other issues?

Yeah, we have specific issues that we can point to. I can't take them off the top of my head tonight. But yes, there are issues that we have found because we don't have good processes in place over and over again. And that's getting at the root of what our challenges are.

Council Member Kritzer.

Thank you and really appreciate this discussion. And Ms. Gaddy, thank you so much for being here with us. I think just from my perspective based on this conversation and some of the open questions, I think I'm no longer ready to vote on this item. And so just wanted to share that. And I would say potentially, At this point, I might ask whether council leadership wants to follow up and think with the administration on coming back to us with some potential next steps responding to the questions that the council's had of whether there are options, for example, of whether There is bringing back something where we could go out to bid for a combined RFP or broken out. Just what some of the options would be for follow up on this would be a question that I would have. But I just think since it seems like there's still a lot of open questions tonight would just be my reflection there.

Yeah, I would just say, I think I can read the faces. I think we're happy to take this item and work on it some more and come back with some different options in the future. Council Member Parsi?

Thank you. I think one more item that I would find helpful is having a full perspective of also the financial audit as well, so we can know the full cost of what we're kind of going, what we can expect moving forward into this, what it could look like if it was combined with this effort, what if it was separate. We also talked about a component of policy to be added. which from the conversation we had tonight with Director Cochran, it doesn't seem like the policy component that we discussed in the committee of the whole meeting was part of the scope that is currently being considered. So it would be really helpful to kind of align on the scope and also make sure that the financial side of things, we're building confidence that this is the right number for the scope that we're moving forward with. But I think generally I can see that we all want to make sure that our HR department builds trust, moves forward successfully. It's just a matter of aligning on the scope and aligning on how we're going to get there.

Thank you for that feedback. Thank you both very much. The last item on the agenda are two executive sessions. We have, uh, potential litigation, RCW 4230 110 1I for 20 minutes and, uh, Another one to consider minimum price at which real estate will be offered for sale or lease. RCW 4230-110-1C for 15 minutes per state law. The executive sessions are closed to the public. Action will not be taken following the executive sessions and the meeting will adjourn 35 minutes from now, which will be, I can't even add, 1055. Executive sessions attending remotely, please leave the meeting and join the executive session teams meeting for the first executive session.