General Legislative Session - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. Snohomish County Council is called to order for our administrative session. Today is Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 9 a.m. We're meeting in the Jackson boardroom and also remotely. I'll read the script for public comment and then our clerks will take roll. We'll take public comment beginning in person and then remotely on Zoom. Click on the hand icon to raise your hand. If you're calling in by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute. And each speaker will have three minutes to speak. Please start your comment with your name and city of residence. Next is roll call.

Chair Dunn. Vice Chair Lowe.

Present.

Councilmember Nehring.

Here.

Councilmember Mead. Councilmember Mead. Councilmember Peterson. Chair, I see Councilmember Mead online, but... Councilmember Mead, are you able to unmute?

We cannot hear you. If you are... Well, we'll move forward and check in. Can you hear us okay? We'll just, we'll move forward and we have three and a half.

Okay.

No, we have, we have three in present and one we're connecting. Okay. Thank you. Next is special reports and we have resolution 26-029.

Council considers Resolution 26-029, recognizing the month of June as Immigrant Heritage Month in Snohomish County.

Thank you. Any comments to the motion? Council Member Neering?

Yeah, thank you, Chair Dunn. I was honored to introduce this resolution, and I think we have a couple of people who are interested in speaking to it, so I appreciate our guests. Van might be in the lobby somewhere, and then we may have one online. But I'll turn back to Chair Dunn, and then maybe we can invite guests to come forward and share their stories.

Okay. Does someone want to go?

Yeah, Vitaly, did you want to start? Thanks for joining us.

Good morning. It's an honor and a privilege for me to be here today. My name is Vitaly Gutsalo. I live in Sahomish County with my wife and three kids. We've been part of this county for the last 26 years. Our family story starts all the way back in 1941 during the World War II. when my grandfather, who lived in the west side of Ukraine, was captured and went to a concentration camp for four years. And then surviving that for four years and being freed by American troops, he comes home thinking there's going to be a celebration, and he ended up going to prison for 10 years for surviving the war, being a Christian. And American troops freed the camp, so they also blamed him to be an American spy at that time. So that was the era of USSR, a communist regime that everybody lived in. So fast forward, I was born in 1987. Our family lived in a small village in currently Russia, back then it was USSR. And when the Soviet wall fell apart, our family had a chance to move to United States in 2001. And parents with six kids with $100 in their pocket and the debt of $4,000, because somebody paid for tickets to come here, we ended up in Everett, or Linwood and then Everett. And we've been living here ever since. When I was 17, my dad pushed me to start our first business here in the county, and it was successful for a couple years before 2008 hit, where we lost. A lot of us lost a lot during the 2008 crisis. I got married when I was 19, so very young, but I live in the American dream, and fast forward, along the way, we ended up being in business, staying in business through 2008, 2009, 2010, opened up a few more businesses within this county. Currently, we employ over 140 people in this county with four different businesses, majority in manufacturing and real estate development. It's been a huge blessing for our family to be part of this country, of this history, and I'm a big supporter of the current bill that's been proposed. I'm also current president of Masters Association of Key and Snohomish County Builders. So it's been an honor to be serving there as well. So our job is to serve as much as we can. We want to give back to this country that blessed us tremendously. And I think as a country and as a county, we should remember what we're built on. And America is one of the greatest is the greatest country.

the world still and let's keep it that way so thank you for your time thank you so much other speakers to the resolution did you guys want to speak while while van is coming up we'll just check to see if councilmember mead has his audio working are you able to unmute councilmember mead yes thank you i'm here

Well, good morning, Madam Chairs, and good morning, Vice Chair Semblow and Councilor Nate Nearing. My name is Van Dien Kunos. I am Director for Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest. We are a 48-year-old organization. We're helping thousands, thousands of refugee and immigrant arise in our county. And based on the census 2000, Sonoma County is the home for 130,000 refugee and immigrants. And we're not counting the children born to the refugee and immigrants. So our county is a huge, diverse, and melting pot. And I had the opportunity to arrive in this country out of the horrible ordeal my family had to go through. 11 days in the boat in Pacific Ocean. We got rescued by the US Navy, poured in the Subic Bay, and from there, we go to the camp in Guam, and finally, the permanent camp in Arkansas. I was celebrating the centennial in the camp in Atkinsoa. So our country about to celebrate another big thing we achieved 250 years. And so we're grateful for the great nation to accepting us, allow us to be part of the fabric of the nation, in particular fabric of Snow Miss County. I came from the family of 11 children. All of us got the degree in the United States from the University of Stanford, Harvard, Springton, University of Washington, University of Minnesota. We're grateful for the great nation to give us the opportunity. And my story is one of the million story from the refugee and immigrants come to this country. So I appreciate the council recognize today and recognize the refugee and immigrant in your county. And thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Other comments to the resolution? Does anybody else want to speak? Okay, did we have anyone online who wanted to speak? If you wanted to speak, just raise your hand with star nine or raise hand at the bottom of your Zoom screen. Are they there?

I don't see any hands raised. Oh, here we go. Okay. They can unmute now.

Good morning. My name is Ricardo. Can you listen to me?

Yep, we can hear you.

Fantastic. And I don't see the option to use my video. Is audio just okay?

Yeah, audio is fine. Oh, did you have, if you wanted to share your video, we can move you over, but we can hear you fine.

That's completely fine. Thank you so much. And I just wanted to tell a personal story about my American dream and why I think we should preserve it. Is this the appropriate time?

Yes.

Perfect. Thank you so much. First off, I want to thank Council Member Nate for the invitation to speak today. And thank you for everyone here for giving me a few minutes of your time. It's truly an honor to stand before this, well, to be before this community and share a bit of my story. I was invited to speak about what the American dream means to me and why it's important to preserve it for future generations. And I think this conversation is especially timely with the approaching 250th birthday. I was born and raised in Mexico. And when I was 10 years old, my mother made a decision that would change the trajectory of our entire life. She told my father, I need to give my kids better life. If we stay here in Mexico, they don't have a chance. They need to succeed. So you're either going to come with me or I'm taking the kids. And of course, none of us wanted to uproot our lives. None of us wanted to leave behind everything familiar and take such an enormous risk. But my mother believed with every fiber of her being that the sacrifice would be worth it. So we just took off with two suitcases, our life packed into those, and we arrived in San Diego, California. We were undocumented at first. We had no family waiting for us. Only my father spoke English. partially, and we still didn't have job prospects lined up, but the odds were definitely stacked against us in every measurable way. But within a few months, the work ethic is what made the difference. Both of my parents were each working two jobs my mother made something very clear to us early on. We've come to this country to build a better life. And the way for you to do that is for you to work hard and get an education. So my sister and I listened. While they were working two jobs and we never saw them, we pushed ourselves to the limit. Within less than a year, I moved from remedial English as a second language courses to regular classes. And very soon after that, I was placed into advanced placement courses and recommended to a special charter school that's called the Preuss School UCSD. It's a high school that is challenging students and setting them up to go to college. That's why it's part of the UCSD campus. It's assigned for low-income students who would be the first in their families to attend college. So I worked hard as I possibly could. I got valedictorian of my graduating class, a very competitive class where every single student was taking AP courses across all subjects. My daily routine worked like this. It went from 6 a.m. school until 4 p.m., then off and running to my full-time job at 5 p.m., and then working until 11 at night, thereabouts most Monday through Fridays, plus working full shifts on the weekends. So I was fortunate enough to be recognized for those efforts and awarded a full scholarship to a small school in the East Coast called Dartmouth College, where I got a BA in math. And I attended Dartmouth as an international student at first because I didn't have legal status. I was a Mexican student technically on the books. And that legal status didn't come until my sophomore year. And in 2017, I am very proud to say that I became a US citizen. So when someone asks me, what does the American dream mean to you? My answer is simple. It's the opportunity to work hard and rise. It's the promise that where you start does not have to determine where you end up. And it's going from a 10 year old who couldn't speak English to the Victorian Ivy League graduate who's now got a master's in stats and a proud American citizen. That journey from struggle to success through effort and determination, that to me is that American dream. And I think it's important we preserve it for future generations because I have an 18-year-old who just graduated from high school. I have a four-year-old who's just beginning to discover the world and I want them and every other young person in this community to inherit a country where hard work still means something, where opportunity is real and not just a slogan, where a family can arrive with nothing and through grit and perseverance build something meaningful. My mother bet everything on that promise and America delivered. My deepest hope is that we continue to be a nation worthy of that kind of faith for my children, for your children, for every generation that follows. So thank you everyone for your time, and thank you again for the opportunity to share my story.

Thank you so much. Other speakers to the resolution? Just check one more time online. Okay, did anyone else want to speak? Okay, welcome. You can come to the podium in the center. Welcome.

Good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone. I'm wondering if I should face you guys or should I face them? Okay. Well, I already met with Megan and Nate. And so this is the first time. So I'm very glad to be here. It's a big deal. And I really appreciate Nate for you to invite me to do this. I brought my wife, Bintu. My name is Abdoulaye Touré. My background, I was born and raised in France. As time was going on, my parents thought that I was hard-headed. They needed to figure out something to do. So they decided that the best thing was to send me back to Africa. So I was in Africa. It was a blessing. I learned a lot discipline-wise. I became a good man, I think. And after spending 10 years there, I came back to France, pursued my education, went into Delta because I wanted to travel the whole entire world. So I thought myself the best way would be to work for a company and travel for free. So I did that for a while. And while I was there, I discovered America. The first state I came to was in Texas. When I came there, the way I saw things on TV was completely different. But what attracted me the most was the mindset. The entrepreneurship, because of the people that I met at the airport, they had that mindset. And I didn't know that. I was picturing America in a different way. with the, you know, the, all the good things about it. But that aspect of it, I didn't quite know until I met them. They convinced me to come to America, to attend a convention. I came here, it completely changed my mind. And from there, that's when I decided that this is where I want to be. So I, then my goal was to basically whatever I'm doing in France, the goal, the ultimate goal is to come to America. So the first thing I did is to inquire and to do it legally was to come as a student. So I applied for a student visa. I saved up money, came to America. I came here and I established another goal that I want to become an entrepreneur. I want to own businesses. So by establishing that goal, whatever I did led me to that. I went around. When I was in school, hey, what is it that in America that I can do to help me with that foundation, you know, to understand people? Because that's, at the end of the day, you've got to understand your community that you're going to interact. So I inquired about that, and many people told me sales. I said, okay, with the sales, what is the hardest thing? What's the Most people told me it's selling cars. It's a good way to start. So I went into selling cars. It wasn't easy because I didn't know anything about credit or anything. I went into it. I learned the hard way. I started from Macy's. I went into the office, talked to the manager. They offered me a job. Then it wasn't challenging that much enough. So that's when I went into the car business. Then I went to Nostrum because I wanted to go into finance, so my wardrobe was not quite there. I went to Nostrum, built up my wardrobe, learned customer service. It's a good way to learn that, how to interact with people. It's a good place. I went there, went to finance, understood the deeper relationship with people clients, you know, to understand the mindset, especially when it comes to finances, because a lot of things are related to finances. You get to learn a lot of things about people. I established that. I was married at the time. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but I met up with my present wife. I learned a lot from that experience, and I shared my When I met her, shared what I wanted to achieve. She's from the Gambia too. The same route. She came here, became an RN, accomplished a lot. She went through a lot, the same thing. So I had a business mind. I wanted to go into the medical field as an entrepreneurship. She had that mindset. So we didn't, just to make it summarize, conclude this. In four years, we're able to open four businesses. We have two adult family homes. We're about to open a third one. We have a home care agency and a staffing agency. So... Basically, having that mindset, coming to America, yeah, but having that mindset, having a long-term goal can help you a lot because whatever you do during that time helps you to get to where you want to be. And there's no country like this, no matter what is happening now. I think there's a lot of things. I mean, there's a lot of things happening, but it doesn't matter. This country is still, there's nothing even close to this country when it comes to whatever you accomplish in life or your dreams is still the same thing. It's just at the end of the day, I feel like it's a mindset. And right now for immigrants, it's not easy. You know, it's, It's not easy to have that mindset because of all that's going on. So it's not easy. But what I will say is that I feel like it's still the same. If you set your mind on what you want to achieve in life, especially in this country, other countries, in Europe especially, I feel like you can't compare still now what's going on here. But in America right now, Whatever you want to achieve, if you put your mindset to it, you're going to achieve it. That's just the way I look at it. Right now, I don't focus much on politics. I know what's going on, but I focus on my family and my wife, my kids, and that drives me to go further, to grow and help other people in the community. So, I mean, I can go on and on and on, but I will just, there's probably other people that want to share their experience too. Yeah.

Thank you so much. Yeah. Appreciate you speaking. It was a pleasure.

Yeah.

Good to see you. Other speakers?

That's all that I know.

Okay. Did anyone else want to speak to the resolution? Yes. Welcome. You can sit or come to the podium. Whatever's easiest.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Tarcine Afgas, and I'm with the Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest. To speak to the resolution, I was migrated to the United States in 1990 due to my mom's health. She migrated to Hawaii. to find a better healthcare. Fast forward, my life in America is a dream. It's not an easy road. There were times, hardship times, and working with Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest for the past six years have been tremendous giving back to the community. to America as we receive refugees as they come in and we serve. I saw myself as a nine-year-old back then in those children's eyes, but then yet they've been through many hardship than I did. And receiving them has been a blessing. to see that one day they will be somebody in America. So thank you for having us here.

Thank you so much. Last call. So any other speakers? So we will turn to council then. For any other comments? Sure. Yeah.

Thank you, Chair Dunn. Well, I just really appreciate everybody who's taking the time to come and share a little bit about your story. You know, I've been thinking a lot about America 250 with all the celebrations that are being planned for July 4th and the time around it. And one of the things that keeps coming back to me is the idea of the American dream. And what does that look like today? What does it look like historically? And so someone had mentioned the idea of Immigrant Heritage Month to me. And so I thought the timing was nice with the 4th of July coming up in the semi-quincentennial. You know, we've heard today just a few stories from all around the world of people who have grown up in different places and come to this country seeking a better life, seeking the American dream. I think it's very inspiring and really appreciate you all taking the time to share your stories. When I think about America 250, I think about how important it is to make sure that we preserve the American dream, right? Preserve that opportunity for other people who want to come here and live out that American dream and be successful in whatever that means to them. Heard some great stories from business owners, nonprofit leaders, folks who went to Ivy League schools. And again, just truly inspiring. So appreciate everybody's time and wonderful stories. And thank you for being willing to come and share them with us for a few moments today.

Yeah, I want to thank our refugees and immigrants for being here today and for sharing your stories today. You know, we do a lot of resolutions at the county council each year. This particular resolution and hearing the stories today it's really hit me hard in the heart today. Uh, I really am so, well, this can be one of my favorite council meetings for a long time just to hear the stories, uh, and to, to hear what you've had to overcome coming here to America. Uh, I know in my own family, uh, I have relatives from Southeast Asia, uh, have relatives from camp, uh, from Guatemala. And then, uh, also my niece and nephew, their, their, uh, dad is from Mexico. And, um, You know, all of them have a story of coming here to America and my own family and to hear the stories today, uh, have really touched my heart. Uh, I support our immigrant community. I support our refugee committee community. I want to continue to support them. I want to continue to go to activities and things in our community. So don't be afraid to invite me and the other council members. I know that we want to come and, and work closely with your community. So thank you for being here today. Thank you for sharing your stories. And again, this is one that's definitely very personal to me today. So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Lowe. Comments online? Okay. I wanted to just echo my thanks. Thank you to our guests here in person and our guests online. Van, I think you said it best, that it's about the fabric of the nation. So I appreciate Council Member Neering bringing this forward and really grateful that you could share your stories and your time with us today. So thank you so much. So we will turn to council for a motion.

I move approval of resolution 26-029. Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded to approve resolution 26-029. Any other discussion? Hearing none, on favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, then passes four to zero. So we will take a brief two-minute recess for photos and then return to our agenda. So council's now in recess.

Thank you.

Okay, Council has returned from our recess and we'll continue with the agenda. And next is public comment. Did anyone wish to provide public comment today? You can come to the podium. Go ahead. Welcome. And then if you're online, you'll press star nine and star six to unmute when you're called upon.

I am actually a resident of King County and live in Bothell. I'm Here to make a statement for my aunt. One of the things is Highway 2 is incredibly dangerous. You can't change a driver. You're never going to be able to change how they drive. But there can be more safety measures in place. So I'm going to read her statement and kind of give a little bit more explanation. My aunt, her name is Kathleen Cody. She wrote this statement. My name is Catherine Cody. I'm writing this on behalf of myself and Denver Cody, Dylan Craig's mother and stepfather, Catherine Williamson and Robbie Williamson, Marianne Craig's mother and brother, Tanner and Rachel Ferguson, their best friends, and the countless family and friends of the Craig family, and most of all, Corey, their four-and-a-half-year-old son. On April 18th at 12.17 a.m., Dylan and Marianne were heading home to Gold Bar from a date night when they were struck and killed in a head-on crash near Sophie Road on Highway 2. They left behind the love of their life, Corey, who was having a sleepover at my house. Corey must now grow up without his parents' support and guide him through life. This horrible nightmare has forever changed all of our lives. Dylan and Marianne were only 33 years old. Having their lives cut way too short breaks our heart. They were very loving parents and becoming very active within the community. The amount of love and support we received from family, friends, and coworkers and total strangers has shown us just how much they were loved and will be missed. I personally will never be able to drive Highway 2 without fear or a horrible sick feeling in my stomach, and I will never be able to drive that highway at night. Something needs to change to make Highway 2 safer. Had there been lights, a barrier between east and west traffic, or simply two lanes each way to allow people so impatient that they insist on passing, that perhaps could have prevented this horrible crash or others from happening. This we may never know. No family should have to feel our pain. our family and friends are feeling right now. We can only hope that you look seriously at improvements and changes that must happen in this highway. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Sorry for your loss. Other speakers?

Hi, my name is Leah Pezzetti. I'm a Snohomish County resident. I'm speaking in tandem with Brittany today. I was there the night of that crash. I saw firsthand how dangerous Highway 2 is. The sight of those two cars mangled on the side of the road is something I will never forget. Brittany and I have been going around to various city council meetings in the last month. sharing our goal for advocacy. We spoke at Monroe City Council. We spoke at Sultan City Council. We're here today. We've been speaking to every elected official we can, police chiefs, anyone who has the ability to help advocate for change. We know that this is not a city or even a county. issue. We know that this is state and federal support that we need. We also know that everybody in Snohomish County knows how bad Highway 2 is. But I just can't take that as an answer. I know myself and Brittany are ready to advocate. We're ready to fight. Go to Olympia. Go to DZ. Do whatever we need to do to make sure that change happens. This crash happened Feet away from another memorial for another head-on collision that happened in the exact same location. Feet away. So that shows a trend. We now have four people who have died in the exact same spot because of a head-on collision. Like Brittany said, we can't change drivers. I know we can't change drivers, but we can do everything we can to protect innocent drivers from those who choose to drive dangerously. So... we come to you today to ask um to join our mangly crew and um try to figure out what we can do to not ask but demand change on highway two um in my conversations with our leaders it sounds like there used to be a highway two safety coalition um that is no longer in place i know sam we found out this morning that you were actually at a What sounds like a town hall, I'm a bit surprised that in our conversations with all of these leaders, no one told us about this. So we found out when we showed up today. So I'm sorry that we missed that. But if there are big picture conversations, ways we can get everyone in the same room on the same page, because we know that the city of Sultan, the city of Monroe, these small towns are not necessarily going to be able to do it. alone, but as Snohomish County cities, we hope that we can do it together. So we are here to help support and advocate in any way and share our voices and our stories. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Is there any public comment online? No hands are raised. Okay. We have staff. Staff can follow up with you too.

Thank you.

So next on the agenda is introduction and assignment of legislation to committees. You can see the things that have come in I'll just read through Committee of the Whole since there's no action. But under Committee of the Whole, we have item A is for reassignment for without objection to move to tomorrow to set time and date. Items B through E are also for to move to tomorrow for consideration. Item F is for reassignment from committee to move to tomorrow also for consideration. So, if there's no objection, those will be moved. Clerk's report on pending legislation. There's no report. We have council committee reports, and you can see the reports of council committees. You can see the dates and times for meetings. Next is reports of outside committees. Are there any outside committee updates? Council Member Lowe?

Yeah, I did speak to the SCIP meeting this morning at the Highway 2 Trestle roundtable this morning. I did leave about 20 minutes early to get back for a council meeting this morning, but we definitely need to address the issues with our trestle. Obviously need to address our issues with Highway 2. I-2 was hit on Highway 2 a year and a half ago at 60 miles an hour. I'm lucky to be alive. We definitely need to address the issues on Highway 2, safety and the trestle. That's all my report today.

Thank you. Mr. Marmonieri?

Yeah, thank you, Chair. Last week attended the Military Affairs Committee. Good conversations about how to best advocate as a county and cities for Naval Station Everett. And then, tomorrow evening, we have our Snohomish County Memorial Steering Committee meeting.

Ms. Any online? I'll update. We had our library meeting. So, we have the law library is a junior taxing beneficiary or junior taxing district, and council will be hearing more about that efforts to work with that body. They passed us. We're working on a draft security policy because there's been some security incidents at that library. then we had a growth management board meeting where we approved our manufacturing and industrial center certifications for the region next is chairperson's report there's no report chief of staff report no report today thank you okay uh we have no items under full council action and then other business please review motion 26-215 So there's a risk management report included in that. We have no executive session, and then we are adjourned into our committee meetings. We have committee meetings at 1.30? Oh, closed record hearing. So council is adjourned until our 1.30 closed record appeal. Council is now adjourned.