General Legislative Session - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. Snohomish County Council is called to order for our administrative session. Today is Tuesday, September 22nd, 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 role. 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.

Council chair done here, vice chair low present Council member nearing it Council member me here Council member Peterson. Council member Peterson.

Here.

Sure there are 5 members present. Do you mind I have my mic off. Next is special reports. Council considers Resolution 26-004, recognizing September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

That's 044.

Resolution 044.

Thank you. Thank you. Were there any speakers to the resolution? I'll just quickly say I appreciate bringing this forward every year, and we have two special guests to speak to the resolution. So if you wanted to come up to the podium. Thank you so much.

Good morning. My name is Reese Estes. I'm 11 years old, and I've been cancer-free for eight years. I wrote a poem in English class that I'd like to share with you. I am amazing and strong. I understand that feelings are normal. I worry about my dog and my family. I believe in true love. I hope cancer goes away forever. I am amazing and strong. I am kind and fierce. I feel that success is coming my way. I need someone who understands how I feel. I care about people's feelings. I fear death. I am kind and fierce. I am loved and important. I dream about living in a perfect world. I wonder why cancer is still in this world. I try to do my best no matter what. I want to be understood. I am loved and important. I wrote that because all those things are true at the same time. I can be amazing and strong and still be scared. I can be kind and fierce and still need someone who understands how I feel. I'm grateful to be cancer-free, but being cancer-free does not mean that cancer is completely out of my life. Other kids have used my cancer to hurt me. One kid told me I should have died from cancer. That's hard to say out loud, and that's even harder to hear. I'm sharing it because I don't think people realize that kids can be bullied for having cancer, even years after treatment. Other kids and families go through things like this too, and you might never know it by looking at them. I want kids to think about the words they use. If someone tells you that they've had cancer, they're trusting you with something important. And if you hear someone being cruel about it, please speak up. You could make a real difference for that person. In my poem, I said I want to be understood. That's something I want people to remember about childhood cancer. You never really know what someone else's life is like. During treatment, a family might be trying to get through one appointment and one day at a time. After treatment, they may be still dealing with fear, stress, and changes in their relationships. A child may look healthy and be doing well, but still have feelings about what happened. The rest of the family can have those feelings too. I talked to a therapist and I'm not ashamed of it. Feelings are normal. Sometimes I need help talking through mine. I hope another kid who needs that help knows it's okay to ask for it. I also wrote, I wonder why cancer is in this world. I still wonder that. Cancer is horrible and no child should have to face it. We need research funding so doctors can keep finding better ways to treat children with cancer. and better ways to care for survivors as they grow up. I'm here because of incredibly skilled doctors and caregivers at Seattle Children's and because of my family and everyone who helped me. I'm thankful for the chance they give me. I want kids finding cancer now to have that chance too. Thank you to the Snohomish County Council for this proclamation. Today, we're speaking for the children in treatment, for the families beside them, for speakers, and for the children and families who should still be together. When you see a gold ribbon this month, please remember that every child has a whole life beyond their cancer story. Be kind, listen, support research, and help us work toward the hope I wrote in my poem, that cancer goes away forever. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Josh, did you want to speak?

Not really.

I don't know how you can follow that. A special thank you to Chair Dunn for year after year remembering to raise the awareness. I do a real good job not getting emotional until I listen to her. She's gone through a lot and she's been a success story. There's a lot of families that don't don't get to be up here. Remembering that every year is paramount, but the fact that you guys all band together every year to recognize and to continue that hope. It's not just one cancer, it's every cancer. Childhood cancer, breast cancer, every cancer you can think of affects families in a special way, but when it's your child and other children, it's something unique and different. Remember the words, the poem that she wrote. She wrote that just this week in English class and is very proud of it. And she should be because it says a lot. So thanks to the council and we'll see you next year.

Thank you. Well, it's easy for me to remember because my family's been deeply impacted by cancer. My husband, my father, my sisters, my mom have all had some form of cancer. My mom's had cancer three different times. And she jokes and says she needs a new hobby. But, Reese, you are so strong for standing up and doing this and surviving what you went through, not just surviving but thriving. So I think your dad and mom have a lot to be proud of today, and I know that we're all really proud of you, too. So thank you so much for coming here today and speaking. Did any councilmembers want to add anything? Councilmember Lowe.

I think Reese summed it all up. I don't want to follow anything she said. So thank you for sharing your story today. It was incredible. Thank you.

Yeah, likewise. Great job. Thank you for being willing to do that. It was very, very moving. Appreciate that.

Any council members online? Okay, well, we really appreciate you coming today. Thank you so much. So we will take a brief recess for a photo. So council's now in recess.

Do we already vote on it?

Oh, sorry, we did not vote on it. Is there a motion to approve the resolution?

I move approval of resolution 26-044. Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded to approve resolution 26-044. Any additional discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes 5-0. So we're now in recess. Thank you. Council has returned from recess and we will continue with our agenda and next is item D public comment. Did anyone wish to provide public comment? Okay, anyone online? No hands are raised. Okay, so we will close public comment and move on. We have introduction and assignment of legislation to committees. You can see the items that have come in and the different committees. I'll read through Committee of the Whole and we have one item for action, but we have item A is for assignment to move to September 23rd for consideration. Item B is for reassignment to move to the 23rd for consideration. Item C is to move to the 23rd to set time and date. And item D is for assignment to Committee of the Whole and that'll move to GLS on September 30th for consideration. Item E is for assignment to move to October 14th to set time and date for a public hearing.

And then we'll hear item F. Council considers budget motion 26387 approving the update to the Housing and Behavioral Health Capital Fund Investment Plan and authorizing the execution of necessary documents. This item is for assignment to Committee of the Whole Proposed action is to set time and date for a public hearing. Suggested time and date is Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 at the hours of 10.30 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m. to consider along with the 2027-2028 biennial budget items.

Hi. Cynthia Foley, council staff. The action today is just to set time and date. I did want to provide a brief update that... the Department of Human Services sent up a corrected proposed substitute motion that contains the, carries forward the updated language for 2025. So this was just some of the, didn't use the most recent version of this motion. So this just has all of the language that was added in last year and carries that forward.

Questions from council? So language added in by council in our budget process, mainly?

I didn't actually staff it last year. It looked to me like it was probably a mix of both. So it had clarifications about the TAC process, the PABTAC process, and then also describing the recovery housing allocation, which was included in the fund plan. It just wasn't described in the motion.

So do I need to move it as a corrected motion or just move it as the motion?

No action is required on this. I just wanted to provide the update on the record so the clerks will be able to add that proposed substitute to the ECAF.

Okay. Any other questions from council? Is there a motion?

I move to set time and date for motion 26-387.

Tuesday October 20th 2026 at the hours of 1030 a.m. And 6 o'clock p.m. Second It's been properly moved and seconded to set time and date for a budget motion 26-3 8 7 any discussion Hearing none on favor. Please say aye.

Yeah

Chair votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes 5-0. Next is the clerk's report on pending legislation. You can see the report linked in the agenda. Reports of council committees. Council committees are suspended through the budget process. And then reports of outside committees. Are there any outside committee reports? Council Member Lowe.

Yeah, I attended the WASAC Timber Caucus meeting virtually last week. The DNR commissioner was on there. He talked about... a plan to raise rates for managing the DNR lands. Currently, that's at 25%. He's going to make a proposal to raise that to 27%. That'll be introduced to the commissioners next month, and then they plan on voting on that in November. An increase to DNR's management fee would mean less money for our junior taxing districts, so there's a lot of concerns from people, other WASAC members, and so I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about that. If you have further questions, I would encourage you to... to reach out to WSAC or I'll try to answer whatever questions you might have. Thanks.

Thank you. Other updates? Last week we also had the Association of Counties board meeting and legislative steering committee meeting that I attended and we passed the initial budget to be approved by the membership with a recommendation to pass and then also created a new arm of Association of Counties, like a for-profit arm that'll have its own board and its own executive director so that WASAC can get sponsorships for events to help reduce the burden on some of our counties for our dues fees and reduce some of the budget that we pay into that. And then for Association of Counties, we... made some amendments and approved the final list of the legislative priorities for the year, for moving into next year. Any other updates? Okay. Chairperson's report, there's no report. And then Chief of Staff report.

Thank you. Just a quick reminder about the upcoming budget schedule that we have for our analysts. So analysts will have their one-pagers completed by Friday, ready for peer review. That peer review will occur over the weekend and the first part of next week with those delivered to council in advance of department presentations, which are the first week of October. If you have any questions related to the budget, please don't hesitate to reach out to Jim and or the respective analyst or myself.

Thank you. Any questions? Okay. We have nothing under full council actions. Other business, please review motion 26-386. We have no executive session, and we have a walk-on motion today.

I move the council to hereby authorize and approve the expenditure of $320,000 to resolve the civil damage claim of Dana Jo Martinez as negotiated by the prosecuting attorney's office through mediation on September 14, 2026. and to authorize the county executive or his designee to execute the documents necessary to memorialize the agreement in consultation with the prosecuting attorney.

Second.

A motion has been properly made and seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes 5-0. And we are now in recess? Adjourned for the day? We're adjourned for the day. Council's now adjourned.