I'll call to order the November 6 2017
City Council regular meeting and ask
those in the audience who would like to
join the council and myself in the
Pledge of Allegiance to please stand our
first item of business this evening is
under special business is agenda bill
seven five zero five an update on tellus
parcels seven eight and nine and that
update will be given by Keith Niven our
director of development services
division and economic development Kate
welcome this evening Thank You mr. mayor
good evening city council so there was a
request made that the City Council get
an update on Dallas parcels seven eight
nine and what's going on up in Dallas so
I'm here this evening to do that so for
orientation apologize I couldn't get a
more recent aerial photo but this was
the best that the internet had to offer
so this is parcel seven up here at the
very top of Dallas parcel eight is kind
of back in here and parcel nine is right
here I'm also going to talk about water
reservoirs you can see these are the 752
reservoirs and then here's the pad where
the 912 reservoirs have been constructed
and I'll show you photos of those in a
sec so here's the here's the new 912
water tanks they are built up in parcel
seven and they will provide water to the
upper elevations of talus this is the
752 tanks these will be decommissioned
and taken down and what I can tell you
is we got the green better this was not
the right color green make you can see
them from everywhere and then this is
the booster pump station it's on
shangri-la and it's right next to the
community park and it actually pumps
water up to these reservoirs at the top
of parcel seven we have completed the
paving work on shangri-la so this
section of roadway which is down at the
kind of at the bottom of parcel nine
this was damaged from the landslide and
so this paving work is now complete the
only thing that is not complete is the
sidewalk and the streetscape on this
side which is right next to parcel nine
it's this - liz is looking the other
direction so it's on the uphill side
here and that's because the construction
that they're doing on parcel 9 to
further stabilize it needs to have
equipment in this area and you'll see a
photo of that in a sec so this is parcel
9 conceptually they have offered a
stabilization plan which includes so I'm
sorry I know this probably better than
some of you
so here's talus Drive coming up this is
shangri-la as it winds up the hill north
would be to the left and so this is the
part of the damaged road down here at
the base of the slide so what they're
planning to do is to actually bury four
walls within the property there's number
two there's number three and number four
is up at the top and you can actually
see some equipment I took these pictures
today so this equipment's out there
today and they're basically sinking in
big metal plates that then get guided
into the bedrock to provide
friction against additional earth
movement you can see this is this
picture here is looking from the top
down so they have a bunch of equipment
staged in the middle of the property
right now parcels seven it's actually
seven and eight
there's 63 Lots up at the top this is
the view
it's pretty amazing view on a snowy
Monday
this final plat was approved by the
Hearing Examiner
it was then appealed to the City Council
and that decision was then appealed to
King County Superior Court the judge
remanded that plat back to the city for
additional geotech work and the scoping
of that activity is happening right now
so that's my summary of Talas seven
through nine and shangri-la and the
infrastructure that's being constructed
any questions or are there any questions
of Keith seeing none then thank you for
thank you a short and succinct update
will now move to audience comments
audience comments are an important part
of the public process we take them
seriously and factor them into the
decisions that we make anyone from the
public who wishes to comment on
tonight's agenda items or other topics
will be given an opportunity to do so
shortly I would just point out that
there are two public hearings scheduled
this evening
one the 2018 proposed levy and revenue
sources and the second a moratorium on
Community Health engagement locations
and also known as safe injection sites
so if you would like to speak on those
two things the more the appropriate time
to speak to those would be
after the approval of the consent
calendar please direct your comments to
the whole council and not individuals
and while this is not a
question-and-answer session we will
contact you to follow up if needed if
you did not have an opportunity to
include your name and email address on
the sign-in sheet you may leave that
information on the clipboard on the
table in front of me when recognized use
the electron's speak into the microphone
state your name address and relationship
to the city if any limit your comments
to 5-minutes if you have written
comments please submit those to the city
clerk there's a visual timer at the
lectern when it turns yellow you have
one minute remaining on your time and
when you hear a buzzer your five minutes
are up if you take the full five minutes
with that again audience comments are an
important part of the the process please
keep them civil and with that I would
ask if anyone has signed up to speak
this evening thank you I have three
individuals signed up to speak regarding
general audience comments those are
comments that are not related to the
public hearings first on the list is
Kaylee Jake hi my name is Kaylee Jake
and I met two four seven oh six
southeast 30th Street Sammamish and I
just wanted to give the council and the
mayor a quick update since we've last
met and I'm also the director of the
team cafe the we've had an open house
and that was very well attended we
gathered some great information some
concerns and and some thoughts from the
community and then since then we've had
conversations with the parks department
and believe that we've located a better
site than the house this site is at 235
First Avenue southeast it's embedded in
my brain now and so what we'd like to do
and what we will submit a full report to
the services and Safety Committee and a
couple weeks on the 14th but I just
wanted to keep you all in the loop of
the progress that we've been making and
we're really excited to to show all the
work that we've done and the information
that we've gathered and then keep the
process going so I just wanted to give
you that update anyway thank you very
very much
all right thanks next on the list Robert
last name with an S oh there you are can
you hold on one second
oh no when you know it this slideshow
just does not want to get put up there
[Music]
well hello
so this slideshow this was the famous
slideshow that was never shown so Robert
did you identify yourself yeah my name
is your address my name is Robert
Swanson I live at 826 fourth Avenue up
in this COIs Highlands so this was a
going to be a wonderful slideshow that I
took pictures all over the is qua
Highlands starting up past the movie
theater going on down all the way around
the neighborhood it was going to show a
couple of things one is long we all know
this but I'm gonna say it again the
ninth and High Street which but a much
better location from the high school
then I mean the elementary school then
cutting off the hill and doing it right
in front of the place I had pictures of
it anyway so as you go down this street
you're gonna see it's one lane going
each way which is fine I think traffic
would be just fine but as you get down
toward where I live there's an alley
it's Fifth Avenue it's kind of an alley
Road if you want to call it that there's
no sidewalks right there so you cannot
have cars go through that impossible
while kids going to school completely
impossible if you saw the picture you'd
see I'm talking about this you can't
have two SUVs one has to stop one has to
go this is just in the alleyway it would
be in a danger zone to having cars go
down there while kids are walking down
there with no safety no sidewalk at all
so some kid would get run over so you'd
have to put a stop sign there which I I
had signs that pictures are the signs
right down the street here to show that
we do have signs saying no left turns
going up and down here doing school
hours I'm assuming that's because of
school hours I don't know why they have
it there but I was just assuming so
anyway the so we'd have to have a sign
there saying there's no way you could
have kids cars go down that alley
impossible very unsafe the next one is
you go down the corner there's a stop
sign too
cars are literally physically impossible
for two small cars that taking a left
and right at the same time you go there
I had pictures had my car there so you
could see that there was no but you can
use your imagination anyway so you could
not have cars go through in and out
right there and that Street there I had
pictures you can't have two SUVs and
parents love SUVs you cannot have two
SUVs anybody it's been up in the
neighborhood I know several of you have
been you cannot have two SUVs you have
to pull over it's just a mess you could
not have cars go down there so you're
going to basically eliminate that whole
place as cars going up and down unless
you want to domain one of the houses and
just wipe out that whole place there and
build a whole street hey if you got to
do that you got to do it but I can't see
that happening then you can go all the
way down to the very end of that street
and then you have taken a left you
cannot have two cars take a left that's
right next to the hill oh right right
there you can't have two cars one car
has to take a left one car has to go
this way you cannot have two SUVs
especially can't do it you're getting to
an accident so that's a bottle
bottleneck then you go up the little
hill which I'm just gonna let you know
if you do build a school there you have
to I di saat Hill every single time it
snows or it gets icy rain and ice
because nobody can go up that hill I
mean we all put up on our Facebook hey
don't go up that hill go all the other
when you have to go all the way around
because it's so I see you literally
can't get up you start sliding back down
it's a very small hill but it's it's an
owner hiding up there anyway so then you
get to the hospital now so the hospital
I'm just gonna let you know I'm mr. me I
know you talk you're not part of the
City Council so I can say your name I
hope but the you've talked to mr. case I
believe that he's the parking director
for the for the hospital I don't want to
put words in his mouth or anything I'm
just gonna say they have concerns I'll
just leave it that I don't want to get
him in any trouble or say anything but
he has concerns on how that's going to
work out I know there's communication
going on with that I also talked to the
Issaquah Highlands today I don't want to
give any names there too but they have
extreme concerns on the whole driving
it's cutting down the hill water the
whole shabang kids where they agree they
cannot have cars going down the
neighborhood it's just impossible sorry
I had pictures of all that a beautiful
picture of the hills so we could all see
what it looks like why everybody wants
to cut down the hill and put an
elementary school there anybody I've
shown the picture to that leaving lives
outside the neighborhood that has no
saying one way or the other they go well
that's a dumb spot friends of mine have
come over that don't live there don't
live in his quad I show him the hill I
said what do you think about putting the
hill an elementary school cut down that
hill the hill and put an elementary
school right on top of that every single
person and I try not to give you know
I'm sure there's a little bias comes out
of me I admit it but I tried them my
best and everything every single person
is said that is the dumbest idea I've
ever heard in my entire life so I'm just
letting you know that it is there are
many people and when we had our first
the the school board had their first
meeting I went to thank you very much it
was wonderful talking to thank you
Robert
next last on my list is David Wagner
oh there you go there you go
good evening mayor council mine's gonna
be brief if that red light comes on I've
been here way too long
Friday as you well know we will have
veterans ceremony at the Senior Center
and specifically asking one of you to be
there hopefully at you mayor you know
that we always present a flag in honor
of all the flags that we give to the
city every year to fly well we have men
and women harm's way and we'll do that
again so Friday 11 o'clock Senior Center
Veterans Day service and Friday at 9:30
in the highlands two brand new flags are
going to be raised there as well
for the first time a Pio wmia flag under
the US flag so just would like to invite
you out and anybody from the public is
welcome to come as well and we'll have a
great service and thank you very much
thank you Dave
lessons there anyone desiring Brian I
see you in the back come on down
thank you very much my name is Brian
Weinstein my address is on file I'm here
to speak to agenda bill seven four six
two which are the school impact fees
I've been following this as it's moved
its way to the council Services
Committee and at that meeting one of the
things we learned from a representative
of Issaquah School District is that they
don't charge the full amount of impact
fees that they could to developers and
the reason they do that is because
they're afraid they might be sued and so
this is the amount that they are legally
entitled to charge developers for impact
fees and that calculation is included in
your agenda bill for a single-family
home that's twenty nine thousand two
hundred and six dollars for a
multifamily housing development per
units eleven thousand five hundred
thirty five and what they charge instead
after they give a generous discount is
basically eight thousand seven hundred
for a single-family and three thousand
four hundred for multifamily so what the
school district is doing is throttling
growth in Issaquah and throttling growth
is something that really is the purview
of the city council not the Issaquah
school district by charging so little
for these impact fees the school
district has made a calculus that
there's more money to be had in forever
levies that we have that are assessed on
our property via property taxes than to
get a lump sum amount from developers at
the time that the impact fees are
supposed to be collected and of course
that makes total financial sense would
you rather have the present value of
twenty thousand dollars today or the
present value of several hundred dollars
spread across all the houses in Issaquah
for
forever so that's an infinitely larger
sum but again when we've talked about
growth and we've talked about traffic
and we've talked about the impacts to
overcrowding in our schools that are
causing the school district to look for
land anywhere they can find it and build
schools any way they can find it they
are in part creating a problem for us
and themselves my hope would be that the
council could look at this agenda bill
table it send it back to committee send
it back to the school board have them
charge the full amount that they are
legally entitled to charge and not be
afraid of being sued by developers for
doing the right thing that they're
legally entitled to do it shouldn't fall
upon the taxpayers and the residents of
Issaquah again to make up for a
difference that the school district has
the ability to make up for themselves
thank you very much thank you Brian
anyone else Steve
Steve Crawford director capital project
for this law school district I just want
to clarify a few points that the school
impact fees are put together in
accordance with a sub-element of the
King County Comprehensive Plan and in
that plan there is a mandatory
requirement for a 50% discount off the
caca
calculated amount so Brian's numbers
aren't quite accurate there's a big
difference between what is a the 50%
discount and the $20,000.00 number that
he was talking about I would be happy to
explain further and other situations and
circumstances but there is a 50% we're
not afraid of being sued by the
development community nearly every year
we amount a pretty strong effort to
counter the building community who is
down in Olympia lobbying very hard to
eliminate the collection of impact fees
so that's the balancing act it's not
being afraid of sued being sued by
developers it's the real threat of
losing the ability to collect any impact
fee thank you thank you Steve anyone
else desire to speak during general
audience come Elizabeth
Elizabeth Mopan 100 Big Bear place
northwest Issaquah it does seem to me
that a lot of our codes laws and other
things are tilted a bit in the favor of
the developers in a way that is not
helpful to the cities I'm not sure what
the remedy of this is but I I do note
that that seems to be the case and I
also like to address the process we have
on some of our really emotional topics
like safe injection sites it seems to me
that prior to having the public hearing
it would be helpful to have an
opportunity for people to hear from
experts who really understand the topic
so that people are speaking from a good
knowledge base rather than from an
emotional reaction I don't think we
really know a whole lot about the safe
injection sites originally the Human
Resources people and some other groups
were supposed to look at this and bring
something back and that got wiped away
so it just seems to me it would be more
helpful to the council to hear from
people after they've had a chance to
hear from people who really know
something about the topic thank you
thank you Elizabeth
anyone else desiring to speak this
evening
anyone else Steve
the Union Council mr. mayor members of
the public
Keith you didn't share your caffeine
with me so identify your sorry Steve
when 70 North you start with Street is
why for about 10 years so first of all
thank yous because we don't say thank
you enough and it's good we put that out
there thanks to the salmon day
volunteers my nephews particularly like
we could paint the rubber fish and then
make a portrait of it and they allowed
them to dry there so you didn't have to
take a wet portrait and carry it around
so kudos tell the staff for that second
the Scarecrow's that displayed about old
town kind of a cool fall Halloween event
I think that was kind of cool I guess
crime-related they have the pop-up free
or fresh vegetable stand at the start
Shell station subs kind of cool to see
out there next was I'm seeing an
increased presence of the Issaquah
police vehicles about town so I'm glad
to see that thanks to the police
thanks for the city for expressing their
concerns on that the next issue was
gonna be somewhat similar Elizabeth my
pen talked about emotionally charged
topics and that's the Providence Heights
campus it seems like people who have
fought for it have had to fight to get
the city to recognize that it's a it's
historical site has cultural and
artistic ability to understand why that
happened there was a presentation for
the Hearing Examiner and said that there
was not a process correctly followed for
historical sites the King County
Historical Commission met the city
church representative suggested that
they meet an executive session to see
whether or not there were any
constitutional issues regarding a church
site we met they came back and voted
five to zero that it met historical
considerations for being considered so
its would be easy to say that it's
heartbreaking to understand that the
site is again threatened by demolition
beyond that though and to be frank it's
makes me kind of angry that we're at the
place we are today where this happens
today where the city is decided not to
fight a threatened lawsuit there are
processes in place in the process that
says we have an appeal process within
that historical designation process that
wasn't followed often there's a new
entity and sort of plateaued limited
liability corporation there's
organization called church home that
presented the city with a threatened
lawsuit it just seems like a break into
the public trust for the city not to
follow that process that I don't use
those words lightly I'm not saying that
there was a break in public trust but it
certainly feels looks sounds that way I
don't know at this point that there's
something next to do from the city
standpoint it seems the city's made a
stand I'm not sure what the next site is
for this process but I think process
wise we need to look at this we need to
I'd like to hear feedback from the city
on why that process didn't seem to
happen and what steps need to be taken
to change the process so that gets
followed again there were four criterias
on why the site had historical cultural
and artistic preservation up to zero but
that doesn't seem to be taken into
consideration I'm very disappointed in
again angry thank you thank you Steve
anyone else designed to speak anyone
else third David good evening David
Kepler just remember sometime in the
future when you are given to have a rest
to a resolution supporting a school
district bond think about what you do
tonight about getting those fees
appropriate because if you don't get
them right tonight we're going to just
mean that bond in the future will be
larger thank you thank you David anyone
else yes please
hello my name is Julie Clark I live at
nine one five bear Ridge Court Northwest
and I just wanted to come down tonight a
couple of things one I wanted to thank
whoever was responsible for the bike
artheon skatepark it looks like it's
being well used and it's nice to see
young adults and kids out there during
the day and early evenings using it so I
appreciate that it's been placed in a
place where it's accessible and seems to
be well used second I wanted to make a
request I had sent an email last week
about transparency within the city and
between the different departments and
I'd like to again request that there is
an effort made to increase the
transparency it seems that some
departments have had information
regarding talus parcels and their
stability and that information was not
provided to the Hearing Examiner or the
City Council
prior to permitting being issued so I
wanted to just address that and request
that there is an effort to have the
different groups within our city work
together and to recognize the need for
information being brought forth so that
everybody can make a well-informed
decision thank you Thank You Julie Mary
you held out to the end perhaps my name
is Mary Lynch and I recited 216 I know
North West Oak Crest Drive Issaquah
Washington I also want to say that I
really think going into the budgeting
period we need to look at all impact
fees not just the school because the
school has admitted they have not been
collecting what they could in the past
and with developers adding TDRs to their
sites and we're not getting any
affordability in our homes and things
that are being built as far as
affordable homes
or apartments we're driving the the
market skyrocketing so those of us who
live here now can't afford to stay here
because of the increased raise in
property tax developers have not and
still are not paying their fair share
because during last year's budget
process you still did not elect to cover
all the development impact fees by
developers and what I've heard so far
this year that still not being proposed
by city staff that you fully cover the
development services fees and it's a
fully burdened rate because it hasn't
been in the past also we've talked about
during the budgeting or was talked about
budgeting process last year that there
would be studies done for levels of
service that are the level service for
the police and some of the other staff
are based upon 2006 2007 numbers and I
haven't seen any studies that have been
updated and I know there's some
preliminary talks that we do need or be
nice to have three more policemen added
to it but what is that based on we need
to have transparency we need to do real
studies that accurately show the levels
of service that we want and based upon
the existing and the predicted
population throughout the year because
we're growing drastically and we're
bringing on a lot of new homes over the
next year or two and we also know
especially with police it takes two to
three years to get a policeman up and
running once you've had them on board so
you have to plan for that the other
thing I haven't seen is a recent
concurrency and when we went through the
development hearings and studied the
transportation that studies that were
done for the central area plan there was
some major flaws in that and we were
told that we were going to have a new
concurrency study done but what is that
going to be based upon for this year's
budget so we can help really see what is
needed and then also go back and charge
the appropriate impact fees for
developers we're way behind on what we
need an infrastructure and right now the
way it exists is you're expecting
existing homeowners to pay for it and
yes are the value of our homes are going
up
but those of us that are on a fixed or
limited income cannot afford to have our
property taxes go up unless we move away
and sell our house and go to another
place if that's what you want keep doing
what you're doing but I would hope that
you have more transparency in this
year's budget and you get it out to the
public so we can see what's being said
and the numbers are what the numbers are
being projected and what they're based
on because right now what I've seen
that's been available to the public we
can't add up any column or really see
how the total budget is being rolled up
and we need more transparency on not
only impact fees but on everything in
the budget so the citizens can
understand what our taxpayers are going
to thank you thank you Mary
anyone else anyone else third and come
on down
Geraldine Carrie 955 17th Avenue
Northwest Issaquah I've been a resident
in this quad for 40 years and I guess
I'm getting to be on the older side I
know there are a few here I see who have
been here longer than myself but I have
voted every year for a lot of the bonds
and levies and I'll tell you now unless
the city and the school district does
something different and charge the
developers there their impact fees and
not make me a citizen of Issaquah pain
higher poverty taxes I will not vote for
the February levy or bond that's going
to be put before me and it's the first
time in 40 years that I have not voted
for it but I just kind of feel like here
you know everything I hear about the
school school board not charging the
correct impact fees makes me pretty
angry and I'm not going to support the
school system if they're not going to
take into account what how it impacts my
personal finances the other issue I have
and
without these are called press I'm kind
of dumb I mean the other quoi press to
me what's the heart and soul of Issaquah
and I'm really sorry to see it gone I
feel like the you know the news isn't
getting out there and I have an interest
just to find out where this safe
injection sites going to be I haven't
heard anybody talk about where it's
going to be located and you know whose
neighborhood it's going to be put in and
so I would like some clarification from
the City Council as to where they think
they're going to put this safe injection
site it might be out there but I as a
citizen have not found it on any
information I have read and if you're
going to be putting this into our
community we as citizens need to be told
where so that we can understand how it's
going to impact our community how it's
going to impact you know the area that
it's put in where its finds a home I
think the next door to the police
department is my favorite site so with
that I thank you for listening
Thank You Geraldine anyone else desire
to speak anyone else third and final
call seeing no one that audience
comments are closed and we'll move now
to committee and regional reports Mariah
Thank You mr. mayor no report this
evening no thank you mr. mayor first
report I attended my first Washington
State Public Works board meeting last
Friday and basically they were extending
contracts because of the state not
passing the capital budget hoping to get
that passed some time so they can issue
some more loans and just to mention that
from the use acquired and point they may
not be aware of but we've gotten two
loans in the recent past one for 1.1
million for a new Newport Bridge and 170
thousand for sewer linger sewer line
repair so we've been benefit
manufacturers of that program as well
and Infrastructure Committee will meet
on November 16th at 6:30 here the agenda
is not quite together yet so it'll
become short ly I was with the regional
transit committee we had a work session
on the 25th of October talking mainly
about again how to the Metro Development
Program which is we're really looking at
how they're expanding their service you
know working towards their plan 2025
system which is quite an expansion from
what the current services so they're
slowly taking some steps on that and
we're working with them on that so
hopefully we had some expansion this
last fall schedule hopefully the spring
the new schedule will bring someone some
more bus lines in the various places I'm
not sure where yet that's what they're
working on now so hopefully a little
better transit in the near future
emergency management Advisory Council we
met on the will meet excuse me on their
level eight of this Wednesday we'll be
looking on relocating some grant funds
that have not been used in one area to
put them in another area and then the
east side transportation partnership was
scheduled to meet this Friday but due to
Veterans Day has been moved to the 17th
and we don't have an agenda for that yet
either but I'll be tending there that
concludes my report
thank you Bill Paul Thank You mr. mayor
the Puget Sound Regional Council's
growth management policy board met last
Thursday there are two items of special
interest on the agenda for Issaquah
first the regional center framework
project that Update is still out for
public comment and they'll be receiving
public comments through this Wednesday
now the just today the City of Seattle
King County the Port of Seattle and
possibly Bellevue and also
representation from staff at sound
city's Association put out a letter of
potato potential it's it's draft it's
not finalized and I will afford that to
everybody here on the council as well
it's a very nice sum
of a lot of what I think the from an SCA
perspective comments about the framework
update it's it's about four pages long
it's and I'm asked a city administrator
this just deceiving that how and whether
because what SCA did was ask whether or
not the city of Issaquah wants to sign
on to that we just got that today so
hopefully you guys will take that up at
leadership on Wednesday and I think also
so GM PB member cities but also
executive P SRC executive board member
cities they're asked of whether or not
they want to sign on to that letter so
that that's the framework updates and
then it's actually targeted for
completion possible completion still
before the end of this year the other
item that we spoke about there kicking
off an update to the vision 2040
document and and I think that was
updated within about ten years ago
so this a lot has happened since that
last update of the vision 2040 there's
been a lot of growth of employment
there's been growth in the region in
general there's a there's a lot of new
infrastructure just the floating bridges
for example the Kitsap County fast ferry
system there's been quite a investment
in the infrastructure and the robustness
of our regional economy still has a huge
impact and so there's also been a lot of
planning work that's been done in the
region there are three new regional
centers of which we are one and so this
update which they're going to call
vision 2050 is actually going to be a
multi-year process so they just kicking
that off and they're not they're
targeting to complete this update by
actually 2020 so there's gonna be a
couple years of work to get that done so
we'll be hearing more about that as we
progress that concludes my report
thank you : thanks mr. mayor first of
all I want to point out the SCA s
deadline for request for appointment to
SCA really
bodies and boards which is GFP BGM PC
and a whole slew of others including a
number of transportation related
entities that is all due tomorrow at 4
p.m. so I have it I have it as I have it
it's from Kaitlyn McGee at SCA is 4 p.m.
Tuesday November 7th so let's assume
that and out we can double check on that
after the meeting I want to point out
that that is also for reappointment for
existing boards so if you want to stay
on what you're already on you're going
to need to reapply then 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday November 8th is we have the SE
a pre pic workshop we're going to be
focusing on domestic violence and
firearms a new regional approach which
is of course receiving a new and
terrible focus with the events from
Sutherland Springs Texas on Sunday it
just so happens that this was the topic
for this week but for this meeting but
we're going to have Bothell police chief
Carl Cummings judge and Levinson retired
and David Martin senior deputy
prosecutor in the King County
Prosecutor's Office Domestic Violence
Unit so it should be a timely
conversation then at 7 we have the SCA
pick we will be taking the second read
on the SCA 2018 legislative agenda and I
will be talking about that and for good
of the order of this evening then 9 a.m.
Friday November 10th is the e-911
leadership group in the schnook building
Suite 123 6:30 Tuesday November 14th is
services and Safety Committee the agenda
is TBD and I just want to point out that
at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday November 29th is
the SCA annual meeting so mr. mayor if
you're not going to be there
let me know if you're not want to be
there Stacey if you don't want to be
there let me know
Marilu if you don't want to be there let
me know if none of the three of you want
to attend that I will be happy to
represent the city at that meeting
that's this concludes my report thank
you told Eileen no report this evening
Mary
Thanks that's a hard act to follow
Thank You mr. mayor two items both
related to East Side Fire and Rescue
thanks to councilmember Tolan marks for
actually standing in at this meeting
instead of our regular reps it was the
finance and administrative committee
meeting on October 25th it was at the
headquarters on new part way the one
item of interest to Issaquah is there
was a discussion of alternative revenue
sources and a new fee for motor vehicle
accident accidents responses to motor
vehicle accidents it would require a
board resolution of East Side Fire &
Rescue in order for it to come into
effect there will be a point in time in
the future maybe within the next few
months where I'll come back at for good
of the order and ask for your direction
on whether or not it's acquires an
agreement that this would be a good idea
it is currently allowed under the state
RC R CW's it has minimal impact on e4
staffing it's a third party cost
recovery from insurance providers and
it's estimated that it would be about
six hundred and seventy dollars per
response there's a lot of data and
information on how they came up with
this number and also how they came up
with revenue forecasts but it is rather
a divided issue right now and so I think
we're not going to see it back here for
several months the next item is the
agenda for the November 9th East Side
Fire and Rescue board meeting is out
there will be overview of volunteer
recruitment there'll be a new business
item on developing for the first time a
legislative agenda and a continued
discussion on standards of response for
coverage which is something that's been
reported out here before and that will
be at 3 o'clock nope 4 o'clock and
headquarters on Newports way this
Thursday Thank You mr. mayor
Thank You Stacey Thank You mr. mayor a
Landon sure met on November 2nd and one
of the items on the agenda was
considering the Costco easement and that
is agenda bill 74 59 and it's on the
consent agenda for approval tonight
next item was the gender bill seventy
four ninety three Lake Sammamish State
Park the State Parks has asked the city
of Issaquah to participate in the
preparation of an environmental impact
statement for possible future
development at the park development
meaning new and interesting and fun
things not necessarily or not typical I
use the word development but that's just
a broad word there have been a plan in
place for improvement its Lake Sammamish
State Park since 2007 and so this
environmental impact statement would
take in the and consider the activities
that are in that plan as well as the
potential of moving the entrance closer
to SR 912 and the don't seem to have it
in my notes but I believe the request
for the city shares just under $300,000
and Parks would be contributing $300,000
as well the committee enthusiastically
recommended approval of that agenda bill
and it's coming to the full council and
an upcoming me upcoming meeting on
regular business will have a chance to
discuss that further we also talked
about end of development agreements and
committee requested that come back for
continued discussion at the committee
because we had just seen it twice and
it's a very large topic we also had
agenda bill 73-42 architectural review
and design guidelines this was related
to the moratorium and that'll be back on
regular business before the full council
on November 20th and then we also had
our first introduction to inclusionary
zoning and that also has to do with the
moratorium and the agenda bill will come
to land in Shore next month and that's
actually on the consent agenda tonight
for referral the next landed Shore
meeting is expected to be a special
meeting that we haven't set the date yet
and that's for discussing the end of
development agreements that's my
thank you I it is the 10th isn't it you
know there is a deadline tomorrow at 4
p.m. it is the city's deadline the city
would like to have people inform you and
Stacy of our intent to make sure there
isn't a collision of multiple applicants
for the same position so I apologize
there is a deadline it is not the sca
deadline which is as you say the 10th
sorry for thank you for that
clarification
Ola and I I'm attending the annual South
cities Association meeting but everyone
of course is welcome welcoming the part
of that agenda an annual meeting is the
approval of the budget and assessments
for next year just briefly at the recent
ICMA conference in San Antonio Emily
moon our assistant city administrator
received the assistant excellence in
leadership award this award honors the
local government management professional
who has made significant contributions
towards excellence in leadership as an
assistant to a chief local government
administrator or department head so
Emily I think you're in the back there
somewhere congratulations
and in addition the three CMA awarded
Issaquah the silver circle for the most
creative activity with the least dollar
spent and thanks to automate her team
for doing an outstanding job producing
the April Fool's Day video fish are
friends not food and if you've not had
an opportunity to see that humorous
video you can check it out on YouTube
and that concludes my report
we'll now move to the consent calendar
and I ask the city clerk to read the
lengthy consent calendar the record
please thank you the consent calendar
was distributed to council and advance
for study a fogger eyes council action
will occur by a single motion regarding
the following items item a6 approval of
accounts payable and payroll dated
November 6 items B through F seek
approval of the following meeting
minutes
October 9th council committee work
session October 12 council budget work
session October 16th
City Council regular meeting October
24th City Council special meeting
October 24th committee of the whole
council item G a B 7 3 8 9 of the 2000
2018 excuse me
arts grant recommendation this seeks
referral to council services and Safety
Committee item H a B 7 4 5 9 termination
of Costco easement this seeks approval
item I a b7 478 Human Services
Commission midterm appointment this
seeks confirmation item J a B 7 4 8 6
Newport way from SR 902 southeast 54th
Street Quarter concept this seeks
referral to council committee work
session and referral to council
Infrastructure Committee item K a B 7 4
8 8 establishing a multi-family housing
property tax exemption program
proposed transit oriented development
parcel this seeks approval of a
resolution notifying the public of
intent if approved this resolution will
be assigned number 2017 - 15 this item
also seeks referral to Council committee
work session item lab7 for 9-0 amendment
to route 269 transit service direct
financial partnership partnership
agreement this seeks authorization item
n/a b7 491 the 2018 legislative agenda
this seeks referral to Council committee
work session item n a b7 495 franchise
agreement with Seattle limited
partnership which does business as
Verizon Wireless this six referral to
council Infrastructure Committee item Oh
a B seven four nine seven Washington
State Department of Ecology Centennial
grant regarding Issaquah Highlands
wetlands water quality the sixth
authorization to submit grant last item
aid excuse me item P a B seven four zero
seven amendments is a quad municipal
code and central is across standards
regarding inclusionary zoning
requirements for central Issaquah the
six referral to council and is short a
committee this concludes the reading
thank you
Tina have the accounts payables and
payroll of November six been reviewed
they have thank you I would ask if any
council member desires any item from the
consent calendar to be removed and
considered under regular business Stacey
I moved to adopt the consent calendar as
presented second moved and seconded all
those in favor signify by saying aye
those opposed that carries unanimously
moving now to our first of two public
hearings agenda bill 7 3 9 2 2018
proposed levy and revenue sources
Jennifer Olsen our Director of Finance
for a staff report before I open the
public hearing
Thank You mayor Butler tonight pursuant
to state law RCW 84.5 5.1 to zero the
city is required to collect property tax
levies and must hold a public hearing
with regards to all the revenue sources
that are included in the upcoming budget
for 2018 the this budget is proposing to
increase the limit of 1% in the property
tax levy and so I'd like to go through a
brief presentation of all of the revenue
sources which does include property
taxes and then we'll hand it over for
the public hearing to start it is
anticipated that the public hearing
would be continued to the next council
meeting and that would be November 20th
so for the 2018 proposed revenue sources
the revenue forecasts were based on
financial management policy which is set
to be conservatively objective so that
we minimize our risk of not being too
optimistic about those revenue sources
that come in the city receives a number
of revenue sources those include
property taxes sales taxes B&O utility
taxes lodging tax real estate excise
taxes in our licenses and permits
category we receive revenue associated
with business licenses building permits
and other permits and licenses charges
for services are typically included such
as jail fees development review
sometimes referred to it as plan check
services recreation and programming fees
and utility rates for our water sewer
and stormwater funds intergovernmental
revenue or share revenue comes from our
federal state and local granting
agencies
sales tax mitigation liquor profits and
criminal justice sources we also receive
impact fees such as traffic parks police
and mobility type fees
we have a little bit of technical
difficulty Robert you weren't the only
one
looks like it
then do we have a plan B oh yeah we
could call Eastside Fire and Rescue
which is they don't
okay
[Music]
I can't I can't get it yeah
I'm gonna pull up an alternative
PowerPoint but we will not be able to
put it on the screen the console was
provided a preview of the slide deck so
I'll go through that in if you bear with
me just one moment please
I certainly appreciate everyone's
patience while we attempt to address the
technical difficulties all right I'm
ready to proceed a few our mirror any
time okay all right total sources of
revenue for the 2018 proposed budget
include all city funds revenues tally
one hundred and twenty nine point five
million dollars they're broken up by a
number of different types of revenues
our largest in the in the pie chart is
essentially our charges for services
because that includes when you talk
about all revenues for the city it
includes our utility rates in our
utility funds that's at 32% of all
revenue sources come for charges and
services taxes are the next largest
source of revenues that come at
thirty-one percent and then we have
intergovernmental or shared revenues and
those are that come from federal state
and local granting agencies and other
shared sources such as liquor profits on
the general fund side which is our
largest fund this is our major operating
fund the proposed 2018 general fund
revenue equals an eight point seven
percent increase from 2017 new sources
in the general fund include rebate
program sources 9-1-1 escrow and
increased recreation program
enhancements for new programming that
has been proposed expanded existing
sources include the property tax levy
and the limit of 1% that increase we're
expanding permit and development charges
based on what is anticipated in the
project pipeline and we're also
anticipating and expanded cost
allocation charges and what that means
is that funds charge other funds for the
direct service that is provided
for the general fund it's estimated that
we'd received in 2018 a little over
fifty million dollars the largest
portion of general fund revenue does
come from taxes so that shifts when we
talk about just the general fund we've
got it proposed about 69 percent of that
51 million dollars comes from a number
of different tax sources the next
largest portion of the general fund with
regards to revenue sources comes from
charges or goods and services and that
is our building permit and license
revenues we also receive cost allocation
charges in the general fund as
departments such as the finance
department or administration department
charged out for services that are
provided to other funds such as the
utility funds a further breakdown of the
general fund taxes include forty three
percent of that total in the general
fund coming from sales tax and the
largest component of its ëcause sales
tax are from the retail sales tax
portion and the construction portion of
the sales tax the next largest type of
tax that comes into the general fund
comes from property taxes and that's at
26 percent then we have our B&O taxes at
fifteen percent and our combination of a
number of different utility taxes which
include cable which include natural gas
utility taxes taxes that is at fourteen
percent which makes up our total tax
portion of the general fund sales tax
revenues continue to trend upward for
2018 in a stable economy the property
taxes which are the second largest type
of revenue source on the taxes are
proposed as I mentioned before at the 1
percent limit allowed by state law this
equates to 60 excuse me eighty six
thousand six hundred ninety eight
dollars for 2018 the King County
Assessor's Office
it's overall assessed valuation
information and the estimated levy
amount in 2018 the s the assessed
valuation for the city of Ithaca only is
over 10 million dollars the 2018
proposed regular levy is eight million
nine hundred ninety-three thousand four
hundred seventy eight dollars and this
is a number that as we develop the
budget remains somewhat fluid because we
start to receive preliminary estimates
from King County Assessor's Office and I
just today actually received the final
estimated general levy that the city is
allowed to to assess and that is that
eight point nine million dollars for
2018 the proposed excess levy is 1
million seven hundred fifty thousand
this is the voter approved portion for a
ballot measure in previous years the
amount does not necessarily tie to the
amount of debt associated the principal
and interest payments because there is
existing funds in that debt service fund
to help pay down the bonds that were
issued based on the voters approval so
that regular levy then equates to for
2018 a proposed tax rate of eighty nine
cents per thousand dollars of assessed
valuation the proposed excess tax rate
would be 17 cents per 1000 of assessed
evaluation for a property owner property
taxes are combined by jurisdiction on a
property owners bill the total tax rate
in 2017 for all taxing jurisdictions was
about nine dollars and nine dollars and
ninety cents per a thousand in assessed
valuation and all taxing jurisdictions
on a property owners tax bill include
authorities such as the regional transit
authority King County flood zone Port of
Seattle Ferry District emergency medical
services
Library District King County city of
Issaquah state school fund in the it's
across school district a 2017 tax bill
with an average valued home of about
seven hundred thousand dollars would for
2017 would bring in a city of Issaquah
tax bill of about seven hundred and
eighty six dollars and so this is
probably easier to understand if it had
been in the up on the screen to
understand that that the tax bill for a
property tax owner comes from all of
those taxing jurisdictions or is made up
from all of those who assess property
taxes but the portion of the tax bill
for the city of Issaquah for 2017 at
that house valuation would be seven
hundred eighty six dollars now when we
start to look at in the next year the
new year we've got a regular levy rate
for Issaquah was 94 cents per thousand
and in 2018 it is planned to drop to
eighty nine cents per thousand because
of that assessed valuation going up
overall for 2018 on the excess levy that
in 2017 was about 18 cents that is now
planned to go down to 17 cents per 1000
the reason that the write goes down as I
mentioned is that property values are
going up faster than the state law
allows for a property tax levy increase
so just to give an example is that in
2017 property tax assessed valuation
changed for the city of Issaquah about
eleven point three percent and that is
an average amount it it is different for
your actual your actual home or business
from a valuation standpoint in 2018 it
is estimated that properties are going
to property valuations are going up
twelve point three percent and just to
give another quick number history-wise
in 2016 property values went up nine
percent so over a three year period we
have a nine percent increase an eleven
point three percent increase and an
estimated 2018 increase of twelve point
three percent in assessed valuation
change so if we go back to then the
property tax bill and what we don't know
is we don't know what the what the other
jurisdictions are planning for their
rate their portion of the property tax
bill but if we were to use the same
rates but we were to apply the city new
city of Issaquah proposed tax rate the
tax bill for an average valued home of
seven hundred thousand would go down
three dollars a year to seven hundred
eighty three dollars
so a little bit about other taxes that
the city takes in B&O tax which is that
third largest portion of the taxes that
come in a little bit of history here
back in 2015 on April 1 the B&O tax
rates increase this is then the reason
why our sources have gone up this and
one thing to keep make dona visit
non-religious hospitals and clinics no
longer are exempt from being oh tax so
that combination with the rate increase
started to bring our revenue sources up
in this area of Taxation this is a this
is a strong or stable tax source that we
see in our forecasting utility taxes are
also somewhat stable there was a decline
in 2016 due to some unseasonally warm
weather but we are seeing our utility
tax revenue sources also trending upward
in a in a stable path trending up real
estate taxes is another taxing source
that the city collects is just a quick
reminder is that the reed taxes are
collected or proposed to be collected in
a new separate special revenue fund for
2000 it we started in 2017 with some
changes and we had a very large one-time
increase due to a real estate
transaction that added for 2017 about
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
in reaped axes but we are estimating
that REIT sources would be going up this
is one of those places though that we
want to be a little bit more
conservative in our forecasting instead
the budget for 2018 reflects that we
also have some increased proposed for
development services revenues in the
information provided for tonight's
presentation you would see that plan
check fees are
estimated to go up based on the projects
that are in the pipeline building permit
revenues are somewhat staying the same
and then we have engineering and
inspection fees that are also staying
the same for the enterprise funds this
includes the funds for utilities of
water sewer and stormwater ninety seven
percent of our operating revenues in the
enterprise funds are do come from
utility rates just another note is that
for our King County Metro sewage
treatment rate this is plan to stay the
same from this year at forty four
dollars and 22 cents per month the city
Mystikal establishes rates on a
five-year schedule we're in our third of
five years in the last ordinance that
was adopted the rates increasing for
this year are proposed to be at five
point five percent rate increase for
water five point five percent increase
rate for sewer and a three point five
percent rate increase for our stormwater
and our total proposed utility funds by
fund are for the water fund we
anticipate about nine point eight
million dollars coming in the sewer fund
nine point nine million dollars coming
in and the stormwater anticipating five
point two million dollars coming in and
with that that concludes my presentation
on our sources of revenue proposed for
2018 Thank You Jen are there questions
of Jen at this time no yeah just to
clarify a couple numbers so the one
percent increase that we're allowed to
talking about you said was eighty six
thousand dollars total to the city yes I
didn't find anywhere where that was
broken down to that average seven
hundred thousand dollar home evaluation
what would that be because this one
point you said it was going down from
786 seventy eighty three so I got
refused in there so what if you're
saying it was 786 seven hundred eighty
six dollars per house yeah the city of
theirs got taxes with the one percent
increase it would go to what it would go
down to an
estimated $783 it's a 3% reduction we
dollar reduction with the one per dollar
reduction yes you're right okay I'm just
trying to figure out how that math works
because I want to know that the price
per thousand can vary but if your
evaluation goes up and you stay at or
you decrease in rate not at the same
level you may see a reduction if your
valuation doesn't change because the
city's rate is planned to go down so you
would see a reduction however if your
valuation goes up based on the counties
Assessors values then your property tax
bill would be at that new rate per
thousand okay thank you other questions
of yen seeing none the council was
provided
oh excuse me thank you I didn't have me
I just thought of it as very closing can
I ask one question of course the gym
this is going to be kind of sort maybe
sound kind of simple and silly but if
folks tax bills are going up and we are
telling them that we actually are going
to collect a little less next year but
you know they're seeing a 10% increase
on their bill where is where is it where
is the increase going to the increase in
the city's my tax bill is four thousand
dollars and I know it's broken out into
all those different portions but my tax
bill last year was three thousand
dollars then the city portion of it is
actually going to be a little less where
are their tax dollars going for that Oh
year-over-year increase in assessed
valuation is the state getting the money
is the county getting the money like who
where's the money it depends it would
depend on on which jurisdiction so it
would be going to either the Regional
Transit Authority the the King County
the Library District emergency medical
services the Port of Seattle State
School Fund or the school district so
those are all of the the parts of a
total property tax bill
so so when they see their increase but
their City portions actually a decrease
it's just our jurisdiction then that
isn't collecting so their tax dollars
are getting spent in other jurisdictions
that is correct
hey thanks other questions
seeing none then the council was
provided a copy of the slide deck that
Jen was briefing from via email today
and we will post that slide deck on the
city's website this evening for those
who would like to see a visual
representation of what was presented
this evening and with that I will open
the public hearing at 8:17 and ask if
anyone has signed up to speak there
anyone who has not signed up desire to
speak at this time yes please come to
the lacquered oh okay third and final
call anyone desiring to speak on the is
there someone in the back
yes seeing no one desired to speak the
public hearing is closed at eight eight
eight nineteen and there's to clarify
things what we're doing this evening is
not approving what you heard but
directing the administration to prepare
the necessary documents which will be
considered by the full Council on
November the 20th at our regularly
scheduled meeting thank you I would move
to direct the administration to prepare
the necessary documents ordinance and
resolution setting the amount of taxes
to be collected in 2018 to include a 1%
base increase for adoption at the
November 20 2017 council meeting okay
it's moved and seconded any questions or
discussion seeing none then all those in
favor of the motion signify by saying
aye it was opposed that carries
unanimously
moving now to agenda bill seven four
eight nine moratorium on community
health engagement location safe
injection sites I will open the public
hearing
at 8:20 and ask if anyone has signed up
if you comment in advance of that Bob
thank you and by your leave I'm going to
make those comments here so the clerk
can remove the Melting computer and take
that upstairs so okay my name is Bob
Harrison and the city administrator so
in September of 2016 the heroin and
opiate addiction taskforce that was
convened by King County and Seattle
recommended a comprehensive strategy
focusing on prevention and increasing
access to addiction treatment on demand
and in 2017 the king county executive is
Seattle mayor announced they would move
forward on a complete set of
recommendations including the
establishment of facilities referred to
as community health engagement locations
or safe injection sites one of those
sites would have been located in Seattle
and the other one was recommended
recommended to be located somewhere
within King County as a result of that
uncertainty on October 16 2017 the
council adopted ordinance 2 8 1 1
establishing an emergency moratorium on
safe injection sites and included
findings within that ordinance and set a
public hearing for this evening and
that's what is going to come following
this just to be clear and what the
council did is they directed the
development services to partment
to prepare permanent amendments to the
permitted uses tables in the city
regulations including but not limited to
section 18 point oh six point 1 3 0 of
these communistical code and section 4
point 3 B of the centralist qua
development and design standards that
prohibit community again prohibit
Community Health engagement locations
safe injection sites and other uses or
activities designed to provide a
location for individuals to consume
illicit drugs within the city of fistic
law the permanent regulations would be
developed and then presented to the
Planning Policy Commission for
recommendation to the City Council for
action before expiration of moratorium
and interim control adopted by this
ordinance working with the development
services department they were able to
identify the following timeline so they
anticipate by January of 2018 they would
have draft code amendments and have a
sip a checklist prepared with a report
in February to the Planning Policy
Commission for their review at that time
there would be an agenda bill that would
include the proposed code amendments
that would based on our recommendation
prohibits safe injection sites within
the city of Issaquah and all zoning
essentially all zoning within the city
it would be a prohibited use with a
referral to the land and Shore committee
and we anticipated in March that the
lane
short committee would review that and
would have turned for council at that
second meeting in March for final code
adoption and so following this public
hearing this evening at the closure of
that the council may choose if if it
desires to add additional findings of
fact that in addition to what they've
already found in the original ordinance
if it so desires
so that's mayor that sets the stage if
you will for the public here thank you
Bob and my apologies for getting that
you were going to provide that overview
that's okay Thanks so with that I'll
open the public hearing at 8:23 and ask
if anyone has signed up to speak so what
typically happens we'll call all the
individuals up I'm going to call three
at a time so you could first one up come
and speak next to line up right behind
there and then if you haven't signed up
and I have the last person signed up as
Samantha is this Tasi oh you would just
essentially be request to be called upon
by the mayor and then you would be able
to go up and in speed so the first
speaker is Veronica Garcia followed by
Jennifer ass blonde and then Cindy
Pierce
hello members of the council everyone my
name is Veronica Garcia I'm a resident
here in Issaquah better and you pull the
mic just a little bit closer to you
can you hear me oh there we go alright
my name is Veronica Garcia I'm a
resident here in Issaquah I'm speaking
on behalf of initiative 27 and the 60
9850 voters who signed the initiative
this is the initiative to ban heroin
injection sites in King County for those
of you who might not be familiar last
month a King County judge took
initiative 27 off of the planned
February ballot this sent a clear
message to the county and the cities in
King County that Seattle and King County
plan to implement injection sites and
their agenda regardless of local input
this is alarming and an indication that
cities need to take action we ask for
you to join a burn SeaTac bellevue kent
Renton Federal Way and Burien and the
growing list of other cities that have
banned injection sites Snohomish County
unanimously voted to ban injection sites
across their County we urge you to
follow in Bellevue's footsteps and
permanently ban injection sites in
Issaquah instead we're asking for you to
push for a path forward that chooses
treatment first and stand behind efforts
to keep our community safe and give
truly compassionate care to the most
vulnerable members of society thank you
Thank You Veronica next please
hi my name is Jennifer ass blend and I
reside in North Seattle I'm here today
to urge you all to do a permanent ban on
safe injection sites and to remind the
public of Issaquah bellevue and across
King County that the City Council in
Seattle has a tendency to use a lot of
verbage and so don't be fooled when you
hear the words chels Community Health
engagement locations or sis sis safe
injection sites or the most recent is
now SCS which is safe consumption spaces
they all mean the same thing and it's
the using of heroin and other drugs in
what they say as a controlled
environment I have a personal story
about heroin my brother started shooting
up when he was in his teens by the time
he was 20 he was stealing cars he was
robbing people all to feed his habit in
his 30s and 40s he was doing alcohol and
a lot of hard drugs my brother did not
die from a heroin overdose he died from
the long-term use of the very drugs that
he was injecting so to say that having a
controlled environment is going to work
you every day that you're using you're
depleting your brain cells to make a
rational decision to stop I don't know
how you can come to a conclusion of when
you're ready which is the criteria that
Seattle will give so I would just urge
you to ban these sites permanently and
instead offer 24/7 on-demand treatment
offer mental health and substance abuse
services that's what's needed thank you
Thank You Jennifer and who are the the
next three good indeed we have Steve
foot Katie Cassidy and followed by
Samantha mr. mayor council thank you for
letting me speak tonight my name is
Cindy Pierce and I'm also a resident
Seattle and I am here tonight
representing the neighborhood safety
Alliance which we began about two years
ago we were concerned about the homeless
and the RV's and in the city of Seattle
and so we started dealing with the City
Council and in the middle of that we
were sitting in a City City Council
meeting and we were we happen to be
there when the individual who runs
insite up in Vancouver which is their
injection site the only one in North
America legally she gave a two-hour
presentation on the an expert there
somebody was looking for an expert here
and it was compelling because they spoke
about all these people that were not
dying inside insite and since 2003 when
insite was opened up they have they have
dealt with about 49,000 users and
they've and those 49,000 users have done
over 3 million injections and nobody has
died inside of that small building but
do you ask the question how many have
died outside of that building and out of
the 49,000 people who have used in site
since 2003 how many of those people are
still alive today we don't have that
data we don't know we do know that
insight is a hellhole to go see I've
been there I know what it looks like
around their women and children are
crawling around on the sidewalks there's
drug deals going on right outside the
building of insight you can do drugs you
can buy and sell drugs without anybody
bothering you
Vancouver has had to hire 60 plus police
officers to patrol that area you were
concerned about police officers well
you're gonna have to add more so I'm
here today to just encourage you to to
do the right thing and ban these
permanently in the city this is I don't
come to Issaquah very often but I must
say I'm very impressed I'm impressed
with you I'm impressed with how you've
conducted this meeting
Seattle could learn a lot from you and
do the right thing and let's do it and
get these don't allow them to happen
thank you
Thank You Cindy followed by Katie and
Samantha we're gonna restart the clock
that doesn't mean you're okay that's
fine you know I didn't even know I was
signing up to speak tonight but here I
am so I will drill shortly I'm Steve
foot I am NOT a direct resident of
Issaquah I rub shoulders I've been
thirty years up on the tail into the
black nugget road here just just outside
the boundary the limit and I just wanted
to come here tonight support the folks
for i-27
as far as expertise goes I'll claim to
be an expert I'm 70 years old I've been
a student of human behavior and
fundamental ways that a lot of people
have also and quite frankly providing an
addict with the means of his
self-destruction and yeah death is Ryan
sanity to me you'd go a lot of their
references they'll talk about keeping
people alive
from my perspective you're keeping them
dead there's a difference between
keeping someone's a body afloat and on
the other hand watching them die as
individuals we need to provide these
people with with help and the last thing
you give an addict is is is death and
that's the injections the taxpayer I
will feel vile
very deeply if you use any of my tax
money to bribe me the provide these
people with the means of their own death
and that's what my perception of it I'm
gonna get out of the way and let
somebody else talk Steve Thank You Katie
to speak Samantha so I've been a
resident for the Issaquah area for very
long time before there was a stoplight I
loved Issaquah I'm here with my family
gone to school Issaquah hilum go Indians
I would submit that there is no safe
injection of heroin you've probably
figured that out already I'm a little
concerned about as you mentioned with
your overview illicit drugs they are
Elizabeth that's a federal offense is
the host site then liable for violating
that law and then allowing somebody else
to violate it are they then complicit if
there is any damage which I would submit
that there's always damage with heroin
just something to consider
and I would like to see a goal presented
the goal should be something like
getting a person to stable housing a job
situation stable family situation where
they're contributing to society I think
ultimately that's what we've heared and
I have not really heard that in any of
this where it's come in coming out of
Seattle or even in Vancouver it doesn't
really seem like the goal is to get
people out I would like to see metrics
you know for whatever treatment there is
metrics for success you know what does
success look like so we know if we've
gotten there so as you can tell I'm from
an engineering background so I like to
see things like that
so we as far as either quad goes yes you
have a small area where the exact city
is Issaquah but there's many many people
as you know on Hobart Road many people
come in to Issaquah my daughter's really
doesn't live at home anymore and she
still comes here to her doctor and to
shop I have friends that come from KLM
and I know they're not the only ones
that come here to shop so we really want
to keep this a great place quick comment
on this
gules considering that the homeowner is
the one the home buyer is the one that
really pays the fees so looking at the
school district fees maybe we need to
look at another model of Education
because it's getting really expensive
and there's many models out there so
thank you very much
Thank You Samantha hi I'm Kathy Cassady
and I'm from Snoqualmie Washington and I
had about an hour's notice to come to
this meeting and I thank you for giving
us a chance to express our opinion as
taxpayers about what's going down
obviously you people play by the rules
we've listened for quite a while about
how your meeting goes on and how you do
things legally and aboveboard
if this is put into place I think it
will set a horrible precedent that could
come back legally because as you just
read it it is the City Council that is
approving the use of illicit drugs and I
think that's a really big deal I could
go on I've heard the testimony from
Vancouver and that site there and the
quote was it is like walking down into
hell and I I'm sorry I feel so
emotionally about this but I think not
not only is this a bad idea just for
Washington state but we are kind of
known as the bellwether state and if we
approve this here it will be approved in
Oregon it will be approved in California
and I've kind of been tracking on how
these things are falling down so that's
my input and thank you for giving me a
chance to talk Thank You Cathy
yes sir and anyone else who desires to
speak this evening if you'll line up
about three or four we'll get to you
thank you for allowing me to speak my
name is Dale Timmons
I live at two three to five to South
East 54th Place and I've been a resident
of Issaquah for thirty years when I
moved here I didn't have to lock my
doors now my neighborhood experiences a
robbery once every week or two and just
four months ago there was a vehicular
homicide
one block from my home and this was this
was done by an adolescent who was coming
from a party where drugs and alcohol
were being used now this was unheard of
two decades ago so drug use and drug
distribution is illegal federally and
state statutes so some say that having
this injection site may save a life
but as was stated here earlier these
people will inject themselves in any
location not necessarily always at a
safe injection site and so there's
really nothing here that's preventing
these these people from giving
themselves an overdose now the drug
culture brings with it crime including
robbery assault and is what happened in
my community murder okay is that really
what we want to bring to our community
and so you know you want to compare well
we might save a life what about the
lives of our residents here that are
being subjected to this crime the risk
to those lives is much greater than the
risk from someone injecting themselves
and again you're asking the community to
endorse crime
by illegal drug use and distribution
because that's what's taking place and
asking the community to be subjected to
that crime and so it is in conscionable
to allow this to take place thank you
Thank You Dale you may have to pull the
microphone down just a little bit okay
my name is barbara Lewis I'm from Auburn
and let me start by saying I echo what
everybody says
but let me also say I have a
granddaughter that's a drug addict I am
NOT excusing it I hate it I am raising
two babies at 70 years old I'm a CO
custodian with the babies aunts and I
asked her this question and what she
said to me was we need well first off
one thing she said to me in response to
what somebody said is there's worse
things than dying and you know that is
how she feels but what she said they
need is not as safe and direct in safe
drug injection location they need
treatment they can inject anyplace like
was just said they can go any place they
can get anyplace now what she said is
going to happen is you're gonna have it
here on Main Street or wherever you put
it and the people are going to come to
it and the dealers are going to come to
it because nobody will have to go
looking for clients or nobody will have
to go looking for drugs is because
everybody will be here and like was said
it's going to take down the community
I'm from Auburn it's horrid and my
suggestion would be to go up to 1116
summit and Seattle up behind the
McDonald's where they have a methadone
injection place and just sit in your car
for 10 or 15 minutes and watch the
people and see who you're dealing with
but what my granddaughter said is what
they need is beds they need places to go
for treatment because they can decide
today they
treatment but they can't get into a
treatment bed for six weeks and lots can
change in the meantime they can change
their mind they can change their
whatever and I heard a quote as I was
coming in tonight and I think it's very
applicable and please excuse the color
of it but nonetheless this would be as
the quote goes like exploding the
outhouse your community would be horrid
thereafter and I can't tell you enough
what some of these places look like cuz
I've been by him near a minim and that
would be my suggestion is don't do it
thank you Thank You Barbara
hi my name is Kim fan I've been in it's
a cry for about four years
so just some numbers overdose death is
now the leading cause of death in
America gun about 30 from 18 to 65 years
old gun is 35,000 and car accidents
37,000 and overdose and stuff 52,000
it's huge number so I use the thing that
it's just a small number doesn't affect
anyone that's not true
so this this SDF have reception where it
will be greeted there's a waiting area
there's an injection room where they can
wash the hand and they can use clean and
sterilized equipment and wow they're
injecting that people weren't monitoring
them to make sure that's safe there's a
clinic on site there's counseling and
support offices and they usually come
with supportive housing right next to
the SES and and people who seek
treatment as well so I want to address
some of the myths that people think
that's safe SES increased public
disorder and the surrounding community I
don't think it's true because first it
reduced public drug use and to it reduce
and discarded serene at the street well
I have found some and reduce the spread
of HIV or hepatitis C which can go
around and hit somebody you know another
myth is save SES encourage drug use
study have shown that it does not
encourage drug use in fact it encouraged
treatment
the participant of SES are more likely
to enter detox and treatment services
Anonymous is safe conscience consumption
cost too much so there are a lot of
studies on this and for San Francisco
study of Shonna we save 3.5 million a
year and Baltimore we save 6 million a
year and I've looked at the proposed
number 4 for SES in King County
treatment was 162 million prevention and
intervention is 48 million and recover
and aftercare is 14 million and the cost
to spend on SES is proposed to be only 2
million last last year there were two
hundred three hundred and thirty two
people that died of overdose in King
County and if you think about human life
I don't think two million really stand
up for it to conclude I want a coat
Lauren Davis the director of King County
recovery coalition's across the street
from my home I saw a young women
searching for a vein if we have not safe
conception size who then we'll wait
beside her and make sure her lines keep
breathing the path to recovery
[Music]
good evening council members thank you
so much for having me here my name is
Ivan games I am and it's a car resident
I have been here for five years and if
there's one thing that I've done since I
started hearing out safe injection sites
is do my homework and actually read the
research and I am a researcher by
profession I have a PhD in behavioral
sciences and what I do and what I
specialize on is understanding the
patterns of human behavior and what
incentives drive those patterns if you
want to understand this where the apathy
appeared epidemic came from a murderer
the drug epidemic came from you should
read a book called
dreamland by Sam quinones it is the most
eye-opening most eye-opening story I
could ever you know offer anybody to
read and it came from the the
fundamental driver of the opioid
epidemic of those 53,000 people that are
dying a year in this country came from a
high in the sky goodwill idea from
doctors in the East Coast who decided to
make pain the fifth vital sign
essentially being driven being driven by
pharmaceutical industries that are being
sued today by three states in the
country to go and throw pills that they
knew very well were highly addictive to
people who had pain instead of
implementing pain management that we
invented in Washington State
the University of Washington dr. Bonica
at the University of Washington created
the first clinic on pain management
without drugs and that pink clinic was
shut down purely because he was cheaper
to send people the pills that they could
pop and get addicted to and today that
is the main driver today that draw pill
mills and cheap heroin cheap black tar
heroin coming from Mexico are the
drivers of the heroin crisis the safe
injection site will not solve that
problem in a million years what it's
going to do is it's going to do
something that I call we've seen this
story before
somebody mentioned the methadone sites
down in down in Auburn you want to see
what this injection site will create go
see those sites it is essentially
concentrating the market for drugs so
that the worst elements in our society
can come and take advantage of it and
sell their drugs cheaply and I know this
firsthand I come from Mexico I grew up
in Mexico I can tell you stories not
only of addiction but of 15 year-olds
being hanged in their backyard by drug
cartels because they were not selling
the drug that was necessary
yes 50,000 people die a year in this
country over 40,000 Mexicans have died
in the drug war in the attempt to push
drugs into this country enabled by
failure in policy in border policy in
our ability to control and more
importantly in our well intention
pie-in-the-sky idea that by enabling
more people to just consume and be ready
one day they will be ready we will sort
this out the reality is they have not
been ready since Prohibition people are
still dying of alcohol people are still
dying of you know violence related to
these things I ask you as council
members to really look deep into your
consciousness and think how many people
are we going to enable to die here and
abroad by continuing this thank you so
much thank you Ivan
thank you my name is Debra Dom's I'm an
osteopathic physician I manage pain I do
some locums work at a medication
assisted treatment facility in Bellevue
I participate on a weekly basis at the
University of Washington in their
telemedicine conference on pain
management and what the prior gentleman
said was true in that when we started
asking to treat pain the idea was give
people as much medication as they wanted
until they said they were okay today
that thinking is a hundred and eighty
degrees the other way in the University
Washington is actually leading the
country with the CDC in posting
guidelines about safe opioid use which
generally is less is more and if you can
avoid it at all cost
please do so in my experience and I have
both personal experience anecdotal
experience treatment experience as a
physician and counseling with my
patients and others there are only a few
ways to effectively treat addiction one
is the methadone maintenance program for
very hardcore the intravenous users
those people rarely become productive
members of society the other is the
abstinence method prescribed by 12-step
programs which actually are effective in
changing behavior which over time do
create what is called a sober mindset
and medication assisted treatment
medication assisted treatment is exactly
what the initial presenter here who said
we want people who are employable who
are stable who are productive medication
assisted treatment provides that to
people it keeps them
away from being craving and it keeps
them away from being in withdrawal and
provides a dose of opioid medication
sufficient to keep them away from these
harmful behaviors there is as well as
addiction to a substance and addiction
to using a needle and that is almost a
more difficult symptom to treat than the
craving for the drug and I would
encourage you with all of my heart to
not foster a plan which keeps needles in
the hands of addicts in any way shape or
form
I think it's unconscionable what the
City of Seattle has done in ignorance
and absolute deafness to many many
people of which I am one who signed the
petition I 27 and I think it's
disgusting what they're doing but that
is the way Seattle operates they make
decisions and public comment is of
absolutely no importance in changing the
plan I implore you not to go that route
it's a bad idea to put needles in the
hands of addicts medication assisted
treatment is what works it allows people
to become stable in their brain it
allows them to incorporate and absorb
principles of sobriety and sober living
which over time do change their lives do
make them productive and you get them
contributing to society in a way that
continuing a habit particularly as
obnoxious as injecting something into
your body it just has absolutely you
know no place in in compassion and
that's the biggest thing don't get
shamed into the idea that if you're not
going along with this idea
of safe injection that you're not humane
that you're not compassionate
there is nothing compassionate about
allowing an addict to continue to use
drugs so I applaud you for considering
this prohibition I would urge you to
make it a prohibition because there is
no place in effective treatment of
addiction for anything like a safe
injection site thank you
Thank You Debra next please my name is
Molly jester and I am an is a quant and
a parent I object to injection sites and
I would like to ask the City Council to
have a permanent ban on injection sites
in Issaquah I also want to thank you
guys for having this meeting tonight and
letting everyone speak I'm super touched
that no one here is attacking people
that use drugs I think if you're against
ejection sites there's this fallacy that
you're somehow against users and their
families who I have the utmost respect
for people going through addiction and
their relatives I just do not think it's
compassionate to help people shoot up as
the last speaker said so eloquently I
would rather if it costs 2 point 1
million dollars to run an injection site
every year I'd rather we spent 2.1
million dollars on rehab on demand and
have permanent solutions to addiction
versus temporary band-aids that will
lead to permanent brain damage and more
drug usage and criminals in our
community thank you so much to everyone
Thank You Molly
next please my name is senthil Chandra
I just want to be clear I'm not here to
speak for or against the injection side
I just want to lay out some facts and
want everybody to make the decision for
themselves you know with the social
media it's quite easy to fall into the
trap of listening to all false
information
and you guys can go fact-check what I
say too so don't trust me please do
check one thing is that's councilmembers
and everybody in the audience know that
you are not required to ban it King
County's Council passed an ordinance
prohibiting the opening of a safe
consumption side without a city's
explicit approval so unless you guys
don't approve nobody is going to come
and set up a shop here tomorrow for a
safe consumption side so you don't
really have to ban it what you are doing
by coming up with these bands which they
are not requiring you to do is you are
avoiding the conversation to happen
whether it is good or bad for the
society you're not you are you're giving
your opinion to the citizens that the
conversation of whether for them to
decide whether this should happen or not
from happening that's one and then the
other point is I mentioned and I keep
hearing this a lot that I don't want my
tax dollars to be used towards the safe
consumption side I would not either but
but the fact is we are already paying
0.1 sales tax towards King County's
mental illness and drug dependency so
this tax dollars is already used when
somebody is overdosing on the streets
this type of cars are already used it is
far more expensive to treat people in
those emergency situations rather than
spending that money in a safer
environments okay and then there is also
some belief that people just because you
have a safe injection site in your
neighborhood that people are going to
come travel from different counties and
from everywhere to inject themselves
that's not true some studies have shown
that only the the users only travel
about eight to ten blocks to the safe
injection sites for their purposes it's
not like they're gonna you know carpool
together and come here to a site or take
public transportation and travel
so much and so yeah I mean that's about
it
so I would like everybody to you know
fact check everything that they hear and
make a decision for yourself you know I
mean I've been fortunate that none of
the drug addictions have anything have
touched my family or my close friends
but one thing that I feel as a community
member I forgot for a bit if something
should touch my family I would like my
community to fight that fight with me
and not me leave me hanging to fight
that fight for myself I would really
feel valued by living in community that
is going to help me fight that fight
thank you and if you could put your
contact information on the yellow sheet
up there that would be helpful as the
next person comes forward good evening
council members I'm Margaret Hall I live
in over Dale Park 56:47 to 29th Avenue
southeast I would like to share my
concerns about the actions that you may
take which would preclude citizens from
getting the help they need and which
also could make our communities safer
and healthier by allowing this
opportunity and I'm not here to advocate
for these sites but I am advocating that
you look at our community and address
what is the problem do not please make
your decision based on fear but on facts
recently in the nation's health which is
the newsletter of the American Public
Health Association in their August
newsletter there was a small blurb and
when the subject came up online a few
weeks ago I was reminded of this
and so I looked it up went back and
found it and I want to read it to you
this is a reiteration of a cost-benefit
analysis done by the city of Baltimore
Maryland was published originally in the
harm-reduction Journal this study
calculated how much a safe consumption
space would save if one were opened in
Baltimore Maryland the estimates were
generated using the data from the safe
space in vancouver researchers found
that running a 1,000 square foot space
in baltimore for 18 hours a day would
cost 1.8 million dollars a year
however the baltimore space would also
generate 7.8 million dollars in annual
savings prevent preventing for HIV
infections that's AIDS 21 hepatitis C
infections 374 days in the hospital for
skin and soft-tissue infections prevent
6 overdose deaths 108 overdose related
ambulance calls 78 emergency department
visits and 27 overdose related
hospitalizations in addition about a
hundred and twenty one additional people
would enter addiction treatment quote no
one has ever died from an overdose and a
safe consumption space I think someone
else noted that earlier this evening
said the lead the study's lead author
Susan Sherman professor at the Johns
Hopkins University Bloomberg School of
Public Health in a news release instead
thousands of Canadian lives have been
saved of course I don't know how many
died outside the street but anyway the
purpose of this study say we want them
to walk through a door that may
eventually lead to a successful
treatment and keep them alive until they
are able
to do that again I want to repeat I'm
not here to advocate for the sites but I
am here to have that advocate that you
do a thorough study of your community
needs maybe your time and attention
needs to be put into prevention maybe it
needs to be put into the pharmaceutical
issues they're related I also
appreciated the forerunner before me
stating that my understanding too is
that nothing can be done here in
Issaquah unless you approve it not
because you prohibit it so indeed I do
request that you put more time into this
please do not make this a permanent
decision who knows things may change
thank you very much for your attention
Thank You Margaret my name is Claude
Allen I'm a security professional you
know downtown Seattle and on the
waterfront I've been doing this for
about five years and I don't want to see
I call them the shooting galleries I
don't want to see those come to any city
I've seen just about everything in five
I want to adjust the microphone just a
little bit is that better absolutely
thank you
yeah I've seen just about everything
there is to see when it comes to drugs
I've been doing this for five years I'm
a security professional downtown
downtown core I've worked at Columbia
Sportswear
for a year and a half and I've been at
Tiffany's downtown West Lake Park I'm
currently at Amtrak so I see a lot of
drug drug users I don't want to see I
don't want to see safe injection sites
and we're shooting galleries they're not
good for anyone and that's about all I
have to say
but Thank You next please good evening I
didn't realize when I came I fell in
love with Issaquah I was invited to come
so I do please identify yourself oh my
name is mani foo I live in Bellevue and
I'm very happy that Bellevue chose not
to have an injection site I'm a trained
scientist I'm also a trained
professional in the field of medicine
but right now because of time limit I'm
going to make mine really short as a
Chinese but also an American so I'm more
American than Chinese so I choose to
share with you a little bit of Chinese
history if you would remember the opium
war in China so you know a lot of opium
got shipped to China they didn't choose
to take opium but everybody was taking
it it was legal nobody got to put in
jail by the emperor of the Qin Dynasty
so this opioid addiction in China
totally wiped out the dynasty system not
to say that the dynasty system was any
good but that was how it ended on the
Qin Dynasty and the Chinese race was
very humiliated and to rebuild a new
country it wasn't easy and so up to this
state you know I'm glad that the Chinese
race still got to lead a live so I would
recommend that we learn something from
history that the opium addiction in
China totally wiped out everything so
much money was gone
just think of all the money that could
raise another generation of young men or
young young women didn't happen there so
I would totally suggest that we
permanently not go with the injection
site because the Chinese experience
thank you very much thank you
my name is Artyom I'm is a co resident
homeowner for a couple of years and just
want to share some impressions so I just
leave could you speak a little okay I'll
try yeah so I live here in a second
homeowner and usually I came to not
America to Vancouver I'm software
engineer and Microsoft brought me here
and they placed me to one cover downtown
quite close to that safe injection site
that is over there and the thing I did
on the first we can't I I got I went
there to discover the city and when I
went to the east side inside of downtown
there were some a couple of young ladies
who just stopped me right on the street
I was walking with my family and said
like excuse me sir where I go and he'll
probably don't want to go there with
your family mind which was much worse
that day but I got the idea that they do
not recommend me to go there on the next
day I asked my relocation specialist
like what's wrong with that area and she
took me for some quick colored car ride
through the area
we traveled well just for those of you
who think that it's a good idea to have
that
site here just travel to Vancouver its
couple hours from here
there are drawn people on the streets
I mean drunk because of drugs they just
walk through the areas there are no
normal people we traveled and she set me
like if you ever want to come back here
don't even stop your car we drove
through there people just literally
coming by to our car just to take a look
and so just think why people do not want
to walk there do not want we'll say a
trying to escape that area and also I
heard that that area was not great even
before that site that might be true but
then think why Vancouver city government
decided to put that site there to those
slums not to some expensive area to the
west from downtown where you can't find
anything cheaper than probably 1 million
dollars homeowners would be freaked out
if if somebody would propose to bring
all those drug addicts there an thank
you next please
hi my name is Chrissy Kallstrom and I've
been here in Issaquah for about two
years and I just wanted to actually say
that I am a single parent and I had my
kids pretty young and so I know a lot of
people who lost their kids because they
were addicted to drugs
and I my kid's father actually he's in
and out of jail for drugs and so I'm
really curious how I could ever
rationalize a treatment center down the
street from me because I tell my kids
you know you can't see your dad because
he's doing drugs but you know there are
people down the street doing drugs and
that just please please don't bring this
here because I really don't want drugs
back and back in my life because I work
so hard to you know get away from that
thank you
Thank You Christy good evening I'm Bob
Flanders I live at 5:39
227 new southeast in Issaquah have been
here for 14 years
I've sent each of you an extensive email
today thank you Mary for responding
about my opposition to the six-month ban
and making it a permanent ban for
injection sites here in Issaquah I won't
go through the extensive email because
y'all can read that but a couple things
that would say I am retired so I have
the ability to do a lot of research not
only on the Vancouver site but also on
the 90 plus sites in Europe and if you
look at the research contrary to what
some have said today none of the
research effort is in those areas is to
fix the root costs it is simply an
enablement for folks on that had the
drug problem to deal with drugs and so
my challenge to us is the community as
some have said is let's approach it from
a holistic approach and address the root
cause and find solutions for these
unfortunate people because all of us
have empathy for folks that are on drugs
and any other type of addiction but
enabling people without solutions is not
the answer for example in Vancouver if
you all looked at research only 4% of
the 6,000
plus people that went to the site last
year went to a program that would
address their issue 4% and this area of
their spent four and a half million
dollars for that four percent so my
chart shows is one is that second
challenge is the role model as leaders
in our community as you are is to step
up and say to children in our community
that we do not tolerate illegal activity
so be it drugs or other activities be it
would we say that we would support
domestic abuse because there's some
issue with that clearly not so my charge
to us as leaders in our communities
would be courageous and set the message
that says we'll address the root cause
and we'll attack the problem and we have
empathy for those that have needs but we
cannot send a message to our young
people that says we will tolerate some
illegal activity but not others then
lastly I challenge us as leaders that
say why add to the complexity we talked
much earlier in the day's council
meeting and others about the other
challenges we have in this wonderful
community we have why do we want to add
the complexity potentially endorsing
drug use and other illegal activities
and not addressing more critical causes
to make this one of the best cities in
America live in
thank you much thank you Bob next please
hi there my name is Alex I live with in
Renton Highlands I just want to say
thank you guys for hearing this issue I
think it's a very important issue and I
just want to ask that you banned the
heroin safe injection sites permanently
in Issaquah I also want to thank
everyone who had personal stories about
loved ones or family members who have
dealt with this with a heroin addiction
I think hearing those stories is really
important because we can hear from the
source and the more people I talked to
who have gone through that the more I
hear them saying this isn't a good idea
this is from people who have you know
gone through it themselves and were able
to recover people like some of the other
speakers who had you know children or
other loved ones so let's continue this
you know topic let's keep talking about
it because we do need to find a solution
we do need to be compassionate but I
don't think the injection sites are the
right thing to do so thank you Alex if
you could sign that yellow sheet please
Robert are you back again well I looked
at your website to find out what was
speaking and what was the topics and I
saw this was one of the topics and I
personally I've gotten to know
practically most of you guys in
different ways some I've known a lot
longer than others but I can't even
imagine you guys would ever vote for us
anyway that's just my personal opinion
but anyway so I'm not even worried about
that to be quite honest so that being
said I just wanted to thank Christy I
think she had to leave but I think what
she had shared was what I wanted to talk
about was maybe we need to have
something the opposite how about having
parenting training time where you can
talk about drug use with your kids when
you're really young just to give you a
little background on my family growing
up it's I had one brother go to prison
for murder
I had one died of AIDS my mom was
schizophrenic it it it affected me so
deeply because I knew I wanted to have
kids I couldn't wait to have kids my
personally my I loved my dad and
greatest guy I ever met
he told me just because of his marriage
he told me about on a weekly basis don't
ever get married so
yeah III in the back of my mind I go
well I got some things to work on but I
can't wait to get married and I couldn't
wait to have kids but you know I knew
that I had to have a plan for case that
I had to have you know talk to other
people I had to I got lots of advice
when my wife is pregnant just and she I
asked hey why are you close to your you
close to your dad yes or no and whenever
they were close to her dad they told me
I asked him why they said because we had
great talks whenever they said no it's
because they said we never talked and
that stuck with me from the moment my
daughter was born and I would always
always talk to my daughter
and anyway don't mean to cry but I love
my kids and what Christie talked about
she became a great parent I shook her
hand because that was somebody that
looked at their kids and said I need to
change something form it for my kids
sake so maybe it would be a great thing
to go the other way and go hey let's
have a parent kid teen talk what we all
get together and we have a great talk
with our kids maybe on a monthly basis
maybe a six-month basis I don't know
exactly how it all work but I know I
needed a lot I had I didn't get married
until I was 28 I had a lot of things to
learn and unlearn and I think if you had
both my kids up here if they see this
video I don't know if they are not sorry
kids but I think they would both say wow
you know my dad really loved me I hope
they'd say that but my three goals like
yo like three goals was for them to
graduate high school because that's a
totally destroy your life don't get
pregnant before you get graduated high
school and don't get somebody pregnant
before you graduate yeah it's quite one
of each and the other one who is don't
get involved with drugs and so we
watched movies we did all kinds of
things and we talked about it afterwards
and because it just can destroy your
life
so I'm gonna present you let's have
something positive
and let's not wait until they get
involved with drugs it's it's just so
devastating let's do something positive
why not let's it's Quan setting an
example for the rest of the you know if
it spread some here we'll let's spread
some positive and let's get involved
with all the parents and young parents
especially let them have an opportunity
to start talking now and maybe you guys
I think you guys are awesome people and
know everybody in different ways but
let's do it
thank you Robert
all right David Kepler 255 southeast
Andres Street I must say it was a little
more civil in here than I expected it to
be but if you saw election materials
from Bellevue and other places it's as
about as ugly as it ever gets
but let's think about why are we I mean
we got sick points five-and-a-half
months of talking about this possibly
it's a waste of staff time in my view to
be writing ordinance and stuff to write
against something that's never going to
happen here this is somebody mentioned
18-hour days that's seven days a week
eighteen hours how many people are you
gonna staff how many hundreds of people
a day need to come to the facility it's
you know where are you gonna put it
across the street community hall you got
five got bus transportation you got
police and fire on both sides of it it's
not going to happen
maybe you want to put it you'd love it
closer to the other end of town this
man's end of town because you got a fire
station there and you got a Transit
Center there so people can get by
transfers to the to the buses that come
through our Transit Center you can get
people from the whole eastern part of
King County it's just not going to
happen here
whether it should happen in Seattle is
another question but let's not keep
dragging this out and and be realistic
thank you thank you David I don't see
anyone else in the queue so I say is
there anyone else desiring to comment
before I closed the public almost break
time I would assume so Joshua freed from
the city of Bothell I'm with I 27 with
the chief sponsor for AI 27 we gathered
69 thousand eight hundred and fifty
signatures with a thousand volunteers
you've all run for office so you know
that's an extraordinary number this has
been a item in this election season and
for the last six months that's been in
the news has been very prevalent in
conversations across King County and
even beyond there's a lot of attention
on this and there's going to be a lot of
attention on you as well
and of course you've heard from a lot of
people tonight and on this issue
passionate about this because we're for
the user somebody that is currently
living in there at an addiction that is
heartbreaking it's a path toward suicide
with those people that signed on they
have a lot of personal stories even some
were shared tonight a lot of passion on
this because they've lost loved ones so
we gathered 60 9850 signatures with this
initiative 27 we got to validate it it
was going on in the February 13th ballot
and then the ACLU and the City of
Seattle decided their grand wisdom to
file suit against initiative 27 and ban
our constitutional right to participate
in the process and so just about two
weeks ago King County judge and Superior
Court well very far out in her positions
on thing decided to take our
constitutional rights from 1.3 million
voters in King County we're of course
with I 27 are gonna be fighting that in
the Washington State Supreme Court
sometime in December or January we're
asking for an expedited schedule so
we're on that path
my hope and is for each one of you have
you been to Canada have you seen the
nearest Herren injection site if you not
if you've not done so that is your
responsibility as an elected official if
you're going to entertain regulations as
you are tonight you will and should be
held responsible by the people that
elect you to office because you are
elected to your seat where you sit
the citizens of Issaquah own those seats
and you in the next election will have
to answer that you were the council that
said we want regulations to entertain
having heroin injection site in the city
of Issaquah that is a big burden on you
and one that I hope that you take very
seriously listen I've been to Canada
taking my wife several times which is a
great date night right been up there
five times walk the streets feets
Hastings sat down on the sidewalk talk
and people at one time I went up there
my wife and I got out of the car not
even 200 feet from the front door we
walked as police officer was driving
slowly by as we watched five people
shooting up heroin and their arms on the
street I walked right in front of in
sight
right within the 30 or 40 foot with
frontage of that and talked to Sarita
after I finished talking to Sarita
she took a needle out and shot heroin up
in her arm and then started bleeding on
the sidewalk the undercover police
officer who I took up there with me took
a picture with his iPhone she took a
knife out and started stabbing the
building so I walked down that's my left
so I walked down a little bit further
sat down on the street with three
different people and then an ms-13 team
member came up with tattooed face and
said this conversation is over
of course I agreed and I continued to
walk on down the street listen the
heroin injection site atmosphere in that
five block radius is frightening not in
the sense that I was scared for my
safety because I had two undercover
police officers with me and I'm a black
belt but that's all issue out of itself
what is frightening is the broken lines
that are there as I've walked by I've
seen so many young girls that are gone
in the face their bodies are
deteriorating and they're selling their
bodies for dollars just so they can buy
their heroin the
just a block and a half away there's a
park that sits there there are 40 tents
in the park my wife tried to take a
picture with her iPhone she was yelled
at there are needles littering the
streets people are passed down on the
streets there's 5000 users that live
within a five-block radius there were
some statistics tonight that nobody
moves there they don't go beyond 8
blocks that's completely false that's
not an accurate statement I talked to
many people have moved from Quebec and
other places throughout Vancouver those
statements are coming from people that
don't understand listen the environment
around a heroin injection site is cattle
cattle I can't even say the word its
apocalyptic we're in bought that we have
a treatment center methadone clinic
where people can go get suboxone and get
help that environment around that is
nothing like you see around a tree of
heroin injection site this Aquash should
be known as the place that is dedicated
to get people back to treatment not a
place that people continually use they
spend 4.5 million dollars a year on one
site in Canada King County is talking
about opening two that's nine million
dollars that's gonna be stolen toward
the most radical change in drug policy
in America and if it's a qualm wants to
had that as their identity then you will
hang it around your necks and you'll be
responsible for it my hope is that you
will make a choice for the treatment and
for the user and create an atmosphere
that says welcome to Issaquah we want to
make sure that you get back to health
that is what we're committed to as
people in Issaquah so I hope that you
vote for a permanent ban tonight not
entertain regular regulations that would
allow for a heroin injection site thank
you thank you Joshua
it's a don't see anyone else signed up
to speak normally I would I would say
please don't applaud if you agree or or
disagree with the speaker but if you
agree or raise your hand if you agree
with the speaker good evening
keep this very short just one fun thing
to say my name is readin live down 190th
I have struggled with addiction not
heroin but it literally is the dumbest
thing like
I've heard is to allow people to or
promote it I guess you know you don't
you don't treat that epidemic with
letting people do it so thank you like
you read I saw it and so did the rest of
the council is there anyone else desired
to speak anyone else third and final
call
anyone else desiring to speak seeing no
one ban the public hearing is closed at
9:28
and the purpose of this public hearing
was to hear from the the 24 people that
spoke this evening and so there is a
moratorium in effect right now that
moratorium is will remain in effect
through April 16th 2018
does the council have any direction that
they want to provide to the
administration this evening Stacey well
I think just to be clear clearer when
you ask the question as the council want
to provide any direction to the
administration I think you mean any
additional direction because the
direction to the administration is to
prepare as amendments to the code that
would prohibit safe injection sites
abolition is whether the council wants
to revise that direction to the mayor's
office seeing none then we will now move
to our final item under regular business
agenda bill 74-62 amending school impact
fees this is coming back from the
services and Safety Committee
thanks mr. mayor I would actually like
to refer agenda bill 74-62 back to the
November 14th 2017 council services and
Safety Committee returning to the full
council on December 4th 2017 second it's
moved and seconded any so to speak to
the motion I would since this issue has
come before services and safety I have
seen a number of questions both from my
fellow council members and from folks in
the community around this issue what is
the city council's role what are the
City Council's options why you know what
why does the school district want to do
what the school district wants to do in
regards to impact fees and so what I'd
like to do is take the questions that
have been generated by my fellow council
members and then allow the
administration and the Utica School
District to return to services and
safety with answers to those questions
thank you
any additional discussion or questions
seeing none then all those in favor of
referring agenda bill 7 4 6 - back to
services and safety returning to the
full council on the 7/4
signify by saying aye I was opposed that
carries unanimously now moving to go to
the order does anyone have anything for
good of the order this evening Toula I
do so I would like to get the council's
thoughts so the motion that's going to
be before the sound cities Association
pick next week says and I won't go
through all the language but I'll go
through the highlights sound Studies
Association urges the Washington State
Legislature to take the following
actions in 2018 one is adjusting the
property tax cap urges the legislature
to give local governments the option to
replace the arbitrary annual 1%
with a limit tied to inflation plus
population growth
it isn't specifying what that limit
should be invest in public health
services urges the legislature to fund
the core public health services provided
by local health jurisdictions and then
address housing and homelessness crisis
urges legislature to partner with us to
address homelessness increases the
supply of affordable housing by
expanding making permanent the document
recording fee to invest 200 million in
the housing trust fund allow local
governments to create and preserve
affordable housing through optional
local tools and this SCA urges the
legislature to address other underlying
issues of homelessness by making
investments in our state's behavioral
health system and enacting legislation
to prohibit source of income
discrimination so that is the proposed
agenda I think it was intentionally kept
very light so that folks could know what
were the really most important issues
rather than having a long list but I
want to find out if anybody on council
has any objections or concerns or if we
can say that our council strongly
supports making this the 2018 SCA agenda
input for Toula I was quite a list I'm
not sure I can remember all of them is
when Nami when well this action be taken
at the upcoming pick it will which is on
the that would be Wednesday this
Wednesday the 8th so again it's
adjusting the property tax cap investing
public health services address housing
and homelessness crisis those are the
three central pillars and that is all in
the FCA the SE a call for upcoming
meeting very low though strongly support
everything that's in there also kind of
a little intimidated by the amazingly
huge problems that you're putting
together that's that's a big order and I
think they've they've chosen well they
support it thank you
other comments bill I'd support that as
well to go for it okay well Mariah I I
saw you raised I saw you nod your head I
raised my hand I just wanted to say I do
I do support that it a lot of that is
there's a lot to it but I really support
that but appreciate that they've also
narrowed things down thank you
okay it sounds like Toller you've got
council support and direction for
dealing with that issue the most
powerful words that pic are my city
feels so it is joy to be able to use
those words is there anything else for
good of the order this evening there
will not be an executive session we are
adjourned
[Applause]
you