Got to be good for pictures. Raise your
right hand. Repeat after me. I state
your name.
>> I Mark Mullen,
>> having been duly elected to the city of
Isqua Mayor.
>> Having been duly elected to the city of
Isqua Mayor four-year term beginning
January 1st, 2026.
>> A four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026. to solemnly swear or affirm to
solemnly swear or affirm that I will
faithfully and impartially I will
faithfully and impartially discharge the
duties of this office
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> according to the law
>> according to the law
>> and to the best of my ability
>> to the best of my abilities
>> I will support
>> I will support
>> the constitution of the United States
>> the constitution of the United States
>> and the constitutional laws of the state
of Washington
>> constitutional laws of the state of
Washington
>> all local ordinances
>> and all local ordinances
>> sheets you very
>> [applause]
[cheering]
[applause]
>> So,
okay,
we've got a few of these to go through.
We're going to give every council member
the same opportunity. You can introduce
anybody you want in the audience. So,
I'm going to introduce my family in the
audience tonight. And so, yes, there's a
lot of mullets.
We're going to start with my children in
starting with oldest to youngest. So,
first we have Isabelle Mullet who just
graduated from Western. Isabelle, you
have to stand up and kind of wave.
[applause and cheering]
Down here we have Davis Strier, just
graduated from Montana State.
[applause]
We have Eloise Mullet, just attending
Colorado State, about to study abroad in
Barcelona.
We have Riley Strier at TCU as a
sophomore.
>> [applause]
>> We have Caroline Mullet, our junior at
his school high school.
And our youngest, the family, Penelopey
Mullet, the sophomore at school high
school. [applause]
And then we have the definition of a
better half, my wife, Kelly Mullet.
[applause]
While we're here, we do have we have my
older brother, Scott Mullet, along with
his wife, Janelle, and their three
daughters. And we have Miranda and Amry
and McKenna. So, yes, we call this when
we get all together, it's a Mullet
Palooa. It's good. And uh and just I
guess my remarks. Well, first I'd like
to say there's one member of our family
who's not here tonight I do want to
thank and that's our dad Steve Mullet
who was the mayor of Tug of the Town
where I was born and raised from 9907.
[snorts]
And it was his example that showed me
the amazing things you can accomplish in
this world through local public service.
And I will say that I've had the
privilege during my life based on
college, my career in finance to live in
a lot of places in this world. I lived
in Southern California, in the Midwest,
on the East Coast. I spent 5 years in
Europe. And it was that experience that
taught me that the Pacific Northwest is
not just the best part of the United
States. It is literally one of the most
beautiful scenic places that you can
live this entire earth. And I think in
Isiqua we have the additional luxury
because within the Pacific Northwest
there's no better city to live than
right here in Isiqua. And I was having
lunch with former mayor Rowan Hines last
month and he reminded me of the Isqua
motto which is that Isiziqua is a
special place where people care. And I
can't think of a better way to describe
this community that I've fallen in love
with for these past 20 years. And I give
you my promise to the citizens of Vizqua
and the esteemed city council that I
will always listen. I will always work
hard. I will always tell the truth and I
will help whenever I can so this amazing
city we call Isiqua can achieve its full
potential in the years ahead.
[applause]
blue.
>> Now he's mayor.
You're right.
I think we are going to start with
council position number one, which is
Kelly J.
Check.
>> Hello.
>> Hello.
>> And to raise your right hand.
>> Repeat after me. I state your name.
>> I. Kelly Jing.
>> Having been duly elected to the city of
Isiqua Council position number one.
>> Having having been duly elected to the
city of Isiqua Council position number
one.
>> 4-year term beginning January 1st, 2026.
a four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026.
>> Do solemnly swear or affirm
>> do solemnly swear or affirm
>> that
>> I will faithfully and impartially
>> that I will faithfully and impartially
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> according to the law
>> according to the law
>> and to the best of my ability
>> and to the best of my ability
>> I will support
>> that I will support
>> the Constitution of the United States
>> the Constitution of the United States
>> and the Constitutional Laws of the State
of Washington
>> and the constitutional laws of the state
of Washington
>> and all local ordinances
>> and all local ordinances
>> congratulations. Thank you. [applause]
>> Say anything. You want to sign it?
>> Um, well, I'll sign I'll I I'll sign it,
I guess.
>> Okay.
>> Um, I didn't really know we were
supposed to prepare a speech for this.
Um, but I will sign this.
>> Any second one, too?
>> Okay.
>> Neil,
>> um, I don't really have any I don't
really have any super prepared remarks,
but I'll guess I'll just riff for a
minute or so. Um, you know, I was
appointed to the Isiqua City Council
just under a year ago. And in the last
year, I mean, it's been basically like
drinking from a fire hose, learning
about everything in our amazing city and
learning about, you know, all the things
that have made Isiqua and gotten us to
where we are today. And also thinking
about, you know, where can we get to and
as our mayor Mullet said, you know, how
can we help Isiqua reach our true
potential in the years to come. So, I'm
really excited to get to work with all
of my colleagues, both old and new, and
especially excited to uh, you know, kind
of be on the other side of the table
when we're doing another appointment
coming up shortly, starting next week.
So, um, thank you all for being here
tonight, and, uh, I think I'll hand it
off to whoever's next.
[applause]
Okay. Next, we'd like to invite for
council position number three, Barbara
D. Michelle.
>> We both.
>> Okay. Please uh raise your right hand.
Repeat after me. I state your name.
>> I Barbara D. Michelle. Having been duly
elected to the city of Isiqua Council
position number three.
>> Having been duly elected to the city
council position number three.
>> Four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026.
>> A four-year term starting January 1st,
2026.
>> Do you solemnly swear or affirm
>> do solemnly swear or affirm
>> I will faithfully and impartially
>> that I will faithfully and impartially
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> according to the law
>> according to the law
>> and to the best of my ability. and to
the best of my ability that I will
support
>> and that I will support
>> the Constitution of the United States
the Constitution of the United States
>> and the Constitution and laws of the
state of Washington
>> and the Constitution and laws of the
state of Washington and all local
ordinances and all local ordinances.
CONGRATULATIONS.
[applause]
>> Thank you,
Kelly. I did get the memo. So,
[laughter]
uh, so thank you first to the voters of
Isiqua for providing me with the
privilege of serving you for the next
four years. Even though I ran unopposed,
I am honored by your affirmation of
support and I look forward to working
with all the residents of Isiqua,
whether you voted for me or not, as we
focus on the best solutions for our
beautiful community. I do have family,
but they are all remote. And so I want
to acknowledge that uh I do have family
in attendance. First of all, my sister
Joanne Wright who's joining us from
Spokane. They're all up there.
Uh my son John, daughter-in-law Diane,
granddaughter Iiko, and grandson Robbie.
They're all from Cington. Uh my nephew
Dan and wife Christy of Kent along with
grand nephews Connor and Skyler. and
grand niece Sarah who's a member of the
University of Arizona Wildcat softball
team and who might just be listening in
from Tucson. And then finally my nephew
Mark, wife Nicola and grand nephew
Harrison who live in South Cove and are
three of our constituents. I also want
to thank Kaylee Jake who ran my
reelection campaign. I know it was
tough. Thanks. Thanks Kaylee
and John Writtenhouse and Trish Blur who
worked on my campaign as well. And I
also have a friend in Vashon who just
notified me that she's listening in. So
I feel extremely blessed and grateful
tonight. Thank you to everybody. Thank
you. [applause]
Okay, [applause] keep safe.
me.
Yes. Oh, I have to sign twice. Okay.
But you're going to take this with you.
Okay.
There you go. Take care.
Hey kid,
I would
see when you do your job well, council
member D Michelle, nobody wants to run
against you. I think that uh you you
deserve that campaign you had. I'd next
like to invite for council position
number five, Russell Joe
Bman.
>> Your honor, may I please the court
Russell Joe pairing up half of myself
very hard about taking holding contempt.
So we'll be up.
>> You always did.
>> There you go.
>> If you raise your right hand, repeat
after me. I state your name. I, Russell
Joe,
>> having been duly elected to the city of
Isiqua Council position number five.
>> Having been duly elected to the city of
Isiqua position number five, a
>> four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026,
>> a four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026.
>> Do solemnly swear or affirm
>> do solemnly swear
>> that I will faithfully and impartially
>> that I will faithfully and impartially
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> according to the law
>> according to the law
>> and to the best of my ability
>> and the best of my ability. and that I
will support
>> and I will support
>> the Constitution of the United States
>> the Constitution of the United States
>> and the Constitutional Laws of the State
of Washington
>> and the Constitutional Laws of the State
of Washington
>> and all local ordinances
>> and all local ordinances.
>> Congratulations. Thank you. [applause]
>> As many of you know, I'm starting my
13th year, the lucky 13. So, I'm very
excited to continue to have the
privilege and honor of serving all of
you. Um, it's uh really wonderful when
you wake up in the morning and you say,
"What can I do to help make the city a
little bit better today?" And then you
go out and you meet people and you talk
with people and you find out what we can
do together to make the city better. And
I hope to continue to do that for the
next four years. Uh, as your council
member, thank you.
[applause]
Same down the top.
Thank you. Thanks.
>> All right. And last and definitely not
least, cuz this is the person who was on
the council when I was on the council 15
years ago. I'd like to invite Tom.
Council position number seven. [snorts]
>> Raise your right hand. Repeat after me.
I state your name.
>> I stole Marts.
>> Having been duly elected to the city of
Isiqua Council position number seven.
Having been duly elected to the city of
Isiqua Council position number seven. A
four-year term beginning January 1st,
2026. A four-year term beginning January
1st, 2026. Do solemnly swear or affirm.
do solemnly swear
>> that I will faithfully and impartially
>> That I will faithfully and impartially
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> discharge the duties of this office
>> according to the law
>> according to the law
>> and to the best of my ability
>> and to the best of my ability I will
support and that I will support
Constitution of the United States
>> the constitution
>> of the United States
>> and the Constitution and the laws of the
state of Washington
>> and the Constitution and the laws of the
state of Washington
>> and all local ordinances and all local
ordinances. Congratulations
[applause]
Well, one of the advantages of going
last is it gives me time to write a
short little speech that I didn't know
that I was going to be giving, but I
will be brief. Uh, this is my fifth time
um with Judge Stewart. Um, and so I
don't have any family here tonight,
unfortunately. Um, but uh everything
that I do uh uh I have the support of my
wife Tracy who is just amazing and
allows me to do all the all the all the
cool stuff that I do. Um I have two
wonderful children. My and they are both
in public service. Um my daughter Sophie
lives in New York City and she is in
public health and she does evaluation of
public health systems and my son Aiden
is actually working right now at the
King County Sheriff's Office on the 911.
So, if you live in unincorporated King
County or you live in Smamish or one of
the other cities that's served by the
sheriff's office, you could possibly get
him on the phone. But, um, it thrills me
that they have both taken up public
service. This is a hard job. What we do
here can be a hard job. And uh you know,
I've been lucky enough to do rocket
science and quantum computing and none
of it is is as hard as this because it
touches people's lives in a way that
none of that business stuff really does.
Um but fortunately, we have an amazing
staff in the city of Isiqua. We have
amazing electeds. We've seen it this
year how hard people um sought out the
issues that were important to all of you
and had it feed their campaigns. We're
going to do that again when we do an
appointment here in the next month. Um,
and we have amazing constituents, the
voters and the business people of
Isiqua. It's hard challenges. We don't
have, we're lucky enough we don't have
some of the division and strife that
some communities have. We work hard. You
all appreciate it. You come here, you
tell us what matters to you, and then we
make the tough decisions. So, thank you.
[applause]
So,
congratulations.
Okay, if there is no objection, we will
now take a 10-minute recess to take
photos and everyone can congratulate
their and chat with whoever they want in
the audience. And our plan is to be back
at roughly 7:28.
So, we are now in recess.
We will now call the meeting back to
order.
I think we're missing uh Council Member
Jen who's getting a beverage, but I see
Council Member Jen is on her way.
And then Council Member Joe.
Um, the next item of business is ID1955
National Law Enforcement Appreciation
Proclamation. I'd like to invite police
chief Paul Schwan to lecture
is dedicated to protecting the lives,
safety, and property of the Isqua
community through professional, ethical,
and compassionate service. And whereas
law enforcement officers serve with a
courage and integrity, often placing
themselves in harm's way to maintain
public safety, uphold the law, and
respond to emergencies at all hours. And
whereas members of the Esqua Police
Department work collaboratively with
residents, businesses, schools, and
community partners to build trust,
strengthen relationships, and promote a
safe and welcoming city for all. Whereas
law enforcement professionals face
increasing challenges and
responsibilities that require
resilience, sound judgment, and a deep
commitment to public service. And
whereas National Law Enforcement
Appreciation Day provides an opportunity
to recognize and express gratitude for
the dedication, sacrifice, and service
of law enforcement officers and
professional staff. Now, therefore, I
Mark Mullet, mayor of the city of Isqua,
do recognize January 9th, 2026 to be
National Law Enforcement Appreciation
Day in the city of Isiqua. encourage all
residents to join me in recognizing and
thanking the Isqua Police Department for
their commitment to our community and
witness whereab I have signed my hand
and seal the city of Isqua this 5th day
of January 2026.
>> You want your photo op? [laughter]
Sure.
Thank you, mayor and council members and
the community. Um, it's my honor to We
have a lot of dedicated people in our
organization that work very hard, long
hours, lots of different hours to
protect. Um, we are one of the very few
law enforcement agencies in the state
that still respond to all calls for
service that are requested. We do have
afford the opportunity for people to
report online for those who want more
anonymity or want um don't have time in
everybody's busy lives. But we do still
respond if someone does call. We do not
put it aside and that's a huge part of
our community and the service that we do
provide that is unique to Washington um
in this time and day and age. And so I
appreciate this and the recognition of
our staff and how hard they work every
day, day and night, when people are
sleeping, when they're awake, whether
they live, work, or play here. So, thank
you very much.
[applause]
[applause]
>> Thank you very much, Chief Schwan. The
next item of business is gender bill
9103, election of council president and
deputy council president for 2026. The
Isqua Municipal Code provides that a
council president and deputy council
president be elected at the first
meeting in January for a one-year term.
A summary of the responsibilities were
provided in tonight's agenda packet. The
following process will be used to elect
the officers. First, I will call for
nominations. When all nominations have
been made, I will close the nominations.
Council members will then be provided an
opportunity to discuss nominees. I will
then ask council me council members to
cast votes on the nominees in the order
they were nominated. Council members may
vote for themselves and may vote for
only one nominee. The first council
member receiving the majority of the
votes is declared the council president.
The process will then be repeated for
the deputy council president. [snorts]
Begin with the nominations for council
president. Are there any nominations?
Council member Joe.
>> Mr. Mayor, thank you. I would like to
nominate uh Barb D. Michelle for council
president.
>> Are there any other nominations?
Hearing none, the nominations are
closed. Is there any discussion of the
nominees?
There is no further discussion. The
council will now vote on whether to
elect Barb D. Michelle as 2026 council
president. [snorts] All those in favor
signify by saying I and raise your hand.
>> I
>> I
say no.
>> That's all I say.
>> Those opposed say no. And the election
is unanimous. Congratulations, Council
President Harvey Michelle. [applause]
>> Can I speak?
>> You may.
>> Well, thank you very much. I really
appreciate the vote of support and I
know we're going to have a challenging
year. Uh but I will be doing the best I
can to uh serve as your president and
hopefully make things easier or as easy
as we can uh among a lot of hard
decisions facing us. The person I want
to thank the most is our departing
council president Lindseay Walsh. Uh
we've been working together for two
years and it's been an absolute delight
and she's a wonderful leader and I've
learned a lot from her and I can only
hope that I can do half the job that you
did. uh she's just been great for three
years, which I think is a historic
record as well for our council. So,
thank you so much, Lindsay.
[applause]
>> Okay, we will now open nominations for
deputy council president. Are there any
nominations? Council member Joe.
>> Mr. Mayor, I would nominate total Mars
for deputy council president.
>> Are there any other nominations?
Hearing none, the nominations are now
closed. Is there any discussions on the
nominee?
And if there's no further discussion,
the council will now vote on whether to
elect to marks as a 2026 deputy council
president. All those in favor signify by
saying I and raise your hand.
>> I I
>> I'm learning. All those opposed. And it
is unanimous that council member to Mars
is elected deputy council president.
CONGRATULATIONS. [applause]
THANK YOU, MR. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I
appreciate it. Um, it's the greatest
job. You get to be at all the important
meetings, but you don't have to answer
all the letters. That's Barb's job.
[laughter] So, I am very, very much
looking forward to being deputy council
president. Even though people will say
council, deputy president, and they'll
stay wrong. Thank you.
>> Okay, we're going to take a very, very
brief at ease so people can rearrange
chairs.
Okay, we are back to order. It is now
time for public comments. Comments can
be made in person or virtually. Those of
you who signed up in advance will be
called on first. If you're joining us
virtually and would like to make
comments, please raise your virtual hand
or send the host a chat message. And if
you're on the phone, press star three.
If you joined by computer or smartphone,
there should be a hand icon. And if
you're in the room and did not sign up,
there will be an opportunity for you to
raise your hand if you'd like to speak
before I close this portion of the
meeting. Clerk, has anyone signed up to
speak for general audience comments or
indicate desire to speak this evening?
>> Yes.
>> As a reminder, written comments may be
sub can be submitted anytime at city
councilwa.gov.
For those of you here to make comments,
we welcome comments related to Isqua's
programs, projects, services, or events.
Comments related to political campaigns
are not permitted, and we ask you to be
respectful. This is not a back and forth
dialogue, but we do want to hear what
you have to say. For virtual attendees,
please unmute your microphone. For
inerson attendees, step up to the left
turn, turn on the button on the
microphone in which we'll display a red
light. You can state your name and
address in relationship to the city. And
we ask you to speak clearly and limit
your comments to five minutes. Um,
thank
>> All right. The first person signed up to
speak is a virtual attendee, Paul Quinn.
Paul, I'm making you a panelist now. You
should be able to unmute and can choose
to turn your video on.
We are waiting for Paul to
magically appear.
>> Paul, I'm going to try.
>> Okay, I think I think it works now.
>> We can hear you.
>> Okay, great. Okay, so
>> I can see you.
>> Great. Good evening and council members.
My name is Paul Quinn. I live in Samish.
I'm speaking to you as an individual who
cares about fairness and how is thequa
solid waste customers are charged for
disposal right now. We charge our
residents and businesses for disposal
based on the size of container being
picked up. The effect of this message is
to say that we don't really care how
much you put in or divert from the
landfill. And this approach is unfair as
it charges all people based on the size
of the container rather than what's in
the container. And we know this is wrong
as our water, gas, and electricity
charges are based on what we use rather
than on the sides of the wires and pipes
connecting us to service. I've emailed
you today a few handouts. Handout number
one shows both updated diversion rates
for city of Visiqua through October 2025
and also a graphic of the trend of the
monthly cost for garbage disposal for
your single family residences. It
continues to go higher and higher. And
last year, King County told us their
disposal charges passed on to the city's
residences and businesses is likely
going to double in coming years. What is
worse than this trend line is the city
doesn't really allow residences or
businesses to reduce their cost for
disposal by properly diverting materials
for recycling and compost. In fact, your
current approach increases cost to folks
who work hard sorting recyclables and
composting food scraps by charging them
the very same as others who are
indifferent to this.
This unfair and it can and should be
changed by weighing the refugees that
each customer creates. And to begin this
change, you recommend a pilot program
called Smart Disposal, which will help
significantly improve the city's
diversion rates. And in note, Smart
Disposal is an innovative initiative. is
not a company. Handout number three
outlines how smart disposal works in
some detail and I'll briefly describe
it. Smart disposal weighs each container
picked up by the hauler at each single
family home. This system uses postcards
then mailed to each resident which
provides data specific to the resident,
including a landfill diversion rate per
pickup and how their use of the utility
compares to others in their community. I
provided hand at number four to show an
example postcard report that residents
will receive and this helps us move from
a toss and forget mindset towards making
better choices. We all know that
feedback through measurement works
because water, electricity and gas are
metered and it helps us to moderate our
use. Smart disposal provides the meters
our disposal utility needs.
The city's current initiatives are good
uh but they do not provide sufficient
impact to improve trends needed to reach
the city's 2030 divergent goals and
notably 2030 is significant for all of
you as that's your term the next four
years but this council can spend time I
don't expect it but this council could
spend time explaining why is did not hit
the diversion goal by 2030 or we can
take the needed actions to get us there
in time. We need this council to provide
the urgency and leadership to drive
smart disposal forward. And what I
recommend to you today is that the city
implement smart disposal or conduct a
proof of concept project to demonstrate
for about $50,000 that smart disposal
works.
Metering and reporting to residents what
we dispose of the curb provides fairness
to help us obey increasing cost of
disposal. This council should support
fair pricing for our disposal utility.
Thanks for listening to that.
>> Thank you very much, Paul.
>> The next person signed up to speak is
Cersei Allen here in the council
chambers.
>> All right, go ahead.
>> Hi there. Uh my name is Matthew Fischer
and I'm a recent graduate from Isqua
High School. I'm joined here by Cersei
and Cam. Um and I'm also a 15-year uh
citizen here in Isqua. Um during my time
in high school, I had the privilege of
serving as student body president and as
a sustainability ambassador, working
closely with the city of Isqua's
sustainability department. Uh today,
members of the Isqua sustainability
ambassador team and I wanted to share
some more work uh in 2025 toward
advancing the current ISQA climate
action plan. One of the agenda items for
this city council meeting is the
environmental board annual report
submitted by Stacy McKinstry, and we
wanted to link her emphasis on more
engagement with the Isco School District
with some of our school-based actions
and initiatives. The first thing I
wanted to highlight was how the Iscoa
team successfully advocated for a
district-wide sustainability policy in
the Esqua school district operational
expectation 17 that was officially
passed on May 8th, 2025. As a team, we
su we successfully advocated for and
secured official letters of support from
the city of Esqua and four neighboring
cities, Reon, Belleview, Seamish, and
Newcastle. The effort included several
public comments at the schoolboard
meetings and multiple rounds of policy
drafting and refinement. The result was
an operational expectation that has
accountability built into it as the
school district must present a
monitoring report to the school board
each year for the previous school year.
Okay. So, hi, I'm Cersei Allen, uh, a
junior at Isqua High School. Uh, some of
you guys might recognize me from the
town hall event. Uh, something I helped
work on this year was a project called
the carbon commute count, a multi-dist
transportation survey and analysis. We
received upwards of 12,000 survey
responses from 13 middle schools, seven
high schools, and two private schools.
Um, it was a great feat for us and we
got lots of participation, but obviously
this is just a baseline. The carbon
community count is meant to expand
campaigns like bike to school, uh,
carpole to school and bus bingo. Uh, by
using this data, it adds a personal
connection and responsibility to
students um to improve our cap per
capita account. So far by incorporating
an understanding of carbon footprint in
such a digestible way has been truly a
spearhead opening for a united effort
not only on the school spirit level but
in civics leadership and science
curriculums.
Good evening everybody. My name is Cam
Penhard and I'm also a junior at Isqua
High School. Um, I have been a
sustainability ambassador for just over
a year now and I have the pleasure of
being one of Isqua High School's
sustainability coordinators along with
another ambassador to Hina Dona who
could not be with us today. This year,
Isqua ASB piloted the sustainability
coordinator role and developed a written
toolkit in hopes of reducing the
environmental waste produced by ASB.
Drawing from our personal experience in
ASB, the toolkit focuses on what
actually works in a school environment.
We have organized it into practical
focus areas including but not limited to
energy, transportation, waste, and event
planning. Within these areas, we provide
tips and resources to help facilitate
real impact. The ultimate goal is to
have Isqua's ASB serve as a model to
other middle and high schools in the
area in terms of implementing
sustainability into everyday day-to-day
operations.
On November 19th, 2025, three elected
city members and two city staff members
joined us at the Isqua Town Hall at
school alongside representatives from
all three of our ASB student government
classes and a whole sustainable design
and tech class. Overall, we had 80
students participating in that event and
it was a great success. Cersei, Tuhina,
and I all shared key successes from
throughout the 2025 calendar year that
you just heard about, including some
school-based campaigns from the 2024
2025 school year, including this school
year 2025 2026.
Elected officials discussed their
personal visions for engaging with
students within the city's climate
action plan piloted by Stacy Vim McKini.
The session concluded with a highly
successful Q&A that had a great dialogue
between students and city staff
officials. The town hall received incred
incredible support and encouragement
from students and staff and students are
already inspired and asking for more. We
hope to continue working with you all in
the future and are super excited to see
how many student lives we can change.
Thank you for your time.
>> Great. Thank you very much. Council
member Jen got credit for that meeting
because she rode her bike to it. So, um,
anywhere?
>> No one else has signed up in advance.
All
>> right. Is there anybody else in the
audience who would like to make public
comments?
All right, not seeing any.
The next item of business is the consent
calendar. I do not have any remarks on
today's consent calendar items. Are
there any committee chairs or chair
dairies who would like to report on any
of the consent calendar items?
Not hearing any. The consent calendar
was distributed to council in advance.
If authorized, the item on the consent
calendar will be considered together and
approved by one motion. Have the
payables and payroll been reviewed?
>> They have.
>> Does any council member desire to remove
any item from the consent calendar and
consider it under regular business?
>> All right. The motion to approve the
consent calendar. Oh,
is there a motion to approve the
consent? Council me council president
Michelle.
>> Thank you, Mary Mullet. Um, I move that
we uh approve the consent agenda as
presented. Second. There's a motion and
a second. All those in favor say I.
>> I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed? No. And that passes.
The next item of business is regular
business. Agenda Bill 9117, the public
defender contract. Like to invite city
attorney Rachel Bender Turpin to present
this item.
>> Good evening and happy new year mayor,
council, staff. I'm Rachel Bender
Turpin. I'm your city attorney and I'm
here tonight to uh discuss
um the agenda bill 9014, which is a
contract with Valley Defenders, who's
the city's current public defender firm
for another one-year contract. Uh these
rates reflect increased rates over last
year. Um substantially increased about
double. This is the result of changes in
um the state uh the Washington Supreme
Court standards for public defense which
have have essentially required the city
to over a 10-year period dramatically
reduce case loads for public defenders.
Currently, it's I think believe 420
cases per public defender. And um at the
end of this 10-year period, we have to
get down to 120 per public defender. So,
it's a substantial um
uh decrease in case cases per attorney.
Uh one one piece of that's key to the
order is that the Supreme Court has said
that if you are already doing better
than um you're you're allowed to to
decrease it over a 10-year period, 10%
per year. However, you can't go up from
where you are currently. So in other
words, we can't increase case loads
beyond what we have already in place
here. We are lucky that in Isiqua um we
are already ahead of the curve. We
weren't operating with a you over 400
per attorney case load standard. So the
good news is um we'll get there faster.
The bad news is that we now have to um
jump, you know, a little faster, I
guess, than we would if we'd had the
full 10 years to implement. And uh the
so what we have here before you is a
contract with Valley Defenders who is
who's been serving the city for um quite
a while now, at least 10 years. They've
been doing a good job. It's frankly a a
difficult field to find uh find public
defenders right now. It's hard to find
firms that do this and it's hard to find
employees for those firms or for
municipalities that want to contract
with them directly or employ them as
employees. Um it's a statewide problem
that has been exacerbated frankly by
this Supreme Court order, but it is what
it is and we um just have to make the
best of it and provide our community
with high quality indigen uh defense
services.
The rate was calculated based on um the
on a a total total uh cost allocation of
what it would what what it costs for
valley defenders to employ
folks to fill these positions for isqua.
So because of the shortage it's the
rates have gone substantially up. you
have to pay. People are able to sort of
ask their price for these jobs and very
different from when I started when these
were actually pretty low paid low paying
jobs. It's a one-year contract. There is
um an option for us to renew it for an
additional year if the public defender
agrees. Uh which would be great because
that means that thing the cases or that
the costs aren't going up. It also has
provision in the contract that if the
costs go if the case loads go
substantially down or substantially up,
we can the parties can meet and confer
and negotiate amendments to the
contract. We do hope that we will not be
looking at increased cases. Uh beyond
this, the administration, including
myself, are currently looking at ways to
um
limit our filings to begin with,
potentially like pre-filing diversion
programs that would uh limit that would
reduce the number of cases that have to
be filed, period. by giving people with
very um limited low crim criminal
history or no criminal history the
opportunity to do things like uh classes
and community service in to avoid having
charges filed in the first place. And
with that, I'm happy to answer any
questions.
>> Are there any questions from the
council?
>> Council member J.
>> Um quick question. Are we, just to
[clears throat] recap, are we planning
on using some of the funds from the
public safety sales tax to help pay for
the increased cost here?
>> Yes, we are.
>> All right. That's any other questions?
Does anyone want to make a motion?
>> So, I move approval of resolution number
2026.
>> That's right. Motion.
>> Oh.
Um, let's see. That's where we pay city
clerk tisha the big [laughter] bucks
>> and I think just for the record for the
public record I think it was agenda bill
9117 I think there was a different
>> right
>> number referenced earlier but I think
this one is
>> is it not 9014 oh no you're right it's
917 that's yes it's 9117 thank you mayor
>> okay let me start over again so I move
to authorize the mayor to execute a
professional services agreement with
valley defenders for public defender
services for the
second.
>> Okay, there's a motion, a second. Is
there any council discussion? Council
member Joe.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Um, first off, uh, I have served as a
public defender in Colorado. It's not an
easy job to do and, uh, we are fortunate
that, uh, Sean McN and his firm are
servicing the city of Isiqua. They do a
fine job. I I wish that Judge Stewart
hadn't left because part of the reason
why public defenders and prosecutors
want to operate in our court is because
it is it is a well-run court. Um it is a
court that doesn't waste any time. It
gets its business done in a timely
fashion and gets the cases through uh
the process without um abridging or
trampling on anyone's rights. Everyone's
uh individual rights are taken care of
and and upheld. But it does get the
business done in a timely fashion. We
are very fortunate to have this firm
want to come to Siqua and do this and um
I would speak highly in favor of
adopting this contract this evening.
Thank you.
>> Excellent.
>> Council President, you Michelle.
>> Yes. I think council member Joe said it
very well, but I did want to say this is
something that I've been keeping an eye
on for some time. I feel that public
defenders are essential to ensuring that
every Isiqua resident, no matter their
economic status, receives justice under
the law. I'm really really pleased that
we are ahead of the curve in terms of uh
case reduction. Um and I think that this
is a very very good start in the right
direction. I think there is still more
that needs to be done to make sure that
public defenders are equitably
compensated and that they have the work
load that is appropriate for their
education and their uh experience uh
levels. So we still have a ways to go
but I think this is a really good start
and I also will be supporting this
motion.
>> Excellent. Any other comments with that?
Let's call for the vote. All those in
favor say I.
>> I. I.
All those opposed? No.
And that passes. I figured out my button
thing. Thank you very much, Rachel. Uh,
the next item of business is agenda bill
9096, 2026, city council calendar. I'd
like to invite Deputy City Clerk, Cassie
Miller, to present this item.
Thank you for your patience while I get
set up.
Please don't look to me for tech
support. [laughter]
We need like that Jeopardy theme music
we can just play in the background.
>> [laughter]
>> There we go. I just needed the moral
support of the clerk.
>> All right.
>> Well, thank you for the introduction.
You already know I'm Cassidy Miller,
deputy city clerk, and uh I'm pleased to
present uh the proposed 2026 council
meeting and council committee meeting
calendar to you.
Go.
>> So, uh, the purpose of adopting the
calendar is to create some amount of
certainty, predictability, and
transparency with the public on when our
city council meetings will be held,
including the council committee
meetings. Uh, in there is a regular
meeting schedule assigned to each group.
However, uh there are uh a variety of
holidays uh that fall in that in between
that schedule that uh cause some
misalignment uh and rescheduling needs.
Um in 2024, the council also adopted a
cultural and religious holiday uh
acknowledging that there were certain
holidays with significant work
restrictions that would prohibit the
public from coming to attend in our
community and we were are working to uh
not schedule any public meetings on
those dates.
So administration has taken the regular
schedules for these meetings and aligned
them with those other dates and done our
best to shift them around. So that's
what uh has been included in your packet
tonight for review.
So the direction we're seeking is just
uh listening to any feedback that you
have, any recommendations for changes uh
and then hopefully adopting a calendar
for your meeting schedule for the year.
>> So I've already covered this, but uh
we've done our best to kind of realign
things. Uh but we have prioritized
moving your meetings uh to other Mondays
or Tuesdays just to try to keep that
same rhythm uh throughout the month.
Mondays and Tuesdays being per the
normal meeting schedule. Uh so changes
to the schedule are of course still
possible after approval of the calendar.
Uh there is a process that is followed
uh for cancellations. Uh if there's a
meeting where we know we will lack
quorum or where there just aren't enough
agenda items to support having the
meeting, they can be cancelled or
rescheduled. Uh and then any additional
meetings needed, including rescheduled
meetings, can of course be scheduled.
And we would um administratively work
with the leadership of the the council
or the committees. Uh and then when
rescheduling a new meeting, pull the the
whole committee or council uh to make
sure that you know that that we will
have a quorum and that everybody is
available to the best of our ability. Uh
the uh one thing that uh we did want to
call out are community listening
sessions and I'll talk more about that
briefly but uh right now we only have
one community listening session
scheduled for the year.
So some key dates to point out uh are
the council retreats. The first of which
is later this month. These all occur on
Saturdays. So, just in case you're not
looking at those those weekend dates on
the calendars, please keep an eye out
because uh while we've tried to keep
things on Mondays and Tuesdays, there
are some uh outliers there. Uh other
events are the mayor's state of the city
address which occurs on a Thursday and
uh then the uh listening session is the
the council uh has a booth at the last
farmers market of the season and that is
a Saturday. The council also has uh
typically observed two meeting breaks,
one in the summer and one in the winter.
And so those have also been taken into
account to make sure that we're not
scheduling meetings during those times.
Regarding some additional uh dates of
consideration, uh the primary and
general elections, uh we did not
schedule around these dates since it is
not a council election year. There are
two regular council meetings that fall
on the dates before the August and
November general uh the primary and
general elections as well as committee
meetings that are meeting on those
nights. Uh and then uh the FIFA World
Cup uh coming to Seattle is uh it's a
point of consideration. We have taken
those into account knowing that there's
going to be a lot of community
engagement really all over the region.
Uh but the night of the uh that that
it's anticipated to have the most impact
is the date of the last game in the
area. uh which is July 6th. There is uh
a conflict of a council meeting uh was
uh that night and then also on the the
date of the first game. Uh but we did
reschedu the the council meeting for the
last game but not the first game. But
you will notice all the games uh have
been put on the calendar just for
awareness.
And then just to kind of walk you
through a little bit of what we did with
the calendar. Um the I did want to call
out that the uh next week's council
meeting should have been a committee of
the whole meeting. It has been
repurposed to a special meeting. Uh when
there is a holiday on a Monday, we
typically try to push that council
meeting to the next available day. And
if that happens to conflict with a
committee meeting that would have
occurred on that day, we try to shift
that committee meeting around. Um, also
of note in January, we have scheduled a
tenative meeting on the 26th to allow
additional time if necessary for the
council vacancy process. And then you'll
notice over there on Saturday the
council retreat.
I swear I'm not going to walk through
every month. I did want to point out a
few things though. Uh, April was
particularly difficult because we did
have the Isqua School District spring
break as well as a holiday that fell on
that Tuesday. So, uh, we had to really
move things around. And you'll notice
that, uh, March has five Mondays. So,
what we did is we took the regular
meeting and we pushed it up until, uh,
to March 30th. And this is the we're
going to do this twice this year, uh, at
least as proposed. Um, and then you'll
notice another council retreat being
proposed on May 2nd. And then two
committee meetings ended up kind of side
by side at the the final week there.
Uh July, that's where we did this again
where we had um trying to re re uh
schedule and realign because of the uh
the FIFA World Cup game. So we had five
um five Mondays in June. So we took that
first meeting of the month and pushed it
up to the fifth Monday of the previous
month. And then there's your other
council retreat
last month. Um we are proposing a uh
additional committee of the whole
meeting in October to discuss the
budget.
So the options before you tonight are to
adopt the city council calendar as
presented for 2026. Uh you can direct
any changes uh at this time that you may
have to the calendar and we can take
those into account. uh or you can choose
not to adopt a calendar tonight and we
would administratively do our best to uh
look at your regular meeting schedule
and realign around any conflicting days.
Uh timeline wise, if you adopt a
calendar tonight, it would go into
effect immediately. Uh, and I do want to
point out just looking forward, next
year will be the um the year when the
equity board is tasked with doing their
four-year review of the cultural
cultural and religious calendar. So, if
they have any changes that they would
like to recommend, they would bring that
before you late next year or possibly
early in 2018. But that if there are any
changes to that calendar, those would be
taken into account in your 2028
calendar.
>> So, with that, I open it up to any
questions you might have. Are there any
questions from the council?
>> Council member Walsh.
>> Thank you. Um Cassidy, first of all,
really appreciate this. So much has gone
into it. Um I wanted to ask I notice in
January and February we have council
special meetings rather than um
committee of the whole. I understand in
January it is related to
>> Yeah, I was going to say you might have
to.
>> Great. Um it it's related to our
appointment. Um what was the reasoning
for the February period?
>> Uh believe Ollie has the details on it.
There's a transportation related topic.
>> Yes. Mayor Mhlet has asked that we
schedule a special council meeting to
talk about transportation.
>> So fantastic. Look looking at the
calendar that seemed to make the date
makes sense. I think it's February 9th.
I recall. Yeah, February 9th.
>> Yes. Okay. Fantastic. And then um
yeah, I guess that's more discussion
point.
>> Council President, you Michelle.
>> So uh my question uh is really for the
council. I mean we can handle this under
discussion, but um the the times that
we've been at the um farmers market uh
have been so wellreceived and have been
such excellent uh outreach for us. And
so I'm just wondering if um the council
would like to add a um a date in May and
I understand May 2nd is a a retreat day
for the council. So that might not be
appropriate but um the 9th or um a
subsequent um date in May u so that we
are out there twice instead of just once
uh at the end of the of the market. So
that's really a question that we can uh
discuss as a council, but that would be
what I would that would be my question.
Can we add another date?
>> Thank you. Yes, absolutely. You can do
that tonight. Uh or you could do that uh
at at a later point.
>> Yeah, I think we're totally open to
revisiting this and we can add stuff at
the next council meeting. Are there any
other questions for Cassidy? Council
member Joe,
>> thank you. Uh, could you refresh my
memory that I I know this seems a little
bit um mundane and pedestrian for us to
do, but we did this in 2023. And didn't
we receive an award for this um for this
effort?
Is
>> that
we've applied for several awards.
>> Okay. I I'm unsure that we've won any.
>> Okay. I thought you mentioned that we
won an award for being the first city or
one of the only cities in the nation
that um recognized these special dates
and modified our calendar to do so. We
we believe we have perhaps the most
aggressive calendar recognizing cultural
religious holidays. We've looked at
other communities that you would think
would be aggressive. Berkeley,
California comes immediately to mine and
they have nothing compared to this.
>> Okay. So um there may be others but we
looked at the places we thought would be
along similar lines and they did not
have similar calendars.
>> Well I would encourage you to continue
to apply for awards for this because it
is innovative and no one else is doing
it but it is something that I think
needs to be recognized as our nation
becomes more and more diverse. Thank
you.
>> If I can speak briefly to that point
too. I don't know about any awards but I
do know I just in the clerk profession I
uh this this our calendar and our
approach have been of interest to peers.
So at least amongst staff at other
agencies there certainly is interest in
talk
>> if there's no other questions as
somebody prepared to make a motion.
>> Council President Dashelle.
>> All right I think I have the right one
this time. So, I I move that we approve
resolution number 20261.
Is that correct? Okay. Adopting the city
council calendar for for uh 2026.
>> Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is
there any council discussion?
Oh, council member Walsh.
>> Thank you. Um just wanted to recognize
that I normally would ask us to move um
meetings so that we are not um hosting
on election days. Uh but looking at
these that would be very difficult um
those particular months I was like I
don't know where I would move it unless
it would be a Wednesday, Thursday or
Friday. Um, so unless anybody else has a
significant concern over that, I don't
think we need to make an adjustment. And
just generally, I very much appreciate
both our cultural and um, religious uh,
holiday recognition, but also having an
entire year's calendar uh, ahead of time
makes it a lot easier both for staff
coordination and council. And so I just
want to show my appreciation and
recognize that.
Our challenge on election nights is
we'll focus on brevity. So, we're out of
here by 8 o'clock.
There. Okay. There's been a motion. All
those in favor, please say I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed, nay.
And that passes. The next item of
business is committee and regional
reports.
And we are going to start with council
member Nichols.
>> Uh, thank you, Mullet. Uh, I have no
reports.
>> Council member Jay,
>> um, quick report. Um, there is an East
Side Transportation Partnership meeting
this Friday, first one of the year at 8
a.m. on January 9th. Um, also, uh, back
at the end of December, on December
23rd, I attended an emergency management
call about um, flood recovery, which is
highly of interest to the city of
Isiqua. So, there are a number of
resources that they shared in that
meeting that um, we shared with city
staff to um, include on the city website
and send around to our residents. Um,
and [clears throat]
uh, in that vein, I was also appointed
to two s uh, two committees on behalf of
the Sound Cities Association. Notably,
I'm an alternate for the King County
Flood Control District Advisory
Committee. So, that will be very
interesting, especially given recent
events. Um, and I was also appointed to
be a member of the King County Regional
Homelessness Authority Governing Board.
So, that should be very interesting as
well. So, we'll have updates in future
meetings.
>> Council member Joe.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The um public
affairs committee for the Cascade Water
Alliance will be meeting on January 7th
at 9:00 a.m. The Cascade Water Alliance
Board meeting will be held January 28th
at 3:30. Um also with the lodging tax
advisory committee. The next meeting is
February 23rd. Um at that time, we will
be reviewing applications uh for uh
ELTAC grants. So those applications are
being accepted right now with our uh
economic development department. And um
if you are interested in applying,
please reach out to the city. Uh we are
emphasizing events that occur in the
shoulder seasons. So our hotels
typically are completely booked during
summer and the high times, but we're
trying to get the shoulder seasons to
even out uh some of the tax revenue and
the visits to Isiqua. So, if you have a
um event that's in the shoulder seasons,
it's um you know, we would encourage you
to apply and those of us on Eltac that
review those applications will take them
uh under consideration. Thank you. That
concludes my report.
>> All right. If you want to see
Christina's head immediately pop up,
just say the word Eltac grants and get
an immediate response. Council member
Walsh.
>> Thank you. Um let's see my notes. I've
been elected as the East Side Fire and
Rescue Vice Chair. Um that's temporary
at this point because we Yeah. Okay.
Thanks. Um we uh bring on new members
and then we'll have elections for the
remainder of the year starting in March.
Um but with the current chair and vice
chair having left the organization both
um for no longer serving in Northbend
and uh Zack Hall moving up to state
legislature. We needed a temporary
placement. So I'm serving in that
temporarily. Uh East Side Fire and
Rescue meets this Thursday. The topics
are including um establishing the 2026
board priorities um understanding how we
are going to evaluate the performance of
our next our current new fire chief and
our legislative agenda and I have been
appointed or continued my appointment to
the affordable housing committee through
SCA and I'm looking forward to the next
meeting of that. Thank you.
>> Thank you deputy council president
Marks.
>> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh Sound Cities
Association Public Issues Committee met
on Wednesday, December 10th. Federal Way
Council Member Lydia uh Apha Dawson has
been uh approved as the 2026 SCA pick
chair and Redmond council member Melissa
Stewart has been approved as the 2026
SCA pick vice chair. Uh PC amended the
state legislative agenda recommendation
for the board to include two new issues
[clears throat] proposed by the cities
of Mercer Island and Newcastle. One was
support for safe use of ebikes and e-
motorcycles, e- dirt bikes, very very
similar to the uh policy [clears throat]
that we took up recently and then also
to modernize liability laws to protect
cities and taxpayers. Um the next SCA
[clears throat] pard pardon me the ne
next SCA pick meeting will be Wednesday,
January 14th at 7 p.m. and the agenda is
still to be decided. the SCA board of
directors uh elected new members and at
the Tuesday, December 9th, North Sub
Caucus meeting, I was elected to the SCA
board for a two-year term to represent
the North Sub Caucus. Uh the first board
meeting will be January 21st at 9:00
a.m. It's going to be kind of a breakout
from the AWC city action days. So,
they're going to uh draw some of the
members over to that and I will be
participating remotely.
Services, Safety, and Parks had no uh
December meeting, but the January
meeting will be held here in council
chambers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
January 27th. The agenda is still to be
determined. This concludes my report.
>> All right. On the public issues
committee, is there anyone with longer
tenure than you right now?
>> I do I don't believe there is.
Congratulations.
>> It was um Oh, the mayor from Kenmore, uh
Mayor Baker, um had me by quite a bit.
um but he left office maybe two years
ago and I believe I've been the longest
tenure member. Yes, this will be my 16th
year um as sea pick representative. So,
>> thank you for your service
[clears throat] for Isiqua on the issues
committee.
>> It is a complete pleasure.
>> Council President Dm Michelle
>> and I got he was my mentor when I first
got on the council. Uh it's a great
place to be an alternate is is uh with
uh council member Marts as the
representative. Well, uh, I have no
report because all of my December
meetings were, uh, cancelled, but I was
appointed as an alternate to the Pugetan
Regional Council Transportation Policy
Board, and they will be holding a
meeting this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Um, I
was also appointed to the regional as a
member of the regional transit uh,
committee. Uh, that meeting will be um,
uh, January 15th. And then I was also
appointed as a member of the board of
health. That meeting has been moved to
January the 29th. Um, so that ends my
report.
>> Thank you very much. And the mayor's
report. I've been in this job for all of
12 hours, so there is no mayor's report.
Uh, does anyone have anything for the
good of the order? Council member
Nichols.
Uh, I move to suspend the city council
rules and add a resolution in support of
Isqua school district propositions
number one, two, and three on the
February 10th special election ballot to
the January 20th city council meeting
agenda.
>> Second. There's a motion in the second.
Is there any discussion?
>> Council member Nichols.
>> Uh, yes. Thank you, uh, Mr. Mayor. This
is an important topic for the community
and I think it's a uh a worthy issue for
the city to discuss supporting.
>> All right. Excellent. That we'll call
for the vote. All those in favor say I.
I.
>> I.
>> All those opposed, nay. And that does
pass by the majority needed to have a
special rule adjustment. So that will be
on the January 20th agenda. Is there any
other good of the order?
All right. I think the following
upcoming council meeting, so yes,
January 12th, we'll have a special city
council meeting at 6:30 to hear the
verbal presentations from the applicants
for the city council vacancy. I think
there are 15 people who successfully
filled out the applications. Is that
right, city clerk? And they've all
qualified as being as quad residents.
And then Tuesday, January 10th, a
regular city council meeting at 7 p.m.
Those agenda items are the one we just
heard about along with anformational
update from WashD on fish passage
project. And then we'll have more
council vacancy position number two Q&A
sessions, potential appointments, and as
we heard earlier from Cassidy. I think
January 26 is also an optional date if
necessary, we can use for that. There is
no executive session this evening. With
that being no further business, this
meeting is adjourned.